’How much do I even make in a month?’
The corner of Captain Huang’s mouth twitched. Just as he was about to speak, a young officer suddenly pointed into the distance and screamed, "This is bad, Captain Huang! Look over there! It’s the Consulate—I think it’s on fire!"
Everyone snapped their heads around to look.
In the distance, flames shot into the sky from the direction of the Great Britain Consulate, bathing half the night sky in a crimson glow!
"I knew I heard an explosion earlier!" Captain Huang’s face turned deathly pale.
He waved his arm. "Quick! Let’s go!"
The men took off running. But after a few steps, Captain Huang suddenly remembered something and stopped in his tracks.
He glanced back at the "pitiable old man," still standing shirtless at the mouth of the alley.
He gritted his teeth, pulled two crumpled bills from his coat, and tossed them over.
"Count your blessings, old man!" With that, Captain Huang ran off without looking back.
Once out of Captain Huang’s sight, Lu Yun reached out, and the two hundred-Daxia Yuan bills floating in mid-air flew into his hand. Then, leaning on his Wisteria Spirit Staff, he walked out of the alley.
On the street, a clerk at a clothing store was frantically putting up the wooden shutters, getting ready to close for the night.
Lu Yun walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. The clerk turned and saw the shirtless Lu Yun.
Lu Yun pulled the two Daxia Yuan bills from his pocket and held them out. "I need to buy some clothes."
Fifteen minutes later, Lu Yun emerged from the clothing store dressed in a brand-new black Zhongshan suit.
He decided not to attempt a breakthrough just yet. ’It won’t be too late to do it slowly once I’m settled back at Shenteng Mansion.’
Right now, Lu Yun was thinking about something else. ’What’s the deal with those foreigners?’
’Good heavens, every one of them was a monster—strange creatures that provided modified value, just like those yin souls.’
’Especially that "black water" foreigner, Count Thorne. The man seemed to possess an undying ability and a bizarre power similar to the Martial Dao Will of a Grandmaster of Divine Intent.’
’And, of course, there was that all-corroding black water.’
’If it hadn’t been for the miraculous Horizontal Cultivation Technique, *Hard Qigong*, allowing him to withstand that explosion tonight... even if he hadn’t been killed, he would have ended up severely injured.’
Inside the President’s Mansion, Yuan Datong was in high spirits. After all, everything at the banquet had gone exceptionally well.
The foreign representatives had been polite, the provincial Military Governors had been deferential, and those old fellows in the cabinet had been all smiles.
He was already imagining the scene at tomorrow’s cabinet meeting: unanimous approval.
Then would come his enthronement ceremony. He would become the true Emperor of Daxia, and the Yuan Family would become royalty.
However, before heading to his room for the night, he habitually picked up today’s newspaper from the living room table and casually flipped through it.
And then, Yuan Datong’s smile froze.
"What in the world is this?" His eyes were glued to an article in the paper.
It was a newspaper from Yun Port City, the *Spark Daily*, and its front-page headline was a brazen reprint of an article from *Da Xin Publishing House*.
The title alone made Yuan Datong’s blood pressure skyrocket: *On the Corruption and Absurdity of the Imperial System*, by He Zhongpeng.
The article’s contents sent him into a rage. It was filled with talk of "freedom" and "equality."
The one institution that was singled out as a complete and utter synonym for "feudal corruption" was that of the Emperor.
The article went on, calling for people to "have some backbone" and to "open their eyes to the world."
In any case, by the time Yuan Datong finished the article, he felt as if every single word was a personal attack, aimed directly at him.
"Bastards!!!" Yuan Datong abruptly crumpled the newspaper into a ball and slammed it onto the floor.
"Mu Fei! Mu Fei!!!" he hollered.
Yuan Mu Fei rushed in from outside the living room. "Father! What’s wrong?"
Yuan Datong pointed at the crumpled paper on the floor, fuming. "Look at this!!!"
Yuan Mu Fei quickly picked it up, unfolded it, and read. Gradually, his expression turned grim.
"This... this is..."
Yuan Datong cut him off. "Send the Secret Martial Department! Go to Yun Port City and drag that He Zhongpeng back to Yanjing for me!"
"And remember, you cannot fail!"
Yuan Mu Fei nodded quickly. "Yes! Rest assured, Father! I’ll see to it at once!"
Just then, several figures burst in from outside, their faces panicked and beaded with sweat.
"Your Excellency the President! It’s terrible! The Great Britain Consulate... there’s been an incident!"
Hearing this, Yuan Datong froze. "What?"
The man struggled to get the words out. "We just received news... there was a massive explosion at the Great Britain Consulate!"
"The entire top floor of the building was blown off!"
"According to reports, Count Thorne, the representative for the Empress of Great Britain, and Consul Hannibal were both killed in the blast!"
"What?" Yuan Datong’s vision went black, and he nearly collapsed onto the large sofa behind him.

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