On the other side, in the city's command headquarters, the atmosphere was intense.

All the officers were sitting in the hall of the command headquarters, dozens of them. The eldest son stood in front, while the wife of the commander-in-chief sat in the usual seat of the commander-in-chief.

The eldest son was pacing back and forth, occasionally asking the messenger beside him if there was any news from the adjutant.

Until a messenger ran in shouting that they had returned.

Everyone looked towards the door.

The adjutant led a team into the hall, carrying a murderous aura. The adjutant held a bag in his hand, from which blood dripped continuously, from the entrance all the way to the hall.

The eldest son did not see the commander-in-chief and asked eagerly, "How is it? Where is the commander-in-chief?"

The adjutant replied, "I have brought back the head of the thief. Please take a look, Young Master."

After speaking, he ignored the eldest son's expression and reached into the bag to pull out a head.

The adjutant threw the bloody head at the feet of the eldest son, who took a step back.

The crowd and the eldest son finally saw clearly; it was indeed the head of the tall man who had kidnapped the commander-in-chief.

The adjutant threw another head on the ground, this time the head of the young master's assistant.

The adjutant took out the last head and threw it on the ground. The head rolled, and no one could see who it was.

The head rolled to the feet of the eldest son and stopped, facing upward.

Upon seeing the face, the eldest son's expression changed, and he was about to draw his gun to kill the adjutant.

Unfortunately, the adjutant was faster. Just as the eldest son was reaching for his gun, the adjutant's gun fired.

It hit the eldest son right in the forehead. Without pausing, the adjutant fired another shot at the wife of the commander-in-chief, who was still sitting and trying to see whose head it was.

Again, it hit her right in the forehead.

Everything happened too quickly. In the blink of an eye, the eldest son and the wife of the commander-in-chief were dead from the adjutant's gun.

More than a dozen officers stood up immediately, reaching for their guns.

But the adjutant's men had already aimed their guns at everyone in the hall.

Anyone who raised a gun would be the first to die.

For a moment, the hall was silent.

The adjutant stepped forward, grabbing the head of the commander-in-chief and spoke to everyone with grief and indignation, "We are incompetent. The commander-in-chief was killed by thieves; we deserve to die. But there is still one thief at large."

The adjutant looked at everyone. Some were defiant, some were upset, some were happy, and some were expressionless.

But he continued as if he didn't care.

"Now! I order all territories under our control and neighboring areas to issue a wanted order for the thief who killed the commander-in-chief."

"To reward the soldiers for their hard work, each soldier will receive ten yuan, company-level officers a hundred yuan, and battalion-level and above officers five hundred yuan."

Seeing no one spoke, the adjutant asked again, "Any questions?"

One person stood up angrily, pointing at the adjutant, shouting, "On what authority...?"

Before he could finish, the adjutant's gun fired.

The officer slowly fell down.

The adjutant asked again, "Anyone else has a question?"

No one answered.

"Anyone else has a question?"

One person stood up again, the captain of the headquarters guard battalion.

He stood at attention and saluted loudly, "Thank you, Commander, for the reward. I accept the order!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several others stood up, saluted, and addressed the adjutant as Commander.

These were the officers who had spoken to the adjutant when the old commander was in command.

Seeing someone take the lead, everyone had no choice but to stand up and express their allegiance.

Everyone acknowledged him, addressing him as Commander.

"Very good! Guo Jia, Zhang Cheng, Li Yang..." The adjutant, now the Commander, called out more than a dozen names in a row before speaking.

"Those whose names I called will stay. The rest can leave. Go back and manage your troops properly, or I will replace you."

Everyone got up and left.

Only the dozen or so whose names were called remained.

One of them stood up and said, "We all acknowledged you. What else do you want?"

"I apologize for the inconvenience these past few days. Once I sort things out, I will make it up to everyone!"

After saying that, he turned and left.

Someone wanted to follow him to speak.

But soldiers raised their guns and blocked the way.

The dozen or so officers were escorted away by soldiers to an unknown place.

Only a few men were left in the hall, cleaning up the corpses and heads on the floor.

In the morgue of the command headquarters, five more heads and three bodies were brought in.

The five heads were placed next to those of the young commander and the old commander.

They were the old master, the woman, the tall man, the young master's assistant, and the commander-in-chief.