Special District 9

Superintendent Li stood at the center of the interrogation room as he looked at Yuan Ke with an extremely dark look on his face, bellowing, “We finally got him into the interrogation room, and you still can let him slip away. Your incompetence amazes me, Yuan Ke. You shall explain the situation to the men from the headquarters yourself when they arrive tomorrow morning!”

“I… I…” Yuan Ke was at an utter loss of words.

“A bunch of useless good-for-nothings!” Superintendent Li left behind those words before walking out of the interrogation room.

Over at the entrance, Qi Lin looked at his dead older brother on the metal chair, and he felt his legs going limp. At this moment, his head was completely befuddled.

On the other hand, still holding onto the fake tooth, Yuan Ke turned his gaze toward the entrance, and finally, his eyes fell upon Qi Lin.

…

Half an hour later.

Ah Long’s corpse was wrapped in white cloth before being carried out.

On the other hand, Yuan Ke entered another interrogation room, sent out all of the unrelated personnel, and began talking with one of Shrimp’s brothers individually.

“You said that Ah Long met someone from our Police Bureau before trying to leave Special District 9?” Yuan Ke took out an e-cigarette from the drawer and tossed it over.

“Y-yes,” the subordinate nodded vehemently.

“Shrimp is someone who would charge with a grenade in hand to die together with us. Why would he have such a cowardly brother like you?” Yuan Ke dived straight to the point.

“Shrimp told me that he’ll show me how to rake in big bucks, so I entrusted my life to him and followed him… But before I could see any money, he had already lost his life… and… I don’t want to die just yet,” the subordinate replied with a realistic tone.

“You’re new?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me, how did Ah Long meet that person before leaving?” Yuan Ke asked softly.

“He said that he has a small wish before leaving the Special District, and that he wants to meet a friend,” the subordinate replied with a lowered head. “But Old Ma and Shrimp felt that it was too dangerous, and he would be a goner if he were to be caught… You also know that the supply route is completely in Ah Long’s grasp. We’re all relying on him for a living, so we have no choice but to protect him. So, everytime he heads out, we would follow him to protect him. Usually, he would make us stop our car a distance away, and he would walk alone to where he wanted to go… There was once, while I was heading to a convenience shop to buy water, I happened to see him walking into a residence.”

Yuan Ke took out a photo, tossed it over to the subordinate, and asked, “Is it him?”

“Yes, I saw him twice.”

“Didn’t you say that you only met him once by coincidence?” Yuan Ke asked with a frown.

“I met that man the other day, when he was getting married. There were a lot of people in the restaurant back then, so we didn’t know whom Ah Long was looking for. However, that night, when Ah Long went into the residence and I saw that man again, I realized that the person Ah Long was looking all along was the one who got married. That’s why I said that I met him twice,” the subordinate answered in elaborate detail.

Yuan Ke licked his lips and he asked, “Do you know what their relationship is?”

“I don’t know. Ah Long never said, and none of us dared to ask,” the subordinate shook his head.

Twenty minutes later, Yuan Ke walked out of the interrogation room and immediately ordered Suu Ang, “Get the forensics to get Ah Long’s DNA from the morgue to do a test.”

“A DNA test? With who?”

“What do you think?” Yuan Ke replied impatiently.

Suu Ang was stunned for a moment before he asked, “Platoon Commander Yuan, you suspect that they are family?”

“The confession from Shrimp’s subordinate explains why that guy didn’t shoot the other day,” Yuan Ke replied with an unreadable look on his face. “He has been living carefully thus far. If not for some compelling reason, there’s no way he would get involved with someone as dangerous as Ah Long.”

Suu Ang understood Yuan Ke’s words immediately, “I understand.”

…

In the Logistics Department’s storage room.

Qi Lin sat on the chair with a dazed look on his face. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.

“Bro, everyone picks their own route to walk on, and they have to take responsibility for whatever that happens afterward,” Qin Yu said as he leaned against the table by the side. “I know that you don’t feel good about it, but look at me… At the very least, you still have a reason to feel sorrow for, but I don’t even know how my kin are doing. You have lost your older brother, but you still have your mother, your little sister, and your wife… But what do I have? I don’t have anything at all.”

Qi Lin was completely silent, not saying a word at all.

“Qi Lin, you need to stay strong and get over your sorrow quickly. There are still others relying on you,” Qin Yu said. He walked closer to Qi Lin and whispered into his ear, “There are lots of eyes here. Don’t let anyone see through you.”

Qi Lin stiffly raised his head and said, “You’re right. The dead are dead. The living… still have to live on.”

Guangdang!

While the two of them were chatting, the doors to the storage room suddenly opened. Suu Ang entered with two other brothers. With a nonchalant expression, Suu Ang looked at Qi Lin and said, “Platoon Commander Yuan is looking for you. He wants you to head to his office right now.”

“Did something happen?” Qin Yu asked in Qi Lin’s stead.

“Nothing much. He just wants to clarify the details of an older case,” the man on the left replied with a smile before urging Qi Lin on. “You should hurry up and go. Don’t keep Platoon Commander Yuan waiting”

Qin Yu felt a little doubtful toward those words.

On the other hand, in order not to give himself away, Qi Lin quickly adjusted his mood before standing up and saying, “What case does he need me for?”

“You’ll know once you get there.”

“Let’s go then,” Qi Lin replied with a smile.

The three of them walked out of the storage room amidst chatter. Qin Yu walked them out to the entrance, but he couldn’t help but feel an ominous premonition inside.

An hour passed.

Two hours passed.

Soon, it was dawn. And soon, it was night again…

Qin Yu waited more than ten hours so far, but Qi Lin didn’t return to the platoon. He couldn’t bring himself to wait any longer. It was at this very moment that he suddenly recalled the conversation he had with Lin Nianlei and Ah Long.

An uneasy sensation slowly squeezed Qin Yu’s heart. He felt that the case concerning the medicine smugglers had something deeper that he had overlooked.

After thinking for a long while, Qin Yu picked up his pass and discreetly left the office. He took one of Squad 3’s cars and drove all the way to Songjiang’s Third Prison.

…

Meanwhile…

Yuan Ke walked into his office and looked at Qi Lin, who had already been kept here for more than ten hours now, and said, “Come, follow me outside.”

Qi Lin stood up with an uneasy look on his face as he asked with a smile, “Platoon Commander Yuan, what’s going on?”

“You’ll know once you get there,” Yuan Ke tossed him those words before turning around to leave.

QI Lin suppressed the sorrow in his heart, and after a brief moment of hesitation, he quickly followed Yuan Ke out.

Roughly half an hour later, Yuan Ke drove Qi Lin to the subsidiary hospital of the Police Bureau, and under the lead of the personnel there, they entered the morgue.

Qi Lin took a look at the gloomy room he was in as he asked with a stutter, “P-Platoon Commander Yuan, why did you bring me here?”

Yuan Ke lit up a smoke as he walked deeper into the morgue. He pulled on one of the icy-cold drawers and exposed the corpse lying inside.

Qi Lin glanced over, and he immediately identified the corpse to be Ah Long’s.

“Do you recognize him?” Yuan Ke asked impassively.

Qi Lin clenched his fists tightly as he replied with a smile, “Platoon Commander Yuan, what do you mean by this? I don’t get it.”

Yuan Ke scratched his nose as he took out two sheets of A4 paper from his coat, walked over to Qi Lin’s side, and said, “I have already conducted a DNA test to check on it. Ah Long is your older brother.”

Those words caused a buzz to break out inside Qi Lin’s head and his expression immediately collapsed into fluster.

“You didn’t shoot the other day. It was to protect him, isn’t it?” Yuan Ke asked with a stable voice.

“This… This is… a misunderstanding. You got it wrong…”

“Qi Lin, you and I both know that even if we do the DNA test another thousand times, the result would still be the same,” Yuan Ke said as he sat down on one of the beds in the morgue. “The evidence is already very clear for all of us to see, is there any meaning for you to continue denying it?”

Clutching onto the DNA test result tightly, Qi Lin’s mind was in utter panic. He had no idea how he should respond to Yuan Ke at all.

“Qi Lin, if this DNA test result were to be placed on the desk of those above, given the fact that you have failed to follow the directives of your superiors to stall Ah Long, do you know what kind of outcome awaits you?” Yuan Ke looked at Qi Lin with a nonchalant look on his face as he spoke.

“You will be treated as an accomplice of the case, and you’ll be sued with charges of breach of responsibility, insubordination, and many other crimes. You won’t be able to get off with just a dishonorable discharge. At the very least, you’ll be facing jail time of ten years or more.”

Qi Lin slowly raised his head as he stared blankly ahead of him before ‘pudong’, he abruptly kneeled before Yuan Ke and grabbed the latter’s trousers, begging, “Platoon Commander Yuan, Ah Long is my older brother… but we have never contacted each other! We only met each other by coincidence the other day! I didn’t know that our target was him in the first place…”

Yuan Ke gazed down at Qi Lin, not saying a word at all.

“Platoon Commander Yuan, I can’t afford to lose this job or go into jail. I still have a family to feed. I cannot allow anything to happen to me…” Qi Lin cried as tears streamed down his face. “I’m begging you, please save me. I’ll do anything…”

Yuan Ke took a puff of smoke before patting Qi Lin’s shoulder, saying, “Qi Lin, all humans have feelings. We have been together for so long, so how can I not know what kind of person you are? I sincerely believe that you have nothing to do with this case, but those above won’t understand that. They won’t believe what you are saying. Four policemen have died in the arrest back then. They need a reasonable and acceptable explanation for that… So, what do you think will happen if your DNA test result were to suddenly appear at such a crucial moment? You’ll be treated as a spy responsible for the tragic failure of the operation. All of the blame will fall on your shoulders… Will you be able to carry such a burden?”

Qi Lin was stupefied.

“I would help you if I could, but I don’t have enough say in the Police Bureau,” Yuan Ke said as he picked up the DNA test result that had fallen onto the floor. There was a moment of silence before he added, “However, there might just be a way out of this.”

“W-what is it?”

“Your older brother is the intermediary that delivers the goods to the Ma Family. He’s no longer around, but if you can find the supplier behind your older brother and dig out his supply route, I’ll be able to bail you out before Superintendent Li and the higher ups of the headquarters. With such merit to your name, you can be assured that nothing will happen to you,” Yuan Ke gazed at Qi Lin as he spoke. “By then, all it takes is just one word from those above to suppress your DNA test result.”

Qi Lin pondered for a very long time before he suddenly remembered the words that Ah Long told him before he left.

And if you find yourself cornered and unable to live on one day, there’s a number in the bag. Find him, and he’ll be able to help you.

Recalling this matter, Qi Lin immediately turned to Yuan Ke and said, “He seems to have left me a contact number. Let me return home for a moment and I’ll search for it… I think it might be the contact number of the supplier.”

“Don’t lie to me. That’ll only put you in deeper trouble.”

“…!” Qi Lin raised his head to look at Yuan Ke. With a hoarse voice, he replied, “How can I lie to you when all of my family members are here, Platoon Commander Yuan?”

“I trust you, Qi Lin. I’ll allow you to head back and search for it.”

“Please don’t send anyone with me. I’m afraid… that my mother will think too much into it. Her body isn’t doing too well recently.”

“You don’t have to worry. my men won’t enter your house without your permission,” Yuan Ke replied with a smile. “Tell them to wait outside for you. Once you get what you need, they’ll drive you over to where I am.”

…

On the other end, Qin Yu arrived at Song Jiang’s Third Prison. He requested for a meeting with Ma Lao-er.

“Holy shit.” Dressed in the clothes of a prisoner, Ma Lao-er sat down on a metal chair casually as he cursed. “You aren’t dead yet?”

Qin Yu tilted his head as he replied, “All of you want me dead that badly?”

“You deprived the poor of their supply of medicine and destroyed the means of living of many people. What do you think?” Ma Lao-er replied.

Qin Yu was quiet for a moment before he leaned forward and asked, “There’s another bunch of people other than your group selling medicine at Black Street Sector at double the price… Are you aware of that?”

Ma Lao-er burst into laughter, “You must be kidding with me. Aren’t you more aware of that than me? You were so determined to get rid of us in order to clear the path for them!”

Hearing those words, a complicated expression surfaced on Qin Yu’s face. He said, “If I were to say that I knew none of this before, would you believe me?”