Ark, Just Tell Me Whether the Mission's Been Completed, Will You?

Luo Chen ignored the thief and directly had Huang Lin and the others drag him back to the holding cell.

Huang Lin exchanged a look with his partner. Framing someone wasn't in line with regulations, but Luo Chen was the one giving the order now.

They hesitated for less than a second before bowing to Luo Chen's authority. If anyone had to answer for violating regulations, Luo Chen would bear the responsibility.

If he got disciplined for breaking the rules, that would actually be a good thing.

However, as a bystander, Todd couldn't help wanting to remind them that Luo Chen was only an intern officer. No matter how seriously he broke the rules, no one would be able to pin it on him.

But Todd only thought it and didn't dare say it aloud. He didn't want to be discovered as a lump of rotten meat in a trash can someday.

As Huang Lin went to drag the thief back to the holding cell, the freed thief instead grabbed the iron chair in the interrogation room with all his strength.

"Officers, don't get rough! I'll confess, okay? I'll confess!"

"I'm just a thief. I've been stealing things in Primordial Park for the past month."

"I swear I haven't spent a single Lungmen Dollar of the money I've stolen recently."

"It's all hidden in a gap in the park's sewer system."

"There are over thirty wallets in total, with more than a hundred thousand Lungmen Dollars."

"If you don't believe me, send someone to look."

Hearing the thief confess, Huang Lin and his partner stopped moving and looked up at Luo Chen.

Luo Chen shook his head, a trace of displeasure in his tone. "Didn't you understand? Drag him away."

The thief broke down upon hearing Luo Chen's unreasonable words.

"Officers, I really am a thief, and a habitual one at that."

"Murder? I wouldn't dare do something like that."

"For theft, at most I'm guilty of major theft! Just lock me up for three years for theft!"

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll prosecute you for theft, all right? Now hurry back and squat in your cell."

Though Luo Chen said that, the corners of his mouth curled upward, and his gaze grew increasingly dangerous.

He looked like a predator toying with its prey.

The thief finally couldn't hold it together. This officer was definitely lying to him—he had to be lying.

Once he got to court, he would surely be made the scapegoat for murder.

"Officer! I really haven't lied to you!"

"I'll come clean. I'll tell you everything. I have a whole group of accomplices—we're all thieves."

"Please, arrest them too! They can definitely prove I'm just a thief."

"You... have witnesses?" Hearing that, Luo Chen stroked his chin suspiciously, but soon gave a disdainful snort. "A bunch of criminals aren't qualified to testify at all."

The thief's eyes began to redden, tears welling inside them before finally spilling over.

He tried to wipe away the tears with his sleeve, but Huang Lin and the other man had his hands pinned firmly down. The tears could only pour out like a burst dam, endlessly streaming down.

His voice shook with sobs as he said:

"I'm really a thief. What I committed really was theft."

"My accomplices are on Thirty-Second Street, two li away!"

"Hurry up and arrest them! Some of them have killed people."

"I really am innocent."

Yet no matter how the thief begged.

Luo Chen didn't answer him once. He merely smiled silently.

Luo Chen felt as though he were basking in the warm spring sun, bright and comfortable.

It was like curing a lifelong obsessive-compulsive disorder. He felt freer and more relaxed than ever before.

—Criminals should cry on iron chairs.

After delivering the thief to the holding cell, Huang Lin and his partner quickly returned.

Perhaps it was just an illusion.

But seeing the thief wailing miserably, tears streaming down his face, they actually felt the satisfaction and joy of beating someone up for ten years straight.

"Officer, are you really going to charge him as a murderer?"

Now that he was in a good mood, Huang Lin wasn't as nervous around Luo Chen anymore.

Looking at the slightly more mature Huang Lin, Luo Chen smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Officer Huang Lin, watch your words in the Lungmen Guard Department."

"When did I ever say I was going to charge him as a murderer?"

"Finding murderers is the criminal division's job. I was only lamenting that they ought to speed things up."

"Also, I don't want to see criminals giggling and laughing while sitting on iron chairs again."

"The Lungmen Guard Department should make all evil in Lungmen tremble in fear and weep bitter tears."

"Do you understand what I mean?"

Huang Lin suddenly felt the hand resting on his shoulder grow heavier and heavier. At that moment, he finally understood what kind of person Luo Chen was.

He was a pure police officer.

He didn't shirk responsibility and slack off like the former station chief, nor did he play the captain's social games.

He had none of the workplace calculations over personal gain.

He was simply the enemy of all evil.

Huang Lin felt as if he had returned to his childhood, recalling why he had wanted to become an officer in the first place. "Officer, I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

At noon, after completing two patrol rounds, Luo Chen suddenly received a notice from Swire's assistant.

Of course, the notice hadn't been sent to him directly. The acting office secretary had relayed it to him.

Since the main leadership of the Public Security Management Brigade was under review, Superintendent Swire was considering promoting an interim brigade commander.

The primary candidates were the captains of the Second and Third Squads.

At present, Swire's assistant needed to investigate their reputations within their teams.

They needed to ask the other officers whether they had any objections to either captain.

After reading the notice sent by Swire's assistant, Luo Chen asked the acting secretary:

"Superintendent Swire wants to appoint a new brigade commander? In other words, Captain Motley's current position is no longer secure?"

"That's right. How should I reply to the higher-ups?"

"Tell Swire's assistant to wait for now. Our Public Security Management Brigade needs to hold a meeting to discuss the brigade commander candidate. We'll reach a conclusion tonight and report it to Superintendent Swire."

"Understood."

After the secretary left, Luo Chen asked Todd:

"Who's the captain of the Third Squad? Why haven't I seen him at all?"

Todd said, "The Third Squad's captain was carrying out a mission in Lower City yesterday. They're providing protection for Governor's Office urban development personnel, so they won't be back anytime soon."

"I see." Luo Chen lowered his head in thought for a moment, then slowly said:

"Go notify Evan, the Second Squad captain. Tell him to come to the brigade commander's office at four this afternoon. We'll hold a meeting to discuss the interim brigade commander candidate."

I Want to Be Brigade Commander. Who Supports Me? Who Opposes Me?

At three-thirty in the afternoon.

Evan, captain of the Second Squad, walked out of the squad office with complicated feelings.

Logically speaking, with the higher-ups in trouble, he should have been happy as a reserve cadre.

After all, unless a leader was parachuted in from above, he should have been the one getting promoted.

But the situation he faced now was completely different.

If one leader being disciplined was a good thing, then every leader being in trouble was a horror movie.

And he was one of only two survivors in that horror movie.

Now the evil spirit from that horror movie was about to summon him for a conversation and a meeting. He had no idea what awaited him.

Thinking of that, he nervously clenched his fists.

"I shouldn't have any dirt for others to use against me, right?"

"Brother Evan!"

Just then, someone called his name.

He turned and saw Sun Yongsi, captain of the Third Squad.

Seeing Captain Sun here, Evan's eyes showed a trace of confusion.

If he remembered correctly, Sun should have been leading his team in Lower City, protecting Governor's Office officials for a week. Why had he returned after only two days?

If some emergency had happened to those Lower City officials, the Lungmen Guard Department would bear enormous responsibility.

"Aren't you carrying out demolition and stability maintenance work in Lower City?" Evan asked with a frown.

Captain Sun walked alongside Evan.

"What's so hard to handle in Lower City? If those peasants refuse to relocate or cooperate, I just arrange for plainclothes officers to beat them up and throw them out. The Governor's Office officials were all wondering why this round of negotiations went so smoothly."

"Isn't that a little inappropriate? Doesn't it violate regulations?"

"Brother, that's Lower City. What regulations are there to talk about with people from Lower City? At least we're giving them some money. If the real estate companies handled the demolition themselves, those people wouldn't get so much as a hair."

"So you've completed the work in Lower City?"

"No, but it's no big deal. Even if those people refuse to accept it, can they really stand up to the Lungmen Guard Department's steel batons and armor?"

Evan sighed but didn't comment on Sun's work methods.

Though he didn't approve of such behavior, in the eyes of a leader like Superintendent Swire, who only looked at data and performance, someone like Sun really was an elite.

"Then why did you come back early...?"

"Captain Motley notified me. Superintendent Swire wants to select an interim captain and told me to come back and oversee the work."

"What's Captain Motley's situation now?"

"The brigade commander has always been firmly in Superintendent Swire's faction, and they haven't found any work-related issues with him. Superintendent Swire has already sent a letter to the Special Inspection Group, demanding that they finish their investigation quickly. If there aren't any other issues, they'll release him as soon as possible to fill the vacant position."

"He can still be brigade commander?"

"How could that be? Although Swire pulled him out of this mess, the superintendent is so impartial that his position will definitely be reduced. From now on, he'll be captain of the First Squad."

"Oh... so you can become the official brigade commander?"

"That's right. You know I've always been in Superintendent Swire's faction, and my performance is outstanding. As long as the colleague survey doesn't uncover any issues, it won't be long before I go from interim to official."

"Of course, I won't forget you. I'll definitely promote you to deputy captain."

Evan wasn't happy to hear Captain Sun's promise.

But it wasn't because he couldn't become interim brigade commander. It was because Sun's perfect plan seemed to have forgotten one evil spirit.

The Third Squad captain and Motley had decided on the interim brigade commander without even going through Luo Chen. Could that really work?

Thinking about everything Luo Chen had done in the brigade over the past two days, Evan couldn't help feeling a chill run down his spine. After considering it, he asked:

"Captain Sun, what do you think of that newcomer named Luo Chen? He's the one organizing today's meeting for us to discuss this."

Upon hearing Luo Chen's name, the Third Squad captain had far fewer concerns than Evan.