Respite

After seeing Swire, Roy let go of the section chief.

It was not that he had chickened out, but that there was no need for this farce to continue.

If Roy had been alone, this man might still have been able to suppress him with his position and rank. But with Swire here, things were different.

Swire held the same rank as him. Moreover, with her serving as deputy leader of the Special Operations Group, he clearly did not dare act too outrageously. After all, the Special Operations Group reported directly to the director of the Guard Department.

Of course, there was another possibility: Swire might have taken his side. But based on Roy's analysis of Swire's past behavior, that was clearly impossible.

Not to mention Swire's status as the Taikoo Group's young mistress, even if she were not, she would never tolerate something like this. Otherwise, that old dragon Wei Yenwu would not have transferred her from the CIB the moment the Special Operations Group was established.

"You're Roy, right? Just you wait!"

After getting to his feet and dusting himself off, Section Chief Gao scurried out of the Law Enforcement Case Handling Center. At that moment, only Roy and Swire remained.

Though she had been startled at first, Swire, as a noblewoman, was still able to compose herself quickly.

After placing the three breakfasts she held onto a nearby table, she looked at Roy.

There had been no shortage of cases in the Guard Department where subordinates assaulted their superiors. However, most of those people came from the families of "upper-class figures," and their punishments would ultimately come to nothing.

Though they were called playboys, they were quite good at judging people. They would never go looking for trouble with high-ranking officials. That would be tantamount to slapping Wei Yenwu in the face.

In that regard, Roy had set a precedent and created a new record for the Guard Department.

"Aren't you afraid he'll retaliate against you?"

"Hmph. If I were afraid, I wouldn't be Roy."

As he spoke, Roy glanced in the direction Section Chief Gao had left.

If Swire had not arrived in time, how could that man have gotten off so easily?!

"That bastard actually came to bail someone out—and he was trying to bail out the bosses of this mafia gang..."

"You suspect he took bribes?"

"Does that even need to be suspected?"

Listening to Roy, Swire asked this question from across the table.

Roy's answer was no surprise to Swire. He did indeed suspect that. As for why he had chosen to act directly instead of reporting it to his superiors, that had already become apparent during their conversation yesterday.

He did not trust the people from the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Of course, neither did Swire.

"He's the chief of the Legal Affairs Section. How could he possibly not know what this criminal means to the Guard Department?"

At this point, Roy paused. Taking the still-wrapped bread and milk Swire handed him, he continued:

"And yet he came here without hesitation. If that isn't bribery, what is?"

"Should we investigate his transfer records?"

"No, there's no need."

As he tore open the wrapper, Roy caught a faint milky aroma. When he took a bite, the lingering flavor in his mouth left him somewhat dazed.

It was no exaggeration to say that this was the best bread Roy had ever eaten in nearly thirty years of life, from his previous life to this one. Nothing else even came close!

However, after taking one bite, Roy placed the still-wrapped bread on the table and continued:

"Bribery isn't limited to accepting gifts of money."

"Promotions, promises, bartering goods, even things like accepting manuscript fees can all serve as channels for bribery. So checking transfer records alone is useless."

Swire fell silent as she listened to Roy.

Corruption was not uncommon across Terra, but almost no country or mobile city had devoted much effort to addressing it.

Leaving aside the fact that most of the world's knowledge was controlled by nobles and capital holders, the connections between them made it extraordinarily difficult for the leader of a city—or even a nation—to investigate such matters.

Even without those people's obstruction, a nation's leader would not devote too much effort to such matters. After all, they needed people willing to work for them.

As long as their corruption remained within what the leaders could tolerate, their lives were generally not in danger.

Naturally, for most people in this world, bribery amounted to nothing more than the most basic act of accepting gifts of money.

But Roy was different. Having experienced all sorts of rectification campaigns, the sweeping anti-gang and anti-evil campaigns before his transmigration, as well as countless real case files and internal documents, Roy's understanding of bribery methods far surpassed that of anyone in this world.

"At present, the most effective solution would be to launch a special campaign against corruption and organized criminal forces, establish a department to gather leads from everyone in Lungmen, investigate them one by one, and severely punish every person involved..."

"Only then would we have any chance of changing this culture where bribery runs rampant."

As he finished speaking, Roy showed a helpless expression. It was then that Swire, who had been silent for a moment, immediately understood and replied:

"Chief Wei would never do something like that. At least, not at this point in time."

"That's right."

"Lungmen is a ticking time bomb right now. If we really did that, the city's order would collapse within a month."

As he said this, Roy looked out the window.

Countless shadows hid within this brilliantly lit city. Yet under the balancing influence of Wei Yenwu's forces, black and white had temporarily reached an equilibrium.

The seeds had been planted from the moment Lungmen was founded and began drawing in capital everywhere. At the same time, it was an unavoidable result of developing according to Lungmen's model.

"In this city, who would dare say they have never been involved in any case?"

"What are you two talking about?"

Just as Roy finished speaking, Chen emerged from one of the interrogation rooms.

After sitting beside Roy, she skillfully took a breakfast from the large bag and placed it in front of herself.

"Nothing much. The chief of the Legal Affairs Section came by earlier to ask about information related to those mafia bosses."

"You didn't tell him anything, did you?"

"Sausage Dragon, what do you take us for?!"

As Chen finished speaking, Swire immediately retorted, then continued:

"Roy beat him up, and he slunk away with his tail between his legs."