Chapter 609 - 384: Secret Standoff
In the period after the incident at the Heaven-Reaching Tower, Zhao Yiming’s life remained as dignified as ever, with no immediate punishment from headquarters.
On one hand, the joint military operation codenamed "Flood" itself had no issues and aligned with the core directive of headquarters—those powerful individuals who "cross the line" are either recruited as servants or immediately beheaded.
Zhao Yiming had sought permission before planning it and did not act on his own accord.
The reason it evolved into the subsequent disaster was entirely due to the severe misjudgment of the intelligence department of New Moon City, which failed to identify the power of Fenrir’s Divine Protection Level blood code.
But to be fair, who could you blame?
Fenrir’s situation was too rare; who would have thought she would immediately break through a major level after a single battle? It was something unseen for a century.
Therefore, it was somewhat unjust for Zhao Yiming to bear the blame for the toppling of the Heaven-Reaching Tower.
On the other hand, even if Zhao Yiming were to be taken down, there still needed to be someone to handle the work he was carrying.
People from headquarters were unfamiliar with the situation in New Moon City, and sending someone in temporarily might not be as efficient as Zhao Yiming.
Removing him abruptly would only create more troubles for themselves.
So headquarters did not move against him but instead kept him and gave him a final chance to redeem himself through meritorious service.
If he could capture the Wolf King with Luo, dead or alive, the Heaven-Reaching Tower incident would be written off, and even a high position in headquarters was reserved for him.
If not captured, then it meant only one thing: death.
Thus, Zhao Yiming remains the esteemed "President Zhao."
However, he is no longer supreme in all of New Moon City as he once was.
Above him, there is now someone else—the Upper Court Envoy Luo.
During this time, in order to set an example internally, Zhao Yiming did not stay at his Lake Heart Island Manor, nor did he go to the administrative office buildings.
He moved back to the Heaven-Reaching Tower, which was still under renovation, and stayed in his office on the 199th floor as always.
This office, although tidied up, still bore significant marks of damage. The walls were penetrated, the ceiling was scorched black by smoke, and some glass fragments that hadn’t been cleaned up could still be seen in the corners.
It was lunchtime now, and Zhao Yiming was sitting at the desk eating. There was no top-quality steak, no decades-old wine, just a piece of bread and water.
The bread was made of synthetic grain from a factory, dry and hard to chew. A bite filled the mouth with crumbs, making even dogs shake their heads; only those on the brink of starvation at the bottom rungs of society would gnaw on it.
But now, the esteemed regional president of a giant corporation was eating dry bread piece by piece, gulping them down with water, even sweeping the crumbs on the desk into his palm to scoop into his mouth.
As Zhao Yiming was eating, a figure walked in from outside. It was none other than the Death Scythe Mercenary Corps Leader, Zhou Hanyan.
During the ferocious beast crisis, Zhou Hanyan stood by the authorities as always, fulfilling his loyalty to the giant corporation by helping to transfer a large amount of important assets.
Although he gained notoriety among the populace for it, the higher-ups appreciated him greatly, and afterwards, Luo classified him as part of the "Loyalist Faction," sparing him from imprisonment.
Zhou Hanyan was originally supported by the Iron Blood Alliance, but after Alexander died, this area lost a direct manager.
Combined with Fenrir’s presence, the three giant corporations had aligned their interests, standing on the same side for once instead of engaging in overt and covert struggles.
After negotiations among the high echelons of the three headquarters, it was decided to temporarily transfer control of Zhou Hanyan and the Death Scythe to Zhao Yiming for command.
Now, in a certain sense, at least for this period, this King of Mercenaries in New Moon City was Zhao Yiming’s man.
Seeing what Zhao Yiming was eating, Zhou Hanyan asked with a slight smile, "President Zhao, are you emulating the ancient practice of enduring hardship to strengthen resolve?"
Zhao Yiming gave him a cold glance, "You talk too much."
Zhou Hanyan lowered his head slightly, as an apology for the ill-timed joke earlier.
Zhao Yiming stuffed the last piece of bread into his mouth, opened the laptop in front of him, and said, "Come here, take a look at something."
The laptop displayed some kind of route monitoring map, covering all of New Moon City and surrounding areas, with lines of various colors slowly moving over time.
Zhou Hanyan asked, "What is this?"
Zhao Yiming stated directly, "I used an Apocalypse Star above New Moon City; this is the dynamic flight route map of all aerial vehicles in the city."
Zhou Hanyan was immediately startled.
New Moon City had long been taken over by the Upper Court Guard. To prevent anyone from escaping by air, the city’s airspace was completely sealed off, not only with fighter jet patrols around the clock, but also with numerous anti-aircraft artillery positions set up on the city perimeter. Any unauthorized flying object daring to take off would be destroyed after a single unheeded warning.
Civilian aircraft simply couldn’t fly, and even for a Great Mercenary Corps Leader like Zhou Hanyan, ground transport was required. The only ones still flying were the aviation units directly under the Upper Court.
Upon seeing the navigation map Zhao Yiming had opened, Zhou Hanyan frowned and asked, "Are you secretly monitoring the Upper Court’s people?!"
Zhao Yiming: "So what if I am?"
Zhou Hanyan: "Are you aware of the consequences? The envoy currently holds all the power and is far above you. If Luo discovers you’re monitoring her deployment, she’ll absolutely go for your life."
Zhao Yiming: "If she has nothing to hide, why worry about my surveillance? Moreover, I won’t let this get to Luo’s ears."