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But regardless of which it is, the reality is already set in stone. What Lou Quan and his group need to worry about now is something else entirely.

After learning the news, the people demanded that Lou Quan come out and explain whether the matter was true or not, and they also wanted to enter the planting area to check it themselves.

Lou Quan did not respond immediately and prohibited the public from entering the planting area, citing the reason that it was to prevent bad people from sneaking in and damaging the crops.

But nowadays, whatever Lou Quan says is taken as an excuse.

The crowd was filled with fear and anger, and with the instigation of certain individuals, they staged a strike and school closures, bringing their entire families to the entrance of the base office to demand an explanation from Lou Quan.

Lou Quan did not show up, and the crowd tried to rush in several times, but was stopped by the soldiers.

Lou Yu was also helping to maintain order, persuading people to go home first. The higher-ups were thinking of strategies to resolve this food crisis and would definitely not let anyone go hungry.

Someone who recognized Lou Yu saw him standing on Lou Quan's side and loudly questioned, "Captain Lou, is your strategy to borrow food from the Central Base again? You're from the Central Base, you know those guys better than anyone. If we borrow things from them, can our Yong'an Base afford to repay them?"

"That's right, adding fuel to the fire will only result in us burning to death!"

"Captain Lou, tell the Commander-in-Chief that we didn't pressure him on purpose. We just want an answer: does his promise to us that the new season's grain production will return to normal still stand? And will he borrow grain from the Central Base again afterward?"

"We're worried too. We can't sleep well every night. We don't want to go hungry, and we don't want to be exploited by the Central Base. Is there really no way to deal with this in the planting area?"

Lou Yu raised his hand in a reassuring gesture and said loudly, "Everyone! I understand the problems you're worried about. The Commander-in-Chief and the Plantation Area are just as anxious as you are. Whether you're here or not, they will actively seek solutions. So everyone go back first, go back to work, send your children to school, and don't let the difficulties that are yet to come disrupt our current lives, okay?"

Seeing that everyone's expressions were somewhat moved, Lou Yu pressed on. "Look everyone, the temperature hasn't completely dropped yet, and the sun is still very strong. Adults are fine, but the elderly and children can't stand the heat. What if they get sick from the heat? The Commander-in-Chief and all the staff will stay at their posts. Once they have a solution, they will definitely notify us immediately. Isn't it more comfortable for us to go home and wait for news than to stand here like this, right?"

The protesters, seeing their parents and children beside them, did indeed soften their hearts. Furthermore, Lou Yu had repeatedly saved the base and the people from dire straits, and was generally kind and had a good reputation among the masses. Therefore, most people subconsciously trusted him and were persuaded.

"Alright, we'll trust you this once, Captain Lou."

"I will keep an eye on the results."

"I hope you won't let everyone down."

Most of the protesters dispersed, but some who were indifferent to Lou Yu, or perhaps those with ulterior motives, refused to leave.

They wouldn't leave, and Lou Yu couldn't risk offending the public by forcibly moving them. Fortunately, there were fewer people, which greatly reduced the pressure of maintaining security.

The soldiers all looked at Lou Yu with admiration. If it had been anyone else, even Lou Quan himself, saying those words today, they might not have had the same effect.

The reason why the people trust Lou Yu is because of the good Lou Yu he has built up little by little with his life and integrity. There are very few people in the entire base who can do these two things well.

Lou Yu was well aware that his presence here could serve as a deterrent through force and a suppressive force through public opinion, so he stayed at the office for three consecutive days, not only not going home, but also greatly reducing his rest time.

By the fourth day, seeing how haggard he looked, and considering that the number of people stuck outside had dwindled, his colleagues all advised him to go back and rest for a day before returning.

Zhao Tao was assigned to hide nearby, so that if a riot broke out, he could hold out for a while until Lou Yu arrived.

Seeing this, Lou Yu stopped insisting, went home, and planned to get a good night's sleep before going back to help.

Whether it was a coincidence or something those people did on purpose, the incident happened precisely while Lou Yu was sound asleep.

According to Lou Yu's later understanding, not long after he left, many of the people who had left gathered back, saying that they had heard rumors that an insider revealed that the planting area would most likely not be able to grow grain at normal yields in the future, and that the Yong'an Base would have to rely on borrowing grain from the Central Base to survive.

Given that the previous rumors secretly spread by insiders were all true, many people believed them this time as well, and came specifically to demand an explanation.

With Lou Yu absent, and with some people stirring up trouble and constantly misinterpreting the soldiers' explanations, the rest of the group simply couldn't suppress the surging tide of protesters.

The crowd was shouting for Lou Quan to come out and respond, so while the soldiers were trying to dissuade the crowd, they quickly sent someone to inform Lou Quan and bring Lou Yu back.

The incident occurred during this time. The entrance was crowded with people trying to squeeze in when someone suddenly shouted, "Someone's been stepped on!" This was like a bucket of water poured into a hot pan, immediately triggering a fierce reaction.

People near the source of the sound stepped back, trying to make room for the person who had supposedly been stepped on. Others, fearing further accidents, tried to move away, while those outside, unaware of what was happening, continued to push their way in.

So the accident just happened?

When the chaos broke out, Zhao Tao had already run out and was helping to maintain order.

However, under the watchful eyes of everyone, he could not transform into his beast form. Although his strength and speed had increased to a whole new level after the mutation, there were simply too many people present. He could save one, two, and three, but not four, five, or six.

Lou Quan was the closest and arrived first. He quickly organized his soldiers to forcibly clear the flow of people, doing his best in a very short time. But life and death often hang in the balance.

When Lou Yu was woken from his sleep and rushed over, the chaos had ended. The scene was filled with wails and cries. Lou Quan, standing at the front, had bloodshot eyes, clearly having not rested for a long time.

He looked at the people lying on the ground and the splattered blood, slowly closed his eyes, and a look of despair appeared on his face.

Besides the city walls and patrols, Lou Quan had the most manpower here, but it's easy to dodge a spear in the open but hard to guard against a hidden arrow. In the end, he still fell into the trap set by those people.

Subsequent statistics showed that a total of seven people died in the stampede, including the elderly and children. Hundreds of civilians and staff suffered injuries of varying degrees, and hospitals became overcrowded again after the spring siege.

As the manager of the entire base, Lou Quan cannot escape accountability from above for such a serious accident occurring within the base.

If this is truly an accident, given the cooperative relationship between Lou Quan and the Lou Family, at most the higher-ups will issue a written reprimand, and nothing else will happen.

But this incident was a carefully orchestrated trap set for Lou Quan. With low grain yields and agitated public sentiment, problems were bound to arise sooner or later if Lou Quan wanted to remain in his position.

Less than half an hour after the incident, while Lou Quan was still dealing with the aftermath, he received a call from higher authorities demanding accountability.

Unexpectedly, it wasn't the Lou Family, but the Zheng Family.

Who is the Zheng Family? One of the major families in the Central Base. The wife of Lou Quan's father in a marriage alliance, and the biological mother of Lou Quan's half-siblings, is from the Zheng Family.

Lou Quan almost killed his father and several brothers and sisters in an attempt to avenge his mother.

If it weren't for his outstanding military and political abilities, which led the few key figures in the Lou Family to identify him as their successor and protect him, and considering that Lou Quan's father and his children were in the wrong first, the Zheng Family would have been in the wrong.

Otherwise, even for the sake of face, the Zheng Family wouldn't easily let Lou Quan go.

This time, it was actually the Zheng Family who came to question Lou Quan. It seems that the Lou Family is very dissatisfied with Lou Quan and wants to teach him a lesson.

If it were any other family, Lou Quan might have been willing to cooperate fully with the investigation. But when he learned it was the Zheng Family, the moment they asked Lou Quan to go to the Central Base for interrogation, Lou Quan hung up the phone without hesitation.

This is also what the Lou Family wants to achieve, because they know that given the conflict between Lou Quan and the Zheng Family, having the Zheng Family handle this matter would only add fuel to the fire.

As expected, Lou Quan was arrested three days later at the Yong'an Base because of a serious man-made accident that occurred within his jurisdiction, coupled with his arrogant attitude and refusal to cooperate with the investigation. He was brought in with a suspension order.

The arrest team consisted of five people, three of whom were superhumans; on the surface, they were all from the Zheng Family.

Today, besides Lou Quan and Zhao Tao, a new superhuman has appeared at the Yong'an Base?

When several people entered the office, Lou Quan was still looking at documents. Lou Yu was standing behind him. The door opened, and he looked up.

Standing at the very front, a man with slicked-back hair showed the Lou Family brothers arrest and suspension documents.

"Lou Quan, you have been suspended from your duties and are no longer authorized to handle base affairs. Please stand up immediately and come with us to the Central Base for questioning."

Lou Quan didn't stop flipping through the documents and signing them; he didn't even lift his eyelids, completely ignoring their people and words.

"You..." The man gritted his teeth in anger, "Lou Quan, disobeying orders, do you want to make your crime even more serious?"

Before he could finish speaking, three "superhumans" behind him stepped forward, their exposed body parts showing faint signs of bestiality.

Lou Yu didn't move an inch, he just narrowed his eyes slightly, and released his supernatural power, forming an invisible yet perceptible encirclement around the five people.

The three superhumans simultaneously stopped what they were doing, their eyes filled with undisguised astonishment as they looked at Lou Yu.

They awakened earlier than Lou Yu, and they succeeded on their first try, unlike Lou Yu was a defective product.