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

After several men struggled to lift Chen Jiaju into the car, the black van turned around and left deep in the desolate, rocky hills, disappearing into the last vestiges of darkness before dawn.

About twenty minutes later, the desolate wilderness was finally shattered by a piercing siren that grew louder as it approached. Dozens of police cars, flashing blue and red lights, roared up the rugged slope like a pack of angry beasts. The lights shone wildly, illuminating the wild grass swaying wildly in the cold wind, and also the chaotic traces of the battle.

Uncle Piao stumbled open the driver's side door. His usually neatly ironed police uniform was now wrinkled from driving so fast on the mountain road. His face was as pale as paper, and his whole body was trembling violently. As Chen Jiaju's superior and mentor for many years, his heart almost stopped when he received Jiaju's intermittent call for help.

"Search! Dig three feet into the ground and find him!" Uncle Piao's voice echoed hoarsely in the empty valley, carrying a heartbreaking despair.

Hundreds of fully armed police officers launched a thorough search. Soon, an officer shouted from the roadside. Uncle Piao rushed over, stumbling and crawling. In the muddy ground repeatedly trampled by the powerful Yamaha motorcycle, he didn't see Chen Jiaju, but rather the twisted, deformed, broken-chained old-fashioned bicycle. Not far away, beside a pile of yellow earth that had clearly been violently disturbed, lay a broken warrant card, stained with blood and mud—it belonged to Chen Jiaju. In the photo, Jiaju was smiling so honestly, so full of a sincere desire for justice.

"Ka-Kui...you bastard, didn't I tell you to stay put?! Do you really think you're some kind of invincible superman?!" Uncle Piao picked up the piece of plastic with trembling hands, tears streaming down his face.

……

As Lin Kun had predicted, the police leadership reacted very strongly upon receiving the news.

In Central, the police headquarters building was brightly lit at five in the morning, and senior police officers were banging their fists on the table in the conference room.

Just recently, they were tricked by the videotape about Wong Chi-shing released by Ni Yongxiao, leaving them humiliated and their credibility plummeting. And now, the police force "face" they've painstakingly built, the hero in the eyes of all Hong Kong citizens, Chan Ka-kui, has been buried alive by a triad while on leave?

This is no longer a simple murder; it's a resounding slap in the face to the police force in front of the entire city of Hong Kong. It's telling the whole of Hong Kong that even if you're a police officer, if the Ni family wants you dead, you won't survive.

"Disgrace! This is a disgrace to the Imperial Police System!" A high-ranking officer slammed his coffee cup against the wall. "Chan Ka-kui isn't an undercover agent; he's a registered probationary inspector! If we keep cowering like this, tomorrow every gangster on Hong Kong Island will be pissing in front of the police station!"

Assistant Director Li Shutang frowned deeply: "But the problem is that Ni Yongxiao handled things too cleanly... There were no eyewitnesses at the scene, no direct evidence pointing to Ni Yongxiao or Uncle San himself, and even the murder weapon was taken away. To bring the Ni family down through normal legal procedures would require at least several months or even years of legal wrangling, and there's even a possibility of losing the case."

"Sir, I have a suggestion. Since they don't want to play by the rules, let's overturn the table!" Raymond Lin sat at the end of the conference table, his eyes as cold as knives. "Since we can't find any evidence against them, let's just crack down on organized crime."

Lu Qichang nodded, his voice low but ruthless with a sense of desperation: "I agree. We need to make all the triads in Hong Kong understand that killing a policeman will result in the annihilation of their entire organization."

Thus, a retaliatory collective action targeting all members of the Number Gang officially broke out the day after Chan Ka-kui's "death".

……

"Bang!"

Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.

The once extravagant and brightly lit "Dragon and Phoenix Nightclub" was now in complete chaos. More than a dozen armored vehicles stopped at the main entrance without warning. Lu Qichang personally led the team, carrying riot shields and tear gas sprayers. Without going through any verification procedures, they directly smashed open the gold-inlaid door with explosives.

"Police are on duty! Don't move!"

Inside the nightclub, the Ni family's young men, who were embracing girls, drinking foreign liquor, and discussing where to have fun the next night, hadn't even reacted before they were all pinned down on the floor covered with broken glass.

"Inspector Lu! This isn't in accordance with the rules, is it? We have licenses..." A middle-aged man who looked like a manager nervously offered him a cigarette.

Without even looking, Lu Qichang slapped him hard across the face, knocking him to the ground. His eyes were as cold and ruthless as an icebox: "Rules? From the moment you touched the police, there were no rules in Tsim Sha Tsui. Smash it! All the ledgers, computers, all the goods—don't leave an inch of ground untouched!"

This frenzied trend quickly escalated, with billiard halls, arcades... even legitimate restaurants being raided. Moreover, the police were no longer targeting just the Ni family, but rather, like a giant bulldozer, they swept across from Tsim Sha Tsui to Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, encompassing all the lucrative properties of the lottery gang.

At the "Chung Shun Yee" stall in Mong Kok, Lian Haolong's most profitable underground gambling den was completely raided. A large number of elite henchmen were forced to a street corner by police dogs and tear gas before they even had a chance to pull out their knives from under their blankets. Yi Zi's properties in Sham Shui Po were not spared either, along with those small gangs affiliated with the "Number Gang," all becoming targets of the police's wrath.

"Hey buddy, we're just playing mahjong here, we're not breaking the law, are we?" one of the gangsters shouted.

"We suspect you of illegally gathering a crowd. Go back to the police station and detain you for 48 hours before we talk," Big Mouth sneered. "Anyone who dares to resist will be treated as resisting arrest."

Throughout Hong Kong Island, police sirens wailed non-stop. The Number Gang's nightclubs, horse racing tracks, and casinos were ransacked, their once-lucrative businesses, built on the gray areas, were completely paralyzed overnight. This "collective punishment" tactic by the police not only severely damaged the Ni family but also shifted the pressure directly onto the entire Number Gang—or rather, onto the loyal and righteous Lian Haolong and the bearded Yong of the Yi group.

So tonight, in an old, ancestral home of the Number Gang in Sham Shui Po, exuding the scent of aged incense, the Number Gang held an emergency meeting.

The ancestral home of the gang was filled with the scent of incense and candles. In the center stood a statue of Guan Yu, whose phoenix eyes appeared particularly majestic in the flickering candlelight.

At this moment, two of the three giants of the Number Gang—Lian Haolong of Zhongxinyi and Huxiong of Yizidui—sat facing each other, their faces even colder than the winter night.

Around them were several minor gang leaders who usually depended on them for survival. Each of them looked like an ant on a hot plate, their faces filled with fear.

"Damn it! What on earth happened? Why is the police specifically targeting us this time?" Bearded Man slammed his fist on the mahogany octagonal table, his angry roar echoing in the empty ancestral hall. "All three of my nightclubs have been shut down, and those cops even smashed the renovations! What did we ever do to deserve this?"

Beard Yung was enjoying his nightlife at a massage parlor when he received numerous reports of his underlings being beaten and arrested, and he himself almost got caught in the club. According to current statistics, several of his trusted confidants who had followed him for many years are now being held in the dungeon of the Western District Police Station. It's even rumored that the police are constantly pouring dirty water on their heads, and there's a strong indication that they're going to send them to Stanley for life.

Lian Haolong's massive body sank into the armchair. He slowly turned the Buddhist prayer beads in his hand, but his narrow eyes flashed with an extremely dangerous glint.

"I've already inquired," Lian Haolong's voice was hoarse, carrying a heavy sense of oppression. "A 'friend' I'm usually on good terms with told me that all of this is because of that madman Ni Yongxiao. He ordered his men to do something they shouldn't have—they buried Chen Jiaju in the rocky area."

"Chen Jiaju? That super cop?" Bearded Yung was stunned, then let out a wail more painful than eating shit, "Has Ni Yongxiao gone mad! Killing police officers is one thing, but to kill Chen Jiaju? That's the face of the police force! He wants to drag our whole family down with him!"

Beard Yong was panting heavily; he felt this was an utterly undeserved disaster.

Since Ni Kun's death and Ni Yongxiao's rise to power, he has displayed an extremely arrogant and aloof attitude towards the other triads. He not only intended to separate the Ni family from the Number Gang, but also changed the source of goods from Southeast Asia to South America, and promoted the company as "Ni Family of Tsim Sha Tsui" instead of "Ni Family of Number Gang".

"When Ni Yongxiao was eating meat, he didn't share a single spoonful of soup with us brothers. Now that he's killed a policeman, he's making us take the fall?" Bearded Yong grew angrier the more he thought about it, gritting his teeth as he said, "Ah Long, we can't just sit here and wait to die! The police's attitude is very clear: they want to exterminate our entire family to deter others. If they keep smashing things like this, all of us old bones will be starving tomorrow!"

Lian Haolong sneered, his gaze fixed on the brightening sky outside the window: "I know... the police's widespread arrests, even at the cost of harming innocent people, are actually sending us a message. They want everyone's anger to be focused on Ni Yongxiao. The Ni family is no longer our brother, but the public enemy of all the triads in Hong Kong."

"Since he wants to be independent, let him be independent to the end!" Lian Haolong's prayer beads made a crisp clinking sound. "Tell the brothers under his command not to fight back and to cooperate with the investigation. Go and throw all the dirty water on the Ni family's head. I'm sure the police will be happy to see the Ni family being kicked when they're down. Then get the uncles and elders to pass on messages to the police, trying their best to explain their relationship with the Ni family."

……

Meanwhile, on the still deathly silent, rocky hill, Uncle Piao had been sitting there for hours, lost in thought. Ashes from his cigarettes clung to his clothes in the sea breeze. He stared at the empty pit, marked by digging, then glanced at the faint tire tracks on the distant ridge, a flicker of hope in his eyes.

He left some people to continue expanding the search for clues about Chan Ka-kui, while he rushed back to the Wan Chai Police Station.

"Raymond, Ka-Kui might not be dead." In the smoke-filled private meeting room, Uncle Piao whispered to Raymond, who also looked exhausted.

Because he hadn't had water for a long time, Uncle Piao's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper being rubbed against it. "There are signs that the pit has been disturbed, and it was dug twice from the outside in. If Uncle Ni really wanted to bury someone, he would have no reason to dig it out again. This means... someone rescued Jiaju before we arrived."

Lin Leimeng's eyes sharpened: "Who could arrive at the scene faster than the police? Could it be that Ni Yongxiao has changed his mind?"

"No, Ni Yongxiao won't go back on his word. There must be a third-party force involved, but in any case, it's good news." Uncle Piao closed his eyes, his tone becoming extremely solemn.

Upon hearing this, Raymond Lam fell into deep thought. After a moment, he let out a heavy sigh: "Uncle Piao, if Ka-Kui is really alive, the most important thing now is to temporarily conceal this news, and even to confirm to the outside world that he has sacrificed himself."

"I understand what you mean." Uncle Piao nodded, his tone becoming extremely serious. "If Ni Yongxiao finds out that Chen Jiaju is still alive, he will definitely send people to silence him at any cost. We need to buy Jiaju time to recover, and we also need to prepare a final coffin for the Ni family."

The two exchanged a knowing glance in the darkness. Immediately afterwards, a top-secret gag order was delivered to all the core members who had searched the mountain the previous night: everything concerning Chen Jiaju should be announced to the outside world as a sacrifice, and private discussion was strictly prohibited.

They wanted to hide Chen Jiaju in the shadows, using him as a dagger to ambush the Ni family.