Special District 9

The effects of anesthesia had finally faded. Qin Yu was lying on a hospital bed with a pale face, looking extremely frail. He sighed deeply and said, “Heh, Yuan Hua sure knows how to pick off on easier targets. He doesn’t dare to touch Old Li, and he’s afraid that he would agitate Old Li into doing something extreme if he were to touch you, so he chose to vent his anger on me.”

Old Cat looked at Qin Yu with a guilty expression as he said, “It’s my fault. I didn’t think so deeply into it back then and forced you into this. Your initial decision of not helping Qi Lin was right. I have Old Li behind me, so he doesn’t dare to touch me easily. But you…”

“What’s done is done. What’s the point of talking about all of this now?” Qin Yu replied as he touched the bandage on his bottom. “Since we can’t get him yet, let’s just put our guard up for the time being.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take turns to guard you during this period of time,” Zhu Wei, who was standing by the window, interjected. “The riot at Dirt Street caught the attention of far too many people. The Police Headquarters are furious as well. I doubt that they would dare to make a reckless move for the time being.”

“Thanks, Zhu Wei and Guan Qi. You have saved my life,” Qin Yu expressed his gratitude to them earnestly.

“There’s no need to say all of this,” Guan Qi replied with a wave of his hand. “Just make sure that you recover quickly.”

While they were chatting with one another, the door to the ward opened, and Superintendent Li walked in.

“Superintendent Li!”

“Superintendent Li!”

“…!”

Everyone quickly got up and greeted him with a salute.

Superintendent Li took a look around the room before saying, “Old Cat, you can stay. The rest of you, I want to have a private chat with these two, so I need you to excuse yourselves for a moment.”

“Yes, sir.”

Zhu Wei and Guan Qi nodded before swiftly leaving the ward.

“Superintendent Li.” Qin Yu held onto the railings by the bed and tried to straighten his body up.

“You should lie down,” Superintendent Li said as he walked over to the bedside and patted on Qin Yu’s shoulder. He sat down on the chair that Old Cat had brought over before speaking with a frown, “The situation isn’t optimistic.”

“You faced a lot of pressure at work today?” Old Cat asked by the side.

“A lot is an understatement,” Superintendent Li replied as he lit up a smoke. With a grim look on his face, he said, “Yesterday night, thirty corpses were carried out of Dirt Street, and hundreds were injured. Earlier today, the reporters from the radio station and broadcasting stations were all swarming around the Police Bureau persistently like flies, hoping to cover the case. If not for the Police Headquarters suppressing the news, probably even the media over at the capital, Fengbei, would be talking all about it by now.”

Hearing those words, Old Cat and Qin Yu could also see the urgency of the situation.

“It’s lucky that the military arrived quickly. Otherwise, if the conflict escalates to over ten thousand people, I would have been dismissed by now. Perhaps, the prosecutors might have even sued me to have me take responsibility for this matter,” Superintendent Li replied with a fatigued look on his face. He sighed deeply before continuing on, “I’m intending to head to Fengbei tomorrow morning to meet my old mentor.”

Qin Yu listened to Superintendent Li’s words without interrupting him.

“But just because he’s my mentor doesn’t mean that he’ll help me unconditionally. If we want someone from the higher-ups to back us so that we can deal with Yuan Hua, we would need to offer him sufficient incentive,” Old Li spoke with a steady voice. “Whether I get anything or not and how much I get are minor concerns at the moment. The key lies in whether we are able to convince the higher-ups that there are great profits to be earned from this.”

“What is your current intention?” Qin Yu probed carefully.

“After the crackdown on the Ma Family, they are practically powerless in Black Street Sector now. However, if we don’t pull them back up, how can I fulfill the demands made by the higher-ups? I don’t have sufficient assets to fork out the money by myself,” Old Ma told Qin Yu. “So, the crux of this matter still lies on the Ma Family. They have to re-establish their medicine business first before we can challenge Yuan Hua on the field. Once there’s a steady stream of money flowing in, we don’t have to worry about building up the connections anymore.”

“I understand what you are saying,” Qin Yu replied with a nod.

“The supply route of the Ma Family has broken down,” Old Cat said with a frown. “After Ah Long’s death, they have no way of procuring new supplies. Even if Old Ma is able to put a new team together, he has no way of doing business.”

“That’s what I’m driving at,” Superintendent Li looked at Qin Yu intently as he spoke. “I need you to contact Qi Lin, and no matter what, you have to acquire the supply route that Ah Long monopolized previously. As long as the supply route is re-established, the Ma Family would be able to continue their business and generate significant profits. This is a necessary chip for me to negotiate with the higher-ups and have them back us.”

“You’re right, the supply route lies at the heart of everything,” Qin Yu nodded in agreement. “The reason why Yuan Hua is trying to destroy the Ma Family is also because they have access to low-cost, high-quality medicine.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Superintendent Li nodded.

“But Qi Lin has also talked to me about this too. He said that Ah Long did leave him a contact number, but he didn’t manage to find it back then,” Qin Yu replied with a hint of agitation and exasperation to his voice.

Superintendent Li took a puff of smoke before he looked at Qin Yu with narrowed eyes and said, “Do you finally get the severity of what you have done now?”

Qin Yu was slightly taken aback by those words.

“That night, when the two of you insisted on bailing Qi Lin out at Dirt Street, I was forced to make a stand too. That move offended not just Yuan Hua but those who shared common interests as him. So, if we can’t use the medicine supply route to build connections with the higher-ups to go against those that are on the Yuan Family’s side, it’s only a matter of time before they exact vengeance on us,” Superintendent Li said solemnly. “By then, whether I am still the superintendent or not, and whether you are able to survive in Special District 9, that would really be hard to say.”

Qin Yu immediately understood the meaning behind Superintendent Li’s words.

To put it simply, if they failed to secure the medicine supply route, Superintendent Li would have difficulties protecting even himself, let alone the two of them. By then, having to face the wrath of so many enemies without any backing, Qin Yu would be doomed.

“I’ll be frank. No matter what, we must re-establish Ah Long’s supply route. Otherwise, I suggest you leave Special District 9 as soon as possible,” Superintendent Li advised. “If Yuan Hua wants his vengeance, it wouldn’t matter whether you are a policeman or not.”

Qin Yu pondered for a long moment before replying, “I’ll make a trip over to the Development District to have a chat with Qi Lin.”

“Rest well and heal up fast. Once you are ready to move, you need to settle this matter as soon as possible,” Superintendent Li said as he rose from his chair. “I’ll be heading over to Fengbei tomorrow to sound out my mentor.”

“I understand.”

“One more thing, you need to make sure that Old Ma hides well. The Police Headquarters has the evidence to incriminate him, and his arrest warrant was delivered to my desk earlier today,” Superintendent Li added.

There was a moment of silence before Old Cat spoke up, “What about Ma Lao-er and Damin? I promised Old Ma previously to get this done.”

“How am I supposed to fish them out at this juncture? Tell him to wait a little longer,” Superintendent Li tossed behind these words before leaving the ward.

In this ward smelling of disinfectant, Qin Yu stared at the white ceiling with a slightly dazed and uneasy look on his face. He exhaled deeply before saying, “I thought that the Development District was complicated enough, but I didn’t think that the place where the real cannibals lurk is the safe looking Special District 9.”

“I’m also regretting my decision of roping you in back then.” Old Cat also didn’t feel good about the situation either.

Qin Yu licked his lips as he replied, “I am not the type to look back after making my choice. Stop repeating the same old words again and again, it’s annoying.”

Old Cat was silent for a moment before he said, “I’ll go to the Development District with you.”

“Old Li won’t let you go,” Qin Yu replied.

“If I’m the type who hides whenever trouble crops up, I wouldn’t have helped Qi Lin back then,” Old Cat replied without any hesitation. “There’s no need to say anymore. I’m going with you.”

Qin Yu looked at Old Cat before chuckling softly beneath his breath.

…

Development District.

Holding onto a crutch, Qi Lin slowly walked into a dilapidated house and saw his mother sitting on a cold bed, organizing their luggage.

“Mum, what are you doing?”

“I’m packing our clothes,” the old lady said as she pulled a black bag form their luggage.