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

While the Luk Family Estate on The Peak Road was still immersed in the joy and warmth of the birth of a newborn, on the other side of Hong Kong, on the Shek O Peninsula, the atmosphere in an English-style villa hidden deep in the greenery was as cold as a Siberian cold wave.

"Clang!"

A crisp cracking sound echoed in the empty living room as an expensive bone china cup was slammed onto the fireplace mantle, shattering into countless dust particles.

"Damn it! Have these cops gone mad?! They actually dared to raid the warehouse in Tuen Mun!"

At this moment, Thomas was a far cry from his usual refined and arrogant demeanor in official circles. His typical Onsa face was contorted with extreme anger, and his eyes were bloodshot. He paced back and forth on the spacious plush carpet in a silk robe, each step heavy.

Since his henchman "Sang" failed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last month, Thomas has been on tenterhooks. That bastard Ma Wenjian had the most crucial smuggling ledgers of the Zhongdao Group over the past five years, and those ledgers ultimately fell into the hands of that policewoman named Ya Zi.

For over a month, Thomas's nightmare had become a reality. Like sharks smelling blood, the Hong Kong police began a frenzied tearing down the entire operation, following every clue in the ledgers. The smuggling network that the Zhongdao Group had painstakingly built over many years was severed piece by piece, its strongholds destroyed one after another, and the core members who had served him faithfully were stuffed into police cars like stray dogs.

Just an hour ago, he received another piece of bad news: the police task force had located the Nakajima Group's last secret transshipment port in Saigon. If that port fell, the entire Nakajima Group would be completely exposed, and he, hiding beneath that facade, would be left with nothing to hide.

"Boss, all the men we sent to silence them have been arrested. Ma Wenjian is now being held in the police's highest-security safe house, jointly guarded by the Political Department and the Major Crimes Unit. That woman named Ya Zi seems determined not to let any details slip by." A trusted aide stood in the corner, head bowed, reporting, his voice trembling slightly.

Thomas stopped and stared intently at the dark sea outside the window. He knew that if he didn't retaliate, he, the customs commissioner, would have to spend the rest of his life in Stanley Prison.

Finally, he took a deep breath and, with trembling hands, dialed a secret number that went directly to the Governor's House.

On the other end of the phone, the voice of the current Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Edward Youde, carried a sense of weary superiority: "Thomas, it's so late, you shouldn't be calling me at this hour."

"I apologize for disturbing you, Your Excellency, but the Nakajima Group is now on the verge of collapse... If I fall, there will be no one to manage the 'cultural and artistic works' that flow to the Greater London area every year, and the gold and antiques that enter the British Museum through underground channels." Thomas expressed his apologies humbly, but his words revealed a desperate attempt to salvage the situation.

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, then the tone became extremely cold, even tinged with disgust: "You're too careless, Thomas. How could you let an accountant take the ledgers out of Hong Kong? Such a basic mistake shouldn't be paid for by the Empire."

In reality, the so-called Nakajima Group was essentially a black glove established with the tacit approval of the Japanese government. From India to Africa, from the Suez Canal to the Far East, the Ansar were most adept at siphoning blood from their colonies to nourish their homeland, a disgrace to the glory of the Japanese Empire. However, after World War II, with the reconstruction of the world order, such barbaric plundering could no longer be openly tolerated, but the Ansar still had the blood of a bandit flowing in their veins, so how could they willingly give up?

So the empire came up with a brilliant idea: to establish a smuggling ring through high-ranking officials like Thomas, to secretly and continuously transport cultural relics, treasures, and even huge sums of black foreign exchange from the colonies back to the mainland across the ocean, in order to support the empire that was already in decline but still trying to maintain a facade.

Thomas is just a cog in this massive plundering machine, but if that cog breaks, the machine will shut down and might even expose the gentlemen in suits sitting in London office buildings behind it.

"I still have the list! Your Excellency, don't forget, if those names on the list are exposed, the entire Hong Kong government cabinet will be shaken up!" Thomas threatened through gritted teeth.

"...I understand." Yud snorted and then hung up the phone.

Thomas slumped helplessly onto the sofa. Although he had survived, he knew that he had now become a "liability" in the governor's eyes and needed to be cleaned up as soon as possible to maintain his dignity.

……

The next morning, at the Hong Kong Island Police Headquarters, in the Serious Crimes Unit office.

Yako was slumped over the table, making final annotations on a copy of the ledger. Her eyes were red-rimmed, clearly from another sleepless night. But her spirits were unusually high. If she could dismantle that last and largest hideout in Saigon, she would obtain direct evidence of the Nakajima Group's collusion with high-ranking customs officials.

"This time, let's see where you can hide now," the boy muttered to himself, biting his pen.

Just as she was about to gather her team and head out, the door to the Major Crimes Unit was pushed open forcefully.

Superintendent Cao, his immediate superior, walked in. Unlike his usual imposing demeanor, Superintendent Cao's face was ashen, as if he had just swallowed a fly, and his eyes revealed a deep sense of powerlessness and guilt.

"Young man, take your men and go back to your seats." Superintendent Cao's voice was a little hoarse.

"Boss, time is of the essence. Saigon might be forced to close at any moment. Now is the perfect time for us to leave!" The boy suddenly stood up, slung his coat over his shoulder, and tried to rush out.

"I said go back to your seats!" Superintendent Cao slammed his hand on the table, his voice echoing in the office, startling the surrounding officers who all shrank back.

The girl was stunned. She looked at Superintendent Cao with her eyes full of confusion.

"The case of the Nakajima Group ends here," Superintendent Cao said curtly, avoiding Yako's gaze. "We just received instructions that the investigation into the Nakajima Group, which involves national security, is now being handled by the Security Division. All files from the Major Crimes Unit, including the original ledger, are to be sealed and handed over."

"What? National security?" Ya Zi exclaimed as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world. Disregarding her image, she rushed up to Superintendent Cao and demanded, "That's smuggling! It's blatant theft and sale of cultural relics! We've been investigating for a month, and now we're just one step away from catching the big fish! Boss, you're telling me this is national security?"

Superintendent Cao gave a wry smile, lowered his voice, and said in a tone only the two of them could hear, "Kid, stop fooling around. It was the Commissioner who called personally, demanding the immediate withdrawal of all arrest warrants against the Nakajima Group. This is an order from above... not even from within the police force, but from even higher up, do you understand?"

Ya Zi's body stiffened abruptly; she naturally understood what "above" referred to. It was the Governor's House, the place where those foreigners sat at the top of the pyramid.

"Is this what they call Hong Kong under the rule of law?" the boy sneered, his voice full of sarcasm.

However, even worse news was yet to come.

Just two minutes later, a voice filled with grief and despair came through the communication channel: "Report! An accident has occurred at the safe house... Key witness Ma Wenjian died during a police shift change due to a 'sudden heart attack'! In addition, a fire has broken out in the evidence room where the original ledgers were stored, suspected to be caused by a short circuit; the ledgers... have been completely destroyed!"

A deathly silence fell over the office.

Everyone knew this wasn't an accident; it was a blatant, undisguised "official cover-up." The other side was telling the police, who were trying to uncover the truth, that in this land, they were the law; whoever they wanted to die, they could kill; whatever evidence they wanted to disappear, that evidence had to be reduced to ashes.

Yako clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging deep into her palms. She recalled the exquisite porcelain and ancient bronze swords that rightfully belonged to this land, which she had personally removed from those dark containers over the past month. She knew that without the ledgers and witnesses, the intercepted artifacts would soon be transferred back to the Nakajima Group through various "legal procedures," then secretly transported to London and disappeared into the private museums of the Onsa people.

This feeling of powerlessness was like a venomous snake, frantically gnawing at her heart.

"Child, let go." Superintendent Cao sighed and patted her shoulder. "Some waters are too deep for you to swim across."

Yako didn't speak; she simply tidied up her personal belongings on the table. She looked up at the police badge on the ceiling, a symbol of justice, and suddenly found it incredibly glaring.

Since the official forces cannot deliver justice, and since these so-called laws are merely tools used by the Anssa people to manipulate power...

Yako took a deep breath, and the image of that man appeared in her mind.

The man who always held her tenderly in the dead of night, the man who could decide life and death with a few words in Hong Kong. The man who wielded "unofficial" power that even made the British Hong Kong government tremble.

In this city, if justice cannot prevail on the sunny path, it can only begin its judgment in the shadows.

She strode out of the police station building, the sunlight so bright she could barely open her eyes. She jumped into her car, started the engine without hesitation, and sped off towards the Lu family manor on the hilltop.

……

The road to the top of the mountain leads to the Lu Family Manor.

Lu Chen was sitting in a rocking chair in the garden, with a baby basket beside him, inside which Lu Qian was sleeping soundly. This decisive man in the business world was now holding an early childhood education book, already considering his child's education even though the child was only a few days old.

"Boss, Miss Ya is back. She doesn't look too good." Tian Yangsheng walked over quietly and reported in a low voice.

Lu Chen looked up and saw the boy's white car screeching to a stop next to the fountain.

Ya Zi pushed open the car door and strode across the lawn. The moment she saw Lu Chen, the resilience she had been holding onto finally crumbled, replaced by an extreme sense of grievance and anger.

Lu Chen didn't rush to ask what had happened. He stood up, gently pulled her into his arms, and patted her back softly.

"What's wrong? My great inspector, who dares to offend the Lu family?" Lu Chen's voice was somewhat lazy, but it carried a chilling aura that sent shivers down one's spine.

Ya Zi leaned against his chest and said in a hoarse voice, "Ah Chen, Ma Wenjian is dead, the account books are gone... They, those foreigners, burned all the truth in front of me, trying to shut me up."

Lu Chen's eyes instantly turned unfathomable. He knew that the Zhongdao Group smuggled hundreds of cultural relics every year. If this wasn't stopped, even more would end up overseas.

"National security?" Lu Chen snorted coldly, reaching out to smooth the messy hair on the boy's forehead. His tone was domineering. "This is Hong Kong, our home for Chinese people. There's nothing they can take away under the guise of 'security'."

He turned his head and looked at Tian Yangsheng, his eyes as cold as knives: "Ah Sheng, go and inform the winery. Since the Governor's House wants to play the 'national security' game, then we'll play a big game with them."

"I want to know where Thomas is sleeping tonight, and I want to know how many of our country's treasures are still left in the Saigon port of the Nakajima Group."

Lu Chen sat back in the rocking chair, his eyes filled with murderous intent: "Kid, since this police uniform is no match for you, take it off and rest for a while. I'll take you to see a case of 'illegal law enforcement'."

On this autumn afternoon in 1983, Boss Lu's good mood, which was originally due to the birth of his eldest son, was once again completely extinguished by these ignorant Angasa people.

This time, however, he was not only acting out of grievance for the woman, but also for the souls of this land that were being coveted by bandits.