Chapter 728 - 320: Surprise on One Side, Bing Chaos on the Other

Chapter 728: Chapter 320: Surprise on One Side, Bing Chaos on the Other

The Church Court at most will be inactive; it is unlikely to take direct action. Otherwise, during the Hedan incident, the Pope would not have gone through so many unnecessary motions, clearly fearing backlash. It’s not about causing trouble; so it is in Dragon Capital. The main fear is the enemy exploiting the Song of Hell, which he only recently came to realize, and he needs to protect Chen Rutang’s safety.

Who says assassination can only happen once?

The Song of Hell always acts without restraint, and there’s one thing he hasn’t said, as there is no evidence.

Looking at Li Xin’s hesitant expression, Chen Rutang pondered for a while. If Hong Yan hadn’t died, he might not believe it, but now that Hong Yan could be assassinated, how about him?

"You mean they might come again, targeting me?"

"It’s a possibility, Dean. I’m saying hypothetically, if this situation happens again, what would happen to the election?" Li Xin suddenly asked.

Chen Rutang’s expression slightly changed; he wasn’t concerned about this hypothetical scenario but realized a serious problem, "The election would be suspended, and Ye Shidao would continue as Governor."

"Yes, if there’s another issue, Ye Shidao will have grounds to declare martial law and suspend the election, conducting an investigation. How long the investigation takes is up to him, even deciding who is problematic and who isn’t, all under his control," Li Xin shared his concerns.

For power, they can do anything. Of course, the opponents will be extremely careful; if they leave any handle that can be manipulated by those with intent, it would be very troublesome.

"Dean, I have an immature idea. Once the results are out, regardless of what they are, we might as well leak the information to the Potter Family," Li Xin suggested, "whether or not the Potter Family is behind Hong Yan’s death, if you have another incident, Ye Shidao will certainly benefit, and the liberals don’t want Ye Shidao to become emperor either."

"You sneaky guy, that’s a ruthless move, getting the Potter Family to protect me."

"In the face of a common goal, I believe they will understand, at least before the results come out, we can maintain the safety of the election; the rest we can discuss later," Li Xin continued.

"You’re now the Captain of the Night Patrol; have you found out something?" Chen Rutang asked.

"Dean, there are some fragmented guesses but no actual evidence. You know, with matters of the occult world, sometimes unless you extract the soul, you can’t get a handle at all, even soul extraction can be falsified," Li Xin admitted with a wry smile.

"Seems like becoming the Grand Governor is really not easy," Chen Rutang himself was not obsessed with becoming the Grand Governor, more focused on participation, and he genuinely wanted to do something.

Just that during this period others worked so hard, Chen Rutang witnessed it, and he didn’t want to give up; internally, he was subtly changing. If he were to become the Grand Governor, it would definitely be better than Nalan Jingguo.

"Hehe, Dean, I think you have the aura of a Grand Governor. Sometimes strategy can’t beat fortune; the times will choose the person," Li Xin laughed, "Let’s prepare multiple options and move forward together; I’ll also hasten the investigation on my end."

"Take care yourself; I’ve received information that someone is investigating you, likely the Black Market, considering the high profits and the death of Hua Qianzan, the matter is not simple," Chen Rutang cautioned.

"I’m a bachelor, not afraid of investigation," Li Xin chuckled.

Chen Rutang nodded; despite receiving such massive benefits from the Black Market, Li Xin’s life didn’t change much. He remained frugal when necessary, complacent when appropriate; each time visiting his desk seemed a bit emptier.

As they spoke, the door outside burst open, and Lu Shuai rushed in, "Upper Council 36% to 46%, we’re falling behind, Lower Council 65% to 35%, we’re leading, in total 47.6% to 41.6%, brothers and sisters, we’re ahead! If we persist, we will create miracles!" Lu Shuai shouted, waving his arms.

The entire election team erupted with thunderous cheers. They had thought it enough just not to fall far behind, not expecting to be in the lead. People were jumping and hugging each other; these days they were passionate but anxious, unsure of what the outcome would be. Who would have thought they’d miraculously overtake, knowing even Hong Yan never achieved this, yet they did it in a short period.

Chen Rutang was ecstatic but kept his emotions in check, as this was just a stage, far from the final result. He observed Li Xin, who was calming emotions, "Did you know this would be the result?"

Li Xin smiled, shaking his head, "Dean, I’m no Prophet; anything is possible, but this good of a result I really didn’t anticipate."

On the other side, Nalan Jingguo’s campaign team, based at Divine Revelation Canon Law School, was dead silent. To create momentum and boost his prestige, Nalan Jingguo had deliberately staged the final phase at Divine Revelation Canon Law School; the results were shocking as he was unexpectedly behind.

After strategizing with Hong Yan for over a year, he had consistently led; only the margin of lead was in question, yet now he was behind.

The whole hall fell silent; Nalan Jingguo clapped his hands with a smile on his face, "We led for a year, a little calm once in a while is nice. I think this minor setback is a great reminder before our victory; this is the enemy’s counterattack; everyone, to your positions, find the cause, devise a plan; we have ample time and resources. We have people, money, and everything necessary. We can win with favorable winds and fight through adverse winds. If the enemies dare to resist, we’ll come back with more fierce attacks!"

A passionate declaration quickly restored everyone’s confidence. Yes, what’s an occasional setback? From any angle, they are in absolute advantage—just find the issue and resolve it.

Everyone mobilized, and Nalan Jingguo summoned core members Nalan Potter, Feili, Patir, Isaiah, Freeman to the meeting room.

Nalan Jingguo looked at his chief campaign officer, "Li Sen, are you sure the statistics are accurate?"

Li Sen Potter, a member of the Potter Family, secretary-general of Longjing City Hall, was the main force in the campaign. Many resource allocations and plan formulations were his responsibility, representing the Potter Family’s interests. If Nalan Jingguo was elected, he would become Longjing City’s Mayor and could enter the Cabinet, being in his early forties at the peak of his ability.

"No mistakes, the situation is even worse than we anticipated," Li Sen said gravely, "The changes came suddenly."

"It’s not a statistical error. How could this happen? Why is the Lower Council so far behind!" Nalan Potter said in a deep voice. In his perspective, leading by at least twenty percentage points this time would have seemed reasonable.

"I don’t know; it’s been my duty to oversee this. Previously, the Lower Council’s gap was minimal; some neutral members and our people defected, very inexplicably!" Freeman was still bewildered. The Mok Family tightly allied with the Potters and Maxim of the Lot People, handling some specifics of this election was a great honor, though finding their position on this big ship required contributions.

The Lot People don’t nurture idlers, but this result was entirely unacceptable. Core members were not as relaxed as the outer circle; such changes foreshadowed uncontrollable shifts.

"Such major change, and you remain unaware?!" Nalan Potter was on the verge of explosion. Less than a month until the major election, this should be the most stable, tense period—with one side breaking heads for a percentage point. Such a sudden large swing—how could this be reasonable?

"Defection surely stems from interest; are they promised something?" Feili slightly furrowed her beautiful brows.

Somehow, Patir felt like an outsider. From a factional perspective, she certainly should be on this side, yet inexplicably she felt some satisfaction. If she didn’t control her expression, she feared bursting into laughter. These people’s faces were so rich, a bit like... clowns.