First Contact

Every graduation ceremony at Wong Chuk Hang Police Academy attracted a number of senior Police Force officers.

Apart from the Foreigners serving as assistant commissioners in charge of personnel and training, most senior Police Force officers came from the front lines.

Each graduating class of cadets meant fresh blood for the Police Force.

The Silver Whistle Award for each class of constables, along with the even more prestigious Sir Fu Cup, were coveted by the powerful Big Sirs on the front lines.

As for the Inspector Class's Honorary Baton and Shirley Shield, they rarely stirred up competition among the senior Police Force officers.

That was not because Probationary Inspectors were less valuable than constables who had just graduated.

On the contrary, Probationary Inspectors were far more valuable than constables.

It was just that most Probationary Inspectors in the Inspector Class had been promoted from within the Police Force through the Inspector selection process.

Before that, these officers had already been key members of their respective frontline departments.

By comparison, quite a few Probationary Inspectors had entered the Police Academy after passing the Police Force's open recruitment exams.

But their talents tended to lie in administration and internal planning.

There was no denying that they were rare, highly intelligent and highly educated recruits.

However, they were still very inexperienced when it came to police work and frontline operations.

As a result, the Inspector Class's Honorary Baton and Shirley Shield were almost always awarded to seasoned veterans who had worked their way up from the front lines.

These officers, promoted through the Inspector selection process, already had their own departments and superiors before entering the Police Academy.

After completing their inspector training, they would generally return to their former departments.

Thus, the senior Police Force officers who came to watch the ceremony did not pay much attention to the Inspector Class.

Even if someone had won the Honorary Baton or Shirley Shield, as long as they had roots within the Police Force, few senior officers would approach them upon graduation.

After all, no matter the time or circumstances, changing sides was considered a major taboo.

Before speaking with the Big Sir in charge of the other officer's department, senior officers from other departments would never overstep their authority and transfer that department's officers.

Besides, positions as Police Force inspectors were not exactly a dime a dozen.

Although their numbers were not fixed like those of senior Police Force management at the rank of Senior Superintendent or above, they were certainly not easy to attain.

The frontline departments had worked hard to develop these talents and used up recommendation slots to put them through the Inspector selection process.

If another department then snapped them up as soon as they finished their Police Academy training, the frontline departments would be left with nothing.

If that became commonplace, the Police Force's frontline units would likely descend into chaos.

Only Inspector Class cadets who had just joined the Police Force and already shown exceptional ability would attract competition from the senior officers.

Zhou Quan, the recipient of this class's Shirley Shield, fit that description perfectly.

Although his elders held high positions in the Police Force, he himself had never been part of it.

Now that he had demonstrated outstanding ability, how could those senior officers not be tempted?

Securing Zhou Quan would mean not only gaining a capable subordinate, but also establishing a connection with the Lee Family in the Police Force.

For this very reason, the senior officers attending this ceremony were an especially powerful group.

They were either Big Sirs from district police stations or heads of various branches.

If Wong Chi Shing, a mere Senior Inspector in a district Anti-Triad Unit, could use his connections to come to the Academy and recruit talent, how could these Big Sirs, who were at least at Commissioned Rank, not understand how the Police Academy worked?

These Big Sirs had already obtained Zhou Quan's evaluation report and placed it on their desks through various channels.

They were simply too concerned about appearances to step in early and try to sway him the way Wong Chi Shing had.

A face-to-face contest-that was the rule of their game.

After the graduation ceremony ended, only the Foreign assistant commissioner left the Police Academy at a leisurely pace.

Ever since Principal Ye had been forced to step aside and take up a post at the Academy many years ago, he had turned it into a cradle for Chinese officers.

With the Chinese Number One supporting him from above, even the Foreign assistant commissioner in charge of personnel and training could not interfere too much in the Academy's affairs.

Most importantly, this Foreign assistant commissioner favored a peaceful handover of Hong Kong Island and did not want to get too deeply involved in the Police Force's infighting.

So his presence at the ceremony had largely been symbolic, like that of a mascot.

Now that he had completed his task, he had no reason to linger.

Most of the other senior Police Force officers who had come to watch the ceremony crowded around the four classes of cadets.

They planned to recruit the talent they had set their sights on.

The remaining handful, Big Sirs from various departments and districts who were at least Senior Superintendents, gathered in Principal Ye's office.

Their goal was simple: Zhou Quan, whose background was spotless and whose grades were outstanding.

Unfortunately, when they brought up Zhou Quan, Principal Ye could only give them a helpless look.

Zhou Quan's future had already been decided.

At that moment, he was driving an old Toyota toward West Kowloon Police Station.

"Uncle, you're such a busy man. What brings you all the way here to pick me up?"

As he drove, Zhou Quan asked with a smile, glancing at the portly middle-aged man in the passenger seat.

The man wore oval, full-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, hiding every trace of sharpness in his eyes.

Along with his stout figure and smiling face, they made him look kind and amiable.

But the crown and two stars on his epaulettes made it clear that he was no ordinary man.

There were only a few dozen people in the entire Police Force who held the rank of Senior Superintendent.

In his youth, he had made the Deadly Scissor Kick famous. Now nicknamed the Kindly Gun, he was the commander of Yau Tsim District in West Kowloon.

He was Zhou Quan's maternal aunt's husband, Wong Bing Yiu, and today he had come to the Police Academy in person to pick Zhou Quan up.

Ever since his consciousness had crossed over, this was Zhou Quan's first time meeting one of his new family's relatives.

When he had first opened his eyes, it had been the day he was due to report to the Police Academy for training.

So Zhou Quan had left the Lee Family in a hurry and gone straight to live in the Academy dormitory.

Although cadets got time off during their training, Zhou Quan had never left the Academy except when he needed to.

After all, the rewards he had received only gave him a foundation far beyond that of an ordinary person.

His own hard work had been just as essential to earning the honors he now wore.