64: Chapter 64 The South is furious, the old fox's impotent rage.

In Pangkham to the north, the sun was shining brightly. The roar of bulldozers and the rhythmic chants of workers filled the air, creating a scene of bustling construction.

Convoys from the Dragon Kingdom lined up to pass through customs, bringing in truckloads of building materials and taking out truckloads of ore and agricultural products.

But in Wan Hong, the capital of South Wa, inside Bao Youxiang's luxurious mansion known as the "Little Imperial Palace," it looked as if the tail end of a typhoon had just swept through, leaving everything in a mess.

"Smash!"

A Chenghua-era blue and white porcelain teacup—though likely a fake, it was still worth a lot of money—was slammed onto the ground, shattering into eight pieces.

Bao Youxiang, the old warlord who had dominated Northern Myanmar for decades, now looked like a crazed lion trapped in a cage.

He wore his signature deep green military uniform with the buttons undone, huffing and puffing as his chest heaved violently.

His eyes, which were always narrowed in calculation, were now terrifyingly bloodshot. The veins on his forehead bulged like earthworms, throbbing incessantly.

"This is too much! Too much!!"

He pointed at Xiao Mingliang and Wei Xuegang, who stood with their hands down below him. His fingers were trembling, and spittle flew onto their faces.

"Useless! Idiots! You're all damn useless! I spent thirty million USD! A full thirty million! And all I got was this flashy but useless thing? What was it, 'Phantom'? I'll 'phantom' his grandmother! He didn't even touch a hair on Zhang Cheng's head! Now look, he's gone—no body, no sign of life! The money's gone down the drain, and we've gone and startled the damn snake!"

Just moments ago, he had finished watching a recording his subordinates obtained of the Dragon Kingdom's CCTV exclusive interview with Zhang Cheng.

Although some of the more provocative content had been edited out, the images and the voice were like red-hot branding irons, searing his old face and making his heart twitch with pain!

On the TV, Zhang Cheng wore a Mao suit, looking dignified and eloquent as he spoke.

Every pretty word about "fighting crime," "eliminating tumors," "committing to development," and "welcoming investment" felt like a slap across Bao Youxiang's face.

That glory should have originally belonged to him, Bao Youxiang!

He should have been the one sitting there, the center of attention, enjoying the Dragon Kingdom's support and attracting investment from all sides! Kokang, North Wa, so much money, such vast territory, such obedient "piglets"... these were all the choice cuts of meat he had planned to annex!

And now? They had all been snatched away by that little bastard who had popped out of nowhere! Not only were they stolen, but the man was standing before the whole world, openly enjoying everything Bao Youxiang had dreamed of, while trampling him and his "career" of the past few decades underfoot as a stepping stone and a negative example!

Xiao Mingliang adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, which had been knocked askew by the outburst, his heart filled with bitterness. His throat was dry and painful as he forced himself to speak: "Commander-in-Chief, please calm down... No one, no one expected that Zhang Cheng to be so uncanny, so cunning... Moreover, he now has the Dragon Kingdom's full public backing and is at the height of his influence. International public opinion... it's also starting to turn in his favor."

“Dragon Kingdom! It’s always the Dragon Kingdom!” Bao Youxiang trembled with rage. He grabbed a jade paperweight from the table to throw it, but after seeing its quality mid-air, he couldn't bring himself to do it and slammed it back down heavily. “What right do they have?! I used to help them pacify the border and restrain my men. Every time they came to 'coordinate,' didn't I host them with the best food and wine? They’re killing the donkey once the grinding is done! Crossing the bridge and then burning it! They see that kid Zhang Cheng has a heavy fist, so they damn well changed their tune!”

Wei Xuegang had remained silent. As the commander of the South Wa Military Region, he was more composed than Xiao Mingliang, but his clenched fists and the throbbing veins at his temples betrayed the turmoil within.

He said in a deep voice, "Commander-in-Chief, cursing is useless now. Zhang Cheng played this political card quite brilliantly. He packaged himself and his men as a righteous force for eliminating crime and restoring order, shouted development and construction from the rooftops, and pulled in the great banner of the Dragon Kingdom. If we rashly use force now, we'll only confirm the charge of 'undermining peace and stability,' playing right into his hands and providing an excuse for the Dragon Kingdom or even the international community to intervene."

“Are we just supposed to watch him shit and piss on my neck while he gets stronger and stronger?!” Bao Youxiang roared unwillingly, his voice hoarse and filled with the madness of a man at his wit's end. “Once he truly turns North Wa into an iron fortress with elite troops and ample supplies, his next step will be driving tanks across the river to take our heads!”

“Of course we can't just wait for death.” A cold, viper-like glint flashed behind Xiao Mingliang's lenses. He leaned in and lowered his voice, “Commander-in-Chief, a direct confrontation is indeed unwise right now. But we can trip him up, use underhanded tactics, and make sure this great development of his fails!”

“Oh? Tell me.” Bao Youxiang lifted an eyelid.

“Doesn't he want to build? What does construction fear most? Chaos!” Xiao Mingliang said sinisterly. “We'll secretly send people over to incite those old subordinates, mountain officials, and headmen in the north who haven't fully submitted or whose interests have been damaged! Let them strike, block roads, and sabotage construction sites! As long as there's chaos there, the projects will have to stop!”

“Furthermore,” Xiao Mingliang continued with his malicious ideas, “doesn't he want to attract investment? We'll spread rumors outside saying that while it looks flashy, it's actually a mess, policies change overnight, officials are insatiably greedy, and any money invested is gone for good! We can even manufacture a few 'accidents' involving Dragon Kingdom businessmen... He can talk a big game on TV, but we'll make him hit a brick wall in reality, making those businessmen who want to invest think twice!”

“Right! And more!” Bao Youxiang felt as if he had grasped a lifeline, his eyes turning fierce again. “Naypyidaw! We shouldn't be the only ones worried! Send people there immediately with heavy gifts! Tell Saw Win and those military brass that Zhang Cheng is raising pigs! Once he fattens up North Wa and trains them strong, the first ones he'll cut down will be their military government! Tell them to have some foresight, give us more decent equipment, and choke off Zhang Cheng's supply routes from that side! Even if they can't openly embargo him, they can set up layer upon layer of checkpoints to stall him to death!”

“Also,” he added, huffing with a calculating look in his eyes, “send people to the Karen People and the South Shan State Army! Show them Zhang Cheng's interview! Tell them that today I, Old Bao, lost North Wa, and tomorrow it'll be their turn! If they don't want to be eaten one by one by this ambitious fellow, they better huddle up with us and form an offensive and defensive alliance! The Salween River will be our common line of defense!”

After its impotent rage, this little court of South Wa began jumping about again, networking everywhere in an attempt to weave a web that would trap Zhang Cheng to death.

But once their roars faded and they calmed down, looking at the image of Zhang Cheng on the screen—confident, composed, and seemingly in control of everything—a deeper, colder sense of frustration and a faint dread still spread uncontrollably in their hearts.

The commoner they hadn't even spared a glance for, whom they thought had just gotten lucky, had now become a behemoth they had to look up to, not knowing when he would swing his butcher's knife.

He didn't just have a heavy fist; he knew how to play politics, how to handle propaganda, and how to win people's hearts, all with a giant like the Dragon Kingdom standing behind him.

How could this war even be fought?

Could they really ever vent this frustration?