Enforcer Carmen

The flashlight fell to the ground, flooding the sewer with light. Blood ran across the floor, and the air reeked of urine. Yu Yuan frowned, his gaze hardening.

His kukri rested against the newcomer's neck.

The man wore an Enforcer uniform. He was bald save for a few stray hairs, and sweat covered his head where his right hand had been severed. His face was deathly pale.

Yet with death at his throat, he still forced a strained smile.

"You—" He had barely opened his mouth when Yu Yuan kicked him in the face. Blood, broken teeth, and saliva spilled out. Bitter hatred flashed in his eyes.

He quickly hid it and spat out the blood in his mouth.

The bald man knew that whoever Yu Yuan was, the fact that he hadn't killed him immediately meant he still had a chance to live.

Yu Yuan planted a foot on the man's severed arm and drew the kukri across the skin of his neck. "I ask, you answer. Understood?"

Without waiting for a reply, he asked his first question.

"Where is the Black Shield Police Department's base?"

Sweat poured down the bald man's face. He managed a crooked smile.

"Heh... If I answer, will you let me go?"

"No. But I can make your death quick." Yu Yuan told him the truth and swung the kukri at the man's left hand.

"Ah... My hand..." The bald man's eyes bulged, blood vessels webbing across them. All the composure he had shown Yu Yuan was gone.

Yu Yuan stared deep into his eyes and asked again, each word distinct:

"Now tell me. Where is the Black Shield Police Department's base?" He raised the kukri again.

"I'll tell you! It's... It's... Ah! My foot! No..." The bald man screamed again.

This time, the kukri struck his left ankle. Only a thin strip of flesh still joined his foot to his leg. Blood splashed across Yu Yuan's face, making him look terrifying.

"Monster... You're a monster... You monster..."

Yu Yuan's lips curved. "Stalling counts as refusing, you know."

"One last chance. I ask, you answer. Where is the Black Shield Police Department's base?" This time, the kukri was aimed at the bald man's right ankle.

After seeing how ruthless Yu Yuan was, the bald man had no thought of resisting. He did not dare show even a trace of the hatred that had flashed through him earlier.

He's a demon.

"1st Block!" the bald man blurted. "East City Police Headquarters in 1st Block. That's our headquarters..."

"Where is Marauder Prison's base?" Yu Yuan asked without pause.

"At... at Soren Prison, outside the Eastern Suburbs..."

"Which factions pose the greatest threat in Green Forest City?" Before the bald man could finish, Yu Yuan had moved to the next question. Blood loss had left him on the verge of passing out.

"It's... it's..." The bald man had not finished speaking when Yu Yuan abruptly raised his head and listened.

Cars. The Black Shield Police Department had arrived.

Yu Yuan knew it was time to leave.

The kukri fell. The bald man's body twitched once, then lay still.

Yu Yuan swiftly packed the man's belongings into his backpack, stripped off his equipment, and sprinted toward his hideout.

Not long afterward.

Five or six Wasteland Battle Vehicles lit up the battlefield on Waterfront Street like daylight. Black Shield Police Department personnel were already clearing the scene.

Carmen, dressed in an Enforcer uniform, pushed open a car door and stepped onto the smoke-filled battlefield with a cigarette between his lips.

He felt moisture in the air and the wind growing stronger. His brow furrowed.

"Is a storm coming?"

A thug spotted him getting out and hurried over.

"Boss, we haven't cleared every threat yet. What if those Marauder Prison bastards still have an ambush—"

Carmen cut him off with a wave.

"Cut the crap. Report."

"Yes. We've taken the high ground. It was the Fries Enforcement Team that came under attack. They've been almost completely wiped out, but we haven't found Enforcer Fries or... his body."

Carmen's expression tightened. "Fries?" After a moment's thought, he shook his head.

"Fries is cautious. If he ran into danger, he'd flee or hide at once. He wouldn't take a risk."

"Boss, Enforcer Fries is Commander Lawrence's younger brother. If something really happened to him..." The thug looked worried, but approaching footsteps cut him off.

Carmen noticed the arrivals too and waved a hand.

"Enough. That's not your concern. Have everyone search. Alive or dead, I want him found."

"Yes!" The thug left immediately.

Two more men in Enforcer uniforms approached Carmen.

Enforcer Gero surveyed the battlefield, frowning slightly.

"Carmen, was it Fries?"

Carmen nodded. "Yes. We still haven't found any trace of him... Let's hope he's all right."

Enforcer Soda, standing beside them, immediately looked displeased.

"Then what are we waiting for? Fries is Commander Lawrence's brother. Everyone, search for him! Move, move!" The thugs who had come with Soda and Gero immediately joined the search.

Soda nodded in satisfaction. "Carmen, don't you have the best nose? Get looking!"

Carmen ignored him, and Soda's face darkened.

"Carmen, don't push your luck. Of the three of us, you were closest to this place. If we can't find Fries, I'd like to see how you explain that to Commander Lawrence." He wore a gloating grin as he spat hard onto the ground.

Gero quickly stepped in with a smile. "All right, enough. If we can't find Fries, all three of us are in trouble. Let's get searching, or we'll have a lot to answer for."

Soon, someone reported finding Fries's body. The three men headed over at once.

But when they entered the sewer and saw what had been done to Fries, all three fell silent.

Carmen examined Fries's wounds, especially the fatal cut across his neck. His eyes narrowed.

Gero spoke from behind him. "This is bad. Carmen, you're the best investigator here. Could you take a look?"

"All right."

Carmen called over the man who had found Fries's body. He was a member of Gero's enforcement team.

"How did you find this place?"

"Enforcer Carmen, I noticed a manhole cover had been blown away by a suicide slave, exposing the sewer below. I wondered whether Enforcer Fries might have fallen in. Then I found his body here, and you came down afterward."

"Did you find anything else?"

"About twenty meters from here, we found six more bodies. All of them belonged to the Fries Enforcement Team. Their equipment and supplies were gone, but they died from gunshots and the explosion, not blade wounds."

Carmen inspected the six bodies, then climbed out of the sewer onto Golden Orchid Avenue and examined the marks on the ground.

As he studied the blood trail left by the dragged bodies, the outline of what had happened took shape in his mind.

The first person he thought of was the mysterious figure who had killed three refugees at the East City Water Affairs Center yesterday.

"That person..." Surprise and curiosity flickered in Carmen's eyes.

"What nerve!"