People in the Republic of China era began to rise from industry.

Chapter 165 A Great Sacrifice, Worth 3 Infantry Divisions

"belch--"

Liu Jing let out a satisfied burp, his face bearing two whip marks, and revealed a contented expression.

He dropped the bone in his hand, looked at his greasy hands, and said, "Don't you have a handkerchief?"

This made Ma Jizu, who was standing to the side, laugh in exasperation: "Are you testing my patience?"

"I wouldn't dare."

Liu Jing chuckled and rubbed his hands directly on his clothes.

He just accidentally touched the wound on his body where the branding iron had been, and he grimaced again.

Tears welled up in his eyes. He took a deep breath, groaned twice, and then said, "I confess, Mr. Lin left Jinzhou yesterday morning."

"He and his bodyguards left the city separately and agreed to meet outside the city."

"If we had traveled through the night, we might have already entered Sichuan Province by now."

"Commander Ma, if you want to arrest him, you'd better hurry up."

After saying that, Liu Jing leaned back in his chair.

Mr. Lin was right; he said he couldn't take a beating.

It's really unbearable, it hurts so damn much.

Upon hearing his words, Ma Jizu's temples throbbed twice.

He gritted his teeth, sized up Liu Jing, and sneered, "You really aren't afraid of death, are you?"

"Set it up!"

"I said!"

Liu Jing shouted, looking flustered, "I left yesterday afternoon. At that time, I had some suspicions that something might have gone wrong."

"He specifically instructed me to arrange for someone to impersonate him and drive around the city."

"He also specifically said that he was going back to Sichuan Province, but I guess he was going to Shaanxi Province."

"In short, I've told you everything I know. Commander Ma, even if you beat me to death, I have no way to explain myself!"

After finishing his slurping in one breath, Liu Jing looked like a wilted eggplant, completely listless.

He was arrested early this morning, and the entire hotel compound was raided.

He, along with the exploration team who had been kept in the dark, were all caught.

Seeing his expression, Ma Jizu's ferocious look finally softened: "He specifically told you that he's going back to Sichuan Province?"

"Ah."

"But I know him very well. He's a master of calculation. He must have figured out that I might betray him, which is why he said that to me on purpose."

"In short, if Commander Ma trusts me, making arrangements in the Shaanxi Province direction will probably be the right thing to do."

"Oh shit!"

Ma Jizu cursed and turned to his staff officer, saying, "Send orders to the checkpoints along the route towards Shaanxi Province: detain anyone passing by on horseback, regardless of their identity!"

"Furthermore, seal off the provincial border; entry is permitted, but exit is not. Also, dispatch patrol teams for close surveillance!"

"Whoever lets him go and ruins my big plan, I'll kill his whole family!"

"Yes!"

The staff officer saluted, turned, and ran out.

Ma Jizu then turned to look at Liu Jing, and seeing his lifeless appearance, he sneered, "Tell me, what benefits did he give you that made you risk your life to stay here and cover for him?"

“He said that as long as he gets back safely, regardless of whether his judgment is right or wrong, he will give my family one million.”

"If I can just stall for two more days, I can leave Golden State."

As he spoke, Liu Jing grinned and said, "A million? That's more than I could spend in several lifetimes. I have to try my luck, right?"

Aren't you afraid he'll break his promise?

"What's the use of being afraid?"

“He is a ruthless man. If I don’t agree, he will definitely kill my whole family.”

"Commander Ma, if you were me, what would you choose?"

Ma Jizu curled his lip, utterly disdainful of answering such a trivial question.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, Liu Jing asked, "By the way, Commander Ma, didn't your talk with Mr. Lin go quite well?"

Why the sudden change of heart?

Even if we assume the deal falls through, there's no need to do this, is there?

Ma Jizu chuckled: "I didn't want it to be like this either, but the Japanese gave me too much."

"The equipment of three infantry divisions. I never knew that Lin's head would be worth so much."

Shaking his head with some emotion, Ma Jizu hurriedly walked out of the interrogation room.

Then, Liu Jing, groaning and moaning, was carried out...

In the prison office, seeing Ma Jizu enter, Kimura Ichiro, who was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, hurriedly asked, "Commander, has the other side confessed?"

"He confessed. Just like we knew before, Lin Yi only left yesterday afternoon."

"However, according to Liu Jing, he may have fled to Shaanxi Province."

"Therefore, I have already issued an order to seal off the provincial border crossings."

Kimura frowned slightly: "A feint attack?"

"Hehe, it seems Mr. Kimura really understands our Chinese culture."

Kimura smirked, not interested in being overly polite with him.

"Commander, are you confident you can capture the person?"

"It's still dark, and horses can't run fast at night."

"According to my estimate, even if Lin Yi travels at all his might, he can only travel a maximum of 150 kilometers in one night, and he is still far from the provincial border."

Ma Jizu analyzed the situation logically and said with a smile, "The most crucial point is that he is probably not yet certain that something has changed in Jinzhou, so he won't be so cautious."

"So Mr. Kimura, rest assured, I will personally deliver the head I promised you."

"Of course, I firmly believe that Your Excellency the Commander can do it."

Kimura chuckled and added, "However, I suggest that Your Excellency Commander not relax your arrangements in the Sichuan province area."

"You must know that our opponents are very cunning."

Ma Jizu laughed heartily: "Don't worry, Mr. Kimura, I also know how to use the feint attack tactic, and I won't give him any opportunity to take advantage of it."

……

Ma Jizu initially thought that capturing Lin Yi would be really not difficult.

They've laid a trap, how could he possibly escape?

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and despite the tense atmosphere and strict martial law along the main provincial border routes, Lin Yi's whereabouts remained unknown.

Even the more than one hundred search teams sent out, after three days of hardship and sleeping outdoors, came up empty-handed.

This infuriated him.

Kimura's expression wasn't very good either.

He rushed to Jinzhou this time, and the two tasks he received were very clear.

One was to reach an agreement with Ma Yuanqing on oil exploration, and the other was to take this opportunity to eliminate Lin Yi, whom he had never met before.

According to his superior, although this person was just a businessman, the threat he posed to the empire should not be underestimated.

Most importantly, his actions clearly demonstrate a deep hostility towards the empire!

Therefore, the order at the time was very clear: two things had to be done at any cost!

As for how much of a threat Lin Yi poses to the empire, the fact that the country decided to gift Ma Yuanqing 30,000 rifles and 300 light machine guns in just one day speaks volumes.

To be aware, such a large undertaking would require at least the approval of Prime Minister Lu.

It might even alarm the cabinet.

But it was still a step too late.

In just one day, this guy managed to escape from Jinzhou.

At this moment, the two were in Ma Jizu's garrison headquarters. After listening to the report that there was still no progress, Kimura took a deep breath to suppress his anxiety and said in a calm tone, "Commander, should we send some more troops?"

"Mr. Kimura, do you know how long this provincial border is?"

"Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces are connected, spanning over 1,200 kilometers!"

"With such a long provincial border, even if I send all my troops there, it's impossible to keep watch over it all!"

At this point, Ma Jizu's tone became unusually agitated: "If it weren't for the time you wasted, how could Lin Yi have escaped from Jinzhou?!"

"In short, I've done everything I promised you. As for not being able to catch Lin Yi, that's because you wasted time."

"Therefore, the previous conditions cannot be changed: 30,000 rifles and 300 machine guns—not a single one can be missing!"

"Otherwise, let's not talk about anything else!"

After uttering a harsh remark, Ma Jizu grabbed his hat, put it on his head, and walked straight out of his office.

Kimura was left alone, staring blankly at the doorway...