"Just because he had a little talent, he thought he could do whatever he wanted."
"The Old District's problems have been around for a hundred years."
"Which of all those governments hasn't wanted to develop the Old District?"
Once the industrial heart and economic center of Taiyu City,
the Old District had an exceptionally advantageous location.
Every ambitious bureaucrat wanted to tear it down and rebuild it.
If they succeeded, it would surely be an immense achievement.
But.
A hundred years had passed.
All the projects that had been launched had come to nothing.
The reason was simple.
The waters in the Old District ran too deep. There were things you couldn't touch lightly.
Zhao Qinglin looked thoroughly dejected.
So what if Mayor Qian was determined?
If the people below him refused to cooperate, Mayor Qian couldn't exactly roll up his sleeves and do it himself, could he?
In Zhao Qinglin's view,
all they had to do was drag out the development project, and Taiyu City would return to how it used to be.
Who could have guessed
that some hotheaded fool would charge straight in?
The unspoken understanding had been shattered.
Now everyone could only be pushed along by the momentum.
And he'd been unlucky enough to be banished to the Old District.
"Do you really think those people won't kill us just because we wear the uniform of the Security Bureau?"
Once their interests were touched, even a public security officer could die!
Zhao Qinglin set his jaw and drove to the scene.
Someone had reported a disturbance ten minutes earlier.
A large number of gang members had gathered in the South District.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!"
"I'm Public Security Officer Zhao Qinglin!"
"I'm ordering you to disperse immediately!"
Zhao Qinglin shouted through the car's loudspeaker.
Just then,
two men jogged over to the police car.
"Officer Zhao, what brings you here?"
One of them offered Zhao Qinglin a cigarette, then eagerly pulled out a lighter and lit it for him.
Whoosh!
Zhao Qinglin blew a mouthful of smoke into the gang leader's face and said coldly,
"Why haven't you told your people to get lost?"
"Causing trouble in broad daylight? Do you want to spend some time at the Security Bureau?"
The gang leader who had offered the cigarette looked aggrieved.
"Officer Zhao."
"I'm not the one causing trouble for you."
"That bastard's the one breaking the rules and making underhanded moves."
The other man was instantly enraged. He pointed at him and cursed,
"Bullshit!"
"You were the ones who started it!"
Listening to them argue, Zhao Qinglin felt nothing but annoyed. He tossed his cigarette onto the ground.
"I'll give you three minutes."
"Disperse by then,"
"or I'll haul every last one of you back to the Public Security Bureau!"
He pointed at the two men and warned them,
"I can pretend not to see what you get up to at night."
"Don't cause trouble in broad daylight!"
"Understand?"
Just then,
boom!
Suddenly,
a loud crash came from nearby!
A figure arced through the air and slammed into a crowd of gangsters, knocking a large number of them off their feet.
"You dare attack me?"
"You lying bastard!"
Seeing the two gang leaders about to come to blows,
Zhao Qinglin's face darkened. He pushed open the car door and strode toward the chaotic crowd.
Suddenly,
"You're outside your jurisdiction now!"
"You have no authority to enforce the law!"
A hoarse shout rang out.
Zhao Qinglin watched the blood-soaked figure sway as he struggled to his feet. The man looked utterly wretched, and disbelief surged deep within Zhao Qinglin's eyes!
At the same time,
the gangsters and the onlookers farther away all turned toward the end of the street.
From the dim alley,
a tall figure in a public security uniform walked out, calm and unhurried.
At the sight,
Zhao Qinglin's eyes widened abruptly!
It felt as if lightning had struck him, and his scalp prickled!
He knew all too well how terrifying the depths of the Old District were.
On the day he took up his post in the Old District, someone had come to have a word with him.
Zhao Qinglin didn't want trouble, so he'd been more than willing to cooperate.
But.
"Qin!"
"Qin Annian!"
"You!"
His voice trembled. He wished he could flee right then and there!
They were only minor public security officers. There was no need to be someone else's cannon fodder.
There was no shame in bowing your head.
Watching Qin Annian approach, the Mysterious Person's face twisted.
"You lunatic!"
"You're going to die!"
That shot he'd fired—
it had been a test, a warning, a threat.
But he'd never imagined it would become the very thing that sealed his own fate!
Qin Annian pulled out a pair of electronic handcuffs and spoke calmly.
"Illegal possession of a firearm, murder, illegal modification, resisting arrest, and now threatening a public servant."
"You're probably going to spend the rest of your life behind bars."
The Mysterious Person's eyes were bloodshot. He let out a beastlike roar.
"Don't even think about it!"
"Passing judgment on me!"
Boom!
The Blood Qi Furnace ran beyond its limits.
The terrifying aura made everyone present feel their legs go weak!
Zhao Qinglin's hands trembled as he covered the Law Enforcement Recorder on his shoulder, which he hadn't even turned on.
Qin Annian raised his hand and clenched his fist.
His movements were decisive and precise.
He shifted aside, evading the Mysterious Person with an agile twist, then drove his fist forward like a cannonball.
Xingyi: Cannon Fist.
A crude martial technique anyone could learn after joining the Security Bureau.
And yet,
in Qin Annian's hands,
the power of that punch far surpassed what the technique should have been capable of.
Pfft!
Blood stained the Mysterious Person's mask.
He hung from Qin Annian's fist.
Qin Annian's brow furrowed sharply.
The life in the Mysterious Person's body went out like a candle in the wind.
"I..."
"I'll be waiting for you at the gates of hell!"
After struggling to force out those words, the Mysterious Person's neck went limp, and his life finally ended.
"Was it because of the mechanical implants in his body?"
"They must have drained every last bit of his life force."
These opponents really were troublesome.
"Qin! Qin Annian!"
Zhao Qinglin recovered from his shock and stammered in horror,
"Are you insane?"
"How dare you kill him?"
Zhao Qinglin knew that these people would do anything, no matter how brutal, to protect their interests in the Old District.
And whether the Security Bureau and the City Government would be willing to go to war with them over one ordinary public security officer was still an open question.
Qin Annian was searching the Mysterious Person's corpse for clues and had just picked up the Scorpion Sniper Rifle. He glanced at Zhao Qinglin, puzzled.
"Who are you?"
Zhao Qinglin's mouth hung open, but all he could manage was a hoarse "Huh."
With Qin Annian's level of martial skill,
how could he not see the badge on Zhao Qinglin's chest?
Ignoring Zhao Qinglin's face as it flushed red and then pale,
Qin Annian looked toward the gangsters standing frozen in place.
"Want me to back you up?"
"Should I take them all back to the Public Security Bureau?"
Boom!
To the gang members, those words were like a thunderclap!
They might have been gangsters, but when had they ever seen anyone swaggering around with a sniper rifle?
And now,
this man in elite combat gear, carrying a Scorpion Sniper Rifle, whose strength had left their legs trembling and whose origins were clearly extraordinary, had been beaten to death by this young public security officer!
In an instant,
all hell broke loose.
The gang members, who had been ready to fight, scattered in a panic.
They wished they had another pair of legs so they could get as far away from Qin Annian, that demon, as possible!
Whoosh!
Cheers rose from the building next door, followed by prolonged applause.
But to Zhao Qinglin,
every clap sounded like a slap across his face!
Qin Annian picked up the Mysterious Person's corpse and looked calmly at Zhao Qinglin.
"That's how a public security officer should be."
Before you continue