“You have important news to report to your superior?” The employee detaining Hong Kangquan looked at him suspiciously. “Director Kang, why didn’t you mention anything before?”
Hong Kangquan replied calmly, “I didn’t know the importance of the news previously, so I didn’t say anything about it. When I saw the newspaper headlines today, I finally realized that I could have missed important information, so I am hoping to atone for my crimes with good deeds.”
“What information?” The employee squinted and refused to make the trip all the way to the Senate building based on only Hong Kangquan’s word.
“Here.” Hong Kangquan pointed to the reposted major American headlines in the newspaper. “The Americans want us to hand over the ‘Pink Piggy,’ and I might know where to find the ‘Pink Piggy.’”
“Really?!” The employee became interested. If Hong Kangquan really knew where to find the ‘Pink Piggy,’ then it would really be an important accomplishment. “Wait here. I’ll go inform my superior.” The employee needed to call the Senate.
Hong Kangquan shook his head. “Call Prime Minister Tan. I will only tell him this information.” Tan Dongbang was only the interim prime minister at this time. The Senate had attempted to impeach him previously but failed. According to the law, the Senate was required to undergo even more stringent procedures if they wanted to try to impeach him once again. There was completely no chance of success. Since Speaker Long had no option of impeaching him once again, he chose to dissolve the Cabinet and restart the interim general elections.
However, before the general interim elections began and the new prime minister was elected, Tan Dongbang was still the interim prime minister and his Cabinet was still the interim Cabinet. This was a government agency during the transition period as they awaited the new prime minister’s election. So at a time like this, Tan Dongbang still wielded quite a bit of power. Of course, it was still much less than when he was the official prime minister.
Speaker Long thought that Tan Dongbang’s image was no longer suitable for the role of prime minister, so he didn’t want him to attend any national-level events. He didn’t want others to see Tan Dongbang embarrass the entire Huaxia Empire. However, from a legal perspective, Tan Dongbang’s position as the interim prime minister was still very stable.
Hong Kangquan insisted on seeing Tang Dongbang, but the employee thought about it and still chose to call the Senate first. But at that moment, Speaker Long and Special Assistant Zhuang were frantically arranging the important task of greeting the German chancellor and the director of the Federal Intelligence Service, so they didn’t have spare time to answer the phone.
The employee watching over Hong Kangquan was intercepted only after connecting to a phone operator at the Senate Secretariat. The employee watching over Hong Kangquan saw that neither Speaker Long nor Special Assistant Zhuang had time to take his calls, but he couldn’t carelessly spread news about such important information, either. He had no choice but to leave a voicemail asking Special Assistant Zhuang to call him back when he had a chance.
Afterwards, he finally followed Tan Dongbang’s request and called Prime Minister Tan at the Cabinet. Tan Dongbang happened to be in his office, so he took the call himself after his secretary transferred it over. Tang Dongbang immediately stood up as soon as he heard the employee say that Hong Kangquan had a way to find the “Pink Piggy.””What?! Is he telling the truth?!”
“Director Hong says it’s completely true.” The employee was much more polite to Hong Kangquan now, since he had a chance of redeeming himself.
Tan Dongbang considered it and asked suspiciously, “Why is he asking for me if he can find that person? I’m not the ‘Pink Piggy.’”
The employee passed on Tan Dongbang’s message to Hong Kangquan. Hong Kangquan secretly cursed Tan Dongbang for not knowing what was good for him but still replied patiently, “Ask Prime Minister Tan to come over when he has some time. I have something important to tell him face to face.”
Tan Dongbang didn’t want to get involved in the mess, but considering how his own position was dangling by a thread, he still chose to gamble it all. What if he hit the jackpot without even knowing it? This kind of thing had indeed happened before.
Tan Dongbang thought about this as he packed his briefcase and asked his employee to prepare a vehicle. He headed over to where Hong Kangquan was being held to visit him. As the interim Prime Minister, Tan Dongbang was the symbolic national leader and still wielded great power. The employee detaining Hong Kangquan checked the relevant regulations but finally had no choice but to let Tan Dongbang inside.
When he arrived at the visitation room, Tan Dongbang saw that Hong Kangquan was already waiting there. He sat across from the other man and remarked calmly, “Director Hong, you’d better actually have something to say to me. Otherwise, don’t waste our time.”
Hong Kangquan nodded. “Prime Minister Tan, I only have one thing to say to you. As long as you support me in finding the ‘Pink Piggy,’ your role as prime minister will change from interim to official.”
“What did you say?!” Tan Dongbang’s expression changed immediately. “Hong Kangquan, don’t speak nonsense!” His heart hammered madly, yet he hoped that Hong Kangquan would rebuke him and tell him he had a way to allow him to continue as prime minister!
Hong Kangquan laughed loudly when he saw Tan Dongbang’s reaction. “Prime Minister Tan, we have to see if you’ll give me the opportunity to prove I’m not speaking nonsense.”
Tan Dongbang’s expression shifted for a long time before he finally made up his mind and asked Hong Kangquan, “What opportunity do you need from me?”
“Use your special authority as prime minister to release me first. Then give me authorization to go to the Special Operations Forces to find the 27 personnel involved in the cyber war that night and bring them to my Secret Service for questioning.” Hong Kangquan’s eyes revealed his bloodthirsty excitement.
That was exactly what he had wanted to do that night, but all his efforts were in vain because of Speaker Long’s indecisiveness. However, he hadn’t judged the situation incorrectly. The expert guiding him all this time certainly had a way of turning things around!
Tan Dongbang’s special authorization as prime minister could only be used once. However, it was typically only used when he was removed from office. It would not be difficult to release Hong Kangquan from detainment, and perhaps he didn’t even need to use his special authorization as prime minister, but taking Special Operations Forces personnel to the Secret Service for questioning was not going to be so easy. It would probably require him to use his special authorization as prime minister.
Tan Dongbang’s eyes flickered. “The prime minister’s special authorization can only be used once in a term. Director Hong, your request is a bit too much…”
“Too much or not depends on the return. If the return profits are high, why does it even matter?” Hong Kangquan replied confidently. He didn’t appear to be someone in detainment at all.
“I still can’t imagine what this incident has to do with me running the elections,” Tan Dongbang asked slyly and appeared as if he were an eagle that wouldn’t leave until he found a rabbit to hunt. “In a few days, I won’t even be the interim prime minister anymore, and it will be even more impossible to help you.”
Hong Kangquan smiled. Tan Dongbang was obviously interested in his offer, yet he was still being stubborn and fighting until the end. “Prime Minister Tan, if you can complete this task successfully, perhaps you’ll be reelected!” Hong Kangquan replied very excitedly. “Think about it, if I can find the ‘Pink Piggy,’ you’ll earn the support of the United States and Germany. That can only help you in the elections!”
Tan Dongbang squinted almost imperceptibly as he replied, “But there seem to be opposing voices domestically.” Currently, all the major social media networks were being controlled by the public influencers, so the silent majority were repressed from their desire to voice any opinion. But that hadn’t stopped some stubborn people from expressing opposing opinions from the very beginning.
“It’s only normal that there are opposing voices. It would be abnormal if there were only supporting voices.” Hong Kangquan could read the situation clearly. “But as long as I can find the ‘Pink Piggy’ and hand her over to the Americans and Germans, then this lawsuit will be canceled. We won’t need to pay astronomical compensation, so that will save the nation and the military a huge sum of money. Everyone will thank us.
“With such merit—and if the media adds momentum when it happens—wouldn’t you say that your chances have increased greatly?”
