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

  In a spacious office, an arrogant, muscular middle-aged man reclined in his chair, casually resting his legs on the desk in front of him, squinting as he stared at a frail middle-aged man standing on the other side of the desk.

  The frail middle-aged man appeared terrified, bowing with his head lowered, not daring to look directly at the man seated in the chair. The conversation seemed to have reached an impasse, as neither spoke, and the spacious office was completely silent.

  Suddenly, the muscular middle-aged man removed his legs from the desk. He abruptly swung his right hand, slapping it hard on the desk with a loud "bang." The sturdy wooden desk shook violently, nearly falling apart from the muscular man's single strike.

  The frail man seemed frightened, his body trembling severely as he lowered his head even further. In a submissive, ingratiating voice, he said, "G-Governor, please give me a few more months. I will definitely complete the task you assigned me."

  The man addressed as Governor became furious. He jumped to his feet, pointing at the frail man's face and shouting, "You useless fool, are you toying with me?! You said the same thing six months ago, you said it three months ago, and you're saying it again now. How are you even serving as mayor? You can't handle even this simple task. My patience with you has reached its limit. Do I need to make an example of you?!"

  "Governor, please calm down. Let me explain. The situation is... like this." The mayor, sweating profusely, tried to remain composed as he said:

  "Sir, I have already prepared most of the resources you requested, but I simply cannot gather the ten tons of gold you demanded. I have followed your instructions to increase production, opening many mines, but because the gold miners have been working day and night, many workers have fallen seriously ill from exhaustion, causing gold mining efficiency to decrease steadily, so..."

  "These are all your problems, and I don't want to hear any of it!" The Governor snorted coldly, interrupting the mayor:

  "You should know that if I can't complete the task assigned to me by His Majesty the Emperor this year, I will be removed from my position as Governor. I don't care what methods you use, you must gather ten tons of gold within one month. Tomorrow, bring your entire family here to my office. None of them will be allowed to leave without my permission. If you still can't complete the task in a month, I'll have your entire family arrested as forced laborers until they die. Do you understand?!"

  The mayor's face turned pale, sweat pouring down his forehead, as he said in a low voice, "Y-yes."

  The Governor shouted, "If you understand, why are you still standing here? Get out now!"

  The mayor left the office with trembling steps, his head bowed low. He seemed dazed, his eyes unfocused, walking out of the Governor's mansion like a sleepwalker before driving back to his home in the concession area.

  "Dad, you're back?!"

  As soon as the mayor entered his home, a soft, clear female voice sounded from within, and a young woman about twenty years old walked out from another room, appearing before the mayor.

  The young woman had an oval face, fair skin, and beautiful features. With a slender figure, she had shoulder-length, smooth grayish-brown hair. Wearing a gentle smile, she quickly approached the mayor.

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  The mayor seemed not to notice his daughter at all and showed no reaction to her words. He hung his head, his face blank and lost, as if he had seen a ghost.

  When the mayor's daughter noticed her father's silence, she carefully examined his face. Upon seeing his anxious and fearful expression, she seemed to sense something was wrong. The gentle smile on her face disappeared, replaced by a worried look.

  "What's wrong, Dad? What happened?" the young woman asked tensely, reaching out to grab the mayor's shoulders and shake him slightly.

  The mayor snapped out of his trance. He raised his eyelids, looked deeply at his daughter, and then sighed, saying, "No, Nana, nothing happened. Nothing at all. You don't need to worry."

  The young woman called Nana looked very serious, sensing her father was lying, and continued asking, "What exactly happened? Can you tell me? Maybe I can help."

  The mayor shook his head, saying in a dejected tone, "Don't say anymore. It's useless. You can't help me. Let me be alone for a while. If you don't have anything important, please don't disturb me."

  After saying this, the mayor ignored Nana, left the living room, returned to his bedroom, closed the door, and locked himself inside.

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

  The young man had a slender build, black hair, fair skin, and bright, intelligent eyes. His features were quite handsome. Noticing Nana's arrival, he put down his book, looked at her, and spoke in an elegant, clear male voice: "Was that Uncle Qiao who just returned?"

  "Yes, my father just came back," Nana replied absent-mindedly, sitting down beside the young man.

  Seeing Nana's expression, the young man found it strange and asked, "Why do you look so worried, Nana? You look like an old woman."

  Nana was stunned, then her face showed a reproachful expression as she complained to the young man, "Rulu, I've told you many times, you should call me 'big sister,' and don't make fun of your big sister so casually."

  "Is that really necessary?" The young man called Rulu showed a faint smile. "Nana, you're only a few years older than me. Do you need to put on such airs? Besides, you're not my real sister."

  Nana sighed, reaching out to pinch Rulu's nose, complaining, "Really, Rulu, you used to be so cute and obedient to your big sister. Now that you've grown up, you've become rebellious and bully your big sister. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have picked you up from outside and brought you home. I would have left you to wander and suffer outside forever."

  "Hmm, it's too late to realize that now." Rulu's face showed a mocking smile as he grabbed Nana's hand to stop her from pinching his nose. "Now you can't get rid of me even if you wanted to, Nana. No matter where you go, I'll follow you and be with you forever."

  Although he was mocking Nana, Rulu's expression was unusually gentle, looking at her as if she were his lover.

  Nana was startled again. She shyly withdrew her hand and turned her face away from Rulu's gaze, murmuring, "If only that were true."

  "What's really going on?" The smile disappeared from Rulu's face as he frowned slightly, fixing Nana with a steady gaze.

  Nana spoke softly, "It's like this: since my father came home, he's been looking miserable, as if the sky were falling. When I asked him what was wrong, he wouldn't say, and he's locked himself in his room, not wanting to be disturbed."

  "I see." Rulu blinked, pondering before saying, "If I remember correctly, Uncle Qiao went to the Governor's mansion to meet the Governor, right?"

  "Yes," Nana replied.

  "In that case, things might be troublesome," Rulu said, supporting his chin with his hand, his face gloomy as he slowly spoke, almost to himself:

  "From what I know, this Governor has enormous power and is responsible for managing the entire Blue Sea City and 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 from Sanctuary—essentially Sanctuary's lackey—specifically responsible for helping Sanctuary plunder resources from other countries. I think Uncle Qiao was probably bullied by this bastard Governor earlier."

  Nana nodded and said, "I think so too. I've heard that the previous mayors of Blue Sea City were severely punished for failing to complete tasks assigned by the Governor. Their entire families mysteriously disappeared. Because of this, Blue Sea City has gone through countless mayors, and I'm worried the same thing might happen to my father."