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

"Wait! We really are officers from the Lungmen Guard Department."

"Who are you trying to fool? Over a dozen officers and not one of you has an ID?"

"It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!" Motley raised his hands and cried out indignantly, but the armed guards refused to listen to his explanation.

The evidence was conclusive, yet they still wanted to argue? The guards charged forward with steel batons and shields, ready to take them down.

"You're going too far! We're inspectors from the Lungmen Guard Department! You dare arrest us?"

The former deputy captain had considerable strength himself. Being treated like this by armed guards immediately enraged him.

He was a first-class police inspector, and Motley was even a senior inspector. If they were dragged off to the Lungmen Guard Department today—or simply beaten up for nothing—they might as well throw away all their dignity.

Without another word, he kicked an armed guard approaching Motley flying, then began fighting the guards rushing toward him.

Since the deputy captain had started fighting, the remaining sergeants and senior officers were forced into the brawl as well.

They truly were officials of the Lungmen Guard Department. Although they had been away from frontline combat for years, they still possessed decent fighting ability. Otherwise, Director Wang from the office back then wouldn't have been knocked flat just from trying to break up a minor dispute.

Thus, the dozen or so people from the Lungmen Guard Department beat back the bank guards surrounding them step by step. Seeing the first-floor guards losing, the trading company manager led people down from the second floor and joined the deputy captain and the others in battle.

Not a single employee of the Great Yan Trading Company was a coward. They grabbed whatever they could get their hands on and joined the guards in the beatdown.

Watching the bank lobby descend into chaos before him.

"You idiot, why are you putting on airs at a time like this?!"

"You didn't bring your ID, so what are you acting all arrogant for? How did I ever promote such an idiot?"

Motley roared in pain and despair inside his heart.

He was currently being besieged by three armed guards. It wasn't that he couldn't deal with them—it was that even if they won, it would be meaningless.

They had come to find a drill location, yet they hadn't found one and had instead started fighting the bank's guards.

What kind of mess was this?!

The Villain Group had come to inspect a drill site, only to be mistaken for thieves and end up brawling with security guards.

He could already imagine becoming the biggest gossip topic in the Lungmen Guard Department.

And if this ruined the drill, Chief Swire definitely wouldn't let him off.

The deputy captain on the other side was strong, but he still had old injuries from breaking up a fight some time ago. He was also unarmed and being besieged by weapon-wielding opponents, while the equally capable trading company manager kept launching sword attacks from the side.

Before long, the deputy captain had suffered seven or eight sword wounds, blood pouring from them.

Growing increasingly exhausted, the deputy captain could only roar:

"You're assaulting police officers!"

But the armed guards didn't take him seriously at all.

"Assault my ass! You're police officers? Then I'm an Imperial Guard!"

Under the combined assault of several armed guards, the deputy captain, who had been discharged from the hospital less than two days ago, fell to the ground again.

The deputy captain's collapse instantly shattered Motley's composure.

His footing became unsteady as well.

Once his steps faltered, he failed to dodge in time and took four or five baton strikes. He spat out a mouthful of blood, stumbled, and fell to the ground, only to be firmly pinned down by the guards who rushed in.

"Stop fighting! Stop fighting! It's all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!"

Motley, bruised and swollen as he was pinned to the floor, continued shouting. But by now, both the armed guards and the Lungmen Guard Department officials had fought up a real temper.

The old sergeant whom Luo Chen had humiliated by pointing at his nose that morning had somehow snatched a steel baton from someone. Wielding it alone, he knocked down seven or eight guards and traded blows evenly with the bank manager.

Sirens gradually sounded in the distance, but the battle inside the trading company only grew fiercer.

On the street outside the trading company, Luo Chen looked at the window grilles that had been beaten out of shape and shook his head regretfully.

"I already told you: when playing villains, you need to put yourself in the mindset and circumstances of criminals. You need to seriously consider their actions and emotions."

"Yuxia, tell me, where would a criminal swagger right into a bank to scout the place?"

"We officials have been away from the front lines for too long. We've forgotten that the front lines of battle are filled with danger and death."

Lin Yuxia nodded in agreement. From the perspective of playing criminals, the officers who had gone in earlier had failed badly.

"What they did really was unacceptable. When we conduct deals, we never all enter the transaction site. We only send a few people in to negotiate. All of them entering to scout the place like that was far too reckless."

"If they were working under me, they probably would've died somewhere long ago."

A few minutes later.

Watching Lungmen Guard Department police cars surround the trading company as injured officers and company guards were carried out by medical personnel, Luo Chen wore a bright, sunny smile.

He was a fairly optimistic person. Seeing others grow always made him happy.

He believed that this experience would definitely let everyone in the Villain Group deeply understand the dangers a criminal faced.

At the same time, they would understand that criminals not only faced pursuit by the Lungmen Guard Department after committing a crime, but also enormous risks before acting. They could easily be noticed by defenders or reported by concerned citizens.

Once someone caught onto them, they also needed to have a safe escape route prepared.

They also had to improve their anti-theft awareness. Of course, that was an unexpected gain, and Luo Chen was even happier for them because of it.

"Luo Chen, with so many officers injured, won't it affect the Villain Group's upcoming work?"

"It's not about numbers, but quality. Other than gangs fighting over territory, when have robbers or attackers ever deployed huge crowds? Yuxia, you need to understand: if you can't bear to be harsh on your subordinates, then your enemies will kill them and shit on your head."

Lin Yuxia felt that this was a very philosophical statement and faithfully wrote it down in her notebook.

"I understand. I was too lenient with those underlings, which is why they dared use formalities to fob me off."

"Not bad. You're very perceptive. Yuxia, there seem to be quite a lot of injured people. Let's go help carry the stretchers."

"You really are too kindhearted."

Standing behind Luo Chen and the others, Gravel no longer had the strength to complain.

At first, she had merely thought that Luo Chen, this police officer, was a terrible person.

But now, that pink-haired woman beside him was gradually becoming just as bad.

Though that wasn't quite right either. That woman had never been a good person to begin with—she was a ruthless gang leader who killed without batting an eye.

The closer she and Luo Chen got, the more it proved that they were birds of a feather.

She had to study hard and stay far away from these two people's clutches.

Sigh... she'd better read for a while first.

It Turned Out That Being a Good Person Was the Key to Success

Lungmen Hospital.

Swire's assistant conveyed Swire's orders to Motley, whose head was already wrapped in bandages.

"Team Leader Motley, after Chief Swire learned about your situation, she reached a settlement with the trading company. The company is willing to pay a certain amount of compensation."

"However, you failed to carry your officer IDs while on duty and had suspicious evidence on you, so you also bear some responsibility. Therefore, the amount won't be much—only medical expenses and compensation for lost work."

"As for the drill assignment, Chief Swire said that if you're not up to it, you may voluntarily step down as team leader and hand it over to Luo Chen."

"No!" Upon hearing this, all the officers wrapped in bandages stepped forward in opposition.

"Anyone can be team leader except that bastard. If he becomes team leader, he'll definitely torture us to death."

"I even suspect that the concerned citizen who reported us this time was that thing."

"Team Leader Motley, say something. You can still lead us in continuing our work, right?"

Under everyone's questioning, Motley held the back of his head, which was faintly throbbing. In the past, he would definitely have requested sick leave from the Lungmen Guard Department after being injured.

But this assignment concerned his future position. If he backed down over such a minor difficulty, then the Public Security Management Brigade would belong to Luo Chen from now on.

"I have no problem. There was only a small issue today. Assistant Yang, please tell Chief Swire that if anything goes wrong with this drill assignment, I'll voluntarily leave the Lungmen Guard Department."

"I have another question. Did the trading company say who reported us?"

Assistant Yang shook her head. "The company insists that the problem was yours. More than a dozen people were gesturing around outside a bank and talking about how to rob it. No concerned citizen could possibly stand by and ignore that."

"The company refuses to provide the reporter's number. They'll cooperate only if the Lungmen Guard Department opens a formal investigation."

"Inspector Motley, you know that this responsibility is directly related to your poor command. If you insist on opening a case, then you definitely won't be in charge of this drill."

"Forget I said anything." Motley shook his head. "We'll prepare for the drill seriously from here on. Please speak to Chief Swire and ask her, for the sake of our past efforts, to give us this chance to redeem ourselves."

The next day.

Motley once again stood at the podium in the meeting room where they had met yesterday. But this time, five more members were in the hospital. Of the original thirty-person team, only twenty-five remained.

"I reflected on it, and our mistake yesterday was failing to communicate with the bank in advance and failing to safeguard our IDs."

"So this time, I intend to have the colleagues whose IDs weren't lost handle the venue negotiations."

"For this drill, I'm considering switching the location to a stadium and creating a stadium attack scenario."

"To avoid any trouble, I've already spoken with the stadium manager by phone. You few should bring your IDs, identify yourselves to the stadium, and they'll show you around the venue so you can plan the route."

After assigning the work, the colleagues who had stayed behind yesterday set off.

Very soon, less than two hours later, the colleagues who had stayed behind called back. Their IDs had been lost too, and a terrorist attack plan had appeared on them. They had been detained by the stadium security guards and sent to the nearby district Lungmen Guard Department. The district department hadn't reported the matter to headquarters, but it demanded that Motley personally come get them out.

Hearing the news, Motley and the others felt as if they had seen a ghost.

If the concerned citizen and lost IDs yesterday had been coincidences, then having it happen again made it obvious that someone had deliberately arranged this.

Someone was sabotaging us. Who was it?

Who?!

Motley gritted his teeth as he thought it. Some of the other officers suspected it might be that bastard Luo Chen.

But they had no proof and couldn't claim that Luo Chen was deliberately persecuting them.

Besides, if they were Luo Chen, then the phone used to report them would definitely belong to someone else. Even if Motley opened an investigation, it wouldn't lead back to Luo Chen. Instead, he would lose his own job.

That bastard was so cunning. No wonder he had openly challenged me to a contest.

Motley looked at the remaining female colleagues who weren't injured and suggested:

"I'm going to the stadium to bring our colleagues back. You few should find a gold shop and discuss the drill with the person in charge."

Upon hearing this, they immediately shook their heads. "Team Leader, someone is targeting us. If the few of us go to a gold shop and get reported too, then get beaten up, what do we do?"

"Then how about you wear Lungmen Guard Department uniforms?"

"Sir, even in uniform, don't we still need IDs? What if someone reports us for impersonating Lungmen Guard Department officers?"

"Hiss..." Motley sucked in a breath, his head aching. For the first time, he realized just how important identification was to a police officer.

Just as everyone was at a loss, the old sergeant who had rampaged through the fight yesterday raised his hand.

"Sir, I have a suggestion."

"The people sabotaging us are hidden in the dark, while we're out in the open. Our situation is very similar to criminals genuinely planning a crime, who can be discovered at any moment."

"I think we should put ourselves in the perspective of real criminals and carefully consider our actions."

"Tell me, what thief would swagger around while scouting a location? We should be more cautious. Send only one person, and don't enter the gold shop. Just secretly take pictures outside with a camera. After confirming that the location is suitable, we can contact the shop."

"Good... that's a good suggestion." Motley slapped his thigh, strongly approving of the plan.

They would only take pictures without discussing anything or mentioning the drill. Surely they couldn't be reported for that?

After confirming the plan, one female colleague set off in casual clothes with a camera.

Inside a café across the street from Gold Shop Street.

Luo Chen and Lin Yuxia sat like tourists, drinking coffee and chatting with smiles.

"Teacher Chen—no, Brother Chen—those people really have become more cautious. They finally look a little like they're doing bad things." Lin Yuxia watched the female officer acting like a paparazzo and admired Luo Chen even more.

In less than two days, Luo Chen had made a group of habitually arrogant, overbearing middle-ranking Lungmen Guard Department officials take their work seriously again. That kind of skill was enough for her to study for a long time.

Thinking carefully, she had spent all that time thinking about pretending to be weak before striking back, without broadening her thinking.

Now that she looked at it, why did she need to personally play the weak one?