Lin Yuxia kept her face stiff and didn't dare respond to Luo Chen. She didn't even dare make a sound.
She had thought that, as a crime boss, she'd seen more than her fair share of monsters. But compared with Luo Chen, they almost seemed kind of lovable.
She wondered whether Chen Huijie could handle a subordinate like him.
She wasn't sure whether she was worried for an old classmate or simply curious about the unknown.
Lin Yuxia really wanted to know what was going through Luo Chen's mind right now.
"Officer Luo, after seeing them kill someone, don't you have any thoughts about it?"
Luo Chen felt that Lin Yuxia's question didn't sound like something a crime boss would ask.
She sounded more like an innocent young girl.
"Ms. Lin, you can't afford to be softhearted if you're going to be a crime boss. Countless people are killed every day on this land. You can't have a reaction every time someone dies, can you?"
"Besides, for some people, death is the easiest way out."
"If they fell into the hands of certain forces, there'd be a hundred ways to make them wish they were dead."
"Ms. Lin, when you face your enemies someday, don't go easy on them. Not every enemy is as kind as I am."
Luo Chen explained the cruelty of the world to Lin Yuxia with all the care of a gentle older brother.
Then he added one last, completely baffling remark that left Lin Yuxia at a loss.
Wait, what?
Which one of us was the crime boss here?
Why did it feel like you, the Guard Department officer, were the real underground emperor of Lungmen?
Chapter 23: People Only Believe What They Want to Believe
"Officer Luo is as witty as ever. We're not enemies."
"Let's hope it stays that way. I have a pretty good impression of you, Ms. Lin. I'd rather not interrogate you in a room." Luo Chen paused. "But if that day does come, I hope you'll confess and receive a lighter sentence."
Lin Yuxia: "Why have you already decided I'll end up in an interrogation room? Even Chen Huijie wouldn't be that presumptuous."
"Chief Chen has been tied down by self-interest for too long. She has plenty of passion, but not the resolve to cut off a limb and be reborn." Luo Chen spoke bluntly, without the slightest concern for his superior's position. "If you want to achieve something great, you have to be ruthless not only to others, but to yourself as well."
"I didn't expect you to understand Chen Huijie so well. Have you known each other for a long time?"
"I've been working under Officer Chen for a week."
"You've only known Chen Huijie for a week?"
Lin Yuxia stepped back two paces and looked Luo Chen over again.
They'd only known each other for a few days, yet Chen Huijie had already brought him to a dinner and introduced him to her father?
How had someone like Chen Huijie come to trust him?
Lin Yuxia thought it over, but could only come up with one explanation: Luo Chen's looks.
Looking at him that way, Luo Chen had fair skin, glossy black hair, and a strong voice.
He was fairly handsome, but not as good-looking as her father or Governor Wei. He shouldn't have been that attractive to Chen Huijie.
Could Luo Chen have some other special talent?
As she wondered, Lin Yuxia's gaze drifted down from his face, past his chest, and lower.
"Ms. Lin, that look on your face just now was a little off-putting. I hope you weren't thinking anything rude," Luo Chen said.
Lin Yuxia's body trembled slightly.
"Uh... I was just wondering how that loner Chen Huijie managed to become your partner in just a few days."
Luo Chen didn't hide anything and told her the reason outright.
"I used threats to make Chief Chen obediently give in."
"After all, someone like Officer Chen, who's a softie at heart but not very capable, is easy to coerce."
"As long as you don't cross her bottom line, you can easily get her on board by using Lungmen's safety and stability as leverage."
Lin Yuxia smiled but said nothing.
She suddenly realized she was still too young.
There was no way Luo Chen and Chen Huijie had only known each other for a few days.
He'd made one claim, and she'd believed it like a fool.
It seemed she still had a long way to go before she could match the truly powerful in the art of scheming.
Let alone her father and Governor Wei from the previous generation.
Even Luo Chen, who was younger than her, could draw her into the scenario he'd set up with just a few words and lead her around in circles.
She still had a lot to learn and a lot of maturing to do.
Luo Chen rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache.
"Ms. Lin, you don't believe me? Sigh... People are like that. They only want to hear what they want to hear, not the truth."
Lin Yuxia shook her head.
"Officer Luo, don't make fun of me. I really was careless just now."
"Thank you for giving me such a vivid lesson. You shouldn't blindly believe what other people say."
"Do you think I was lying to you just now, Ms. Lin?" Luo Chen said. "I was actually being pretty sincere. I told you everything I knew."
The sun was directly overhead, its light falling across Luo Chen's face. There wasn't a hint of joking in his placid expression.
For a moment, Lin Yuxia believed him from the bottom of her heart. She thought everything Luo Chen had just told her was true.
The feeling came out of nowhere. Even Lin Yuxia wondered whether Luo Chen had some kind of special ability to bewitch her, making her believe such nonsense.
How could someone like Chen Huijie, so rough and tough, possibly be threatened?
Lin Yuxia couldn't picture it at all.
"Looks like the violence is over." Luo Chen stopped the recording and tucked his phone back into his coat. "That unexpected interruption is over, so we can get down to business. These guys are beyond saving, but that little thief still has plenty of room to turn her life around."
"Officer Luo, I'll find out the truth for myself."
Lin Yuxia was still hung up on what had just happened. She clearly wasn't ready to accept that she'd been "led around in circles."
"I see." Luo Chen smiled, gave her a meaningful look, then turned and walked toward the thugs.
"Ms. Lin, you're kind of cute."
After respectfully handing over Hart's finger, the thugs dragged Hart's corpse away.
Once they'd dealt with the thugs who had broken the rules, Lin Yuxia and Luo Chen walked over to Gravel.
Sitting on the ground, Gravel watched them approach, feeling as if her heart had died.
She'd barely escaped one disaster, only to run into a group even more ruthless. They'd killed Hart, the strongest guy in the area, without breaking a sweat.
And if she wasn't mistaken, the black-haired man was the nice older guy whose money she'd stolen.
What kind of person had she gotten herself mixed up with?
No wonder he'd said he wasn't afraid of getting ripped off by a crooked shop.
She was really going to die this time.
If only she'd bought that pillow first. At least she could've gotten a good night's sleep before she died.
"Do you know who I am?" Luo Chen asked, looking down at Gravel.
Gravel nodded, reached into her clothes, and took out the ten thousand. She held it out with both hands.
"I really didn't mean to do it. I'll give you your money back. Please, just let me go."
"No. You earned that money through your own skill. Why should you return it? It's yours."
"Huh?"
Gravel's hand froze as she stared at Luo Chen in disbelief.
She'd seen plenty of pickpockets get caught. They either got beaten up or dragged to the Guard Department, and along the way they were always cursed at.
But this was the first time she'd heard someone say she didn't have to return the money.
"From the looks of it, you didn't have any other way to make a living, so you turned to stealing, right?"
"What about your parents? Are they dead? Or what?"
Watching Gravel, who looked thirteen or fourteen, and thinking of how Hart had just extorted her, Luo Chen concluded that she'd been working alone and wasn't part of any gang.
"They're dead."
When Luo Chen mentioned her parents, a trace of panic suddenly appeared in Gravel's helpless gaze. She lied without thinking.
In fact, her parents had driven her out because she had Oripathy. They loved her very much. If not for the Oripathy, they never would have kicked her out. Even when she was thrown out of the house, her mother had been crying.
She was afraid the gangsters might go after her parents, so she said they were dead.
"You're lying to me, aren't you? Your parents aren't dead at all. What happened that got you kicked out of your home?"
Those words made Gravel start trembling. She opened her mouth and answered weakly.
"N-no. My parents died of illness a long time ago. I'm the only one left in my family."
"It was my fault for stealing your money. If you're going to kill someone, just kill me."
Those words made Luo Chen's calm mood sour a little. Did he really look like a bad guy?
But when he saw the girl kneeling on the ground, about to kowtow, he decided he should explain who he was.
"What are you afraid of? I'm an officer with the Guard Department. How could I kill you?"
But Luo Chen's words did nothing to reassure her. Gravel only trembled harder.
She'd seen him have someone cut off seven fingers just moments ago.
"Hey, don't be scared. Your big brother here is an officer, not a bad guy. I asked about your parents because I wanted to talk to them about their parenting. How could they let a minor wander around outside?"
Chapter 24: Hoshiguma Relief Fund
"There really isn't anyone else in my family."
"There really isn't."
After her parents came up, Gravel seemed to be in a daze. Aside from repeating that there was no one, she said nothing else, no matter what Luo Chen asked.
Family problems were complicated and common.
They could stem from all sorts of things: different values, personality clashes, financial pressure, and more.
For an officer trying to resolve all the problems caused by family discord, communication had to come first. He needed to learn as much as possible about the root causes of the family's problems.
But Gravel's refusal to cooperate left Luo Chen with no way to get through to her.
Luo Chen slowly crouched in front of Gravel and rubbed her head.
"If you don't want to talk, that's fine. Do you have somewhere to live? Can you take us there to have a look?"
"Actually, I'm an officer with the Guard Department, assigned by the Lungmen Hoshiguma Charity Foundation to select people who need assistance. If there were three people in your family, you could've received three relief payments."
"Since your parents are gone, we'll have to inspect your living conditions and decide how much assistance to give you."
"Relief payments?" Gravel, who'd been lying on the ground, raised her head, still half-disbelieving.
She'd lived in the slums for so long, but had never heard of any relief payments. Why was she hearing about them now?
And why would something this good happen to her? That didn't make sense. She'd always been unlucky.
"By the way, the hundred thousand in your hand is part of the relief payment we're giving you."
"Hundred thousand? I only have ten thousand." Gravel was about to object, but Luo Chen clapped a hand over her mouth.
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