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215  Senator Louie and the Opposing Faction

"So it's finally time to take care of those people…" Arlan received a report from Cedrick and the contents of the report made him smile.

Initially, he didn't want to gain control of the shelter since it would be too much of a responsibility for him. However, things would be easier for him if he had control over the country's highest officials.

Last City didn't have a proper government system. This was because of the lack of government talent in the territory. He only had Rex De Guzman and the De Guzman Family who had some experience in governance, but even those people still needed some proper training. After all, the De Guzman Family was focused on business and it was only recently that they started to gain a foothold in the government.

If he could get Manuel Chavez to join his side, he no longer had to be worried about Last City's governance problems. The guy had decades of experience as an official of the country and he also had a huge number of loyal followers.

Arlan didn't send another commander to help Cedrick and Conrad. The two of them were enough to handle the job.

***

Inside a mansion in the shelter, there was a secret meeting between important people. There were ten of them. Six were officials of the country, two were high-ranking members of the army, and the remaining two were business owners.

"The time is ripe. We need to act quickly before Lieutenant General Rivera is notified. We just have to capture Manuel Chavez and force him to resign." A congressman of the country said.

"Brigadier General Antonio, how many soldiers do we have?" Everyone stared at the old soldier with graying hair. He looked like someone in his late sixties, but no one dared to take this man lightly. Similar to Lieutenant General Rivera, Brigadier General Antonio is also a veteran who has been through numerous battles. If not for his advanced age, he would have already been promoted.

Looking at the people inside the room, the old general sighed. He had a debt of gratitude towards the leader of this group. He was against their idea the whole time, but he had to repay the favor he owed. "I have three thousand soldiers." He uttered.

"Three thousand? Did you try to persuade the soldiers working for Rivera?" A middle-aged businessman wearing a navy blue suit asked.

The others also furrowed their eyebrows upon hearing this. Three thousand might seem a lot, but there were more soldiers under Lieutenant General Rivera. If there was a direct confrontation between both sides, they would lose without a doubt.

Brigadier General Antonio stared coldly at the businessman and replied. "Do you think it's easy to persuade those soldiers? We don't even have anything to offer them."

The businessman flinched under his gaze, but he didn't want to look weak in front of everyone. He snorted and said. "That's because you lack the capability to persuade them!"

Brigadier General Antonio frowned at his words.

The atmosphere suddenly tensed up with their exchange, but someone quickly stepped in to de-escalate the situation. "Please relax, gentlemen. We are allies here. There's no need to fight amongst ourselves. Only our enemies will benefit if we continue to argue."

It was a man in his mid-thirties. He looked like a bookish person at first glance, but this seemingly harmless guy was the core figure of the group. His name is Louie Bugtai, a senator of the country.

Brigadier General Antonio stared at Senator Louie and took a deep breath. The businessman's words enraged him, but he had to give face to Louie for he was indebted to this man.

Meanwhile, the businessman was secretly relieved. He was scared when the old general stared at him with such cold eyes. He had almost forgotten that he was no longer as powerful as he was back then. After the zombie virus outbreak, he had lost most of his wealth and he only managed to preserve a small portion of it. He used this remaining wealth to hire five hundred soldiers and that earned him a spot in this meeting.

Louie smiled faintly at the two. He then cleared his throat and said. "Gentlemen, the shelter needs a more capable leader. Manuel Chavez is lacking in terms of leadership and because of his poor decisions, many of our people are now suffering."

Everyone sneered in their hearts upon hearing his righteous words. They knew that he was just speaking nonsense, but no one said anything.

"Lieutenant General Rivera is not in the shelter at the moment. He is busy rescuing people in other parts of the country so we should have some time to take care of Manuel Chavez. Brigadier General Antonio has already prepared an elite team to do the task. Once they capture Manuel Chavez, we will proceed with the next step of the plan and that is to hold a meeting between the country's top officials and nominate a new leader." Louie smiled lightly.

"Yes! Yes! After we capture Manuel Chavez, we will nominate Senator Louie to become the next president!" Someone immediately buttered him up.

"With Senator Louie leading the shelter, we no longer have to worry about the future of the country!"

"We should call him President Louie now!"

Louie grinned upon hearing their praises. "Stop flattering me, everyone. Everything is not yet certain. We have to proceed with caution. Manual Chavez isn't your average guy. He also has a lot of loyal followers and we have to get past them." Back then, he only dreamed of becoming the president of the country, but he was now close to achieving his goal.

"General Antonio, please command your team to begin the task." Louie nodded at the old general.

Brigadier General Antonio nodded his head. "Okay." He grabbed a communication device and said. "Proceed with the plan."

"Yes, general!" Someone replied over the radio.

***

Manuel Chavez was inside his office. He was feeling a bit nervous in his heart. According to Cedrick, the opposing faction will attack today. When he heard this news, he immediately summoned his guards. At this moment, there were dozens of bodyguards guarding the building, but he still didn't feel safe even with all these people around. He had never seen Cedrick and Conrad since their last conversation. It was like the two of them had disappeared. He was worried that something would happen.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, he heard a series of gunshots beneath the building.

"Mr. President, please stay behind us!" The leader of his security detail said while shielding the acting president's body. He was worried that there might be a sniper so he immediately covered Manuel Chavez after hearing the gunshots.

The security team brought him to a safe place. "Mr. President, please stay here. We will take care of the situation." Uttered the leader of the security detail before he went out to command the team.

Manuel Chavez's heart was beating like crazy. His worries had come to reality. "Those guys are crazy! They are actually willing to go this far!" He exclaimed as he sat down.

"Mr. President, our security team will take care of those people. Please calm down." His assistant was also nervous, but he had to remain calm and help the president think of a countermeasure.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The gunshots intensified, making Manuel Chavez and his assistant feel more nervous. The sound of the gunshots was becoming closer to them.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The sudden knocks on the door made the two of them jump up from their seats.

"Who's there?!" Manuel Chavez nervously said while pressing the voice button of the smart lock.

His assistant quickly stepped forward and put himself in front of the acting president. "Stay behind me, sir."

"It's me. You need to leave here soon, Mr. President. The people who came here are not some random riffraffs." A familiar voice drifted into their ears.

"Commander Cedrick?" Manuel Chavez was pleasantly surprised. He stared through the peephole to see who was outside. When he saw Cedrick's face, he quickly unlocked the door.

"You're finally here, commander!" Manuel Chavez almost cried tears of joy.

"Sorry for being late, Mr. President. Please follow us. We will take you into safety. Those people will soon be here so we need to act quickly." Cedrick said while adjusting his glasses.

Manuel Chavez was stunned by his words. "There are dozens of bodyguards in this building. How could they come up here so fast?"

"You know about Brigadier General Antonio, right? They are his elite soldiers." Cedrick answered.

"What?! How could this be? Why is the general working with them?!" Manuel Chavez exclaimed in disbelief. The old general was a patriotic man who had wholeheartedly defended the country from terrorist groups. This revelation shocked him to his core.

"Mr. President, I will answer all your questions later, but we have to leave this place first." Cedrick urgently said.

"Alright." Manuel Chavez solemnly nodded his head.