Having invested considerable effort after his recent promotion, Huang Ze was transferred from the Wuxia Road Police Station to this location as Deputy Station Chief.

Although this station was smaller in scale compared to the one on Wuxia Road, being a Deputy Chief was still a step up in rank, bringing with it significantly more authority.

Huang Ze was riding high on his recent ascent, feeling quite pleased with himself, yet he never expected to run into Zhang Yang here.

"Zhang, Zhang Yang, what are you doing here?"

Upon seeing Zhang Yang, Huang Ze instinctively felt a prickle of dread. When he was a team leader at the Wuxia Road Police Station, he had dealt with Zhang Yang numerous times, and every encounter had invariably led to trouble.

"Chief Huang, they were the ones hitting people, they assaulted Manager Liang!"

The restaurant owner rushed over then. He knew Huang Ze; the station had held a welcome banquet for Huang Ze when he was first transferred.

This owner had even offered a few toasts at the time.

"A Station Chief? Congratulations on the promotion, Chief Huang!"

Zhang Yang chuckled, finding the situation quite amusing.

Whenever he got into a fight in Changjing that required police intervention, it was inevitably this Captain Huang—or Chief Huang now—who showed up. He and Chief Huang certainly shared some strange karmic link, to run into him here, miles away from Wuxia Road, during a fight.

"Mr. Zhang, Chief Zhang, what is all this? What exactly happened?" Huang Ze asked, his face strained, as he quietly approached Zhang Yang.

He was acutely aware that this young man had the backing of the City Bureau's Criminal Investigation Captain; he was absolutely not someone Huang Ze could afford to provoke. Even without that backing, he knew the young man's sheer fighting prowess. To put it mildly, none of the officers who arrived, if unarmed, stood a chance against him.

"Chief Huang, you've arrived at the perfect time. I need to file a report. Someone attempted rape, and the victim is my friend!"

Zhang Yang raised a hand, his expression turning intensely serious, which stunned everyone nearby. He had just beaten four men so severely that bloody teeth still littered the ground, and the injured men were currently whimpering, unable to form a coherent sentence. Now, with the police here, he was the one crying foul, claiming 'attempted rape?'

Huang Ze was startled. Attempted rape was less severe than full rape, but it was hardly a minor offense; a conviction could mean several years in prison.

"Yes, attempted rape. Nannan, come here. Don't be scared, Chief Huang is one of us!"

Zhang Yang beckoned Nannan over. She slowly walked up; she wasn't crying now, but her eyes were still swollen red. Seeing Nannan’s torn clothing, Huang Ze understood the general situation—it was likely just another drunken brawl at a restaurant. Such incidents were common and could be treated lightly, usually handled as a civil dispute; rarely was the charge elevated straight to 'attempted rape.'

"Mr. Zhang, can we wait until we investigate before deciding?" Huang Ze sounded helpless. Zhang Yang calling him 'one of us' had dragged him right into the middle of it. Furthermore, how could a police officer speak like that during an investigation? Truthfully, he and Zhang Yang were far from being 'one of us'; every time Zhang Yang appeared, it gave him a headache.

"Chief Huang, Manager Liang is District Chief Liang's actual brother!"

The restaurant owner, seeing how familiar Huang Ze and Zhang Yang seemed, grew anxious and hurried over, whispering into Huang Ze's ear.

Huang Ze’s heart sank again. There was only one District Chief surnamed Liang in their district, and though he wasn't on the Standing Committee, he was certainly not someone this mere Deputy Station Chief could challenge. A Deputy District Chief on one side, a Criminal Investigation Captain on the other—Huang Ze felt a massive headache brewing. Both parties involved were too formidable to offend. He cursed himself inwardly: why had he been so foolish, rushing over personally just because someone reported a crime? He didn't even need to lead the team; he came only to show initiative shortly after his transfer, and now he was filled with nothing but regret.

Seeing the hesitation on Huang Ze’s face, the restaurant owner breathed a small sigh of relief. He didn't know Zhang Yang's background and could temporarily ignore his threats, but he understood the power behind Manager Liang—offending Manager Liang meant his restaurant would be shut down by the next day. Compared to the unknown Zhang Yang, he had to prioritize protecting Manager Liang first.

"Chief Huang, attempted rape is not a small crime. If you can't handle it, feel free to report this case to your superiors!"

Zhang Yang heard every word the owner said. Report it?

Huang Ze paused slightly. An attempted rape case didn't strictly require reporting up the chain, but a full rape charge certainly would. The problem was, handing it over made them look incompetent, didn't it? Reporting it was out of the question. Huang Ze understood Zhang Yang's implication: they have the ability to pass this up the chain if you don't handle it properly.

"Mr. Zhang, we accept your report. However, we cannot determine the facts based on one side's account alone; we must conduct an investigation. I apologize, but I must ask everyone to come down to the station first!"

Huang Ze now had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept the case. If the first case he handled after his promotion was immediately passed upstairs, it would severely damage his prestige. For now, he could only take things one step at a time, figure out a solution later, and stabilize both parties for the moment.

"Fine, no problem!"

Zhang Yang readily agreed; a trip to the station was acceptable to him.

The four injured men, still spitting blood and unable to speak, were eventually allowed by the restaurant owner to go to the hospital first for treatment before heading to the station for investigation.

Zhang Yang, Mi Xue, along with Xiao Dai and Nannan, followed Huang Ze to the station. Xiao Dai and Nannan, as victims, needed to give statements. The restaurant owner, the manager, and many security guards were also taken to the station as witnesses requiring statements.

The police vehicles couldn't accommodate everyone, so Zhang Yang and his group drove their own Mercedes. Seeing the luxury Mercedes with the 'eight' license plate, Huang Ze could only shake his head wryly. He knew Zhang Yang had powerful connections, but he hadn't expected him to drive such an expensive car so openly. A Mercedes—a car he and his colleagues usually only spoke of with envy.

The restaurant owner also noticed Zhang Yang's car, feeling a mix of astonishment and worry. One car was nearly worth as much as his entire restaurant; the gap in their capabilities was immense. He recalled Zhang Yang's earlier threats and began to feel regret. More frustratingly, he couldn't understand why two ordinary waitresses would have such formidable friends. If they had such connections, why were they working here? They could surely find them jobs anywhere.

When Zhang Yang and his group arrived at the station, no one dared to treat them poorly. It had to be admitted that appearances mattered greatly sometimes. As the saying goes, a man's car is his face, and that was perfectly true here. Without that car, these people might not have been so deferential, but seeing the multi-million-dollar luxury vehicle, everyone became hesitant, naturally reluctant to offend them further.

"Xiao Dai, Nannan, don't worry. I will get justice for you in this matter!"

Looking at the still red-eyed Xiao Dai and Nannan, Zhang Yang sighed softly. Mi Xue’s eyes were also red; after all, she was a young woman, and when trouble arose, she relied on Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang was her anchor.

"Zhang Yang, I trust you. Make sure you arrest them—arrest all of them!"

Xiao Dai nodded fiercely, tears welling up again as she spoke. No one had ever hit her growing up, not even her family. She had never imagined being beaten so viciously by such hateful people today. Her sense of injustice was profound.

"Don't worry, not one of them will escape," Zhang Yang confirmed. This was essentially his promise to Xiao Dai, a commitment he always kept.

Unbeknownst to them, Long Feng was watching him from the sidelines with curiosity. To Long Feng, both Mi Xue, and Xiao Dai and Nannan, were merely ordinary people. In his world, ordinary people belonged to a completely different sphere than people like them; outside of a few very important figures, they held no regard for any commoner. Even when executing the mission to capture the Zhang family members at Hua Tuo Ju, he hadn't truly taken them to heart. This stemmed from the education he received; as members of the First Hidden Aristocratic Family, they were arguably not ordinary themselves.

In Long Feng’s eyes, the only exceptional person was Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang was his peer, perhaps even stronger. In the world of internal energy masters, strength was revered—a factor that made him willing to follow Zhang Yang without psychological resistance. Following someone superior was no disgrace.

What he didn't understand was why Zhang Yang cared so much about the affairs of these ordinary people. Judging by Zhang Yang’s intensity, he was determined to champion these two girls. Long Feng found this incomprehensible, but he didn't ask questions. His job was simply to follow Zhang Yang as his bodyguard for three years, after which he would be free, and Zhang Yang’s business would no longer concern him.

Xiao Dai and Nannan both gave their statements, insisting repeatedly that the man surnamed Liang had malicious intentions. This was also Zhang Yang’s instruction: since they were already fighting, they might as well fight to the finish and firmly establish the charge of attempted rape.

The restaurant owner and the security guards also gave their statements, but their accounts differed slightly. At the owner’s prompting, they claimed only that the guests and servers had an argument, followed by a physical altercation, and that Nannan's clothing was torn during this exchange. Under this narrative, there was no attempted indecent assault or rape; the charge simply evaporated. The owner was desperate now; having already offended Zhang Yang, he could only cling tightly to Manager Liang’s influence, hoping that the District Chief Liang would offer protection. At this point, offending Manager Liang further would mean certain ruin, and the owner, thankfully, was not entirely confused—he retained a degree of shrewdness.