Chapter 3266: Dig Three Feet Deep

Hearing that the Grand Commander had arrived, Dong Mingchao hurriedly closed his mouth and gestured to his deputy beside him; the two went out together to meet him.

Wu Shutong happened to walk in at that moment, and upon meeting, Dong Mingchao's subordinates bowed ninety degrees with palms facing Wu Shutong, saying to Dong Mingchao: "My lord, this is the Grand Commander!"

Although Dong Mingchao was an envoy, his rank was still far from being high enough to see the Grand Commander; even the prefects he usually dealt with, he had only heard their voices but never seen them.

Seeing Wu Shutong now, he could not confirm Wu Shutong's identity, so he respectfully said: "This subordinate, Dong Mingchao, pays his respects to the Grand Commander; please, Grand Commander, produce the tiger-head token."

Wu Shutong wasted no words, directly pulling a pure gold token from his pocket; it bore no text, only a lifelike tiger's head. As Wu Shutong's finger traced the clearly defined hairs above the tiger's head, the tiger head on the token came to life, shaking its head and letting out a low growl.

There are only five tiger-head tokens in the entire Po Qing, each held by one of the five Grand Commanders of the Five Armies' Commander-in-Chief Office; this token was refined by Wu Feiyan using spiritual energy, containing an illusion formation; only when the master strokes the hairs on the tiger's head does the formation activate, making the tiger lifelike; if the token falls into others' hands, it will not have this effect—this is how the Grand Commanders of the Five Armies' Commander-in-Chief Office prove their identity.

Though Dong Mingchao had never seen a tiger-head token before, he had long heard of its existence and features from above; upon seeing it now, he naturally dared not doubt, and immediately knelt on one knee, loudly declaring: "This subordinate, Dong Mingchao, obeys all orders from the Grand Commander!"

Wu Shutong grunted in acknowledgment, then put the token back into his pocket and immediately asked: "Have the others all arrived?"

"All have arrived!" Dong Mingchao respectfully replied, then added: "Please, Grand Commander, proceed to the warehouse for instructions."

Wu Shutong coldly said: "Lead the way ahead."

"As you command!"

Dong Mingchao bowed his body and led Wu Shutong all the way to the warehouse.

Hundreds of Tiger-Brave Soldiers from Naples and hundreds of Elite Cavalry from Nigeria were already lined up here, waiting.

The Tiger-Brave Soldiers are Wu Shutong's direct troops, and the Nigerian Elite Cavalry have already seen him, so upon his entry, everyone simultaneously knelt and respectfully said: "Welcome, Grand Commander!"

Wu Shutong gestured for the crowd to rise, then said with a cold face: "The situation is urgent, so I won't beat around the bush with you all; today I have gathered you in Morocco to investigate what happened last night at Duke Mining, as well as the whereabouts of Duke Mining's Elite Cavalry, death warriors, and their families."

Having said that, he looked at Dong Mingchao and said: "Since you are the envoy here, you know the situation best; you first tell everyone what clues you have gathered."

Dong Mingchao nodded somewhat nervously, wiped a cold sweat, and said: "Don't blame the Grand Commander and fellow brothers, I am utterly clueless about what exactly happened at Duke Mining; all I can share now is my routine understanding of Duke Mining."

As he spoke, Dong Mingchao added: "Duke Mining produces only one product: finished phosphate; all their phosphate is transported via Morocco National Railway, directly from Duke Mining to the Casablanca Port rail freight yard; my trading company has a transit warehouse there, where all imported goods that have cleared customs and exported goods awaiting clearance are stored, and our staff handle the customs procedures."

"Duke Mining has a train full of phosphate arriving in Casablanca every afternoon; since the production line upgrade and resumption of operations, it has been running without fail for over three years, with no abnormalities; yesterday afternoon, around six-ten, the last phosphate train arrived, and no abnormalities were found; moreover, the cargo's quality and quantity matched the norm; after yesterday's incident, we immediately obtained yesterday's train's operational records and compared them with previous ones; from the train's arrival at Duke Mining to loading completion and departure, we saw no abnormalities."

"Following the established plan of the Great Blood Exchange last night, I led a convoy to Duke Mining to transport the first batch of participants to the airport, but as soon as we arrived at Duke Mining, an explosion occurred."

Wu Shutong coldly said: "First, tell me what happened after the explosion; what is the current state of the Moroccan government?"

Dong Mingchao hurriedly said: "The explosion last night already attracted the attention of local Moroccan police; given the seriousness, they immediately reported it up layer by layer to the national level; the capital Rabat urgently dispatched an investigation team, which arrived at Duke Mining this morning; they conducted a preliminary investigation and inspection of the scene; currently, there are no signs of casualties, so they have temporarily defined it as a production responsibility accident; they are now seeking the apparent responsible person of Duke Mining, because in their view, the entire enterprise reduced to ashes with everyone missing simultaneously is indeed strange, but they have not disclosed this to the media, which still thinks it is merely a major safety accident."

Wu Shutong asked him: "Who is the apparent responsible person of Duke Mining? Is it one of those missing Elite Cavalry?"

Dong Mingchao said: "The responsible person reported to the local government totals six; five of them are among those Elite Cavalry, and the other is with us; but we now dare not let that nominal responsible person come forward to communicate with the government, for fear the government will detain him to investigate the matter."

Wu Shutong nodded and said: "We certainly cannot go deal with them now; you said yesterday afternoon the train's video showed everything normal, but by past eleven last night, Duke Mining was already empty of anyone; in just a few hours, no one could have moved over ten thousand people from such a place; the only reasonable explanation is that the other side had already begun secretly moving them, and to avoid detection, they kept the daily goods supply going."

Dong Mingchao hurriedly said: "The Grand Commander's words are most reasonable; I believe the facts are exactly as you said."

Wu Shutong said: "So next, I will divide you all into three large teams, each responsible for one investigative direction."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately straightened up and chorused: "We solemnly obey the Grand Commander's orders!"

Wu Shutong said: "The first team shall take Duke Mining as the key point, investigate whether anyone has visited Duke Mining recently, check all accessible surveillance cameras along the route, and check whether any satellite images of Duke Mining have been taken recently, comparing them with past satellite images to see if any obvious abnormalities occurred."

"The second team shall investigate all personnel and vehicles that have left Duke Mining recently; moving over ten thousand people, even in batches, cannot possibly be completely concealed; search carefully, and clues will surely be found; I need to know the full movement trajectory of every person who left Duke Mining."

"The third team shall conduct a carpet-like search spreading outward from Duke Mining as the origin; over ten thousand people cannot possibly be evacuated immediately; they must be hiding somewhere in Morocco; even if we have to dig three feet deep, we must find them for me!"