175: Chapter 175: Scandals involving Hongtai Construction reignite online controversy; Shanghai Metropolitan Government convenes emergency meeting.

"Whoa..." Qin Yi's spirits lifted. The System was truly "handing him a pillow just as he felt sleepy"! He had just swiped a Type 54 pistol from Dao Ge today, and now he had drawn the 'Firearms Proficiency' skill. Honestly, who could beat him in the luck department?

"System, introduce the 'Firearms Proficiency' skill." Qin Yi commanded the System, his eyes full of expectation.

[Ding! In response to the host, Firearms Proficiency, like God-level Driving Skill and God of Hackers, is a passive skill. Once obtained, it is bound to the host. With this skill, the host automatically masters any firearm-type weapon. The skill is divided into five levels: Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, Top-tier, and Divine-Grade. The hit rate for Elementary is 80%, Intermediate is 100%, Advanced is 100% with a 10% additional damage bonus, Top-tier is 100% with a 30% additional damage bonus, and Divine-Grade is 100% with a 50% additional damage bonus. Upon reaching Divine-Grade, the passive skill '100% Trajectory Prediction' will also be unlocked.]

"Holy crap..." After hearing the System's introduction, Qin Yi was completely stunned. This skill was incredible. Once it reached Intermediate, he would transform from a rookie who had just touched a gun into a sharpshooter with a 100% hit rate?! Moreover, the later levels even included an additional damage bonus. What did that mean?

Players who have played mobile shooting games should know that different weapons deal different amounts of damage when hitting different parts of the body. Take the AK47, for example; if it hits an unarmored body, it takes at least three shots to empty the enemy's health bar. However, if Qin Yi's Firearms Proficiency skill were upgraded to Advanced or even Divine-Grade, the damage dealt by Qin Yi would have an additional bonus of 10% to 50%. In other words, a kill that originally required three shots might only take two, or even just one, because the shooter was Qin Yi and had that additional damage bonus.

Of course, if he aimed for a head without a protective helmet, this additional damage wouldn't mean much. After all, people always talk about a one-shot headshot; no one has ever heard of a head so hard it needed more than two shots...

However, in Qin Yi's view, reaching Divine-Grade was both simple and not so simple. Hard practice was useless; it all depended on his luck.

A moment later, Qin Yi couldn't help but feel a bit lost, but thinking about the '100% Trajectory Prediction' passive skill unlocked at Divine-Grade made him curious. Since the hit rate was already 100% at Intermediate, what was the use of trajectory prediction? Thinking this, Qin Yi asked the System, "System, what is the use of '100% Trajectory Prediction'?"

[Ding! In response to the host, with the support of the '100% Trajectory Prediction' skill, the host's eyes are equivalent to a 'fire control radar'. Once a target is locked on by the host, the host can fire upon it based on parameters such as distance, bearing, and altitude. Of course, besides assisting with shooting, it can also predict the trajectory of an opponent's fire to help the host evade.]

After hearing the System's introduction, Qin Yi was deeply impressed. With this skill, wouldn't he be a 'God of Guns'? If he ever had the chance to join the military, he would undoubtedly be the strongest soldier king, bar none. It was just a pity that he was currently a civilian, and in Dragon Country, civilians are not allowed to possess firearms; otherwise, he really would have wanted to try out the real deal right now.

After fantasizing for a while, Qin Yi took a deep breath, let out a long sigh, and then said to the System, "System, check my six-dimensional attributes!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a light screen flashed before his eyes, displaying his six-dimensional attributes.

[Host: Qin Yi]

[Strength: 13]

[Agility: 12]

[Intelligence: 10]

[Endurance: 10]

[Mental Energy: 10]

[Charm: 10]

[Realm: Middle Stage of Ming Jin]

[Cultivation Technique: Xingyi Quan (Minor Achievement)]

[Special Skills: Eye of Truth (Intermediate), God-level Driving Skill, God of Hackers (Entry-Level), God of Cooking, Firearms Proficiency (Elementary)]

[System Items: 28 Property Deeds, 1 Opposite-Sex Consumption Cashback Critical Hit Card (Elementary), 1 Miniature Bionic Tracker, 1 bionic disguise mask, 1 Type 54 pistol, 5 Magazines, 110 100g Gold Bars, 15 200g Gold Bars, 300,000 huaxia currency, 150,000 USD...]

[System Level: Level 1, Upgrade Experience: 43,294,156/100,000,000]

[Pending Tasks:]

[1. Kindness to the enemy is cruelty to yourself! Within one week, bring down Hongtai Construction Co., Ltd. and make sure Wang Hao can never recover! 2 days, 12 hours, and 40 minutes remaining until the task ends!]

[2. Random Task — Forbearing for a moment brings peace, but thinking back on it only makes one angrier! Find the mastermind behind your family's bankruptcy and let them experience the feeling of being forcibly plundered! No time limit!]

Qin Yi's gaze lingered on the System items column. He hadn't expected the wealth he scavenged from Chen Hu and Dao Ge to be so substantial. There were 14,000g in gold bars alone. At current gold prices, that converted to at least 8.5 million. Adding in the cash and gold/silver jewelry, a conservative estimate would be nearly 10 million.

Speaking of which, this was all dirty money. He blamed himself for not thinking it through at the time and sweeping everything into his System Space. Now it seemed like a hot potato, and he would have to find a way to deal with it later.

Thinking this, Qin Yi noticed the System upgrade experience column. The experience was almost halfway there. He still needed to spend 5.7 billion huaxia currency to upgrade the System to Level 2. Once the System mall opened then, the System Points he earned from tasks should finally come in handy.

After reviewing his attribute panel, Qin Yi felt much better. He stood up and walked out of the study. As soon as he opened the door, Wang Tengfei's familiar snoring reached his ears, giving him the illusion of being back in his university dormitory. A smile played on Qin Yi's lips as he walked to another bedroom, lay comfortably on the bed, and gradually fell asleep.

...

While Qin Yi was currently immersed in his dreams, the exposure post about Hongtai Construction was making certain people toss and turn, unable to sleep peacefully.

It was already midnight, and the exposure post about Hongtai Construction was like a nuclear bomb, instantly detonating across the internet in Dragon Country.

The content of the post was like a heavy blow to everyone's hearts. All sorts of scandals involving Hongtai Construction over the years—tender fraud, bid rigging, and bribing officials—each one was enough to leave people speechless. But the most shocking part was the video of Wang Hongtai and Vice Mayor Qian's secretary, Wang Liang, having a secret discussion in a tea room.

Although the video had been carefully edited by Qin Yi to remove sensitive content directly mentioning Vice Mayor Qian, Secretary Wang's familiar face was clearly exposed on camera. Combined with the sharp text in Qin Yi's post, Secretary Wang's image instantly plummeted, making him look like a petty man using his power for personal gain and influence to oppress others.

As soon as the post was published, it quickly caught the attention of the Magic City Internet Public Opinion Center. Because of the previous incident involving Hongtai Construction, any post related to Hongtai Construction would be synchronized to the center immediately.

The head of the Internet Public Opinion Center frowned and quickly ordered the net police to track the whistleblower's IP address. However, the result was exactly the same as last time—no matter how hard the net police tried, the final address tracked was always overseas. There was no doubt that this whistleblower was the same person as before.

But this situation was clearly more serious than the last. Not only was the content more detailed and specific, but it also included a large amount of physical evidence and video Materials. The illegal and non-compliant acts of Hongtai Construction were exposed one by one, involving countless officials, enterprises, and public institutions.

The person in charge looked at the exposure Materials before him, feeling an indescribable sense of pressure. He knew this was no small matter and had to be reported to his superiors immediately. Thus, he picked up the phone without hesitation and made an emergency report to the relevant leaders of the Magic City Commission for Discipline Inspection.

...

As the night deepened, the Magic City Municipal Building gradually became busy. One official car after another with Mo A license plates entered in succession, breaking the silence of the night.

The security guard on duty at the municipal gate watched this scene, so shocked that all sleepiness vanished. He witnessed several leaders hurrying out of their cars and walking quickly into the municipal building, and his heart couldn't help but feel a ripple of curiosity. He wondered to himself what major event had happened to alarm so many leaders at once...

Not long after, a light came on in a meeting room of the municipal office building. Several leaders with varying expressions—some solemn, some weary—entered one after another. Among them was Vice Mayor Qian, whom Wang Hongtai regarded as his backstage supporter; his expression was particularly complex.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

Everyone took their seats in order. The atmosphere in the conference room felt somewhat oppressive, and no one was willing to be the first to break the silence.

At this moment, a middle-aged man sitting in the center seat of the conference table gave a light cough and spoke slowly, breaking the silence.

He was about fifty years old, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, looking solemn yet dignified.

He scanned the people present and said slowly, "Dragging everyone out of their sleep in the middle of the night, I suppose some of you haven't figured out what's going on yet, have you?"

Hearing this, everyone looked at each other, feeling uneasy, yet not knowing what to say.

The middle-aged man in the center seat took all of this in. He turned his head slightly and signaled to the secretary sitting behind him, who was there to listen and take notes.

The secretary immediately stood up and distributed the prepared Materials to each official present.

The moment the officials received the Materials, they were shocked by the title on them.

Immediately after, the sound of pages turning, "rustle, rustle, rustle," filled the conference room, changing the previous atmosphere of silence.

The Materials were at least a dozen pages long. Some officials read quite quickly, and as they flipped through page after page, the expressions on their faces became increasingly grave.

Once they finished reading the Materials, their gazes involuntarily turned toward "Vice Mayor Qian," who was sitting in the second seat to the left of the middle-aged man in the center.

Vice Mayor Qian's face was pale one moment and flushed the next. He raised his hand to loosen his tight collar, and fine beads of sweat seeped onto his forehead.

His eyes flickered, as if he were thinking about how to deal with the predicament before him.

Time ticked by second by second. Seeing that most officials had finished reading the Materials, the middle-aged man in the center seat coughed lightly again and continued, "Everyone has seen the Materials. If you have any opinions or insights, feel free to share them."

After speaking, he cast his gaze toward everyone present.

His gaze passed over Vice Mayor Qian and landed on Vice Mayor Ji, who was sitting next to him: "Old Ji, you are in charge of political and legal affairs. Has your Disciplinary Inspection Commission never received any reports regarding these issues with Hongtai Construction before?"

This leader in charge of political and legal affairs straightened his posture, met his gaze, cleared his throat, and said, "Secretary Zhong, this... Hongtai Construction Co., Ltd. is a private enterprise that mainly handles some construction-related projects."

Most of those who have close dealings with them are state-owned enterprises. Of course, the issues of 'demanding kickbacks and extorting favors' by some related personnel mentioned in the Materials do indeed objectively exist.

Our disciplinary inspection department occasionally receives some related reports, but many are unsubstantiated or based on mere hearsay, so..."

Before Vice Mayor Ji could finish speaking, Secretary Zhong, sitting in the center seat, raised his hand to interrupt him. His brows furrowed slightly, and his tone revealed obvious displeasure: "Unsubstantiated? Based on mere hearsay? Vice Mayor Ji, are you saying that the work capabilities of our Disciplinary Committee, Procuratorate, and Anti-Corruption Bureau are so poor that they are not even as good as a netizen posting leaks online?"

Vice Mayor Ji was left feeling quite awkward by this sudden questioning. His face flushed slightly, and he stammered in response, "Uh, this, Secretary Zhong, I absolutely did not mean that..."

"Fine, you say that is not what you meant." Secretary Zhong's tone became increasingly stern. He stared at Vice Mayor Ji with burning eyes and continued to press, "Then let me ask you, can you distinguish which parts of the content in these report Materials are true and which are false? Can you tell me which officials have been wronged, and which ones we knew had issues but failed to handle seriously?"

As Secretary Zhong's words became increasingly severe, the atmosphere in the conference room became more and more oppressive. Everyone lowered their heads, fixing their gaze on their own noses, acting like 'ostriches.'

Secretary Zhong scanned the officials present and finally fixed his gaze on Vice Mayor Qian.

He tapped the pen in his hand heavily against the conference table, making a crisp sound. This noise caused all the officials to look up in unison, all eyes fixed on Secretary Zhong.

Vice Mayor Qian felt Secretary Zhong's sharp gaze, and his heart tightened instantly. He subconsciously adjusted his glasses, trying to hide his inner nervousness. However, the muscles on his face trembled slightly, revealing his true emotions at that moment.

"Old Qian, you are the Vice Mayor in charge of municipal construction. You should be very familiar with this Hongtai Construction Co., Ltd., right?" Secretary Zhong's tone was calm yet filled with authority, "The person in the screenshot on the last page of this material, if I am not mistaken, is your secretary, right?"

Vice Mayor Qian took a deep breath, trying hard to make his voice sound steadier: "Yes, that person is indeed the secretary by my side, named Wang Liang. However, regarding his private meetings with Hongtai Construction Chairman Wang Hongtai, I... I am indeed not very clear about that."

"Not very clear?" Secretary Zhong's face sank instantly, and he stared intently at Vice Mayor Qian, "He is your secretary; you should know his every move like the back of your hand. Now you tell me you are not very clear? As his direct supervisor, do you think this explanation is reasonable?"

"Uh... this..." Vice Mayor Qian's eyes darted around, his mind quickly calculating the current situation. He glanced at the report Materials on the table and knew that they did not explicitly implicate him, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. Regarding the video footage, he had already glanced through it on his way to the conference room and could see that the other party did not really intend to drag him down. Although the footage exposed his secretary, the parts concerning him had been carefully edited; clearly, the other party's goal was not directed at him personally.

Vice Mayor Qian secretly thought that this action by the other party, in his view, was more like a warning, and the real target should still be Hongtai Construction Company. He wondered who this Wang Hongtai had offended to drag him into it as well. However, this time he could not simply and crudely block the post as he had last time; if he really did that, the next person to be exposed would likely be himself. Thinking of this, he had already made a decision.

He raised his head, met Secretary Zhong's scrutinizing gaze, and tried his best to make his tone sound calm: "Secretary Zhong, you are right, Wang Liang is indeed my secretary. But please understand, he does not need to report all his private affairs to me. Regarding the content mentioned in this material, its authenticity remains to be verified. Perhaps this is just a private friendship between Secretary Wang and Wang Hongtai; after all, as the Vice Mayor in charge of municipal construction, I inevitably have contact with some people in the business world. For Secretary Wang to have tea and chat privately with some business owners to better advance work, that shouldn't be a big problem, right? Of course, the way this conversation was handled was indeed somewhat inappropriate! I will definitely criticize Secretary Wang properly for this later!"

Secretary Zhong listened quietly to Vice Mayor Qian's evasive explanation. He felt a bit impatient inside, but his face remained calm, showing no obvious expression.

He spoke slowly in a deep voice: "Whether there is a problem or not cannot be decided by us discussing it here without any evidence. On the way to notifying you to come to this meeting, I already ordered comrades from the Procuratorate to interview Wang Liang." Saying this, he paused before continuing, "Of course, besides him, I have also arranged for corresponding comrades to follow up and investigate every official involved in the report Materials. Most of these people are subordinates in your various departments." As he said this, his gaze swept over every official present, as if observing their reactions.

Subsequently, he called on several other officials, asking them to share their own views as well.

Those who were called upon were basically either the officials involved in that expository post or their direct superiors. Everyone's answers were basically much the same. After all, no one wanted to voluntarily admit to any problems at this time.

...

Secretary Zhong glanced at the watch on his wrist, then continued: "It's getting late tonight, I think everyone should just stay. We will wait for the investigation results right here in this conference room. It will just be a bit tiring for our comrades from the Procuratorate, having to conduct surprise interrogations so late. Of course," he changed the subject, his tone revealing a hint of warning, "if you remember anything, or have anything you need to confess, saying it sooner is much better than confessing after being found out."

Secretary Zhong's words made the atmosphere in the conference room even more grave, making everyone present feel unprecedented pressure.

...

At this moment, an official vehicle with flashing police lights and the insignia of the Procuratorate drove into the Magic City Procuratorate.

The rear car door opened, and three people stepped out one after another. Two of them were wearing the uniform of the Procuratorate, and the other one was none other than Vice Mayor Qian's Secretary Wang Liang!