Why had the iron warrior gone missing?

About half an hour after the thugs finished smashing up the Su Family Garbage Dump, the place was packed, both inside and out.

Local onlookers, the Su Family's employees, more than twenty officers from the Zhannan District Police Affairs Bureau, and dozens of firefighters from the Fire Services Bureau were all going about their respective tasks in the yard.

At the entrance, Kong Zhenghui's car came to a stop. He glanced inside the yard, then nodded toward the news van from a major private media outlet that had followed him over.

Five people climbed out of the van: two camera operators, two assistants, and a male presenter. They set up their equipment and began recording footage inside and outside the facility with practiced ease.

"At approximately 8:40 this evening, a violent incident involving vandalism and arson occurred at a waste-processing company in Dragon City's Zhannan District..." The presenter spoke smoothly as he worked with the camera operators to record their material.

Inside the waste yard.

Su Tianbei was being questioned by the Police Affairs Bureau. Before that, Su Tianyu had already explained exactly what he needed to say.

"How many attackers were there?" The officer questioning him was the same sergeant who had been drinking with Lu Feng that day.

"Probably twenty or thirty. They were all carrying weapons and started smashing things as soon as they came in. They also set fire to our company's warehouse..." Su Tianbei said with a frown. "Five of our workers were injured. They've already been taken to the hospital."

"Are you sure the attackers started the fire?" Ermao demanded skeptically.

"Officer, this is my own family's company. If they didn't start the fire, who did? Me?" Su Tianbei asked with a frown.

"Did they say anything during the fight? Where did they go afterward?"

"They said if our company went to the Sanitation Management Council again to protest the monopoly, they'd kill us. After smashing everything up, they climbed over the wall and ran. The people on duty told me there were cars outside waiting for them," Su Tianbei replied.

"You had all these people here, but you didn't catch a single attacker?"

"Everyone was terrified. We wouldn't have dared fight back!" Su Tianbei answered without hesitation. "Besides, most of these people only arrived afterward."

"Do you have surveillance cameras here?"

"Yes, but we stopped work a few days ago and were in the middle of replacing the system. Only the cameras at the main gate and a few storage areas were working," Su Tianbei replied.

While Tianbei was giving his statement, Su Tianyu had already walked out of the yard and found his eldest brother and Kong Zhenghui. "Brother!"

Su Tiannan turned around. "Aren't you giving a statement in the main building?"

"No, Tianbei's doing that." Su Tianyu had put his scholarly-looking glasses back on. He gestured at Kong Zhenghui and said, "I came to have a word with Brother Kong."

Ever since Su Tianyu had stabbed Lu Feng in self-defense last time, Kong Zhenghui had known this kid was no pushover. He had left a deep impression, so Kong took the initiative to ask, "What is it, brother?"

"Brother Kong, I don't recommend getting our media contacts involved just yet," Su Tianyu said bluntly.

"Why not?" Kong Zhenghui didn't understand.

"The timing isn't right yet. We need to build up more cases against Changqing." When Su Tianyu spoke to outsiders, he never wasted a single word.

Kong Zhenghui frowned. "Changqing's already neck-deep in shit. Do we really need to wait?"

"My brother's still talking to his contact at the Police Bureau," Su Tianyu said quietly. "Let's wait a little longer."

Kong Zhenghui considered it. "That works too. Let me know when it's time to show our hand."

"Sure." Su Tianyu nodded.

Kong Zhenghui smiled, then turned to look at the Su Family's waste yard and shook his head. "Lu Feng really is a fucking idiot! If you wanted to make an example of someone, fine, but why start a fire? Even if we don't go public with this ourselves, everyone in Zhannan District will know by tomorrow that Changqing Company is willing to murder people and burn places down to grab territory. Heh. There's no covering this up."

"Exactly," Su Tianyu agreed, then immediately added, "Brother Kong, wait here a minute. I need a word with my brother."

"Sure!" Kong Zhenghui nodded.

The brothers walked over to a dimly lit section of the perimeter wall. Only then did Su Tiannan ask, "What is it?"

"Brother, arrange a meeting with Wang Daolin immediately. Right now," Su Tianyu replied.

"Do you know how late it is? What would I meet him for?"

"Listen to me. Set it up now and tell him what you're offering." Leaning close to his brother's ear, Su Tianyu laid out his reasoning clearly. "Tell him Lu Feng really tried to kill our family this time, and you're scared, so..."

At the end of Fulin Street in Zhannan District stood a small gambling den catering specifically to the poor. It was cramped and filthy, and the alley around its entrance reeked of piss. Yet plenty of gamblers who could barely afford to eat still came to play cards night after night. When they ran out of money, they would rather stand beside the tables and watch than go home to sleep.

Inside a shabby security room on the gambling den's second floor, Lu Feng sat on a sofa and demanded with raised eyebrows, "You call yourselves men of the streets? More than a dozen of you went together. Even if you lost the fight, how the fuck could you not know whether all your own people got out?"

"Brother Feng, it was total chaos. They had more people, and we were all dazed from getting beaten. Everyone scattered, running for the windows and the hallway. We really didn't notice where A Ming and the others were," one man replied pitifully. His knife wound hadn't even been stitched, and he was clumsily pressing an entire pack of napkins against it.

"Useless!" Lu Feng cursed, then picked up his phone and called Ermao at the Police Affairs Bureau. "Hello? Can you talk?"

A short while passed before Ermao replied, "Yeah. I'm at the scene."

"Fuck, a few of my boys haven't come back! I just called them, and they didn't answer. Did the other side grab them?" Lu Feng asked bluntly.

"I asked the Su Family. They said your boys smashed the place up, set the fire, then ran," Ermao replied in a very low voice. "Nobody got trapped."

"Bullshit! My people were the ones getting beaten. The Su Family cornered them in the lobby as soon as they went in. I suspect someone at the company leaked the plan." Lu Feng pressed him again. "Scare the Su Family a little. Ask if they're holding my men and refusing to admit it."

"How am I supposed to ask that? I'm a public officer with the Police Affairs Bureau, Brother Feng!" Ermao replied, exasperated. "But I already warned Su Tianbei that holding people without handing them over would definitely count as unlawful detention. So I don't think they'd be keeping anyone. There's no point!"

Lu Feng was baffled too. "Then that's strange. Where did my boys go? There's no way they'd finish the job and stop answering their phones!"

"Keep looking," Ermao said, standing outside the lobby. He turned to scan his surroundings and warned, "But listen, Brother Feng, you've caused a serious mess this time. You didn't just smash the place up, you set it on fire. This is a waste storage area. Do you know what could happen if a major fire broke out? Your boys were far too reckless!"

Hearing that, Lu Feng lost his temper too. He stood up and cursed, "I don't fucking run a crematorium! Why the fuck would I start a fire? Someone's setting this up."

Ermao went silent for two seconds. Rather than argue, he simply asked, "Brother Feng, first four companies shut down to protest Changqing Company's violent monopoly. Then workers got slashed. Today, someone attacked the Su Family's waste yard, and a fire broke out too. I can believe you, but... will anyone else? The real issue isn't who started the fire. It's that your people stormed the yard. Understand? The Police Bureau doesn't want trouble either!"

Lu Feng had no answer.

"I'll deal with the scene first. We'll talk later." Ermao hung up first.

Lu Feng gritted his teeth and stood with his hands on his hips, trying to figure out what to do. Just then, all the thugs in the room rose and called toward the stairway, "Boss!"

"Mr. Li!"

Lu Feng turned around and saw Li Hongze approaching with two men, his expression thunderous.

"Boss!" Lu Feng called.

"What the hell were you doing? You were prepared, and you still let them turn the tables on you? And why did you have them start a fire? Were you trying to brew an immortality elixir?!" Li Hongze demanded, beside himself with fury.

"I didn't start it!!" Lu Feng snapped.

Around eleven that night.

Su Tiannan's car stopped outside a very popular Cantonese restaurant on Bright Light Road in Zhannan District. He opened the door and straightened his clothes before telling the young member of his family who had accompanied him, "Just wait in the car."

"Sure." The young driver nodded.

Su Tiannan hurried into the Cantonese restaurant, climbed the stairs to the third floor, and entered a private room. Meanwhile, in an alley directly opposite the restaurant, a man wearing a baseball cap gave Su Tiannan's car a couple of cursory glances.

In the private room on the third floor of the Cantonese Restaurant, a man around fifty sat in a white shirt with his hands tucked together. "Tiannan, I heard about what happened at your family's facility. How is everyone? Are they all right?"

The man speaking was Wang Daolin, a division chief at Dragon City's Police Bureau with considerable authority. He had also served in the military with Su Tiannan's father. Before Tianyu returned, the Su Family had given him fifty thousand to help mediate the infighting in the sanitation sector.

Seeing Wang Daolin, Su Tiannan said with a grave expression, "Uncle, if you don't help me now, I might lose my life!"

Wang Daolin fell silent at those words.

"We only went to the Management Council to report them and protest because we wanted to save my dad. We had no other choice. But before it achieved anything, two company managers were slashed and crippled, which scared everyone below them out of protesting with us." Su Tiannan sat down and poured Wang Daolin tea as he quietly explained, "Before we even had time to catch our breath, our facility was smashed up and set on fire today. Another five of our people were injured. Uncle Wang, for my dad's sake, please help the Su Family again!"

"I already told you, it's difficult for me to get involved in your family's situation." Wang Daolin sighed. "Besides, you can hardly get any solid leverage against Changqing Company. I suggested paying up to avoid trouble, but you wouldn't listen."

"I have leverage!" Su Tiannan suddenly said.

Wang Daolin paused. "What leverage?"

"I can hand over the main thugs who smashed up our facility," Su Tiannan said, looking him straight in the eye.

Wang Daolin stared at him in surprise without replying.

"If I give you those men, Lu Feng won't be able to talk his way out of it," Su Tiannan said quietly. "The Kong Family, Liu Family, and Bai Family will also apply pressure from outside and bring attention to this. I'm sure the Police Bureau's higher-ups don't want this kind of sustained negative publicity. So if you just put in a little effort to mediate, Changqing Company will definitely back down and settle things. Then my dad can get out."

Wang Daolin rested his right hand on his leg and tapped his fingers. After considering it for a long while, he slowly shook his head. "Tiannan, I'm afraid I can't handle this."

"Uncle, as long as you're willing to take the lead and help us put some pressure on Changqing Company, I won't let your efforts go unrewarded," Su Tiannan said, lowering his voice. "Neither will the other three companies."

Wang Daolin frowned at that.

Inside the Su Family's facility.

The Police Affairs Bureau officers were still investigating the scene. Su Tianbei found an opportunity to slip into the yard behind the main building, opened his car door, and reached beneath the seat.

Su Tianbei had brought a gun for today's trap against Lu Feng because he was worried something might go wrong. Now, however, he clearly had no use for it, so he intended to take it away and hide it.

But when his right hand reached beneath the seat, Su Tianbei froze on the spot.

The gun was gone!