3:40 a.m.: Total Control

pain.

It felt like a red-hot branding iron was repeatedly searing my wrist. Each heartbeat brought a sharp, almost unbearable pain that exploded from my shattered wrist bones, spreading along my arm and all the way to my head, making my vision blur and sway. My ears were ringing, mixed with the faint, intermittent gunshots and shouts in the distance, and my own heavy, bellows-like breathing.

Brother Bo slumped on the cold, rough cement ground, his back against the tire of an abandoned tractor.

Sweat, blood, and the mud he'd picked up from the fall mingled together, plastering his face and neck with a sticky, nauseating smell of rust and fear.

He clutched his intact left hand tightly at his right wrist, which had been pierced by a bullet, but blood continued to gush out from between his fingers, soaking his tattered sleeves and dripping into the dust beneath him, forming a small pool of dark red.

The man was standing in front of him.

The man who had previously disguised himself as the electrician "A Mu" had now changed into a black combat suit that he had somehow acquired. Although it didn't fit him well, the suit, worn by his tall and imposing figure, exuded a cold, well-trained killing intent.

His face was expressionless, his skin dark and rough, but his eyes, in the deepest darkness before dawn, shone frighteningly, like two deep, frozen wells, bottomless, with only pure, emotionless sharpness.

Holding a familiar AK-74U short assault Brother Bo, with the muzzle slightly lowered, Brother Bo had no doubt that if he made any sudden movement, the next bullet would instantly blow his head off.

Brother Bo was terrified. He was truly terrified. From the moment the frozen pork fat struck his wrist and knocked his gun away, to this "A Mu" pounced on him like a ghost, crushing his kidney with his knee and knocking him unconscious with the butt of his gun, to being dragged here and watching them methodically search him for everything—his walkie-talkie, Key, spare magazine, and the jeweled dagger (a gift from the general)—the entire process was swift, ruthless, and precise, without a single superfluous movement or even a single unnecessary word. This was no ordinary revenge killing or infighting; this was... an extremely professional military operation.

"Brother... brother... which gang are you from?" Brother Bo forced a smile, more like a grimace, despite the excruciating pain and dizziness. His voice trembled violently with fear and pain. "Are you... are you an enemy of the general? Or... from the ' Alliance Army ' in the north? It's a misunderstanding, it must be a misunderstanding! I... I'm just a bouncer, trying to make a living... What do you want, money? Goods? Women? I know a few of the general's secret stashes, I'll take you there! I just beg you to spare my life..."

"Bai Shan" (A Mu) didn't even glance at him, as if he were just a talking pile of roadside trash. He simply looked down to check the walkie-talkie he had taken from Brother Bo, confirming the channel and battery level, then pressed the call button and brought it to his lips.

His voice came through the walkie-talkie, and although it sounded somewhat distorted after being converted by radio waves, its cold, steady, and unquestionable tone of command was clearly transmitted through the air and through the same frequency walkie-talkie speaker in Brother Bo's hand (although it was being held by "Bai Shan"), and simultaneously spread to all the walkie-talkies that were still on and switched to the internal security common frequency.

Attention everyone.

The sound wasn't loud, but it pierced through the pre-dawn darkness and the still-unsettled chaos and noise.

"The park has been taken over. The security guards have been removed."

Brother Bo shuddered, his pupils contracting sharply in terror. Take over? Take control? Eliminate? He suddenly remembered the short, strange noises near the kitchen in the darkness, the patrol team and watchtowers he had lost contact with on the walkie-talkie, and the muffled explosions and more intense gunfire that followed from the direction of the main building... A chill instantly shot from his tailbone to the top of his head.

"All 'employees'," Bai Shan's voice continued over the walkie-talkie, eerily calm, "Stay put. Drop all weapons. Hands over your heads. Do not resist, do not run away, do not shout. You will be safe."

"Repeat. Stay in place, hands behind your head."

After speaking, he released the call button and clipped the walkie-talkie to his waist. Then, he slightly turned his head and whispered something in a short, strange syllable that Brother Bo couldn't understand, towards a very inconspicuous spot on his collar. It seemed to be some kind of command.

A few seconds later, noticeable changes began to occur in the areas of the park where there were still scattered lights or flashlights turned on by security guards or the "piglets" themselves.

Despite the excruciating pain, Brother Bo turned his stiff neck and looked around.

He saw the security guards, who had been haphazardly waving rubber batons at the dormitory entrance in an attempt to quell the chaos, being swiftly approached, disarmed, and pinned to the ground by several figures who suddenly emerged from the darkness, dressed in multicolored clothes but moving with extraordinary speed. Their hands were then bound behind their backs with plastic cable ties. The entire process was quiet and efficient. Those usually fierce and menacing security guards were as helpless as chicks in the face of these sudden, silent attackers.

He saw groups of disheveled, terrified, and bewildered "dog pushers" being driven out of the "office area" building. But they were no longer being driven by security guards; instead, they were driven by several other people who were dressed plainly but had cold expressions and were carrying weapons. These people did not beat or scold them; they simply used gestures and short, low commands to order the "piglets" to assemble in the central open space, put their hands behind their heads, and squat down.

He saw flashlight beams flash rhythmically on the watchtowers to the east and west, like some kind of signal. The people on the towers seemed to have changed; their figures were straight, no longer the lazy posture of A Qiang and his companions.

He saw that the main building's doors were wide open, and the interior was dark and messy, with no more guards emerging. Only two figures in black stood guard at the door, their eyes scanning the surroundings like lightning.

Control... it was truly complete control. And so swiftly, so thoroughly. Brother Bo's heart sank to the bottom, his body turning ice-cold. Where was the general? Where were A Long A Hu? Where were the guards? They were probably all dead. Just who were these people who had suddenly appeared?!

"Bai Shan" didn't seem to care what Brother Bo was thinking. He waved his hand. Immediately, two more men, dressed in similar variegated clothes but with a sharp and capable air, emerged from the shadows. They were also armed and had wary eyes.

"Take them all," Bai Shan gestured with his chin towards Brother Bo, then pointed to several other low-ranking security guards on the concrete ground not far away, who were either injured or subdued, trembling or groaning in pain, "To that corner over there, keep an eye on them. We'll deal with them later."

"Yes." The two men stepped forward and dragged Brother Bo up from the ground without any politeness. Brother Bo screamed in pain from his wrist, but his mouth was immediately stuffed with a rag.

He was supported by two men and stumbled towards a dark corner on the side of the main building. There, seven or eight bodyguards, also with their hands tied and mouths gagged, were squatting. They were all low-level bosses who usually bullied Brother Bo, and now they were all ashen-faced, their eyes filled with despair and fear.

Brother Bo was thrown into a corner, huddled with the others. The cold wall pressed against his back, and the heavy stench of blood, urine, and sweat made him want to vomit, but his mouth was gagged, so he could only make muffled sounds. He rolled his eyes in terror at the scene outside.

The sky was beginning to lighten with a faint, pale blue hue, but it was still some time before true dawn. The huge concrete open space in the center of the park was densely packed with people, all of them "pig pushers," perhaps numbering in the thousands.

Most of them held their heads in their hands, their bodies trembling slightly from the cold, fear, and prolonged squatting position. Suppressed sobs and coughs could be heard from time to time in the crowd, but the overall atmosphere was unusually quiet, as if they were stunned by the sudden change and the silent, armed strangers around them.

Several guards moved through the crowd, shining flashlights on some people's faces, seemingly trying to identify or search for someone. Other guards began using megaphones (from who-knows-where) to speak in slightly accented but clearly enough Mandarin:

"Listen up, everyone! You are free!"

These words were like a stone thrown into stagnant water; the crowd stirred slightly, and countless numb faces revealed disbelief, bewilderment, and a faint, almost invisible glimmer of hope.

"This telecom fraud industrial park has been destroyed! The armed men controlling you have been eliminated!"

The commotion grew even greater, and some people began to look up, their eyes lighting up.

"Now, everyone, line up in ten rows and register over here! State your name, place of origin, and how you were tricked into coming here! After registration, you will be given a small amount of travel expenses and directed to leave here and return to the border or a safe area! Those who are injured will be treated at the temporary medical point over there!"

"Repeat, you are free! Now, line up to register!"

The crowd erupted in jubilation! At first, there was a deathly silence, then suppressed, tentative discussions, and finally, someone cried out, "We're free!" Then, like a powder keg being lit, a huge clamor, a mixture of ecstasy, weeping, shouting, and the release of long-suppressed emotions, exploded out!

Thousands of people, like a herd of beasts awakening from slumber, began to stumble and cry as they rushed toward the few temporary registration points with tables and chairs set up, following the guards' instructions. The scene was somewhat chaotic at first, but under the strict and orderly command of the guards, they quickly formed a crooked line again.

As Brother Bo watched all this, seeing those "piglets" who were usually treated like pigs and dogs in his eyes, whom he could beat and bully at will, their faces regaining a "human" glow, watching them rush to register and receive that meager but symbolic "way to survival" travel fee... he suddenly felt utterly absurd and utterly terrified.

Free? They're free? What about me? What about the general? This kingdom he'd built and ruled for years, just like that... ended?

He suddenly remembered the general's words: once the money arrived, deal with K... Could it be... could it be because of K? But is K really that powerful? Could he mobilize such a professional and ruthless armed force?

He couldn't understand it. Waves of intense pain and dizziness from blood loss washed over him, making his vision go black. Strange hoarse noises came from his mouth, which was stuffed with rags, like those of a dying wild beast.

From the corner, a guard walked over, pointed his gun at Brother Bo and the other leaders, and said coldly, "You lot, get up."

Brother Bo's heart skipped a beat; a final fear gripped him. He shook his head frantically, shrinking back, whimpering, his eyes filled with pleading.

But the guards remained unmoved. Together with their companions, they roughly dragged the men off the ground and led them toward the deeper darkness and forest, away from the crowd and closer to the edge of the wall.

Brother Bo took one last look back. In the dim morning light, the vast park resembled an anthill with its lid lifted, and the once numb "worker ants" were now surging towards the exit of life with complex emotions of surviving a catastrophe. He, along with the other "foremen" who were equally pale-faced, was being led in the exact opposite direction.

Walking towards that deeper darkness that foreshadows the end.

From the depths of the distant mountains and forests, several short, muffled sounds, seemingly muffled by a silencer, could be heard.

"Pfft." "Pfft."

Brother Bo's body stiffened abruptly, then went completely limp.

Dawn is finally breaking.