Chapter 1714: Permission Order

"Special, permission granted for an investigation into Mr. Delu's territory."

Below was the seal Li He had just stamped onto this slip of paper; Delu was stunned, then immediately stared at Li He in shame and indignation.

"Are you playing with me?"

"Do you think I'm a fool!"

"Forging a Permission Order, right in front of my face—General Li He, I usually respect you quite a bit, but don't take me for a fool!"

Delu violently tore the Permission Order in his hand into shreds and threw them into Li He's face.

Li He turned his head as the paper scraps danced in the air; he stared at Delu's furious face and chuckled, "Delu, have you forgotten who holds the highest rank on this island?"

"It's me."

"Who has the authority to sign this Permission Order?"

"Still me."

"You tore up the Permission Order just now—do you intend to defy the laws established by His Majesty!"

Delu's face twitched; seeing Li He's sharp gaze, his heart skipped a beat.

He had been so blinded by rage just now that he had completely forgotten that although he practically controlled everything on Tasmania, he still could not afford to cross Li He.

Especially now, ever since Xie Fang began reforms and abolished military leasing.

Li He, who was once a commander in name only, was now the person with the most formidable firepower on Tasmania.

And although the French vanguard was currently in his courtyard and could take Li He out,

now was not the best time.

If something were to happen to Li He here, it would absolutely attract Xie Fang's attention; they had not yet occupied the port, and their layout was not yet complete.

If they were to clash with the Xie Fang government at this moment, their force of only three thousand French troops would surely be wiped out entirely.

Not only that, but if they wanted to occupy Australia in the future, the price France would have to pay would be enormous.

After thinking this through, Delu suppressed the anger in his heart, put on a different face, and said, "General Li He, this matter is my fault."

"Please be the bigger person and let me off this once."

Li He chuckled, looked at Delu with contempt, and said indifferently, "Easy enough, letting you off isn't impossible."

"However, you know that everything must have its rules."

"Desecrating the law is a serious crime," Li He said with a forced smile. "Think about how you should handle this."

Delu hurriedly instructed his chief assistant to prepare to spend money to buy peace.

But when Delu saw the expression on Li He's face, he instantly remembered that this was just adding another charge against himself!

Li He was not like others; this guy was incorruptible.

Spending money to buy peace from him was simply courting death.

After thinking of this, Delu did a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn in his attitude and chuckled, "To show my apologies, I can donate one hundred Gold Coins to build an elementary school."

Upon hearing this, the expression on Li He's face finally returned to some calm.

He looked at Delu and gestured, "You're a smart kid after all. Let's just leave it at this. Alright, hurry up and take me inside to have a look."

Delu hadn't even finished feeling relieved before his mood plummeted again; General Huo En was inside training the French troops,

and if Li He were to stumble upon that, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Delu said with a fawning smile, "About that..."

Seeing Delu stalling, Li He looked at him playfully and asked, "Why, do you have something shameful inside?"

Li He carefully observed the changes in Delu's expression and discovered a trace of panic.

Before Delu could answer, Li He shoved Delu aside, pushed the door open, and walked straight in.

Seeing this, Delu was startled and hurriedly followed him inside.

But after entering, Li He looked at the workers laboring away and frowned slightly, not finding anything unusual.

【Line 41 is a continuation of 40 in the source text.】

After Delu chased him inside, he wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead and said, "Sorry, General, this is a cotton Factory I just built; it's not finished yet."

Li He nodded expressionlessly and walked in to look; indeed, there was nothing inside.

There was nothing unusual at all; the only thing worth noting was that there were too many workers.

And among the faces of these workers, there was one familiar face.

It was the captain of the Merchant Ship that had been detained earlier; he was here too.

Li He asked in a deep voice, "Does building a textile factory require so many people?"

Delu chuckled and said, "This is to speed up progress, and I'm using the latest technology to build this factory, so it just requires a few more people."

"May I ask, is this against the law?"

Li He glanced at him and said nothing.

After looking around, Li He really didn't find any violations.

He could only leave helplessly, but before leaving, he warned Delu, "Recently, Australian indigenous people have been causing trouble; with such a large factory, be careful."

Delu fawningly agreed, but in his heart, he was full of disdain; the indigenous people on Tasmania were all his laborers now—those cattle-like slaves, causing trouble?

They didn't have the guts, nor did they have the ability.

This was nothing more than a threat from Li He.

Delu also advised Li He, "General, you should be careful too; abusing public power is a very serious issue."

"Especially like today, when nothing was found during the inspection—if this gets out, it will affect your official prestige."

Li He laughed out loud, mounted his horse, and left.

Today was indeed his oversight.

Delu watched Li He's departing back, along with the Longyan Army guards left behind, snorted coldly in annoyance, and then shut the door tight.

That night, he consulted with General Huo En.

"General, I am truly indebted to you today; otherwise, our plan would have been at risk of exposure."

General Huo En glanced at Delu and laughed, "Hehe, if it weren't for the preparations you made in advance to have people monitor the situation, could we have reacted so quickly?"

The two of them looked at each other and laughed heartily.

Delu waved his hand and said, "This was just a small trick of mine, but Li He is a troublesome fellow; the fact that he dared to come in and inspect today shows that he has already sensed something."

"We must be prepared over these next few days to avoid him catching any handle on us."

General Huo En nodded, and looking at Delu, he asked skeptically, "Since he is so dangerous, I could send men to finish him off without anyone knowing, which would also be beneficial to our plan."

"What do you think?"

Delu, however, sighed and said, "General, you do not understand Li He's situation; this man is the Commander of all the Dragon Flame Army on Tasmania."

"You know how important that position is."

"Although we control almost all the power on this island, as long as he is here, our plan cannot be implemented, and a person like him—if you kill him, it is bound to attract the attention of others."

"If he dies, we are the ones who benefit the most, which would certainly draw the high-level attention of Xie Fang."

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