Chapter 87

Geng Zhi was in his thirties, a full-time anti-drug squad captain, with a police rank lower than Shi Guoping. However, he spoke without any restraint or pressure. No wonder, as he was a police hero in the Jiangdong police force, having repeatedly established meritorious service and often gone undercover as a drug dealer. He had the capital to do so.

"Damn, not even a pack of cigarettes, what do you want then?" Geng Zhi put on a piteous look, crossed his legs on the chair, tore open the packaging, and started smoking, "Look closely, it's a 3-digit Zhonghua, you'll regret it."

Shi Guoping extended a lighter to light his cigarette, "Old Geng, I know your anti-drug squad is short of people, but you can't be so hasty. After all, these are new recruits trained by our riot control team. Can't you let me use them for a while?"

"No way, if they stay with you too long, they'll be too much like regular police officers, and I won't be able to use them." Geng Zhi shook his head and refused.

Shi Guoping understood. Geng Zhi wanted Liu Handong to go undercover. The casualty rate among anti-drug police was the highest among all police forces, facing drug dealers who were often armed with advanced weapons and were extremely violent, even carrying grenades, ready to die with their enemies. Without a lion's heart, one couldn't do this job. Among the new recruits, only Liu Handong met the requirements.

"Alright, I'll lend him to you, but it won't be for free. I want two packs of 3-digit Zhonghua." Shi Guoping said.

"Damn, two packs? No way, I'll give you one if you want to live." Geng Zhi saw Shi Guoping give in and immediately started acting like a scoundrel.

"Owing it is fine too." Shi Guoping smiled, "But we should also ask the young man himself. If he doesn't want to, I can't do anything."

Geng Zhi said, "If he doesn't want to, he's a fool. In the anti-drug squad, I can get him a permanent position, administrative status, a police rank, a gun, a city household registration, awards, task allowances, everything. Except for a wife and a house, I can provide everything else."

Shi Guoping said, "Alright, stop showing off. Everyone knows the conditions in your anti-drug squad are good. Fine, I'll call him over, and you can ask him." He picked up the phone and called the riot control team's office, only to find out that Liu Handong's team was out on patrol with the patrol police and wouldn't be back until the evening.

"No rush, I'll come back tomorrow." Geng Zhi got up and left, taking the opened pack of Zhonghua with him.

"Damn, a penny-pincher." Shi Guoping cursed.

...

Liu Handong and a few familiar comrades were assigned to the riot control team's first squad. The squad leader was Xing Zhifeng, and the team leader was Ji Yang, a former police officer stationed at a police station, a graduate of the police academy, about the same age as Liu Handong, with a second-level police inspector rank but wearing a first-level police inspector shoulder badge. This wasn't unusual; police officers often wore higher ranks if they could, and no one cared.

The riot control team was a special armed force under the patrol and special police brigade. A regular patrol police team usually had about 40 to 50 people, but a special police team had 80, half of whom were hired personnel. The team was well-staffed and suitable for riot control and maintaining order at large events.

Liu Handong's fifth squad had 12 people, riding in a black 13-seat Iveco police van, with the special police emblem on the door. The team members wore bulletproof helmets, bulletproof vests, and police multi-functional gear, and were well-armed with 97-type riot guns, 79-type submachine guns, and 92-type pistols. Those without guns were equipped with police batons, rubber sticks, and shields, making them fully armed.

The Iveco parked on the side of the road, and the special police officers were on duty nearby. Their role was similar to a combination of the EU and PTU in Hong Kong, a mobile force directly controlled by the city police, equipped with powerful firepower, stationed at key points in the city, and ready to support the 110 police and traffic police when they couldn't handle a situation.

Today was Liu Handong and his team's first official duty on the streets. They were all excited and eager to encounter a major incident like a bank robbery. However, to their disappointment, nothing happened all day. By 6 PM, while eating boxed meals in the Iveco, they received an order from the command center to assist the traffic police in maintaining order at a nearby intersection.

The team immediately threw away their meals, became spirited, and the driver turned on the siren, driving them to the scene. The team leader gave the order, and the officers got out and separated the crowd. The presence of over ten tall and strong special police officers quickly calmed the situation.

The case was tricky. A military-registered Audi Q7 had violated traffic rules by driving in the wrong direction and hit a civilian vehicle. The incident wasn't major, but the military driver was extremely arrogant, not only injuring the civilian driver but also knocking off the traffic police officer's hat and smashing his radio.

The crowd was angry and began taking photos of the military vehicle's license plate. The two men in military uniforms sat in the car and refused to come out, causing a significant traffic jam. The traffic police captain arrived but couldn't resolve the situation, as the men in the car ignored him.

The traffic police sought support, and the command center dispatched the nearest special police team to assist, not to arrest the military driver but to maintain order and prevent the angry crowd from doing anything extreme.

The situation was temporarily under control, but the military vehicle refused to cooperate, and no one knew what to do. Team leader Ji Yang, who seemed used to such situations, reported to the command center that they had encountered a military vehicle and needed to notify the military police to handle it.

The coordination between the police and the military wasn't smooth and required time. The scene was already chaotic, with the crowd heckling the police. Liu Handong felt a burning sensation on his face. He was a former combat vehicle driver, not a city police officer, and he despised such behavior, which disgraced the military.

Liu Handong slung his 79-type submachine gun, loaded with live ammunition, over his back and knocked on the Audi Q7's window with his police baton, hard and roughly, almost breaking it.

The window lowered, revealing a soldier with a proud look, his shirt collar open, and acne on his face, a corporal.

"Damn, what are you knocking for!" the corporal shouted.

Liu Handong didn't respond. His movements were lightning-fast. He extended the police baton, hooked the corporal's neck, and pulled hard, preventing the window from closing. He then opened the locked car door and squeezed in, delivering an elbow strike to the corporal, causing him to bleed from the nose. The man in the passenger seat tried to fight back but was hit by Liu Handong's helmet, leaving him dazed and seeing stars.

The car door opened, and Liu Handong whistled. His comrades quickly approached, dragging the two men out and stuffing them into the Iveco, the entire process taking less than ten seconds. They cleverly covered the soldiers' insignia to prevent the crowd from taking photos.

The crowd applauded, and the traffic police moved the Q7 to the side of the road to clear the traffic, which was already heavily congested.

Ji Yang was nervous. Conflicts between military drivers and traffic police had happened before, and the police always lost. This time, his subordinate had acted on his own, which could cause significant trouble. However, he was young and had long despised these military hooligans, so he let Liu Handong handle it.

"Xiao Liu, be careful," Ji Yang said.

"Don't worry, I'm from the military, I know the drill," Liu Handong said, getting into the Iveco and slamming the door shut.

The two soldiers, still in the police van, were furious, jumping around and threatening the police.

Liu Handong got into the van, took off his helmet, and cursed, "Damn, think you're something just because you drive a Q7? I served in the military for eight years and despise you guys, a bunch of weaklings in the military vehicle squad."

The driver, enraged, tried to kick Liu Handong but was immediately restrained.

"Put them in handcuffs," Liu Handong ordered.

Lin Lianan and Wang Jinshui handcuffed the two soldiers.

"Damn, you dare to handcuff me? Do you know whose car this is? Look at the license plate, can you afford to mess with us, little cop?" the driver glared at Liu Handong, full of arrogance.

Liu Handong sneered, "Whose car? It's not yours, so what's the big deal? You're just a driver. Don't act tough. Let the military police come to the special police team to pick you up. See how you explain this to your superiors. You lost the car and got handcuffed by the police, disgracing your unit. Do you think your superiors will stand up for you? Dream on. If I were you, I'd find a block of tofu and bash my head in."

Lin Lianan laughed, "These two think they're something. If this gets on TV, they'll be out of the military in a week."

The two soldiers finally realized their mistake and began begging for mercy.

"Class leader, let us off, please."

"Calling me class leader now? Too late," Liu Handong sneered.

Lin Lianan searched the two soldiers and found their soldier IDs and military driver's licenses but no dispatch order, indicating they were using the vehicle improperly.

"Using a public vehicle for personal use, that's a serious offense," Liu Handong said.

"No escorting officer, that's against regulations," Lin Lianan added.

"Disheveled military appearance, that alone is enough for a military district reprimand. You guys are in big trouble," Liu Handong said.

The two soldiers looked dejected, their arrogance gone.

Ji Yang knocked on the van's window, and Liu Handong got out. Two military-registered Jetta cars arrived, with eight people, including officers and non-commissioned officers, getting out. They seemed to have been called by the driver as reinforcements.

On the police side, there were over ten traffic police and a fully armed special police team. The military personnel immediately calmed down, apologized, and requested the release of the two soldiers.

Over the years, there had been multiple conflicts between the police and the military in Jinjiang City, mostly due to military vehicles violating traffic rules. In the 1980s, a traffic police office was destroyed by the military after a police officer impounded a military jeep. Generally, the police lost in these conflicts, and seeing a military vehicle was like seeing the South Korean national team for the Chinese football team.

In the past, when military personnel violated traffic rules, they would simply drive away, or lock the car and call for support, and the police would let them go.

This time was different. A young special police officer had forcibly removed the two soldiers from the car, turning the situation from passive to active. The police had impounded both the people and the car, and they weren't letting up, fueled by years of accumulated grievances.

The head of the traffic police reported the incident to the command center, and the chief of the police force was personally overseeing the situation, watching the live feed on the monitor.

"The head of the traffic police is asking how to handle it. The car belongs to the military hospital's vehicle squad," the officer on the phone reported.

All eyes were on Chief Zhu, waiting for his decision.

"Send the people to the military police and impound the car," Zhu Huabiao said firmly.

The team's morale soared, and they almost applauded on the spot.

Zhu Huabiao, with a few of his subordinates, left the command center and lit a cigarette in the rest room, "Damn, it feels good to stand up for ourselves."

His subordinates knew his history; he was the young traffic police officer who had impounded a military vehicle in the 1980s, leading to a conflict.

"Who caught them? I want to commend him," Zhu Huabiao said, in high spirits.

"Word is it was someone from the special police team, a regular police officer," a subordinate said.

Zhu Huabiao raised an eyebrow, "That's a waste of talent. Transfer him to the traffic police headquarters and make him a squad leader."

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