Clash

Lu Zhao heard the sounds of an argument drift in from outside the police station. Stepping out of his office to stand before the second-floor window, he saw a crowd of police officers barred outside by border defense soldiers. Moments later, Zhang Like hurried over and said, "Old Lu, people from the Public Security Office are here demanding custody. They claim our enforcement procedures are non-compliant and are demanding a joint interrogation of the Lü brothers." The enemy's counterattack had come swiftly. From verbal pressure over the phone to boots on the ground demanding a joint inquiry, barely half a day had elapsed. Once the Lü brothers gained any contact with the outside world, external collaborators would inevitably employ every possible maneuver. For instance, the universally exploited trick of 'medical parole'—claiming the Lü brothers suffered from severe illnesses and needed to be transferred to a hospital. Without hesitation, Lu Zhao declared, "Tell them we take orders only from the prefecture level. If anyone dares to force their way in, fire a warning shot." Hearing that, Zhang Like said with concern, "Isn't that taking things a bit too far?" "A warning shot isn't opening fire." "And what if they still try to force their way through?" "Then we beat them back. We have two hundred men; are you telling me we can't take them?" Lu Zhao waved a dismissive hand, looking one step shy of shouting that the advantage was entirely on their side. Zhang Like pulled a bitter face. "My dear Brother Lu, we're not bandits. Give me some kind of explanation at least—where do you get the nerve to pull something like this?" Lu Zhao explained, "As long as I remain deputy leader of the special investigation team, we have the authority to interrogate them. If they come demanding prisoners and we refuse to hand them over, that's merely a lack of inter-agency cooperation. But if they force their way in, that's a breach of discipline. "Whoever holds the suspects first holds the right to define the case." This wasn't something his mentor had taught him; it was Lu Zhao's own takeaway from the current Federation and his past life's experience. In this regard, he was exceptionally well-versed. Different departments possessed their own jurisdictions regarding filing cases, detaining suspects, and conducting interrogations. In grey areas where jurisdictions blurred, there were no real rules. Whoever held the person held the authority to speak. In any case, the most valuable elements were confessions, raw evidence, and key witnesses. Lu Zhao held all three in his grasp. The moment Lü Jinshan was taken away, much of that evidence could be overturned. At the same time, his mentor had always drilled a particular adage into him: 'Power struggles are not built on petty conspiracies; they are about striking out with the power in your hands through deliberate, premeditated actions.' Now that Lu Zhao had the Lü brothers firmly in his grip, there was no chance he would let them go. After a half-hour standoff, the Fangshi Public Security Office dispatched over a hundred more police officers. The Chief Clerk of the Public Security Office took the lead, attempting a forced breach. The soldiers of the reinforced platoon formed a human wall to block them. Both sides shoved and jostled, hurling profanities back and forth and cursing each other's entire families. Once tensions reached a boiling point, an officer slapped one of the border defense soldiers across the face. In an instant, everyone's fury exploded. "Fuck your mother!" Liu Qiang bellowed a curse and threw himself at the Chief Clerk. Pandemonium erupted as the entire crowd devolved into an all-out brawl. Amid the utter chaos, three men seized the opportunity to scale the perimeter wall and slip into the police station. Moving as though they knew the layout intimately, they headed straight for the holding cells. After rounding several corners, they reached the end of a corridor, where a handsome officer had long been waiting for them. Lu Zhao recognized one of them: Xu Zhenhua, a company commander from the Special Counter-Terrorism Detachment. Xu Zhenhua gave a smirk. "Don't go thinking about drawing your weapon, and definitely don't try using divine power. We're carrying out lawful enforcement as well." Lu Zhao asked, "Does your lawful enforcement involve brawling with your fellow comrades?" "That's just a fine Federation tradition." Xu Zhenhua cracked his knuckles, advancing toward Lu Zhao step by step. "You two go find the prisoners. I'll handle him." With that, he lunged forward in a swift bound, throwing a punch straight at Lu Zhao's face. He had already pictured the satisfying scene of smashing that face into a bruised mess. The next instant, Lu Zhao shifted slightly, cleanly evading the blow, but Xu Zhenhua's left fist followed immediately on its heels, driving hard toward Lu Zhao's midsection. A sneer spread across Xu Zhenhua's face. From that single heartbeat of an exchange, he knew Lu Zhao was no hand-to-hand combat expert. Border defense work primarily involved firefights against external threats. Special Counter-Terrorism, however, operated internally, which frequently called for 'no-holds-barred close combat.' *Smack!* The fist slammed into Lu Zhao's abdomen—only to feel like striking a slab of solid iron. Xu Zhenhua's grin froze. The next second, Lu Zhao's arm whipped out like a lash, cracking across Xu Zhenhua's jaw and dropping him to the floor in a single strike. Before the other two could even register what had happened, they lunged at Lu Zhao together, only to be put down just as swiftly with a single blow each. The human body was exceedingly fragile—especially for superhumans who had yet to reach forty points of life force and could not control their muscles for powerful contraction. In close-quarters combat in particular, forty points of life force was an insurmountable chasm. Blows landed against Lu Zhao had their force dispersed, while Lu Zhao could channel muscular contractions to unleash far greater explosive power. Propping himself up on one arm, Xu Zhenhua stared in disbelief. "You have forty points of life force? That's impossible!" He had seen Lu Zhao's physical examination report. At the start of the year, Lu Zhao had barely crossed thirty-five points. Lu Zhao countered, "Why would it be impossible?" "With that garbage life supplement you drink on a regular basis, anyone past thirty points barely moves an inch!" Blunt and quick-tongued, Xu Zhenhua inadvertently blurted out an incriminating truth. In the field of life-force development, resources always came first. Lu Zhao's assignment to the border defense station had been a dead end from the start. Whether in terms of promotions or resource acquisition, it was the most dismal post in the Federation. Yet on low-grade life supplements, Lu Zhao had climbed five whole points in just six months? The revelation bruised Xu Zhenhua's pride. He regularly consumed intermediate life supplements and could even get his hands on high-grade life supplements from time to time, yet his progress wasn't even half of Lu Zhao's. *Garbage life supplement.* Lu Zhao raised an eyebrow. He had indeed felt that the supplements supplied to the border defense station were rather subpar. He had assumed it was simply because Nanhai West Circuit was impoverished, chalking it up to standard operating conditions. But evidently, that wasn't the case. If Lü Jinshan had been illicitly trafficking life supplements, then a whole chain of officials within the distribution system, and perhaps even the pharmaceutical factories, had to be implicated. As Lu Zhao briefly pondered this, he knocked the three men flat on the ground once more as they tried to rise. Suddenly, the phone rang. When Lu Zhao picked it up, a deep, resonant voice came through the receiver. "This is Liang Chengyun, Commander of the Nanhai West Circuit General Security Bureau." The three men, who had been scrambling to get back on their feet, froze instantly in their tracks. This was the direct superior of everyone present—their boss's boss. Border defense, public security, and Special Counter-Terrorism all ultimately fell under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level General Security Bureau. The caller had the direct, decisive demeanor of a career military officer, getting straight to the point: "Comrade Lu Zhao, regarding your role in assisting the special investigation team, this command feels you have been derelict in your duties and strayed from the focal point of your mission." "Please instruct me, sir." Lu Zhao's response carried none of the arrogance the other man might have expected, which at least satisfied Liang Chengyun, a fellow soldier. There was no beating around the bush. Liang Chengyun said, "I sent you to assist the special investigation team to intercept the Greenwood bandits, not to run an investigation into Fangshi." Lu Zhao replied, "Greenwood is an organization based beyond our borders, and smuggling is merely the surface. I suspect someone has colluded with external factions to aid and abet those bandits." Liang Chengyun said, "Are you suggesting that Zhao De, a dignified city executive, is in league with bandits?" Lu Zhao answered, "The possibility cannot be ruled out."