Chapter 543 Like Father, Like Son
The Army Headquarters building of Zhongzhou State was a solemn and majestic building, and was a quiet place.
There were no flowers or greenery here. The square, the buildings, and the Star Flag were all eternal symbols. At first glance, the entire Army Headquarters building could be seen clearly. It stood out in Youzhou city and had an extremely calm and overbearing presence.
Most of the people in the Army Headquarters building went about their work quietly. This building was filled with the smell of iron and blood and even though everyone was in a hurry, no one would make a loud noise. It seemed that everyone was extremely in awe of something.
However, at this moment, a loud and angry roar rang out from the official office of the Administrative Minister at the top floor of the Army Headquarters building.
The loud, but somewhat weak voice came out of the office and spread throughout the whole floor. Some of the secretaries’ ears were buzzing.
“What does Li Tianlan want to do?”
“Is he looking down on the Army Headquarters and Kunlun City? Is he looking down on the overall situation? Or is he looking down on Zhongzhou State?”
“He is the Commander of the Snowdance Corps, but it does not mean that the Snowdance Corps is his independent kingdom! Does he want to form his own troops in Eastern Europe? He is too young!!”
In Dongcheng Wudi’s office, Gu Xingyun, the State-protecting God of War of Zhongzhou State, was thumping the table as he vented his anger.
His eyes were bloodshot and he was in an extremely irritable state and nearly went berserk.
Gu Qianchuan was seriously injured.
Gu Xingyun was also seriously injured.
Kunlun City, which had lost two Invincible Realm experts for the time being, became weaker than ever before.
Although Jiang Shangyu had fallen out with Kunlun City, his position had been personally appointed by Kunlun City after all. As a result, as soon as he arrived in Eastern Europe, Jiang Shangyu had been attacked. He had disappeared for more than 24 hours and there was still no news about him.
In the Dark World today, it was only Li Tianlan who could do this and was the likely suspect.
As long as something happened to Jiang Shangyu in Eastern Europe, as the Commander of the Snowdance Corps, Li Tianlan was responsible.
In Gu Xingyun’s view, this was the result that Li Tianlan wanted.
If Jiang Shangyu was missing, Li Tianlan could stay in Eastern Europe and run Wulan State. It might be a bit of a criticism to say that he was holding the army to increase his value. But in Gu Xingyun’s eyes, everything about Li Tianlan had already exposed his ambition of wanting to take advantage of Eastern Europe and Zhongzhou State, in order to compete with Gu Xingyun.
The fall-out between Jiang Shangyu and Kunlun City had already made Gu Xingyun lose face.
As a result, Li Tianlan had taken action as soon as he had arrived in Eastern Europe, without any buffer at all. That was to say, he did not respect Kunlun City at all, and it was as if he had kicked Gu Xingyun in the face.
How could Gu Xingyun bear it?
Most importantly, the word “missing” was enough to thoroughly stimulate his nerves now.
Two days ago, the First Elder of Kunlun City, Gu Qianchuan, had gone to Beijiang to receive Gu Fengbo. As a result, he had been hit hard by Qin Weibai with a mysterious force in Beijiang, but managed to escape. Up till now, Gu Qianchuan had not come back and there had been no news about him.
Not only Jiang Shangyu, but Gu Qianchuan was also missing.
What was even more terrible was that Jiang Shan, a member of Beijiang Province, just reported this news to Kunlun City unhurriedly after nearly 20 hours.
The Jiang family, Li Tianlan, the graduates of the two Academies, Qin Weibai...
More and more people looked down on Kunlun City. After the joint maneuver of the two Academies, Gu Xingyun surprisingly found that Kunlun City’s status had began to decline at a shocking speed.
All the negative emotions in his heart broke out completely after the news of Jiang Shangyu’s disappearance, so he rushed straight into Dongcheng Wudi’s office and roared recklessly.
Gu Xingyun’s voice was like thunder. After a hysterical outburst, he held the table with his hands, and his breathing was extremely harsh.
Dongcheng Wudi did not pour a cup of tea for Gu Xingyun until he had calmed down. He smiled and said, “Your Highness, no one can confirm that the disappearance of vice marshal Jiang Shangyu is connected with Tianlan. You don’t have to be so excited. Do you think we should check it out?”
Gu Xingyun was stunned. He looked at the smile on Dongcheng Wudi’s face, and suddenly realized that something was wrong, in his mind.
In his whole life, he wanted to expand Kunlun City and the Special Warfare System of Zhongzhou State, instead of following the elite route like the Li family. He had done a really good job, but it was not likely to develop into a comprehensive system that could compete with the Army Headquarters in just twenty years. So in many sensitive personnel matters, Kunlun City had to reach an agreement with the Army Headquarters. When the former Minister of Administrative Office, Qi Beicang, had taken office, Gu Xingyun and Qi Beicang took the same stand and cooperated happily. The Special Warfare Group had also been well developed. But now the Minister of Army Headquarters was Dongcheng Wudi. If he wanted to reach an agreement with him, compromise and balance were necessary.
He mentioned the problem about Li Tianlan in front of Dongcheng Wudi, so he knew what the result would be without having to think about it.
Gu Xingyun’s facial expression was hard to read, and soon he was lost in thought. Recently, he had been really exhausted, both physically and mentally. The huge pressure and a series of bad news almost made him lose control.
Compared with Dongcheng Wudi, who was as stressed as he was now, he still managed to remain as calm as usual. Gu Xingyun finally realized that he was being impetuous.
He sat down slowly opposite Dongcheng Wudi, took a sip of tea from his cup, and did not say anything.
Dongcheng Wudi looked at Gu Xingyun quietly.
Among the top figures with high statuses in Zhongzhou State, both he and Gu Xingyun were now the ones who were in danger and stressed out. Kunlun City’s strength seemed not to be damaged, but having no peak combat capability put themselves in a passive position for the time being. Once their reputation dropped, their actual interests would inevitably shrink. After the joint maneuver of the two Academies, it could be sensed from the final choice of those elite students. In this final maneuver of the two Academies, Kunlun City had lost a considerable part of its future.
Dongcheng Wudi was also in a bad situation now. The Trial Day had broken out in Eastern Europe, and the night in Youzhou had also been in a storm. The impact of privately dispatched troops was getting stronger and stronger at a shocking speed. One of his trusted vice commander in the Garrison Army had been put in prison, and the internal situation in the air force headquarters was in turmoil. The navy used the deputy commander of a fleet who had resigned from his post as a fuse. Now the fire was getting bigger and bigger. In the fields of operations, there were already several generals showing their attitudes on different occasions and drawing a clear line with Dongcheng Wudi. These generals were all thought to have been Dongcheng Wudi’s direct descendants, in the past.
The game between Dijiang and several commanders in the Border Control Corps had also intensified.
Even in the Giant Group, Dongcheng Wudi was facing opposition.
Compared with Gu Xingyun, who was declining but irreplaceable for the time being, how long could Dongcheng Wudi, the Minister of Army Headquarters, stay in his position? This had become the focus of all in Zhongzhou State.
Dongcheng Wudi did not worry much. Although he was under a lot of pressure, he was much calmer than Gu Xingyun. This time, he was very clear, whether he would fall or not, it was destined to be the beginning of Kunlun City’s decline.
This was due to Li Tianlan’s rise.
As for the Dongcheng Clan and himself, even if he was really forced to resign this time, the future of Dongcheng Clan would still be infinitely bright.
This was also because of Li Tianlan’s rise.
No matter what would happen in the future, he regarded it as the last step of his political career. On this road, Dongcheng Wudi relaxed and feared nothing.
Only this relaxed and presumptuous attitude could make him the actual God of Massacre of Zhongzhou State.
He would kill the gods if they stood in the way, and kill the Buddhas if they stood in the way.
The subtle silence was finally broken.
Gu Xingyun put down the teacup and said in a low voice, “No matter what, Li Tianlan is responsible. Jiang Shangyu just arrived in Eastern Europe, and Li Tianlan did not do anything...”
“I can’t see his responsibilities.”
Dongcheng Wudi was still laughing and said blandly, “I can only see Tianlan’s contribution to Zhongzhou State and five countries of Eastern Europe. Your Highness, do you know what this means? It is no exaggeration to say that in all of Eastern Europe, as long as Zhongzhou State takes down the five countries of Eastern Europe, it can even abandon Snow Country. The five countries in Eastern Europe are not big, but they are important cornerstones for Zhongzhou State to completely build up the status of the overlord of the world. It is no exaggeration to describe Tianlan’s contribution.”
“As for Jiang Shangyu... He was attacked in Eyme and did not even arrive at the Snowdance Corps’s station. In order to protect him, Commander Cheng Huining of the Arctic Ocean Command was also seriously injured. Without any advance preparation, Jiang Shangyu’s disappearance was totally an accident.”
Dongcheng Wudi said calmly, “And even if he disappeared in the Snowdance Corps, what does it mean? Tianlan led the army to the north to open up a territory for Zhongzhou State, not to be a nanny. If Jiang Shangyu was really so important, why was he sent to Eastern Europe in the beginning?”
Gu Xingyun’s face changed slightly.
This was equivalent to directly transferring the contradiction to Kunlun City.
Gu Xingyun avoided Dongcheng Wudi’s look and said, “You mean that even though Jiang Shangyu went missing, as the marshal of the Snowdance Corps, Li Tianlan has no responsibility for this at all?”
“He made a contribution.”
“The merits are the merits, and the mistakes are the mistakes. If the two can be mixed together, then many things will be very difficult to deal with.”
“Yes, he made a contribution.”
“No one can deny what he has done in Eastern Europe, but Li Tianlan’s temper is too strong and domineering. Even if he did not talk about Jiang Shangyu, he did not follow the rules when it came to killing Chen Qingluan. Even if Chen Qingluan violated the military order, he was not part of the overall situation. Why did he have to kill Chen Qingluan? If we did not handle what he did in Eastern Europe, I think many comrades would have something to say about it.”
“Yes, he made a contribution.”
“...”
Gu Xingyun looked at Dongcheng Wudi with his mouth agape. For a moment, he did not know what to say.
He did not care about Jiang Shangyu at this time. Since Jiang Shangyu had completely fallen out with him, it would be better if Jiang Shangyu had died. Today, all the venting was about Jiang Shangyu, but all the blame was directed at Li Tianlan.
He believed that Li Tianlan wanted to stay in Eastern Europe to manage Wulan State at all costs.
Such a wild ambition had already touched the bottom line of Kunlun City. Gu Xingyun even felt a little scared.
He had not recovered from his injuries.
After a long time, in three years to five years, if Li Tianlan, who had been developing unscrupulously in Eastern Europe, returned to Zhongzhou State again, who would be able to control him?
Gu Xingyun gritted his teeth and suddenly said, “Minister, there are some things that cannot be taken lightly. I suggest that we transfer Li Tianlan back to Zhongzhou State immediately. It is better to let others deal with the issue in Eastern Europe.”
The words were straightforward and stark.
Dongcheng Wudi narrowed his eyes and said without changing his smile, “What is the reason?”
“Like father, like son. Everyone knows what kind of person his father is. Now Li Tianlan is in charge of the troops, I...”
“Bullshit!”
Dongcheng Wudi, who had been smiling, suddenly turned cold and swore.
He looked at Gu Xingyun, who was stunned, and with a serious look on his face, said, “Like father, like son? What about his father? Do you think you are qualified to comment on him?”
Gu Xingyun was stunned for a moment and suddenly became angry. “What do you mean? Can’t I evaluate one...”
“You cannot make any comments.”
Dongcheng Wudi’s eyes were cold and he said, “Like father, like son? Very good. If that is the case, it will be best to let Tianlan be in charge of the troops.”
Gu Xingyun stood up and pointed at Dongcheng Wudi, his fingertips trembling slightly. “You are simply unreasonable.”
Dongcheng Wudi waved his hand and said in a cold voice, “Send him out.”