Volume 1: The Fierce Tiger Breaks Free Chapter 2: Shocking the Upper Echelons (Part 2)

  The Premier's Office, after a busy day, Wang Yilin only rested for half an hour after dinner before diving back into the pile of documents on his desk. As the Premier's Chief Assistant, although Wang Yilin was not a high-ranking official, he was one of the busiest civil servants. Every day, in addition to handling tasks assigned by the Premier, he also had to prepare files that the Premier needed to handle the next day before dawn. All these documents had to be reviewed by him first, to determine which ones required immediate attention, which could be handled later, which could be delayed slightly, and which did not need to be submitted to the Premier for review. These were the main tasks of his role as Chief Assistant, which is why some people called him the "Shadow Premier", one of the most powerful unranked individuals in the Republic.

  Suddenly, the phone on the table rang, and Wang Yilin was startled. He put down the file in his hand and rubbed his temples, which were a bit sore. The phone continued to ring, he sighed, picked up the receiver, and immediately changed color.

  "Alright, just ask General Zhou to come in directly later."

  After hanging up the phone, Wang Yilin rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock on the door. It was already 3 o'clock in the morning. General Zhou Guohui had flown directly from the Southwest Military Region, without stopping along the way. If it wasn't for something important, Zhou Guohui wouldn't have flown thousands of kilometers to find him in the middle of the night.

  At half past three, the door was knocked and the secretary immediately brought in an army major general and a colonel who was still wearing camouflage combat uniform into the office.

  "You must be tired from the journey, would you like something to drink?" Wang Yilin greeted him warmly.

  "Suit yourself, Commander Wei Lin! I'm not here to drink tea!" Zhou Guohui's voice was loud and clear, with a strong tone that was unmistakable of a seasoned general. His appearance seemed somewhat aged, but those who knew him were aware that this major general was actually less than thirty-five years old, one of the rising stars in the Republic.

  "Sit down, take your time to talk." Wang Yilin had a careless look on his face. After asking Zhou Guohui to sit down, he glanced at the colonel who was still standing and then said to the secretary by the door, "Make two cups of tea, quickly!"

  The secretary withdrew from the office at the sound of his voice, and Wang Yilin sat down on the sofa opposite Zhou Guohui.

  "Brother Weilin, I'm really sorry to come find you so late." Zhou Guohui also realized that his initial attitude was a bit too rude. "If it weren't for something very serious happening, I wouldn't have flown here to find you so late."

  Wang Yilin nodded slightly, picked up the cigarette from the tea table, he didn't smoke, this cigarette was used to entertain guests. When Zhou Guohui lit the cigarette, the secretary also brought in the tea water, the action was really fast enough.

  "Gu Weimin, you come and tell the Premier's assistant!" Zhou Guohui glanced at the colonel behind him and handed over a cigarette.

  "Everyone sit down and don't be polite!" Wang Yilin nodded slightly towards the senior military officer, appearing unusually polite.

  Gu Weimin adjusted his military uniform, he had long heard that the Premier had a very capable and so-called "Shadow Premier" assistant, who was likely to be the future Premier of the Republic. However, he had never seen this "Shadow Premier", nor did he expect Wang Yilin to be so young. If it weren't for the fatigue on his face, Wang Yilin looked no more than 35 years old. Among the tens of millions of government officials in the Republic, being 35 years old was just an ordinary civil servant, but becoming the Chief Assistant to the Premier at 35 and having real power to influence the Premier's decisions, this person was not simple.

  "The prime minister's assistant is not an outsider, he says what he means and doesn't mince words!" Zhou Guohui was reminding Gu Weimin that the prime minister's assistant had also served in the army, so don't think about hiding the truth.

  Gu Weimin nodded slightly, still organizing his thoughts and unsure of how to begin. At this moment, Wang Yilin proactively handed over the lit lighter to help him light a cigarette. Wang Yilin's small action made Gu Weimin even more surprised, because in his opinion, those who held real power in the Republic should be arrogant and domineering, not needing to be so polite. In the gaze of the two men, Gu Weimin slowly recounted what had happened.

  The information was provided by the National Military Intelligence Bureau, which intercepted a very important piece of intelligence half a month ago. The US is likely to be in contact with an extremist organization that has been creating various attack events in the northwest of the Republic, and the liaison work is undertaken by the largest private defense contractor "Blackwater" company in the United States. Although the company is nominally a private defense contractor, mainly taking contracts from the US government, responsible for logistics transportation, personnel protection and other tasks in Afghanistan, in fact, it is a mercenary organization secretly serving the US military and intelligence agencies, with most of its main members being retired US military personnel, mostly retired special forces.

  After obtaining intelligence, the "Snow Leopard" detachment planned and executed an ambush operation under the command of the Military District Special Forces Command to intercept evidence of contact between the US government and the extremist organization "Blackwater". To this end, four two-man groups had infiltrated Afghanistan three days earlier, secretly deploying along the route used by "Blackwater" to transport "goods". After three days of patient waiting, the target finally appeared, but in the end something happened that no one could have predicted.

  After Gu Weimin finished speaking, Wang Yilin's face also sank. He didn't look at Gu Weimin or Zhou Guohui, but instead lowered his head and fell into thought.

  "The biggest trouble now is that two of our comrades have not yet made contact with the rear, and it has been ten hours since the operation was frustrated." Zhou Guohui continued to speak after Gu Weimin, "We are worried that these two comrades have fallen into the hands of the US military, so we must take preventive measures. If the United States..."

  Wang Yilin pressed her hand slightly. "I understand what you mean, and I will meet with the US ambassador tomorrow."

  "This is secondary, one of the two missing team members is Ling Tianxiang."

  Gu Weimin noticed that Wang Yilin's eyebrows twitched slightly, and then immediately returned to calm. Gu Weimin immediately judged that the background of Ling Tianxiang he had inquired about before was definitely true.

  "General Gu, may I have a word with General Zhou in private?" Wang Yilin stood up and made a please gesture, "The secretary will take care of you, General Zhou will come to fetch you later!"

  Zhou Guohui nodded at Gu Weimin and said, "You wait for me outside."

  Seeing this, Gu Weimin understood that he couldn't stay for long and immediately stood up to bid farewell. However, his heart was repeatedly asking what kind of relationship Ling Tianxiang had with these two people?

  The Blade's Edge, Volume One: The Fierce Tiger Leaves the Reins, Chapter Two: Shocking the Higher-ups (Part 2)