Chapter Summaries

Song An learned that Professor Siu Chi Yan was suspected of being Red Thief, while the Intelligence Group monitored Siu's home and a courier's residence. Siu's intercepted calls revealed plans to spread documents to the media and cause a disturbance, suggesting another Red Thief courier had surfaced.

• Zhou Quan told Song An that Siu Chi Yan was suspicious but said they still lacked enough evidence for a conventional conviction.
• Song An concluded that Siu's presence at the earlier meeting had likely been part of a sting operation.
• The Intelligence Group placed Siu's home and a suspected courier's residence under surveillance and monitored their communications.
• Siu called an associate and instructed them to watch Hong Kong Island news and send two documents to major media outlets when breaking news appeared.
• Siu called another person and urgently ordered them to cause a disturbance in a busy urban area, leading the Intelligence Group to suspect another courier had emerged.

The National Security Department traced Siu Chi Yan’s calls to his suspected hacker courier in Tsim Sha Tsui and a sleeper agent at the North District Dangerous Goods Warehouse, then deployed teams to watch both targets. The chapter ended with specialists intercepting a file transfer between Siu Chi Yan and the courier and displaying the files at the command center.

• An officer reported that Siu Chi Yan’s first call had reached Angela, the suspected hacker courier in Austin Building, while his second had reached a prosecutor inside the North District Dangerous Goods Warehouse.
• Chan Kwok-wah designated the prosecutor Target Number Three, ordered surveillance in North New Territories, and authorized Jing Jinxian to make decisions on the ground.
• He Wenzhan mobilized T Group officers at the warehouse as the National Security Department’s Paparazzi teams began tailing the sleeper agent.
• Jing Jinxian’s teams prepared to arrest Siu Chi Yan and the hacker courier in Tsim Sha Tsui, with two Flying Tigers assault teams transferred to Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station.
• A specialist officer reported an intercepted file transfer between Siu Chi Yan and the courier, then displayed the two files on the command center’s main screen.

The National Security Department intercepted Siu Chi Yan’s press release and terrorist threat, then launched coordinated operations against him and his couriers. Siu Chi Yan and the hacker courier were arrested, while He Wenzhan’s team moved to intercept Target Number Three.

• The command center reviewed Siu Chi Yan’s press release attacking Zhou Quan and a disguised video threatening terrorist attacks unless the Hong Kong Government released Kam To-nin, Cheung Yi-kwan, and the DC-8.
• After North New Territories Zoo reported that Target Number Three had collected a suspicious package, Chan Kwok-wah ordered the arrest operations to begin.
• He Wenzhan prepared to intercept Target Number Three, while Jing Jinxian coordinated raids on Siu Chi Yan’s apartment and the Austin Building.
• The teams breached both locations and arrested Siu Chi Yan and the hacker courier without resistance.
• Jing Jinxian ordered the evidence taken to Tai Kwun and left with the SDU escort and Siu Chi Yan.

After the DC-8 raids succeeded, Song An prepared to return to Mainland China with the captured Arab buyers while Zhou Quan stayed to interrogate Siu Chi Yan. Siu Chi Yan hinted that eight Raw Material Spheres were still missing, but Zhou Quan dismissed the claim, saying no Raw Material Spheres existed.

• Song An praised Zhou Quan and the Hong Kong Island Police Force after the raids at three sites ended successfully.
• Zhou Quan told Song An that Siu Chi Yan was believed to lead the Red Thief Organization and said he would personally interrogate him.
• Song An left to arrange the transfer of the Arab suspects to state security in Yuezhou, escorted by Luo Danian and Chan Kwok-wah.
• Zhou Quan went to Interrogation Room No. 1, where Siu Chi Yan acknowledged that Zhou had outmaneuvered him but claimed he still had trump cards.
• Siu Chi Yan said his courier had taken sixteen Raw Material Spheres, only eight of which had been installed in the seized DC-8, and challenged Zhou to find the rest.
• Zhou Quan mocked Siu Chi Yan and declared that there were no Raw Material Spheres at all.

Zhou Quan confirmed that Siu Chi Yan’s supposed nuclear-material trump card was worthless and pushed the interrogation to dismantle the Red Thief Organization. As the operation entered its final stages, he chaired a Police Force management meeting to review the case and the force’s recent work, then left the story focused on rewarding strong performance and addressing poor performance.

• Zhou Quan knew the sixteen Raw Material Spheres stolen by the Red Thief Organization were ordinary uranium compounds, so he interrogated Siu Chi Yan without restraint to find the organization’s remaining Hong Kong Island operatives.
• Three days later, the Red Thief operation entered its final stages while Wong Bing Yiu negotiated with representatives from the Two Koreas over the DC-8 incident.
• Zhou Quan convened a Tai Kwun Management Meeting and praised Police Force personnel for their work during the typhoon preparations and nuclear crisis drill.
• Lee Man-bun reported that the Action Group’s campaign against gangs and organized crime had lowered crime and improved public safety.
• Zhou Quan instructed Choi Yuen-kei to assess personnel fairly, develop and reward outstanding officers, and deal with those who coasted through their work.

Choi Yuen-kei outlined plans for merit-based promotions and a new internal investigation, while Zhou Quan directed him to balance understanding for frontline officers with strict enforcement against serious misconduct. Luo Danian then briefed headquarters on the DC-8 case and revealed the Red Thief courier Sophia’s ties to Macau’s Yi Family, bringing a powerful arms-linked family to the Police Force’s attention.

• Choi Yuen-kei announced a Police Force-wide selection process for merit-based promotions and pay rises, alongside a new round of internal investigations.
• Zhou Quan tasked the Internal Investigations Branch and Political Investigation Department with the work, placing Choi Yuen-kei in charge and emphasizing both frontline realities and strict enforcement of fundamental rules.
• Zhou Quan asked Luo Danian to summarize the National Security Department’s role in the DC-8 operation.
• Luo Danian reported that the Police Force had broken up the Red Thief Organization, transferred the DC-8 buyers and sellers to Mainland authorities, and uncovered an arms-smuggling route between Hong Kong Island and Macau.
• Luo Danian revealed that arrested courier Sophia had close ties to Macau’s Yi Family, a wealthy family under investigation for its links to the underground arms market.

Luo Danian revealed that Sophia’s major arms supplier was Yi Tiansi, head of Macau’s Yi Family, whose brother Yi Tianxing led the international JC Group. The Hong Kong Island Police Force prepared for the investigation to draw in the JC Group and its allied criminal organization.

• Luo Danian told the meeting that Sophia had identified Yi Tiansi as her main arms supplier and was one of Yi Tiansi’s sworn sisters.
• The attendees recalled how Zhou Quan had obtained nearly US$1.5 billion from Kwan Chai-ba and Ching Wing-si, with Ching Wing-si’s cooperation helping Zhou Quan’s rise and benefiting Wong Bing Yiu and Lee Man-bun.
• Luo Danian explained that Yi Tianxing had left Macau to build the powerful international JC arms organization while Yi Tiansi remained head of Macau’s Yi Family.
• The Hong Kong Island Police Force recognized that its operation could entangle the Yi Family and the JC Group, and planned to support the Macau Judiciary Police with intelligence.
• Zhou Quan knew that the JC Arms Group had close ties to another transnational criminal organization that was unlikely to abandon it if it ran into trouble.

Zhou Quan recognized the DOA Foundation and Yi Tianxing’s JC Group as linked transnational criminal organizations and made them priorities for the Hong Kong Island Police Force. He ordered Macau leads shared and Southeast Asian intelligence resources deployed to find the JC Group, while planning to use the DOA Foundation’s move to Central as leverage against Yi Tianxing.

• Zhou Quan concluded that the DOA Foundation and the JC Group protected each other and would need to be addressed together.
• Zhou Quan ordered relevant leads handed to the Macau Judiciary Police and promised the Hong Kong Island Police Force’s full cooperation.
• Zhou Quan told Luo Danian to mobilize the Police Force’s Southeast Asian intelligence resources to locate the JC Group’s headquarters.
• Zhou Quan decided to approach Yi Tianxing indirectly through the DOA Foundation, whose headquarters was preparing to move to Central.
• Luo Danian acknowledged Zhou Quan’s orders as the Police Force’s units prepared to coordinate, while the DOA Foundation remained subject only to routine investigation.

Zhou Quan learned that Commissioner Wong was moving to the Security Bureau and that Government House had formally appointed him Acting Commissioner of the Police Force. He took over the top role temporarily while awaiting a permanent appointment.

• Zhou Quan returned to his office after the Tai Kwun meeting and began reviewing work files and applications.
• Wong Bing Yiu called Zhou Quan to his office, sounding unusually excited.
• Wong showed Zhou an Appointment Warrant naming him Acting Commissioner of the Police Force.
• Wong explained that he was taking over Lok Ming-wah’s position at the Security Bureau after the Secretary for Security’s planned early retirement.
• Zhou learned that he would serve as Acting Commissioner while the leadership awaited the next formal appointment.

Lok Ming-wah and Zhou Quan received formal appointments as leaders of Hong Kong’s Security Bureau and Police Force, while Wong Bing Yiu became Deputy Commissioner of the Security Bureau. After the DC-8 was handed over under armed escort, Zhou returned to Police Force Headquarters as its new Number One, where officers welcomed him.

• Mainland China's top leadership approved Zhou Quan's appointment as Police Force Number One and Lok Ming-wah's appointment as acting Secretary for Security.
• Kong Chi Lap led an armed team to retrieve the DC-8 from North District and deliver it to Shek Kong Camp, where it was handed over to a Korean aircraft.
• Hong Kong Island's top official administered the oaths of office to Lok Ming-wah and Zhou Quan at Government House.
• Wong Bing Yiu took up his post as Deputy Commissioner of the Security Bureau after the ceremony.
• Zhou Quan returned to Police Force Headquarters, where gathered officers greeted him as their new leader.

At his first Police Force Management Meeting as Commissioner of Police, Zhou Quan announced reforms to replace British-style drill commands with Chinese-style drill across the force. He then opened discussion of personnel changes, leaving officers awaiting decisions that could affect their ranks and superiors.

• Zhou Quan convened the Police Force Management Meeting and called on officers to uphold the force’s motto of loyalty, courage, perseverance, and service to Hong Kong Island.
• Zhou Quan described the force’s development since the 1997 handover and declared it loyal to the Motherland and Hong Kong Island.
• Zhou Quan issued his first executive order, directing all police officers to abandon British-style drill commands and adopt Chinese-style drill.
• Zhou Quan ordered departments to adjust training to suit their duties and required the Police Academy to switch to Chinese-style drill starting with its current intake.
• Zhou Quan began the meeting’s second agenda item, personnel changes, prompting officers to consider how promotions and new reporting lines might affect them.

Zhou Quan announced a reshaping of the Police Force’s core management after becoming Number One, promoting trusted and qualified officers to fill key posts. The chapter ended with So Tsz On appointed Commander-in-Chief of North New Territories and Zhou’s new leadership team in place.

• Zhou Quan appointed Lee Man-bun National Security DCP, He Lingyun DCP Operations, and Tsang Heung-wing head of the Criminal Operations Department.
• Zhou Quan promoted Hon Hau-chung to Senior Assistant Commissioner and named him head of the Regulatory Department.
• Zhou Quan promoted Luo Zhihui to Assistant Commissioner and assigned him to the Operations Department, recognizing his future importance in protecting Yiu Kong-nga from unfair treatment.
• Zhou Quan promoted So Tsz On to Assistant Commissioner and appointed him Commander-in-Chief of North New Territories.

Zhou Quan finalized the Police Force’s new management structure and announced upgrades to its Public Relations Department and Commercial Crime Bureau. After adjournment, he asked Lok Kai-cheung to bring the bureau’s head to his office.

• Zhou Quan’s management lineup included his subordinates across the Police Force’s departments, while Sir Kwan remained the force’s central figure.
• Zhou Quan announced that the Public Relations Department would become a full department and that Leung Tsz Mei would lead it as an Assistant Commissioner.
• Zhou Quan ordered the Commercial Crime Bureau’s staffing to expand and its commander’s rank to rise, retaining Wong Fuk-wing as its head.
• Yin Xiaofeng acknowledged Zhou Quan’s instruction to arrange the changes, and Zhou Quan adjourned the meeting.
• Zhou Quan asked Lok Kai-cheung to bring Wong Fuk-wing to his office while Tsang Heung-wing prepared to hand over his duties.

Zhou Quan summoned Lok Kai-cheung and Wong Fuk-wing, praised Wong’s work, and confirmed him as the commander of the upgraded Commercial Crime Bureau. He tasked both men, especially Wong, with investigating the DOA Foundation as it prepared to move its headquarters to Central.

• Lok Kai-cheung and Wong Fuk-wing met with Zhou Quan after he summoned them to his office.
• Zhou Quan praised Wong Fuk-wing’s record and said he was the most suitable person to lead the upgraded Commercial Crime Bureau.
• Wong Fuk-wing thanked Zhou Quan and accepted his promotion, while Zhou asked him to call him Ah Wing.
• Zhou Quan asked whether the Commercial Crime Bureau had been monitoring the DOA Foundation, and Wong confirmed it had tracked the group ahead of its move to Central.
• Zhou Quan ordered Wong’s department to pay particular attention to the DOA Foundation and probe its activities on Hong Kong Island.

Hong Liang of the mainland Supreme People's Procuratorate asked Zhou Quan to help investigate a corruption case involving a vice-ministerial-level official in Yuezhou and at least five billion in stolen funds. After learning that the money was being moved and laundered through Hong Kong Island, Zhou Quan called in senior officers from National Security and the Commercial Crime Bureau.

• The Police Force's Commercial Crime Bureau continued expanding ahead of the DOA Foundation's relocation, while a major new case came to Zhou Quan's attention.
• Hong Liang visited Zhou Quan with help from Chan Kwok-wah, after his superiors arranged contact through Hao Jianguo.
• Hong Liang explained that investigators had traced at least five billion in stolen money from a Yuezhou corruption case to planned laundering through Hong Kong Island.
• Zhou Quan agreed to assist and summoned Senior Superintendent Lau Bo-keung of National Security and Senior Superintendent Wong Fuk-wing of the Commercial Crime Bureau.

Zhou Quan assigned Lau Bo-keung and Wong Fuk-wing to assist Hong Liang’s Mainland investigation into stolen money laundered through Chiu Mei-yan. Lau revealed that Chiu was already a suspect in a separate Political Investigation Department case, and Zhou arranged a joint operation to pursue her.

• Zhou Quan summoned Lau Bo-keung and Wong Fuk-wing to meet Hong Liang and assist the Supreme People's Procuratorate’s investigation.
• Hong Liang explained that Chiu Mei-yan, the target’s mistress and alleged money-laundering intermediary, was on Hong Kong Island.
• Lau Bo-keung recognized Chiu from her description and car plates and said she was already a suspect in his department’s investigation.
• Zhou Quan put Lau in charge of the Hong Kong investigation, assigned Chan Kwok-wah to assist Hong Liang, and ordered Wong Fuk-wing to form a Special Investigation Task Force.

Hong Liang left Zhou Quan’s office so Zhou Quan and Lau Bo-keung could discuss the Political Investigation Department’s case privately. Lau Bo-keung reported suspected corruption involving Customs and Immigration officers, including a Customs inspector linked to Hong Liang’s investigation, and said the ICAC was also looking into the matter.

• Chan Kwok-wah arranged for Wong Fuk-wing to take Hong Liang to the Commercial Crime Bureau, leaving Zhou Quan alone with Lau Bo-keung and Lau Kit-fai.
• Lau Bo-keung told Zhou Quan that investigators had received a tip about Customs and Immigration officers shielding criminal activity.
• Lau Bo-keung reported that Di Weijie, a Customs Senior Inspector at Lo Wu Port, was suspected of letting Chiu Mei-yan enter Hong Kong without normal clearance.
• Lau Bo-keung said Di Weijie was also suspected of colluding with a Hong Kong Island finance company implicated in money laundering.
• Lau Bo-keung told Zhou Quan that Director Lu of the ICAC was investigating the case as well.

Zhou Quan learned that a Hung Hing-linked finance company had bribed members of the Disciplined Services and ordered Chiang Tin-yeung to deal with the corruption inside his organization. Lau Bo-keung assured him the wrongdoing stopped with Tsui Yau-choi, leaving Chiang and Usury Shing uninvolved.

• Zhou Quan discussed the ICAC investigation with Lau Bo-keung and identified the finance company as a key part of Chiu Mei-yan and Zhang Peng's money-laundering plans.
• Lau Bo-keung reported that the finance company belonged to Tsui Yau-choi, a former underling of Usury Shing, and that Tsui had bribed members of the Disciplined Services.
• Zhou Quan asked whether Chiang Tin-yeung was involved in the case.
• Lau Bo-keung said Wing and Chun had screened Hung Hing and found that Tsui Yau-choi alone was responsible, while Usury Shing had only received tribute.
• Zhou Quan ordered Lau Bo-keung to call Chiang Tin-yeung and have him clean house.

Lau Bo-keung asked He Wenzhan to contact Hung Hing chairman Chiang Tin-yeung and tell him that someone in his organization had attracted the Police Force’s attention. Chiang promised to find the offender and turn him over to the police, leaving him to clean house.

• Lau Bo-keung visited He Wenzhan and explained that Zhou Quan had ordered Chiang Tin-yeung to clean up trouble within Hung Hing.
• He Wenzhan agreed to help and called Chiang Tin-yeung on his private phone.
• He Wenzhan handed the call to Lau Bo-keung, who warned Chiang that people in Hung Hing had been getting out of line.
• Chiang Tin-yeung urgently asked Lau to name the offender and promised to bring the person to Tai Kwun to confess.

After Lau Bo-keung named the Hung Hing members involved in the money-laundering case, Chiang Tin-yeung pledged to bring them to Tai Kwun within an hour. Lau Bo-keung accepted his assurance and left to attend to the case, which involved mainland anti-corruption officials.

• Lau Bo-keung named Usury Shing, Usury Choi, Big Mouth Shing, and Fat Fook as the Hung Hing members tied to the case.
• Chiang Tin-yeung identified Tsui Yau-choi and his associates as people he could bring under control through his authority over Hung Hing.
• Chiang Tin-yeung promised to deliver all four men to Tai Kwun within one hour to answer to Lau Bo-keung.
• Lau Bo-keung praised Chiang Tin-yeung's cooperation and said he would wait at Tai Kwun for the men.
• Lau Bo-keung returned the phone to He Wenzhan, explained that the case involved mainland anti-corruption colleagues, and prepared to leave.