In the Xigang District of Yangzhi City, inside a small, abandoned factory left over from the Great Expansion era, Brother Qi stood outside a metal door, leaning against the wall and smoking.
After a moment, the door was pushed open, and a man in a floral shirt walked out. He asked, "How are the boys' injuries?"
The man in the floral shirt said, "Brother Qi, that kid was vicious. Old Hei says a few of the guys will be disabled even after they're treated."
Brother Qi swore loudly. "Old Hei is always boasting about how great he is. Can't he even handle a few external injuries?"
The man in the floral shirt said with difficulty, "Old Hei says the money Brother Qi gave him is only enough for this level of treatment. If you want them healed without any lasting problems, we need to pay more, or use better medicine."
Brother Qi was pissed. 'That money-grubbing bastard,' he thought. He asked, "What kind of medicine is so damn expensive?"
"Old Hei said he needs Blood Glue from the Cyan Bag Jade Workshop."
Brother Qi was startled. He knew Old Hei was just trying to extort him, and a curse involuntarily escaped his lips. "Fuck, I've been providing protection for his place for so long, and now he's trying to bleed me dry. That fucking piece of shit!"
The man in the floral shirt was also indignant. "Yeah, Brother Qi! There's a reason they all say Old Hei has a black heart!"
Brother Qi gritted his teeth. "Tell Old Hei we'll owe him for this one. Have him treat the boys first! That thing he mentioned the other day—I'll get it done for him!"
The man in the floral shirt breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, Brother Qi."
"And that kid!"
Brother Qi said viciously, "He messed with my men. This isn't over! So he thinks he can fight, huh? I'll find an expert later and have him crippled!"
The man in the floral shirt agreed enthusiastically, but he knew it was useless. 'We're just a small-time gang. Where would we get the money to hire someone like that?'
Just then, one of their men ran in. "Boss, a lot of new faces showed up today. You should go take a look. The guys are worried there's going to be trouble."
Brother Qi cursed under his breath, flicked away his cigarette butt, and strode outside. "Let's go. We'll take a look."
They went out along a corridor to a second-floor platform. In the distance, two people were by the railing, making some kind of deal in the shadows. A tall, thin man heard their footsteps and looked over warily. He only looked away after seeing it was Brother Qi.
Across from this person was a man in a baseball cap and a mask. When he saw them, he just pulled the brim of his cap down a little lower.
Brother Qi glanced over and said to the man in the floral shirt beside him, "The guy in the cap is new, right? Go over and remind him to pay the transaction fee."
"Right, Boss."
Brother Qi led his men downstairs. Down here, his underlings patrolled back and forth with steel pipes. Seeing him come down, they all greeted him.
The ground floor was clearly once a factory workshop. An un-dismantled overhead crane still hung from the ceiling. In the center of the space, an area had been fenced off with an iron railing. Inside, two burly men, stripped to the waist, were brawling. A crowd of twenty or thirty people surrounded them, constantly shouting, urging, and cursing. The sound of banging was incessant. The air was thick and foul, and the ground was littered with cigarette butts and broken glass bottles that had been swept into corners and forgotten.
A small-time gang like theirs didn't dare to openly run an underground fighting ring like the Blood Mark Gang or the Iron Chain Gang. They could only manage this kind of small-scale operation.
The place was mainly a venue for dealing contraband drugs. Anyway, in this part of Xigang, as long as you stayed off the streets, the Patrol Bureau mostly didn't bother you.
But this kind of place was also prone to trouble. It would have been fine if they'd had enough men, but after the beating they took from Chen Chuan during the day, their numbers were down by more than half. The worst part was that almost all the ones who went down were their real fighters. The ones left were just there to fill the ranks.
The people who came to a place like this were all hardened criminals and repeat offenders. If you couldn't keep them in line, chaos would break out immediately.
After Brother Qi came down with his men, the wandering, appraising glances from the crowd subsided slightly.
In a corner they had passed earlier, the two men who were making a deal were still talking. The tall, thin man said, "Awakening Clearing Capsules from Celestial Hundred Herbs. This is genuine, top-grade medicine. Do you know how much it costs? Do you know how hard it is to get?"
The man in the baseball cap said in a low voice, "I don't care how much it costs. If you have it, I'll buy it."
"Well now, a rich boy," the tall, thin man said, sizing him up. "What's the occasion? Buying such a good anti-mutation drug. Has someone's Implant Mutated?"
The man in the baseball cap said calmly, "What's that got to do with you?"
"It does," the tall, thin man said matter-of-factly. "How do I know you're not just messing with me? If I get the medicine and you don't have the money, I'll be stuck with it."
The man in the baseball cap looked at him, pulled out a wad of cash, flashed it in front of his eyes, then put it away. He said in a monotone voice, "Get the goods. Cash for product."
The tall man's eyes lit up. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "I don't have Awakening Clearing Capsules on hand, but are you interested in an injectable anti-mutation drug from the Talide Company?" He made a gesture with his fingers. "It's the 'Little Grey Bottle.' It's not as good as the stuff from big companies like Cyan Bag Jade Workshop or Celestial Hundred Herbs, but it should be enough for now, right? I can get you the other stuff later."
The man in the baseball cap thought for a moment. "I'll take two boxes for now."
"Heh, you wait right here."
Meanwhile, on the ground floor, Brother Qi was thinking about how to make some money when he heard the sound of urgent footsteps. A panicked underling rushed in, shouting, "It's bad, Boss! The place is surrounded by Patrol Officers from the Patrol Bureau!"
Brother Qi froze. He was stunned for a few seconds before he reacted, shouting, "Quick! Kill the power! Everyone out!"
The entire workshop of the abandoned factory descended into chaos, with everyone scattering and running in all directions.
Although Brother Qi had ordered his men to kill the power, the lights stayed on—perhaps because of the chaos, or maybe due to some kind of interference.
Brother Qi and his men were about to escape through a side opening, but before they could even get there, the underling guarding the side door ran over, panicked. "Boss, it's no good! Patrol Officers are at all the back doors!"
Brother Qi's heart sank. The underlings beside him also looked terrified.
Just then, they heard several shrill whistle blasts, followed by the CLOMP-CLOMP-CLOMP of uniform military boots on the ground. A group of Patrol Officers charged in, carrying Great Expansion-style rifles, wearing steel helmets and gray standard-issue uniforms. The front row knelt while the back row stood, aiming the black muzzles of their guns at everyone in the room.
Then came a sharp command: "Everyone on the ground! Hands on your head! Anyone who disobeys will be shot on the spot!"
Brother Qi's face was pale. 'How could my little operation attract the Patrol Bureau? And I've been paying my dues! Could it be Old Hei? It must be Old Hei! He must have gotten his hands on some really serious drugs. That bastard has really screwed me over this time!'
No one in the room dared to resist. They all obediently squatted down. The Patrol Bureau's Patrol Officers were basically army reservists; with a change of uniform, they could be sent straight to the battlefield. The guns in their hands were real and deadly.
Brother Qi and his men had no choice but to squat down as well, lacing their hands behind their heads.
Once the room was quiet, a sharp-eyed Patrol Captain walked out from a path left open in the ranks. He scanned the crowd and asked, "Which one of you is Dou Qi?"
The underlings all turned their heads to look at Brother Qi.
The Patrol Captain chuckled. "Looks like we don't have to search," he said with a wave of his hand. "Drag him out."
Immediately, two tall, burly Patrol Officers rushed forward and smashed Brother Qi a few times with their rifle butts. His head was instantly split open and bleeding, and he lost a few teeth. They then dragged him out like a dead dog, pinned his arms behind his back, and brought him before the Patrol Captain. One of them grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, exposing his entire face to the light.
The Patrol Captain slapped his face twice with a gloved hand. "So you're Dou Qi?" he asked, a smirk playing on his lips. "Do you know what you've done?"
Forced to tilt his chin up, Brother Qi said in a whistling voice, "Pl-please, sir, go easy on me. My brothers and I will make sure you're well compensated."
"You know the rules."
The Patrol Captain seemed pleased. He gestured around them. "I brought forty of my men here today. You'll have to cover their travel expenses for coming all this way out here tonight."
Brother Qi immediately replied, "I-I understand, sir. Even if I have to sell everything I own, I'll make sure you officers get your travel expenses paid in full."
"See? This is why I say you know the rules."
The Patrol Captain smiled again, but then his expression suddenly changed. He delivered a backhand slap so hard it would make a spectator wince. "If you know the rules so well," he said harshly, "then why did you dare to attack a Patrol Officer's family member? It seems you broke the law deliberately, didn't you?"
A terrified look appeared on Brother Qi's face. "Sir, I didn't, I didn't..."
The Patrol Captain said, "You didn't? Let me jog your memory. What were you all doing this afternoon?"
Hearing this from within the crowd, the man in the floral shirt trembled and lowered his body even further.
Brother Qi finally understood. He realized he had been set up by Shan Xiong. He hurriedly tried to explain, "Sir, I didn't know! I really didn't know! I didn't know that kid was related to someone from the Patrol Bureau! I was deceived, too!"
Shan Xiong had never mentioned that detail. He'd said the target was just some poor student who got lucky. Otherwise, he would have thought twice before messing with him.
But he knew it was pointless to say that now. He hastily added, "Sir, I know Qi Wu from the Iron Chain Gang! I pay tribute to him."
The Patrol Captain scoffed. "What, you're trying to use the Iron Chain Gang to intimidate me?" He turned to a capable-looking Patrol Officer standing behind the ranks. "Brother Wu, I've found your man. What happens next is up to you."
The young Patrol Officer, whose surname was Wu, walked out. He silently drew a 15th Year of Jianzhi model pistol, flicked off the safety, and fired four quick shots into Brother Qi's hands and feet. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Brother Qi let out a series of horrible screams, his body convulsed, and then he collapsed like a dead dog.
The Patrol Captain remarked, "You're too kind-hearted, brother. You actually left him alive."
Inspector Wu pointed his gun downward and said in a perfectly natural tone, "We still need to take him back for questioning to find out who else was involved."
The Patrol Captain clapped him on the shoulder, then walked to the middle of the floor and announced in a stern voice, "Search the place for any contraband, then we're wrapping this up."
A Patrol Officer asked, "Captain, what about all these people?"
The Patrol Captain said, "Take them all back for interrogation."
"Yes, sir!"
The Patrol Officers began cuffing everyone. However, when it was the man in the baseball cap's turn, he suddenly leaped up and bolted for the door.
The Patrol Officers guarding the door were well-trained and decisive. Seeing the sudden movement, they opened fire without hesitation. But after a few CRACKS from the guns, the man only seemed to shudder slightly, otherwise unaffected. In the blink of an eye, he was upon them. With a simple shove of his hands, he sent the officers in the middle stumbling aside, creating a wave of chaos.
Still, someone was quick-handed and sharp-eyed. As they fell, they managed to rip off his mask. Someone cried out in alarm, "It's Tong Qianjiang!"
By then, the man had already burst outside.
Outside, more Patrol Officers tried to intercept him. Gunshots rang out one after another, and it sounded like they hit him a few more times, but it was still no use. By the time the Patrol Captain ran out, he only saw the man's figure disappearing into the night, his trail vanishing in moments.
The Patrol Captain's face was furious. "Damn it! That bastard is wearing Protective Clothing!"
The Dashun Republic strictly controlled Protective Clothing capable of effectively stopping rifle rounds. This was because such gear was like the Armor of ancient times. If a person with exceptional martial skill wore it and wielded a sharp weapon, ordinary people would be lambs to the slaughter.
A Patrol Officer ran up from behind, saluted, and said, "Captain, the men are fine. Just some bruises."
The Patrol Captain asked gravely, "Are you sure it was Tong Qianjiang?"
"One of the men saw him last year. He was part of a prisoner transport unit. It shouldn't be a mistake."
The Patrol Captain wondered, 'Why would Tong Qianjiang be here? And where did he get that Protective Clothing?'
But then he became excited. Tong Qianjiang was the brother of the fugitive Tong Baitao. Their group had disappeared without a trace after the prison break. He had assumed they'd already left Yangzhi City, but to his surprise, he had run into one of them here today.
These violent criminals had been on the run for a long time. Cracking this case would be a major accomplishment! He couldn't believe he'd just come here to do a favor and stumbled upon such a golden opportunity.
The Patrol Captain called Inspector Wu over. "Listen, Brother Wu, I have to get back to the Bureau. This is a big deal and must be reported. Go back and tell Captain Nian that if we find any trace of Fang Dawei's group, once the case is solved, your Bao Feng District will get its share of the credit."
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