"Open up! Special Operations Bureau!"
When the uniformed Black Whirlwinds entered the Black Market, everyone was dumbfounded.
All along, unless there was a major criminal case, only a few Special Task Force members would enter the Steam Factory, and they were basically always in plainclothes.
This was not merely about disguising themselves to avoid alerting the enemy. It was also a mutual understanding between both sides, or rather, the so-called "mutual respect" between powers. If you came every day to crack down on vice and illegal activities, how was anyone supposed to keep doing illegal business here?
"Have those uniformed dogs gone mad? Aren't they afraid of retaliation?"
"Write down their names and faces, damn it!"
This was an Unspoken Rule tacitly accepted by both the "officials" and the "bandits": I would not take things too far or wipe out your Black Market entirely, and you would merely hide and flee. Under normal circumstances, you would not retaliate against the law enforcers themselves or their families.
"Since the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs crossed the line first, don't blame us."
Whether it was "killing cops" or "wiping out the Black Market," both were acts that disrupted the balance and would inevitably lead to a war.
Then the unrest would last at least several months, with both sides losing a batch of people. When one side finally could no longer endure it, that would be the end of it.
"The last time, a new deputy director from the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs came here. Heh, his skull is still in Old Overlord's collection."
And unlike on the news or television, the ultimate victor in such a "war" was quite possibly not the authorities.
On one hand, there were thieves who stole for a thousand days, but no guards who guarded for a