Wang Defa and Old Snake waited silently inside the warehouse for news from Qin Siyang.
At this moment, inside the police bureau building of Area 14121.
The light was on in Deputy Director Du Wei's office. He himself was flipping through the latest case file reports.
The door to Director Cui Zhonghua's office was tightly shut, pitch black. Citing family matters, he had just taken a week of leave. At present, the entire police bureau was under the command and arrangements of Deputy Director Du Wei.
This was already the third time Cui Zhonghua had taken leave this month.
As for his leave, no one raised any objections.
Everyone knew that for someone who had only two years left before retirement, clinging to power was meaningless. It was better to retreat gracefully early and make room for the younger generation.
Although Du Wei was not necessarily guaranteed to be promoted after Cui Zhonghua retired, he was at least one of the most promising candidates to succeed as police chief.
Letting Du Wei take control early and giving him some chances to shine would, if Du Wei really were promoted in the future, at least earn Cui Zhonghua a bit of goodwill.
Being endlessly greedy would most likely ruin one's later years.
This was indeed one of the reasons Cui Zhonghua chose to withdraw early, but people only knew half the story.
The main reason he was willing to give up power was his judgment about the future direction of events.
Cui Zhonghua's keen political instincts made him realize that the broken land of Area 14121 had already stirred up hidden undercurrents.
Especially during last month's college entrance exams, when District Chief Pan Youguang confronted Mayor Chen Zhongming.
The two sides squared off like fighters in a ring. Cui Zhonghua had only been an assistant on the sidelines, handing out towels, yet he still got splattered with blood. He found it hard to imagine what kind of ending he would face if he were actually involved.
So after Chen Zhongming and Pan Youguang each threw three punches and ended that bout without showing their full hands, he decided to pull out.
He dumped all the power and burdens onto Du Wei in one go.
And during this recent period, Du Wei had been reviewing old unsolved cases, hoping to find some clues and establish merit.
The previous person in charge of these cases was Olov.
The police bureau was an institution second only to the Administration Bureau, and could also be said to be the top non sequence ability organization.
After the apocalypse, maintaining public order in the safe zones relied heavily on violent institutions like the police bureau.
Especially in an area like 14121, located on the edge of the safe zone, showing backward development, having few sequence ability users, with all kinds of people mixed together and frequent vicious incidents. The police bureau's authority there was even higher than that of the Administration Bureau.
However, some time ago, the police bureau transferred in a detective named Olov. Not only was his background impossible to figure out, his abilities were frighteningly strong.
During Olov's tenure as detective, the crime rate in the entire Area 14121 dropped sharply. He handled almost everything by himself.
Cui Zhonghua was delighted beyond measure, while Du Wei paced anxiously around his office.
Olov, together with part of the police force, thoroughly investigated the vast majority of cases and quickly arrested the criminals, achieving a case solving rate as high as ninety five percent.
The reason it wasn't one hundred percent was because the God Remains Theft Case, the Alley Burning Corpse Case, the Li Jingwen and Zhou Yang Family Annihilation Case, and the Zhou Xing Disappearance Case had not caught their perpetrators.
These cases could be considered big or small, depending on perspective.
The main reason they drew Du Wei's attention was that Olov had failed to solve them.
If Du Wei wanted to prove he had the ability to serve as police chief, the best way was to step over Olov's hurdle and solve the cases Olov hadn't.
He didn't dare to meddle recklessly in the God Remains Theft Case. The Burning Corpse Case and the Li Jingwen and Zhou Yang Family Annihilation Case didn't have enough spectacle in the eyes of higher ups. So he kept focusing his efforts on the Zhou Xing Disappearance Case.
Right now, he was carefully reading the report on Zhou Xing's disappearance, trying to find the whereabouts of Zhou Xing, alive or dead, from tiny clues.
Of course, to be elected chief, merely showing personal ability wasn't enough. He also had to erase his own stains.
For example, that internet cafe with dismal business that couldn't provide much useful information or money.
The benefits and risks were no longer proportional. It was time to shut down the cafe and settle accounts with those who knew too much.
Although Du Wei was reading the Zhou Xing Disappearance report, every few minutes he would glance at his phone.
As the phone remained completely silent, his brow grew more and more furrowed.
Finally, he couldn't help but pick up the phone and call out.
"Hello. What's going on over there? How is it taking so long to kill one person and you still haven't given me a response? Didn't you say Wang Defa's wife and children were already caught?"
["Boss, Old Snake said he wanted to reminisce with Wang Defa."]
"Reminisce? Are you kidding me! I told him to go kill people, not to see someone off!"
["I understand. I'll go in and urge him right now."]
"Five minutes. I want results!"
["Yes, boss."]
After hanging up, Du Wei rubbed his temples, "How is it that even Old Snake makes me this worried."
He read two more pages of documents, then sighed again, "I can't focus. As long as Wang Defa isn't dead, my heart just won't settle. Especially since I heard he had dealings with Qin Siyang."
"But Qin Siyang's relationship with him was average. They cut contact long ago, and he doesn't know about my existence. So… as long as Wang Defa is killed and all traces are cleaned up, there shouldn't be any big problem."
After saying that, Du Wei muttered another sentence to himself, "As long as Olov isn't allowed to investigate the case, there shouldn't be any big problem. That old thing is really a bit terrifying…"
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The ringing sound interrupted Du Wei's thoughts.
Du Wei glanced at his phone. Seeing the caller ID, his eyes widened immediately.
He patted his cheeks to wake himself up, then pulled out a stack of documents, glanced at the title, and confirmed it was correct.
Then he stood up from his chair and answered the phone with a smile.
["Hello, this is Mayor Chen Zhongming."]
"Hello, Mayor Chen. I'm Du Wei, Deputy Director of the Police Bureau of Area 14121. Are you calling to learn about the public security plan from the last symposium? I've already written everything up and can report to you right now…"
["That can be handled by your new district chief. I'm calling you for just one thing."]
Du Wei straightened his chest, "Please give your instructions, Mayor!"
["Stop your actions. Don't knowingly break the law anymore."]
Chen Zhongming's tone was so cold it left him in disbelief.
Du Wei never imagined that the mayor who had praised him warmly at the citywide police symposium would say something so severe.
The smile on his face turned awkward, "Mayor Chen, are you… joking?"
["You know very well what you're doing. Take care of yourself."]
After saying that, Chen Zhongming hung up the phone.
Leaving Du Wei alone in the office, questioning his entire life.
'What does this mean?'
'What have I done to make the mayor so furious?'
Replaying Chen Zhongming's brief words in his mind, Du Wei's gaze trembled for a moment, and suddenly he thought of something. In a panic, he hurriedly dialed a number.
"Let Wang Defa go! NOW! IMMEDIATELY!"
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