I really hate this kind of rally-the-troops work.
Li Jie stepped outside his office and clapped his hands hard. The sharp sound cut through the noise, drawing every eye in the main room.
"Everyone, I have an announcement." He looked around and raised a hand. "We just received orders from Central Headquarters. They want more than half our personnel to support an operation tonight."
"Ugh..."
A chorus of groans filled the room. "More overtime, Sheriff? I've already done three days!"
"Go this time, and you might never have to work overtime again." Li Jie looked at them and cleared his throat. "Because a lot of people are going to die."
The entire room fell silent. Everyone stared at him, at a loss, until someone in the corner asked in a shaky, half-joking voice, "Sheriff, can we... not go?"
"No. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, no one is allowed to take leave for this operation. And... anyone who goes must not hold Central Headquarters back."
Must not hold them back...?
Every officer's eyes darted about as their minds raced. Suddenly, someone in the front row tentatively raised a hand. "Sheriff, Daniel's patrol car and mine have broken down."
"Oh, that's terrible. Take a bottle of good liquor to those two brothers in logistics and have them fix your cars right away. If they can't fix them, don't even think about joining this glorious operation."
"Sir, my car's broken too..."
"Mine too..."
"Mine really is broken..."
"All right, all right." Li Jie impatiently pressed his hands downward. "Everyone who doesn't want to go... no, everyone with car trouble, take a gift and get your car repaired. If it can't be fixed, not one of you is allowed to leave the Eastern District Precinct and get in the way."
The room instantly became