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

1 month 2 day.

Wan Chai Police Station, Major Crime Unit Office.

A light, cold rain was falling outside the window, casting a bizarre and shimmering glow on the neon lights.

Ma Jun sat at his workstation, twirling a ballpoint pen in his hand, but his eyes were fixed on Chen Guozhong, who was throwing a tantrum in the office, through the glass partition.

"That was my informant! The body was found three days ago, why isn't the autopsy report out yet? Are the forensic team incompetent?!"

Chen Guozhong's roar could be heard clearly even through the glass.

Ma Jun sighed and put down his pen.

These past few days, even he, a "mad detective" known for his violent law enforcement, has become somewhat unable to understand his new boss.

Several months ago, after he wiped out the three Vietnamese gang members entrenched in Wong Tsai with Luk Chen's help, he was promoted to senior inspector for his meritorious service. However, instead of taking a job in an office, he voluntarily applied for a transfer to Wan Chai, the area with the most rampant triad activities in Hong Kong, and joined Chan Kwok-chung's team.

The reason is simple: he wanted to arrest Wang Bao.

Looking at the entire Wan Chai police force, only Chan Kwok-chung's team dared to go toe-to-toe with that fat man.

However, since arriving, Ma Jun found the atmosphere in the group to be strange. Although the group members, Ahua, Achen, and Ale, were very polite to him and usually joked around, there was always an invisible barrier keeping him out whenever core operations or private gatherings were involved.

They were like a close-knit family, and he was just a guest staying overnight.

Especially in the past week, even the most composed Chen Guozhong has become increasingly agitated, even... crazy.

"Is Brother Zhong on his mind lately?" Ma Jun asked Hua Ge. "Last night, if I had arrived even a second later, would you guys really have fought Wang Bao's hundreds of men?"

"You don't understand." Hua Ge was wiping his sidearm and said without turning his head, "That scumbag Wang Bao, if you don't push him, he'll shit on your head."

"But that's against the rules!" Ma Jun frowned. "And judging from Zhong Ge's condition, it seems like he's not going to arrest someone, but rather... to his death."

That's right, it's suicide. Ma Jun felt like he was looking for an opportunity to get Wang Bao to kill him.

Thinking of this, Ma Jun frowned. Chen Guozhong was about to retire, and he had an adopted daughter whom he treated like his own. How could he do something so suicidal?

Unless... he has some reason to die.

……

At the same time.

Crown Nightclub, Wan Chai.

This was Wang Bao's headquarters, and also his den of iniquity.

The sound system in the huge private room was deafening.

*Smack!*

An expensive crystal ashtray was smashed against the wall and shattered.

Wang Bao sat on the leather sofa, his chest heaving violently, his muscular face trembling. Several hostesses huddled in a corner, trembling with fear.

"Chen Guozhong... Chen Guozhong!!"

Wang Bao gritted his teeth as he pronounced the name.

Since annexing the Vietnamese gang's territory, Wang Bao has been enjoying immense success, and his power within the numbered gang is among the top.

Now, in the underworld, who wouldn't respectfully call him "Brother Bao" when they see him? But this Chen Guozhong is like a mad dog, relentlessly pursuing him.

Last night at the restaurant, although he seemed to have won in the end, Chen Guozhong's look of wanting to die together made him very uncomfortable.

I feel very uncomfortable.

"Boss, should I find a way to get rid of him?"

From the shadows, a young man dressed in white with dyed yellow hair and a cold gaze emerged.

Ah Ji, Wang Bao's top assassin, is a true outlaw who wields a short knife with unparalleled skill.

"What the hell!" Wang Bao glared at him. "Kill a cop? Do you want us to die even faster? I may be all high and mighty now, but if I really killed an inspector, the entire police force would go crazy, and I wouldn't be able to protect you then!"

"What should we do? Just let him treat us like this?"

"Hmph," Wang Bao sneered, a venomous glint in his eyes, "Chen Guozhong isn't afraid of death because he thinks his life is worthless."

"But he has a weakness."

"That little girl," Wang Bao picked up a glass of whiskey, swirled it, and said, "I heard she's the daughter of that dead witness from back then?"

"Aji".

"exist."

"Tomorrow, find an opportunity to bring that little girl back to me," Wang Bao said calmly, taking a sip of his wine. "Don't hurt her, and don't kill her. Just invite her over as a guest, even if you only lock her up for a few hours."

"I want Chen Guozhong to know that if he wants to risk his life against me, he'd better think twice about whether he can protect the people around him."

"clear."

Ah Ji licked his lips, the short knife in his hand spinning rapidly between his fingers, leaving afterimages in its wake.

……

February 1, noon.

Wan Chai Police Station, Inspector's Office.

"Knock knock knock".

A knock came at the door.

"Come in," Chen Guozhong's weary voice came through.

The door was pushed open, and a tall, imposing man in a sharp suit walked in. He wasn't carrying any documents, but rather two styrofoam lunchboxes.

Chen Jun is the current Chief Inspector of the West Kowloon Regional Crime Unit.

"Ah Jun, what brings you here?"

Upon seeing his cousin, Chen Guozhong's gloomy face finally broke into a rare smile.

"Just passing by, thought I'd drop by." Chen Jun placed the lunchbox on the table; it was their favorite char siu rice. "I heard you've been making quite a scene lately? Even Director Raymond called to ask if you'd gotten into some kind of trouble."

"Ha, those office workers don't know anything."

Chen Guozhong opened the lunchbox and began to eat heartily, his eating manner somewhat disheveled, as if he hadn't had a full meal in a long time.

Chen Jun didn't touch his chopsticks, but just watched his cousin, who was ten years older than him and had once been full of vigor, and chatted casually about family matters.

"Ah Jun, you've really made something of yourself now."

Chen Guozhong looked at the flowers on his cousin's epaulets and smiled with satisfaction. "Our Chen family has finally produced a high-ranking official. Now I can finally give my second uncle a satisfactory answer."

Now, Chen Guozhong has gray hair, sunken eyes, and his hands tremble slightly when he eats.

"Brother," Chen Jun suddenly spoke, his voice a little hoarse, "your hands...why are they shaking so badly?"

Chen Guozhong's movements froze for a moment.

He put down his chopsticks, took out a medicine bottle from the drawer, poured out two white pills, and swallowed them with cold water.

silence.

A deathly silence.

After a long while, Chen Guozhong raised his head, his eyes as calm as a stagnant pool.

"A brain tumor." Chen Guozhong pointed to his temple. "There's something malignant growing here."

"The doctor said it's nerve compression. If I'm lucky, it'll last three months; if I'm unlucky... I could die at any moment."

"boom--"

Although he had a premonition, hearing those words with his own ears still felt like being struck by a heavy hammer.

"When did you find out?" Chen Jun clenched his fist.

"Last week," Chen Guozhong smiled, a smile that spoke of having seen through life and death. "Ah Jun, don't look like that. In our line of work, dying sooner or later is the same. At least, I didn't die at the hands of gangsters."

"But……"

"No buts," Chen Guozhong interrupted him. "I only want to do one thing right now. Before I die, I want to send that bastard Wang Bao to jail. I can't let him continue to harm people."

At this point, Chen Guozhong's eyes suddenly softened.

"By the way, Ah Jun, there's something else I'd like to ask you."

"Brother, you say it."

"If I'm gone... Hai'er is still so young, she can't be left unattended," Chen Guozhong said, looking at Chen Jun. "You're my only family. Could you... help me take care of her?"

Chen Jun looked into his cousin's cloudy yet pleading eyes, and his own eyes welled up with tears.

"Brother, don't worry." Chen Jun nodded solemnly. "As long as I'm alive, no one can touch a hair on Hai'er's head. Besides... medical technology is so advanced now, and I have connections in the US, we can go to the best hospital, maybe there's still a chance."

"We'll see," Chen Guozhong waved his hand, clearly not holding out much hope.

The next day, July 4th.

Sunny weather.

Two workaholics, Chen Guozhong and Chen Jun, both took a day off, which is quite unusual.

Liyuan Amusement Park.

This is a paradise of joy for children on Hong Kong Island. The music of the carousel, the screams of the roller coaster, and the aroma of cotton candy fill the entire park.

"Dad! Uncle! Look! I have such a big balloon!"

Six-year-old Hai'er wore a newly bought princess dress, held a huge balloon in her hand, and smiled like an angel.

Chen Guozhong sat on a bench nearby, looking at his daughter's smiling face, a long-lost fatherly smile appearing on his own. In that moment, he forgot his illness, forgot about Wang Bao.

Chen Jun stood next to him and handed him a bottle of water.

"Brother, look how happy Hai'er is. You have to hang in there for her sake."

"yes……"

Chen Guozhong sighed, "I really want to watch her grow up, to watch her get married..."

Just then.

A professional sense of vigilance suddenly made the hairs on Chen Jun's body stand on end.

murderous look.

Amid the bustling crowd, a chilling, incongruous aura of killing intent was approaching.

"careful!!"

Chen Jun suddenly turned around.

A white figure appeared, moving like a ghost through the crowd, heading straight for Hai'er, who was buying cotton candy.

That's Aji.

He held a handkerchief soaked in a sedative in his hand, and his movements were astonishingly fast.

"Hai'er!!"

Chen Guozhong realized what was happening, but he was unwell and his movements were a beat slower.

Just then, Ah-Ji's hand was about to cover Hai-er's mouth and nose.

"court death!!"

Chen Jun roared and darted out like a cheetah.

"Bang!"

A powerful flying kick aimed straight for Ah-Jie's head.

Aji clearly hadn't expected there to be another expert nearby. He reacted extremely quickly, forced to abandon his attempt to grab the man, and dodged to the side, simultaneously drawing his short knife and slashing towards Chen Jun's ankle.

"clang!"

Chen Jun changed his move very quickly, stepping on the railing next to him for leverage, turning around in mid-air, and delivering a whip kick to Aji's wrist.

Ah Ji frowned, sensing the opponent's terrifying explosive power, and knew he had met a tough opponent.

This is a public place, surrounded by screaming tourists and children.

Moreover, his mission was kidnapping, not murder.

"Consider yourself lucky."

Aji gave Chen Jun a cold look, then glanced at Hai'er, who was being held tightly in Chen Guozhong's arms.

He sneered, twirled the short knife in his hand, and with a swift movement, disappeared into the panicked crowd.

"Don't chase!"

Chen Guozhong stopped Chen Jun, who was trying to chase after them. His face was pale, and he was panting heavily as he tightly protected his daughter.

"It's Wang Bao's man... that assassin in white, Aji."

Chen Guozhong gritted his teeth and said, "That bastard... he actually dared to touch my daughter!!"

Chen Jun stood there, looking in the direction where Aji had disappeared, his eyes blazing with fury.

They crossed the line.

These gangsters have really crossed the line.

If the previous conflict was merely a struggle between good and evil, then from this moment on, the nature of the conflict has changed.

Wang Bao actually tried to kidnap an innocent six-year-old girl, who was also a police officer's relative, to threaten the police.

"elder brother."

Chen Jun turned around and looked at his cousin, who was still in shock, and Hai'er, who was crying loudly in fear.

His voice became unusually calm, eerily calm.

"Leave this to me."

"What are you going to do?" Chen Guozhong looked at him with some concern.

"Since they don't want to talk about the law, then we don't need to either."

Chen Jun took out his phone and dialed an encrypted number.

That was the dedicated line to the "distillery".

"I am Bourbon."

Chen Jun's voice was filled with a chilling killing intent.

"I need a team of top-tier security personnel to go to Lai Yuen Amusement Park immediately to protect my family."

"in addition……"

"Help me find out everything about Wang Bao of the Baozi Pile. Especially that assassin named Aji."

"I want them to know the price for messing with my Chen family."

……

A few days later, on January 10th, at night.

In the study of a villa in Youyicun.

Lu Chen listened to Chen Jun's story over the phone.

On the other end of the phone, Chen Jun's voice still betrayed suppressed anger: "Boss, this is what happened. Wang Bao and his gang have gone mad. If we don't get rid of them, my cousin's family will never have a peaceful day."

"I see."

Lu Chen looked out at the dark night sky, the cigar in his hand glowing intermittently.

Originally, "Sha Po Lang" was just a personal feud between Chen Guozhong and Wang Bao, a tragedy full of fate.

But now, because of Chen Jun's intervention, and because of that Aji's foolish actions.

This matter has now become a matter for the winery.

"Ah Jun."

Lu Chen said calmly into the phone, "You did the right thing. If we can't even protect our own people, then our winery has no reason to exist."

"Since Wang Bao likes to play kidnapping and intimidation games..."

"Then let's teach him what true lawlessness is."