Chapter 246 The Pain of Reversal: Li Dakang Turns into a Mad Dog
Corridor of the special care ward area, Jingzhou Military Region General Hospital.
The window at the end of the corridor was half-open, letting in the cold wind that stirred the white curtains.
Li Dakang strode across the pristine white floor tiles, his leather shoes making a rapid, heavy thud.
Push open the heavy, soundproof door to the ward.
The room was so quiet that only the beeping of the vital signs monitor could be heard.
On the hospital bed, Ouyang Jing was completely enveloped in white bedding.
Her exposed arm was wrapped in thick gauze, and large patches of dark red blood were visible through it.
The ten fingers were fixed in place by specially made splints, presenting an extremely unnatural twisted angle.
There were several scabbed whip marks on his cheek, and large, horrifying bruises spread along his jawline to the depths of his neck.
Li Dakang usually values political achievements highly. In the municipal party committee compound, he has always been a decisive and authoritarian figure who does not show any personal feelings.
But at this moment, he stood two meters away from the hospital bed, his legs feeling like they were made of lead and he couldn't move an inch.
He gripped the edge of the door frame with both hands, using so much force that his knuckles turned white and his fingernails almost dug into the wood.
His eyes welled up with blood.
Hearing the noise, Ouyang Jing, lying in her hospital bed, struggled to open her eyes.
Upon seeing who it was, her chapped lips twitched a few times, producing an extremely hoarse sound.
"Dakang..."
"You've arrived."
Li Dakang walked quickly to the bedside, wanting to reach out and pull her up, but found that Ouyang Jing's body was so muscular that there wasn't a single good piece of flesh to be found, and his hand hung in mid-air with nowhere to go.
"They did it?"
Ouyang Jing gasped for breath as she recounted her ordeal of being imprisoned in an air-raid shelter on Hong Kong Island.
The cleaners sent by the Zhong family used extremely professional interrogation techniques to force her to record false testimony accusing Li Dakang of corruption.
Nail removal, waterboarding, and high-voltage electric shocks that leave no external wounds.
Those people didn't treat the families of cadres in Handong as human beings at all; in their eyes, they were nothing more than bargaining chips to coerce local officials into submission.
Ouyang Jing laboriously turned her neck, gesturing for Li Dakang to look at a small cloth bag under the pillow.
"I overheard it when the guards changed shifts while I was locked in the basement..."
"Those people usually contact the capital via satellite phone to report on the flow of funds in Handong."
"I wrote down all the company names they mentioned."
Li Dakang carefully pulled out the cloth bag, inside which was a crumpled piece of paper.
The names of more than a dozen companies were written crookedly with an eyebrow pencil on it.
It includes Jingzhou's most upscale private clubs, several large import and export trading companies, and even two foundations operating under the guise of charity.
These are all the money bags that the Zhong family has been lurking in the business world of Handong, sucking its blood.
Li Dakang stared at the list stained with blood, his teeth grinding together.
The Chung family not only wanted to ruin his political future, but also to torment his family members with such despicable means.
He put the note in his pocket and tucked the blanket around Ouyang Jing.
"Take good care of yourself and recover from your injury."
"Leave the rest to me."
Li Dakang turned and walked out of the ward, closing the door tightly behind him.
In the corridor, he took out his phone and dialed the rarely used encrypted number for the military region.
The call was connected.
"Political Commissar Shen, I entrust my life, Li Dakang's life, to you from now on."
Li Dakang's words revealed an undisguised brutality.
On the other end of the phone, Shen Zhong held a coffee cup, flipping through the tactical briefing on the table, and responded crisply.
"Comrade Dakang, I'll give you three hours."
"I don't want to see any businesses related to the Chung family still operating in Hantong."
Li Dakang hung up the phone and strode towards the elevator.
Half an hour later, in the first conference room of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee.
The members of the municipal party committee leadership team were urgently summoned, and everyone looked at Li Dakang sitting in the main seat, not daring to breathe.
Li Dakang slammed the list down in the center of the conference table.
"These dozen or so companies are suspected of major money laundering, organized crime, and endangering national security."
"Immediately seize and shut down these companies!"
"All accounts involved in the case have been frozen, and all key personnel have been arrested!"
The executive vice mayor looked at the list of major taxpayers and broke out in a cold sweat.
"Secretary Li, these companies have very powerful backgrounds; even the provincial government usually gives them some face."
"Surrounding the normal investigation procedures and sealing it off directly is too risky."
Li Dakang slammed his hand on the solid wood table, making the teacup lid rattle loudly.
"If anything goes wrong, I, Li Dakang, will take full responsibility!"
"Anyone who dares to hold back on this today can take off these clothes and get out of here right now!"
The entire conference room was completely silent.
The Standing Committee members were completely intimidated by the murderous aura emanating from Li Dakang, which was like that of a mad dog.
The municipal party secretary who usually only talked about rules and GDP was gone, replaced by a thug ready to fight to the death.
No one dared to raise any further objections, and everyone quickly signed their names on the joint action order.
The order has been issued.
The entire law enforcement system in Gyeongju was operating at high speed.
Dozens of police cars and industrial and commercial law enforcement vehicles with flashing lights sped out of the compound and split into several groups to rush towards the targets on the list.
Yunding Luxury Private Club, located in the western suburbs of Jingzhou.
This is the Zhong family's largest financial transit point in Handong, and it usually only receives wealthy businessmen with assets exceeding 100 million yuan and a very small number of people with special status.
The gate was tightly shut, and several security guards in black suits stood arrogantly on the steps.
A heavy riot control vehicle rammed through the clubhouse's ornate iron gate, its thick tires crushing the valuable landscaping plants.
A large number of fully armed special police officers, carrying riot guns, rushed into the hall.
The Zhong family's agent, who was drinking with a female model in a private room, was alerted by the commotion outside.
He rushed out of the corridor, pulling up his pants, only to be tackled to the ground by two special police officers.
"What are you doing!"
"Do you know whose territory this is? Even your bureau chief has to be extremely polite to me!"
"I'm going to call Beijing! I'll make sure you regret it!"
The agent lay on the ground, struggling frantically and shouting incessantly.
At the back of the crowd, Li Dakang strode forward, surrounded by a group of police officers.
He looked at the agent on the ground and kicked him hard in the shoulder.
The agent screamed and fell to the ground.
Li Dakang pointed his finger at his nose from his superior position and roared angrily.
"In Jingzhou, even the Emperor himself has no power!"
"Take them all away! Don't let a single fly out!"
The same scene was playing out simultaneously in various parts of Gyeongju.
Those trading companies operating under the guise of legitimate business were sealed off, and their financial ledgers and servers were confiscated.
The huge sums of cash hidden in the underground bank were loaded into police cars, box by box.
The Zhong family's secret economic network in Handong, which had lasted for ten years, suffered a devastating blow in just three hours.
All financial channels were completely cut off, and all the informants responsible for making contacts were arrested.
Li Dakang uprooted all of Zhong Xiaoai's supply lines in the local area in the most brutal way.
Command Center of Handong Provincial Military Region.
The large screen displays the real-time progress of the sealing off various locations in Jingzhou.
The red lights representing the Chung family business are fading out one by one at a visible speed.
Zhou Weiguo took the summary report and walked to the command platform.
"Sir, Secretary Li's operation has been completed."
"All seventeen companies on the list have been seized, and the frozen funds are estimated to exceed three billion yuan."
"The Zhong family's roots in Handong have been severed."
Shen Zhong rested his hands on the command platform, watching the electronic map on the screen finally return to calm.
He picked up the military walkie-talkie beside him and gave the final instructions.
"Handong is clean now."
"Next, it's time to sow discord in the capital."