Chapter 3243

At least half of the fifteen boxcars of cargo that arrived at Duke Mining were the mechanical equipment needed for mining, while the other half consisted of the various equipment and auxiliary materials required for this security system upgrade.

Ye Chen, now changed into work clothes, was hiding behind the cargo at this moment when a Jinyiwei opened the door, glanced at the document, and said: "Commander, boxcar 08 contains all engineering parts."

The commander immediately said: "Don't worry about the engineering parts; first unload the surveillance equipment."

"Yes, sir." The Jinyiwei responded and directly opened the cargo compartment door where Ye Chen was hiding, then proceeded to check the other cars.

Ye Chen had originally intended to use spiritual energy to control this person, keep him here, and then sneak into Duke Mining when the opportunity arose, but upon realizing that the cultivator was on the platform and the Jinyiwei commander was also present, he decided to first observe and then act when the chance came.

At this time, Assistant Minister Song saw that the train had arrived and all boxcars had been inspected without issue, so he no longer wished to stay and said to the commander: "Commander Yin, you stay here and personally supervise; make sure to work overtime to complete the task. I still need to organize the list for the great blood replacement, so I won't waste time here."

Commander Yin had been extremely annoyed and troubled by the great blood replacement matter, and naturally felt displeasure and disgust toward Assistant Minister Song. Upon hearing she was leaving, he immediately bowed with a dark face and said: "Very well, Assistant Minister Song, then I won't see you off."

Assistant Minister Song noticed his mood was bad and didn't bother to take it to heart, snorted coldly, turned, and left the platform.

As soon as Assistant Minister Song left, someone stepped forward anxiously and asked: "Commander... this... this surnamed Song bastard, is he really going to separate us from our families?"

Upon hearing this, Commander Yin's face instantly turned cold, and he quickly whispered a rebuke: "Are you tired of living?!"

As his words fell, a sharp breaking-through-the-air sound came flying at extreme speed, and immediately, the Jinyiwei who had asked the question suddenly opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue.

Commander Yin was puzzled when he saw that the tip of the other person's tongue suddenly split open from top to bottom, and a cold light shot out from the center of the tongue tip!

Commander Yin stared intently and realized it was actually the slender sword from Assistant Minister Song's waist!

At this moment, that slender sword flew from somewhere unknown, directly pierced through the back of the head of this subordinate of his, entered his mouth, and then penetrated his entire tongue!

The subordinate didn't even let out a groan before being killed by a single sword strike. Since they had been whispering to each other earlier and were very close, the sword's tip was now only a few centimeters from Commander Yin's brow.

As the subordinate's body uncontrollably fell to the ground with a thud, all the Jinyiwei were instantly startled.

No one had noticed the approach of that slender sword just now, and at this moment, Assistant Minister Song stood at the far end of the platform several hundred meters away, turned to look at the crowd, arms crossed, expression stern.

Immediately, she slightly opened her right hand and softly shouted: "Retrieve!"

The flying sword then flew out from the corpse's mouth, traced a silver arc of light in midair above the platform, and in the blink of an eye was grasped in her hand.

She gracefully slipped the slender sword back into its waist sheath, coldly said: "Those who dare to discuss superiors shall be slain!"

Everyone was stunned by this scene, at a loss, standing frozen in place, too afraid to move or speak.

Commander Yin swallowed his saliva, and his hatred toward Assistant Minister Song grew even stronger in his heart.

But the opponent's strength was indeed outstanding—killing someone right under his nose, he didn't even have a chance to react. Just now, if that sword tip had moved forward a little more, it would have directly pierced his heavenly spirit cap!

Therefore, under these circumstances, he dared not show any defiance toward Assistant Minister Song, and quickly said: "My subordinates' lack of discipline is no excuse; please, Assistant Minister Song, reduce the punishment!"

Assistant Minister Song coldly snorted: "Punishment is waived, since the overreacher is already dead, you may take this as a lesson. Before I leave this place, I hope to hear no one utter any words of grave treason again. If there is a next time, Commander Yin must also bear collective responsibility!"

Commander Yin quickly clasped his fists, speaking with utmost respect: "My subordinates thank Assistant Minister Song for showing mercy; please rest assured, Assistant Minister Song, my subordinates will certainly not let such things happen again!"

Assistant Minister Song lightly said: "Remember what you said."

Having spoken, she turned and vanished into the far end of the platform.

Although Assistant Minister Song had left, the others still dared not act rashly, after all, a corpse still knelt on the ground, and everyone for a moment didn't know what to do.

Commander Yin glanced at the corpse, sighed, and said: "Send two people to carry Xiao Tang's body away, find a place with good feng shui and open space, and let him rest in peace."

One person quickly stepped forward and asked: "Commander, should we notify Xiao Tang's family to come and see him one last time?"

Commander Yin sighed, waved his hand, and said: "No need. His parents are old and cannot withstand such a blow. Moreover, the great blood replacement is imminent, and everyone will have to part from their families. After separation, there will be no more news. It's better to conceal this for a few days, wait until the great blood replacement begins, and then let his family believe he is still alive, so they may have some comfort."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

Many even had tears welling up in their eyes.

But with this lesson from Xiao Tang's fate, no one dared to speak recklessly or act insolently again.

Seeing the low morale of the crowd, Commander Yin quickly said: "Alright, send two people to bury Xiao Tang, and the rest of you hurry up and unload the cargo! Let the great blood replacement happen—at least everyone and their families can still have a chance to live. Look at it more optimistically: life is only thirty thousand days short; if we don't meet, we don't meet!"

Upon hearing this, although everyone's hearts were extremely despondent, they dared not delay further. Two volunteers stepped forward, carried Xiao Tang's body away from the platform, and the remaining people began continuing to move all surveillance equipment from the boxcars onto the platform.

Ye Chen inside the boxcar had not expected that the female cultivator would strike so ruthlessly—the Jinyiwei had merely called her a bastard, and she immediately struck to take a life. However, through observing her actions just now, Ye Chen could sense that her cultivation was indeed significantly inferior to his own. Since she was the highest-ranking and strongest person here, the situation was now completely under his control.

As for the great blood replacement they had been discussing, Ye Chen also gathered a rough idea from the deceased's complaints: it seemed the Broken Clear Society would separate these Jinyiwei from their families in order to tightly bind them and completely eradicate any thought of betrayal.

Using family as hostages—this tactic is indeed ruthless. Once the great blood replacement is completed, if I return to such a place, I will surely be attacked by all the Jinyiwei.

Even if I tell them I can help them detoxify and free them from the Broken Clear Society's control, what good would it do?

As long as they dare to follow me, their unknown family members will likely be slaughtered to the last.

In that case, probably the vast majority of people would be unwilling to abandon their kin and seek survival alone.

Assistant Minister Song's move is truly vicious—controlling these Jinyiwei is not enough; she also uses their families as threats and implements collective punishment, having reached a point of utter inhumanity.

Ye Chen's spiritual sense had been quietly tracking that Assistant Minister Song until she left the refining workshop and arrived at the office building outside it.

Commander Yin had prepared an office for her here, handing over all the Jinyiwei roster information and household registration books. She was currently drafting the personnel list and batches for the great blood replacement.

Ye Chen could sense that when Assistant Minister Song had just left, she had still been using spiritual energy to monitor the Jinyiwei on the platform, but now she had completely withdrawn her spiritual energy and no longer concerned herself with that side.

Thus, he also formed his own plan.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to this boxcar, he silently used spiritual energy to implant a psychological suggestion into Commander Yin, then stepped out of the boxcar without a sound and walked straight toward Commander Yin.

Ye Chen suddenly emerged from the boxcar without any concealment, nor did he give any psychological suggestion to others. This drew the attention of several Jinyiwei, who momentarily stared in confusion, not knowing where this unfamiliar face had come from. However, they quickly realized this person was likely an outsider who had sneaked in with the train, and thus unconsciously moved toward Ye Chen.

By now, Ye Chen had already arrived before Commander Yin, clasped his fists, and loudly said: "Commander, your subordinate has returned to report!"

Sensing that the few people near Ye Chen were about to come over and restrain him, but seeing him report to Commander Yin, they were momentarily even more astonished.

Duke Mining has nearly a thousand Jinyiwei, and including family members, there are three to four thousand people. Although these Jinyiwei cannot possibly know every individual, the dozens responsible for the platform belong to the same unit and are all very familiar with each other. Ye Chen's face, they had indeed never seen before.

However, upon hearing him report to Commander Yin, speaking as if he were a comrade of everyone, they couldn't tell whether he was a brother from another unit.

Thus, several people turned to look at Commander Yin, waiting for his response.

At this moment, Commander Yin laughed heartily, warmly stepped forward, patted Ye Chen on the shoulder, and loudly said: "Good brother, these years you've spent outside have truly been hard on you!"

Having said that, he then told the people nearby: "Listen up, everyone—this brother is my spy planted outside. Now that the great blood replacement is imminent, I have recalled him from outside, and he has a great chance to help us completely reverse our current situation. You must not tell anyone about this, especially not Assistant Minister Song—understood?"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately lowered their guard.

Moreover, hearing Commander Yin say that Ye Chen might completely reverse the current situation, the crowd immediately became full of anticipation and asked: "Commander, could it be that this brother can break this great blood replacement plan?!"

Commander Yin smiled and said: "You brothers may boldly anticipate this. In short, I, Yin, will certainly serve all the brothers here with utmost dedication until death. Also, I ask you brothers not to be pessimistic—as long as I am still here, we will definitely have a chance to turn the tide!"