Special District 9

Qin Yu cleaned his gun as he glanced over at Jabi and asked, “Bro, how did you come to Special District 9?”

“The same way as others,” Jabi replied quietly. “After the catastrophe struck, the countries came together to form the Confederate Government, who then established the Eight Special Districts to survive the new era. However, there are that many people in the world, so how can everyone fit inside the Eight Special Districts? Those who wish to enter the Special Districts would have to wait for their name to be picked in a lottery held by the Confederate Government in order to receive permanent residency rights…

“Well, they call it a lottery, but most of the slots went to the elites, and the rest were sold at astronomical prices. Nearing the end, every single slot cost at least USD$10 million… My family can barely make a living back there in South Africa, so how could we have the money to buy a slot?”

At this point, one of the Thai brothers also nodded in agreement, “It was the same for me too.”

“Back then, my father heard that Special District 7 and Special District 8 still had some slots and were distributing them, so he did everything he could to bring us over to Asia. However, when we arrived, the entire area was crowded with people. There was no way to get in at all.”

At this point, Jabi suddenly turned to Qin Yu and asked, “Do you know how Special District 9 came to be?”

“I heard a bit about it.” Qin Yu nodded.

“Due to Special District 7 and Special District 8 being located in China, and they were the last districts to be filled up, many people rushed over in hopes of grasping onto that slim chance that they might just be chosen. However, when the slots in the Special District 7 and Special District 8 were filled up, it turned out that there were still more than ten million people completely homeless in the region. And they had no way of surviving at all.

“As such, a riot happened under someone’s lead. They attempted to attack the Special Districts in order to acquire resources for survival. Due to their massive number, this left the Confederate Government with no choice but to accord them some resources and permit the construction of Special District 9. However, the Confederate Government didn’t have the resources to fully manage this place, so they granted them autonomy. This is the history of Special District 9. It’s a ray of hope that the people at the bottom had fought for with their own strength. It might be chaotic, but it’s our home. If you were to get me to go to the other eight Special Districts now, I think I would just feel uncomfortable instead.”

Jabi was a very optimistic person. He would usually reveal his teeth when he smiled, giving one a very warm feeling.

Qin Yu contemplated for a moment before asking, “Who do you have in your family?”

“There’s only me. My mother and my younger brother have died in the first military confrontation of Special District 9…” Jabi’s eyes seemed to dim a little as he spoke. “My father was in the first batch of policemen in Special District 9, and he lost his life in the midst of a mission.”

Qin Yu raised his head to look at Jabi before apologizing, “Sorry for asking you that.”

“It’s fine, I have long gotten past it,” Jabi replied with a smile. “What about you? Do you have any family members? How did you get into the Special District?”

“Well, I might be even more…” Qin Yu hesitated for a long moment before deciding to share his story with his colleague.

Ding ling ling!

But at this moment, a phone rang.

“Hello?” Qin Yu picked up his phone.

“That core member of the Ma Family brought Old Ma to the Three Rings Road area. I observed them for quite a while, and I’m 80% certain that they are there to meet the supplier.” Through the phone, Little Six explained the situation thoroughly.

“How many people do they have?”

“I haven’t seen the supplier yet so I cannot confirm his presence,” Little Six said with a frown. “However, there are at least two people standing guard in the entrance of the alley.”

“What about Old Ma then?”

“He entered alone. The people he came with are waiting outside for him, and there are three of them.”

“Do you have a gauge of their firepower?” Qin Yu asked.

“I can’t see anything, but based on experience, I would say that this bunch of people are very likely to have great firepower,” Little Six replied without any hesitation.

“Alright, I got it. Stay on the spot and don’t move around recklessly. We’ll be right over.”

“OK!”

After communicating on the phone, Qin Yu immediately clapped his hand and addressed the other colleagues, “Do one last check on your equipment. We’re getting to work.”

Jabi was the first one to rise up upon hearing those words.

“After this, let’s have a drink together as we continue our chat,” Qin Yu patted Jabi’s shoulder as he said with a smile.

“Sounds good to me,” Jabi replied.

Jabi was a diligent individual who would complete any work that was assigned to him to the best of his ability. Not only so, he was brave as well. He could easily take on the position of a sentry or a vanguard, and he was skilled in both gunfights and physical brawls. This made him one of the few ‘true warriors’ of Squad 3.

“We’ll be gathering below!” Qin Yu said before walking out of the bedroom. In the next moment, he picked up his phone and called Yuan Ke’s number.

“Hello? Qin Yu!”

“Platoon Commander Yuan, I need support,” Qin Yu got straight to the point.

“You got a big fish?” Yuan Ke’s eyes lit up.

“I can’t be certain yet. We need to take it down first to know for sure,” Qin Yu replied. “The other party is likely to have powerful firepower, and a preliminary estimate put them at around ten people or so.”

“How many people do you need?”

“I’ll need at least one platoon.”

“… It’ll be hard for me to pass the other two squads over to you. They are still working on the other case.” Yuan Ke felt a little troubled by the request.

“If you don’t give me the manpower, I can’t carry out the operation,” Qin Yu said with a frown. “You know the situation of Squad 3 too.”

Yuan Ke pondered for a moment before replying, “I’ll give a call to the commander of Platoon 3 and get him to send some men over. Wait below for the time being.”

“Old Cat’s platoon?” Qin Yu was stunned.

“What’s wrong? Does it not work?”

“No, it’s fine. Call him over.” Qin Yu was quite satisfied with the results. “I am familiar with him. It’ll be easier to coordinate.”

“Good!”

…

Roughly five minutes later.

Old Cat came over with twenty people. They were all wearing green special forces uniforms and a pair of leather boots. Hanging on their shoulders were riot shields, and there were five M464 amongst them.

“You are quite fast!” Qin Yu exclaimed with a chuckle.

“Hell, I only came here to support you because I heard it’s your operation! If it was anyone else, I would have run as far as I can!” Old Cat said with a grin. “There are only this many people in the dormitory. The rest of them are on cases.”

“Thanks.”

“Give the word. We’re here to help, so we’ll listen to your arrangement,” Old Cat said with a wave of his hand.

“Let’s go, we’ll talk on the car,” Qin Yu said as he pulled Old Cat off with him. At the same time, he turned to his own squad members and shouted, “Check your communications equipment. I’ll confirm the plan with you along the way.”

“Yes, sir!”

The members of Squad 3 replied before getting on the cars.

A few minutes later, four patrol cars and one multifunctional military van began racing toward Three Rings Road.

…

In the alley, a dimly lit and humid room.

Ah Long chomped on his braised beef as he glanced at Old Ma and said, “Are you able to settle it? If you can’t do it, I’ll be passing the goods on to someone else.”

“We’ll settle it. Give us more time.”

“I can give you another week at most,” Ah Long replied. “I can’t wait any longer than that. Once they find the storage, I’ll be left with nothing but my bare ass.”

“I understand,” Old Ma said as he stood up. “I’ll settle the problem in a week’s time.”

“Great!” Ah Long said as he took a sip of white wine. With a wave of his hand, he said, “Send off Brother Ma!”

As Old Ma walked toward the door, he paused for a moment before suddenly turning around to ask, “Ah Long, we don’t have a lot of competitors over here in the Black Street Sector. There are only those few people. But their medicine costs at least two times as much as ours… I don’t get it, why do you refuse to allow us to raise the price? Do you know how much profit we’re losing out on?”

Ah Long rubbed off the booger from his eyes as he burst into laughter, “Hell, you should be happy that you are profiting off this at all!”

Old Ma was silent for a moment before nodding, “You’re right. I’ll be leaving first.”

“Hurry up and settle the problem!”

“Got it.”

Old Ma pushed open the door to leave the room.

…

Three minutes later.

Little Six dialed Qin Yu’s number and said, “Squad leader, a change in the situation. Old Ma suddenly left!”

Qin Yu was quiet for a moment before asking, “Is the person in the room still there?”