After Zhang Heng finished speaking, the tavern fell silent. The earlier laughter vanished completely.
Black Tail Snake, the dwarf, and the others all sucked in a breath. The Patrol Team's move was vicious. They might not have been able to deal with crimes that had already happened, since no one would cooperate with their investigations, but they were still capable of stopping crimes in progress.
At least, that was true on Iron Shackles's turf. After all, the ones actually responsible for bringing in money were just a bunch of underage kids.
And just as Zhang Heng had said, if they were determined to patrol those three streets, the Patrol Team's twelve men could make it impossible for every thief on those streets to do any business. Iron Shackles and his men would naturally be left without a single coin.
Still, why did this all feel strange somehow?
That was right. The people standing before Iron Shackles were clearly the Patrol Team, the law enforcers of this district, yet they were not talking about the law at all. No, they were talking about the law, but in reality, they were using the authority granted to them by the law for personal gain. There was no trace left of law's guardians in their conduct. They were no different from any other gang in this place.
This was no business deal. It was outright extortion.
No matter what words Zhang Heng used to dress up their actions, he could not conceal their true purpose—the Patrol Team was planning to rob the robbers.
Logically speaking, Iron Shackles, the dwarf, and the others had lived here all their lives. They were no strangers to this sort of deceit and scheming. To survive and avoid being swallowed up by other forces, they often had to pay