Big Trouble

The Viper Gang members put up only a slight resistance before the wooden forks attacking from front and rear pinned them to the ground, leaving them moaning in terror.

As Quillian thanked the colleagues who had rushed over to support him, he tied up the criminals one by one with rope.

That day, the same scene played out all across the Saint-Antoine District.

The police seemed as though they had been pumped full of chicken blood. Whenever they spotted someone committing a crime, they immediately charged forward shouting "In the Crown Prince's Name!", using Anti-Riot Waist Forks and long spears to teach the scoundrels a harsh lesson.

For a time, the thieves, robbers, and gang members of the Saint-Antoine District were left in utter disarray, alarmed by the slightest sign of danger, no longer carrying themselves with their former arrogance.

Watching the police crack down on crime everywhere, the residents of the Saint-Antoine District were both shocked and delighted. One after another, gang members and vicious criminals with countless misdeeds to their names were arrested. They had never seen police maintain public order with such seriousness!

People of this era had extremely low expectations for public security. If they were robbed or stolen from, they simply considered themselves unlucky. So long as their lives were not in danger, they were already satisfied. Yet the actions of the new police force had far exceeded their expectations.

Before long, people began voluntarily bringing water and food to the police, cheering for officers who caught criminals along the streets. Encouraged by this, the police worked even harder.

It did not take long for the citizens to learn a new trick: when confronted with a crime, shouting "In the Crown Prince's Name!" gave them a decent chance of scaring off the criminals.

Royal Palace.

The Duke of Orléans looked at the Paris News on the table, his expression far from pleasant. The headline on the front page read: "Public Security Chaos in the Saint-Antoine District, Crown Prince Oversees Police Reform."

Compared with the vague wording of the Paris News, which he controlled, the several tabloids beside it were much more direct—"Crown Prince Rectifies Police, Public Security Improves in Saint-Antoine District," "Saint-Antoine District Citizens Praise New Police Force," "Crown Prince's Peerless Wit Solves Dentist Murder Case in Three Minutes"...

The Duke of Orléans felt a surge of irritation. He had originally intended to use the chaotic security situation in the Saint-Antoine District to let the newspapers thoroughly humiliate the Crown Prince. Instead, he had helped raise his reputation.

This Joseph had transformed the police force in barely more than ten days. Such methods simply did not seem possible for a thirteen-year-old Youth!

At that thought, he suddenly frowned. Could it be that the Austrian Bitch was using her son's hand to begin purging Paris's officialdom through the Police Department?

The more he considered it, the more he felt that was the only possibility. The young Crown Prince could never have accomplished all this alone.

Then he had to disrupt the Queen's plans all the more. He absolutely could not allow the royal family to stir up any waves!

After thinking for a while, the Duke of Orléans quickly wrote a letter, summoned his butler, and instructed, "Deliver this letter to Le Verber. Tell him he must handle this matter well at any cost. I can consider helping him become Governor of Normandy."

"Yes, sir."

In a small villa east of the Seine River, Paris Police Commissioner Guizot glanced sideways at the half-closed door and shouted at the Mistress eavesdropping outside, "Anna, shut the door and keep watch. Do not let the servants come near."

"Oh." The woman reluctantly closed the door and walked away, muttering under her breath, "Hmph, he treats me like a Maid. This is my home..."

Only then did Guizot turn back to the short, curly-haired man before him. He took a hard draw from his pipe and said, "Similien, this time the Crown Prince is not merely playing around for a few days before returning to Versailles Palace. He intends to remain at the Police Department."

The short man was none other than the former Saint-Antoine District Police Commissioner who had been asked to take sick leave. He immediately said anxiously, "But the Municipal Commissioner said I could return to my post in at most two months..."

"Who knew things would turn out like this?" Guizot exhaled a plume of smoke. "Right now, it is not just you. The Crown Prince is a *** problem for the entire Police Department."

He stared at Similien. "There is something you can do. If you do it well, not only will you return to your post, you may even be promoted."

Delight flashed through the short man's eyes. "Sir, just give the order!"

"You know the Saint-Antoine District best. Which gangs there are the strongest?"

"The Horse Gang and the Black Sheep Gang," Similien said. "They control over eighty percent of the district's territory, and each has more than a hundred underlings."

Guizot nodded, pulled out a slip of paper, and handed it to him. A crazed gleam flashed in his eyes. "Go find them. Dismemberment, rape, kidnapping, arson—anything will do. In short, make them throw the Saint-Antoine District into chaos. I want the situation out of control. I want complete chaos!"

"This..." Similien's pupils contracted at those words. Only after a long while did he nod. "All right, all right. Complete chaos."

He glanced at the paper in his hand again, then sprang from his chair in shock. "Th-thirty thousand Livre?!"

The slip was a Bill of Exchange for thirty thousand Livre. At present, twenty thousand Livre could buy a villa in Paris. Thirty thousand Livre was an enormous sum that could drive any gang mad.

"This little money is nothing." Guizot gestured for him to sit. "Tell those gang members that so long as they create incidents capable of causing panic, they will receive one thousand Livre each time. After one month, whoever performs better can receive another twenty thousand Livre."

"Yes, sir." Similien's hands trembled slightly with nerves.

"Enough. Go handle it." Guizot gave him another deep look. "And one more thing. If anything goes wrong, the important figure behind me will help clean up after you. But all of this was your own idea and has nothing to do with me. Do you understand?"

"Yes! I understand. Rest assured!"

Guizot stood by the window, watching Similien's hurriedly departing figure, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

He had not originally planned to play things this big. But yesterday, Le Verber had told him to act freely and said that he would cover for him if anything happened. Guizot no longer had any misgivings.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, how nice it would have been for you to enjoy yourself in Versailles Palace. Why did you have to wade into these muddy waters?" he muttered through gritted teeth.

Three days later.

Saint-Antoine District Police Station.

Joseph was reading through letters of complaint from citizens beneath the shade of a tree—though in truth, they were mostly praising the police—when Public Security Inspector Magoney suddenly rushed over, gave a salute, and said breathlessly:

"Your Highness, something happened again! Two people were killed in a shoe shop on White Iris Street, and the shop was burned down!"

Joseph immediately frowned. Since the afternoon before yesterday, several serious cases had occurred in the Saint-Antoine District. Two people had died the day before yesterday; yesterday, three had died and two had been seriously injured.

He had assumed they were isolated incidents, but now another had happened today.

"What is the situation?"

"Alden took men over there," Magoney said. "The fire has been put out, but the criminals have not been caught."

Joseph immediately returned to his office and began mobilizing personnel to deal with the case.

Near dusk, Alden returned with progress on the White Iris Street case and was reporting to Joseph when another officer brought bad news—the Black Sheep Gang had apparently gone mad, slashing people everywhere on Misandra Street. Seven or eight passersby had already been injured, and police support was urgently needed.