98: Chapter 98 Su Xiaonuan reduces her own privileges, the Great Demon King reverses the handling fee, and the steward is granted a lifetime contract.

After Jiang Xiaowan left, Tiangong No. 1 was quiet for a long time.

No one in the dining room mentioned her.

Wang Ya cleared away the cold soup.

Tang Qiqi held her bag of potato chips, uncharacteristically not making any snide remarks.

Su Xiaonuan held her tablet and continued giving orders.

"Liu Qing, track the helicopter flight path."

"Lu Yan, continue reinforcing the second layer of the outer defense line."

She spoke steadily.

But on the tablet, for the same command, she tapped the wrong button three times.

Liu Qing looked up at her, then looked back down to type on the keyboard.

No one called her out.

Lin Yuan sat on the sofa, a cigarette between his fingertips, not looking at Su Xiaonuan.

This was colder than any reprimand.

On the main screen, the three helicopters had already flown out of the Jiangcheng area, their flight path pointing straight to Zhe City.

Su Xiaonuan finally put down the tablet.

She walked in front of Lin Yuan and lowered her head.

"Boss Lin, it was my judgment that was wrong."

All movement in the living room stopped.

Su Xiaonuan's voice was very soft.

"Last night, it was I who pleaded for Jiang Xiaowan."

"I was the one who restored her access rights."

"It is my responsibility that she was able to contact the Jiang Family."

She handed over the tablet.

On the screen was a proposal for authority demotion.

[Su Xiaonuan: Authority reduced to Level 2.]

[Internal network authority transferred to Liu Qing.]

"I am not suitable to continue being the Chief Steward."

She said it very calmly.

But the calmer she was, the more it felt like she was cutting herself with a knife.

Lin Yuan glanced at the proposal.

He didn't take it.

"Follow me."

Su Xiaonuan's fingers trembled.

The two of them went up to the second floor.

The study door closed.

Lin Yuan sat down and pointed to the opposite chair.

"Sit."

Su Xiaonuan did not sit.

She stood in front of the desk, stubbornly looking at her own toes.

Lin Yuan grabbed Su Xiaonuan and pulled her into his arms.

"Only those who make mistakes are the ones truly getting things done."

Su Xiaonuan looked up.

Lin Yuan looked at her.

"As long as it isn't betrayal, there is value in correcting it."

Su Xiaonuan's eyes turned red instantly.

She bit her lip, not making a sound as she cried.

Lin Yuan continued: "You didn't let Jiang Xiaowan go."

"Deep down, she is still the eldest miss of the Jiang Family."

"She thinks the Jiang Family is a fallback option, thinking she can negotiate new terms when she returns."

"Until this ingrained habit is shattered, she will never bow her head."

Su Xiaonuan was stunned.

"So... you let her go on purpose?"

Lin Yuan nodded.

"If she stays here, the most she will learn is how to pretend to be obedient."

"Only by going out once will she realize."

"This is the safest zone she will ever encounter."

Su Xiaonuan lowered her head.

"But I was still wrong."

Her fingers gripped the corner of her shirt.

"I was afraid you would think I was useless."

When she said this, her whole body trembled slightly.

She wasn't afraid of losing authority.

She wasn't afraid of punishment.

She was afraid Lin Yuan would no longer need her.

Lin Yuan tightened his arm around her.

"Your position is not one that Jiang Xiaowan could ever touch."

Su Xiaonuan's breathing hitched for a moment.

Lin Yuan extended a finger and lifted her chin.

"You are different."

Su Xiaonuan finally couldn't hold it back and hugged him.

She cried very softly.

Like someone who had been scolded to the point of breaking down in the office, yet didn't dare let anyone else hear.

Lin Yuan did not push her away.

He let her bury her face in his chest.

A moment later, he said in a low voice: "Su Xiaonuan."

"I said you are the Chief Steward, so you will be forever."

Su Xiaonuan nodded forcefully.

"Mm."

The study became quiet.

Outside the door.

Tang Qiqi was lying by the door, ears perked up.

Qin Yumo looked at her.

Tang Qiqi immediately stood straight.

"I was just worried Sister Xiaonuan would get her performance bonus deducted."

Half an hour later.

The study door opened.

Su Xiaonuan came out following Lin Yuan.

Her face was still a bit flushed, her lips slightly swollen, and her hair a bit messy.

Tang Qiqi took one look, her mouth just opening.

Su Xiaonuan's throat gave a slight hitch, and her face instantly turned red to her ears.

Tang Qiqi immediately shut her mouth.

She lowered her head to drink milk.

Forget it.

She didn't dare touch that topic.

Liu Qing pushed up her glasses, her fingers typing rapidly on the keyboard.

"Boss Lin, the Zhe City joint forces and the South Suburb Military District have officially merged."

The main screen switched.

Outside the South Suburb Military District, the armored convoy lined up in three columns.

Tanks in the front.

Infantry fighting vehicles in the middle.

Troop carriers in the back.

Armed helicopters circled at low altitude.

Liu Qing pulled up the combat channel.

"They have started their counterattack early."

"Advancing in three routes."

"One route to the broadcast tower."

"One route to Jiangcheng University."

"One route to clear the main road in the city center."

Su Muxue came down from the second floor, still holding experimental records.

"In such a rush?"

Lin Yuan said: "Director Li Wenhui is afraid the credit will be taken by Zhe City."

On the screen.

The first unit crashed into the main road.

Tanks crushed abandoned cars.

The tracks flattened the car shells into sheet metal.

Autocannons fired.

A dozen zombies rushed up and were torn into shreds of meat.

Survivors in the outer circle gathered near the temporary broadcast and burst into cheers.

"The official forces are back!"

"Jiangcheng is saved!"

"No matter how strong Lin Yuan is, can he be stronger than a Tank?"

The blood from the two corpses killed in front of the cordon earlier hadn't even dried yet.

But they had already forgotten.

Fat Dragon stood behind the crowd, grinning.

"Cheer, keep cheering."

"Just don't come crying to daddy later."

Captain Han Xue stood by the isolation line, saying nothing.

She looked at those cheering people, then looked at the armored vehicles on the main screen.

Her gaze was heavy.

The second route's footage cut to an office building outside Jiangcheng University.

A C-class wind-type Mutant leaped down from the roof.

A gale overturned an armored vehicle.

Soldiers rolled out of the vehicle.

The next second.

Armed helicopters dipped low.

Rocket volley.

Boom!

Half of the office building collapsed.

That Mutant's body disappeared on one side, and its crystal core rolled into the ruins.

Tang Qiqi swallowed hard watching this.

"This firepower, it really does taste like truth."

Qin Yumo stared at the screen.

"Their ammunition won't last long."

Liu Qing typed out an ammunition consumption estimation chart.

The numbers were jumping quickly.

Rockets.

Autocannon rounds.

Heavy machine gun ammo belts.

Every item was dropping.

Su Xiaonuan picked up the tablet again.

This time, she didn't tap the wrong button.

"Tiangong No. 1 is entering Level 1 combat readiness protocol."

"Outer circle patrol shifts shortened to fifteen minutes."

"B2 energy group entering dual backup."

Lin Yuan nodded.

At this moment, the broadcast channel was forcibly interrupted.

Director Li Wenhui's voice rang out.

"Citizens of Jiangcheng, please keep your faith."

"The joint counterattack operation has achieved significant progress."

"Jiangcheng's order is about to be restored."

"All civilian armed forces, private strongholds, and illegal hoarding organizations must accept unified reorganization after the battle."

He stopped for a second here.

"Especially those individuals who occupy high-end residential areas, set up private armed forces, and refuse to obey requisition orders."

"Do not harbor any illusions."

"Once order returns, the reckoning will return too."

The outer circle was quiet for a few seconds.

Then, someone spoke in a low voice.

"He's talking about Cloud Top Palace, right?"

"Is Lin Yuan finished?"

"Is it too late for us to draw a line with him now?"

"How about... we report him voluntarily when the official forces come up the mountain?"

Captain Han Xue listened to these words, not stopping them.

She just looked toward Tiangong No. 1.

She wanted to know how Lin Yuan would respond.

Lin Yuan did not respond.

He didn't even let Liu Qing cut off the broadcast.

He just picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Lu Yan."

"Present."

"If anyone in the outer circle attempts to storm the Inner Circle, treat it as a riot."

Lu Yan's voice was steady.

"Understood."

Fat Dragon also joined the channel.

"Don't worry, Boss. Whoever dares to jump, I'll give them some ideological work first."

Tang Qiqi whispered: "Physical ideological work."

Liu Qing suddenly stopped.

She stared at the screen.

"Wait."

On the main screen, the city surveillance footage went dark one by one.

It wasn't a power outage.

And it wasn't equipment damage.

All streets, all high-rises, all ruins, were suppressed by the same color.

Dark red.

The light outside the window began to change color too.

It wasn't getting dark.

It was the daylight of the entire Jiangcheng being swallowed bit by bit by some kind of red.

Su Muxue stepped closer.

"It's not a natural phenomenon."

Liu Qing pulled up the sky feed.

Behind the clouds.

A blood-red moon slowly revealed its edge.

No one in the dining room spoke.

The survivors in the outer circle, who had just been cheering, also looked up.

On the broadcast channel, Director Li Wenhui's speech had not yet stopped.

"We will restore Jiangcheng's production order as quickly as possible..."

The next second.

The first roar came from the distant city.

Then came the second.

The third.

The entire city of Jiangcheng seemed to be awakened.

Lu Xixi's voice rang out from the walkie-talkie, filled with tears.

"Uncle Lin..."

"There are so many."

"At the foot of the mountain, it's all grey dots."

"They are climbing up."