Chapter 173: Friction and Arguments

In an upscale seafood restaurant at Tianhong Port, Xu Hu stood alone by the window, squinting at the port's night view with chaotic thoughts.

After Wei Xiangzuo fled with the Yu family people, Xu Hu had responded as quickly as possible by "pacifying" the Zha'nan dock gang - Wei Xiangzuo's faction.

To achieve this goal, Xu Hu used his customs connections accumulated over many years at the port to have the Marine Police and Customs Enforcement departments conduct large-scale arrests of Wei Xiangzuo's core members at the port.

For the customs enforcement departments, doing this kind of thing wasn't difficult at all, because Wei Xiangzuo and his people ran smuggling businesses at sea - if those above wanted to find fault with them, wouldn't that be easy?

For old cases, use old cases; without old cases, they could still use divide-and-interrogate tactics. First arrest many people, then interrogate them separately in concentration - as long as one person talked and implicated others, working down layer by layer, naturally more and more people would be involved. So there wouldn't be any lack of evidence chains, because after all, not everyone could die for Wei Xiangzuo.

The customs connections supporting Xu Hu openly began clearing obstacles for him, while Xu Hu's own people, along with Changqing Company and Longkou's people, also secretly dealt with Wei Xiangzuo's core members.

Since the Police Bureau had already disciplined the Dock Workers Association, though Xu Hu's people didn't dare make big moves anymore, they could still manage to privately purge Wei Xiangzuo's subordinates.

Lackeys were searching everywhere for Wei Xiangzuo's lieutenants' whereabouts. When they found someone, they would directly call those above, and Xu Hu would decide whether to send official people or his own men to control and handle them.

That night, though Tianhong Port seemed peaceful, large numbers of Wei Xiangzuo's core forces were being arrested, detained, beaten to disability or death, and thrown into the sea.

Xu Hu's brutal treatment of "his own people" was actually unavoidable, because he had now been completely positioned - the more people supporting him, the faster he needed to stabilize Zha'nan now.

By the window, Xu Hu smoked, feeling very uneasy inside. Though he was currently clearing out Wei Xiangzuo's people in Zha'nan and everything seemed to be developing in his desired direction, Xu Hu knew clearly that Wei Xiangzuo himself escaping was the biggest threat to him.

Xu Hu's unease came from not knowing how Wei Xiangzuo was remotely controlling Zha'nan from the shadows, and even more unclear about what cards Wei Xiangzuo hadn't played yet. All he could do now was clear out Wei Xiangzuo's influence in Zha'nan as much as possible, so that even if he returned to Dragon City one day, he couldn't pose a threat.

While Xu Hu was deep in thought, his phone rang: "Hello?"

"Big Brother, the Xue family people have come, but they... don't want to eat, just want you to come back to the hall to talk."

"...Good, I understand," Xu Hu nodded.

After speaking, Xu Hu turned and called out: "Let's go back."

......

In Zone One's Huadu.

Su Tianyu, reeking of alcohol, walked out of the entertainment city and got into Yu Mingyuan's car to meet Wei Xiangzuo.

"...I need money, I can't stay here, I have to go back," Wei Xiangzuo said with furrowed brows.

Yu Mingyuan turned to look at him: "What use is going back now?!"

"My brothers below are all being dealt with! The Marine Police and Customs Enforcement are openly arresting people, while Xu Hu, Li Hongze, and Longkou Baocheng's forces are secretly dealing with my brothers," Wei Xiangzuo said with a stern face. "These people all followed me, they got involved in this because of me. If I don't go back, they'll be dealt with terribly."

Yu Mingyuan squinted at him: "If you go back now, can you solve the problem?"

"Whether I can solve the problem isn't important - attitude is important," Wei Xiangzuo said incisively. "When trouble came, I hid and let the brothers below suffer, while I don't even dare show my face - what kind of behavior is that?!"

"If you go back and get pinned down by Xu Hu, you'll fucking lose your life - what use is attitude then?!" Yu Mingyuan argued. "You need to ensure your own safety first..."

"I'm safe, but if I do this, when I return to Dragon City, no one in Zha'nan will recognize me anymore," Wei Xiangzuo directly interrupted with a wave. "This isn't how things are done, I must go back."

Hearing this, Yu Mingyuan's blood rushed up: "We went to such great lengths to rescue you, if you go back now, was everything we did before meaningless?! The situation in Zha'nan is already at its worst..."

"Don't make it sound so nice - you rescued me with a purpose!" Wei Xiangzuo shouted, interrupting.

At these words, the car fell silent as Yu Mingyuan and Wei Xiangzuo stared at each other in deadlock.

"...I don't want to argue too much with you - the dock gang's way of survival is different from yours," Wei Xiangzuo said concisely. "Without people below, I couldn't be hall master. I caused this trouble, so I must take responsibility. When trouble comes, fucking selling out teammates and not daring to show my face - I definitely can't do that."

Yu Mingyuan fell silent.

"If you want to cooperate, give me money and I'll go back to handle things," Wei Xiangzuo said softly. "If you think it's not worth it, then let's end it here, I'll leave now."

With that, Wei Xiangzuo pushed the door to leave, but Su Tianyu hiccupped and patted his shoulder, saying softly: "Brother Wei, don't rush to leave, let's talk more."

After being silent for a while, Yu Mingyuan also adjusted his emotions and said: "Old Wei, I know you have difficulties, but we must be rational about this."

Su Tianyu turned to look at Yu Mingyuan and said softly: "Big Brother, Zhou Tonghui and others are upstairs, why don't you go sit with them for a while, I'll talk with Brother Wei."

Yu Mingyuan understood Su Tianyu's meaning - he had already had words with Wei Xiangzuo, so continuing to talk would be awkward. So he nodded and pushed open the door to leave, giving time and space to Su Tianyu.

Su Tianyu sat in the car, lit two cigarettes and handed one to Wei Xiangzuo. The latter hesitated before reaching out to take it, taking a deep drag.

"Brother Wei, when Xu Hu drew his blade, your brothers were startled too, right?" Su Tianyu asked calmly.

Wei Xiangzuo turned to look at him: "What do you mean?"

"Xu Hu can only do this once, because no one is stupid. When those above raised their knives, those who could run definitely ran, those who couldn't have already been caught. Even if you go back now, you surely wouldn't dare snatch people from the Marine Police, break into jail, right?" Su Tianyu asked.

"If I go back, everyone will have confidence in their hearts."

"...Brother Wei, solving problems doesn't necessarily require attacking the center of conflict," Su Tianyu waved his hand and replied. "Xu Hu dealing with your subordinates has two purposes. First, clear out your forces and quickly secure the Zha'nan gang leader position, so when you return you'll have no power to turn things around. Second, deal with your people to force you back to Dragon City, find a chance to kill you, then it's all settled. If you follow his rhythm, what then? It'll all end badly."

Wei Xiangzuo fell silent.

"I can give you money, because I already asked Mingyuan for five million before. You can go back if you want, but I have to go with you," Su Tianyu said with furrowed brows. "How to spend the money, how to handle things - you need to listen to me. Trust me, Xu Hu is having a harder time than you now! Changqing, the Xue family, Longkou, the council of elders - why are so many sides supporting him? All for the day Xu Hu takes power and can bring them benefits. And those benefits will press down on Xu Hu until he can't breathe!"

Wei Xiangzuo fell into thought.

"Also, since this is cooperation, you need to tell me your cards in the dock gang first," Su Tianyu said directly. "Only when I know the information can I know how to arrange this situation."

"Why should I trust you?!" Wei Xiangzuo suddenly asked.

"...My whole Su family has run to this ghost place," Su Tianyu replied flatly. "I can afford to lose even less than you."

Wei Xiangzuo was silent for a while: "I do still have several cards..."