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

In Tsim Sha Tsui, at the Ni family mansion, the atmosphere was as heavy as hell.

Ni Yongxiao sat alone in the empty, almost eerie restaurant. On the long marble table, the sirloin steak for lunch had been sitting there for a long time. The once moist juices had solidified, and the fat had formed a dead white film in the cold air.

This lunch, which he usually prepared with the utmost care and attention to etiquette, now felt like a cold, worthless piece of waste, just like his current state of mind, as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.

He finally realized that when the police force, this massive state machine, truly roared into action, no matter how powerful or influential you were, you were nothing more than an ant that could be crushed at will in the face of such absolute power.

Last night, the Ni family's "pillar of strength," Uncle Three, was stopped less than ten minutes after entering the city by four heavy police cars personally led by Lu Qichang. Under the glaring red and blue flashing lights, Uncle Three didn't even have a chance to make a call for help before several elite police officers brutally twisted his hands behind his back, pressing his face, which had been revered in Tsim Sha Tsui, against the hood of that expensive Mercedes-Benz.

Without uttering a single word, Lu Qichang's crisp snapping of the metal handcuffs signaled the complete paralysis of the Ni family's violent central command.

In the following twenty-four hours, the Ni family's businesses suffered a devastating blow. Those "allies" who had once sworn brotherhood at the dinner table were now severely weakened by the repercussions and wished they could tear the Ni family apart. Even at the Ni family's ancestral home, the windows were surrounded by a dense network of surveillance posts on a 24-hour shift basis. The "exit restriction order" jointly signed by the Political Department and the Immigration Department was like an invisible, cold noose around his neck, turning him into a trapped beast unable to move on this island where he had once held absolute power.

The Ni family plummeted from the pinnacle of power to a precarious precipice within a mere twenty-four hours.

"Boss, all our stores have been shut down, even our legitimate businesses have been vandalized by other gangs." Ah Lai stood to the side, his voice flat. "Third Uncle has been taken away, but don't worry, the lawyers are waiting at the police station. Third Uncle won't say a word."

Ni Yongxiao put down his wine glass and elegantly wiped his mouth with a napkin. Faced with his current predicament, he displayed that ruthless gene ingrained in his bones—the more desperate the situation, the clearer his mind became.

"Uncle had no choice. Chen Jiaju had already seen their faces, and killing them to silence them was the only option. But he probably didn't realize that this was a trap set for him," Ni Yongxiao said, as if explaining to Ah Lai, or perhaps as if he were talking to himself. "But it doesn't matter. As long as there's no murder weapon and no eyewitnesses, the police can only detain them for a maximum of 48 hours."

He stood up, walked to the mirror, and carefully straightened his tie, which was completely wrinkle-free.

"Ah Lai, arrange for my eldest brother and second sister to go to Hawaii to hide for a while. They don't need to bring too much luggage. I have a sum of money in a Swiss bank. My eldest sister knows the password. It's enough for them to live comfortably there for the rest of their lives."

"Boss, what about you?"

Ni Yongxiao looked at himself in the mirror, a dangerous glint flashing behind his gold-rimmed glasses: "I can't leave. I have to stay and see clearly who is behind this scheme... Is it Huang Zhicheng who was suspended? Or the gunman who hasn't shown his face yet... In short, this game isn't over yet, and it's still uncertain who will emerge victorious."

At this moment, in a secret room inside Kunji Electrical Store, Lin Kun was listening to a baritone voice, thick with the dampness of the jungle, coming from the other end of a satellite phone.

"Lin, you've done a fantastic job. Chen Jiaju is dead, the Ni family is in chaos, and the sun of the Golden Triangle is now shining on Victoria Harbour," General Jinsha's laughter on the phone was hearty and full of domineering arrogance. "Since you've helped me remove these two thorns, I, Jinsha, keep my word. The first batch of 500 kilograms of top-grade 'No. 4' has already set sail, and the price has been reduced by another 20% from the original price—consider it a gift to you. I wish you smooth sailing and great success!"

Lin Kun pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, a glint of venomous greed flashing in his eyes: "Thank you, General. I guarantee that from now on, this land on Hong Kong Island will only have 'Double Lion Globe Brand'."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Kun looked out the window, as if he could already see the scattered dealers searching for new owners after the Ni family's downfall. He knew that his era had arrived. As long as he could successfully take over this shipment, he would replace the Ni family and become the true underground dealer of Hong Kong Island.

However, just as Lin Kun and Ni Yongxiao were gearing up for a big battle, little did they know that behind the oriole, there was also a hawk.

……

Jiahe Security, in a private operating room.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of soda and high-grade anti-inflammatory drugs. The medical facilities here were comparable to those of a royal sanatorium in Switzerland. Every instrument gleamed with an expensive, cold light, representing technology that was unseen in the outside world.

Chen Jiaju suddenly opened his eyes amidst a tearing pain. The first thing he saw was a series of overlapping hallucinations caused by the residual anesthetic, followed by a strong, almost nauseating smell of disinfectant that instantly brought him back to his senses.

He felt as if his body no longer belonged to him. He instinctively tried to get up, but found that all the bones in his body seemed to shatter in that instant. The excruciating pain from his ribs, lungs, and the back of his head felt like a thousand steel needles piercing him at the same time.

"Cough...cough cough..." He coughed violently, and blood with a rusty smell flowed down the corner of his mouth.

He struggled to reach for something, only to find that an IV tube was inserted into the back of his right hand, making it impossible for him to move.

"Ka-Kui, if I were you, I'd save my energy," a slightly helpless yet familiar and reliable male voice came from beside the hospital bed. "I used the top-notch medical team to snatch you back from the jaws of death. Just that potent recovery injection you just received cost fifty thousand US dollars. If you wanted to die, I wouldn't have bothered digging you out of that pit."

Chen Jiaju strained to focus his vision and finally made out the burly figure standing by the bed.

"Brother...?"

Meanwhile, in the western part of Kowloon.

As a seemingly heavy bulletproof iron door deep inside the cold storage silently slid open under the dual scanning of fingerprints and irises, the elevator descended vertically, bringing Lu Chen into the most mysterious place on Hong Kong Island—the winery's Hong Kong headquarters.

Dozens of technicians in black combat uniforms were typing rapidly on keyboards in front of a giant screen, which displayed real-time fluctuations in all police communications, media radio waves, and the underground trading market in Hong Kong.

"Boss!"

In front of the control panel, Fourth Brother (Rum) had been standing there for a long time. He bowed slightly to Lu Chen and then handed him a freshly completed intelligence analysis file.

It has to be said that the distillery's reach has extended to every corner of Hong Kong Island. In just one night, all the "clues" behind last night's drama have been sorted out—the third force hidden behind Ni Yongxiao has been discovered.

"Boss, please take a look," Rum pointed to the main screen, where a clear photo appeared: "This man's nickname is Ah Kun, his real name is Lin Kun. On the surface, he's just a sick man who's run an electronics store in Wan Chai for over a decade, constantly worrying about insulin and rent. But in the underworld, he's the most deeply entrenched demolition expert on Hong Kong Island, second only to the Ni family."

Fourth Brother clearly knew Lin Kun's information by heart. He manipulated the computer, continuously playing Lin Kun's photos, and introduced him to Lu Chen, "Lin Kun is extremely cautious. He used to only do business with regular customers, and he even used his 'feet' to keep them separate while working. Even when Ni Kun was in power, he didn't discover Lin Kun's true identity. But this time, he couldn't resist anymore. According to our connections in Northern Thailand, Lin Kun felt the time was ripe and wanted to replace the Ni family as the biggest demolition company, so he officially pledged allegiance to General Jinsha. The biker gang member who lured Chen Jiaju to the rocky hill last night was someone he hired to impersonate him. His purpose was simple; he probably reached some kind of agreement with General Jinsha—to kill Chen Jiaju and Ni Yongxiao."

"He wants to use a 'borrowed knife to kill' tactic," Lu Chen chuckled after hearing the report. "He wants to use Chen Jiaju's death to completely make the Ni family a thorn in the side of the police. He wants the police to uproot the Ni family, so that he, the 'electrician repairman,' can legitimately take over all the vacant shares left in Tsim Sha Tsui."

Rum, standing to the side, added in a low voice, "He has already made initial progress with Jinsha, and the first batch of heroin will likely be delivered to Lin Kun soon. Lin Kun is currently busy contacting those independent dealers, preparing to establish a new order."

"To establish order?"

Lu Chen slowly walked to the wall composed of dozens of screens, looking at the gangsters on the screens who were wailing and panicking because the Ni family had been raided. His shadow was stretched extremely long under the dim blue light, exuding a suffocating domineering aura.

"I went to such great lengths, even sending Ka-Kui to walk through the dirt, to completely eradicate these filthy things," Lu Chen turned around, his brows furrowed with unusual displeasure, "not to let a wolf like him, hiding in the shadows, come out and eat the spoils."

Lu Chen picked up a glass of whiskey with ice from the table, the ice cubes making a crisp clinking sound in the glass.

"I don't want to finally deal with Ni Yongxiao only to have another self-righteous drug dealer pop up. Since he thinks he's the hunter, we'll show him that in the eyes of the distillery, there's no difference between hunter and prey."

"Rum, pass on the order," Lu Chen downed his glass of strong liquor in one gulp, his tone becoming calm yet filled with undeniable killing intent. "Let's change our plan. Don't rush to crush the Ni family all at once. Leave them some room to fight back against Lin Kun. I want to make Lin Kun's '20% off' batch of goods his entire family's death warrant. I want to watch these self-righteous trash drown one by one in their own ambitions."

"Since he wants to get involved, then we should wipe him out completely, leaving no one alive."

On this winter night in 1983, Ni Yongxiao's anger had been ignited, Lin Kun's greed was overflowing, and Lu Chen, in the winery headquarters, was smiling as he watched the final piece of the puzzle on the chessboard being steadily placed.

The drama has finally entered its bloodiest chapter.