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"You\'re right, Boss. I haven\'t thought of that..." Renqin pulled the paper with the military back into his pocket.

The table was back to three pieces of paper, with two already known and one that Renqin refused to explain.

"So what is this blank one? Just tell me who it is. I won\'t punish you for saying the truth."

After staring at each other for a whole minute, Renqin fell into the pressure.

"Boss, I know this sounds ridiculous, but it might be Mrs.Yuqi——"

Xiaoyun immediately interrupted Renqin again.

"Renqin, are you out of your mind? You can\'t be serious."

Seeing Renqin staying silent and looking him back in the eye, Xiaoyun realized Renqin wasn\'t joking around.

"You better have proof of this." Xiaoyun warned.

Renqin pulled out multiple photos from his jacket and showed them to Xiaoyun.

The photos were of hundreds of prisoners being shot in the head, with all of them having bite marks on their necks.

"Boss, as you know, the zombie was let loose in the trading zone. Coincidently, all the prisoners were dropped there for fresh air.

None of them could fight back as they were still handcuffed during fresh air time." Renqin pulled out several pages of paper.

The front page was a letter of schedule changes, with Yuqi\'s name signed on it.

"Usually, the prisoner gets fresh air every three weeks at the training field, but just a week before the designated fresh air time, Mrs.Yuqi sent out a letter about readjusting it into half half, with some going to trading zone instead of the field.

Some of the ones... Specifically the insurgent and the scientists that committed severe crimes were chosen to the trading zone."

Seeing Xiaoyun sitting in silence, Renqin felt a need to excuse Yuqi\'s action.

"I get it, Boss. It\'s a lot to take in, but Mrs. Yuqi did all of this with your best interests at heart—"

Xiaoyun shook his head and rose from his seat.

"Enough, Renqin. There\'s no need to sugarcoat it for her. She won\'t be the co-mayor tomorrow."

Just as Xiaoyun turned around and was about to leave, Renqin pulled him back down.

"Boss, please hear me out before you make any irrational decisions. Look at this document," Renqin urged, sliding the papers in front of Xiaoyun.

For a brief moment, Xiaoyun hesitated, but he eventually yielded to Renqin\'s persistence and started reading the pages.

The second page presented a detailed report on the escalating maintenance costs of the prison, emphasizing a staggering weekly expenditure on food.

Flipping to the third page revealed a comprehensive overview of the town\'s food records. The biggest thing was the significant decline in net food production coinciding with the arrival of prisoners and a substantial increase in the town\'s population with the newcomers.

As Xiaoyun absorbed the information, the reason Yuqi did it was becoming increasingly apparent with each passing revelation.

The last page was a handwritten note in Yuqi\'s distinctive handwriting, with words crossed out by a few black lines.

"Removing *crossed out* population can reduce the food cost by *crossed out*. Town survey reported that the *crossed out* population should be removed or moved outside the town.

The majority of a poll indicating forced labor to a certain extent should be *crossed out*. I can\'t let Xiaoyun see this... There must be something I can do."

The paper ended.

"Boss, do you understand what I mean now? She did this for you."

"I do now... But it doesn\'t excuse the fact she should have at least told me about it. I\'m the mayor, not her. I can get more food."

Seeing Xiaoyun still in anger, Renqin decided to try one last attempt.

"Boss, even if you make up for it, you can\'t do it forever... Also, if she did tell you about her plans to remove the prisoners, would you let her plan happen?"

Xiaoyun sat in silence again as he realized Renqin was right. He would indeed have never let this pass through.

Just as Renqin was about to speak again, the door suddenly opened.

It was Yezi walking in with several soldiers behind him.

"Xiaoyun, you good?" Yezi noticed Xiaoyun looked a little down.

"Yeah, I\'m fine... Yezi, can I ask you a question?" Xiaoyun looked down onto the ground.

"Yeah, go for it... you all stand outside." Yezi dismissed all the soldiers back out.

"If you have a food shortage, and you got a lot of prisoners that had killed others or caused a coup... what would you do?"

"Um... I would bring justice to the murders and banish the one that caused the coup." Yezi replied without thinking much about it.

"Yezi... do you think I\'m too soft?" Xiaoyun asked another question.

"Sometimes, I feel you are a little too lenient, but most of the time, it\'s fine."

"Hey, Yezi... do you want to be the mayor?" Xiaoyun suddenly asked.

"Me? Hell no. That is probably the last job I want to do. Why are you suddenly suggesting this?" Yezi curiously asked.

"Nothing... is everything outside all clear now?" Xiaoyun asked.

"Yeah, all clear now."

"That\'s good to hear... I\'m going back home now." Xiaoyun left the command center.

"What happened to him? Why does he feel so different?" Yezi looked over to Renqin.

"I can\'t tell you that. But Boss is in a bad mood for now." Renqin awkwardly scratched his head.

"Whatever... anyway, have you infiltrated that White Lotus faction you said a few days ago?" Yezi sat down in his seat.

"It\'s still in progress. But we had gotten insider at the Liangshan faction."

"Oh really? Are they a good target to attack?" Yezi accidentally spoke his mind.

Renqin thought for a second, then realized that Yezi was second in command, which meant he technically was a rank below him in the government.

"Um, I don\'t know if they are a good target, but I can give you info about them." Renqin pulled out his notebook and handed it over to Yezi.

----

As Xiaoyun walked back home, he started having a self-reflection.

"Am I too soft? When did I become so lenient? I didn\'t hesitate when I bullied other people\'s businesses into bankruptcy. I didn\'t hesitate when I killed those gang members in the past. What changed in me?"

When Xiaoyun arrived home, he still couldn\'t find an answer he was satisfied with.

"Hey honey, is everything okay?" Leyan asked as she opened the door for Xiaoyun.

"Yeah, everything outside is all clear now."

"Honey, I\'m asking about you... the frown on your face. Is there something wrong?" Leyan got a little worried.

"I\'m fine... Where\'s everyone?" Xiaoyun shifted back to normal and noticed the living room was empty.

"They all went back to their rooms."

"Oh, okay... I\'ll be right back. I need to talk to Yuqi about something." Xiaoyun turned around and went upstairs.

Leyan suddenly had a bad feeling and decided to follow Xiaoyun upstairs.

By the time Leyan got upstairs, Xiaoyun was already in Yuqi\'s room.

Leyan carefully walked to Yuqi\'s door and put her right ear on the door to listen to the conversation.

---

Xiaoyun\'s knock echoed through Yuqi\'s office, the sound cutting through the quiet tension that had settled between them.

"Come in," Yuqi called out, her eyes fixed on the computer screen.

Opening the door, Xiaoyun found Yuqi engrossed in her work.

"Hey babe, is there something wrong?" Yuqi asked, closing her computer and finally acknowledging Xiaoyun\'s presence.

But something about Xiaoyun\'s expression hinted at deeper concerns.

"Yuqi, why did you send all the prisoners to death?" Xiaoyun\'s words hung in the air, cutting through the room\'s uneasy stillness.

Confusion furrowed Yuqi\'s brow. "What are you talking about?"

"The prisoners from the training field, you sent them to the trading zone, didn\'t you?"

"Yeah, is there something wrong there?" Yuqi still appeared puzzled, looking as if she didn\'t know what he was trying to imply.

"Yuqi, stop acting and be honest with me. Did you send the zombies to the trading zone and let those prisoners die?" Xiaoyun settled next to Yuqi, locking eyes with her.

A moment of silence stretched before Yuqi sighed, her gaze dropping.

"I knew I should have never let you implement that spy agency... yes, I did. I orchestrated the whole thing."

"Why? Can we not have a nicer way to resolve this? Why do you have to be a butcher killing them in cold blood?" Xiaoyun asked in anger.

"You know why. I just did something that I had to do." Yuqi met Xiaoyun\'s gaze with unwavering determination.

"But the method——"

"There is no but. You don\'t want to banish them because they would die out there, and you don\'t want to use them as labor because it\'s too risky and inhumane.

So, how do you want me to do it without overriding that stupid court ruling? You know the pressure from half of the population asking me why don\'t we remove the prison population?

I\'m going to be honest, I agree with them. I\'m not going to feed that stupid prison with no benefits.

I\'m already merciful enough to let the petty criminals to be serve their time to be let go. Why should those who deserve death sentence get let go like that?"

Frustration laced Yuqi\'s words, her voice getting more and more louder right before Xiaoyun\'s face.

"Food is no problem. I can make more——"

"And that\'s the problem. You think that\'s a perfect solution. Yes, you can make more food, but how would other people think?

They would think the prisoners are just getting free food without working." Yuqi stood up, breaking the intensity of their eye contact.

"When did you become so soft? Did mom influence you too much to be like this? This isn\'t the Xiaoyun I knew when dealing with criminals."

"I——"

"Here, put me in handcuffs and send me to prison. That\'s what you want, right? Arrest me for \'bringing justice\' to those murderers and insurgents that you are too lenient with."

Yuqi extended her hand toward Xiaoyun, daring him to take action.