A Tabletop Artist, the Speech Began

Ask if you don't understand.

He'd learned a little about the Security Bureau from Yang Ming.

All he could say was that Captain Song's situation didn't look good.

"By the way, did the group of knife-wielders you captured a while back tell you who put them up to it?" Lin Fan asked.

Those men had clearly been out to kill Captain Song. If Lin Fan hadn't run into Song Qing and Yang Ming, the two of them would have died there.

Yang Ming shook his head. "When we brought them back, they were all badly wounded. The doctor examined the eight of them, and seven died. The last one was in the cell when he banged his head against the wall and died."

Lin Fan glanced at Song Qing, who was sitting there flipping through case files.

Well, well.

He really could keep his cool.

"Captain, have you arrested any tricky criminals lately?" Lin Fan asked.

Song Qing looked up. "Criminals aren't that easy to find. We can only look for them little by little."

All right.

Lin Fan went over to the cabinet where the case files were kept and picked out a few to read. He wanted to find some clues in them, such as evidence that the Martial Way existed.

A merchant's goods had been robbed.

The South City dismemberment case.

The East City poisoning case.

He read them very carefully. The pile of case files in front of him grew higher and higher, but unfortunately, he couldn't find even the slightest clue that any of the crimes were related to the Martial Way.

Yang Ming sat there with his mouth slightly open, watching Brother Lin pore over the files with complete focus.

He'd only just joined the Security Bureau, and he was already so dedicated.

Brother Lin really was something else.

Song Qing nodded in satisfaction. As a member of the Security Bureau, he ought to devote all his thoughts to keeping Yong'an City safe.

That was what Song Qing thought.

Unfortunately, far too many people didn't think that way.

He had plenty of complaints about it, but what good did that do? The Security Bureau was divided, and everyone had their own agenda. Chen Xingzhi had dozens of officers under him, but how many of them were willing to do any real work?

Very few.

Evening.

Lin Fan walked out of the Security Bureau in an officer's uniform, a saber at his waist. He strode down the street with his head held high, and the passing townspeople hurriedly lowered their heads and stepped aside.

Lin Fan frowned slightly.

Strange.

Shouldn't seeing an officer make people feel safe? Why did they look at him as if they'd seen a man-eating tiger?

Lin Fan grabbed a passerby.

The man nearly dropped to his knees and begged for mercy.

"Are you afraid of me, or of the uniform I'm wearing?"

"My lord, I'm blind. I can't see a thing."

Helpless, Lin Fan let go. The man who'd claimed to be blind suddenly sprinted off, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

During this time,

his days had been full and busy: studying, training in martial arts, studying, training in martial arts...

The same three places, day after day.

Home, the private school, and the pier.

He rarely had time to wander around the streets.

It seemed the officers in the local Security Bureau were probably no better than street thugs. They'd ruined the reputation of the uniform. Thinking of that, Lin Fan clenched his fists.

Damn it.

He'd worked his tail off for three months to get into the Security Bureau. He wasn't about to let them drag its name through the mud!

The pier.

"Master Lin."

"Congratulations, Master Lin! You're an officer now!"

The people at the pier respected Lin Fan greatly.

The main reason was that they'd all seen how he behaved. He was utterly unlike the heads of other gangs, and he truly cared about ordinary people like them, who were just trying to earn enough to eat.

Lin Fan nodded to them one by one and went to the warehouse.

When the underlings saw an officer, they frowned, wondering why one had come over. Was he bored and looking for trouble?

Did he really think their Loyalty Hall's Master Lin was easy to bully?

When they saw who it was, they excitedly crowded around him.

"Brother Lin's back!"

"Don't call him Brother Lin. You should call him Lord Lin now."

"Right, right!"

They'd actually known for a while that Brother Lin had joined the Security Bureau. After all, he'd been studying the law all along. But seeing him in uniform now, they couldn't help feeling that the change was enormous.

"Brothers, gather in the warehouse."

Lin Fan swept his arm out.

He never wasted time. Now that he'd joined the Security Bureau, he had to seize every second. Wasting time was shameful. Besides, he wanted to earn merit—great merit.

A rookie officer?

What was that supposed to be? He didn't even think the position of deputy magistrate was enough for him.

The Martial Way was hidden from the world. With the strength he possessed, surely it wasn't too much for him to act a little arrogant in Yong'an County.

Inside the warehouse.

Lin Fan stood on the table like an artist about to deliver a speech. The underlings lifted their chins, waiting with anticipation and excitement.

"Brothers, you've all seen it for yourselves. I've become an officer of the Yong'an City Security Bureau. As the saying goes, 'Raise troops for a thousand days, use them for one.' Ask yourselves honestly: haven't I treated you well?" Lin Fan declared.

The underlings chimed in one after another.

"You've treated us well, Brother Lin! You're the very soul of loyalty!"

"Brother Lin is the big brother who truly treats us like family!"

"Brother Lin heard my mother was sick and gave me money to hire a doctor without a second thought. I'd climb a mountain of blades and plunge into a sea of fire for him! I'd give my liver and brains for Brother Lin!"

Truth be told, Lin Fan had treated these brothers very well.

If they had a problem, he helped solve it.

Not to mention how he'd taken them out for good food and drink back then. If you asked them whether Brother Lin was good to them, they wouldn't even have to think about it. He was probably better to them than their own fathers.

In the crowd, Wu Yong was about to raise his voice and say something when Qian Tao beat him to it.

"Brother Lin, just give the word! We're all blades in your hand. Whoever you tell us to cut down, we'll cut down without a single objection."

Huh?

Wu Yong's eyes widened.

Wait, how'd you say what I was about to say?

Now that you've said it, what am I supposed to say?

Lin Fan looked at Qian Tao. He recognized him. "Has your second uncle been having any trouble? If he has, speak up. You're all my brothers. There's no need to stand on ceremony."

Qian Tao nearly cried.

Brother Lin really remembered his situation. He truly thought of him as a brother.

"Thanks to Brother Lin, my second uncle's life has been getting better and better."

It wasn't just Qian Tao who felt like crying. The other brothers did, too. They were nothing but small fry, while Brother Lin was not only the gang leader's favorite and sworn brother, but now an officer of the Security Bureau as well.

The gap in status between them was enormous.

And yet he was still willing to call them brothers. He never looked down on them.

They understood that they'd followed the right person.

If they had to choose between the gang leader and Brother Lin, even a fool could tell them to choose Brother Lin.

"Good. That's good." Lin Fan nodded, then said, "When you get home tonight, think carefully about which street thugs and hooligans in Yong'an City spend their days doing nothing but extorting the townspeople. Think through where they hang out and when they show up. I want all of it."

"Yong'an City is mine, but it's yours too. We work from dawn till dusk every day. Isn't it all so we can put food on the table?"

"We may belong to a gang, but we never bully the townspeople. We're far nobler than those people."

"So, we're... Wu Yong, you tell me."

Seeing how Wu Yong was gazing at him, Lin Fan decided to give him a chance.

"Yes, yes..."

Wu Yong was so fired up that he stammered, his mind going completely blank.

We're what?

Qian Tao shouted, his face flushed red. "We're heroes!"

"Good! Very good! We're heroes. And since we're heroes, we absolutely won't allow any street thugs or hooligans to run wild on our turf. We have to let the townspeople know that the men of Loyalty Hall at Jili Pier are all heroes!"

"Am I right?"

Lin Fan's voice boomed, his spirit soaring. He brought the mood to a fever pitch.

The brothers in the warehouse roared their approval.

"That's right!!!"

Their shouts rose one after another, surging like a tidal wave and nearly lifting the roof off.

Lin Fan nodded in satisfaction and swept his arm out. "Then go back and think it over. Once we've taken care of this, I'll treat you all to a feast and reward you properly."

"Yes, sir!"

The brothers were like chickens on fire.

Every one of them was more excited than the last.

They'd never experienced anything like this before.

Heroes.

Who the hell didn't want to be a hero?

Other people had always called them small fry, trash—but Brother Lin called them brothers. He called them heroes.