CHAPTER 175: CHAPTER 173 SUBSEQUENT IMPACT

Although Qin Lan had many guesses about the identities of those criminals, as she was on leave, she couldn’t do anything about it. Now, all she could do was focus on recovering in the hospital.

Fortunately, Ding Ning was there to keep her company, so she wasn’t left with idle thoughts running wild.

Meanwhile, Chen Xin continued to bring her food every day. Although there weren’t many ingredients available, Chen Xin tried his best to vary the dishes to supplement her nutrition.

This incident might only have such a limited impact on Qin Lan and Chen Xin, but it stirred a huge commotion throughout the entire city and its subordinate counties. It even alarmed the provincial government, prompting the dispatch of an emergency investigation team to the city government to conduct a joint investigation with the local team. They also screened all city shelters.

Regardless of size, whether official or private, all shelters had to undergo inspections by the joint investigation team. As a result, not only did the city’s armed police and special police deploy comprehensively, but the provincial investigation team also brought in a military unit from the provincial capital.

Though it was just two companies of soldiers, they were true combat troops, different from the internal security forces like the armed police and special police. They were meant for external military operations, signaling a completely different significance to the event.

If it was just armed police and special police involved, the incident could have still been seen as an internal conflict among the people, not as foreign enemies.

But once the military was involved, it indicated that the criminals behind this incident were no longer considered part of the people but enemies outside of them.

This was akin to the riots in Hong Kong before the disaster. Despite Flame Country having stationed troops locally and an armed police force in a neighboring city, the incident was still handled by Hong Kong’s local police, not the stationed troops.

This wasn’t just a political consideration due to the threat of foreign hostile forces. More importantly, those people were still considered part of the people, not deemed as enemies of the state.

In Flame Country, the military is for external threats, and the police for internal affairs, which has always been the national policy.

Although during major disasters the military is also deployed for rescue and relief or to assist the people, military operations are only against foreign enemies. Never in Flame Country’s history has the military been aimed at its people.

But now that the provincial investigation team had called in the military, the nature of the incident undoubtedly became vastly different.

At the joint investigation team’s request, all shelters underwent inspections. Personnel identities and backgrounds within the shelters were screened by specialists, suspicious individuals interrogated, and relevant personnel were stressed about the seriousness of the matter.

For a time, the entire city was in a state of high alert, enveloped in a tense and serious atmosphere.

Under such an atmosphere, the spontaneously formed black market in the city naturally couldn’t continue. It was the first to be raided by the special police, banning any further private transactions to prevent providing resources for potential criminals.

Li Yulong’s plantation was also suspended after a raid on a minor shelter. Although with the city government’s backing, Li Yulong wasn’t treated as a suspect, the project was still put on hold until the investigation concluded, unable to resume until then.

This was undoubtedly a huge blow for Li Yulong, who was determined to achieve something great. The setback to his fledgling business, though not a failure, left him extremely frustrated.

"Brother Chen, what’s going on here? Who did I offend?" Li Yulong complained to Chen Xin, as Chen was the only one he could vent to over this issue.

"This is just a disaster without cause; you were merely affected by it." Listening to Li Yulong’s grievances, Chen Xin was also in a foul mood: "Even my shelter was searched by the special police. You should feel grateful that your project was only suspended, not canceled."

Hearing this, Li Yulong felt even more depressed: "You’re right, but it’s really frustrating!"

"If you’re dissatisfied, investigate what’s going on and find those people." Chen Xin looked earnestly at Li Yulong: "Your family has connections across all facets in this city; can’t you uncover the truth? If you can identify who’s behind it and present the clues to the joint investigation team, I’m sure they’ll restart your project soon."

Given his father’s status as one of the city’s wealthiest merchants before the disaster, and his involvement in the restaurant and hotel industry, Li Yulong naturally had substantial connections to probe into certain matters.

But hearing Chen Xin’s suggestion only made Li Yulong’s expression more gloomy.

"Don’t mention it. I asked my dad to use his contacts to investigate, but he told me not to get involved and to let the project remain halted." That’s what frustrated Li Yulong the most.

His business being shut down, while his father not helping nor coming up with ideas, and instead telling him to stay out, left Li Yulong’s enthusiasm wasted, like punching into thin air.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xin frowned; this was indeed interesting.

With his son’s business affected, for Li Yulong’s father not to find a solution but to tell him to stay out, either he thinks the matter is too deep and wants to avoid trouble, or he knows something and doesn’t want his son involved.

So, which thought does Li Yulong’s father have?

Thinking the matter too deep is a possibility. While Li Yulong’s plantation project was affected, it wasn’t too entangled; as long as they stayed out, it wasn’t a big deal.

However, Chen Xin felt it wasn’t that simple.

Yet, this was a family matter between them, and Chen Xin didn’t want to meddle, so he shifted the conversation to other topics.

"Brother Chen, did you know? The ’Doctor’s’ family had an accident. Due to a lack of heating equipment, his parents froze to death a few days ago." Shifting the conversation, Li Yulong naturally didn’t bring up the issue again, changing the topic to events among their survival group members.

"Hmm? The ’Doctor’s’ parents died?" Hearing this, Chen Xin immediately recalled a previous system notification he had received, which must have been when it happened.

But why did the ’Doctor’s’ parents die? In this weather, even though their shelter was simple, the temperature had been dropping for some time. Why would they freeze to death now?

Recalling the behavior of the ’Doctor’s’ parents when he last visited, Chen Xin shook his head, not wishing to delve deeper into the reasons.