Chapter 1486 - 444: [Chaos]_3

Chapter 1486: Chapter 444: [Chaos]_3

During the entire meal, Chen Yan gazed absentmindedly out the window at the street, his eyes drifting toward the south.

As lunch was about to end, suddenly, everyone in the restaurant, including Chen Yan and other diners, was drawn to the scene on the street outside!

A truck drove in from the northwest side of the street! The vehicle was covered in dust, appearing travel-worn.

On the truck’s cargo bed sat two rows of soldiers holding long guns, with their hats pulled down low and their uniforms stained with dirt.

They didn’t look particularly elite, but they were undoubtedly much stronger than the local police whose uniforms were slack and untidy.

Following the troop truck came another, and then a third one...

Chen Yan noticed that the first two trucks were primarily carrying people, while the third truck had boxes of ammunition.

Some diners left their seats and flocked to the windows, watching the troop trucks slowly move along the street.

These three trucks deliberately drove very slowly, seemingly wanting more people to see them, entering from the northwest and heading southeast—where the City Government is located.

Chen Yan remained seated, but his mind turned slightly, and he chuckled.

It seems the local Mayor is no fool; he has some brains.

When troop trucks enter the city, if they were meant to "quell a rebellion," they should be speeding to the front lines to put out the fire.

But these three troop trucks seemed to be moving slowly. This is not a "march."

It’s a "parade!"

The Mayor is flexing his muscles!

The morning explosion and gunfight didn’t cause much actual damage, only a few deaths and some burned cars, but the real loss wasn’t that significant.

Yet this kind of unrest more significantly damages the Mayor’s dignity.

As a leader with the gun power who occupies the highest authority in this city, this Mayor and his family should be in firm control of the city, at the top of the food chain.

The morning incident was a slap in the face to him.

This kind of event sends an incorrect signal to the outside: is it that the Mayor’s control over this city is failing?

To his superiors, it raises doubts over whether the Mayor still has enough power to suppress all other local forces.

To the populace below, they are anxious—can the Mayor protect the safety of this city?

Hence, there’s likely this "parade."

The three military vehicles were transferred from afar, supposedly from the troops stationed at the mine controlled by the Mayor’s family.

After entering the city, they purposely drove slowly through the streets to let more people see that such a force had entered the city.

Military vehicles, armed soldiers!

What could be more intimidating than that?

"Three vehicles, probably around a hundred soldiers," Chen Yan smacked his lips.

A little over a hundred, just a company’s strength.

This number is enough to protect the North District.

But relying on a company to sweep the South District? That’s dreaming.

The South District isn’t small, spanning about ten square kilometers.

An area as big as half a city with just over a hundred soldiers scattered there wouldn’t even reach the level of sprinkling pepper.

Sweeping the South District is impossible—those gangs, those local warlords, especially those fanatics from the native sect; they might be zealots about religion, but that doesn’t mean they’re fools.

Only a fool would bring an unruly crowd to directly confront a well-trained military force!

As long as they don’t confront head-on, by moving, hiding, in such a large South District, dispersing a force of over a hundred soldiers would be suicidal.

Sniping, urban warfare could easily swallow up these hundred or so soldiers.

Moreover, this isn’t an occupied territory, the South District is also under the Mayor’s jurisdiction.

He certainly can’t indiscriminately kill and bomb in the city he governs.

Soldiers charging in, those fanatics just change clothes, smudge their faces with dust, and blend into the crowd—where would you find them?

In a city without surveillance, without a basic household registration system, finding people is a joke. You’d have to rely on manpower to comb through it street by street.

It’s impossible to kill all the people in the South District?

Thus, the army’s power and destructiveness would be limited.

Chen Yan, after glancing twice, withdrew his gaze.

·

In fact, as Chen Yan anticipated, the three military vehicles purposely "paraded" on the streets of the North District for over half an hour before slowly driving to the City Government.

Then, the company of soldiers gathered at the Revolution Road direction checkpoint, replacing the local police forces originally stationed there.

Afterward, Chen Yan wasn’t aware that the police officer he met today who came to his room for inquiry—in fact, the local police chief—was ordered by the Mayor in the afternoon to brace himself and lead several officers into the South District.

His mission was to enter the South District, meet the prominent figures there, and deliver the Mayor’s ultimatum.

The Mayor’s demands were clear: hand over the murderers responsible for this morning’s arson and killings in the North District.

He needed an explanation, a signal to the whole city showing he "still firmly controls the city," and a sign that he still can make the South District yield.

He didn’t even stipulate the number of "murderers" to be surrendered, which is interesting—if the other side were sensible, they could casually hand over three or four for appearance’s sake, and that would be sufficient.

The Mayor’s move was essentially offering a step down, also implying that he doesn’t wish to provoke a major conflict.

The hundred-plus soldiers gathered on the Revolution Road traffic bridge served more as armed intimidation.

In this situation, if those "big shots" in the South District—especially the leader of the native sect supposedly controlling the underground forces there—were sane, they should naturally accept this step down and randomly hand over a few people to make the numbers.

Ultimately, everyone could end the matter perfunctorily.

The Mayor continues to sit at the city’s highest position, demonstrating his "control power" to everyone, while the big shots in the North District continue to prosper.

The local warlords in the South District continue to lead their modest lives in the mire.

Under normal circumstances, this should be the case.

However...

The lunatics, the fanatic believers of the native sect, showed what it means to play unpredictably!

·

At two thirty-seven in the afternoon, a shabby police car hastily drove back from the South District on the streets south of the Revolution Road checkpoint.

The police who initially went to the South District were all disarmed!

Upon reaching the troops’ post, the police car stopped, and the policemen inside rushed out, each with bruised faces and torn uniforms—each had suffered a beating!

But the chief was missing!

The driver, blood at the corner of his mouth, his eyes almost vacant.

He jumped out of the car and grabbed the troop commander, a bearded officer, speaking in a tone filled with urgency, panic, embarrassment, and even despair!

"They killed the chief! They killed the chief!!"