Zhu Da yelled from outside the door: "Commander Zhao! How are you? Why aren't you coming out? The outside is already surrounded by police!"

I shouted fiercely: "Zhu Da! Stay outside, and do not enter without my order!"

It was the first time Zhu Da had ever heard me speak so sternly. He murmured an "Oh," and then fell silent.

I said to the person in the lower bunk: "You're quite impressive, acting so convincingly. You must have won an Oscar in a past life."

The other replied: "I have been undercover in the Great Dragon Kingdom for half a year, solely to study your culture and language. Since you only have a few seconds left to live, I'll tell you: I am the number one ninja from Japan, Zha He. I was entrusted by someone to take your life. You should consider it an honor to die by my hand."

"Indeed, I am honored. But what benefit is there in killing me? Why don't you save me instead? I'll give you double the money, and you can go kill the person who wants me dead."

"Stop dreaming. That doesn't align with our Bushido spirit."

"The person who wants me dead is a General in the Great Dragon Kingdom, aren't they?"

"You won't extract a single piece of information about my client from me. You truly are formidable; to persist this long while poisoned by my Bone-Melting Powder."

"Alas, I die unwillingly, not even knowing who sought my harm, even in the afterlife. Could you perhaps be merciful and tell me?"

"Die! Go to hell!" Qing He could no longer restrain himself, and two plumes of toxic mist sprayed out again. He still had a short dagger and a gun on him, but after witnessing my power earlier, he knew those weapons would be useless, hence resorting to poison. It just seemed the dose wasn't enough; otherwise, why would this man drone on without dying?

Before the toxic mist could dissipate, a fist suddenly shot out from within it. Qing He ducked down to avoid it, but the upper punch was a feint; the real blow came from below. Qing He felt his internal organs struck as if by a cannonball, and his body shot backward, crashing against the wall in a heap.

"You! You..." Qing He struggled for a long time before sputtering out: "You aren't poisoned!"

I replied: "Oh, I was. Unfortunately, your poison lacked potency. Besides a somewhat sweet taste and eye-stinging sensation, I felt nothing else."

"No... impossible. My poison is unparalleled in the world. You... can you tell me how you neutralized it?" If Qing He couldn't get an answer to this question, he likely wouldn't die in peace.

"I can, but first, tell me who wants to kill me."

Zha He’s voice was extremely weak; he was clearly near death. "Fine, you... come closer... I'll tell you."

I leaned down, suddenly shooting out a hand to grab the pistol hidden beneath Qing He's clothing, pulling it out and tossing it into the corner of the room. "Don't strain yourself; that thing is useless. Hurry up and speak."

Zha He coughed up a mouthful of blood, shocked that the person had discovered his last-resort weapon. "You... how did you find my pistol... Ninjas hide things that ordinary people could never locate. Tell... tell me."

I smashed the head of this supposed number one Japanese ninja flat with one punch. "You ask too many questions, and I don't have time to chat. Even if you hadn't told me, I already know Tan Zhong sent you. Begone, you dog's head."

This fellow was truly blind. If he had known my body was saturated with B-Substance—known as the Immortality Elixir—would he still have resorted to poison? If he knew my eyes possessed X-ray scanning capabilities, would he still have concealed items on his person?

I dusted the poison powder off my clothes and walked out of the holding cell. Zhu Da looked anxious. "What were you doing in there? You had us both worried sick."

I said: "Some nobody chatted with me for a bit, then we had a little spar. I won, so I saw him off."

Cai Bao'er looked tense: "Bosses, stop joking around. Look, the entire police station is surrounded. We've stirred up major trouble this time." With that, Cai Bao'er ran to the end of the corridor to check the situation again.

I took the micro-earpiece out of my ear. It felt awkward stuffed in my ear; it was more comfortable using it externally. "Chu Chu, connect me to Director Gao of the Jingdu Municipal Public Security Bureau."

The call connected shortly after. Director Gao was furious, roaring: "I never gave the order. It was that scoundrel Kong Fei who incited other sub-bureaus and the armed police to act unilaterally. The other directors, wary of the Tan family backing him, sometimes had no choice but to obey his commands!"

Damn it. I nearly smashed the communicator. Kong Sheng’s father truly was quite the figure—daring to issue orders to his peers. This was tantamount to rebellion. You think you’re tough? I’m far tougher! You, Mr. Tan, just wait until I show you my real strength!

I rattled off a string of communication codes, asking Xiao Chuchu to connect me to Army Commander Liu Hu. To counter the Tan family's sudden assault, Liu Hu had secretly deployed a 500-man Army Rapid Reaction Force at a base near the capital, equipped with 50 Cheetah attack helicopters, 50 heavy artillery tanks encased in Super-Solid 3X alloy, and 20 armored personnel carriers fitted with howitzers and anti-aircraft cannons.

"Commander Liu, start the clock now. In eight minutes, I require your Rapid Reaction Force to appear at longitude X×X, latitude YY. Note, this is not an exercise. Make this debut spectacular and awe-inspiring. Execute."

By this time, all personnel in the East District Public Security Sub-bureau building had evacuated, leaving only the three of us on the first floor near the detention cells. Fully armed riot police advanced toward the building. Suddenly, two tear gas canisters were thrown inside.

Zhu Da roared in anger, kicking both canisters flying out the window with powerful thrusts, then yelled at me: "Commander Zhao, aren't you going to reveal your identity? Otherwise, we'll be smoked like jerky soon."

I glanced at the heavily guarded scene outside and said to Zhu Da: "Do you think anyone will believe me if I claim to be the State Chairman right now?"

"They're charging in! They're charging in!" Cai Bao'er screamed, running back.

I had been counting the time in my head. Since they had already breached the perimeter, I figured I might as well go out and have a word with them.

I said to the other two: "Let's go out. You two stay behind me, and don't poke your heads out unless necessary."

The riot police formed a cordon, accompanying us closely. We stopped in the center of the courtyard. I addressed the mass of police surrounding us: "Comrades! Thank you for your hard work! We are not here today to fight you. That bastard Kong Fei has committed countless evils. I am here now to represent the nation and the people to arrest him. Please do not be misled by him any longer; act now to bring this corrupt official and tyrant to justice. At the same time, I welcome anyone with grievances to step forward and report Kong Fei’s past misdeeds."

Cai Bao'er whispered to Zhu Da: "Is Commander Zhao insane?"

Zhu Da scoffed: "You’re the one who’s crazy. Commander Zhao is starting off with three decisive moves as the new boss. The first move is to burn out the tyrant Kong Fei, severing the Public Security system leg that the Tan family relies on."

Cai Bao'er exclaimed: "Damn, are you guys triad or the establishment!"

Zhu Da replied: "Isn't it best to navigate both the dark and the light paths!"

Cai Bao'er gave a thumbs-up: "You guys are incredible! Our Hualong Society admits defeat."

Kong Fei suddenly climbed onto the roof of a police car and shouted: "Comrades! Don't listen to that kid's nonsense! You all know perfectly well what kind of person Old Kong is..."

A murmur rippled through the crowd, but it didn't interrupt Kong Fei's self-intoxication and speech: "Comrades! These three individuals seriously threaten the lives and property of the nation and the people. As people's police, we have the responsibility and obligation to completely eliminate them! Listen to my command and prepare to open fire!"

After all, the Police Bureau Director held more sway. The crowd was uninterested in my speech; gun barrels uniformly aimed at the three of us. Kong Fei stood on the police car roof like a general commanding the battlefield, waving his hand with imposing authority.

"Ready your weapons, aim—"

Whum—whum— The sound of enormous, slowly rotating blades echoed overhead. Kong Fei couldn't help but look up. Good heavens, he was so terrified that he tumbled off the police car in a complete somersault.

At that moment, every officer heard the whirring blades. Gun barrels instinctively lowered as everyone craned their necks to locate the source of the sound.

Within moments, the sky above was pitch black, covered by helicopters. Strangely, these choppers lacked the deafening roar of jet engines; only the sound of turbulent air movement could be heard. Moreover, each helicopter had a vehicle suspended beneath its fuselage.

As the vehicles landed heavily, everyone clearly saw they were heavy armored artillery tanks. And their massive cannon barrels were aimed not at the 'enemies' in the courtyard, but at the surrounding police forces!

Ten tanks landed one after another. One suddenly fired a shell, completely obliterating the police car Kong Fei had been standing on, turning it into scrap metal. The powerful blast wave knocked over a cluster of people, and even several adjacent police cars were flipped over.

The hatch of the firing tank opened, and a military officer climbed out. He shouted to the crowd: "All personnel retreat 50 meters immediately, or we will open fire!"

The cannon muzzles of all ten tanks lowered, aiming squarely at the assembled police officers. Whoosh! The police retreated in haste; some even thought they needed to run at least 50 kilometers to be safe.

After retreating only a few steps, the officers in the rear suddenly pressed forward again, causing the ones in front to curse. The rear officers started yelling back: "Damn it, hurry up and run! Do you want to stay here and get shelled?" "Damn it, fall back! There are guns pointed at our backs!"

It turned out that, somehow, ten armed personnel carriers had already surrounded them. Realizing that the military and the people were one family, the police offered no resistance, obediently laying down their weapons to await orders.

I jumped onto the chassis of one tank and addressed the crowd: "Comrades! As I said earlier, we are not here to fight today. Now, comrades from the various sub-bureaus, please assemble by sector. Those in charge, please maintain discipline. If there are no issues, you may withdraw in batches. However, not a single person from the East District Sub-bureau is allowed to leave; you will await processing shortly. I now solemnly declare to everyone: the former East District Sub-bureau has ceased to exist completely. Starting tomorrow, the skies over the East District will be clear!"

Clap! Zhu Da started applauding, and the crowd below finally understood and joined in with applause. In truth, they had no idea who this person was, but nobody dared defy a single word he spoke, including Director Kong lying on the ground.

At that moment, Director Gao Jianhua of the Municipal Bureau arrived, sirens blaring in his police car. He jumped out and rushed toward me in three giant strides, shaking my hand vigorously. "It’s a relief you’re unharmed; otherwise, I wouldn't know how to answer to the Chairman. I've already notified the leaders of the other sub-bureaus; they'll be here shortly for an on-site meeting..."

I really should leave; these leaders loved holding meetings. I said to Director Gao: "I'm letting the personnel from the other bureaus go, but I'm taking every single officer from the East District Bureau with me. I will return them to you for disciplinary action after the review. You must immediately pull temporary forces from the other bureaus to supplement the East District Bureau. Tomorrow, I will help you scout out a new director for the position. That will fulfill the promise of your mission."

Director Gao’s face lit up with joy. He had long been sick of Kong Fei of the East District Bureau—arrogant, conceited, refusing to follow management, and throwing the entire municipal bureau into chaos by relying on the Tan family's backing. Now, he had nothing to fear. Looking at the power displayed by this Deputy City Director, he suspected this person was an army leader secretly cultivated by the Chairman to deal with the Tan family. Such classified matters required no further questioning; in fact, the less he knew, the better.

I signaled Liu Hu to withdraw. Over a hundred soldiers escorted all the East District Bureau police onto the armored personnel carriers. This included Kong Fei, Kong Sheng, and the few officers who had detained us. None of them understood what was happening. Kong Sheng, in particular, felt he was young and promising, planning to pursue Zhang Xiaoya next; how had he ended up a prisoner so suddenly? He clearly felt that dead monk was inferior to him, but where did he summon such an army from?

The Cheetah attack helicopters lowered their cables, and the tanks and the ten armored personnel carriers were quickly airlifted away. Silence returned to the police bureau. I ignored Director Gao, who was loudly lecturing the other sub-bureau leaders nearby. Hu Qing had been standing by for quite a while; I should go say a few words to him.

"Brother, I never realized you were this formidable!" Hu Qing clapped me on the shoulder. Several nearby officers trembled in fear—this colleague was courting death by daring to pat the shoulder of that grim figure.

"Brother Hu, I have no choice in these matters. Some things aren't about what I want to do or not. I want to meet your Director; if you have the chance, could you introduce me?"

"Sure thing. You scared us stiff today; you owe us a big dinner to make up for it."

"Call me when you have time, and invite Tang Han too. It's been a while since we all got together."

Zhu Da handed me a package from the side—it contained our cell phones, wallets, and other belongings that he and Cai Bao'er had retrieved from the office.

I looked at my phone. It showed seventy or eighty missed calls and messages. My heart tightened. "Brother Hu, that's all for today. I have something urgent and must leave."

Seeing that I had business, Zhu Da also hurried off to return to the Brotherhood Alliance. I found a secluded spot and opened my phone. Few calls were from the women at home; they would contact each other if they couldn't find me, and Xiao Chuchu would surely tell them what I was up to. The most frequent calls were from Cheng Susu, nearly one per minute, along with anxious text messages asking what on earth had happened.

I’d better call her back right away; she must be worried sick.

"Susu, I..."

"Zhao Qian! Woooo..."

The woman cried into the phone for a full ten minutes!