Chapter 537

With a "clatter," the office door was pushed open heavily. Director Bulu, behind the desk, put down the work in his hands and looked up at Charlie, who was walking in from outside.

His secretary stood by the door with a look of helplessness and grievance, "I told him..."

Director Bulu waved his hand before she could finish, "Bring a cup of coffee, and close the door on your way out."

The secretary bowed slightly and closed the office door. Director Bulu gestured for Charlie to sit down, "You should have called me first and come over when I had time."

Charlie looked at the man sitting behind the desk in front of him; the flames of anger were almost burning him up entirely!

But, it was only "almost." The flames turned from anger did not actually achieve this. Charlie stood there staring at him for five or six seconds, then sat down in the chair opposite Director Bulu.

The two stared at each other; neither spoke first, and neither avoided the other's gaze. After looking at each other for about ten seconds, Charlie said, "You are very different now from the you of the past."

Director Bulu was still staring at him, "Yes, a big difference. I have felt that too."

"You know, the old me might have..." he curled his lip, "even in our group, belonged to the marginalized."

He placed both hands on the desk, toying with a fountain pen, "The Imperial District branch isn't a good place; no one likes it there."

"Chaotic, poor streets, endless troubles that can never be solved, and almost no benefits to be seen."

A flash of dislike for the Imperial District branch crossed Director Bulu's eyes; he didn't feel hatred or loathing, just simple dislike.

After all, he had worked there for quite some time; aside from not liking it, everything else was actually fine.

He looked at Charlie, "I was a marginal character; no one cared about me. You were always in the spotlight."

"Everyone revolved around you, Charlie."

Back when Charlie was still the director, Charlie was the "heaven" of the New Jincheng police force. Everything he said was an oracle that the police had to obey.

If anyone dared to defy his decisions, that person would face terrible "retaliation."

Being ostracized, marginalized, assigned to guard remote areas, or even sent to the forest police station.

Once kicked out of this circle in the police force, one was not even as good as an ordinary officer; there was no better choice than resigning.

At that time, Bulu was indeed just a small figure.

"Now, I have walked to this point, sitting in this position, which is why you feel I am different from the past!" He put down the pen he was holding and leaned back in his chair, tapping one hand on the armrest.

"Charlie, it is not I who have changed. I am no different from the past. What makes you feel I have changed is that we are in different offices, talking from different positions. That makes you feel I have changed, nothing more!"

"You cannot speak to me in a commanding tone like you used to. You also have to respect me and try to fathom my thoughts."

"The old me was just a small character on the edge of the crowd who had to watch your expression just to say a few words to you."

"And now, if you want to see me, you have to rely on breaking into my office, and then still have to put on a calm face to talk to me."

"That is the difference."

The secretary knocked on the door and walked in from outside with coffee. She placed the coffee on the desk and then took the initiative to leave.

Charlie looked at the coffee cup with steam rising in front of him. He suddenly revealed a trace of a smile, a mocking smile, "I never knew you were so good at talking."

"Who did you learn it from?"

"Or is it hereditary?"

Director Bulu shook his head, "That is not important."

"You see me as different from the past; actually, looking at you now, I also see you as different from the past."

He placed his right hand back on the desk, both hands continuing to toy with the fountain pen.

"The past me looking at the past you was like looking at a towering mountain."

"Very large, stretching to a place where I couldn't see the end, and still continuing to spread outward."

"To the me of that time, you were a high mountain I could only look up to forever."

"But now!" He reached out a hand toward Charlie, "Look, you aren't actually anything extraordinary!"

Charlie was irritated by his tone. He looked at Director Bulu, his face looking very ugly, "What kind of confidence did Lanse give you to make you dare to speak to me like this?"

Director Bulu knew some of Lanse's upcoming moves. As long as he succeeded on his end, he didn't need to care about Charlie's attitude at all.

But people have different experiences, different feelings, and different psychological changes at different times.

He looked at Charlie, his eyes carrying a sense of superiority, a kind of indescribable arrogance.

"Mr. Lanse didn't give me any confidence; he just gave me a chance to talk to you as an equal. That's all."

Charlie felt his blood pressure rising significantly. He reached out with his fingers to hold the edge of the coffee cup, constantly adjusting and turning the rim of the cup, "So, this is your reliance?"

There were some things Director Bulu really wanted to say; that intense desire to confide was as if he had already seen Charlie's future and knew his outcome, and he wanted to "show off."

However, he held back. He knew it wasn't the time, so he just smiled, shook his head, and said nothing.

His attitude made Charlie very unhappy. He would find a way to make Director Bulu pay the price.

He would make this guy understand that even if he had Lanse behind him, certain core interests of this city were not things they could touch at will.

"Let's not talk about this. Charlie, is there anything you came here for this time?" Director Bulu changed the subject.

Charlie pursed his lips, picked up the coffee, and took a small sip, "I heard you arrested some of your old friends?"

"Old friends?"

Director Bulu asked back, then laughed softly, "Mr. Charlie, this is an internal matter of our police department, and you are not a member of the police department."

"You have no right to know the details of these matters, so I have nothing to say."

Charlie was still unwilling to give up. Coupled with the unease and slight panic he felt in his heart about this matter, he asked again, "Are you sure you want to break with me?"

Director Bulu shook his head, "These have nothing to do with you, Mr. Charlie."

"If you are interested in where they went, then you should pay more attention to our bulletin board. When there is new news, we will post it on the bulletin board immediately, and it might also be mentioned in the newspapers."

The two stared at each other for a moment longer. Charlie stood up abruptly and pointed at Director Bulu; this was clearly a threatening gesture.

But Director Bulu just looked at him calmly, without showing any look of panic.

"Can I understand it this way?"

"Are you threatening me?"

Charlie sneered, "No, not at all. I am just saying goodbye to you, Director Bulu!"

He emphasized his tone on the title "Director Bulu," but anyone could hear that he had no respect for this title, let alone any awe.

He turned and opened the door to leave. Soon, the secretary pushed the door open and entered, "Director, I..."

Director Bulu shook his head, "Take the coffee down and pour it out. You don't need to stop him next time Charlie comes."

"You definitely wouldn't be able to stop him anyway."

The secretary tidied up the tea set on the desk with some shame, picked up the teacup and saucer, and left quickly.

Charlie's influence on the New Jincheng police force was still very significant; even now, no one had taken the initiative to come over and check if he, the director, needed help.

But then again, thirty-some years of being director had established a very unusual image of him in the minds of many lower-middle-level officers.

On the contrary, Director Bulu's image in their eyes was not that good—

Some said he only obtained his current status because he defected to Lanse, and this was also seen by some officers as a betrayal of the police system.

After things stabilized during this period, he would purge the entire police force.

As for those who were loyal to Charlie in their hearts, he wouldn't keep a single one!

After Charlie left Director Bulu's office, that obvious, intense unease began to become even more obvious and intense.

It was as if there was some invisible but potentially fatal threat to him, constantly trying to think through his hard shell and touch him hidden inside. He knew that the disappearance of these people must have something to do with Director Bulu and must have something to do with Lanse.

He drove directly to the local prosecutor's office, but did not find anything abnormal.

He used the excuse of reviewing files and documents to take a tour of the prosecutor's office, but did not find those officers.

He also asked a prosecutor he had a good relationship with, and no order had been received recently to investigate the police force.

Afterward, he went to the Department of Justice. From the Department of Justice, he received news that the police department had not obtained any legal document approval from the Department of Justice in the past few days.

In other words, the disappearance of his subordinates was a big problem.

Where they had gone and how Lanse and the others planned to deal with him became the things Charlie most urgently wanted to know now.

He did not seek help from those big shots in the Bay Area. Over the years, he had spent a lot of time with these big shots and knew their style.

Once they believed Charlie had no value, they would immediately abandon Charlie.

Charlie knew so many of their secrets and had helped them handle so many dirty jobs; if they were to abandon Charlie, it would definitely be a dead Charlie, not a living one!

All of this made him feel uneasy, unable to breathe, as if he were drowning.

While looking one by one/p>

He slammed his foot on the brake. The vehicle following him swerved and knocked over a trash can on the side of the road. The driver stepped out of the driver's seat, cursing angrily.

He walked to the side of Charlie's car, seemingly wanting to open his door and drag him out, but after seeing Charlie open the toolbox and reveal the weapon inside, he took a step back and shut his mouth.

This scene on the street quickly attracted many onlookers. Charlie had already made a decision; he turned the steering wheel sharply and quickly chose another road. He wanted to go home.

Charlie had a villa in the Bay Area. With his job as police chief, even if he worked for five hundred years, he couldn't afford a luxury villa here.

But not only did he buy it, there were also five luxury cars in the garage, belonging to him and his family respectively.

When he parked the car steadily and walked into the living room, the maid immediately came up to greet him, took the hat from his hand, and helped him take off his trench coat.

"Is the Madam home?"

The maid said while using a duster to help him clean the dust off his pants, "Yes, Madam is resting."

Charlie walked toward the stairs with big strides, while the maid put the hat and trench coat into the cloakroom.

Charlie's wife was exercising. The more people in the federal upper class, the stricter they were about managing their figures.

Of course, this did not exclude some people who were very indulgent with their body shape, but that was ultimately only a part, and a small part at that.

Most people had very standard figures.

In the exercise room, besides his wife, there was another female teacher, a little over thirty, but she looked just like someone in her mid-twenties.

Charlie's wife was exercising her body under her guidance.

Seeing Charlie return suddenly, his wife was a bit surprised, "Why are you back suddenly?"

"Didn't you say you wouldn't be home for dinner tonight?"

Charlie shook his head slightly and looked at the coach, "I need to talk to my wife alone."

The female coach stopped immediately, her face full of smiles, without the slightest dissatisfaction for having her lesson interrupted.

Twenty dollars a session, ninety minutes; she was selling not just content, but service.

"Of course, Mr. Charlie..."

The female coach left the training room and very considerately closed the door.

Charlie's wife found a place to sit, "So, what happened?"

Charlie hesitated a bit, but the unease in his heart urged him to make the final decision, "The current situation is very bad. I don't know what method Lanse plans to use to deal with me, but I believe he has full confidence in his move this time."

His wife also realized the seriousness, stood up, walked to his side, and grabbed his hand, "Will you be in danger?"

Charlie didn't know how to say it. He looked at his wife's face, which still faintly showed the style of her youth but was already covered in wrinkles, and was silent for a while.

"Not just me, you will also be in danger."

"That is Lanse!"

He clenched his fist, "In any case, you must leave here immediately. Activate that plan of ours. Do you remember?"

His wife did not answer him, but asked very worriedly, "Has the situation become that serious?"

Charlie was silent for a while longer; he didn't want to answer this question, "In any case, you take the children and leave first. Once you arrive at the place, abandon your current identities immediately."

"Don't contact anyone. Use your new identities, including new accounts and new checks."

"Everything must be completely disconnected from the past..."

Charlie had considered before whether he would one day become a sacrificial lamb or an object the Bay Area tycoons wanted to get rid of.

He had done similar things for the Bay Area tycoons; those gloves who knew too many of their secrets lost their utility value and were then gotten rid of and buried by him.

He worried that one day he would face the same situation, so he used his status as police chief to forge a set of real identities for himself.

He and his family had some real work records, real social security bills paid, tax bills, and family accounts.

There was about five hundred thousand dollars saved in the account. It wasn't deposited all at once; it was deposited a little bit every year in the name of investment income, and it had continued until now.

Then this family moved from New Jincheng to live in other cities and experienced some more relocations; the clues to the past were almost completely broken!

As long as they activated their new identities, they would be brand-new people!

This was the retreat Charlie left for himself. He had thought that after so many years, it wouldn't be needed.

His wife looked reluctant, but she also knew this wasn't the time for nonsense, "I will notify the children. When are we leaving?"

"The sooner the better."

His wife sighed and hugged Charlie, "I'll go now."

His wife didn't chase him to ask anything; she knew that what was most needed at this time was not to make him more irritable, but to let him have no worries behind him.

After solving one worrying situation, Charlie finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He raised his sleeve to look at the gold watch on his wrist, but his thinking paused at this moment!

The gold watch was very luxurious, not low-key at all. He suddenly remembered that the state government had been saying for a year that they wanted to thoroughly investigate the corruption problem in the New Jincheng police force, but there had never been any follow-up.

He was a bit uneasy after the new year, and it was already April now. He hadn't heard of any investigation teams coming down, which gradually meant that this matter was just talk.

After all, people like Mr. Houfu, even in the state government, in Manton, had a certain influence. This matter should have been suppressed.

But at this moment, he suddenly realized, could Lanse have contacted the investigation team?

He quickly went to the study and dialed the phone number of an important person in the Bay Area. After the short call ended, he paced back and forth in the study.

If Lanse really wanted to give him a punch in this way, he really wouldn't be able to handle it!

Time ticked away, and the sweat on his face and head increased more and more. After waiting for about twenty or thirty minutes, the telephone on the desk suddenly rang piercingly.

He lunged over, grabbed the receiver, and put it to his ear, "I am Charlie."

"Charlie, I helped you ask. Someone from the State Prosecutor's Office did go on a business trip, but it cannot be confirmed whether they came to New Jincheng."

"Did you encounter any trouble?"

Charlie paused for a moment and quickly replied, "No, nothing. Thank you, I just wanted to ask."

"I heard they have a case in their hands, and a gentleman wants to... you know."

The person on the receiver laughed twice, "Your business is really extensive!" He paused, "Alright, if there's nothing else, I still have to go play ball."

Charlie quickly stopped bothering the other party, "Goodbye."

"Let's play ball together when you have time. See you later!"

He hung up the phone, leaned on the desk, and went to the side of the chair. His legs went soft, and he sat down. All the strength in his body was drained away at this moment!

(End of chapter)