Huaxia Nation, Blue Sea City Sanctuary Concession District Governor's Office—

In a spacious office, a middle-aged man with an arrogant expression and a robust physique reclined in his chair. He casually rested both legs on the desk in front of him, squinting his eyes as he stared at a thin, frail middle-aged man standing on the other side of the desk.

The frail middle-aged man looked terrified. He bent his waist and lowered his head, not daring to look directly at the middle-aged man sitting in the chair. The conversation seemed to have reached an impasse, and neither spoke. The spacious office was filled with silence.

Suddenly, the robust middle-aged man dropped his legs from the desk. He swung his right hand violently and slapped it on the desk in front of him with a loud "bang." The solid wooden table shook violently, nearly falling apart from the robust middle-aged man's palm strike.

The frail man seemed startled. His body trembled violently, and he lowered his head even further. He spoke in an obsequious, flattering voice: "Go... Governor, please give me a few more months. I will definitely complete the task you assigned to me."

The robust man called Governor flew into a rage. He suddenly stood up from his seat, pointed his finger at the frail man's face and shouted angrily: "You useless fool, are you playing me?! You said the same thing half a year ago, you said the same thing three months ago, and now you're saying it again. How did you become mayor? You can't even handle such a small matter. My patience with you has reached its limit. Do I need to teach you a lesson?!"

"Governor, please calm down. Please let me explain. The situation is... is this." The mayor's forehead was sweating as he tried to remain composed and said:

"Most of the supplies you requested, sir, I have already prepared. But the ten tons of gold you want, I really cannot gather. I have already increased our efforts according to your requirements, sir, and opened many mines. However, because the workers mining gold work day and night, many workers have become seriously ill from overwork, which has led to increasingly inefficient gold mining, so..."

"These are all your problems. I don't want to hear these excuses!" The Governor snorted coldly, interrupting the mayor's words:

"You should know that if I cannot complete the task the Emperor assigned me this year, I will be dismissed as Governor. I don't care what methods you use, but you must gather ten tons of gold for me within one month. Tomorrow, bring all your family members here. Without my permission, none of them are allowed to go out. If you still cannot complete the task within one month, I will have your entire family arrested as laborers, working until they die. Do you understand?!"

The mayor's face turned pale, sweat streaming down his forehead. He said in a low voice: "Yes... yes."

The Governor shouted loudly: "Now that you know, what are you still standing here for? Get out!"

The mayor, trembling, left the office with his head lowered. His expression was dazed, his eyes unfocused, as if sleepwalking. He unconsciously left the Governor's Office and drove back to his home in the concession district.

"Dad, you're back?!"

As soon as the mayor entered the door, a soft and clear female voice rang out from the room. Then a young woman about twenty years old walked out from another room and appeared before the mayor.

This woman had an oval face, fair skin, a beautiful appearance, and a graceful figure. She had smooth, shoulder-length ash-brown hair. Her face bore a gentle smile as she quickly came before the mayor.

The mayor seemed not to see his own daughter. He had no reaction to what his daughter said. He hung his head, his face blank and dispirited, as if he had seen a ghost.

The mayor's daughter, seeing her father remain silent, couldn't help but carefully examine the mayor's face. When she saw the mayor's fearful and uneasy expression, she seemed to sense something. The gentle smile on her face disappeared and was replaced by a worried expression.

"What's wrong, Dad? What happened?" The woman asked nervously, reaching out both hands to grasp the mayor's shoulders and shaking him once.

The mayor seemed to wake from a dream. He raised his eyelids and looked deeply at his daughter, then sighed and said: "No, Nana, nothing happened. Nothing at all. You don't need to worry."

The woman named Nana looked very solemn. She sensed that her father was lying and continued to ask: "What exactly happened? Can you tell me? Maybe I can help."

The mayor shook his head and said very dejectedly: "Stop talking about it. It's useless. You can't help me. Let me be alone to think quietly. If there's nothing else, don't disturb me."

After saying this, the mayor paid no more attention to Nana. He left the living room, returned to his bedroom, closed the door, and locked himself in the room.

Although Nana sensed that something bad had happened to her father, because she didn't know what it was, she didn't know how to help him. She left the living room and went to another room where a boy about seventeen or eighteen years old was sitting on the bed reading a book.

This boy had a slender build, black hair, fair skin, bright and lively eyes, and a rather handsome appearance. Noticing Nana's arrival, the boy put down his book, looked at Nana, and spoke in an elegant, clear male voice: "Was that Uncle Qiao coming back just now?"

"Yes, my dad just came back." Nana said absentmindedly, sitting down beside the boy.

Seeing Nana's expression, the boy couldn't help but feel curious and asked: "Why are you looking so worried, Nana? You look like an old lady."

Nana was startled, then a reproachful expression appeared on her face. She complained to the boy: "Rulu, how many times have I told you to call me sister normally? And don't make jokes about your sister casually."

"Is that really necessary?" The boy called Rulu showed a faint smile on his face. "Nana, you're not that much older than me. Do you need to put on such airs? Besides, you're not my real sister."

Nana sighed, reached out and pinched Rulu's nose, complaining: "Really, Rulu, you used to be so cute and obedient to me. Now that you've grown up, you've become rebellious and bully your sister. If I had known, I wouldn't have picked you up from outside back then and would have let you wander and suffer outside forever."

"Hmph, it's too late to realize that now." Rulu's face showed a mocking smile. He grabbed Nana's hand, preventing her from continuing to pinch his nose. "Now, Nana, you can't get rid of me even if you want to. No matter where you go, I'll follow you and be with you forever."

Although he was mocking Nana, Rulu's expression was exceptionally gentle, as if he were gazing at his lover.

Nana was startled again. She withdrew her hand somewhat shyly, turned her face to avoid Rulu's gaze, and said wistfully: "If only that were really true."

"What's really wrong?" The smile disappeared from Rulu's face. He frowned slightly, gazing at Nana's face with a steady look.

Nana said softly: "It's like this. After my dad came back, he's been looking worried all the time, as if the sky were falling. When I asked him what happened, he wouldn't say anything. He even locked himself in his room and won't let anyone disturb him."

"I see." Rulu blinked and said thoughtfully, "If I remember correctly, Uncle Qiao just went to the Governor's Office to see that Governor, right?"

"Yes." Nana answered.

"In that case, things are a bit troublesome." Rulu supported his chin with his hand, his face gloomy, speaking slowly as if talking to himself:

"As far as I know, this Governor has tremendous power. He's specifically responsible for managing all of Blue Sea City and other surrounding areas. Although Uncle Qiao is the mayor of Blue Sea City, he must completely obey the Governor's commands. Most importantly, this Governor is a person from the Sanctuary. You could say he's a Sanctuary lackey, specifically responsible for helping the Sanctuary plunder resources from other countries. I think Uncle Qiao must have been bullied by this bastard Governor just now."

Nana made an "mm" sound and said: "I think so too. I heard that several previous mayors of Blue Sea City were severely punished for not completing tasks assigned by the Governor, and their entire families mysteriously disappeared. Because of these incidents, Blue Sea City has gone through countless mayors. I'm worried that the same thing might happen to my dad."