Chapter 23
"Okay, then I won't change it. By the way, I heard you handled a case all by yourself today, how did it go?"
Actually, Tang Ke was just asking casually. If Chen Nan answered that she wanted to change jobs, as her guardian and mentor, Tang Ke would still try to make her wish come true. But deep down, he actually hoped that she would continue to stay here.
So now that he had gotten the answer he wanted, he smiled and asked Chen Nan about his case that he had handled alone that day.
"That's awesome."
The other party was her superpowered master, and there were many things Chen Nan couldn't tell Captain He and Xiao Yu. She also seemed unable to share her unique, secretly pleased thoughts with her brother in this body and her former girlfriends.
So when facing Tang Ke, Chen Nan felt like she had found a window to showcase herself, and quickly told her all her thoughts at once.
She recounted how she noticed something amiss on the bus that day, and how she stood up after only two seconds of hesitation. She described how she simply turned her back to everyone on the bus, briefly demonstrated her supernatural abilities, and managed to intimidate those three blond-haired kids. She also spoke of the sparkling eyes those girls gave her when she returned to deal with the situation.
Chen Nan said that others were looking at her with sparkling eyes, but she didn't know that in Tang Ke's eyes, her eyes were also sparkling at that moment.
Little did he know that, in the eyes of others, his gaze toward Chen Nan was also sparkling.
Anyway, the next day, after the latest photos of him and Chen Nan were taken to the top of the Presidential Palace, Tang Xin saw the tablet his secretary handed him. He stared at the photo of Tang Ke smiling at Chen Nan, and unusually, he became lost in thought.
"Your Excellency the President?"
Seeing that he had not given any instructions, the secretary glanced at him sideways and then whispered again, "Mr. Tang, should we continue with the previous protection methods? Should we handle Ms. Chen's online situation as before, without taking any action?"
According to the Empire's laws, the information security of every superpowered police officer should be protected. Chen Nan is not only a rare lightning-powered individual, but also Tang Ke's cub and at least a year's superpowered partner. Therefore, their personal information and security should be handled with even greater care. However, the President made an unexpected decision, and so, after the latest photos from the guard regiment were presented, the secretary couldn't help but ask again, quite bluntly.
“Ake doesn’t like being watched and protected all the time. Let’s send someone else to his workplace to work as his colleague and then protect them secretly.”
Tang Xin handed the tablet to the person next to him, and then reminded him, "Find some new employees to keep an eye on him, so they don't get suspicious."
"clear!"
The secretary handed the tablet to her assistant, then took out a new tablet and began reporting the new schedule to her.
In the morning, I inspected the headquarters of the Institute of Supernatural Abilities. At noon, there was an international teleconference. In the afternoon, I went to the military headquarters to participate in their latest military exercises, presented honorary certificates to several newly appointed generals, and had dinner with several military leaders in the evening.
Although the entire empire is now divided into dozens of small safe zones.
However, on the surface, all affairs of the empire are still decided by the government located outside the capital. Therefore, Tang Xin occasionally has to go to other safe zones for inspection and research.
Going out always carries a certain degree of risk.
Anyway, his schedule for the day was quite simple. The dozen or so people standing not far from them listened to his work arrangements for the day, and all of them had relaxed expressions on their faces.
After listening to the secretary's itinerary, it was discovered that this itinerary was unchanged from the first and second versions of the presidential itinerary provided by the secretariat a month and half a month ago.
At this moment, all the security personnel also showed happy expressions.
The government staff and accompanying personnel are different for each presidential trip and inspection.
Therefore, much of the security work on his side was arranged and coordinated a long time ago.
Right now, Tang Xin hasn't even set off for the headquarters of the Supernatural Abilities Institute yet. A large number of staff members have already gone ahead to conduct inspections.
Even the headquarters of the Institute of Supernatural Abilities received news about the President's visit about a month ago. All departments and personnel there had already made preparations for the highest level of hospitality.
Perhaps in the entire empire, there are very few people whose superpowers surpass Tang Xin's.
But his identity is not ordinary. If something were to happen to him, the entire country might end up like it did thirty years ago. There could be a leader who dies unexpectedly, plunging the country into chaos for over a decade, with countless deaths and injuries.
Therefore, the government, the military, and the presidential palace guards all attach great importance to Tang Xin's safety.
Everyone was busy, surrounded by numerous official media outlets and a large security detail. Tang Xin's day began again, a relatively safe yet busy one.
While Tang Xin was busy, Tang Ke and Chen Nan resumed their familiar routine of working when they had work and exercising when they didn't.
Hsieh Ming-hang and Kuo Ying, who were in the Presidential Palace Guard, were received by the highest leader of the guard regiment at the same time.
“No, Captain Wei, weren’t we just transferred from the Supernatural Abilities Institute to the Security Team? Why are you asking us to transfer again now? Protecting His Excellency the President is our honor and our wish, but Captain Tang, what about you—”
Guo Ying was a newly converted individual, and her schedule was basically following Xie Minghang's. So, seeing this unbelievable thing happen, all Guo Ying could do was instinctively look at her supernatural guardian beside her. Meeting her gaze, Xie Minghang could only quickly look at Wei Zhen, the leader of the Presidential Palace Guard.
"You should know Tang's identity even if I don't tell you!"
Ignoring his impatience, Wei Zhen, the head of the Presidential Palace Guard, whose hair was somewhat gray but whose body was particularly robust, spoke slowly and earnestly.
"Yes, I know. He is the President's cousin and the former President's nephew."
Since its reconstruction after the apocalypse, the empire has had four presidents. The first was Tang Anbin, the empire's first superhuman. Before his death, he placed his eldest son, Tang Guoan, in the familiar position of president. However, twenty-two years ago, he unexpectedly died from overwork in his study in the presidential palace. For the next thirteen years, the empire fell into the hands of President Zhang, a period also known as the period of political turmoil.
It wasn't that the previous president mismanaged the country; it's just that almost all the dozens of safe zones outside were populated by people with superpowers. They were all initially sent out by Tang Anbin, and almost all of them had connections to the Tang family.
Moreover, since the reconstruction of the country, everything has been handled by the Tang family. They have people in the military, people with supernatural abilities, and people in various safe zones. In the hearts of the people, President Tang, who brought humanity back to the surface, is different from everyone else.
For various reasons, the previous president of the country, who was not of the same surname, spent almost all his time vying for power and balancing pressures from various sides after taking office. He did not make any significant achievements in truly confronting foreign enemies, establishing diplomatic relations with other countries, or developing the empire's own economy.
So nine years ago, the former president's nephew and the first president's grandson suddenly appeared and ran for president.
There was almost no suspense left; the entire national power returned to the Tang family's hands.
While Li Kingdom isn't a centralized state, due to its current unique circumstances, the entire government, military, special forces, and large population genuinely only respect the Tang family's descendants and only want the grandson of the empire's first president to continue governing this fragmented nation.
Xie Minghang quickly considered the situation in their country, then looked at the seemingly mild-mannered but actually cunning Captain Wei. He couldn't believe that someone who could rise to such a position, overseeing the entire presidential palace and even controlling the country's oversight agencies, possessed a personality that belied his mild-mannered and easygoing nature.
"Now that you know his identity, you should also know that his upbringing and education are almost identical to the President's, right?"
"..."
Xie Minghang did not answer the question immediately, but looking at the other person's appearance, his heart suddenly started pounding rapidly for no reason.
"Their eldest uncle, who is also our Minister of State Security, suppressed his brothers too harshly back then. As a result, after he died unexpectedly in his study, the entire Tang family did not have a suitable heir at that time."
Some things aren't really secrets, so the captain of the presidential guard, who had served the Tang family and the country his entire life, didn't hide anything and continued slowly, "Although inheriting this country is somewhat inappropriate, the situation in our country is different now than before. What will happen when the country falls into the hands of others? I don't need to tell you, you've all seen it before. His Excellency the National Security Commissioner is the successor that the first president spent thirty years cultivating. He sent him to the battlefield, to the border, to the grassroots, and placed him in the outer safe zone."
Despite the interference from above, if he hadn't had the ability himself, he certainly wouldn't have become a superhuman, nor would he have gained the trust of the military and the public. He certainly wouldn't have smoothly become the second president of our country through a national election. However, he was too ruthless in suppressing his brother, or rather, too protective of his family. In any case, after his death, the entire Tang family never recovered for thirteen years, completely disappearing from the public eye.
Those ten-odd years were actually the time when His Excellency the President and His Excellency Tang Ke, whom you are now protecting, were sent to the border by the Tang family. Everyone thought they first went to the military, unexpectedly became superhumans, and only then were they assigned to the border and began to earn combat merits. But the correct sequence of events is that they were sent directly to the border in their teens and began fighting the enemy there immediately.
"That's not right—"
The border was protected by a shield of supernatural abilities, teeming with thousands of cockroach monsters, and the ever-watchful Sunflower Star. Upon hearing that they had been sent there without any supernatural abilities, even the usually composed Xie Minghang showed surprise and emotion.
"Yes, almost all of them were deliberately sent outside to be infected. The Tang family needed superhumans, and the country needed a leader with superhuman abilities who could be trusted and expected. So of the Tang family descendants who were sent out at that time, only those two successfully became superhumans and survived."
Those who truly survive the border and possess superpowers demonstrate just how extraordinary their abilities are. After all, here, we respect them and have a sense of responsibility to protect them. But on the border, in the eyes of those man-eating cockroach monsters, who cares what your surname is? The shells fired at us from Sunflower Star don't have an automatic evasion system; they won't stop attacking just because your surname is Tang.
In short, their military achievements abroad are genuine. If you had actually served in the border troops, you would understand how outstanding the two brothers, His Excellency the President and His Excellency Tang Ke, are. However, the empire cannot have two such outstanding heirs at the same time, nor can it give the public the impression that the Tang family is greedy. Therefore, of the two children sent out and fully nurtured by the Tang family, only one can appear before the public to compete for the presidency.
But the Empire and the Tang family cannot allow a repeat of what happened to the National Security President. Therefore, what you are protecting is another form of insurance for us. If anything were to happen to His Excellency the President, then, barring unforeseen circumstances, you would be protecting the next president of our country—”
"Understood! Don't worry, Captain Wei, we will do our best."
Seeing that Wei Zhen had made his point so clear, Xie Minghang knew that they had no room to refuse.
With a complex and indescribable feeling, he and his apprentice quickly stood up. Then they accepted this task, which seemed somewhat unbelievable.
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