Chapter 285

Actually... if Lans were really given another chance to choose again, to let him know the ending of this moment, to let him choose again.

He would still choose to stand on the opposite side of the Mayor, using a sentence he didn't know where he had seen to describe it: his knees were too hard, and he couldn't kneel down.

He wasn't Chali, wasn't anyone else; for wealth, power, and status, he could be a dog.

Compared to being a wealthy dog, he would rather be a poor person; although poor, at least he was a person.

This was an irreconcilable contradiction that lay between him and the Mayor.

"Should we make some backup preparation plans?", Aierwen was a bit worried; bad things seemed to always surround them.

Having finally had a meal to eat, the Kamila Gang came to find trouble for them again.

Having solved the Kamila Gang, they hadn't been able to rest for long before a new challenge descended.

Having thought everything was over, he didn't expect the Mayor to start a new round of tossing.

He was a bit annoyed, annoyed by these people who held power but were always unwilling to settle down.

Lans didn't refuse, "You can set up one or two safe houses in Xigu City and Jinxing City—guns, some cash, some fake IDs, all are fine, to ensure that if anyone needs to leave and hide for a period of time, including ourselves, there is a place to go."

"Aierwen, don't worry, this matter is much simpler than you imagine..."

Lans let him go do things and then made a phone call to Hunter. About twenty minutes later, Lans drove to their agreed location, which was Chali's villa located in the Bay Area.

Before he even got out of the car, Hunter saw Lans. After Lans entered, he couldn't help but tease, "You are much more afraid of death than I imagined."

A motorcade of four cars, all sitting with gang members who didn't look easy to mess with; even looking from afar, Hunter knew these people could draw their guns and shoot at any time.

Some rumors about the Lans family were becoming part of the order of the underground world of New Jincheng, for example, if there was a person who didn't know who killed him, but as long as there were more than one pound of bullets in his body, then without a doubt, looking for the Lans family was right!

The quality of the gunmen of the Lans family might not be as good as the Sumuli gunmen, but no one would underestimate them; at least they dared to shoot, dared to kill, which was actually quite good.

You have to know, not all gang members dare to shoot and kill!

Lans didn't care at all about Hunter's teasing, which had no malice toward him. He bumped fists with Hunter, "Living is always better than dying."

He said and paused, looking at Chali standing in the hall.

Chali, the former director who had taken off his police uniform, looked like a successful capitalist. He combed his hair back, applied a lot of hair wax, and his whole head looked oily.

Wearing exquisite clothes, wearing a gold watch, the gemstone tie clip and cufflinks highlighted his style and wealth.

You couldn't find a single thing related to the police on him.

After the two shook hands simply, they entered the living room together.

"I plan to get rid of John."

Chali, who had just picked up his coffee cup and taken a small sip, suddenly turned his head to one side. He covered his mouth, stretched his head, and coffee flowed out from between his palm and chin.

Hunter hurriedly gave him a napkin; he said thank you, then tidied himself up, and looked at Lans with some helplessness.

Who the hell would say such explosive news as soon as they came up?

But it had to be said, he liked this matter Lans mentioned very much.

Originally, after he resigned to take the blame, he thought the Mayor wouldn't appoint a new Police Chief, at least not until his struggle with the Bay Area ended.

Because no matter who was promoted, they would be sidelined. A Police Chief whose orders couldn't leave the office, even if put up there, would just be a joke to all the people in the city!

So even if he resigned, he could continue to control the police station through confidants like Hunter.

But no one expected that a traitor would appear within the police, which led to a very bad situation; those police officers who were frustrated and marginalized had a new choice!

Where there are people, there is competition. Chali also had people he hated, and Hunter also had people he hated. When they were in power, they could let these police officers go to the most remote places to do the most tiring work.

But now, the situation was different; the joining of these local people allowed John to quickly gather a local police force in his hands.

He broke the plans of Chali and the Bay Area; they couldn't sideline John and even let John control the Port District Branch.

These exceeded Chali's cognition.

It was like... Mr. Qiaobafu, this Empire banker who was once marginalized; when the Mayor extended an olive branch, to him, it was like a drowning person seeing a life-saving straw.

Even if it was just a straw, he would grab it with all his might.

The loser had the qualification to challenge the winner again; anyway, they had nothing left to lose, so why not give it a try?

After Chali cleaned up the coffee, he exhaled, "Just pretend I didn't hear you say these words."

He was a Police Chief, at least a former one; if someone knew that Lans had discussed this with him before getting rid of John.

No matter if this idea was Lans's own or not, he would have to take the blame, because there was no one better to take the blame than him!

People would rather believe this was a conspiracy than believe this was Lans's own decision.

Then Lans stood up, which made Chali and Hunter feel a bit inexplicable again. They also stood up, looking at Lans a bit nervously, not knowing what he meant.

"Chali, I thought you were a very smart person, but it seems you aren't that smart."

"You have to understand, you hope John gets rid of more than I do, but you say such words to me now. You didn't make me feel like my IQ was challenged; you should ask yourself if you feel like you humiliated yourself!"

"If you insist on using that politician's set to talk to me, I'll go back now, and then take people to other places."

"The Federation doesn't just have one city; we can live well anywhere."

"But you, Hunter, you people, can you go to other places and live as well as we do? Can you guess for yourselves?"

Chali was a bit embarrassed; Hunter hurriedly walked over and grabbed Lans's arm, "Chali didn't mean that; he's just not used to your straightforwardness..."

Hunter gave Chali a look, and the latter apologized for his performance just now with some embarrassment, "I was stupid, sorry."

Only then did Lans sit back down; he wanted to grasp the initiative. He opened his mouth to get rid of John, just to always grasp the initiative.

He wanted to let these two people understand this truth: it wasn't that he wanted to get rid of John for them, but that they needed him to get rid of John!

"The purpose of my coming here is to ask you: if John dies, can you quickly regain control of New Jincheng's police system?"

Chali glanced at Hunter; after the two looked at each other for a moment, they discussed in a low voice for a while, not avoiding Lans. Lans could hear the words they said.

It was probably about letting who go to what position, moving who away from the original position, and so on.

After the two discussed for about five minutes, both showed difficulty, "We can try to control it, but the final decision-making power is still in the hands of the Mayor!"

"After this time, we also aren't sure how many people are on our side. You know, no matter who is the Chief, who is the Mayor, they will rely on the police station."

When Hunter said this sentence, his face was black.

What he wanted to express was that the Mayor would only rely more on the police system; the benefits those police officers could get from the Mayor were far higher than the benefits they got!

The difficult part was here!

"We have no way to convince everyone to stand on our side. Although John's time in office is short, he ultimately stands behind the Mayor."

"If it's just choosing between us and John, I believe they would choose us more, but if it's choosing between us and the Mayor, our chances of winning aren't high."

Lans looked at these two pieces of trash, a bit of mockery on his face, "I thought you had already firmly grasped New Jincheng's police system in your hands!"

Chali explained with a bitter smile, "This matter isn't as simple as you imagine, Lans."

"No matter how big I talk, I'm just the former Chief, and Hunter is just one of the criminal investigation officers. How can we compare with the Mayor and the current Chief?"

"And you also saw it; in a sense, we are already losers."

"Then them standing on the Mayor's side seems to become understandable."

Lans didn't deny it; he frowned and pondered for a while, "I have an idea, but not now. The problem we need to solve now is to solve John first."

"After he's finished, you see if you can control those police officers, at least keep them neutral, and then we'll find a way to pull them into our camp."

The two discussed again for a while and felt this was no problem.

"If it's just convincing them to stay neutral, I can do it!"

After all, he was a veteran police officer of decades; he still had this bit of face, "But I don't guarantee how long it can be maintained; maybe one or two weeks, maybe one or two months, but it's also possible it will be shorter."

"Enough!"

"Then next, you must be prepared."

Some smiles also appeared on Chali and Hunter's faces; if they could get rid of John, they were indeed happier than anyone else.

Hunter had taken long leave after John took office; he didn't want to see John, and even less did he want to listen to his instructions to do things.

Now, everything seemed to be getting better.

John didn't know if Hunter was getting better, but he knew he was already getting better.

He had just come out of the Mayor's office; the Mayor gave affirmation to his work during this period and also soothed his emotions—

Erik's death had no direct relationship with him; he didn't kill the person, so he didn't need to worry about the Mayor taking his anger out on him.

As for whether the murderer could be found, that also had no big relationship with him; that was the work of the Criminal Investigation Division.

What he had to do was to stabilize his position in the police system as soon as possible and obtain the support of more police groups.

No matter what district, what branch, they must be grasped as soon as possible.

The Mayor also hinted to him that if he could do well, he would always reuse him.

This made John feel like a blooming flower; he felt... sublimated!

His steps were light!

Now there were many people in the police system who were still watching; the attitude of these people was no longer as resistant as it was at the beginning. He had made some adjustments after taking office.

For example, expressing respect for the branch's independent law enforcement power to a certain extent, for example, supporting them in setting up funds, supporting them in collecting reasonable fees, etc.

He promised to increase the income of the police, increase their benefits and treatment, which made it easy for some low-level police officers to change camps.

The truly difficult ones to choose were those "officers." For low-level police officers, they didn't care who was in power.

Now, what he had to do was to handle Branch Director Bulu first. After handling this person, some who were still watching might lean toward him.

By then, once a dominant situation was formed, more branches would join in, eventually letting him achieve unification.

It's just that he didn't know how long it would take for Branch Director Bulu to figure it out.

Maybe give him a little more pressure?

John at this time had already very much brought himself into the role of this acting Chief; his head was full of pictures of himself being confirmed.

By then, the public security of the entire New Jincheng would be under his control; those gangs who wanted their business not to be disturbed would have to pay him!

How much money is this?!

He had just returned to the police station intending to urge those people to investigate Erik's disappearance properly, when his assistant told him that Branch Director Bulu had called him.

This made him happy, temporarily abandoning the idea of asking the Criminal Investigation Division about the progress of the case investigation, and he returned directly to his office.

He put his hat away, picked up the phone, and dialed the number of the Empire District Branch Director's office.

"They said just now that you called me." John's tone was a bit aggressive and tough; he understood Bulu, so the tougher he acted, the easier it was to convince Bulu.

Branch Director Bulu said "Hmm," "I considered your previous proposal for a few days; in principle, I have no reason to oppose it, but there are also some things I want to talk to you about in person."

"No problem, come to my office!" John's face showed a smile, "It's best to drive your official car; I want everyone to know you came to my office, understand?"

If he could make it known to the whole city that another branch had accepted the management of the General Bureau, this would be greater pressure for those who were still hesitating!

However, Branch Director Bulu didn't agree with him, "I can do this, but not this time. I want to talk to you about... some things that aren't very convenient to talk about on the phone."

"You know, besides work, we have some other problems to solve."

John just pondered simply, "About what?"

"Money, and my position."

John had no other questions, "You name a place."

"I know a small restaurant; there aren't many people, but their food tastes good!"

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John gladly accepted the appointment, "I am very interested in this kind of gourmet food!"

"I have to say, John, you made one of the most correct choices in your life; I'll be there soon!"

He tidied up, hesitated for a moment, and then changed into casual clothes, because what they were going to talk about were topics that weren't so public, so he didn't need to dress so formally.

Ten-something minutes later, he arrived outside the small restaurant Branch Director Bulu mentioned, parked the car, and looked at the "Delicious Roasted Sausage" sign; a smile appeared on his face.

He also liked eating roasted sausage; it wasn't because he liked eating roasted sausage so much that he smiled, but because he felt something good was happening, so he smiled.

He pushed the door and entered. The small restaurant had an area of about sixty or seventy square meters, with seven or eight tables. Branch Director Bulu sat at the position behind the window facing the street.

Seeing John come, Branch Director Bulu hurriedly stood up and waved, "Over here."

John smiled and pointed at him with both hands, also bending his knees slightly, having a dynamic feeling of "I found you."

He walked over and shook hands with Branch Director Bulu, "Did you order food?"

"I just came out of the Mayor's office and am a bit hungry."

He seemed to be just stating that he was hungry, but he was actually telling Branch Director Bulu how close he was to the Mayor!

You have to know, Chali had been in office for six years and hadn't been to the Mayor's office many times, but he went often, recently!

Branch Director Bulu immediately filled his face with smiles and nodded, "Ordered, signature roasted sausage, roasted ribs, roasted beef and lamb chops, and roasted fish..."

"Wow, so much, we can't finish it." He chose to sit with his back to the window, "You are a bit wasteful."

Branch Director Bulu seemed to have a face full of flattery, "It's okay, if we can't finish it, we can pack it up and take it back."

John smiled slightly; this was just a warm-up before communication. They hadn't spoken for a while, and the tone of his previous request for Branch Director Bulu to make a choice was also very stiff.

Talking about some normalized content now helped to ease the atmosphere.

Soon the food came up; no matter what it was, it exuded an enticing fragrance. There was only this one table in the restaurant, and it wasn't mealtime yet.

Originally John wasn't very hungry, but seeing such rich food, he suddenly wanted to eat something.

He got himself a small piece of roasted sausage, eating while asking, "What do you want to tell me?"

Branch Director Bulu said very seriously, "I can... you know, just that meaning."

John put down his knife and fork; he wiped his mouth, "Is it difficult for you to say 'defect to me'?"

"Bulu, I know, maybe I worked under you before, and you have some misunderstanding about me, making you feel now that defecting to me is a very uncomfortable or shameful thing."

"But in reality, I think there's no need to make yourself look so unlikable because of some small vanity."

"Making me feel like you aren't sincerely defecting to me."

"Come, give you another chance."

He wasn't joking; he looked at Bulu very seriously. The two looked at each other for a few seconds, and Bulu's face suddenly had some more smiles, "I am willing to defect to you, John."

John couldn't help but laugh out loud; he stood up, bent over, and took a piece of steak and put it on Bulu's plate, "Joking with you, why are you so serious?"

"Come, taste this steak; the taste here is indeed good!"