Police officer Chen Shu.

"Go on, repeat your plan again."

Ang Soling leaned back on the sofa, a cigar between his fingers, and a long time had passed.

He stared at the Chinese policeman opposite him, and a strange emotion welled up inside him. It wasn't anger, nor fear, nor apprehension, though he had experienced all of these emotions today.

It seems so, as if it were only natural.

I don't know when it started, but he, a general of a local armed organization and the county magistrate of the Dalalin Autonomous Region, was actually sitting with a policeman and haggling over a price.

Before this, the young policeman first turned his old company commander, who had followed him for more than ten years, against him. Then, he led the company commander to disarm the company's most elite assault company and detained his adjutant in a wooden house.

Then, the other side, disguised as prisoners, broke into his base camp and took him hostage.

If it weren't for his men's fortuitous capture of the policeman's subordinate and their beating that left him half-dead and in dire need of medical attention, even Anso Ling himself felt that he wouldn't have had a single bargaining chip to sit down and have a proper talk with the other party.

Absurd, yet perfectly reasonable.

"No rush, let's drink first."

Chen Shu was not in a hurry. He took the bottle of foreign liquor in front of Ang Suling, refilled the bottles for the two of them, and gently clinked them together. The two of them drank it all in one go.

"General, you have a good capacity for alcohol." Chen Shu bowed to Ang Suoling casually, and Ang Suoling accepted the gesture with pleasure.

After this back and forth, the two seemed to have returned to the negotiating table, even sitting closer together.

Chen Shu said, "General, just like yesterday, you arrange a press conference, and I'll endorse you. I have my appointment letter in the file bag in the car; I'm the commander of the joint law enforcement team. I can vouch for you."

Ang Soling took the cigar out of his mouth and placed it on the ashtray.

He didn't answer immediately, but he also didn't interrupt as he had before. He listened and then thought quickly in his mind.

After a moment, Ang Suling said, "Commander Chen, you just said it was a win-win situation, but your win is bringing Big Dog and Zoroson back to China. What about me? Where is my win? It's not just your endorsement, is it? That's worthless. Today Commander Chen is gone, do you believe that tomorrow another Commander Li will come?"

"Commander Chen, stop making empty promises. The promises you've given me aren't enough, not nearly enough. You need to come up with something substantial so that I can justify my actions to my soldiers. I want them to think that their general has made a good deal, not that I've been scared out of my wits by you Chinese."

"To be honest, what you're saying sounds good, but it's all empty talk. The reason I, Ang Suling, have come this far is because of real things: the guns under my command, the money in my pocket, and the more than a thousand soldiers who eat with me."

"So don't try to fob me off with these empty platitudes."

Chen Shu leaned back on the sofa, looked at Ang Suoling, remained silent for a while, and then spoke. His tone was not like that of negotiating, but more like that of helping an old friend analyze a grand game that was not yet finished.

"General, do you know why you're practically invincible in Dalalin, but in northern Myanmar, in Myanmar as a whole, nobody really pays attention to you?" Chen Shu said, pointing to himself, and joked, "They've even formed a joint law enforcement team to come and mow down the grass in your territory. Isn't that just blatantly trying to take over your territory?"

"..."

"General, I have been emphasizing to you that your enemy is not me, much less China. We don't care about or pay attention to people from your mountain village."

"So what do you want?"

"A partner. This person could be Aung Soe Ling of Dala Lin, or the United Army or Allied Army in the west, or the Arakan Army in the east."

"To be your dogs?"

Chen Shu laughed, a loud laugh, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.

After laughing, Chen Shu said very seriously, "General, do you know how many people kneel and beg, wanting to be our dogs?"

Ang Suling feigned aloofness and said, "Commander Chen, you are outsiders. I would rather be a dog than a dog of outsiders."

Chen Shu said, "Oh, you mean you want to be the dogs of those people in the south?"

Ang Soling remained noncommittal.

Chen Shu spoke casually, as if recounting something perfectly normal: "General, have you ever seen a dog owner who would fight with their own dog for food? Being their dog means going hungry, and in the end, you'll have nothing."

Ansoring did not answer, but his fingers holding the cigar tightened slightly.

Chen Shu continued, "I will give you a document that is not only about cracking down on telecom fraud and solving the four police cases, but also officially designates the Dalalin Autonomous Government as a partner of the joint law enforcement team in northern Myanmar."

Ang Suo asked doubtfully, "Can you represent China?"

Hearing Ang Suoling raise a question, Chen Shu breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Ang Suoling could make a request, it meant that he had this need, and there was room for discussion.

Chen Shu shook his head slightly and said, "I am not representing China, I am only representing the Joint Enforcement Team. This table was previously reserved for officials from Naypyidaw; you could only stand at the back and watch. But from today onwards, General, you can sit here as well."

"Commander Chen, to be honest, you've got me all confused."

Ang Soling stood up and walked to the window. The vast telecom fraud park was laid out before him, with tall buildings standing there and many offices lit up.

These are all the empires he conquered.

In Chen Shu's eyes, all of this might not even amount to anything, but for Ang Suoling, who came from the mountain village, it was all very precious.

Ang Suling stood with his back to Chen Shu for a long time, then turned around and asked earnestly, "Commander Chen, will my park be able to operate normally from now on?"

"No, telecom fraud and drugs must be eradicated."

"this......"

Chen Shu leaned back on the sofa, pointing to the huge portrait with his right hand, and said, "General, your territory is only so big. The officials in Naypyidaw have never given you a second glance. You say you don't need their approval, but this photo on the wall doesn't lie. Tsk tsk, so many medals..."

"General, you are an ambitious man. Don't let short-term gains blind you. As you just said, to the west of Dalalin are the Allied Forces and the Allied Army, and to the east is the Arakan Army. Why don't you try to turn them all into one army? The Dalalin Army?"

Angsor shook his head: "I've been fighting them for so many years, and neither of us can defeat the other."

Chen Shu stroked his chin, a hint of mockery in his voice: "That's because you've always been fighting alone, hey, so have they. But things will be different from now on."

As soon as he finished speaking, the office fell silent.

Chen Shu's meaning was very clear: if you don't cooperate with me today, then tomorrow, another warlord will cooperate with me, and the one who will suffer will be Ang Suo Ling, who refuses to cooperate.

"Commander Chen, are you threatening me?"

The office was once again plunged into an ice cave, freezing cold to the extreme.

I like Policeman Chen Shu.