A massive sweep meant to assert the Surveillance Department's authority suddenly threatened to inflame tensions after a squad leader and the head of a criminal organization were killed.
Before the sweep was even over, the criminal organizations operating in the West District had quickly brought in Players to guard their territory. They were more worried that the Surveillance Department would use this opportunity to target their people and frame them. The squad leader's death seemed to be just the beginning.
The Surveillance Department had, of course, felt the pressure too. The inspectors on the ground, in particular, had begun to question the purpose of the sweep.
Without orders from the East District headquarters, the West District Surveillance Sub-division shouldn't have stirred up such a major conflict. Some worried that an Outer District Player was pulling the strings.
As these doubts deepened, the squad leaders of the Surveillance Department's various sub-divisions had no choice but to take them seriously. They didn't ease up on the neighborhood sweeps, but they began assigning armed robots and aircraft to handle most of the inspections, leaving the ordinary inspectors to coordinate and provide support. This was partly to spare the inspectors' feelings, and partly to prevent Outer District Players from secretly targeting them.
As for investigating the Outer District Players themselves, that was practically impossible. For one thing, even if they found one, they probably couldn't catch him, and might end up paying an even higher price. For another, Outer District Players came and went. There were always Players around, but they couldn't keep investigating them forever.
Still, the fact that they weren't investigating anyone didn't stop them from suspecting people. Wang Kai, who had shot the criminal gang leader, suddenly became the target of everyone's suspicion and hostility. Xu Huo and Han Cong, the