Dusk had just fallen, and Liu Sha Street was already bustling.
With taverns, gambling houses, brothels lined up along the street, it was known in Xing City as a den of iniquity.
Beyond the overt businesses, there were under-the-table dealings in the black market trade of various prohibited items.
Such a place had not been shut down by the Inspection Bureau primarily because the Da Lan Dynasty did not prohibit the operation of gambling houses and brothels, which were legal on the surface. Additionally, influential figures within the city backed many of these venues on Liu Sha Street.
At 7 pm, the number of pedestrians on Liu Sha Street had increased, with singing, laughter, cursing, and a cacophony of human voices; the yellow, purple, and pink lights shone brightly in various establishments, extremely dazzling.
Suddenly, six Inspection Bureau armored vehicles drove into Liu Sha Street.
Conflicts, both big and small, were inevitable in such a place—fights and disturbances occurred daily, but as long as no lives were lost, they were not enough to alarm the Inspection Bureau, and thus their vehicles seldom entered this area.
The sudden arrival of six armored vehicles indicated that something significant had happened, causing pedestrians on the street to quickly scatter to both sides.
The six vehicles came to a stop outside a well-known and bustling gambling house.
This was a gambling house run by the Tiger Saber Gang.
Over forty fully armed inspectors, wearing stab-proof vests, steel helmets, wielding sabers at their waists, and holding Tiger Rifles, swiftly disembarked and charged imposingly into the gambling house.
The gamblers, who were engrossed in play at the various tables, were terrified by this display.
Some got up and ran, others screamed loudly.
"What is the meaning of this, officers?"
The manager of the gambling house hurried over, followed by a dozen strong men dressed in black.
Li Lei was the last to enter through the large doors of the gambling house.
He didn't even glance at the manager, and instead spoke loudly,
"The Inspection Bureau suspects that someone in this gambling house is involved in a serious case and now we need to take them in for investigation."
With those words, he pointed to the manager,
"Take all these people with me!"
Immediately, the inspectors took out handcuffs, ready to capture the individuals.
"Who dares lay a hand on me?!"
The gambling house manager, being from the Tiger Saber Gang, was unaccustomed to insult, and shouted angrily.
As his words fell, even more strong men in black surged out from behind the scenes of the gambling house, each one armed with a knife!
The Tiger Saber Gang had connections within the Inspection Bureau, the Zhi Ge Court, and the Governance Hall—half of Xing City's elite were prominently associated with the Gang Leader.
One statement the Gang Leader had once made still stirred the manager to this day,
"We aren't just a mere gang, we represent Xing City!"
With that declaration, the manager felt no fear of the inspectors before him.
Yet, to his surprise, the inspectors on the scene immediately raised their Tiger Rifles and aimed them directly ahead!
Shhh-shhh-shhh-shhh—
The dark muzzles of several dozen rifles made the Tiger Saber Gang members freeze in place.
The Tiger Rifle was the Da Lan Dynasty's first indigenously produced rifled gun, with an effective range of three hundred fifty meters and a 6.5mm caliber bullet.
At a mere distance of a dozen meters, it did not matter if these Tiger Saber Gang enforcers were wearing cloth shirts or heavy armor; either way, they were dead!
"Resisting arrest?"
The murderous intent in Li Lei's eyes could no longer be concealed as he waved a big hand,
"Anyone who dares resist arrest, shoot them down with random gunfire!"
The vast gambling house fell completely silent, with only the intermittent sounds of rifle bolts being pulled and bullets being loaded.
The manager took a deep breath, realizing something was amiss with today's events, and promptly raised his hands to show he meant no harm.
He put on a smile,
"Officer, we've been here in this gambling house all day long, haven't gone anywhere—how could we be involved with any serious cases? Could there be some sort of misunderstanding? Our Gang Leader has quite a few friends among the officers at your Inspection Bureau!"
Li Lei looked at him with contempt,
"Are you teaching me how to handle a case?"
This was a clear sign he had no intention of reasoning.
The face of the gambling house manager darkened as he turned to glance at a person behind him.
The person was a full-fledged Martial Artist and a gold-medal fighter sent by the Tiger Saber Gang to oversee the gambling house!
But faced with those dark gun muzzles ahead, the Martial Artist could only helplessly shake his head at the gambling house manager.
The great battle seventeen years ago had made the Martial Artists of the Da Lan Dynasty suffer heavily at the hands of firearms and taught all Martial Artists not to underestimate such weapons.
Indeed, there were formidable Martial Artists who could easily dodge bullets, or even withstand them, but clearly this Martial Artist of the Tiger Saber Gang did not have such ability.
If he dared to make a move now, he'd likely be shot indiscriminately and killed, so all he could do was stand there and shake his head.
"Take them away!"
Li Lei ordered again.
This time no one dared to resist, and the gambling house manager along with a dozen others were all handcuffed and taken away.
...
"Who gave you the authorization to act on your own? Do you have any evidence? Arresting people without evidence, Li Lei, do you not want to work anymore?!"
Li Lei had just brought the people back to the Inspection Bureau and hadn't even had time to send them to the interrogation room when he was summoned to the office by the Deputy Supervisory Director Wu Yihua and received a fierce scolding!
Li Lei listened to Wu Yihua's tirade with an expressionless face, standing next to him was his direct superior, Wang Xu, Captain of the Second Unit.
"Wang Xu, is this how you manage your subordinates? If you can't control your own people, I'll find someone who can!"
After scolding Li Lei, Wu Yihua turned to Wang Xu.
Wang Xu hastily bowed his head in admission of guilt, "It was a lack of discipline on my part; I assure you it will not happen again!"
Wu Yihua glared at Wang Xu for a while, then turned back to Li Lei:
"Li Lei, do you have anything to say?"
Li Lei snapped to attention and shouted,
"Reporting to the superior, the person attacked today was my son; he was nearly crippled!"
"I am asking you about the arrest on Liu Sha Street. Do those arrested have a direct connection with your son's attackers? Do you have any evidence linking these people to the attack on your son? You are an Inspector; you know we must act on evidence!"
Wu Yihua slammed his hand heavily on the desk, glaring at Li Lei.
Li Lei did not answer his question, instead, he looked straight at the other party and said loudly,
"An Inspector's duty is to protect the safety of the people's lives and property. If I, as an Inspector, cannot even protect my own family, then I might as well not be an Inspector at all!"
After that, he took off his hat, stepped forward to place it on Wu Yihua's desk, and then turned and walked out of the office.
"You..."
Wu Yihua was stunned; he had not expected Li Lei to confront him so boldly.
Wang Xu, who was standing by, was equally surprised.
Li Lei had worked under him for over a decade, and this was the first time he had seen him so angry, so resolute!
As Li Lei walked out of Wu Yihua's office, he paused for a moment upon seeing that the corridor was full of people.
The incident had spread since Li Fei had been attacked and brought back to the Inspection Bureau; many people throughout the Inspection Bureau were paying attention to it.
"Good on you, Captain Li!"
Suddenly someone in the corridor shouted.
"Damn it, who doesn't know that the Bear Power Gang is an affiliate of the Tiger Saber Gang? This must have been done by the Tiger Saber Gang!"
"Now the Tiger Saber Gang dares to meddle with the families of the Inspection Bureau. If we don't deal with this, will they start to think they can shit on our heads in the future?"
"Right, Captain Li, the brothers support you!"
The corridor resonated with outraged emotions.
.....