"Envoy Xu Shouming’s more than fifty men were turned into skeletons by the Inner State people, is this considered a misunderstanding?"

"This..." Shen Jingye pondered his words, "This should be the tragic outcome of a misunderstanding."

Li Qi shook his head and said, "The Inner State doesn’t think so. They’re preparing for war."

Shen Jingye was silent for a moment, then looked at Li Qi and said, "We don’t want to see war. What we need is peace; the reason we set up the Balancer was to resolve misunderstandings between both sides." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Li Banfeng nodded, "I’ve been trying to resolve it. I also don’t want to see war. These days, I’ve spent a lot of time and effort attempting to clear up the misunderstandings between you all. The Inner State has agreed not to escalate the situation, but they’ve also presented their conditions."

"What conditions?" Shen Jingye couldn’t imagine that the Soda Kiln incident could achieve such progress.

Li Qi said, "The Inner State attaches great importance to the entrance of the Soda Kiln. To ensure the safety of this entrance, the Inner State requires the removal of the Soda Kiln’s Defense Agency, and the transport at the Soda Kiln cannot be interrupted."

"Removal?" Shen Jingye shook his head, "That’s impossible!"

"Impossible? You said it?" Li Qi stood up and said, "Alright, that’s settled then. I’m going to the Soda Kiln now to explain things to them, Director Shen has made up his mind; if war is inevitable, then so be it, but removing the Defense Agency is absolutely out of the question."

"Wait!" Shen Jingye immediately stopped Li Qi, "Director Li, what I mean is, I can’t be the one to make that decision."

Li Qi laughed, "Exactly, you certainly can’t make that decision, so you need to discuss it with Director Du. Not only this issue needs discussion, but also the matter of the Greenwater Beggar."

"What’s up with the Greenwater Beggar?" Shen Jingye was even more nervous, "Hasn’t he already returned to Puluo State?"

Li Banfeng nodded, "He has gone back, but he hasn’t said he won’t come again."

"Why would he come back?" Shen Jingye looked at Li Qi, puzzled.

Li Qi looked at Shen Jingye seriously, "You think selling me out ends this matter?"

Shen Jingye lowered his head, "I wasn’t aware of this matter..."

Li Qi said, "Well, now you’re informed. The Greenwater Beggar gave us five days to gather a group of people for him. If this group can’t be assembled, he will come back to Yuezhou."

"What kind of people?"

"The people of Three-Head Fork," Li Banfeng said, "Some of these people have very high combat power, and the Greenwater Beggar wants to enlist some of them."

Shen Jingye asked, "You mean the Three-Headed People?"

Li Banfeng nodded.

Shen Jingye asked, "How many do they want?"

"Five thousand."

"Five thousand people?" Shen Jingye shook his head repeatedly, "That’s absolutely impossible."

"You said it! You said it’s impossible! That makes it simple!" Li Banfeng was about to get up, Shen Jingye hurriedly stepped forward to stop him.

"Director Li, this matter isn’t something I can decide either!"

"That’s why we need to find someone who can make the decision."

Shen Jingye nodded, "Director Li, why don’t we draft a detailed written report on the situation first, submit it, and then..."

Click-click~

Both their phones rang, they received the same message: There was an incident at Zheng Bridge Square, and the Dark Star Bureau needed to take immediate action.

Shen Jingye put away his phone and said, "I can arrange for the Public Security Team to handle this. Let’s focus on the urgent matters first."

"Come on, what could be more urgent than a case, I must go!" Li Qi put on his coat.

Shen Jingye said, "Li Bureau, you shouldn’t go, we have more pressing matters to discuss right now."

"Come with me, we’ll discuss while walking!" Li Banfeng pulled Shen Jingye out of the office.

Shen Jingye hastily said, "What’s this about? The house is on fire, yet you’re going to handle a case?"

Li Qi frowned and said, "What are you talking about? We agreed back then that when a case arises, we must be on the scene, whoever doesn’t go is a coward!"

Shen Jingye really didn’t want to go, but with Li Banfeng’s cultivation level, pulling him along, he had no choice but to go.

The two went directly to the Public Security Team. As soon as they saw Li Qi, Light Bulb opened his mouth wide and Dumpling’s eyes turned red.

Chuuni tried to hold back his laughter, but couldn’t help and laughed out loud.

Preserved Fruit murmured, "Director Li, welcome back."

Someone whispered on the side, "Is this Director Li?"

"Yes, it’s him, always at the forefront in critical battles."

"A few days ago, he went solo against Straw Moth Lady, everyone thought Director Li was a goner, but here he is back!"

Seeing the excited looks from everyone, Li Banfeng said to Shen Jingye, "Little Shen, look how happy everyone is that you’ve come."

Sure, here’s the translation:

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Shen Jingye forced a couple of laughs. He really didn’t want to go, but he couldn’t speak up now.

On the minibus, Li Banfeng said, "First, let me introduce Director Shen to the situation on the ground."

Dumpling had prepared. This time, it wasn’t a Strange Monster, but a suspect on the run. The suspect was discovered in a restaurant at Zheng Bridge Square. After the restaurant owner reported it, enforcement personnel immediately rushed to the scene,

The suspect used a homemade bomb to hold the restaurant’s customers and staff hostage. Several negotiations by the enforcement personnel ended unsuccessfully; the situation was very dangerous.

Shen Jingye frowned and said, "Is this our responsibility?"

Dumpling quickly reported: "According to investigation and verification by the on-site personnel, the suspect is a Fighter of medium level."

Medium level is a rough classification by the Dark Star Bureau for Dark Energy Users. Levels one to three are considered low-level, levels four and five are medium-level, and levels six and seven are high-level Dark Energy Users.

In the Dark Star Bureau’s database, the highest level of Dark Energy User is the Seventh Layer, which is also the common consensus of the Outside Provinces on Dark Energy Users.

The opponent is a Fighter above the Third Layer, which means ordinary enforcement personnel will find it difficult to subdue this person. This is when the Dark Star Bureau needs to take action.

After understanding the case, Shen Jingye deployed: "This case occurred in the central area. In terms of safety and confidentiality, everyone needs to be extra cautious..."

All the tactical planning was handed over to Chen Changrui; Shen Jingye concentrated on the Inner State people and the Greenwater Beggar.

Chen Changrui developed a thorough plan, making Preserved Fruit, Crabapple Fruit, Cone, Brick, Huajia, and other veteran members as the main force to forcibly control the suspect.

But when they arrived at the scene, Chen Changrui’s tactics did not work.

Firstly, because they underestimated the suspect’s capability. According to the latest investigation, the suspect’s homemade bomb had an automatic detonation device and a remote control detonation device, meaning even if they controlled the suspect, the bomb could still explode at any time.

Secondly, the suspect had decided to fight to the death, giving everyone only ten seconds. After ten seconds, he planned to detonate the bomb.

"Everyone, step back. If you don’t want to die, stay far away!" The suspect hid behind the bar, avoiding all sniper points, and shouted loudly using the restaurant’s Big Horn for attracting customers. "Ten seconds, just ten seconds, now I’m starting the countdown!"

Did the suspect not want to live?

Not really.

He clearly knew the power and range of the bomb explosion. He wanted to create an opportunity to escape amid the chaos before and after the bomb detonated.

"Ten! Nine!" The suspect started the countdown.

Shen Jingye looked solemn but did not give any orders.

Upon arriving at the scene, the situation had already changed to this. At this point, taking no action to avoid expanding the range of casualties was the best choice to avoid increasing responsibility.

"Eight!"

"Little Shen, let’s go!"

"Where to?" Shen Jingye turned his head, not understanding Li Qi’s intentions, but Li Qi pulled him directly into the restaurant.

Li Qi faced the suspect; Shen Jingye faced the bomb.

The suspect counted down: "Seven!"

Li Qi nodded: "It’s me, hello!"

The suspect hesitated and was about to press the remote control.

Li Banfeng took the remote control away.

The suspect hesitated again and pulled out a pistol.

Li Banfeng took the pistol away too.

The suspect picked up a pen from the bar. In a Martial Cultivator’s hands, anything could become a weapon.

Li Banfeng fired a shot, and the suspect fell back on the floor.

The timing device was still counting down, with less than three seconds left.

Li Qi quietly looked at Shen Jingye.

Li Qi was not in a hurry; he had many ways to handle this bomb.

Shen Jingye was in a hurry. On-site, he was the closest to the bomb.

At lightning speed, he found the key point and disconnected the timer from the detonation device.

The timer reached its end, but the bomb did not explode.

"No more pretending? Are you a Craftsman Cultivator or an Arithmetic Cultivator?" Li Banfeng smiled, looking at Shen Jingye.

Shen Jing bit his teeth, looked at Li Qi, and tried to maintain calm: "I’ve never hidden it."

PS: Since it’s not hidden, one should train more on the battlefield.

Someone was still waiting for Li Qi; Li Qi never forgot.