The members of the Viper Gang barely put up a fight before being pinned down to the ground, sandwiched from front and rear by truncheons, and they whimpered in terror.
Quirian, while thanking the colleagues who had come to provide backup, bound the criminals one by one with rope.
That very day, the same scene unfolded in various parts of the Saint Antoine District.
The police, as if injected with an adrenaline boost, would charge at the sight of any criminal activity, shouting, "In the name of the Crown Prince," and use riot forks and spears to harshly discipline the miscreants.
For a time, the thieves, robbers, and gang members in the Saint Antoine District were in complete disarray, their audacious arrogance nowhere to be found.
The residents of the Saint Antoine District, witnessing the police cracking down on crime everywhere, were both shocked and delighted; they had never seen the police arrest so many troublemaking gang members and criminals with such earnestness.
In this era, the people's expectations for public security were extremely low; getting robbed or burglarized would just be chalked up to bad luck, and as long as their lives were not at risk, they were quite content. However, the actions of the new police force had greatly exceeded their expectations.
It didn't take long for the people to spontaneously bring the police water and food, to cheer from the streets for the officers who caught criminals, and the encouraged police worked even harder in response.
Soon, citizens learned a new trick: shouting "In the name of the Crown Prince" when facing a crime could scare off the villains with a not-so-small chance of success.
…
Royal Palace.
The Duke of Orleans, looking at the "Paris News" on the table, had a grim expression. The newspaper's front-page headline read "Chaos in Antony District, Crown Prince Oversees Police Reforms."
Compared to the ambiguous wordings of the "Paris News," which he controlled, the surrounding tabloids were much more direct— "Crown Prince Restructures Police, Improvements Seen in Saint Antoine District," "Saint Antoine District Residents Praise the New Police Force," "Crown Prince's Astute Intelligence, Solves Dentist Murder Case in Three Minutes"...
The Duke of Orleans felt irritated, originally wanting to use the chaos in the Saint Antoine District to thoroughly humiliate the Crown Prince through the newspapers, but his plan had unintentionally boosted the Crown Prince's reputation instead.
This Joseph had transformed the police force in just over ten days, a feat that simply didn't seem possible for a thirteen-year-old boy!
Thinking this, he frowned suddenly: could the Austrian wench be using her son to start purging the Paris officialdom, beginning with the Police Headquarters?
The more he thought about it, the more he believed it was the only possibility, as the Crown Prince alone could hardly achieve all of this.
Then he must disrupt the Queen's plans even more, absolutely not allowing the Royal Family to stir any waves!
After pondering for a while, the Duke of Orleans hastily wrote a letter, called over his butler, and instructed, "Deliver this letter to Levebelle. Tell him to succeed at all costs. I might consider helping him become Governor of Normandy."
"Yes, my lord."
…
In a small villa on the east bank of the Seine River, Director of Police Services Gizo eyed the slightly ajar door and called out to his mistress who was eavesdropping outside, "Anna, close the door and make sure no servant gets near."
"Oh." The woman reluctantly shut the door and walked away, murmuring under her breath, "Hmph, ordering me around as if I were a servant... this is my own home..."
Only then did Gizo turn his attention back to the short, curly-haired man in front of him, took a strong pull from his pipe, and said, "Similion, this time the Crown Prince isn't just playing around for a few days before returning to the Palace of Versailles. He's here to stay at the Police Headquarters."
The short man, who was the former Police Commissioner of the Saint Antoine District, now "on sick leave," immediately replied anxiously, "But the municipal commissioner said I could be reinstated in at most two months..."
"Who knew it would turn out like this?" Gizo exhaled a plume of smoke. "It's not just you; the Crown Prince is a huge problem for the whole Police Headquarters."
He stared at Similion and said, "There's something now that, if you do it well, not only can you be reinstated, but you may also be promoted."
The short man's eyes flashed with joy, "Just give your orders, sir!"
"You know the Saint Antoine District best, who are the most powerful gangs there?"
"The Host Gang and Black Sheep Gang," Similion said, "They control over eighty percent of the territory in this district, each with hundreds of subordinates."
Gizo nodded, pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to him, his eyes flashing with a crazed glint, "Go find them, and whether it be dismemberment, rape, kidnapping, or arson, it's all good, just cause complete chaos in the Saint Antoine District. I want a total loss of control, thorough chaos!"
"This..." Similion's pupils contracted with shock at those words, before he nodded and said, "Alright, complete chaos."
He glanced at the paper in his hand and suddenly sprang up from his chair, exclaiming, "Thirty thousand livres!"
The paper was indeed a bank draft for thirty thousand livres. At this time, twenty thousand livres could buy a villa in Paris, so thirty thousand livres was definitely a huge sum that could drive any gang mad.
"That sum is nothing," Gizo gestured for him to sit down, "tell the gangs that for every incident that causes panic, they'll get a thousand livres. After a month, whoever has done the most notable job will get an additional twenty thousand livres."
"Yes, sir," Similion's hands trembled slightly with nervousness.
"Off you go then," Gizo gave him another long look, "and remember, if anything goes wrong, the powerful figure behind me will clean up for you, but all of this was your own idea, it has nothing to do with me, got it?"
"Yes! I've got it, don't worry!"
Gizo stood by the window, watching Similion hurry away, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
He had not originally planned to go this big, but when Levebelle told him yesterday to just go for it and that he would take care of any trouble, Gizo no longer had any reservations.
"Crown Prince, you could have enjoyed your luxuries at the Palace of Versailles, yet you insist on muddying the waters here," he muttered through clenched teeth.
...
Three days later.
The police station of the Saint Antoine District.
Joseph was under the shade of a tree, perusing letters of complaint from the citizens—though they were mostly praise for the police—when the security inspector, Magone, suddenly rushed over, bowed, and gasped,
"Your Highness, there's been another incident! Two people were killed in a shoe store on White Iris Street, and the store was set on fire!"
Joseph immediately frowned; since the afternoon the day before yesterday, multiple violent incidents had occurred in the Saint Antoine District, with two deaths the day before yesterday, three deaths and two serious injuries yesterday.
He had thought they were isolated incidents, but now there was another.
"What's the situation like now?"
"Alden has taken people over," Magone said, "The fire has been extinguished, but the criminal hasn't been caught yet."
Joseph immediately returned to the office to start mobilizing personnel and dealing with the case.
As twilight approached, Alden brought back updates on the White Iris Street incident and was reporting to Joseph when suddenly another police officer brought more bad news—the Black Sheep Gang had gone mad for some reason and were slashing people all over Misanla Street. Seven or eight passersby had been wounded and urgent police reinforcement was needed.