In Paris, within the opulent office of Gu Xiechen in the Federal Central Tower, he frowned deeply, staring at the ceaselessly flashing electronic memos on his desk.

"The First Division of the Special Operations Bureau requests additional mid-year bonuses? Approved!"

"The Third Division of the Special Operations Bureau requests additional medical subsidies? Approved!"

"The Fifth Division of the Special Operations Bureau requests additional travel subsidies? Approved!"

"Damn it, the Division Chief of the Fourth Bureau had his personal vehicle wrecked in an accident and is requesting extra funds for a replacement? Ah, approved!"

After reluctantly signing off on dozens of funding requests from various bureaus and departments of the Special Operations Bureau, Gu Xiechen sighed in resignation.

"Federal finances, this is how they are spent! Still, as many people say, Federal currency is just a pile of waste paper. It's not Ji's money; what does it have to do with me?"

With a 'Boom', the office door leading directly to the hallway was violently shoved open. Banruo and Mohe, who had been sitting quietly in the corner of the room, hands clasped, cultivating their profound internal energy (Xuan Gong), both sprang up instantly.

Banruo sharply rebuked, "Namo Amitabha, step back!"

Mohe simply erupted in curses, "Damn it, which ill-bred bastard is this? Didn't your father teach you to knock?" He immediately threw a hooking punch toward the jaw of the intruder.

Colonel Uria, chewing on a corn cob pipe, leapt forward and accurately kicked Mohe's fist. With a dull thud, Mohe shot backward like a kite whose string had been cut, staggering back until he crashed headfirst into Gu Xiechen’s desk. Gu Xiechen, quick-eyed and quick-handed, grabbed Mohe by the collar, imparting a gentle force with his hand to swing and toss him aside, positioning him just out of the way.

"Colonel, this is my office!" Gu Xiechen looked displeased at Colonel Uria. The office door had a face-plate-sized hole blown in it, and the walls near the doorframe were scarred with several cracks from the shockwave. Anyone would be upset by such a violent intrusion into their private domain.

Spitting out a few puffs of smoke, Uria walked up to Gu Xiechen's desk and slammed both hands down onto its surface with force. He stared coldly at Gu Xiechen and stated in a frigid tone, "In just seven days, you have rejected five of our procurement budget applications! Seven days ago, you rejected the request for new Psychic Restraint Devices; I gave you face then. Five days ago, you rejected the request for new Trackers; I thought, I should still give you face!"

Taking a deep breath, Uria looked at Gu Xiechen, whose face was an impassive sheet of water, and sneered, "But four days ago, you rejected the application for the Sorcerer-II specialized combat suit; I swallowed it. Two days ago, you continued to reject the application for the Kali-V individual neutron ray gun; I continued to endure."

With a 'Squeak, squeak' sound, Uria's hands sank into the hard surface of the desk. He growled low, "But just thirty minutes ago, you rejected the procurement application for the Blizzard-VI rapid-freeze ray cannon... I can no longer tolerate this! Do you have any idea what the rapid-freeze ray cannon means to the Special Operations Bureau? My children must use these specialized weapons to deal with the constant emergence of psychics and warriors. Do you understand the significance of this specialized ordnance to us?"

Gu Xiechen looked at Uria's hands embedded in the desk and suddenly sighed.

"Of course, I know, I understand, I can comprehend your position. But..."

Gu Xiechen’s tone carried a trace of weakness and hesitation, a tone that highly satisfied Uria.

"But what?" Uria leaned his face close to Gu Xiechen’s, watching him intensely like a hungry wolf staring down its prey.

"But..." After a moment of silence, Gu Xiechen’s fingers swiftly swiped across the holographic screen of the computer on his desk, pulling up several electronic files. "Look here, the cost for one new Psychic Restraint Device is three hundred fifty thousand. The procurement report lists the purchase price at five million four hundred thousand per unit. The manufacturing cost for one 'Leech'-III tracker is twenty-seven thousand; the procurement price on the report is three hundred eighty thousand per unit. One set of the 'Sorcerer'-II costs seven million three hundred fifty thousand to manufacture, but the purchase price is a staggering sixty-eight million!"

Shrugging his shoulders, Gu Xiechen continued, "As for the Kali-V neutron ray gun and the Blizzard-VI rapid-freeze ray cannon, their procurement prices are roughly ten to fifteen times their cost..."

Uria stared at Gu Xiechen in astonishment, his eyes wide with disbelief as he roared, "Damn it, how do you know the details of these things... Uh, that's not the point!" Uria suddenly realized he had misspoke and hastily changed his tune, "We have an agreement; you shouldn't be stalling our budget. The kids are waiting for new gear!"

"The point is right here!" Gu Xiechen smiled serenely, looking at Uria with a gentle, watery gaze, chuckling lightly, "The problem is here: your quoted procurement prices are unreasonable."

"That’s none of your business!" Uria frowned. "All along, the Special Operations Bureau's budget has been managed by ourselves; you only have nominal supervisory authority."

"Without my authorization, you cannot procure these items!" Gu Xiechen smiled demurely.

"So, you intend to oppose me?" Uria's gaze sharpened menacingly.

"No, you misunderstand my intention!" Gu Xiechen quickly shook his head, smiling faintly. "Look, I only rejected these five procurement applications. Do you know why?"

After a silence, Uria shook his head. "I don't know why, and I don't want to hear your explanation, because my children are waiting for new equipment!"

Sighing, Gu Xiechen dropped his electronic pen onto the desk and gave a bitter smile. "The problem is right here. Your children are waiting for new equipment, but the manufacturers of this new equipment have now become me!"

"Eh?" Uria looked over in surprise and slapped his forehead hard.

"Yes, that is the root of the problem." Gu Xiechen shrugged helplessly, managing a strained, bitter smile. "These five pieces of new equipment were originally manufactured by the Gu Corporation. However, six months ago, these production divisions were all transferred under the name of Hardwar Defense Company through equity swaps. I own a significant number of shares in Hardwar Defense Company. According to relevant Federal laws and regulations, I must recuse myself from these procurement applications."

"Recuse yourself!" Uria's face turned completely black.

"Yes, recuse myself!" Gu Xiechen snapped his fingers, and Banruo immediately tossed over a bottle of Gold Foil Brandy. Biting off the cork, Gu Xiechen took a large gulp of the brandy, contentedly letting out a strong plume of alcohol-scented breath. He looked at Uria with affection, sighing emotionally, "I am a businessman. Of course, I would love to see high profits! Your five procurement applications cost over twenty billion. I would be very happy to close that deal with you; we could all get rich together!"

Uria’s face grew even uglier, and he muttered under his breath, "Damn it, those young whelps didn't tell me those production divisions had become yours."

As if not hearing Uria's complaint, Gu Xiechen said calmly, "However, while I am a businessman, I am also a Federal Congressman, and I am responsible for overseeing the financial expenditures of the Special Operations Bureau. Under the recusals ordinance, I cannot approve your procurement budget, unless... members of the other two oversight teams jointly approve your budget application."

"Blast it!" Uria rubbed his forehead in annoyance.

The members of the other two oversight teams? Both of them had voluntarily resigned at the same time Gu Xiechen took office. It had taken Uria significant effort to get those two to 'resign' voluntarily. Now, the oversight team only had Gu Xiechen as its leader!

As the team leader with independent approval authority, if Gu Xiechen recused himself and could not secure approvals from the other two team members, these budget applications clearly could not pass the financial committee approval of the Federal Congress... Even if he used certain connections to force the applications through, it would likely waste a considerable amount of time.

Time. Right now, Uria seemed precisely short on time!

Forcing out a slight smile, Uria leaned his head even closer, chuckling softly, "If you were willing to help!"

Gu Xiechen righteously refused Uria's request: "I am an ambitious Federal citizen, my heart is full of dreams, and I intend to ascend to the seat of the Federal Speaker! At the very least, the seat of the Federal Speaker! But any Federal Speaker must be a person of perfect character. Do you really think I would do such a thing?"

"You!" Uria nearly choked, almost suffering internal injury! He glared at Gu Xiechen, "You won't help?"

Shaking his head lightly, Gu Xiechen's gaze was as clear as the spring meltwater in a mountain valley. He shouted in the most righteous tone possible, "I will not do such a thing; my conscience does not allow me to, and my civic virtue forbids it! If you force me to do this, I will resign as the Head of the Federal Oversight Team right now!"

Uria froze, his face stunned.

Gu Xiechen shook his head. "Colonel, I truly cannot do you this favor, I apologize! After all, it is my company that manufactures this ordnance. If I were to sign off on these budget applications, well... I am sorry, I cannot do that. The consequences if the media publicized this would be too terrifying; I cannot do it!"

Pausing, Gu Xiechen persuaded him, "Furthermore, don't you think the Special Operations Bureau's various extra-budgetary subsidies and welfare applications are excessive? In just these seven days, your several divisions have applied for hundreds of millions in welfare subsidies... As the..."

"Enough!" Uria straightened up, his face grim. He said coldly, "Since that is the case, I shall trouble myself."

Turning around, Uria strode out of the office without even glancing back at Gu Xiechen.

Gu Xiechen swiftly closed the internal Federal office system on his desk. Banruo and Mohe had already pulled open the door to an emergency passage. The three of them walked quickly into that emergency passage and boarded a custom high-speed transport vehicle. Ten minutes later, the three arrived at a street-side garden in the eastern district of Paris.

Carefully emerging from a secret exit, rounding a fountain, and evading a flock of pigeons squabbling for food, Gu Xiechen plopped down onto a long bench.

Tartarus, dressed in civilian clothes and holding a newspaper, looked up. A pair of oversized sunglasses obscured more than half his face.

"How did it go? Any movement?"

Gu Xiechen rubbed his hands together and smiled, pinching the cheek of a small child who ran past him. The child was startled into wailing and ran off stumbling. Gu Xiechen laughed awkwardly and said sheepishly, "That was an expression of my love for children... Uh, your Drought Bureau’s intelligence is indeed accurate; as expected of a professional intelligence department. Well, lately, the Special Operations Bureau’s various budget applications have been flooding in like a tide. I approved the small, petty requests, but I rejected five applications totaling over twenty billion."

Tartarus pulled his sunglasses down slightly, sneering coldly, "You are quite bold!"

Crossing his legs, Gu Xiechen said dismissively, "I have a reasonable and legitimate excuse; he can’t do anything to me. However, I am curious, how did you know Uria was short on cash recently?"

Tartarus dropped the newspaper and stood up. He glanced around and said calmly, "Nothing strange about it. The Special Operations Bureau stirred up a bit of trouble in Southern Africa and is in urgent need of a large amount of cash to bail itself out. So, he had no choice but to try some small tricks with the budget."

"Really strange?" Gu Xiechen looked at Tartarus, puzzled. "Don't the Special Operations Bureau have a secret slush fund? Why rush to hand the leverage to me?"

Tartarus gave a cold laugh, a hint of smugness in his tone. "The three helicopters transporting their slush fund were intercepted by the African Military Region's space patrol fleet. Over five billion in cash was burned to ash by incendiary bombs. Unless he dares to rob a bank, he has no choice but to get money from you."

Shoving away a pigeon attempting to land on his shoulder, Tartarus walked towards the park exit, saying as he went, "The rest is up to you now: stir the waters, force Uria to make a move... but don't rush. If we can't deal with him this time, we can next time. In short, if we work together, we should be able to drive him from power."

"Not 'should,' but 'definitely!'"

Gu Xiechen rested both hands on the back of the bench, looking up at the clear sky, smiling with great contentment.

"Stir the waters? That's my specialty... But only stirring the waters for Uria? Doesn't that insult my intelligence?"

A man, walking with a slight tremor, approached and sat down next to Gu Xiechen.

Gu Xiechen concernedly helped support the man's arm. "Bell, how is your recovery? The Three Witches' Blood Curse is too damaging; you shouldn't be rushing back to work like this."

Bell Adams, his face pale, smiled gratefully at Gu Xiechen, then excitedly lowered his voice, "Boss, I just got intel regarding Uria..."

Gu Xiechen stopped Bell Adams mid-sentence, cautiously looking around. The two men left the city park one after the other.

Two blocks away, Tartarus, standing at the entrance of a luxury hotel, cursed angrily. He irritably pulled a miniature earpiece from his ear and crushed it into powder.