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

Early June, 1983, Saturday.

To comfort the frontline officers who had been under immense pressure and even experiencing serious psychological problems due to the ongoing manhunt for Yip Kwok-foon, the Hong Kong Island Police Headquarters held a small-scale internal social gathering on Saturday evening in the multi-purpose hall of the Wan Chai headquarters.

Inside the multi-functional auditorium, colorful rotating neon lights flashed, and extremely dynamic European and American electronic dance music roared from the huge speakers.

Having shed their heavy, pressure-laden military uniforms and suits, hundreds of young male and female police officers, dressed in extremely fashionable casual clothes, freely vented their frustrations and resentments accumulated over the past two weeks on the dance floor.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the entire venue has been pushed to its climax!

All the officers formed a huge circle, erupting in deafening cheers and screams.

In the very center of the circle.

Two young men dressed in slim-fit jeans and retro jackets are performing a breakdance routine that's incredibly trendy in this era, perfectly synchronized to the powerful beat of the globally popular song "Billie Jean"!

"good!!!"

"Brother Ao is handsome! The leader is mighty!!"

The young man on the left was extremely handsome, with a sharp and arrogant look in his eyes. He braced himself with his hands on the ground and executed an extremely difficult "windmill" Thomas full twist with remarkable precision. He then landed gracefully with a beautiful somersault, eliciting a burst of infatuated screams from the surrounding policewomen.

He is currently the most dazzling star among the younger generation of the police headquarters, Inspector of the Serious Crimes Unit – Qiu Gang'ao.

Beside him, another young man with a resolute face, thick eyebrows, and big eyes, exuding an upright and unyielding temperament, smoothly performed an extremely silky "moonwalk." The two then stood back to back, striking an extremely cool pose.

His name is Zhang Chongbang. He is also an inspector in the Serious Crimes Unit and Qiu Gangao's sworn brother who slept in the same bunk bed at the police academy.

Cheung Chung-pong and Yau Kong-ao are hailed by senior police officers and the media as the new generation of "twin stars" of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force.

The two partners are a perfect match: one is extremely meticulous and principled, while the other is incredibly brave and fearless in the face of danger. Over the past two years, they have worked seamlessly together, solving countless major cases that have shocked Hong Kong, and their future prospects are virtually limitless.

Especially Qiu Gang'ao, due to his exceptional efficiency in handling cases and his workaholic style, is said to be promoted to "Senior Inspector" next month. At this age, reaching the position of Senior Inspector, given time, it's not impossible for him to become a Superintendent, Chief Superintendent, or even Deputy Commissioner of Police—a truly prestigious position!

"Huff... huff..."

When the song ended, the two, drenched in sweat, gave each other a high five and walked back to the backstage dressing room surrounded by their colleagues.

"Ah Ao, you're getting better and better at spinning your 'windmill' (a euphemism for being a slang term for someone who's ...

"Forget it, I have my promotion review next month, I don't have the mind for this kind of romance right now."

Qiu Gang'ao unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, tilted his head back, and gulped down half of it. His eyes, sharp as a cheetah's, burned with a burning desire for success and anticipation for the future. "Once I get the epaulets of a senior inspector, I'll be able to execute operations more effectively. Then I'll send all those thugs who run rampant on the streets of Hong Kong to Stanley Prison, one by one!"

Just as these two rising stars of the police force were joking with each other and dreaming about the future.

"Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!"

The two black pagers placed on the lounge bench rang out abruptly at almost the same second!

The smiles on their faces vanished instantly, and they simultaneously grabbed their pagers with perfect tacit understanding.

On the green LCD screen, only one extremely short line of numerical code was displayed, representing the highest level of command:

[999, come to the top-floor office immediately. — Situ Jie]

Upon seeing the name "Situ Jie," Qiu Gang'ao and Zhang Chongbang exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of surprise in each other's eyes.

Szeto Kit. A senior superintendent at police headquarters, and also the superior of their superior in the Major Crimes Unit.

This man has an extremely polarized reputation within the police force. He is highly capable and extremely shrewd, but at the same time, he is a quintessential "banana" (yellow on the outside, white on the inside), and is the most loyal and most vicious "yellow-skinned henchman" of the current Commissioner of Police, Han Yi-li.

During the social gathering on Saturday night, an emergency summons was issued using the code "999," signifying extreme urgency. This indicates a major case has been uncovered! And it's definitely a case that could cause a huge uproar!

Without saying a word, the two quickly took off their sweat-soaked dance costumes, changed into impeccably tailored suits, put on their police badges, and strode towards the senior superintendent's office on the top floor.

……

The elevator doors opened.

The entire top floor was quiet, with only the extremely faint whirring of the central air conditioning. The corridor lights appeared somewhat pale.

"Bang bang".

Qiu Gang'ao knocked on the heavy mahogany door.

"Come in." Situ Jie's extremely hoarse and suppressed voice came from inside.

The two pushed open the door and entered.

The office was filled with smoke, and even the air purifier couldn't remove the strong smell of cigars.

Senior Superintendent Situ Jie, dressed in an extremely sophisticated custom-made suit, sat behind a large desk with a livid face. His eyes were bloodshot, his tie was ripped and twisted, and he looked like a live volcano that could erupt at any moment, exuding an aura of extreme anxiety and coldness.

"Sir!" Zhang Chongbang and Qiu Gangao stood at attention and gave a perfectly standard military salute.

"Lock the door from the inside, and then close the blinds as well."

Situ Jie did not return the greeting, but quickly issued the order.

After the two of them completely sealed off the office into a private room.

"Slap! Slap!"

Situ Jie took two brown paper document bags with red labels indicating top secret from the drawer and threw them heavily on the table.

"One copy per person, and you're only allowed to read it in this office. After you've finished reading, you must keep every single word inside to yourself! Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely do not take it out of this office!"

Situ Jie's voice was very low, and he used the word "absolutely" three times in a row.

Zhang Chongbang and Qiu Gangao felt a chill run down their spines. They stepped forward, took the file bag, and carefully unwrapped the cord to extract the documents inside.

I only read the first page.

Even the police duo, who were used to all kinds of big scenes, had their pupils suddenly contract and gasped!

"This...again?"

Zhang Chongbang stared intently at the photo of the man who was bound hand and foot, stripped down to only his underwear, and whose face was covered in blood. "Huo... Huo Zhaotang?! The chairman of Huo's Bank?!"

"He's been kidnapped?! When did this happen?!" Qiu Gang'ao reacted extremely quickly. He immediately flipped through the case report at the back, his sharp eyes widening even more. "A ransom of three hundred million?! Is this another crime committed by a tycoon or a copycat crime?"

A nuclear bomb! This is absolutely a super nuclear bomb capable of obliterating the entire Hong Kong police force!

"That's right, Huo Zhaotang was kidnapped in the underground parking lot halfway up the mountain late last night!"

Situ Jie suddenly stood up, placed his hands on the desk, and stared at his two most capable henchmen like a rabid wolf.

"Ah Ao, Ah Bang! You should know how serious this matter is."

Situ Jie gritted his teeth, suppressing his anger as much as possible: "The month before last, Li Chengjia was extorted for 1 billion by Dai Fuqiang, and a few days ago, Ye Guohuan and his gang of bastards were shooting AKs in the streets! The image and credibility of our police force have been bankrupt in the eyes of the citizens and the Governor of Hong Kong!"

"And now! Fok Siu-tong has been kidnapped! He's not only a tycoon in Hong Kong, but he's also the head of the bank that pays our police force's salaries and reserves! If he's killed, or if the media leaks even a single word of this news!" Situ Jie pointed to the bustling night view outside the window, his tone sinister, "Next Monday, when the bank opens, there will be a bank run across Hong Kong! Fok's Bank will go bankrupt! The hundreds of millions of dollars in operational funds that our police force has deposited there will be lost! At that time, the Commissioner will die, I will die, and all of you from the Serious Crimes Unit will have to take off your uniforms and beg for food!!"

Upon hearing this terrifying chain reaction, Zhang Chongbang and Qiu Gangao both felt an unprecedented sense of suffocation.

They finally understood why Szeto Kit was so nervous, and why this matter was classified as top secret! This was no longer just a kidnapping case; it was a political crisis concerning the very survival of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force!

"Sir! What are the instructions from above?" Qiu Gang'ao took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He knew that a crisis often presents a huge opportunity. If he could handle this case flawlessly, the position of Senior Inspector would be a sure thing!

"The director will personally oversee this case! I will be in charge of the specific actions!"

Situ Jie stared intently at the two of them, held up three fingers, and issued that extremely harsh death order.

"Today is Saturday! There are less than 48 hours until the stock market opens and banks open at 9:00 AM next Monday!"

"I don't care if you eat or sleep! In these forty-odd hours, you must rescue Huo Zhaotang unharmed! And the entire process must be kept absolutely secret. You cannot use a large-scale police search, you cannot use sirens, and you absolutely cannot cause any panic among the media or citizens!"

In just over forty hours, a shocking kidnapping case was secretly solved, with no one even knowing where the kidnappers were hiding.

This is absolutely hellishly difficult!

Zhang Chongbang frowned, and immediately raised the most crucial question: "Sir, time is running out. What did Madam Huo say? Did the kidnappers leave any clues?"

"Mrs. Huo also doesn't know anything about the kidnappers. After negotiating with them, she agreed to hand over the ransom late the day after tomorrow. But the director has explicitly forbidden any compromise or payment, as this would embolden the ruthless kidnappers!"

Situ Jie turned around and took out a transparent evidence bag from the safe behind him. Inside was an extremely large, red shotgun shell casing.

He threw the evidence bag on the table, a chilling glint in his eyes.

"But it's also lucky; we have a clue!"

"Last night in the parking lot of Mid-Levels, those gangsters, in an extremely arrogant manner, fired a shotgun at the ceiling in an attempt to intimidate Fok Siu-tong's bodyguards."

"The forensic team worked through the night to conduct state-of-the-art comparative analysis on the shell casing and the gunpowder residue left at the scene," Situ Jie said, looking at the two men, revealing the crucial breakthrough. "The results show that the extremely unique homemade gunpowder formula is 99% similar to the gunpowder residue used by the ruthless robbers in a series of jewelry store robberies that occurred in Tsim Sha Tsui three years ago!"

"And the ringleader of that case three years ago... was a gangster who smuggled himself in from the north, nicknamed—'Da Dong'!"

Da Dong! He Yaodong!

Upon hearing this name, Qiu Gang'ao's eyes lit up instantly. As an elite member of the Major Crimes Unit, he certainly knew Da Dong, the notorious criminal who had been wanted by the police for many years!

"Moreover, a smuggler 'voluntarily' told the police that Da Dong had returned to Hong Kong Island last month."

Therefore, as long as we catch Da Dong by the tail, we can find Huo Zhaotang!

Qiu Gang'ao straightened up abruptly and shouted, "Sir! Give me a day! I'll sweep through all the informants and middlemen in the underworld and find out where Da Dong is hiding!"

"Very good, A'ao. I like your drive."

Situ Jie patted Qiu Gang'ao on the shoulder with great satisfaction. He knew that Qiu Gang'ao, with his sharp blade, was best suited for this kind of difficult task.

"From this moment forward, you have priority access to all police resources, networks, and even support from the Special Duties Unit! Anyone who tries to obstruct you, just say my name!"

"Yes, sir!" Zhang Chongbang and Qiu Gang'ao accepted the order at the same time.

Just as the two were putting the top-secret documents into the shredder to destroy them, preparing to turn around and leave the office to launch that extremely crazy life-or-death rescue against the clock.

"etc."

Situ Jie's extremely cold voice, as if it came from the depths of hell, suddenly rang out behind them.

The two stopped and turned around.

Situ Jie walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, his back to them. The neon lights outside cast his shadow in an extremely distorted and elongated way.

"Ah Ao, Ah Bang."

Situ Jie toyed with an unlit cigar in his hand, his tone extremely calm, yet carrying a chillingly cruel implication:

"As I just said, this case concerns the livelihoods of tens of thousands of police officers, and the lives of high-ranking officers. What the commissioner wants is for Huo Zhaotang to come back alive. As for those locusts who dared to kidnap our 'God of Wealth'..."

Situ Jie turned half his face, his eye, hidden in the shadows, staring intently at Qiu Gang'ao.

"I don't care what methods you use to pry open those gangsters' mouths during the search and rescue process; nor do I care whether you violate the police force's bullshit procedures and regulations when arresting Da Dong."

Situ Jie snapped the cigar in his hand in two with great force, making a crisp "crack" sound.

"I only care about the results; I'll take responsibility for everything else!"

********

Some thoughts on "The Wrath of the Gods" (too long to include in the author's notes): I feel there's a problem with the plot of "The Wrath of the Gods." The director probably intended to explore the relative importance of procedural and substantive justice, but the result wasn't quite there. Initially, Zhang Chongbang refused to have his record revoked, leading to retaliation. Even when his brother faced imprisonment, he refused to lie, demonstrating his respect for procedural justice and the rules. However, later he himself broke the rules in various ways. For example, he told his colleagues to go home and sleep, then stormed into someone's hideout alone without a search warrant, subjecting them to torture. Later, when rescuing his wife, he even fired at the Flying Tigers (though they used shields). Then, while refusing to lie for his brother, he hoped his superiors would be lenient when he himself faced suspension. In short, Zhang Chongbang's character is very inconsistent, giving the impression of double standards. I felt very sorry for Qiu Gang'ao and frustrated while watching it.

It's fair to say that if it weren't for Nicholas Tse's excellent character portrayal and his outstanding fight scenes with Donnie Yen, this movie would probably have flopped.