The bureaucratic machine of the government was a curious creature—slow in its usual efficiency but astonishingly effective when real business arose.

Lin Feng had barely finished his call within minutes before he received an immediate return call from the Traffic Police Division of Tianbei City.

"What? Oh, Uncle San, thank you so much, I'll bring you a nice bottle later," Lin Feng grinned as he hung up, his expression shifting instantly to icy coldness: "Captain Qin, the car is registered under Hua Jinhan Spa Center."

"Hua Jinhan?"

Several members of the Special Security Squad exchanged startled glances. Though these were just lazy cops in Tianbei City's regular force, they knew what kind of establishment Hua Jinhan represented.

It wasn't the largest or most luxurious spa center in the city. But it was among the most notorious red-light dens—yet had never once been caught during police raids. Each surprise inspection found this establishment as spotless as snow on Tian Shan Mountains.

Everyone knew, however, that this place wasn't clean at all.

The ability to always get advance warnings before each raid and never face any trouble meant someone with significant power was shielding it from behind the curtain.

Qin Fen's eyebrows knitted together. He'd seen this name in the office records—his two months of martial arts training aside, his only job had been reading files on such establishments.

"Did you hear what they were saying?" Qin Fen's cold tone made Shǔo Liang think of winter swimming through frigid seawater.

"Just a little bit," Shǔo Liang hastily replied. "They mentioned... today... kill you... something about big bosses... making money..."

"Let's check it out."

Qin Fen dropped the words like an icicle and turned toward the parking lot.

"Captain, wait!"

Wu Hui blocked Qin Fen with a quick step, meeting his chilling gaze head-on without flinching: "If you go in there now even if we manage to extract those people, I think we'll still offend whoever's protecting them from behind."

"Exactly," Qin Fen coldly replied. "I'm here to crack down on the illegal brothel operations today."

"That's great!" Wu Hui smiled. "But just walking in like this will give them too obvious a target. You storming straight in is equivalent to slapping their face directly! Though we've never found out who exactly he is, his influence must be considerable."

Qin Fen's eyes warmed slightly with interest as he asked the confident Wu Hui: "So what's your plan?"

"Simple," Wu Hui snapped his fingers. "We are the Special Security Squad, and we're in charge of these operations! Let's launch a city-wide crackdown on illegal brothels. This way, it won't look too targeted. Even if that man behind finds out we're going after him specifically, he should still save face with this large-scale operation—probably won't cause much trouble."

"City-wide?" Qin Fen looked at the twenty or so people present. "Relying on just us? The bureau's approval process is complicated. Even if it gets approved immediately, they could also hear about it through other channels."

Wu Hui shrugged carelessly: "Of course! There are definitely informants from Hua Jinhan within the bureau. We need to borrow people from elsewhere. Lin Feng..."

"Understood!" Lin Feng quickly dialed: "Brother-in-law, it's me—Xiao Feng! We've got a mission here. Can you lend us some men?"

Qin Fen turned his questioning gaze toward Wu Hui. What was Lin Feng doing?

"Oh," Wu Hui rolled his eyes. "Lin Feng's brother-in-law is the commanding officer of Tianbei City's Special Forces in Zhongzhou Province." Qin Fen nodded. They were aware that the military structure in Zhongzhou differed slightly from other provinces—the People’s Armed Police there existed as an independent force between military and police.

"Wu Hui, how many men do you want?" Lin Feng shouted into his phone.

"How many?" Wu Hui frowned, thinking for a few seconds before decisively raising one finger.

"Brother-in-law," Lin Feng scratched his head, "can you manage to mobilize an entire company? Yeah! I'm going to wage a full-scale federal battle!" Then he quickly added: "So get them moving right now—I’m at..."

Wu Hui stared blankly at the phone in Lin Feng's hand.

"Hey buddy," Wu Hui said, "I meant one platoon..."

"Oh?" Lin Feng scratched his head again. "Forget it—more people make things easier!"

"Captain," Yu Xiao stepped forward gently, "if you're in a hurry, why not take some men there first? At worst, go undercover for now. If things don't work out, you can show your ID later and clear the place up."

"Undercover?" Qin Fen shook his head. "What I do is above board—both morally and legally. No need for such complications. First, let me talk to their manager..."

The twenty-two members of the Special Security Squad were all fearless. Upon hearing Qin Fen's words, their fighting spirit surged again. Yu Xiao led several people directly toward the parking lot behind him.

Soon, a few mag-lev hovercars lifted off the ground and immediately engaged auto-navigation systems, choosing the shortest route straight to Hua Jinhan Spa Center.

Hua Jinhan was an extremely famous large-scale spa center in Tianbei City. Not only did it receive local clients daily, but many from Han Zhou also frequently visited. With its expansion over recent years, visitors from nearby cities had gradually increased as well.

"Safe! No accidents ever occurred"—this became the primary reason for Hua Jinhan's growing business success.

Over several years, the owner Niu Jinhuan enjoyed an increasingly smooth life each day. However, these past few months have been quite troublesome to him.

As a spa center boss, Niu knew safety was the most important thing. Therefore, he never forced any of his female staff into work through coercion but used more subtle methods—financial incentives, material temptations and social comparisons to gradually lure them down.

After all, when people saw their peers around them making increasing amounts of money and quickly improving living standards while being constantly influenced by the surrounding environment, it was easy for their moral boundaries to erode bit by bit.

Niu always believed there wasn't any woman whose belt couldn't be loosened with enough money—the difference lay only in how much needed to be spent.

Recently, however, Niu began questioning whether his belief held true. Hua Jinhan had a young female massage therapist who'd been working there for about half a year now. No matter how high the clients offered their prices or how extravagantly other girls tempted her with luxurious lifestyles, she never once bent over.

Originally, this wasn't an issue—Niu hadn’t paid much attention to her until two months ago when one of Hua Jinhan's big clients named Pei Qing suddenly became obsessed with a girl named Yang Ruoru and insisted on having her brought into his harem.

At first, Pei merely thought the price he offered was too low for Yang Ruoru’s standards so each time he came, he increased it significantly—doubling it even—and became increasingly fixated. During one visit, he outright proposed to take Yang Ruoru in as a mistress with an annual payment of one million.

Niu understood human nature—the more something couldn't be obtained, the stronger the desire for it.

Over time, Pei Qing's patience finally ran out. A few days ago, Niuguan received this big client’s final demand: by force if necessary! Get that Yang Ruoru into bed today!

Using force? That wasn’t Niu’s style—he preferred subtlety since even the slightest mistake could easily offend unexpected people.

Niu was a cautious man and spent three days carefully investigating everything about this Yang Ruoru.

"Yang Ruoru, second daughter in her family. Parents deceased. Has an older brother who served as a soldier before recently passing away. Only living relative now is her younger sister Yang Xixi still studying in high school."

No background at all! No background whatsoever!

After reviewing the file, Niu finally calmed his worries. If it was just some girl with no background, then using force would be fine—sometimes a bit of intimidation could instill respect. After all, running a red-light spa center was about making money. Since this big client was willing to pay big bucks, not only was using force acceptable, but even killing the girl and bringing her sister in for clients' pleasure wouldn't be out of question.

"Boss..."

Niu looked up as his subordinate entered with some excitement: "Got her?"

"Hmm!" The subordinate nodded while pushing his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose: "Already tied her down in the basement..."

"Good job!" Niu grabbed a phone, his short fingers tapping quickly on its keys. He preferred these older models that made crisp clicking sounds when pressed:

"Mr. Pei, your woman is ready for you. Naturally, naturally! We didn't take off any of her clothes—just bound her in the basement like an X-shape. I understand, I know you want to personally undo her clothes and remove her bra to stimulate more pleasure through her fear."

"Naturally, naturally," Niu continued after switching hands with the phone: "I've arranged an absolutely soundproof room for you! Don’t worry—even if she screams, nothing will escape outside. I understand completely—you want that rough stimulation, the feeling of conquest. Her despair will make you extremely excited. This I know."

"What? DV? Alright, no problem!" Niu replied cheerfully. "Such rare scenes should be recorded for collection, right?"

"Not just collection," Pei Qing adjusted his suit tie in front of a mirror: "I want to record it and show the little slut these videos later. Let her watch me having my way with her while doing so! Every time I have her, play this footage! Right—no lubricant! She’s still a virgin, right? I want her to hurt! Hurt so bad she can't walk for days!"

Pei Qing laughed and pushed open the office door as he strode out confidently: "Wait for me. I'll be there shortly."

"Mr. Pei..."

The secretary at the front desk blinked in confusion—how come this 35-year-old boss was so excited today? Even when making big deals, she hadn't seen him act like this before!

"I'm waiting for you," Niu muttered as he hung up his phone. "This guy is getting more twisted by day—he even asked me to prepare the strongest drugs. Does he want that girl bedridden for three days? Leave permanent psychological trauma so just thinking about it fills her with fear?"

Forget about it! As long as there was money, even if he killed that girl...

Bang!

The door slammed open violently, making Niu frown at his flustered subordinate: "What's the rush? If you broke this door down, your skin won't be enough to compensate for it!"

"Boss... Boss..." The subordinate waved frantically before trying to catch his breath. "There’s... there’s..."

"I’ll say it," Yu Xiao’s arrogant tone slipped through the open door into Niu’s ears. "Police!"

"Police?"

Niu’s fleshy face twitched slightly as his eyes darted around suspiciously. The City Bureau hadn’t given any prior warning about a special inspection, so why were police suddenly showing up? Even if it was local precinct officers—who had always been well taken care of—this wasn't the time for their usual monthly payments yet!

"No... wrong! It's definitely the police!"

Yu Xiao hadn’t even stepped into the room when he already extended his badge toward Niu’s office.

Niu immediately plastered a professional smile onto his fatty face: "May I ask which deity you represent?"

"Deity? Haven't you heard what I said? Police! POLICE!" Yu Xiao nearly slammed his badge right into Niu's face with his arrogance, causing several bodyguards' expressions to shift dramatically—what police had ever acted so arrogant and domineering like this?

Yu Xiao walked in without giving anyone a chance to speak. His eyes swept arrogantly across all present: "I don't want to waste time talking to you people! I'm here for two things today—first, I’m here to demand the immediate release of Yang Ruoru. Second, I'm here to crack down on illegal brothel operations. Cooperate with us properly."

Niu stared blankly at Yu Xiao. He'd seen many police officers in his time but had never encountered any who acted this aggressively and domineering! Even in his own underworld, he hadn't met such an arrogant individual!

It was only a few seconds since entering the room—he nearly slammed the badge into someone’s face without showing any identification and immediately demanded people be handed over for investigation.

"Haha..." Niu still wore a smile on his face, but it had now turned into a cold sneer: "Officer, I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you're short of money and want to borrow some, as a friend I can lend you a certain amount. If you just came here to cause trouble, sorry—I won’t forget that there are also inspectors who supervise the police! Until now, you haven’t even shown me your search warrant yet. I can..."

Crack...

Yu Xiao didn't even glance at Niu once as he directly tossed his gun onto Niu’s desk where it slid twenty centimeters before stopping firmly in place.

"Stop talking nonsense! Hand over the girl right now!"