In the blink of an eye, a week had passed since Zhou Quan took up the number-five position in West Kowloon District.
Normally, he took his weekends off on schedule unless there was an important operation, but this time, he had put in a rare two days of overtime.
Over those seven days, Zhou Quan had not asked about anything in the West Kowloon Operations Department. He had devoted himself entirely to the Crouching Tiger Plan.
Targeting the Triads throughout Hong Kong Island, this would be the most important operation of the middle stretch of his police career.
By comparison, all the operations he had previously led amounted to no more than short-term gains.
As long as Operation Crouching Tiger progressed smoothly, Zhou Quan was fully confident that he could take the position of Number One, then set his sights on becoming Chief Executive after the handover.
Operation Crouching Tiger was destined to demand an enormous amount of Zhou Quan's effort.
With the authority Commissioner Wong had granted him, Zhou Quan accessed the personnel files of every police officer in West Kowloon District.
He even carefully screened the cadets about to graduate from Wong Chuk Hang Police Academy, as well as those still undergoing training.
He looked across all of West Kowloon District, encompassing departments large and small.
Zhou Quan initially selected close to a hundred unfamiliar faces who had joined the Police Force after 1992 or had yet to join.
He then eliminated several dozen of these young people, keeping the best.
In the end, forty-nine young officers made Zhou Quan's list for Phase One of Operation Crouching Tiger.
Among these young officers, Zhou Quan singled out seven for particular attention.
He regarded these seven young officers as his Crouching Tiger Seven Heroes.
Although Zhou Quan was not superstitious,