Handong: Sha Li wants political achievements? I'll shut down the entire province.

After listening to the deputy director's almost tearful report, Zhao Donglai stared blankly back at his phone screen.

The cold, white light from the screen reflected on his ashen face.

The gray notification in the work group that "Chi Changming from the Municipal Procuratorate has left the group chat" was like a poisonous thorn piercing his eye socket.

"Bang!"

He suddenly swung his fist and slammed it heavily on the solid wood desk, causing the chipped enamel mug on the corner of the desk to jump.

"That old fox, Ji, he abandoned his post and ran away faster than a rabbit!"

Zhao Donglai gritted his teeth, and the veins on his neck throbbed.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the office door was pushed open again.

Logistics Director Wang Pangzi, along with several branch captains, squeezed into the room, their faces ashen.

Fatty Wang was clutching a thick stack of overdue payment notices, his police uniform collar soaked with sweat.

Before Fatty Wang could even begin to complain, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly echoed down the corridor.

"Get out of the way! I need to see Director Zhao!"

Hou Liangping, like a mad bull with bloodshot eyes, roughly pushed aside the police officers outside the door and barged in.

His black windbreaker was worn and smelled strongly of decay.

With sunken eyes and a messy stubble, he looked like a homeless man who had just crawled out from under a bridge.

Several squad leaders smelled the odor, frowned, and silently moved two steps to the side.

"Director Zhao! Ji Changming is a spineless coward, I don't believe you, Zhao Donglai, would back down like that!"

Hou Liangping rushed to the table and slammed his hands on it.

His eyes flashed with a manic red light, and spittle flew everywhere.

"I just bribed an informant and got intelligence that the Lingxiao Consortium has a secret peripheral storage center in the western suburbs!"

Hou Liangping was panting heavily, as if he had grasped at the last straw.

"Those are all shady records of Yan Qingfeng smuggling high-end medical equipment!"

"Send me two squadrons of SWAT officers. Go seal off that warehouse right now, and we can turn the tables in one fell swoop!"

Zhao Donglai's brows furrowed into a deep knot, and his fists clenched tightly under his military overcoat.

He was indeed frustrated and wanted to stand up for himself and pull the municipal bureau out of its slump.

"Fatty Wang!" Zhao Donglai took a deep breath and roared with wide eyes.

"How many functional vehicles does the SWAT team have left? Fill them up with gas immediately and get them ready for a mission!"

Upon hearing this, Fatty Wang's legs went weak, and he almost knelt down before Zhao Donglai.

"Director Zhao, what the hell are you talking about, adding gas?!"

Fatty Wang held up the stack of papers in his hand, his voice trembling with sobs.

"More than half of the police station's hundred-plus vehicles are broken down!"

"The remaining dozen or so riot control vehicles all have their fuel gauges nearing the red line; they're having a hard time even getting out of our compound!"

Hou Liangping suddenly turned his head and roared in his hoarse voice.

"Go to a designated gas station and pay the bill! This is a police investigation, who would dare refuse to give us gas?"

Fatty Wang looked at Hou Liangping as if he were an idiot, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Director Hou, you're used to floating in the sky, you have no idea how deep the water is down there, do you?"

Fatty Wang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Lingxiao Energy just issued a province-wide announcement stating that, in order to control the risk of triangular debt, it has legally canceled the special privilege of demurrage for all government vehicles!"

"You have to pay in cash! No money, no fuel!"

Enraged, Zhao Donglai kicked over the plastic trash can next to him.

"Where's the finance department? Where's the monthly funding from the city? Go get cash and buy it!"

"We can't get it out, Director Zhao!" The deputy director who had just reported the situation said with a pained expression.

"The city issued an emergency notice saying that the reserve fund was depleted and the municipal bureau's public account was locked."

"Even the threat to cut off our residential compound's natural gas is because we can't pay our property management fees!"

Hou Liangping roared hysterically.

"Bullshit! That wasn't an action by the city; it was Lingxiao Financial maliciously locking things down!"

He waved his fists like a clown jumping around.

"This is blatant defiance of law enforcement! Arrest them! Detain Su Jianxin immediately for interrogation!"

"Shut up!"

The captain of the legal affairs team, who had remained silent until now, finally couldn't help but speak up.

He walked up to the desk with a gold-embossed folder in his hand and slammed it down heavily.

"Director Hou, what are you going to use to arrest us? Ling Xiao's legal team is already going after us head-on!"

Zhao Donglai's heart tightened, and he reached out to open the folder.

The page was covered with legal clauses, and the bright red law firm seal was glaringly obvious.

"For the past few years, the Skynet surveillance system of our municipal bureau has been technically maintained by a security company under Lingxiao."

The legal team leader smiled bitterly, pointed at the document, and his voice trembled.

"They are now suing us through legal procedures because they owe us three months' worth of technical service fees, totaling more than eight million yuan."

"The lawyer's letter clearly states that if payment isn't made by noon tomorrow, they will legally cut off all surveillance signals in the city!"

A deathly silence fell over the office.

Only the old, dilapidated electric heater in the corner emitted a faint hissing sound.

Fatty Wang sniffed, adding another fatal blow to the already oppressive atmosphere.

"Director Zhao, the keeper from the police dog base just called."

"We've already overspent our budget on dog food, and those dozen or so riot control dogs that have performed great service are so hungry they're gnawing on the iron bars in their cages..."

Zhao Donglai felt a sudden dizziness and collapsed onto the leather swivel chair.

Police cars run out of gas, surveillance cameras go out of order, and even the police dogs that have performed meritorious service go hungry.

What kind of imposing law enforcement agency is this?

He slowly stood up and dragged his heavy steps to the window.

Through the dusty glass, he looked out at the dark city police station compound.

In the courtyard, two riot control vehicles marked with SWAT insignia were parked in the cold wind.

Four or five police officers, sweating profusely, were pushing the back of the car, trying to move it into the garage.

As I passed by the sidewalk outside the gate, several young people were holding up their phones, which were the year-end bonuses recently distributed by the Lingxiao Group, and recording videos with laughter.

This scene was like a barbed slap across Zhao Donglai's face.

It shattered the last shred of his tough-guy stubbornness.

"Did you see that?" Zhao Donglai didn't turn around, his voice terribly hoarse.

"Without money and without energy, we can't even walk out of this door."

Hou Liangping panicked and rushed over to grab Zhao Donglai's military overcoat sleeve.

"Director Zhao! You can't give in! Yan Qingfeng is forcing us to resign; we have to hold our ground!"

"Fuck your bottom line!"

Zhao Donglai suddenly turned around and grabbed Hou Liangping's collar, which reeked of sour smell.

The military overcoat was swung around, making a whooshing sound and bringing with it a gust of cold wind.

"I don't care if Yan Qingfeng is forcing the emperor to abdicate or becoming a local tyrant!"

Zhao Donglai's eyes were bloodshot, like a lone wolf driven to the brink of despair, and he spat all over Hou Liangping's face.

"All I know is that if I keep following your nonsense, all my brothers and dogs will starve to death!"

He suddenly exerted force with his arm, shoving Hou Liangping so hard that he staggered backward and crashed into the door frame with a loud bang.

"Guards! Throw this jinx out of here! Never let him set foot in the Municipal Police Station again!"

Two burly special police officers rushed in from outside and grabbed Hou Liangping's arms on either side.

Hou Liangping kicked his legs in despair and howled like a pig being slaughtered.

Looking at his ashen-faced subordinates, Zhao Donglai gritted his teeth and issued his final, death order.

"From today onwards, all cases involving the Lingxiao Consortium are indefinitely frozen! Anyone who dares to investigate without authorization will be skinned alive!"

Hou Liangping was dragged into the corridor, still shouting in frustration.

"Zhao Donglai! You are all sinners in Handong! The law will not let Yan Qingfeng off the hook!"

Zhao Donglai stepped out of the doorway and looked down at Hou Liangping, who was being dragged away on the ground like a mop.

"Hou Liangping, things have changed in Handong long ago. What are you still pretending to be, this upright and just official?"