ctnovel Chapter 42 Emergency Recruitment
Chapter 42 Emergency Recruitment
This calm lasted only one more day before a major, almost completely unexpected event occurred, leaving the entire Confederation stunned—
The official statement from Tiandu City condemned, in extremely strong terms, the illegal black market led by Yunqi City for attempting to smuggle the elite elves from the eastern territories, severely disrupting the order of the Carol Federation.
This news had already spread in small circles because of Jiang Yong, and a few days ago, due to the secret blockade of Yunqi City by Tiandu City, anyone with any information channels knew about it to some extent. Now, the conflict has finally been brought into the open, causing an uproar among the entire confederation!
"...The black market will probably make a move soon too."
Jiang Yong rubbed his forehead in thought, looking at the densely packed document that had just been delivered to the table. Reading from the beginning, it started with a statement that sounded very much like the official stance of the capital city:
[Recently, during an enforcement operation in the eastern territory, the city's security department successfully intercepted a shipment of high-risk elves transported through an illegal border trade network. Preliminary confirmation from the Confederate central authorities indicates that these elves belong to the elite race "Galebringers," owned by the Confederate central authorities. Their destination is unknown, and the transportation process was completely outside the Confederate's oversight system, posing a serious threat to Confederate order.]
"hehe."
Jiang Yong curled his lip. It's only at times like this, with all this talk of the Confederation, that those large city-states remember that the elite races of their eastern territories are nominally assigned to the Confederation's central government.
However, this is just the beginning; the real content, the dumpling vinegar, follows.
For a long time, illegal black market networks entrenched in the border areas have been using the complex terrain and the protection of foreign powers to continuously engage in cross-border smuggling of illicit goods, controlled items, tax-evaded goods, sensitive personnel, and prohibited technologies. These networks not only severely erode the sovereignty of this city-state and the confederation's order, but have also evolved into a breeding ground for extremism, illicit financing, and organized crime…
It must be seriously pointed out that the so-called "free trade" and "combating unreasonable tariffs" are merely disguises used by criminal groups to justify their illegal activities. Some city-states, driven by narrow interests, have long tacitly approved or even secretly supported the existence of this black market system, providing smuggling rings with shelter, supplies, and intelligence support.
For a long time, this city-state has maintained maximum restraint and continuously urged relevant parties to jointly address these illegal activities through diplomatic communication. However, these forces not only refused to cooperate but also condoned the continued expansion of the black market network. In short, you're ruthless, heartless, and unreasonable, blah blah blah blah...
In the document, Tiandu City righteously and sternly criticized the chaos of the black market, and cited extensively the violations of the Confederation Acts by "certain city-states" and "related forces," almost directly naming Yunqi City. Then, it emphasized again that the eastern territory belonged to the Confederation Central Committee and was sacred and inviolable.
This insistence on emphasizing the Confederation, besides seeking legitimacy and justification for himself, is probably also a veiled warning to the Confederate chief who secretly supports the black market.
Then, Tian Du City's true intentions were finally revealed.
[...The city-state's army, border defense, and security departments have entered a state of high alert and will continue to conduct cross-regional joint operations to ensure border security and the safety of citizens. Any organization or individual involved in, funding, or assisting related activities will be severely punished according to law. The city-state will, in accordance with the Articles of Confederation and related agreements, take all necessary measures to completely sever the channels of the illegal trade network and will pursue indefinitely any organizations or individuals involved in smuggling!]
In short, they've completely broken off relations!
It was common knowledge that the large and small city-states had been engaged in open and covert struggles for many years. However, in public, neither side had ever shown a confrontational attitude, and they mostly remained silent on the topic—after all, the large city-state knew that it was actually in the wrong, and that speaking out would only bring trouble upon itself.
Since they've already reaped so many benefits from a monopoly, they might as well keep quiet and make a fortune.
However, Tian Ducheng's sudden public provocation of the conflict has indeed taken everyone by surprise.
This announcement was just released early this morning. But what's even more surprising is that Yunqi City's official response came almost immediately, appearing very confident and seemingly unconcerned about being accused of taking offense. They stated that the incident was purely fabricated, and that it was you who were cold-blooded, heartless, and unreasonable.
Everyone here has a radio, so this kind of big announcement spreads very quickly. In the next few hours, a series of back-and-forth arguments ensued: "So you're not cold-hearted, heartless, or unreasonable?" and "Where am I cold-hearted, heartless, or unreasonable?" It's hard to imagine how fast the writers on both sides were.
"Even the officials of Yunqi City are so confident; it seems they really have some crucial evidence. I wonder if it's because of the information I provided..."
Jiang Yong was looking at the document in thought when suddenly the communicator Professor Xu had given him rang again.
"...Hello, is this Professor Xu?"
He answered the phone somewhat speechlessly, feeling that Professor Xu, a smuggler, had almost become his personal mouthpiece for the black market's higher-ups.
After a series of buzzing sounds, a reply came quickly from the other end.
"Mr. Jiang, I have an important invitation for you."
"invite?"
Jiang Yong already had a guess in his mind, but he still played the straight man and asked.
"...Management wants to hire you for an important task. If you're interested, you can come at 3 PM today..."
"What kind of mission is it? What's the reward?"
"Well... the higher-ups are keeping it very tight-lipped, it must be something important, at least I'm not qualified to know..."
"Okay, I'll be there on time."
Jiang Yong hung up the call, feeling a vague sense of déjà vu. He felt that certain times and conversations were exactly the same as when he had just visited Professor Xu.
……
That afternoon, Jiang Yong arrived at the agreed location on time. Upon entering, he found the room packed with over a dozen experts, all of whom he recognized as influential figures in Yunqi City!
Good heavens, this is going to be big... Wait a minute, why is that shopkeeper from before here? Is he capable enough?
While secretly speculating, Jiang Yong nodded calmly to the crowd looking at him, casually found a seat, and waited quietly.
A few minutes later, the door opened again, and a person pushed it in, locked it behind his back, and walked straight to the front of the room. It was the man who had delivered the goods to Jiang Yong earlier, who was also An Li's puppet.
"Your Excellency, Administrator."
"Hello, manager."
Everyone present clearly recognized the face and stood up to greet him.
"Alright, everyone,"
The man controlled by An Li didn't waste any words and went straight to the point with a serious expression: "Everyone here is a trustworthy person who has been carefully selected, so I won't keep you in suspense any longer. There is only one purpose in inviting you all here today."
"You've all likely seen the announcement issued by Tiandu City. What I want to say is that their accusations were false from the very beginning, and our people have already found irrefutable evidence in the Eastern Territory!"
"If we can obtain that evidence, the frame-up by Tiandu City will fall apart. Right now, they're breaking through Tiandu City's blockade and rushing back with the evidence. The situation is urgent; we need your help!"