Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

But after everything that happened tonight, he had come to terms with many things. He was just a small pawn on the chessboard. The big shots on the board were playing their games, and when it came to crucial moments, a pawn like him could be sacrificed at any time!

If it weren't for Zhang Renfeng tonight, it probably wouldn't have been his consciousness that was severed, but his body.

He didn't want to experience that pain of being torn in two again.

Let's cooperate then.

Sam took a deep breath, as if he had made some important decision, and nodded.

“My full name is Sam Waglet, from the Waglet family of Pike City, First State… Ha…”

He chuckled softly, then shook his head. "In short, I'm now a special investigator under customs. I've already told Zhang that, so I won't go into details."

"And the person we are investigating is Samuel Graves, one of the most powerful people in this country."

“He is the current leader of the Gilded Party.”

Chapter 726: People always stumble over the things they love.

"Wait a minute..." Zhang Renfeng was completely confused. "What is that?"

“In this country’s political climate, he is indeed…a person with considerable power.” Igor’s expression was also somewhat serious. In this room, perhaps only he, Sam, and Tao truly understood what they were facing. “Old Zhang, do you have a general understanding of the power structure of this country?”

Zhang Renfeng shook his head and said very frankly, "I only know that there is a president, who should be the most powerful person in this country, right? And then... this institution, that institution, I don't really understand."

He doesn't even understand how power works in his own country, let alone America.

In his mind, a president and an emperor should be about the same.

"Indeed, in America, the president is the commander-in-chief of the military. The commanders-in-chief of each theater of operations must obey the president, and a single order can initiate a war. From the perspective of ordinary people, the president, who holds military power, is undoubtedly the most powerful person in the country."

"However, the reality is more complicated than that."

Taking this opportunity, Igor continued to give Zhang Renfeng, Ren, and other foreigners a crash course in basic political knowledge: "When mobilizing troops for large-scale operations, congressional approval is required. This is because Congress holds another crucial advantage for the military."

"money."

He made a money gesture. "The military's budget and annual budget are also decided by Congress. The president only has the power to mobilize them, but the organization that actually provides the money to allow the military to exist 'separately' is Congress."

"Furthermore, any bill the president wants to pass must be approved by Congress before it can be implemented. The members of Congress are often people from different parties who vote, and behind the members stand big figures from different industries and interest groups."

"Among these, the Gilded Party is one of the two largest ruling parties in America. The so-called 'party leader' refers to the head of this party. They usually operate behind the scenes, manipulating the party machine to control local elections and policy-making."

"You can think of him as the embodiment of the will of this nation."

……

"what……"

"Hahaha……"

After a long silence, Zhang Renfeng couldn't help but laugh.

He did indeed say that he was an enemy of this country. It was thought to be just abstract rhetoric, something to vent his frustrations over. Who could have imagined that today, this vast "country" would truly become a real person standing before him?

“Not just anyone can be the party leader,” Tao added. “Once you reach that position, you’ll be dealing with the very core of the core, the most secret of secrets. Surname, lineage, family background—none of that matters anymore. Only ability is the sole factor to consider.”

“But he can’t have two lives, can he?” Zhang Renfeng laughed.

“That’s not how you play the political game,” Igor shook his head. “And…”

“Samuel Graves, this man is the core figure of the Illuminati, isn’t he?”

----

This time it was Sam's turn to be shocked. He stared in astonishment at the unremarkable, even somewhat comical, dwarf in front of him, his mouth agape in an "O" shape.

“Don’t make that face. It’s not just your government officials who are dealing with the Illuminati,” Ego sighed. “However, we’ve only been dealing with the lower and middle reaches of this massive network. They’re insignificant; killing one only results in new ones springing up. So our progress has been minimal, but unexpectedly…”

"Its upstream is actually this kind of monster."

“Samuel’s power network was quite large, long-standing, and deeply entrenched, making it difficult to eradicate.”

Sam didn't need to look at the documents; he knew everything Samuel had done by heart: "The Mining Safety Act Exemption Clause and the Port Tariff Preference Act of 1878; the Federal Land Survey Amendment of 1864; the Communications Secrecy Act of 1860... and many more. These acts that benefited interest groups were all subtly shaped under his impetus."

"In addition, he also founded a deep power organization, which Mr. Igor just mentioned—the Illuminati."

"They are above all else, arbitrarily use their power to seek personal gain, and have formed a rather large group."

"What's even more critical is that the government system itself has been thoroughly infiltrated, leaving us unable to determine who are our own people and who are members of the Illuminati. Everyone's wearing the same suits; who knows what you're really thinking!"

"So, you came to White Torch Town to find evidence against him?"

“Ha… evidence… it’s not really evidence, it’s just a gamble. I’m betting on a possibility.” Sam shook his head and said with some helplessness, “Samuel’s men and several other companies are already investigating.”

“Any direction that could potentially lead to a breakthrough, such as the flow of funds, details of account transactions, bonds, asset composition, or any direction that could potentially uncover clues, has already been investigated by others. It’s not my turn yet, so I have to find a way myself and start with his daily activities.”

"This investigation led to a very significant discovery."

“Last July, Samuel and Wendigo Lecter saw a custom-made musical together at the St. Swan Theatre in Philadelphia.”

"Can this really be considered a major discovery?" Zhang Renfeng couldn't help but complain. "He must have met with a lot of people over the course of the year."

“No, it’s not that simple!” Sam raised his voice, like a pedantic professor unwilling to let anyone question the theories he had painstakingly developed. “Didn’t you investigate Samuel’s life? After he turned 50, he rarely appeared in public.”

"All his actions were moved behind the scenes, as if he didn't exist."

"But he has always had a strong pursuit of art, especially the refined art of painting and music."

"Before he turned 30, he lamented that there were very few people in the world who could appreciate art as well as he could. However, after a certain period of time, he stopped saying such things. But that doesn't mean he always believed that way."

"Think about it, the art appreciated by someone who wields immense power must be different from that of others. It must be profound and unfathomable; otherwise, how can it demonstrate that he is different from ordinary people?"

"He did indeed hold art exhibitions more than once. However, the time gaps are too long to verify."

"The St. Swan Theatre is a very high-class arts venue, and it's a sign-in booklet! That day, he booked a special performance, and on the same day, for the same performance, the only audience member who left their name was Wendigo Lecter, and they were enjoying Shakespeare's Oedipus Rex."

"From what I understand, Wendigo is also a person with high artistic cultivation. He has demonstrated this in public more than once. So, I suspect that these two seemingly unrelated people may have had some kind of exchange. Perhaps! Perhaps it was just an artistic exchange... But at Samuel's position, even the slightest connection with those below him could become a breakthrough!"

"If we can grasp this point and delve deeper, we might be able to uncover even more clues!"

As he said this, a blazing fire appeared in Sam's eyes.

"People always stumble badly at the thing they love most."

"Even an old fox like him is no exception."

Chapter 727: It's time to put an end to this!

No one made a sound in the room, except for the occasional crackling of the new firewood dancing in the stove.

This matter was far too significant, involving people and events far exceeding the capabilities of any single gang, company, or even state. Even someone as politically naive as Zhang Renfeng could sense that the enemy he was facing this time was entirely different from any he had encountered before.

Just hearing Sam's name was enough to make one feel a sense of impending doom and unease.

To be honest, Zhang Renfeng wasn't particularly interested in the title of "party leader," stemming from his innate insensitivity to the political power structure. If he could clearly understand this identity and that title, and distinguish the appropriate attitude to use towards people at different levels of power, he would probably still be in the country, happily pursuing his martial arts championship. He might even have risen through the ranks based on his extraordinary martial prowess.

Even if he didn't know for sure, judging from Igor's expression, he could tell that this opponent was no ordinary person and that things were really serious.

No matter how you look at it, the power center of a country cannot be challenged by a gang or a company. Even a behemoth like Donghao Bird Bank has to seek him as an ally and only dares to secretly challenge him.

As for the rules of the game in politics and how to play them, they are even more incomprehensible to him, like a book written in heaven. When people reach a dead end, they often give up thinking, simply give up, and choose the most effective method they usually use. He is pretty much in that state now.

"Why don't we consider just killing him?"

Zhang Renfeng brought up this old method again; it was outdated, but undeniably effective. Whenever he ran out of ideas, he would turn to this method, which often solved some problems.

Moreover, similar assassinations have occurred countless times throughout history, and Zhang Renfeng was not the only one who liked to think this way.

No matter how deeply entrenched your political group is, or how much manpower, material resources, and financial resources it controls, as long as you physically eliminate the leader, especially a capable one, you will definitely inflict a heavy blow on it!

According to Sam and Tao, the guy named Samuel got to his position entirely through his own abilities, so physical destruction was the perfect solution.

“Even if he can mobilize the army, he can’t keep thousands or hundreds of people around him all the time. There will always be times when he gets isolated.” Ren nodded, seemingly agreeing with this. “We can strike at those times.”

"Actually... we have considered this direction, but not 'assassination,' because that would be too ugly. In our line of work, it's best to avoid bloodshed unless absolutely necessary. We prefer to find him, put him under house arrest, and prevent him from having any access to power."

“Once he was stripped of his power, he was just an ordinary old man with no strength to even kill a chicken. There was absolutely no need to kill him.”

"only……"

Sam hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

“Sophisticated politicians like that wouldn’t leave you any openings.” Igor shook his head, as if he had expected this. “Reducing your public appearances is precisely to prevent such extreme situations from happening.”

"Moreover, he held no actual position within the Gilded Party, which means that he could not possibly have a specific office location."

Sam sighed, exhausted and helpless. Fighting a monster who had spent most of his life playing political games was really exhausting.

It's not just about the effort involved.

What's worse, after finally finding a direction and investigating day and night, they discovered that it was all a trap set by Samuel. As the clues failed, it was as if they could hear Samuel's mocking laughter.

The blow to self-confidence and enthusiasm is considerable.

“We have investigated several of his companies, but we haven’t found anything. These companies are just fronts he set up; their business activities are sluggish, their cash flow is slow…they are practically empty shells.”

"Just like other politicians, who all have their own businesses to some extent, in order to keep up with them, he also set up a few empty shells specifically for us to investigate."

"In addition, business dealings under his leadership and bills and policies implemented by him are all under review. We tried to make a big fuss about it, but he remained quite calm and did not show up at all, and did not even respond to the matter."

……

"Who said that?" Zhang Renfeng suddenly spoke up, saying meaningfully, "Didn't he respond?"

After a few seconds, everyone gradually realized what was happening, and their eyes returned to Sam.

A response doesn't necessarily have to make the news, issue a statement, or create a huge uproar.

Killing you is itself a form of response.

Sam wasn't stupid; he quickly understood Zhang Renfeng's meaning and couldn't help but shudder. Fear, like black, icy water, washed over his head.

Before this, despite being in the thick of it, he still didn't really grasp the situation. The orders were passed down from above, and he was just a pawn charging ahead. The information he had wasn't enough to analyze the whole picture, so he always thought he was just playing an insignificant role, filling a corner of the chessboard.

But now... after arriving in White Torch Town, they encountered assassins from the Illuminati, which is actually a very strong signal.

With so many colleagues auditing Samuel's companies and businesses and enacting laws, why didn't anyone kill them?

……

“It’s Father. Within the Illuminati, there’s an organization that specializes in handling these kinds of things, and Father is their leader. As long as something hinders Samuel’s interests, whether it’s an individual, a group, or the military, the outcome is the same. Tonight’s events were just a warning.”

Sam's face turned pale, and he muttered, "He'll make me disappear."

“Disappeared?” Zhang Renfeng frowned. Although he knew that in the current situation, this word meant “death,” he still felt that something was wrong.

“Poof! Vanished, vanished into thin air, nothing left.” Sam made a firework gesture, his face pale, a desperate smile on his face. “No witnesses, no clues, no body, no trace… nothing at all.”

"It's as if I never came into this world in the first place."

----

Hearing the title "Old Man" again, Zhang Renfeng felt a sense of expectation, rather than surprise. This name had been haunting him ever since he was in Sanma Town, like a persistent ghost.

The Golden Company encountered in Three Horses Town, the Poker Gang encountered in Lagras, and the assassins tonight—all of them have an inseparable connection with Old Man.

From some scattered intelligence, Zhang Renfeng roughly pieced together his father's image: a man in his fifties or sixties, ruthless, decisive, and possessing unimaginable strength.

Like myself, he was a person who fled from the Qing Dynasty.

It's time to settle things with this fellow villager!

"Don't worry, it won't happen." After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Renfeng made a rather bold decision. He stood up, patted Sam's shoulder twice, and assured him, "I will accompany you to deliver this document to where it belongs."

Chapter 728: Late at Night. Fire in the Hearth. A Story.

Pushing open the door, Zhang Renfeng felt unusually awkward for the first time, unsure how to face the young girl inside.

Objectively speaking, Sophia also participated in tonight's assassination attempt, but due to her special status, she didn't actually kill anyone. After the incident, she wasn't treated badly. Instead, she was given a clean and tidy bedroom and even some snacks as a late-night treat. Of course, the girl didn't touch any of these snacks, perhaps simply because she had no appetite.

She sat upright in the chair, staring blankly at the fire in the distance, the flames flickering lifelessly in her eyes. The house, which should have been warm-toned in the firelight, felt oppressive upon stepping inside. It was as if the four corners of the walls were collapsing towards him.

After not seeing her for several months, Zhang Renfeng felt she had gotten much stronger. Using the word "stronger" to describe a girl might seem strange, but that was his honest feeling. Consistent, targeted, and high-intensity training can reshape a person's physique; her arms and thigh muscles were much more defined than before.

Among her clothes and handbag, nearly twenty sharp metal spikes were found. They could be thrown or used in combat, making them excellent tools for stealth and assassination.

Zhang Renfeng was somewhat heartbroken, but he had to admit that people do change after such a long time apart.

Neither he nor the girl in front of him could escape.

“When we parted last time, I even said I’d invite you to come over to our house,” Sophia said in a detached tone, without turning her head. “But now, thanks to you, my father is dead, and my home… is no longer the same as it used to be.”