Special District 9

“Pry the door open,” Ol’ Three ordered a subordinate behind him.

“Wait a moment,” Yuan Ke raised his hand to stop Ol’ Three. “Old Cat is a hot-headed person. Going head on head with him can bring about unnecessary trouble. Ol’ Three, make a call to the platoon first.”

Hearing Yuan Ke’s order, Ol’ Three whipped out his phone and walked to the side. Meanwhile, the rest of the men surrounded the storage room tightly, leaving no gap for anyone to escape at all.

Old Cat was no fool either. He had been keeping a lookout outside all this while, so it didn’t take him long to notice Yuan Ke and his group.

Inside the storage room.

Old Cat’s friend looked at Old Cat with an anxious look on his face, saying, “They have found us. What do we do now?”

On the wooden bed, Qi Lin clutched his abdomen as he forced himself to sit right up. His face was still pale from having lost too much blood yesterday. He turned to Old Cat and said, “Bro, it’s enough that you have helped me this far. I… I’m already doomed. I don’t want to drag you down… Help me protect my mother and my little sister. I’ll head out to face them.”

“What kind of shit are you farting now?” Old Cat berated impatiently. “Just sit there obediently and don’t move. I’ll deal with Yuan Ke.”

“Old Cat!” Qi Lin howled with tears brimming in his eyes. “I already owe you too much. How can I ever repay you for this?”

Old Cat turned around and glanced at Qi Lin before saying, “You’re my only friend in the Police Bureau… Who am I going to scold if you aren’t around anymore?”

Qi Lin fell silent upon hearing those words.

“Stay in here, the rest of you,” Old Cat left these words behind before heading out alone.

…

Two minutes later, the metal doors of the storage room opened, and Old Cat walked out with an e-cigarette in his mouth. He glanced at Yuan Ke and the others and sneered, “Heh. If you were that efficient in solving cases as well, Songjiang would have already been free of crimes by now.”

Yuan Ke had a hand slotted inside his pocket as he asked, “Old Cat, is Qi Lin inside?”

“He is.” Old Cat knew that there was no point in lying anymore, so he admitted to it frankly.

“I’ll get straight to the point with you,” Yuan Ke looked at Old Cat and said. “The matter surrounding Qi Lin is very complicated. There are pharmaceuticals and the top echelon of the Police Bureaus looking at this matter from above, and from below…”

“Don’t give me all those crap. I know what’s going on. You thought that Qi Lin was a coward, so you tried to kick him around as if he was a dog. But soon, you realized that the one you are messing with is a lion instead. Before you could even process it, he has already wiped away a good chunk of your people. So, you started pulling all of your connections to get back at him. Am I right?” Old Cat smoked on his e-cigarette as he rebutted with a cold glint in his eyes.

“I only have two things to tell you. One, I have asked Qi Lin and he doesn’t have what you want. Two, no matter what your goal is, I won’t let you lay a single finger on him. So, you can back off now.”

Yuan Ke looked at Old Cat with a furrow on his forehead. After a long moment of silence, he said, “Do you even know on whose account am I talking to you so nicely?”

“I’m not dumb. Of course I know that it’s all because of Old Li,” Old Cat replied leisurely, not showing the slightest hint of embarrassment at all. “But you see, it just so happens that Old Li is not only my relative, he’s also exceptionally sweet to me. I’ll tell you frankly that I’m going to exploit my relationship with him to do as I please over here. What are you going to do about it?”

“Old Cat, can you grow a brain?” Ol’ Three berated with a livid expression. “You are bringing Old Li unnecessary trouble!”

Old Cat exploded in rage upon hearing those words. He immediately began lashing out like a shrew, “Who the fuck do you think you are? Can’t you see that those with backgrounds are talking over here? Why is a dog like you butting into this for? Just try barking another word, and I’ll use every bit of my power and make your life in the Police Bureau a living hell.”

“You… You seriously…” Facing the even more aggressive Old Cat, Ol’ Three found himself utterly subdued.

Old Cat harrumphed coldly before turning his gaze back to Yuan Ke. “Don’t push your luck too far. There are so many stars in the sky, you never know which one would be the brightest tomorrow.”

“I can’t explain it to the others if I don’t take him away with me,” Yuan Ke replied impatiently. “Get him to come out and tell me himself whether he really has that thing or not.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Old Cat, I am already giving Superintendent Li a lot of face here.”

“So? What are you going to do about it? Kill me?” Old Cat eyed him coldly.

Yuan Ke was silent for a few seconds before he raised his hand and ordered, “Escort Old Cat back to the bureau!”

Right after those words were said, dozens of people immediately dashed forward to pin down Old Cat.

“You shitheads!” Old Cat went red-eyed with fury. He immediately took out his token, hung it in front of his chest, and shouted, “Come, I’ll see who dares to touch me! I am a Tier-3 Police Sergeant appointed by the Special District Government! If you dare touch me, I’ll make sure you get thoroughly raped by the law!”

Those words made them freeze in place. They turned their heads toward Yuan Ke to seek his directive.

“You want to play this with me?”

“I can’t play this?” Old Cat glared back at Yuan Ke.

With a forbidding smile, Yuan Ke turned to Ol’ Three and said, “Get them over!”

Ol’ Three took out his phone and dialed a number.

Around thirty seconds later, a few police vehicles parked by the roadside of Fortune Road. Zhu Wei, Guan Qi, and a few other policemen of Platoon 1 alighted from the cars.

“Qi Lin is in there. Capture him,” Yuan Ke ordered the policemen.

Zhu Wei hesitated for a few seconds before leading his team toward the entrance. With his identification token hanging in front of his chest, he said, “Old Cat, please don’t make things difficult for me. We’re just making a living.”

Old Cat was slightly stunned for a moment before he howled lividly, “This has nothing to do with you. You better not get involved in this!”

Zhu Wei bucked up his courage before walking forward to grab Old Cat. “We don’t have Superintendent Li’s backing. I’m sorry, Old Cat.”

“Pull Brother Cat down from there!” Guan Qi ordered by the side. “The rest of you, go in and capture the target!”

There was no way Old Cat could stand against so many people at once. In a few moments, he was already pulled away from the entrance. However, he was still glaring at Yuan Ke with reddened eyes as he bellowed, “If you dare touch Qi Lin today, from today onward, I’ll focus my attention from now onward on nothing but to foil everything you do. You want to release your goods in the Black Street Sector? Let’s see if I’ll let you sell even a single crate of medicine here!”

Zhu Wei continued tugging Old Cat’s collar as he howled worriedly, “Brother Cat, stop shouting. You can’t bail him out…”

“Get away from me!” The furious Old Cat began tussling with the seven policemen trying to subdue him.

On the other hand, Guan Qi took out his gun and pulled the entrance of the storage room open before gesturing to the remaining people, “Go!”

It was at this moment that flurried footsteps echoed from behind. Qin Yu, together with three middle-aged men and an old man, rushed over from the opposite street and shouted, “Woah, there are so many people here? Don’t mind me joining in the commotion too!”

Everyone turned their heads over upon hearing the voice.

Qin Yu slowed his footsteps to a walking pace before he pointed at Zhu Wei and ordered, “Let go of Old Cat first.”

Zhu Wei was a little taken aback.

“Guan Qi, stand by the doorway and don’t move,” Qin Yu continued issuing instructions to the policemen standing by the entrance.

Upon hearing Qin Yu’s instructions, Zhu Wei and Guan Qi stood awkwardly on the spot. The two conflicting orders had put them in a spot. They weren’t sure what they should do anymore.

Yuan Ke glanced at Qin Yu before bellowing at Guan Qi with an awful look on his face, “What are you waiting for? Capture Qi Lin!”

Gritting his teeth, Guan Qi grabbed the door once more and prepared to barge in.

However, Qin Yu walked to the entrance of the storage room, pointed his finger at the members of Squad 3, and bellowed, “Didn’t you hear me ordering all of you not to move?”

Zhu Wei, Guan Qi, and the others froze on the spot yet again.

Qin Yu’s face suddenly became extremely grave as he grabbed Zhu Wei’s wrist and asked, “Do you all not recognize your squad leader anymore?”

“S-squad leader…” Zhu Wei called out weakly as he scratched his nose.

Qin Yu took a glance at Zhu Wei before leaning in toward his ear to whisper, “You have two choices. Yuan Ke, who hasn’t promoted you even though you have devoted years of loyalty to him, or me and Old Cat. I hope that you can choose wisely.”

Zhu Wei raised his head upon hearing those words.

“Let go of your hand!” Qin Yu pointed his finger at Zhu Wei’s chest as he repeated his words once more.

Zhu Wei contemplated for a brief moment. He first took a look at Old Cat before glancing at Qin Yu, then he thought of Superintendent Li in his mind. In the end, he slowly released his grip.

Yuan Ke was flabbergasted by the turn of events. He stared at Zhu Wei in utter shock as he said, “Did you not hear what I’m telling you?”

“Platoon Commander Yuan, based on the rules of the Police Bureau, I am to prioritize the orders of my direct superiors,” Zhu Wei saluted respectfully as he spoke loudly.

The rest of the members of Squad 3 were astonished. They looked at Zhu Wei before slowly raising their hands to a salute as well, shouting, “We’ll prioritize the orders of our direct superior!”