Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 48 Crisis
When the sentries in Yaden Village spotted several horses galloping across the distant wilderness, the village immediately made adjustments.

Take casinos as an example.

All gamblers will be herded to the basement immediately. As for the gambling money from the gambling tables, it's even easier to handle; it's simply hoisted to the mezzanine using the warehouse's crane frame.

In less than ten minutes, the once bustling casino was completely cleared out. The whole process was smooth and efficient, and it was clear that this was not the first time they had done this.

Unlike previous surprise inspections, the patrolmen scattered throughout the alleys of Yaden Village did not hide today. Instead, after receiving the news, they slowly approached the casino and began to gather.

The other rookie law enforcement officers, like Milo, had never entered Arden Village; only a few had ever heard of the existence of this lawless place.

When they stepped into Yaden Village, the gazes cast upon them by the "villagers" were filled with indifference. Compared to the obvious hostility that could be directly received, this inexplicable indifference was more likely to evoke the unease deep within their hearts.

It's especially frightening when everyone around you treats you this way.

……

"Ignore all that. Just find the crocodile, bring it back, it's that simple."

Old Theon was probably used to the atmosphere of Arden Village, and he didn't even need to know the way after entering the village; he could head straight towards the casino.

He didn't glance at the people of Yaden Village once in a row.

If you observe Theon closely, it's not hard to see that he seems to focus most of his energy on the few rookie enforcers around him.

He was observing them.

……

Led by old Theon, a group of law enforcement officers kicked open the warehouse door and stormed into the casino.

As expected, the casino was completely empty.

Old Theon flicked his finger, and the five men behind him quickly entered the casino to search it. He himself stood still, lit a cigarette, and calmly said:
"Relax, take your hand off the gun handle, and don't fucking touch your safety. It would be hilarious if you blew a hole in your leg."

The new recruits weren't stupid. Before entering the casino, they had already seen figures in the surrounding alleys, and there was a high probability that these people were armed. In this obviously dangerous situation, their leader was still leisurely smoking a cigarette.

Apart from the sacks piled up in the four corners, the casino was empty. The law enforcement officers tried to enter the rooms on the west side, but each room was locked and no one answered the door no matter how much they knocked.

Where is your boss?

An officer shouted to the people outside the casino gates.

But the people around him seemed not to hear him at all; some were smoking, some were staring blankly, and no one reacted.

“You can’t do it this way.” Old Theon shook his head at the door, put a cigarette between his teeth, and waved to a law enforcement officer standing in the center of the casino, “Step back a bit.”

He then swiftly drew his flintlock musket from his waist and fired a shot diagonally upwards.

boom!
With a wisp of smoke, the lead bullet accurately severed one of the ropes of the hoisting pulley high in the air.

boom!
A gambling table, which had been tied to the ceiling, crashed down from a height of eight meters, breaking in two in the center of the casino. Playing cards, cash, and other gambling paraphernalia scattered like fireworks, exploding everywhere.

Old Theon tossed the still-smoking pistol to the henchman beside him: "Reload."

He then instructed the others: "Collect and organize the evidence on the ground."

……

His outburst caused the people who were scattered around the casino to gather together instantly.

The law enforcement officer who had been standing at the entrance questioning people was forced back into the casino by the dense crowd and stammered to old Theon:
"Boss... Boss, they seem to be..."

Old Theon slowly glanced back and said in a flat tone:
Why are you scared?

There were at least a hundred people outside the casino.

Moreover, this is only the south gate side; once the back gate on the north side is opened, there is also a dense crowd of people outside.

These people didn't speak; they just stood there with their hands hanging down, staring straight at the law enforcement officers inside the casino.

So even though there were many people at the scene of the investigation, it wasn't lively at all; instead, it was eerily quiet.

“You three, move those sacks aside, find the entrance to the basement, and find Xiao Mai and the target.”

Old Theon seemed completely oblivious to the crowds outside the two large doors, calmly assigning tasks:

"The two of you each keep watch over one door. Whoever comes in, shoot them."

After the law enforcement officer helped old Theon reload his ammunition, he handed the pistol back to him and joined the group carrying sacks.

Just then, a sharp, clear whistle suddenly rang out from outside the casino.

Click! ! ! !
The moment the whistle blew, hundreds of guns were drawn and pointed directly at the six-man enforcement team inside the casino.

"Don't push your luck, law enforcement officers!"

Someone shouted, and then a series of cocking sounds echoed throughout the area.

"Boss?"

The three men who were moving the sacks immediately stopped what they were doing, took out their guns, loaded them, and confronted the crowd outside the door.

"Don't panic." Old Theon frowned slightly as he looked at his men in disarray, but said with absolute certainty, "Just keep going. They won't dare."

That being said, the new recruits were just students at the academy last week. Even though they graduated from the law enforcement academy, this was the first time they had faced such a situation. With hundreds of dark gun barrels pointed at them, how could their legs not tremble?

"I said, gather evidence, find Little Mai and the crocodile, and then we can go back."

Old Theon repeated what he had said, this time with a clear hint of anger in his voice.

His gaze remained fixed on the newcomers from beginning to end, constantly monitoring their every move.

……

However, the pressure continued outside the casino gates, with gruff voices threatening the law enforcement officers:

"Put down all your weapons and leave the warehouse, or none of you will leave Yaden Village alive. We can wipe you out completely. Even if your men turn Nanwei City upside down tomorrow, they won't find a single hair on your head. This casino is not something a few lowly law enforcement officers like you can handle. Get lost." "Also, I've already dealt with that kid you sent earlier. No need to look for him anymore."

……

"What!?"

The newlyweds at the scene were completely panicked.

Just over half an hour ago, Mylok was chatting and laughing with them, and now he's gone. This is a huge blow to their mental defenses.

Cold sweat broke down all at once.

"Boss? What do we do?" someone asked old Theon for instructions.

Old Theon glanced at the other man impatiently: "You're not going to move, are you? Then I'll do it myself."

He threw his half-smoked cigarette on the ground and crushed it, then walked alone toward the sacks in the corner of the casino.

"Boss, shall we break out of here first?"

The law enforcement officers blocking the casino entrance were at a loss as the people outside kept closing in.

"Back off! Can't you understand human language? I told you to back off!!" Two other law enforcement officers stood facing the back door on the north side, guns drawn.

No matter how much they shouted, the two pistols posed no real threat to the hundreds of guns, and the approaching armed men did not stop.

"If you don't back down, I'll shoot!!!"

The law enforcement officer roared.

But it turned out that the people outside were the ones who fired the first shot!

boom! !

The bullet missed anyone, but struck the casino floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.

It was this one shot that broke down the person in the team whose psychological defenses were the weakest.

A newcomer standing in the center of the casino unfastened the weapon pouch at his waist, threw his handgun and knife to the ground, and raised his hands high:

"I surrender! Don't kill me... I surrender..."

He screamed hysterically, his voice trembling and filled with sobs.

……

...

The atmosphere in the warehouse casino was as if it had dropped to freezing point.

Old Theon, who had been about to move the sacks, sighed, straightened up with his hands on his knees, and looked at the newcomer in the group who had surrendered with utter disappointment.

Meanwhile, shortly after the man dropped his weapons and equipment, the armed men outside the casino dispersed listlessly, as if nothing had happened.

This scene left the rookie law enforcement officers in the casino completely bewildered.

"what happened?"

"Boss? It seems they've all left?"

"Shall we go back and get reinforcements now?"

……

The others were trying to figure out what old Theon meant, but the man who had surrendered was still holding his hands up. At that moment, he was as if he had fallen into an icebox, and his mind was completely blank.

Fear? Annoyance? Regret?

He probably can't even explain his own feelings right now.

The only certainty is that his career as a law enforcement officer ended on the very first day it began.

“Take off his badge and trench coat.”

Old Theon put away his weapons and equipment, pulled up his trench coat hood, and lit another cigarette. The look of disappointment that had flashed in his eyes earlier was only fleeting. He probably already knew what the outcome would be today, and there were no other emotional fluctuations.

……

...

At this moment, a strange scene unfolded in the room on the west side of the casino.

Milo and the so-called target, Crocodile, each sat in a corner of the sofa, legs crossed, their smiles like those of old acquaintances.

The crocodile took a sip of red wine and asked Milo with a smile:
"Just asking you this: if I hadn't told the truth just now, were you really going to cut my finger off?"

Milo glanced at the cigar tongs he had been fiddling with for a while and nodded frankly: "Of course, I treated this as just a routine duty. Who would have thought it was actually a law enforcement assessment? Hehe."

“You’re lying. You already knew what was going on before you jumped off the roof.” Crocodile directly exposed Milo’s lie and chuckled wickedly, “Still pretending? You’re a really bad kid. Let me tell you a secret, Old Theon uses this stupid trick every year, and there’s no standard for it. He’s only satisfied when someone breaks down first. This time last year, we had several greenhorns hanging up and ready to cut them up.”

"Does that mean you have to kick out one or two newcomers to be satisfied?" Milo smirked, thinking that old Theon's methods were truly ruthless.

"Is that so?" the crocodile grinned maliciously. "What I'm more curious about is, if your colleagues outside the door don't back down, what are you going to do?"

“I told you, duck, in my view this is just a mission, so of course I’m going to put a gun to your head and take you back to the law enforcement station.” Milo waved his hands repeatedly, indicating that he was very naive.

"You're lying again, kid. Knowing this is all an act, you'd definitely kill me if necessary to avoid being eliminated, to prove your superiors your resolve as an enforcer, right? And you were indeed prepared for that; I saw it clearly just now." Crocodile swirled his glass at Milo.

Milo glanced at the blade he had long ago removed from his cigar tongs and vehemently denied it:
"Are you gangsters all so good at thinking the worst of others? If I kill you, how am I supposed to leave Yaden Village? What are you thinking?"

……

(End of this chapter)