"What do you all think?" Tong Zhentian looked at everyone present and said, "If we don’t find a way to change this, this Martial Arts Tournament will become a joke in the Martial Arts World. What martial arts association, what reform, no one will take us seriously in the future."

"I do have an idea." At this moment, Ling Chen, who had been silent, spoke up. Seeing the confident look on Ling Chen’s face, Tong Zhentian’s eyes couldn’t help but brighten. He knew Ling Chen well; this guy always came up with brilliant ideas that worked.

"Let’s hear it, so everyone can give you some input."

Ling Chen smiled mysteriously and said, "There’s no need for input. I’ll settle it as soon as possible." With that, Ling Chen turned and walked out.

Once outside, Ling Chen took out his phone, made a few calls, and finalized everything. Afterwards, Ling Chen pondered for a bit and then dialed the number of the old General.

"Hello! You brat, aren’t you hosting the Martial Arts Tournament? How do you have time to call me today?" Hearing Qiao Zhen’s voice on the other end, Ling Chen chuckled bitterly and said, "Old General, you know what happened yesterday."

"Oh? Is it a big deal?"

"More than big! The whole venue is almost empty. It’s our fault for not protecting everyone’s safety, a gross negligence on our part. Luckily, there weren’t too many casualties. Otherwise, we wouldn’t know how to handle it."

"I’ve already received orders from above. They want me to investigate this secretly since it’s no small matter. However, because this happened at the Martial Arts Tournament, I don’t think it’s a simple terror attack; it could very well be an internal conflict within your Martial Arts World, so we’ve been holding off a bit, planning to ask you more about it after the tournament."

"Old General, the attackers were a secret faction within the Martial Arts World. We only know they call themselves the Dark Pavilion, and nothing more. Matters of the Martial Arts World are settled internally. Old General, I know about national laws, but some issues we need to solve ourselves. Right now, the police and military are gearing up to start an investigation. Could you help by keeping the government from getting involved?"

Qiao Zhen thought for a while and said, "I can help you with that, but there’s one condition."

"Whatever you say, as long as I can do it, I won’t refuse."

"Within Huaxia, the law applies to everyone. However, considering your unusual situation, we can give you some special treatment. Although we can’t manage disputes in the Martial Arts World, we must ensure civilian safety. If another incident like yesterday’s happens, causing innocent civilians to get injured, we will have no choice but to unleash the full force of the nation’s iron discipline against any group responsible. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Old General, rest assured, I will make sure it won’t happen again."

"Alright, that’s that. I have some matters to attend to, so I’ll end the call here." With that, Qiao Zhen hung up.

Putting away his phone, Ling Chen sat alone on the railing of the venue, watching the sparse crowd, shaking his head in dismay. Who would’ve thought such a well-prepared Martial Arts Tournament would end up like this?

After sitting for a while, the audience began gradually leaving, and in no time, the thousands of spectators dwindled to a few hundred. Even some martial artists started leaving. Seeing this, Ling Chen frowned slightly. He understood why regular spectators would leave, but why were even martial artists leaving? Without them, how could the Martial Arts Tournament continue?

As he was pondering, he saw Jiang Yunkai running over quickly from a distance.

"Chen!"

"Kai, what’s up?"

Jiang Yunkai said nothing and directly pulled out his phone, opened a live-streaming app, and handed it to Ling Chen.

At that moment, the live stream showed a reporter and a cameraman entering a helicopter. As the helicopter ascended, Ling Chen saw a shocking scene. The whole camera view showed a sea of fire, where a massive factory was engulfed in flames, with thick smoke billowing and the fire raging skyward.

"Kai, where is this?" Ling Chen asked curiously.

"Just on the outskirts of Beijing, look over there." Jiang Yunkai pointed south of the venue. Ling Chen looked and saw smoke rising in the distance. Though it was far, Ling Chen could see it clearly.

"When did this happen?"

"An hour ago. I heard there were hundreds of employees trapped inside the factory, none of them escaped." Jiang Yunkai sighed and said, "It’s really tragic. I doubt many will survive."

So it turned out something so big happened, no wonder all those spectators left the venue. Ling Chen watched the live stream, seeing many fire trucks surrounding the factory, actively engaged in putting out the fire. But given the fire’s magnitude and the factory’s size, the fire trucks couldn’t effectively put it out. With the fire uncontrolled, rescuing people seemed impossible.

Through the helicopter’s camera, many people were trapped inside the central building of the factory, waving their hands in the windows and shouting to the helicopter for rescue. Unfortunately, the building was already surrounded by flames, and the rescue teams and helicopter couldn’t reach it; the chance of survival for those people was very slim.

"Chen." Jiang Yunkai seemed to receive some information through his earpiece and said, "The fire brigade stationed here just received orders to head to the site immediately to assist with the rescue."

Upon hearing this, Ling Chen’s eyes shifted, and he quickly had an idea. He tossed his phone to Jiang Yunkai and said, "Go notify Elder Tong and the others to gather outside the venue, and prepare a few buses."

Jiang Yunkai asked in confusion, "Chen, what are you planning to do?"

"Rescue people!"

In no time, everyone who received the notification gathered by the buses. Meanwhile, Ling Chen arrived with people. Once they were all together, Tong Zhentian asked, "Ling Chen, why did you call us all here?"

Ling Chen surveyed everyone present and said, "Everyone, I’m sure you’ve heard about the fire. The factory isn’t far from the venue, just over ten kilometers away. From what I know, there are hundreds of workers trapped inside, unable to be rescued. As martial artists, it is our duty to uphold justice and help those in need. Hundreds of lives are at stake now; shouldn’t we lend a hand?" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

As soon as he said this, everyone was momentarily stunned, not expecting Ling Chen to make such a request.

"Ling Chen, you want us to go to the fire and rescue people?" Su Mei from the crowd asked.