Chapter 924: Chapter 924

He Ao looked toward the blonde woman in front of him.

The Deputy Mayor of Yilan City was Lin En’s running mate, and Yilan City’s political parties were numerous and fragmented. During the election campaign, to ensure victory, Lin En united not only the radical factions but also some moderate ones.

With the support of these moderates, Lin En was ultimately elected as the Mayor of Yilan City.

Deputy Mayor Lante was the representative of these moderate parties, holding a centrist to conservative political stance and not quite in agreement with Lin En’s large-scale radical reforms.

Despite the clear difference in political opinions, Lin En still chose him as his running mate, a simple decision aimed at reassuring those moderate parties.

During the troubles with Lin En’s reform, facing the onslaught from consortia, Deputy Mayor Lante faintly became the conservative and moderates’ ’banner’.

At this moment, as Deputy Mayor, he was also the first in line to succeed the Mayor. An accident befalling Lin En, according to the constitution of Yilan City, would mean the Deputy Mayor would directly inherit the position, completing Lin En’s unfinished term and becoming the Mayor of Yilan City.

The blonde woman looked at He Ao and nodded gently, "The moment news of your assassination attempt broke, he phoned to inquire about your condition."

He Ao nodded lightly, picked up his brass cane, and headed toward an elevator on the side, "Transfer Deputy Mayor Lante’s call directly to my bracelet."

The blonde woman nodded lightly. As she watched He Ao’s retreating figure, she spoke swiftly, "Besides Deputy Mayor Lante, other Cabinet officials and General Scott have called..."

"Tell them I’m fine, just a minor injury. Tomorrow during the day, I will give a live speech at the Mayor’s Mansion regarding recent events,"

He Ao stepped into the elevator and waved his hand gently, "Until my speech tomorrow morning begins, the Mayor’s Mansion will not respond to this matter in any way."

The blonde woman nodded. As the elevator doors closed, gradually obscuring He Ao, she turned back to look at the others behind her, her expression serious, "Our task might be quite heavy tonight, let’s begin."

The group nodded their heads.

By this time, He Ao had already reached the fifth floor of the Mayor’s Mansion.

The howling wind and rain pattered against the delicately painted stained glass windows. He Ao glanced at the raindrops clinging to the window and stepped out of the elevator into a narrow hallway, raising his hand to answer the phone,

With a ’beep,’ a slightly anxious middle-aged man’s voice rose quickly from the other end of the call.

He Ao walked steadily down the hallway, replying in a calm voice.

It seemed as if hearing his solid, forceful footsteps brought some calm to the other end of the line, "You’ve been the target of an assassination? Who did it? How are you now?"

"Just a minor injury,"

He Ao answered steadily, "We don’t yet know who is responsible. The assailant managed to bring a small electromagnetic cannon into the city and even launched a high-energy guided missile. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the City Police Station are investigating."

After hearing He Ao’s words, there was a pause on the other end of the line, as if pondering something, and finally, the voice came through, a little heavily, "Although I don’t agree with your reforms, I didn’t do this, I wouldn’t do such a thing."

As Yilan City’s Deputy Mayor, he was a likely beneficiary should Lin En have an ’accident’, and it was hard not to cast suspicion on him.

After saying this, it seemed he realized his assurance might not be quite convincing, eventually letting out a soft sigh, saying evenly, "If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do to convince you, but I wasn’t behind this."

Raindrops scattered against the hallway’s side windows, and the old man’s calm voice echoed down the narrow corridor, also reverberating around the quiet space of the sophisticated microphone.

There was a dim silence on the other end of the line, and after a while, he asked, "Why?"

"I’ve always believed that as partners, there should be some fundamental trust between us, shouldn’t there? Just like you and I both aim to pull this city out of the mire, and that’s why we joined forces in the first place,"

He Ao, leaning on his brass cane, moved further inside along the hallway, "And just like you’ve just believed my ’I believe you’, it truly came from the heart and not just a flippant promise from a seasoned politician."

The light cast his elongated shadow on the floor, passing stained glass windows one after the other, and red wooden doors repeatedly.

There was a moment of silence on the other end before the voice softened, "You seem a bit different than before."

"You seem to have more edge and confidence than before, the current you is a little like how you were when you first invited me to join your campaign team,"

Lante’s tone paused, then he added slowly, "To be exact, you even have more ’presence’ now."

"That sounds like you’re saying I’ve gotten younger."

He Ao let out a slight smile, stopping in front of the red wood door at the end of the hallway. He raised his brass cane and tapped lightly, "I’ve just come to understand some things. By the way, "

He paused in his speech, "There’s something I’d like to ask of you."

Confusion came over the voice on the other end.

He Ao watched the wooden door in front of him, his voice steady, "Don’t tell anyone that I took your call today."

The tightly closed wooden door slowly opened, revealing the bright lights inside.

There was a noticeable pause on the other end before the voice spoke evenly, "Alright."

He Ao stretched out his hand and ended the call.

Sometimes, having the same enemy can bring two people with different stances together within the same circle.

The heavy red wood door opened bit by bit. A man dressed in a white robe with a gentle face appeared in He Ao’s field of view. He pulled the door wide open, revealing the clean and tidy medical room behind it, where some members of the Mayor’s Guard and medical students were setting up equipment.

He looked at the medical room behind him and then at He Ao, speaking softly, "Mr. Lin En, some equipment has just been moved here. It might be a bit messy."

"No problem, thank you, Doctor Des."

He Ao glanced at the man’s white robe in front of him, and at the faintly discernible World Tree emblem embroidered on it, then stepped forward into the medical room.

Dr. Des was Mr. Lin En’s personal physician. He had graduated from Dawn Medical University with a doctoral degree and had once served as the head of the clinical department at Dawn Medical University, as well as being one of the honorary professors at Pet-Qiming Medical College.

When Mr. Lin En visited Dawn City, he met this professor and promised to fund the construction of Pet-Qiming Hospital in Yilan City.

Hence the doctor came to Yilan City and concurrently became Mr. Lin En’s personal physician.

Strictly speaking, all this had happened several months ago.

At the first instance of Mr. Lin En’s attack, members of the Mayor’s Guard had invited this doctor to the Mayor’s Mansion and, according to his requests, had moved a series of medical equipment over.

The room before them was originally a small drawing room in the Mayor’s Mansion, which had been temporarily converted into a medical room.

At this moment, the surrounding members of the Mayor’s Guard and medical students had roughly finished installing all the equipment, and after saluting He Ao, the members of the Mayor’s Guard excused themselves and left.

He Ao also walked to the edge of the operation table in the center of the medical room, placing his walking stick to the side.

A medical student immediately came over, took the walking stick, and placed it on another side table.

"How do you feel about your condition now?"

Dr. Des looked at He Ao. He glanced at He Ao’s neat suit, his gaze landing on the blood-stained white shirt under He Ao’s clothes, "Did you change clothes? Was the original injury serious?"

He raised his hand, and most of the medical students left the medical room, leaving only a male and a female assistant, who seemed to be experienced, by his side.

"Some minor external injuries,"

He Ao smiled and seated himself on the operating table, "It might be a little troublesome to treat though, as the wounds are quite ghastly."

"No matter, take your clothes off. I’ve seen many situations before, and am very professional. I won’t be shocked by a patient’s wounds,"

Watching He Ao move confidently, Dr. Des gave a slight nod. He reached out, turned on the sterilizing equipment next to the operating room, then grabbed the sterile garment that was set aside and started dressing quickly while saying, "And even if it’s just a minor injury, you should get it treated as soon as possible..."

He turned back to look at He Ao’s body and then his gaze and words both halted.

At that moment, He Ao was setting aside his partially bloodstained shirt, then he reached out to unwrap the blood-soaked, now completely red gauze bandages, one by one.

Looking at that crimson blood and the ghastly wounds underneath the bindings, even the two experienced assistants, who had been maintaining stability while standing behind Dr. Des and organizing tools, involuntarily widened their eyes. They even subconsciously thought about turning away so as not to see the horrific scene before them.

"How did you manage to come back alive..."

Dr. Des stared blankly at all this, scrutinizing the deep, bone-visible wounds on He Ao’s body, "With such severe injuries, an ordinary C-level would have been dead long ago."

"I must’ve been lucky."

He Ao coughed lightly and lay down on the operating table, smiling.

"Then you must be blessed by the Divine Beings,"

Dr. Des took a deep breath and picked up the scalpel, carefully examining He Ao’s wounds, "There are signs of damage to vital areas, but they seem to be healing well,"

He reached out and the assistant behind him skillfully handed over a needle holder, he took it, and with a sigh, said, "It’s a miracle that you were able to come back alive. If I had encountered you on the battlefield, I might not have been able to save you, yet here you are, having walked back on your own after a great battle."

He reached out to the other assistant nearby, "These wounds, these nerve endings... Transcendents have even more acute perception than ordinary people. The pain you must be enduring now... It’s probably more unbearable than the agony of a thousand ants biting. Can’t you feel any pain at all?"

He Ao smiled and said, "But it’s bearable."

Hearing this, the assistant, who was hurriedly handing over a box of medicine powder emitting a faint white glow to Des, paused momentarily.

She quickly glanced at the wounds on He Ao’s body, then shivered subconsciously, as if imagining what it would feel like if the wounds were on her own body. Then she shook her head, trembling.

Des did not pay attention to the assistant’s reaction. He poured the medicine powder from his hand into a stitching device and looked at He Ao, "I am going to give your wounds a simple stitch-up. The powder contains an anesthetic component for Transcendents, but considering the severity of your injuries, it might still hurt a bit."

He Ao shook his head.

Des looked at the Elderly man lying on the hospital bed, smoking, and watched the wounds on his body, his expression slightly solemn.

Meanwhile, the two assistants behind him were holding their breath.

The Shadowless lamp above the operating table shone brightly, dispelling all the darkness around it.

The persistent rain continued to drizzle outside the window, beating against everyone’s heart under the silent night sky.

In the brightly lit villa’s hall, a well-dressed man with a composed face placed a photograph on the glass table in front of him, his tone slightly tense.

"Yes, from our observation, his actions have not been affected in any way,"

On the table, the holographic projection of a stout man wearing dungarees nodded slightly, "He appears almost uninjured, and even if he is hurt, it’s probably not serious."

"You’re telling me that a whole squad of elite Mercenaries ready to die with electromagnetic cannons, a Blazing Angel Mech, a C-level Traitor, and a mass of High-energy Guided Missiles,"

The elegant man looked up at the dungarees-wearing man in front of him, his calm and gentle tone carried a hint of hoarseness, "They all failed to kill our Mayor, who is nearly sixty years old? They didn’t even cause him any significant injuries?"

The dungarees-wearing man in the holographic projection lowered his head, fine sweat oozing from his temples, and after a brief pause, he said in a trembling voice, "There’s also the possibility that he was seriously injured but is pretending to be fine."

"You’re nearly dead, and you can walk out of the Floating Warplane as if nothing happened, holding an umbrella in the pouring rain and walking step by step towards the Mayor’s Mansion entrance in front of everyone?"

The elegant man glanced at the dungarees-wearing man and asked with a smile.

The dungarees-wearing man shrank back slightly, his head lowered, and said softly, "Our people saw that private Doctor from Dawn bring in a lot of medical equipment, so we can’t completely rule out that possibility..."

Hearing his words, the elegant man paused for a moment, seemingly contemplating the veracity of the situation, and murmured, "What do they say inside the Mayor’s Mansion?"

"There hasn’t been news coming out from the inside,"

The dungarees-wearing man spoke softly, "Everyone calling the Mayor’s Mansion is met with the same scripted message, informing them that the Mayor will speak tomorrow. Further calls fail to go through, and the Mayor refuses any meetings."

"Not even the Vice Mayor can get through?"

The elegant man looked up, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

"Yes, that’s the information we’ve received,"

The dungarees-wearing man nodded gently, "Following this incident, the Mayor’s Mansion might have completely lost trust in Vice Mayor Lante..."