Jiangning City, the top-floor private dining room of the Golden Tripod Hotel.

The moment the door was pushed open, Li Gang's footsteps came to a halt.

He opened his mouth, looking at the scene before him, and for a moment forgot what he was going to say.

On the huge round table, dishes and cups were a complete mess.

The golden-brown roasted suckling pig was left with only bare skeletons, and a few dark red lobster heads lay lonely on the edge of the plate.

Next to the mountain-like piles of beef bones and lamb chops, picked-clean chicken bones were scattered around.

The entire room was filled with a rich aroma mixed with all kinds of meat.

Governor Hou Changfeng was sitting on a specially made, widened, and thickened mahogany chair.

His massive body almost completely filled the chair.

At this moment, he was holding a huge roasted lamb leg and stuffing the last bite of meat into his mouth.

Hearing the door open, his movements stiffened for a moment.

Hou Changfeng raised his head, saw Li Gang at the door, and squeezed out a slightly awkward smile on his face.

He put down the bone in his hand and wiped his greasy mouth with a napkin.

"Cough cough, Little Li, you're back."

He pointed at the mess all over the table and explained,

"It's just that I've been waiting a bit too long, and I was so hungry that I couldn't help eating a little first."

The corner of Li Gang's eye twitched slightly.

"Ate a little?"

"Is this called eating a little?"

This was clearly scraping even the bottom of the pot clean.

He finally understood why General Zhao Menghai said that eating with the governor would only get you soup to drink.

Now it seemed that General Zhao was still too conservative.

If he had really come over, let alone soup, even the plates would probably have been licked clean.

Hou Changfeng seemed to see through Li Gang's thoughts, waved his hand dismissively, and said,

"Rest assured, I've already asked the manager to prepare another table separately."

"The dishes will be even more lavish than this table."

"Where are they? Have they arrived downstairs?"

Li Gang shook his head, his expression a bit peculiar.

"Governor, they have already left."

"Left?"

The smile on Hou Changfeng's face froze.

He was stunned for a moment, then slapped the table in dissatisfaction.

"This Zhang Donglai is getting more and more outrageous!"

"We're old comrades-in-arms, and he won't even give me this bit of face for a meal?"

He muttered angrily and smacked his lips in regret.

"There's no other way."

"It seems that I can only enjoy the remaining table of food all by myself."

Li Gang:...

Speaking of this, Hou Changfeng suddenly remembered something.

He looked at Li Gang, and the expression on his face became a bit more serious.

"Right, you recently investigated Zhou..."

Halfway through his sentence, he felt his phrasing was inappropriate and changed it to another way of saying it.

"Did you gain anything during your leave these past few days?"

Li Gang's expression also immediately became solemn.

"Governor, I actually did find some clues."

"Oh?"

Hou Changfeng instantly perked up, his massive body leaning slightly forward.

"Tell me about it."

Li Gang took two steps forward, closed the door of the private room, and lowered his voice.

"Recently, I secretly investigated a few trading companies under the Zhou Family."

"And found that they have always had secret trade dealings with companies from the Liu Family of the Imperial Capital."

"They seem to be trading magic crystals."

Hou Changfeng's pupils shrank slightly.

"Not only magic crystals," Li Gang continued, "there are even quite a few special materials that only appear in ruins."

Magic crystals.

As an extremely precious strategic-level resource, it has always been strictly controlled by the official military department.

All Secret Realms currently discovered within Great Xia Nation are basically under the jurisdiction of the military.

Where on earth did the Zhou Family and the Liu Family get these magic crystals from?

Moreover, the quantity is so large that they can even be put out for sale.

"Have you traced the source?" Hou Changfeng asked in a deep voice.

Li Gang shook his head.

"The two families act very cautiously, and all transaction records have been disguised."

"Fearing that I would alert the enemy, I didn't dare to dig deeper."

"However, based on the existing clues, I have a bold guess."

"I suspect that they might have discovered a brand new Secret Realm."

"And the location of this Secret Realm must be in the hands of the Zhou Family."

"The Zhou Family is responsible for the excavation of the Secret Realm, while the Liu Family is responsible for cashing out and transferring the resources inside."

After listening, Hou Changfeng fell into deep thought.

In his small eyes, squeezed into mere slits by fat, a shrewd light flashed.

A large-scale Secret Realm can hold resources valued at even hundreds of billions.

No wonder the Liu Family's relationship with the Zhou Family is so close.

No wonder when something happened to the Zhou Family, the Liu Family didn't hesitate to use their connections in the military to forcibly suppress the matter.

All of this can be explained.

But the problem now is.

Where on earth is this Secret Realm?

As the governor of Dongning Province, he knows the situation within the province like the back of his hand.

There are currently only two known Secret Realms in Dongning Province, and they have always been firmly controlled by the military.

Where on earth did this Zhou Family unearth a third Secret Realm without anyone knowing?

Hou Changfeng looked at Li Gang, his tone turning serious.

"You keep investigating for me."

"No matter what, dig out this secret of the Zhou Family for me."

"But also be careful not to alert the enemy!"

"Yes!"

Li Gang straightened his back and nodded solemnly.

His heart was burning with passion.

Everyone knows that once a brand-new Secret Realm can be unearthed within Dongning Province, it will be a monumental merit.

By then, the good days of the Zhou Family will also come to an end.

Meanwhile.

High above Dongning Province, a military helicopter was flying at high speed towards the Imperial Capital against the fierce wind.

After riding for nearly seven hours, Zhou Huai finally understood why the territory outside the city is called a forbidden zone.

Along the way, almost every distance they flew, they encountered attacks from aerial exotic beasts.

There were flocks of acid-spitting Corrosive-Winged Birds.

There were also massive howling wind eagles capable of releasing wind blades.

Every time they encountered such a situation, Zhang Donglai would expressionlessly open the cabin door.

He didn't even need to wear any protective equipment, just flew out directly like that.

Then, within a mere few tens of seconds, he cleanly and neatly killed those annoying exotic beasts.

Then he silently flew back, closed the cabin door, as if he had just gone out to throw away some trash.

That movement was so skillfully practiced that it made one's heart ache.

Evidently, they had experienced the same scene on their way here.

Fortunately, with two military generals presiding over, although the journey was bumpy, it was safe and uneventful.

When the helicopter finally pierced through the thick clouds and entered the territory of the Imperial Capital, Zhou Huai controlled Gandalf and looked out the window.

The scene before him made him involuntarily hold his breath.

That was a city wall soaring into the clouds.

Cast entirely from an unknown black metal, it reflected a cold luster in the sunlight.

The height of the city wall was at least three times that of Donghai City.

On the wall, every hundred meters, a fierce Magical Cannon was erected, the muzzles flickering with heart-palpitating energy halos, dense and countless.

After entering the airspace of the Imperial Capital, the city's scenery was even more spectacular.

On the ground, tall buildings stood like scales on a fish, stretching all the way to the end of the field of vision.

Compared to the Imperial Capital before him, Donghai City was simply like an inconspicuous little village.

Zhang Donglai looked at the just-right "shocked" expression on Gandalf's face, and a somewhat proud smile appeared on his face.

"How is it, quite shocking right?"

He patted Student Gandalf on the shoulder.

"Student Gandalf, welcome to the Imperial Capital!"