Chapter 130: Candidates and Choices

"Sit."

The Chief of the Jincheng City Police Department gestured for Officer Lukaer to sit down. The latter walked to the opposite side of the desk, pulled out a chair, and sat.

There were no sofas or bars in the Chief's office; it was just a simple office.

He looked to be about sixty years old and had held this position for a full ten years.

Starting as a patrol officer and working his way up to Chief of the City Police Department, he could be considered a legend in the Jincheng police force.

The old Chief was named Chali, a very, very common name for a federal citizen. He looked very clean, lacking the untidiness often associated with old age.

"The Presidential Palace has decided to establish the Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol, and Hazardous Materials. Did you know that?" A simple opening, but it gave Officer Lukaer a signal.

He already had a premonition in his heart. "I've heard of it, but what does that have to do with me?"

Chali spoke at a slow pace, and his voice was very gentle—a point that didn't seem to match his "background" of several decades as a police officer.

Many who had heard of him thought he should be a tough old man, with a voice as hard as two I-beams rubbing together when he spoke.

But in reality, he spoke very gently and slowly, which made people calm down.

"The Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service—it's said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation also intends to get involved. But regardless, in order to ensure that Prohibition isn't just a success on paper, they are bound to establish this new agency."

"This agency has immense power. What we have, it also has."

"What we don't have, it has even more of!"

"Old friends in the state government tell me there will be a dedicated Department of Justice office, on duty twenty-four hours a day, just to make it convenient for them to obtain all kinds of legal documents."

"It's too powerful, Lukaer. I don't oppose more law enforcement agencies appearing in our lives."

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Food and Drug Administration—I don't oppose them; their appearance will make our lives better."

"But this time is an exception!" Chief Chali took out his pipe, pulled out his tobacco pouch, and stuffed some moist tobacco into the pipe.

Officer Lukaer smelled a strong scent of alcohol; this tobacco might have been sprayed with or soaked in hard liquor.

After packing it, Chief Chali used a small silver tool to press the tobacco down firmly, then picked up a long-handled match—it was about ten centimeters long and quite thick, with each one capable of burning for a long time.

As the flame was continuously drawn into the pipe, the moist tobacco was ignited.

Not the kind of burning, but it was indeed ignited.

He puffed on it twice, then looked at Officer Lukaer. "Its power is too great. I actually share the same view as many others: Prohibition is a piece-of-shit decree."

"We've been drinking our whole lives, and suddenly they tell me drinking is a crime. The people in Congress peddling this ideology should be sent to the electric chair!"

Officer Lukaer couldn't help but laugh twice. "Yes, they should be electrocuted!"

Chief Chali said thank you. "It's really great that you can understand my feelings."

"Because these people are desperate to prove their proposal is correct through Prohibition, the coming period might be very bad."

"Jincheng isn't some remote little place; it's a metropolis, and it's connected to the world."

"District gangs, the Five Great Families—I don't want those people to turn this place into a mess the first day they arrive!"

"Lukaer, I want to give you a new job: go to this Bureau."

He took another puff of his pipe. The tobacco in this kind of pipe was raw, with other things added to make the flavor more complex.

Some people even added chili powder and peppercorns!

Everyone's tobacco enjoyment was different. The smoke emitted from Chief Chali's pipe didn't smell that irritating, which might be because of his old age.

"A powerful new law enforcement department being promoted across the Federation must rely on local forces to be established quickly."

"I've received some news: the first batch of mid-level enforcers will all be recommended by local authorities."

"I will recommend you."

"Detective, or senior agent, or even special agent—in any case, it depends on how they arrange it. I can guarantee you'll lead a working group on your own."

"Besides your official work, there is one more thing you need to do." He said several sentences, holding the pipe to his mouth and taking another puff.

Chief Chali stared into his eyes. The moment he opened his mouth to speak, the smoke he had just inhaled was exhaled with his words: "Don't let them run wild in this city!"

Officer Lukaer didn't agree immediately, but after thinking for a while, he asked, "Why me?"

Chief Chali seemed to know he would ask that, and praised him in a tone slightly tinged with admiration: "Because you have principles, while others..." He squeezed out a very fake smile; both understood what he meant.

Actually, he had already agreed, having consented in his heart, but there was also something he was reluctant to part with. "I still have some cases in my hands that haven't been processed."

"About crimes or gangs?"

"Both."

"Then you have even less to worry about, Lukaer. You should be very clear that for those criminal syndicates, the harder we prohibit, the higher their profits."

"These wild dogs that have rushed over smelling blood won't give up this high-return illegal business; they will definitely participate in it."

"You can still investigate them, and you'll have even greater power!"

After a long silence, Officer Lukaer agreed. "I have no problem with that."

The old Chief smiled very contentedly; he knew it would be like this. "Then I will write a report later. You should prepare yourself mentally; the transfer might be very fast."

"And before that, you might need to undergo a period of training."

"As for the cases in your hands, I can help you transfer them. But I'll say it again: don't let them run wild in this city. If there's any news, notify me in time!"

Officer Lukaer agreed, then left the office. The old Chief leaned back on that chair, smiling, bathing in the sunlight.

Inadvertently, when he reached out to grab his pipe, a flash of gold would pass across his cuff.

Having principles means being able to be utilized by principles.

For Chief Chali, Officer Lukaer might not be the best one, but he was the most suitable one.

Choose those dirty cops for a department with more power?

With the gold-bullet offensive of capitalists and the Five Great Families, he didn't think those dirty cops could hold out for too long.

For example, the Assistant Chief of the Port District branch nicknamed "Vulture"—even Chief Chali had heard that before he took office as Assistant Chief, he had thoroughly ransacked his own patrol zone.

Such a person going to the Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol, and Hazardous Materials would only corrupt faster and lean toward those people, forgetting him early on.

On the contrary, Officer Lukaer, who had principles and hadn't bowed to this society, would become his most suitable candidate at this time.

Officer Lukaer didn't take much dirty money and remained vigilant toward capitalists, the Five Great Families, and those criminal syndicates. These excellent virtues and professional ethics meant he actually had no support to rely on in this city.

If you don't take money, how can capitalists feel at ease helping you become more powerful?

If you don't collude with the Five Great Families and criminal syndicates, these criminal syndicates will be panicked, afraid that you'll reach out and cause them to suffer losses!

If you don't stand with them, don't stand in the vanity fair wearing a hypocritical mask and deal with them, how can you become friends?

You aren't even friends; why would you expect these people to help you?

Especially when you might investigate them.

So after Officer Lukaer went to the new Bureau, the greatest support he could rely on was actually his old superior.

He didn't know what officials and law enforcement agencies in other regions thought, but in his view, it was a mess!

A law enforcement agency capable of challenging the old order was being born.

In the afternoon, the nephew of Mr. Qiaobafu's assistant had just left his uncle. His uncle told him to go out and hide for a period of time.

He definitely couldn't return to the Empire; if he went back, he would be sent to the front lines.

Going to other countries... it seemed like a good choice, and this was also his uncle's idea. For example, going to Lidao for a vacation, or going to Gaoshan to see the so-called federal origins.

Actually, continuing south to travel around the countries near Xiang Yalan—there were many beauties there. It was said that you only needed to promise to take them away from their terrible countries and come to the Federation.

Then those passionate and hot beauties could do anything for you, anywhere!

These were all good choices, but in the end, the assistant's nephew chose to stay within the Federation.

Because he wasn't familiar with those countries at all; from the time he could remember, he had lived here.

He never felt he was an immigrant or a second-generation immigrant; he felt he was a federal citizen, although federal citizens didn't acknowledge this point.

He was very familiar with this place. The familiar environment gave him more sense of security, even if he knew there were some dangers, but at least, he needed it.

Going to other countries was simple, but in those strange countries, if he encountered trouble, he didn't even know who to find to solve it.

Plus the language barrier and inconvenient communication, if he really encountered trouble, he might really not be able to come back.

So he decided, he wouldn't go anywhere, and wouldn't even leave this city.

He was very familiar with this place; he could definitely hide.

After returning home and simply packing some things, and saying goodbye to his family, he came to the Linjie District. This was north of the city center; it was the oldest district in Jincheng, and also a district with a very strong sense of life.

With the development of the city, its vitality clearly couldn't keep up with the pace of the times, gradually becoming a place with a relatively slow rhythm.

Some old imperial immigrants lived here, but most were elderly; young people all went to more vibrant and younger places to live.

Here, you could often see some old people sitting on rattan chairs on both sides of the road; they chatted together, read newspapers, or dozed off leaning on chairs in the afternoon.

You didn't even know if they were sleeping, or if they had suddenly died.

Old shops and goods not liked by young people—life here was so simple.

Mr. Qiaobafu's assistant had bought two houses here, but they had never been lived in, just left empty.

He always felt that one day they would be useful, and now, it was the time to use them.

Before this, he had people clean all the houses, the routine kind, cleaning the rooms on time, doing cleaning, it was like this before, no one would suspect.

Taking advantage of the night, the assistant's nephew came to one of the houses.

After arriving at this place, the house had already been cleaned. Although it wasn't as good as his villa, at least it was safe here.

The house wasn't big, a two-story building by the roadside, with about 150 square meters in total.

In the old district, such houses could be seen everywhere, all very ancient buildings.

Although the house wasn't big, he liked it very much. When people are in danger, the smaller the environment, the more sense of security it brings.

After he settled down, he picked up the phone and dialed his uncle's number.

"I've settled down, everything is safe, the quilt and sheets are new, and they smell like flowers."

The assistant was silent for a long time. "There is a statue of the Virgin Mary in the attic. Move it away. There will be a lion pattern on the base. Twist it, and a box will fall out from under the base."

"Inside there is a pistol, two magazines, and two boxes of bullets."

The nephew was a bit surprised. "I don't need these right now."

The assistant's voice grew louder. "No, you do."

"Remember, find it, carry it with you, until I call you again."

The nephew didn't continue to resist. "Alright, I know, uncle."

The assistant was silent for a while again. "Protect yourself, and, I love you."

"I love you too."

After hanging up the phone, the nephew sat in a daze for a while, then went to the attic according to his uncle's request, and found the statue of the Virgin Mary.

She was so merciful, as if she couldn't tolerate even a tiny bit of cruel and ruthless things. After looking at the statue for a while, he apologized and moved the Virgin Mary off the base.

Then he discovered the lion pattern his uncle mentioned, a protruding front lion head, only about less than a centimeter high, with intaglio lines on the side.

He didn't twist it at first, but after pressing down, he twisted it.

Then he heard a click, and the base fell off.

He saw the pistol, magazines, and bullets his uncle mentioned. Considering he really wasn't that safe right now, he carried the pistol with him.

It was safe here, and enough food had been stored; he could completely stay here without going out for two or three weeks.

What to do?

He thought, but there didn't seem to be anything good to do. Reading books might have become one of his few choices.

It just so happened he brought a few books over.

Opening the book "Experiencing Suffering," his emotions and thoughts began to rise and fall with the protagonist's bumpy encounters.

On the other end of the phone line, the assistant hunched his waist, covering his cheeks with both hands, his voice somewhat choked.

Mr. Qiaobafu stood beside him, holding his shoulders. "I tried to kill them; they could have gotten more money, but they refused."

"If money could solve this matter, you know me, I wouldn't be stingy with that little bit of money."

"But they don't want money."

Mr. Qiaobafu asked Pete to talk to Poli. The news fed back was very bad. Poli told him that his assistant and his assistant's nephew, one of them must die!

Giving money was useless; this had nothing to do with money!

If every time someone failed to assassinate him and his subordinates, giving tens of thousands of dollars would settle it, then starting tomorrow, people lining up to assassinate could line up from the door of his company in the Port District all the way to outside his villa in the Bay District!

This wasn't a matter of giving Mr. Qiaobafu face or not; this was the bottom line, the principle. Someone must pay the price of their life for this.

Moreover, this was still out of respect for the Mayor and Mr. Pete; otherwise, it wouldn't be such a small character who died, but Mr. Qiaobafu himself.

In the end, he compromised. Between the assistant and the assistant's nephew, he chose that idiot.

Of course, he was also somewhat unhappy and angry inside. Such a simple matter could be messed up; perhaps his death was self-inflicted.

But he wouldn't show it like that. He tried his best to save the young man's life, but unfortunately, he couldn't do it.

The assistant was still crying in grief. He didn't have a son himself, so this nephew was loved by him just like his son. Now, this relative who was like his son was about to leave this world, and the sadness flowed out uncontrollably.

Perhaps it was associating his own fate from the assistant's crying, and in empathy, Mr. Qiaobafu was also very sad.

But this wasn't the time for him to be sad. He patted the assistant's shoulder. "We will take revenge!"

The assistant wiped his tears and looked at him. "Can we take revenge?"

Mr. Qiaobafu nodded affirmatively. "Definitely!"

A few minutes later, Poli hung up the phone and handed the note in front of him to Jimmy. "This is where that imperial bastard is hiding now. Keep the movement small."

Jimmy looked at the note, put it into his pocket, and then stood up. "I'll go get this done."

Poli raised his hand to signal he could leave. Jimmy immediately called a few people to take a car and leave together.

Although losing a sum of money made people feel regretful, being able to regain face and vent a bad breath was also not bad.

As for who gave Poli this address, and how to confirm that this person lived in this house, he didn't care; this wasn't what he had to do.

The car drove across the entire Imperial District. He couldn't see the grief of Mr. Qiaobafu and the assistant on a building on a certain street. In his mind, there was only the upcoming revenge, and the fear brought by that gunshot.

After eight o'clock in the evening, the nephew who had already eaten was lying on the bed, already somewhat drowsy.

He had a habit: before sleeping, he liked to go to the toilet, empty his bladder, and then wash his face.

This way he could have a good sleep.

He came to the toilet, whistling while watching the water ripples in the toilet bowl. He suddenly remembered an interesting piece of news he had seen before.

In a certain state, after dark, not only was it not allowed to pee standing up, but it was also not allowed to whistle in the toilet.

Federal citizens are really sick in the head!

He laughed twice, shook, flushed, and then turned his head to look at himself in the mirror, somewhat haggard.

He put quite a bit of water in the basin, then lowered his head. He used his hands to scoop water and splash it on his face, splashing several times, before rubbing and washing it hard a few times.

When he raised his head again, his gaze was suddenly attracted by the person standing behind him in the mirror.

The not-so-bright light in the bathroom flickered... ===== CHAPTER 131 =====