Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

Kowloon, home of bald detective Albert.

This is an apartment full of postmodern style (actually, it's just a mess).

"Phew... I'm exhausted." King Kong sprawled unceremoniously on the sofa, a can of ice-cold beer pressed against his face to cool down. "Bald guy, are you sure that tomboy won't do anything crazy? The way she pulled out a gun in the church just now, it looked like she was going to riddle me with bullets!"

"Don't worry!" The bald man rubbed his shiny bald head, applying safflower oil to King Kong while boasting, "In this house, I'm the head of the household! That woman may be fierce, but a woman follows her husband wherever he goes. If I don't let her in, she wouldn't dare...?"

"Bang--!!!"

Before he could finish speaking, the door was violently kicked open!

A woman dressed in a wedding gown, but with the hem torn in half, carrying a Type 38 police revolver, and exuding a murderous aura, stormed in. Although her makeup was ruined, it did nothing to diminish her chilling murderous intent.

"Albert!! You bald bastard! How dare you run off with some random guy at your wedding?! I'll skin you alive and use you as a football today, or I'm not He Dongshi!!"

"Holy crap! The tigress is here!" King Kong yelled, instinctively shrinking behind the sofa.

"Wife! Let me explain! It's all a misunderstanding!" The bald man, who had just been calling himself the "head of the household," instantly slid to his knees, his movements so practiced it was heartbreaking. He raised his hands, his face plastered with a fawning smile. "I did this to save someone! Saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda!"

"Save someone? I think you want to die!"

He Dongshi rushed up and unleashed a flurry of "Give Me Back My Beauty Punch," sending the bald man scrambling for cover and running wildly around the house.

"Ouch! Don't hit my face! I make a living with my looks!"

"Wife, have mercy! If you hit me again, my hair really won't grow back!"

After a chaotic scene...

Ten minutes later.

The living room finally quieted down.

The bald man knelt on the washboard he always kept at home, dejected. King Kong, on the other hand, huddled in a corner like a wronged wife, not daring to utter a sound.

He Dongshi sat on the sofa, legs crossed, gnawing on a chicken leg he had brought back from the wedding, his eyes fiercely scanning the two of them.

"Tell me what happened. If you can't explain it clearly, this day next year will be the anniversary of your deaths."

"I'll talk! I'll talk!"

King Kong quickly recounted in vivid detail his encounter with the conman siblings, being framed for robbing a bank, and the appearance of a killer robot in his house. Of course, he omitted the part about how he was deceived because of his lust, only saying that he was "kind-hearted and compassionate."

After listening to Jin Gang's account, He Dongshi frowned.

"You mean someone framed you, and a mysterious organization is hunting you down with robots?"

"It's absolutely true, sister-in-law!" King Kong swore, pointing to the sky, "If I'm lying, may that bald man never grow a hair again!"

"Hey! What does this have to do with me!" the bald man protested.

He Dongshi glared at the bald man and remained silent for a moment.

Although she usually appears carefree, as a senior inspector, she has a keen professional instinct. Moreover, she understands King Kong; while the monkey is greedy and lustful, he certainly doesn't have the guts to rob a bank, much less lie about such an outlandish robot story. Furthermore, considering this, there are at least two gangs of criminals currently operating on Hong Kong Island; if they aren't apprehended in time, the consequences could be dire.

"Alright, get up!" He Dongshi kicked the bald man's butt. "Since you were helping Monkey, I'll put the wedding on your tab for now. If you dare to do it again, you'll be punished for both!"

"Thank you, wife! Long live my wife!" The bald man felt like he had been granted a pardon and quickly got up to massage He Dongshi's shoulders and legs.

"So what do we do now? I'm still on the police's wanted list. I'll be arrested as soon as I step out the door." King Kong said with a bitter face.

"To clear our names, we need to catch that conman brother and sister first." He Dongshi's eyes sharpened. "I vaguely remember that guy named Youyou; he's a repeat offender. These kinds of people live on the fringes of the underworld, their whereabouts are unpredictable... However, there's one person who definitely knows where he is."

"Who?" King Kong and the bald man asked in unison.

"A marginal figure." He Dongshi stood up, straightening the bizarre look of her wedding dress, now only half-finished. "That guy is a well-known figure in the underworld, and also my most informed contact in Hong Kong. If those brother and sister were still in Hong Kong, he would definitely know."

……

At the same time.

Inside a high-end apartment in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The room was dark, the heavy curtains were drawn tightly, and only the faint blue light from the television illuminated a pale and haggard face.

Rick Peng was curled up on the sofa, clutching the modified M1911 that had killed someone at the IPSC tournament.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked dazed.

It's been two days.

He hasn't been able to sleep since the day he killed Lao Yu on the field.

With my eyes closed, all I could see in my mind was the image of a bullet piercing my forehead, and that instant... the shiver that ran through my fingertips.

That's not fear.

That's... pleasure.

An indescribable, intense pleasure that made every pore on his body open up.

It was like inhaling the purest form of drug, making him unable to stop.

"Am I a pervert? Am I a serial killer?" Peng Yixing cried out, clutching his hair in anguish.

Yesterday he went to see a famous psychologist, but when he tried to describe the feeling, the doctor just prescribed him a bunch of sedatives and told him to rest more.

it's useless.

Those medications couldn't quell the fire in his heart.

He felt as if a demon was dwelling inside him, a demon that was frantically pounding against the cage, roaring as it wanted to taste blood again.

"Huff... huff..."

Peng Yixing was panting heavily, his gaze falling on the coffee table, where a pure black business card with gold foil was placed.

That was given to him by the lawyer named Kevin at the police station entrance that day.

[If you have any questions, please feel free to call. Lu Chen.]

Peng Yixing picked up the business card with trembling hands.

He hesitated, he struggled.

He had a premonition that once he made that call, everything might never be the same again.

But he knew even more clearly that if he didn't find a way out, he would go crazy.

beep...beep...

The call went through.

"Hello, Rick?" A young, composed voice, seemingly knowing everything, came from the other end of the phone.

There were no pleasantries, no questions asked, as if he had been expected to call.

"Mr. Lu..." Peng Yixing's voice was hoarse, as if he had swallowed charcoal, "I...want to see you."

"Come on," Lu Chen said, giving an address. "I'll wait for you there."

……

10 PM.

Kwun Tong, an unremarkable residential area.

The house originally had an abandoned basement, which has now been transformed into a highly concealed safe house for the winery.

Go down to the basement, push open the heavy soundproof door, and the view suddenly opens up.

This is a small, professionally modified indoor shooting range with walls covered with all kinds of firearms, from antique pistols to the latest automatic rifles.

At the end of the firing range stood three people.

Lu Chen was wearing a black shirt. To his left was Tian Yangsheng, the bodyguard who wore sunglasses and was as silent as death. To his right was Xiao Zhuang, the man who had sparred with him on Gun Club Mountain.

"They're here."

Lu Chen turned around, smiling as he raised his glass. "Want a drink?"

Peng Yixing did not accept the drink. His gaze swept over the gun on the wall and finally landed on Lu Chen.

"Mr. Lu, I think... I'm sick," Peng Yixing said painfully. "Ever since that day I fired the gun, my mind is filled with images of killing. I'm not afraid at all; on the contrary... I'm excited. In fact, these past few days, whenever I touch a gun, that urge to kill surges up. Am I going crazy?"

"You're not crazy, Rick," Lu Chen put down his glass, walked up to him, and looked him straight in the eyes. "You've just awakened."

"Awakening?"

"Rick, everyone has a demon called desire living inside them. Ordinary people use morality and law to lock it up, pretending it doesn't exist..." Lu Chen pointed to his chest, "But you, you just accidentally broke the lock."

"But I want to kill!" Peng Yixing roared. "That desire is wrong!"

"There's no right or wrong in killing itself. The key is who you kill and why you kill them," Lu Chen pointed to a human-shaped target on the shooting range. "You killed Lao Yu to save your girlfriend. Was that wrong? If one day you kill those damned drug dealers, rapists, terrorists to save more people... would that be considered a crime?"

"No, that is justice."

Lu Chen's voice was full of seductive power: "Shooting is your talent, killing is your instinct. Since heaven has given you this sharp sword, why do you want to break it? Why not learn to control it and make it work for you?"

"Control?" Peng Yixing looked up, his eyes filled with confusion.

"That's right, not suppression, but control, conquest!" Lu Chen turned to look at Xiao Zhuang behind him. "Let me reintroduce you. This is Xiao Zhuang, an assassin."

Xiao Zhuang stepped forward, his voice calm yet magnetic: "I'm a professional hitman. I've killed many people, but I've never considered myself a pervert. I have my principles. I only take money I should take, and I only kill those who deserve to die. There's too much scum in this world that the law can't clean up. Drug dealers, human traffickers, those beasts who ruin families and yet go unpunished..."

Xiao Zhuang drew a gun from his waist and handed it to Peng Yixing: "Killing them will not only satisfy your inner desires, but also make this world a little cleaner. This is called...acting on behalf of Heaven."

Peng Yixing took the gun, and the cold metallic touch instantly calmed his restless heart.

"Acting on behalf of Heaven..." he murmured to himself.

"Rick, join us." Lu Chen extended his hand, inviting Peng Yixing. "I have an organization called 'The Distillery,' full of 'freaks' like you. Here, you can unleash your instincts, you can shoot to your heart's content, as long as your gun is pointed at the damned."

"We don't need psychologists; what we need is a goal."

Peng Yixing looked at Lu Chen's hand, then at the gun in his hand.

He was thinking, he was weighing the options.

But in fact, the answer was already decided the moment he stepped into the basement.

Where else in this world, besides here, could such a bloodthirsty soul find a place?

"I……"

Peng Yixing took a deep breath, and the confusion in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by an unprecedented firmness and ruthlessness.

He reached out and grasped Lu Chen's hand.

"I'm joining."

Lu Chen smiled.

He turned around and took out a bottle of strong liquor that had been prepared beforehand from the liquor cabinet behind him.

That was a bottle of top-quality brandy.

"Welcome to the distillery," Lu Chen handed him the bottle. "From today onwards, your code name is—Brandy. This liquor, after aging, has a rich flavor, but a powerful aftereffect. Just like your gun, seemingly calm, but actually deadly."

Peng Yixing took the bottle, unscrewed the cap, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp.

The spicy liquor flowed down his throat like a raging fire, burning away all his past struggles, anxieties, and cowardice.

Rick, the shooting athlete who was plagued by anxiety and uncertainty, is dead.

Instead, the distillery's top killer, codenamed Brandy, took its place.