Chapter 512: Only My Way Chapter 512: The Fleet (2)

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

That night. Comrade Political Commissar suffered from insomnia.

People who do politics often suffer from insomnia; they exhaust their minds and energies for the perfect distribution of social resources, striving to allocate every single yuan into the hands of those who deserve it — that is their goal of struggle. Occasionally, when the odd change is inconvenient to distribute, they quietly slip it into their own pockets — this, too, is for the sake of better serving the masses.

As a politician long accustomed to insomnia, recent events, however, gave Comrade Political Commissar a strange feeling of chill rising from the bottom of his heart; or rather, ever since those 1,200 tons of gold and platinum went missing, the entire fleet's senior management had felt that strangeness.

That was a fleet fully armed, in the middle of live-fire exercises. It ought to have guarded against the unforeseen; even facing a powerful carrier battle group it would have the strength for a fight. At the very least, at the very least, it could not let a team of people silently slip aboard, blow up a large destroyer, then slip away — and on top of that, casually steal gold equivalent in weight to two and a half missile frigates?

If this kind of thing were normal, then what necessity would there be for a naval fleet built at enormous cost?

Therefore, Fleet Headquarters had long treated an insider as the investigation's key focus; they simply could not reveal the wind of it before outsiders.

"Could it really be Chen Yi who took it?" The Political Commissar himself found it laughable, and laughed out loud, yet also felt a creeping dread.

He turned over and got up, found that gold brick stamped with the Central Bank's timestamp, and studied it over and over.

The treasury's management could not be called anything but strict; even a single gold brick leaking out would be improper.

Deep night, no one around; eyeing the glittering gold, the Political Commissar suddenly felt a hollow chill.

At dawn's early light, the nanny was just preparing breakfast when the master bedroom door went "creak" and opened first.

"I'm not eating." The Political Commissar was still wearing yesterday's uniform, hair a bit messy; he grabbed his briefcase and headed out the door.

"Xiao Wu hasn't arrived yet."

"I'll drive myself."

The Political Commissar opened the door, then turned back to change shoes; his hurried appearance made the nanny somewhat panic-stricken.

Inside a Cantonese teahouse next to the naval base, four high officials of Fleet Headquarters gathered again.

The Commander's appetite was the best; he practically wanted one or two portions of everything, eating until his mouth was full of oil, not a shred of a general's bearing.

His Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander appeared far more reserved; aside from drinking congee, they didn't touch a drop of oily food, as if fasting.

The Political Commissar, who hadn't slept all night, had calmed down by now — at least on the surface. He quickly downed a cup of tea, wiped his mouth, and said: "Yesterday afternoon, Chen Yi threatened me."

The Deputy Commander let out a "pfft" of laughter and said: "What can he threaten you with? Just a greenhorn."

The Chief of Staff also wiped his mouth and said: "We and the Jiangning Military Region are peers; we have to save face. If he wants money or projects, a few tens of millions to send him away is fine. Aren't we renovating the submariners' dormitory recently?"

"No good. We've got a bit of trouble tangled around us right now; jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards from all sides are watching. Give Chen Yi 10 million today, and what if Chen Ye introduces another friend tomorrow? Chen Guoliang's face would be hard not to buy. The bandits in Xijing haven't gotten wind yet; if we loosen our grip now, we'll be covered in sores." The Deputy Commander's reasons were ample; infrastructure had always been his turf — how could he yield it over a collective matter?

"Why not count the whole Chen Family as one portion? Since Chen Yi sought out the Political Commissar, it's hard to brush off; their hands really reach far — half of Jiangning still isn't enough for them." The Chief of Staff spoke quite considerately for others.

The Political Commissar, caught between laughter and tears, lightly patted the table and said: "They're not someone who can be sent away with a contract worth a few million. You see for yourselves."

He placed the cloth-wrapped gold on the table, letting the others pass it around, and simultaneously related what Chen Yi had said yesterday.

Hearing the gold had fallen into Chen Yi's hands, and examining the timestamp on the gold bars closely, the four generals present all sucked in a sharp breath in unison.

"If this is true, it's too... bizarre." The Deputy Commander thought for a long while before producing a fitting word.

"Inconceivable!" The Chief of Staff was a resourceful man — or rather, a crafty and suspicious one. He examined the gold over and over, voice low: "You say, could there be something wrong with the gold?"

"Go on." The Political Commissar had thought all night with no answer; now, as long as some clue could be analyzed, he was willing to spend time listening.

The Chief of Staff cleared his throat and said: "Here's what I think. The source of Chen Yi's batch of gold is fishy, and its disappearance is fishy enough. Could it be counterfeit?"

The whole table laughed.

Quite a few naval officers liked Cantonese morning tea; at this moment there were no fewer than thirty or forty people eating heartily, and many turned their heads at the laughter.

The Deputy Commander stood up imposingly, scanned the room, and the sharp officers shouted for the bill.

Before long, the second-floor hall was emptied clean by the Deputy Commander's gaze. The owner, also a retired officer, saw this and decisively withdrew the waitstaff as well.

"Let's continue." The Deputy Commander stretched his waist, instantly feeling much more spacious.

The Chief of Staff's job was originally to offer opinions and wait for others to decide. Unannoyed by the mockery, he lifted his teacup and said: "You look at what other possibilities exist. Truthfully, if I didn't know our fleet's people had no designs on the gold, the possibility of embezzlement would be the greatest."

He spoke as if joking, but his eyeballs rolled around on the Deputy Commander's and Political Commissar's faces.

After a while, the Commander coughed heavily and said: "Don't throw your own formation into chaos first. In my view, 1,200 tons of gold — a single submarine couldn't hold it. A blast hole of only two or three square meters in the ship's bottom; the gold is so heavy and so much — how could it vanish without a trace in just half an hour? None of us few have that ability. I see Chen Yi is bluffing us too."

"Continue searching the seabed, expand the range." The Deputy Commander stroked his beard, then sighed: "This affair really is — too bizarre."

"It is bizarre!" The Political Commissar slammed the table with a "pa" and said: "This word, I muttered all last night."

"Scared me to death." The Chief of Staff, who had been hunched over whispering moments ago, straightened his spine.

"Chen Yi didn't make any demands?" The Commander steadied the conversation back on track.

The Political Commissar shook his head while thinking.

The four of them had no leads for a time; still, it was the Deputy Commander who proposed settling the bill. Whether they'd eaten their fill or not, they all walked away patting their bellies.

Four cars entered the naval base in single file, and there they saw Chen Congyu leading members of the Joint Investigation Group waiting in the office building's lobby.

The Commander and Political Commissar simultaneously cursed, then put on smiling faces to welcome them.

"Let me introduce: this is Chief Prosecutor Niu, Director Yang represents Customs, General Mi is the Jiangning Military Region's representative, plus the Navy's representative — with that, our Joint Investigation Group's structure is complete." Chen Congyu's smile was one honed by battlefield experience in the business world, equally nimble and at ease.

"The Procuratorate, Customs, and the Military Region?" The Commander nodded, shaking hands one by one, feeling a bit strange inside: "Let's go inside to talk."

Chen Congyu laughed heartily and went right in, not a shred of modesty.

The generals secretly resented it, but could only follow behind.

The Political Commissar's pace was slower, trailing at the rear; just as he was about to enter, he heard that familiar yet strange voice call out: "Comrade Political Commissar, please wait a moment."

The tone was mocking; in the naval base, no one would address him like that.

The Political Commissar turned his head — sure enough, it was Chen Yi.

Chen Congyu's group went on ahead.

The Political Commissar thought for a moment, then asked in a deep voice: "What is it this time?"

"Based on the content of your conversation, I've decided to give you more information."

"What information?"

"Gold." Chen Yi shrugged and said, "I put 200 kilograms in your little wife's room, stuffed under the mattress."

Naked extortion without a shred of aesthetic appeal.

The Political Commissar gave a "hmph," turned around, got in the car, and left.

In his favorite villa outside the city, sure enough, there were twenty 10-kilogram central bank gold bars stuffed under the bed.

The young, pure girl cried out in surprise, reluctantly hugging the gold bars, looking as if she would sleep very comfortably at night.

"Aren't you afraid I'll take them back and melt them down?" Handling stolen goods was a required course for a civil servant, useful for both public and private purposes.

"Anyway, I don't intend to keep these 200 kilograms of gold."

"What do you want?" Besides threats, there was also inducement; the Political Commissar felt somewhat more comfortable.

Chen Yi laughed lightly twice, kicked the young, pure girl out of the bedroom, and said: "Simply put, it's simple—I just want the various officers of the Fleet to voluntarily request a budget reduction."

The Navy stationed in Jiangning but not under the jurisdiction of the Jiangning Military Region was a nuisance; for example, when the central bank currently buys gold, they would ask the Fleet to step in and help. If it were other Army field units, it would be lucky if they didn't sell it off.

Furthermore, the Navy voluntarily cutting its budget was just right for the Chen Clan to take the opportunity to cause trouble, and then launch the Westward Advance Plan—for Chen Yi, who owns the West Continent, expansion was an extremely necessary development measure.

At such a time, the national strategy originally based on defense was no longer sufficient. Oceanic eastward expansion obviously had no meaning. One couldn't possibly launch another war facing Southeast Asia, could one?

Comrade Political Commissar deeply knew the Chen Family's long-standing position, and at this moment his heart suddenly sank.

This was naked political struggle, even more naked than aesthetically unappealing extortion.

"I..."

"Don't rush to refuse." Chen Yi interrupted him with a smile and said: "Ten gold bars, each worth 2.5 million. You four, or you three, split them up; examine them carefully, then give me an answer. Comrade Political Commissar, this is both an opportunity and a challenge..."

The Political Commissar glanced back, then turned his head again, but Chen Yi had already disappeared.

"Too strange!" He grabbed the gold bar, feeling it was as hot as a piece of burning charcoal.

Evening.

The Political Commissar first called the Deputy Commander, and then notified the Commander and the Chief of Staff respectively.

Thus, the four of them collectively suffered insomnia.

Voluntarily request a budget reduction?

Almost equal to voluntarily requesting retirement.

Of course, 200 tons of gold equals 50 million yuan in compensation; regardless of how much, it could demonstrate the Chen Family's determination.

The one least wanting to retire was naturally His Excellency the Commander, but he had no good ideas either, so he could only "let it go and see."

Everyone tacitly accepted the gold, waiting for changes in the situation.

Actually, it wouldn't take a few days.

A piece of news that "Chen Zhongguo held a tea party in Xijing" heavily shattered everyone's fragile nerves.

At the banquet. Chen Zhongguo, who should have been sitting in a wheelchair trembling while speaking, seemed like a rigorous and healthy middle-aged man, talking and laughing as usual, entering the hall bustlingly, thinking as usual...

Halfway through watching the news, Comrade Political Commissar turned off the television with a "strange" sighing tone.

Chen Zhongguo paid respects to all Standing Committee Members and more than half of the Xijing Families in one breath; he even led back a tour group, saying it was "retired cadres on vacation," showed his face only at the airport, and then disappeared without a trace.

This was Chen Yi's second batch of political passengers.

... (Unfinished. If you like this work, welcome to come to Qidian (qidian. com) to cast recommendation votes and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)