As soon as the Human Emperor Banner came out, I became the Lord of the Old Ones

Chapter 237 Beyond the Rules
"Could we ask him to come back and assist with the investigation?"

Li Xinglan suggested, "The other day, Jean-Jacques' men chased down robbers in the downtown area and caused quite a stir. Shouldn't we ask him to come back and investigate this matter?"

"Also, I've been tracking the bank accounts of the Golden Iris Entertainment Center these past few days and found that many of their funds are problematic. Although it's not serious enough to constitute a crime, please come back and ask them. There shouldn't be any issues."

"That's pointless."

Long Jianhuan slowly shook his head. "Jean-Jacques is a big shot in Dawn City, and his relationship with Dawn Heavy Industries is much deeper than that of Sheikh Clatter. Even if he agrees to cooperate with our investigation, he will definitely go to the Security Bureau and conduct the investigation in a formal and official manner, accompanied by a lawyer and under surveillance."

"This guy is a mining engineer by training and has been running an underground casino for so long. He's not brainless. There's no way we could find any flaws in his story."

"More importantly, doing this will inevitably alert him. If he and the people behind him become more vigilant, it will be meaningless even if we find a third crystal coin of the same type."

"Hey!"

Li Xinglan frowned deeply. "Then what should we do? We can't just arrest him and torture him without considering the consequences, can we?"

These words caused Long Jianhuan to cough softly.

Xu Yan looked at her slightly embarrassed expression, pondered for a moment, and seemed to understand something.

"Captain Long, I'd like to confirm something—"

He asked, "Do you mean that at this critical moment when Dawn City is facing a major crisis, the Security Bureau is simply unable to use the rules of the game to find evidence against Jean-Jacques, thereby cracking down on a potentially existing underground money laundering chain and saving this city from imminent danger?"

Long Jianhuan nodded with a solemn expression.

"Understood, let me double-check—"

Xu Yan looked around at everyone in the room and continued to ask, "Is the purpose of forming this team to bypass the rules that the Security Bureau must follow, to take down Jean-Jacques by any means necessary, to uncover the underground money laundering chain, and to save Dawn City?"

Long Jianhuan blushed slightly.

"Why do you ask?"

Xu Yan shrugged.

"Isn't it obvious?"

He said, "Our elite team comes from all over the country, and we have all kinds of people, but we don't have any real Dawn City Security Bureau agents. Even Captain Long, you only recently returned to Dawn City."

"Well, even if the Dawn City Security Bureau isn't full of experts and fierce generals, it shouldn't be so short of talent that it can't even send a senior agent to guide our work, right?"
"Seeing this personnel configuration, I can only guess that the Dawn City Security Bureau has probably been completely infiltrated by Dawn Heavy Industry. The vast majority of its agents have intricate connections with Dawn Heavy Industry, making it impossible for them to be impartial and investigate thoroughly."

"Therefore, this glorious yet arduous task can only be entrusted to us."

Long Jianhuan remained silent for a long time before letting out a sigh.

"There's no way around it. The Alliance of Heroes has never had much control over border cities, especially a sunset city like Dawn City with its resources on the verge of depletion. It's like they're leaving us to fend for ourselves. The Dawn City Security Bureau has a hard time getting enough funding from above. Most of the time, we have to rely on the support of Dawn Heavy Industries to carry out our normal work and maintain the most basic order."

Long Jianhuan said, "This is not 'erosion,' but a fact, a very embarrassing fact that is prevalent in the border cities of the alliance, and it is very difficult to change."

"Understood. I have no interest in making any moral judgments about the operators who were bribed by Dawn Heavy Industries."

Xu Yan spread his hands. "I just want to know how much support, recognition, and tacit approval we can get from the Dawn City Security Bureau. Or to put it more bluntly, who in the Dawn City Security Bureau can we absolutely trust, who will support us under any circumstances, and who will even clean up our messes after we break the rules, ensuring that we are not at fault?" Everyone present was a smart person.

Well, at least except for Li Xinglan, who was completely shocked.

Whether it was the female war correspondent or the betrayed former gunner of the Spirit Guard, they both knew that the reason they were able to participate in this mission, besides their abilities, was more importantly their identity—an identity that had absolutely no connection with Dawn Heavy Industries.

They were all fearless in the face of danger.

However, like Xu Yan, they also need some degree of assurance.

"……rest assured."

Long Jianhuan reassured everyone, "Even if everyone is unreliable, I can guarantee that Director Hawke of the Dawn City Security Bureau has absolutely not been bribed by Dawn Heavy Industries and will definitely support us fully under any circumstances."

“That’s right, Chief Hawke will definitely not have any problems!”

Li Xinglan nodded emphatically, "He and the former Director Long were sworn brothers. Director Long saved his life, and he swore to protect the dawn for Director Long's sake, until his death!"

"Moreover, if Director Hawke was really bribed by Dawn Heavy Industry, or was even originally part of the underground money laundering industry chain, then our team would not exist at all."

Long Jianhuan said, "All he needs to do is take the blood-stained coin, claim that he will investigate, and then find an excuse to get rid of me."

Indeed, as the director of the Dawn City Security Bureau, there are countless ways to conceal a criminal activity.

There was no need to grant Long Jianhuan's request, let alone secretly allocate resources to allow her to form such a small team that would benefit the Dawn City Security Bureau.

Long Jianhuan told everyone that Director Hawke was not satisfied with the current state of the Dawn City Security Bureau, and also knew that many people within the bureau had intricate connections with Dawn Heavy Industry, existing in a gray area where good and evil were difficult to distinguish.

It makes it clearer what serious, even tragic, consequences would result if this underground money laundering chain truly existed, and if the blood of Dawn City were continuously drained through this channel.

Therefore, he and Long Jianhuan reached an agreement.

This matter must be thoroughly investigated.

They would not hesitate to break ties with Liming Heavy Industry.

However, we cannot use internal personnel from the Dawn City Security Bureau to investigate.

Otherwise, they might not even have the chance to break ties with the other party.

"Xu Yan is right. Our opponent is very likely a big shot in the management of Liming Heavy Industry. It is impossible to catch them in the act and uproot the entire underground money laundering industry chain in a short time through conventional means."

Ryūmi Kan said, "However, using the status of a 'special employee' to achieve one's goals through means outside the rules of the game does indeed involve a high degree of uncertainty, and may bring danger and hidden dangers, endangering your reputation, future, or even your lives."

"Therefore, I want to confirm with you all again that after understanding the difficulties and seriousness of the operation, are you still willing to fight alongside me?"

"If you have any concerns, it's not too late to withdraw now. As long as you abide by the confidentiality agreement, there won't be any problems!"

(End of this chapter)