Suppression

Meanwhile, at the hotel where the special investigation team was based. Lin Zhiyan's face was still dark with rage. A threatening letter lay on her desk. Other members of the team had received similar letters as well. At first, Lin Zhiyan had paid them little mind; such intimidation was inevitable when deploying to local jurisdictions to carry out investigations. But just as she finished reading the threat, word arrived that one of her subordinates had been killed. It made Lin Zhiyan realize that the officials wearing black gauze caps in Fangshi reeked thoroughly of banditry. These days, the Federation was in turmoil—armed gangs mounted violent resistance, abducted investigators, and even stormed police stations to take hostages. Since graduating from school, this was Lin Zhiyan's first time handling such violent conflict, and the first time she felt a blade pressed against her own throat. No one could remain perpetually calm. Team Leader Lin, targeted incessantly for an entire month, was already seething with fury. *Ring, ring, ring!* The landline rang. Lin Zhiyan took a deep breath to steady herself and picked up. The caller was Zhao De. "Team Leader Lin, regarding the gang attack on the special investigation team, our city will dispatch a detachment from the Special Counter-Terrorism force to assist..." Lin Zhiyan hung up the phone. Right now, she trusted nothing in Fangshi; everywhere she looked seemed full of enemies. In her mind, the few past cases of special investigation teams being wiped out flashed before her. *** Lu Zhao's convoy drew attention from all sides as it entered the city. Pedestrians pointed and whispered every time they halted at an intersection. Yet not a single agency came out to question or inspect them along the way. The relevant documents had already been sent by fax and laid on the desks of the responsible department leaders. There was proper notice, proper procedure, and authoritative backing. Lu Zhao answered Lin Zhiyan's call and said, "I've entered the city and am heading toward the Foreign District right now." Lin Zhiyan ordered, "Report to me first." "If we do that, by the time we reach the Foreign District, they might have already scattered." Lu Zhao frowned slightly. In a situation like this, the first priority was locking down the target area. A moment's delay, and local authorities could step in to block them, dragging everything into an endless quagmire of bureaucratic wrangling. Could she be terrified? Lu Zhao suddenly realized that Lin Zhiyan was three years younger than him, having entered the workforce barely a year ago. No matter how brilliant she was, she had not yet endured enough real-world tempering. He changed his tack. "I'll take one squad to pick you up." Lin Zhiyan's voice remained unyielding. "Don't hang up. Keep the line open." "Understood." Lu Zhao turned and clicked on his walkie-talkie. "Change of plans. I'll lead 1st Squad to link up with the special investigation team. 2nd and 3rd Squads will take 1st Squad's place to raid West Street Bar. Anyone carrying a gun is to be shot on sight." *** Kabukicho, West Street Bar. As usual, Lü Bowen sat in his office, needle in hand as he searched for a vein. But his trembling hand kept missing the mark, poking in several times without finding a vein. Finally, he succeeded, slumping back into his chair in total collapse. Injecting drugs was no longer about seeking pleasure; it was merely a fleeting escape from agony. *Ring, ring, ring!* The urgent ringing of the telephone persisted, having blared for who knew how long. Lü Bowen paid it no mind, merely sprawling motionless in the chair. It wasn't until an underling pounded on the door, and, receiving no response, began ramming it. "Boss, a call from Mr. Lü." The lackey rushed over and offered the receiver with both hands. A furious roar erupted from the speaker: "You worthless piece of shit, are you doing drugs again?! Why aren't you answering the damn phone?" Lü Bowen's mind was still hazy. "Brother, what happened?" "Do you have any idea how big a disaster you've caused?" "What?" "Are you trying to fucking revolt?! You sent people to beat up members of the special investigation team! Beating them was bad enough, but you put someone in the hospital, and now he's dead!" "What?!" That single word jolted Lü Bowen instantly awake. He leapt out of his chair. "I don't know anything about that! When did this happen? Brother, you have to save me! If I get caught, you won't get off either!" Hearing this, Lü Jinshan nearly blacked out. *What do you mean I won't get off either? Are you planning to sell out your own brother?* Yet the situation was critical, so he could only try to placate him: "Hurry up and dispose of the evidence right now! Don't let the special investigation team find anything tied to Mr. Zhao! As long as Mr. Zhao doesn't fall, we still have hope. Remember, even if you get caught, under no circumstances can Mr. Zhao be implicated!" The call clicked off. Lü Bowen glared up at the lackey and bellowed, "Who the hell did it?! Do you bastards have a death wish?!" His roar was loud enough to be faintly heard even down on the dance floor. The Federation was in chaos right now, but it hadn't collapsed. What was more, this special investigation team had been dispatched directly by the Circuit Politics Bureau. Even if the Federation collapsed, the Nanhai Circuit Politics Bureau wouldn't dissolve. The lackey stammered, unable to answer. Lü Bowen kicked out. His 15 points of life force had already exceeded the strength of ordinary humans, slamming the underling flat against the wall. "Who was it?! Tell me, dammit!" The underling collapsed to the floor, clutching his stomach and curling up like a shrimp. He gasped out, "Last night... Brother Hu had some drinks and clashed with some people, and then a fight broke out. We were getting beaten, so someone drew a gun and fired. A few of our brothers died too." "Fuck your mother! Didn't I tell you bastards to lay low lately?!" Lü Bowen was so furious his skull felt ready to blast off. He had emphasized over and over to behave themselves recently, precisely because he feared giving the special investigation team any leverage. And now these reckless punks had gone and killed an investigator from the special investigation team! The lackey muttered, "We already sent someone to turn himself in." "Do you think you just killed some Federation subject?! Or do you think the special investigation team is a bunch of idiots?!" Lü Bowen unleashed another flurry of punches and kicks on the underling. Just then, the phone rang again. Lü Jinshan's panicked voice came through as soon as it connected. "Bowen, run! The border defense station troops have entered the city! They're coming to arrest you!" "What?" Lü Bowen doubted his own ears and asked to make sure, "Brother, your troops can enter the city?" "Would I lie to you?! Run! No, wait—burn the ledgers right now and then run! Hurry!" "Okay... okay, right away." Frantic and flustered, Lü Bowen rummaged through the drawers for the account books. From outside the blinds behind him came the roar of vehicles, followed closely by waves of shouts drawing nearer. Screeching brakes gave way to furious curses mingled with dialect profanities, the most frequent being "cops." *Bang!* A gunshot rang out. Intense gunfire erupted. The staccato pops of handguns were swiftly overwhelmed by full-automatic bursts. Guns were rampant in the Federation, but full-automatic assault rifles were relatively rare. Fights in the Foreign District normally relied on cold weapons; if a large-scale firefight broke out, the Federation would step in. Silence soon returned to the outside world. Lü Bowen didn't dare look outside, continuing only to feed the ledgers into the brazier. Commotion erupted downstairs, followed by rapid footsteps. A thug scrambled to the doorway on all fours, handgun in hand, and stammered, "Boss, the cops breached the building! Get out of—" *Bang!* A single bullet split the underling's skull open, followed by three finishing shots. Three fully armed soldiers filed into the room in a single-column formation, the point man carrying a twenty-five-kilogram shield. Life-force development provided ample physical stamina, turning heavy individual equipment into standard gear. In close-quarters indoor combat, for instance, point men almost invariably carried massive ballistic shields. The Federation even possessed heavy titanium-alloy body armor; when donned by a second-rank superhuman, they became living human tanks, rampaging unchecked through urban warfare. "Hands up!" Dark muzzles leveled straight at Lü Bowen, who slowly raised his hands. A soldier stepped forward and snatched the half-burned ledger from the basin. A voice crackled from the walkie-talkie on the soldier's chest: "West Street Bar threat neutralized. Area secured. Over." In roughly thirty minutes, Kabukicho was completely locked down and brought under control. A single company from a small border defense station was enough to suppress the Foreign District of an entire city by force and wipe out over a dozen organized crime gangs. And the Federation could easily muster twenty thousand such companies, not even counting logistics personnel. It proved precisely what Lin Zhiyan had once said: all problems were Federation problems, and all contradictions were Federation contradictions.