Chapter 832: New Order

The noon sun shone into the entire alley. People walking on the sidewalks on both sides walked toward the intersection. On the road, the motorcade moved slowly.

The young police officer looked at this scene without any sound, subconsciously swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

His gaze looked at his partner with some horror. The face of this old police officer also revealed a fearful and uneasy expression. This was the first time he had discovered this in this partner who could be both a teacher and a friend.

This old partner had worked in New Birmingham for more than twenty years, and he was about to retire soon.

On weekdays, even if there was a gang gunfight, he would wait for them to finish fighting with a coffee in one hand and a donut in the other, and then walk over very easily to clean up the mess.

Before, the young police officer asked him why he wasn't afraid.

The old police officer smiled and told him that these people were fake scary, they weren't really scary.

You fear them, and their evil will be magnified.

If you don't fear them, their evil will shrink, and instead, they will fear you.

He had always felt that his partner wouldn't have a time to be afraid, until this moment.

A large group of people wearing iron-gray trench coats and wearing soft felt hats of the same color walked on both sides of the street.

The red silk hat hoop, red tie, and red pocket handkerchief added some magical chemical reactions to this dull iron-gray tone.

Their walking speed wasn't fast, of course, not slow either, as if they were guarding the motorcade in the middle of the road.

I don't know why, at this moment, the young police officer's mind surfaced with the text he could remember a part of during his high school period—the Emperor's knights protected the Emperor!

He felt a sense of horror, followed by goosebumps all over his body. Watching the other party approach, he even slowed down his breathing.

No one said to stop them, nor did anyone say to arrest them, even if some of them might have some blood stains left on their legs and bodies.

The police officer responsible for guarding this side suddenly shouted loudly, "Move the roadblocks away!"

Those police officers around him almost subconsciously began to obey. They ran to the side of the roadblocks with their heads down, took the roadblocks, lifted them, and placed them on the side of the road, not discordant at all.

In the distance, those citizens who were watching the fun and were chattering before were now keeping silent. Some were so scared that they even turned around to find a toilet!

The Lanse family, these "gray-clothed people," brought them too much shock, in just these thirty minutes.

The police officer nervously took the initiative to greet them. One of them had handed over with him before. He had a smile on his face, not at all the solemnity and sense of justice when a police officer meets gang members, only something that made people feel ridiculous and silent.

"Mr. Enio, when are we going over?"

Enio looked at the watch on his hand, "Our brothers will clean it up soon. Give them ten minutes!"

"After their truck comes out, you go over again. We try to avoid some scenes that will make both of us very embarrassed."

"By then, you go and register to see how many citizens have suffered losses."

"Those windows shattered by bullets, and walls that might have been shot by bullets, destroyed ceilings and furniture, some things in that restaurant, and the loss of vehicles parked on the side of the road."

"Statistics, and then hand it to me, or any person of the Lanse family, we will complete the compensation within three days as soon as possible."

Enio smiled and patted the police officer's arm, "Don't be nervous, we are not enemies!"

The lead car of the motorcade drove past here. The police officer subconsciously held his breath and looked at the lead car.

Lanse wasn't in the lead car, only Hiram, who was picking his nose.

The police officer closed his eyes. He felt that all this was an illusion. When the second car came over, he exhaled a breath and inhaled a breath at the same time, then held it in his chest.

He saw Mr. Lanse sitting in the back seat. It seemed that Lanse also noticed him. The eyes of the two met in the air. The police officer sighed at Lanse's youth and lowered his head, avoiding Lanse's gaze.

All this was seen by the little police officers around. Facing the gaze of these gang members with scrutiny or questioning, the killing intent that hadn't dissipated from them made everyone feel cold from the bottom of their hearts!

The young police officer also moved his gaze away at the first time because he couldn't bear it a bit.

Those people clearly should be about the same age as him, but the things in their eyes made him feel fear. That was a disregard for life, a kind of authority that could take away his life at any time!

He felt uneasy, afraid, and wanted to leave here.

His partner's situation was also about the same as him, early lowering his head and looking at his toes, as if completely immersed in his own world!

Enio patted the police officer's arm again, and then followed the large army to leave here.

After this group of people walked far away, the police officers finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The young police officer couldn't help but ask, "Are these gangs from big cities... so oppressive?"

Before, he felt that there wasn't much difference between big cities and small cities, but at this moment, he realized that it was different after all.

His partner was biting a cigarette. Now he urgently needed the comfort of nicotine. After failing to light it several times, the young police officer handed him a box of matches, and he successfully lit it.

He took a deep breath of "hiss," and his entire person's emotions seemed to relax in an instant.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he could still see the traces left by that group of people walking.

"I don't know what the situation is in Likai State, but the big gangs in Red Rock City don't have such power."

The police officer also came back to his senses from that emotion. He shouted loudly, "What are you all dazed for?"

"Now, according to what I told you before, get ready to register the losses of the people. The Lanse family will compensate within a few days!"

The police officers gave a listless "Oh," which was very disheartening.

Clearly, they were the defenders of the city's public security, but at this moment, in front of the Lanse family, they were a bit like clowns.

Ten minutes later, five trucks left here at a speed that wasn't fast. The truck bed was dripping with water and emitting a strong fishy smell. People took the initiative to avoid a long distance.

Then the police and the curious citizens came to the middle of the street and saw the ground that had been professionally cleaned.

Except for the fishy smell of viscera mixed with blood that hadn't drifted away in the air, almost no blood or limb fragments could be seen.

If it weren't for the dense white spots like hail hitting the ground on the ground, they would believe that no gunfight had occurred here.

The police soon began to work. They needed to register the losses of these citizens.

A bit late that day, the Lanse family issued a statement.

From zero o'clock tonight, New Birmingham was included in the management of the Lanse family. All gangs, street families, and community gangs must go to the place designated by the Lanse family to register.

A part of the gangs needed to disband on the spot, and some could stay, but they must obey the rules of the Lanse family.

They also promulgated many new "regulations," for example, vicious cases are forbidden in the entire city for any reason.

Robbery, home invasion, kidnapping, these all count.

No matter who it is, as long as this one is triggered, they will be hunted down by the Lanse family.

Secondly, gangs are not allowed to collect protection fees in New Birmingham, and gangs are not allowed to force girls to stand on the street.

Of course, girls who voluntarily stand on the street must go to the place designated by the Lanse family to register. The Lanse family will issue them employment permits and will arrange physical examinations for them regularly!

They promulgated many new rules, giving people a somewhat absurd and ridiculous feeling. 【83

Even though almost everything they talked about had to do with crime, the public didn't dislike them, let alone hate them; on the contrary, they felt this gang was more useful than the federal government or the police!

Furthermore, it was stated above that if anyone was threatened, beaten, or harmed by gangs, or forced into streetwalking, they could come to the Lansi family to file a complaint. The Lansi family would accept these cases and, in their own way, help people find justice.

This was incredibly popular!

At a time like this, expecting the police to solve your troubles was less effective than expecting God to send down a bolt of lightning!

What happened this noon made them realize that now they had a new choice.

Besides choosing to call the police or choosing to pray, there was also the choice to file a complaint.

It should have been a brutal invasion by an outside gang, but inexplicably, it ended in this way.

In the afternoon, after the young police officer and his old partner finished their busy work and handed their notebooks to the branch chief, just as they were about to leave, the chief asked them to stay for a moment.

"Don't go home after work today; I have something to announce."

The young officer just nodded; he didn't know what had happened yet, but the old officer was a bit curious. "What happened?"

A smile appeared on the branch chief's face, but he quickly reined it in. "Don't worry, it's a good thing!"

The old officer asked a bit more, but the branch chief refused to say anything for the time being, saying he was afraid it would affect the officers' work in the afternoon.

After all, the city was still a little chaotic; large numbers of gang members were disbanding or fleeing. They were no match for the Lansi family, so they either disbanded or got out.

So there was a little bit of minor unrest in the city, but it wasn't very big.

Lansi was very good at dealing with these problems.

To be honest, New Jincheng only had a population of 200,000, not even as large as the Imperial District, so he didn't need many people to manage the place perfectly.

At 6:30, the police station began the shift handover; 7:00 was considered the official end of the day shift and the start of the night shift.

At 6:45 or 6:50, the branch chief walked into the main office hall, clapped his hands, and made everyone stop their work and look at him.

"I have two things to announce... or to be precise, three things."

"The first thing is that we have reached a cooperative relationship with Wanli Laowusuo, and the entire New Jincheng police station has formed a partnership with them."

"Based on our standard of twenty-five dollars per person, they will sponsor us fifteen dollars in cash and ten dollars in food vouchers every month."

"The food vouchers can be used at the supermarkets they designate!"

All the officers looked at him in disbelief. Someone couldn't help but shout loudly, "This sounds like a story, you're not joking, are you?!"

In a small place, interpersonal relationships weren't as rigid as in big cities, and the branch chief had come up from among them.

He put his hands on his hips and laughed, "Why the hell would I joke with you? Do you think I have nothing to do like you?!"

This made all the officers excited; an extra twenty-five dollars in income every month was something they hadn't even dared to imagine in the past!

And of this twenty-five dollars, fifteen was cash and ten was food vouchers, all things they could use in their daily lives!

Actually, they didn't know that in Laini State, they were given all cash, but soon they would start to switch over there too.

The Lawrence farm was still expanding, and some things weren't suitable for brewing, so these things would be sold externally through "Lawrence Supermarkets."

Originally, they hadn't considered this, but Lansi thought this was actually a good opportunity; exporting agricultural products was equivalent to giving them money to buy his own goods.

This was much better than just giving them money to spend elsewhere.

Because the food sold to them already contained a profit, and Lansi certainly wouldn't want this portion of the profit, but it wouldn't be wasted either.

These profits eventually flowed back to the Lawrence farm, which was like the meat rotting in the pot, while also expanding the reputation of the Lawrence farm.

No one would think his approach was a clever trick, because everyone had to eat, drink water, or beverages to stay alive; these were necessities of life, so food vouchers were also considered a kind of alternative hard currency in the Federation.

Watching the officers cheer and applaud, after they had been lively for a while, the branch chief raised his hand. "The second thing is also about Wanli Laowusuo; they plan to build a batch of apartment buildings to rent for free to our officers who don't have their own homes."

"If anyone needs to apply, you can go to Wendy later to get an application form, fill it out, and hand it to me."

The old officer nudged the young officer. "Aren't you still renting a place?"

The young officer came back to his senses, his expression a bit complex. "But I heard... the parent company of this Wanli Laowusuo, the Wanli Group, is an industry of the Lansi family."

The old officer signaled him to look around. "Do you think it makes sense for you to resist alone?"

"And honestly, judging from some of their actions, I don't think they look like a traditional gang at all. Perhaps... we can observe them without bias."

"See if they are really different, just like they say they are."

The young officer thought seriously for a while, then nodded. His expression was as complex as ever. "I will."

After the officers cheered for a while longer, the branch chief said, "The third thing is that we will also form an officer's club. They have built a large club in the eastern suburbs, which even has some children's play facilities inside. You can take your children there to play when the time comes."

"I heard they even have a nursery; if it's inconvenient for you to take care of your children, you can leave them there."

The officers started cheering again!

New Jincheng didn't actually have any entertainment activities, and it was a small place to begin with, so the officers would just go home after work.

In the past, they might have gone to a bar to sit for a while, but now, they could only go home.

Now they had a new place to go, whether after work or on holidays.

Actually, everyone knew this was Lansi's way of buying them off, but who could refuse?

Wanli Laowusuo and its parent company, the Wanli Group, were not criminal organizations; these were legally tax-paying enterprises.

It was the enterprise's own business if they were willing to donate to the local police system. It was fine if you didn't want it, but if others were willing to accept the gift, you couldn't change everyone's mind.

And this was a hell of a lot!

Twenty-five dollars a month plus a free apartment—who the hell could refuse that?

The young officer watched his colleagues run to get the forms and ask how to receive this fifteen-plus-ten subsidy, and he suddenly felt that he could no longer distinguish between what was justice and what was evil.

He silently stood in line and began to collect an application form.

New Jincheng only had three branch stations, and none of them were very large, totaling only about 1,300 people.

Lansi subsidizing them forty dollars per person per month was only a little over fifty thousand dollars.

Many didn't even need forty dollars.

With such a small amount of money, he had bought off all the police officers and made them form a tight-knit interest group.

Whoever opposed him would become the enemy of his colleagues before becoming his enemy.

Because what this person would be doing was smashing everyone's rice bowl, not dealing with Lansi!

The mayor was also closely watching some of the developments today. When he learned that Lansi had easily wiped out the leaders of several gangs and strangled their remaining forces,

they were either killed or had fled, and for a moment, he didn't quite know what to say.

It wasn't just the young officer's worldview that was challenged by this incident; the mayor's worldview was also challenged!

He had thought about cleaning up these gangs before, but he could never do it.

Whether it was because someone tipped them off so they could always run away at the last minute, or because the damn judicial process always allowed them to escape legal sanctions, in short, these dark forces were like stubborn tartar—no matter what he did, he couldn't get rid of them!

He thought these gangs would accompany New Jincheng until far into the future, but just today, they had become a thing of the past.

He began to doubt whether the federal government's system was appropriate. If the federal government's system was appropriate, why was it that a problem everyone could see couldn't be solved within the system?

For a moment, the mayor also fell into deep thought.

(End of chapter)