Chapter 34: Li Ying

"Skip the small talk. The cops will probably invite me for tea soon enough, so give me a straight answer—deal or no deal?"

"Five hundred thousand. I want five hundred thousand as a thank-you fee. You know Hongle has a lot of men, the pressure is huge!"

Da Fei seized the opportunity to raise the price.

Just asking for a few hundred thousand more—compared to Sneaker Street, it was nothing.

"Fine. I need the men in place by tomorrow night. And don't palm me off with some street trash—I need fighters."

Chen Mo agreed readily.

The system, which had been silent just now, had added over 500 wealth points to his account, which meant the safe looted from Shensheng's turf still held around four million in valuables.

He wasn't short on money for the moment—he was short on men.

Hongle wouldn't give up Sneaker Street easily; they'd definitely join forces with Chang Yi and Chang Le to take it back.

He didn't have nearly enough men under him right now, and recruiting tomorrow would definitely be too late.

Spending some money to have Da Fei bring men over was a good deal.

"Don't worry, I'll personally bring men to help you hold it!"

After hanging up, Chen Mo said to the several men standing before him: "I'll be back by tomorrow night at the latest. Before I return, hold down the turf. If a fight breaks out, remember to put Da Fei's men at the front."

As he spoke, a commotion drifted up from downstairs.

"Let's go down and take a look. Probably the cops."

Chen Mo led the men downstairs. By now, a dozen or so underlings were blocking several policemen at the stairwell, refusing to let them go upstairs.

"What are you doing! Move aside, don't obstruct police business!"

Chen Mo came down the stairs and ordered the underlings blocking the stairwell to step aside.

A tall, lean middle-aged policeman who appeared to be the leader of the group walked to the bottom of the steps and produced his badge.

"Li Ying, Senior Inspector of the Anti-Triad Unit at Wang Jiao Police Station. We suspect you of involvement in organized crime activities. Please come back with us to assist in the investigation."

"Li sir, it's been a year—been promoted?"

"We're old acquaintances. No need to be so formal. Whatever the matter is, a phone call would've done, wouldn't it?"

Chen Mo said nonchalantly.

Before he went into Chi Zhu, he had dealt with Li Ying plenty on Bowland Street.

He hadn't expected that after getting out of Chi Zhu, he'd still be dealing with the same man.

Li Ying's face was stony. "Chen Mo, you know the rules. Today you're coming with us no matter what."

"No problem. Cooperating with the police is the duty of a good citizen. I wonder if the coffee at your police station has changed—still as awful as before?"

"Chen Mo, you're a triad member—what are you acting so cocky for? Believe it or not, I can arrest you right now?"

A young policeman behind Li Ying—perhaps wanting to impress his superior, or maybe just irritated by Chen Mo's relaxed demeanor—pointed at Chen Mo and started cursing.

"What did you say? Do you want to die?"

Chen Mo's underlings immediately crowded around, shoving and pushing at the several policemen.

"What are you doing, you want to assault police officers!"

Chen Mo saw a few of the policemen getting ready to draw their guns and immediately barked an order, stopping his underlings.

"All of you, scatter! Go do whatever you're supposed to be doing!"

Chen Mo turned to look at Li Ying and pointed at the young policeman from a moment ago.

"Li sir, this officer just baselessly slandered me. Can I sue him for defamation?"

"Chen Mo, the young man doesn't know any better. Do me a favor, let it go," Li Ying said helplessly.

The policeman from just now was fresh out of the academy, young and hot-blooded. His words just now could easily be taken as an accusation against Chen Mo.

If there wasn't enough evidence to nail Chen Mo, Chen Mo could indeed sue him.

But as the head of this squad of police, Li Ying still wanted to protect his man.

"Li sir, I can give you face, but what about my face? Shouldn't this officer apologize to me?"

Chen Mo plopped himself down at the edge of the bar counter, leaned back against it, and just looked at Li Ying.

"Chen Mo, isn't that a bit much?" Li Ying frowned.

Everyone knew Chen Mo was a Triad Society boss—there just wasn't enough evidence to convict him.

Making a policeman apologize to a triad member would be a huge blow to a young cop who had just joined the force.

"Since Li sir thinks it's too much, then forget it."

Chen Mo shrugged, turned to Gao Jin behind him, and said, "Ah Jin, note down this officer's badge number. Starting tomorrow, have people file complaints against him."

Hearing Chen Mo's arrangement, Li Ying's expression turned cold in an instant.

The young policeman's face also went pale with panic.

He had only been a policeman for a few months. If he took a few complaints, he'd probably be transferred to Lamma Island to guard the reservoir.

Chen Mo was going to destroy that policeman's future.

"Ah He, apologize to Mr. Chen!" Li Ying said coldly to the young policeman behind him.

Compared to his future, face was worthless.

"Li sir, I..."

"Apologize!" Without letting the young policeman finish, Li Ying emphasized once more.

Catching the stern tone in Li Ying's voice, the young policeman reluctantly stepped in front of Chen Mo and muttered under his breath: "Mr. Chen, I'm sorry."

"What did you say? I can't hear you?" Chen Mo tilted his head, leaning his ear toward the young policeman.

"Mr. Chen, I'm sorry!" The young policeman's face flushed red, and he shouted the words again with his eyes shut.

This time it was loud enough, drawing a round of laughter from Chen Mo's underlings.

Only then did Chen Mo smile and say: "That's right. An apology has to be sincere. Ah Jin, no need to file the complaints."

"Chen Mo, shouldn't you come with us?" Li Ying said with a stern face, in a low voice.

"No problem, my time is precious too; the sooner we go, the sooner we return."

After saying that, Chen Mo stood up and walked straight out of the bar, heading toward the police car not far away, with a team of police following behind.

People who didn't know the situation thought Chen Mo was their leader.

On the other side, Hongle Piao Ge led a dozen or so people to Shishi's turf.

"Where's Shishi? Take me to find him!" Piao Ge said directly after locating one of Shishi's close aides.

"Piao Ge, Brother Shishi......"

"What, you won't even listen to the Dragon Head?" Seeing the underling hem and haw, Piao Ge flew into a rage: "Do you also want to rebel against your superiors?"

"No, no, I'm sorry, Piao Ge. I'll immediately take you to find Brother Shishi."

The underling, frightened by Piao Ge's words, immediately led him toward a hotel.

Many underlings guarded the hotel surroundings; Shishi had already been inside for a day.

The doorman underling saw that the arriving person was one of Shishi's close aides, accompanied by Dragon Head Piao Ge, and dared not stop them.

"Shishi, you bastard, do you want to die?"

Upon seeing Shishi, Piao Ge immediately burst out cursing.

On the way over he had already received a call, knowing that the sneaker street hadn't been retaken and that many of the underlings below had been killed or injured.

Even Shen Deng had been taken by the police for questioning.

"Piao Ge!" Shishi, upon seeing Piao Ge, also felt a bit afraid.

Although he had many underlings, seeing the Dragon Head still made him nervous, especially since he had just committed a major mistake.

"How dare you? Fighting among brothers, rebelling against superiors—do you want to suffer the punishment of three cuts and six holes?"

"Piao Ge, it's not my fault—Shensheng sent people to attack me first, and I only fought back; am I really supposed to just let him hack me without retaliation?"

Upon hearing Piao Ge mention the family law, Shishi immediately retorted, feeling wronged.

Hearing Shishi's words, Piao Ge was somewhat surprised—turns out it was Shensheng who struck first.

He really didn't know that.

In his impression, Shensheng didn't seem like the sort of person who would do such a thing.

He instinctively felt something was fishy.