John Reed's face was gloomy, pretending not to notice the provocative tone in Brian Sullivan's words, and said, "There has been a preliminary conclusion regarding the fatal fall at the city steel plant four days ago. Mayor Brooks wants me to attend the briefing. If you have nothing else to do, Mayor Brooks wants you to come with me, since you are also a victim and know what happened at the time."

Donghua City isn't exactly big, but it's not small either, with a population of over a million in the urban area.

As the pillar enterprise of Donghua City, the city steel plant has always held significant weight in the city. Since its establishment in the 1950s, it has produced more than a dozen city and county leaders for the city and its subordinate counties.

Mayor David Carter, the city government's secretary-general John Reed, and the deputy director of the municipal party committee and city government policy research office Andrew Grant, all came from the city steel plant; and the current plant director Tom Clark is also a close confidant of Mayor David Carter.

This fatal fall happened right under the nose of Deputy Mayor Mark Brooks, which is why the city is paying so much attention. Otherwise, if one or two workers died in an accident at the plant, it wouldn't even make a ripple in Donghua City.

John Reed also serves as the deputy leader of the city government's work safety leadership group. Although it's appropriate for him to handle this matter, considering his relationship with the city steel plant, Brian Sullivan could easily guess that it's more likely to be swept under the rug than to actually hold the plant accountable.

Brian Sullivan was somewhat reluctant to return to the city steel plant at this time. Whether considering his past life or his new one, he needed time to adjust.

John Reed simply assumed that Brian Sullivan wouldn't refuse Deputy Mayor Mark Brooks's instructions, and without waiting for Brian Sullivan's response, he opened the car door and got in.

John Reed glanced at the cell phone on the dashboard and frowned.

As the city government's secretary-general, he had to submit an application to replace his "Big Brother" (old-style mobile phone) with a new model, and the report was still sitting on Mark Brooks's desk. Yet that bastard was already strutting around with a new phone...

There was no way to kick John Reed out, so Brian Sullivan could only reluctantly accompany John Reed to the city steel plant, thus beginning his truly "new day."

The city steel plant sprawled over more than two thousand mu in the north of the city. Even after driving through the main gate, it still took a while to reach the imposing office building.

Without seeing plant director Tom Clark come out to greet them, Brian Sullivan and John Reed went straight into the office building and headed directly for the director's office.

As they passed the office of the Production Safety Department, they heard the sounds of a heated argument inside.

"You know exactly how the accident happened, Big Mouth Harris. I can't do anything about you smoothing things over with the city and shirking responsibility, but if you dare withhold Haiwen's compensation, Big Mouth Harris, search your conscience—do you even have one left?"

That was Eric Bennett's voice. Brian Sullivan hadn't expected to catch Eric Bennett in the Production Safety Department fighting for his compensation.

Brian Sullivan stopped and glanced at John Reed.

The Big Mouth Harris that Eric Bennett mentioned just happened to be John Reed's brother-in-law, and it was precisely because of John Reed's connections that he had climbed to the position of head of the Production Safety Department at the city steel plant.

"Eric Bennett, don't slander me. The nature and responsibility for the accident were determined by Director Clark—Ethan Foster was showing off in front of the city leaders and violated regulations by climbing high, which led to the fatal fall. Dozens of people saw it with their own eyes. The plant paid for Ethan Foster's funeral, and his sister can take his place at the plant if she wants. What more compensation do you want?" This was Big Mouth Harris's voice.

"Big Mouth Harris, what are you saying? Xiao Li is only sixteen. Should she quit school and go straight to work at the plant? Even if she takes Haiwen's place, the compensation that's due can't be shortchanged!"

"Eric Bennett, you're also part of the city steel plant." This voice was unfamiliar to Brian Sullivan, perhaps a new employee in the Production Safety Department, stepping up to support Big Mouth Harris. "You know exactly what the situation is in the plant. It's not just that we can't afford much compensation right now—even if we could, if every time someone dies the family comes to extort tens of thousands, how can the plant keep running?"

"What's the point of all this talk? Kick them out. If they come back to make trouble again, just call the police."

Brian Sullivan heard that Big Mouth Harris was already losing patience. As soon as he finished speaking, the office door was flung open from the inside.

Xiao Li, who had been missing since early morning, was suddenly shoved out from inside. Her sleeve caught on the doorknob and tore with a loud rip, leaving a gash on her thin arm...

Seeing this, a surge of anger shot up in Brian Sullivan's chest, and he threw a punch straight at Big Mouth Harris, who was standing inside the door pushing people out.

"You son of a bitch! I saw with my own eyes the handrail break and someone fall—how can you twist the facts like this?"

Big Mouth Harris, opening the door to push someone out, never expected to be met with a punch to the face.

Pain exploded in Big Mouth Harris's nose, stars danced before his eyes, and he staggered back.

But Brian Sullivan had no intention of stopping after one punch. He followed up, his left shoulder unable to exert force, so he kept hammering Big Mouth Harris's face with his right fist, blow after blow, until Big Mouth Harris collapsed to the ground, then started kicking him...

This scene left John Reed, Eric Bennett, and the others standing by completely stunned. It was a long moment before anyone thought to grab the rampaging Brian Sullivan around the waist to restrain him.

Chapter Three: Are We Strangers from Now On?