"Old Wu, what did you say? You want us to go to Montenegro to participate in the competition?"

"Yes, I casually mentioned your requirements to the leader, but I didn't expect that the main leader would be so interested in your approach, thinking it was very innovative, and then suggested that we could compete for several positions using your method."

And just then, there happened to be a national police investigation competition in Montenegro, and the leadership simply sent everyone there.

Looking at the deputy director of the branch office in front of him, Ma Dabao felt incredulous. Following Xu Damao's instructions, he had found his old friend, Wu Xingwang, the deputy director of the branch office, and asked him to help find some examiners to prepare practical questions for the candidates for deputy head of the security section.

It was all agreed that we would give some questions that were suitable for our own people, and then give them a heads-up beforehand. That would have made getting the deputy section chief position a sure thing. But I never expected Wu Xingwang to pull this stunt.

According to local custom, Mongolia is one of the closest places to the capital, but in reality, it's at least 500 kilometers away from the capital, and it takes about ten hours to get there.

"Can our personnel withdraw now?" Ma Dabao asked.

"No, all personnel have already been reported. Our bureau chief will lead the team to participate, and your supervisor will also have to go."

"Old Ma, it is a bit far, but I've taken care of everything else. Once you get there, your people just need to participate in the competition. We'll focus on taking care of the bad guys in your security department," Wu Xingwang replied.

But when Ma Dabao heard what the other party said, he felt something was off, as if a sense of crisis was inexplicably creeping in. And the fact that a person in charge was required to lead the team meant that he had to participate?

"You mean I want to participate?" Ma Dabao asked.

“Yes. Think about it, once you go there, it will be much easier for us to take care of your people,” Wu Xingwang said.

To be honest, Ma Dabao had something on his mind. He felt unsafe anywhere else, so he basically never left Beijing after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Even when he did go out, he always returned on the same day to ensure that everything was under his control.

Now, if we ask him to go away for ten days or so, and to such a far place as Mongolia, how could he possibly be willing?

“I’m not going. If it really comes to it, I’ll have my family’s deputy section chief take me. You know I get carsick, I can’t travel that far,” Ma Dabao said.

"You'd better talk to Xu Damao about this and have him report it to our bureau chief. The bureau chief is going in person, and you only have a section chief accompanying him. Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

Wu Xingwang's words make a lot of sense. Things are very particular within this system; there are rules about which level of person should be accompanied by which level of official.

Having no other choice, Ma Dabao had to pass the hot potato to Xu Damao.

"Minister Xu, could you help negotiate with them about this? I really can't go, so let Tong Shuai take my place."

After explaining the situation, Ma Dabao said that he couldn't go.

"You mean Director Song from the branch office will go there personally?" Xu Damao replied, seemingly ignoring the question.

"Uh, yes, I heard they're taking this competition quite seriously and want us to participate in person. But we don't need to. This is an internal industry competition. Although we're under their business guidance, there's still a difference," Ma Dabao said.

"In that case, if you can't go, I'll go myself. Director Song will lead the team personally. It wouldn't be right for us to send a mere deputy section chief to fool him. We'll be relying on him for many things in the future."

"Besides, I really want to go to Montenegro; the scenery is beautiful this time of year." Xu Damao looked longingly at the sight.

Ma Dabao thought to himself, "Damn it, is it really worth it to travel all that way to Montenegro just for a deputy section chief position?" He knew very well that if Xu Damao went in person, Xu Damao would definitely decide who was number one.

But Ma Dabao was really unwilling to give up his deputy section chief position just like that. The relationship between Deputy Section Chief Tong Shuai and Xu Damao was common knowledge in the security department. If the other deputy section chief was also Xu Damao's man, then his position as section chief would be completely undermined.

This deputy section chief absolutely cannot be let go, at the very least he cannot be one of Xu Damao's men. This was Ma Dabao's only thought at that moment.

“Minister Xu, then I’ll go with you. You’ve never worked in this industry before, so you don’t know much about the ins and outs. I can explain it to you,” Ma Dabao said immediately.

“You’re going? If you’re going, then there’s no need for me to go,” Xu Damao said.

“I think you’re right. Since the other bureau chief went, you should go too, at least in terms of rank. If I go alone, people will say we don’t value the branch office,” Ma Dabao said.

At this moment, Ma Dabao absolutely could not leave Xu Damao alone in the capital. He had recently had a vague feeling that Xu Damao was targeting him, and if Xu Damao made some underhanded moves after he left, he would really have no way to deal with it.

Therefore, he had to keep a close eye on Xu Damao at all times to prevent any unexpected situations from occurring.

"Didn't you just say you get carsick? Why aren't you carsick now?"

"I do get carsick, but I have to grit my teeth and bear it for the sake of work."

"Here's what we'll do: when we set off, you can sit in the back of the big truck with the rest of the group. It's well-ventilated there, so you won't feel too much motion sickness," Xu Damao said with concern.

After confirming the participants and departure time, Xu Damao began preparations for the trip.

"Old Lu, is everything ready?" Xu Damao asked Lu Xiangyang from the Municipal Bureau.

"We're almost ready on our side, but we haven't taken many measures against Ma Dabao yet, for fear of arousing his suspicion. Right now, everything depends on Ma Dabao leaving. Once he leaves, we'll immediately close in, and then we can find all sorts of evidence," Lu Xiangyang said.

"It would have been better if we hadn't investigated, because once we did, we found out that Ma Dabao was a real scoundrel. Before liberation, he did all sorts of bad things, including burning, killing, looting, swindling, and cheating, and he still hadn't stopped after liberation."

Initially, he even had contact with hostile elements and sold a lot of national intelligence. Over the years, in order to monopolize the black market, he used the power and weapons of the steel mill's security department to secretly eliminate many rivals.

"If we can take him down this time, you'll be indispensable!" Lu Xiangyang said excitedly.

"Hehe, I didn't intend to touch him at first. But after we had a conflict, I found that this guy was starting to have other ideas, so I did a simple investigation and found quite a few things." Xu Damao said.

The investigation into Ma Dabao was largely aided by Lou Hongsheng. Through Lou Hongsheng's extensive network of connections, they were able to thoroughly investigate Ma Dabao's life over the decades. Another source of assistance was Fang Hu.