Chapter 153 – On the National Flag
Translated by: Deception, GGP, and others
Edited by: Video, Zdog, and others
This chapter was sponsored by Hannu Hautalampi, Thomas Nguyen and Stephen Furr! Thanks!
Late at night in the police hall, w.a.n.g Xin sat alone at his desk with a forlorn look.
Stealthily carrying my sword, I was dressed completely in black to blend harmoniously into the night.
“w.a.n.g Xin!”
It was only when I walked up to him that w.a.n.g Xin finally realized I was there. This was the difference between the ordinary people and pract.i.tioners. Looking at my appearance, w.a.n.g Xin smiled nostalgically, “The last time I saw something similar to this was 3 years ago…”
Waving my hand, I gave a sheepish smile, “w.a.n.g Xin, we have aged, haven’t we?”
With some exasperation, w.a.n.g Xin gave his answer, “I’ve grown old, you haven’t.”
I responded, “Let’s go!”
“Alright!”
He stood up to escort me deeper inside the administrative building but remained silent during the walk. Finally, w.a.n.g Xin pushed open a gate, causing the lighting to grow dimmer. However, I was able to make out the golden glow that came a police badge clearly.
……
“Captain, this is?” I was flabbergasted.
w.a.n.g Xin gave a self-deprecating smile, “You have been deprived of your ident.i.ty as a police officer for a very long time and now, I want you to swear an oath once again. Consider this as your compensation, and this time, we both will swear this oath. Starting from today, I, w.a.n.g Xin, and you, Li Xiao Zi Zai are comrades, comrades who are not afraid of the strong or the deceitful!”
Shocked, I gave a nod as I walked forward to take my police officer badge with a trembling hand. My mouth spoke softly with words that I had almost forgotten–
“I swear upon the National Flag, with my words and every actions, I will never tarnish the Golden Shield!
I swear upon the Const.i.tution, with my thoughts and ideas, I will never offend the honor of the law!
I swear upon the People, with all of my life, I will never betray the expectations of the People!”
……
Then, hot tears flowed down my face and I could no longer stop them once they started. Slowly, I fell onto my knees in front of the national emblem and my hands clenched as the tears dripped down onto the ground. It took me a few moments to compose myself before I choked out the words, “Captain, I am loyal to the People, I am loyal to Justice, I, Li Xiao Yao want to fight for those who are weak! I am once more a part of the Police Force, I will never give into any circ.u.mstances, even if it should mean me giving my life! I will not let any b.a.s.t.a.r.ds tarnish the integrity of the police badge. I swear it on my name! Should I break, I would no longer be able to face that girl’s face, nor the blood of the innocent, I would not be capable of looking myself in the eye with pride!”
Patting me on the shoulder, w.a.n.g Xin could barely keep his voice from trembling either, “This time, this time I’ll be with you until the bitter end. For Justice!”
Nodding my head in grat.i.tude, I stared at w.a.n.g Xin, “You should stop crying,” I laughed. “Crying only makes you look uglier.”
w.a.n.g Xin gave a snort, “Che, what a brat, come with me!”
“Okay!”
……
w.a.n.g Xin and I walked on, eventually ending up in the armory.
“Crash…”
Pulling on the latch bar to release the weaponry, there was nearly every type of weapon you could ever want. I was a bit shocked,, “d.a.m.n…you even have all of the heavy weaponry…this RPG? Is this what you’re going to use to fight against the gangs?”
Shaking his head, w.a.n.g Xin smiled, “Recently, the 3 gangs have been exceptionally rampant, we could only combat them with heavy explosives. Why don’t you pick up your preferred choice of weapon. Over there is where we keep all the sniper rifles, you want one?”
“No thanks, that monster wouldn’t be harmed at all by bullets. Besides, if I bring any of those guns it’ll be inconvenient to carry, so I’ll use this one instead!”
Picking up a pistol, I glanced at the model. M9C1 model, this type of gun was only produced in the United States for close combat use. It was best used at a range of 50 meters or less and was highly lethal.
“Just that gun?” w.a.n.g Xin asked with a skeptical look.
“Yea,” I said, holstering it on my waist while I stashed two ammo clips in my pockets. “I’ll only use it for self defense in close combat. If I want to kill that animal, it must be Xiao Hei!”
“Alright, that’s settled then. I’ll go register this gun under your file and get you a gun permit as fast as I can. As of now though, this gun belongs to you, so remember to keep it on you.”
“Got it!”
……
Inspecting my appearance, w.a.n.g Xin suggested to me, “If you don’t like your current set of clothing, I could have the clothing department design you a new set of clothing.”
Nodding my head in thanks, I responded, “In that case, make it black. It has the lowest reflective properties at night. I’ll also need a sword sheath to be attached to the back, gun holsters on the waist, and some knife slots on the legs.”
w.a.n.g Xin smiled, “Ah, I got it. Let’s go for now, there’s still 4 hours until the business deal, we should head over there early.”
“Yes Captain!”
Arriving at the operation lounge, there were already plenty of officers waiting with their rifles ready for an emergency. As expected, each and every officer’s face looked pretty serious; evidently the failure of the last operation had caused a great deal of damage to them. A total of 15 people were working on this operation and their police badges were each shining brightly in the light.
With ease, I stuck my police badge onto my arm and with w.a.n.g Xin, we stood on top of the platform, “I have brought back Li Xiao Yao, so I hope today’s operation will go as planned, is everyone ready?” w.a.n.g Xin called out in a commanding tone.
“We’re ready!” The crowd chanted.
“Then let’s move out!”
……
Three police cars full of people quickly spread through the town in three different directions. It was 10 PM, so no sirens and no lights were on to ensure stealth. Hiding our cars in the woods as we arrived, a group of people prepared for battle by lying low in a pile of weeds. Observing a jade blue brook from a distance, we waited for our targets to arrive.
w.a.n.g Xin’s voice came in low as he explained the details, “Based on our information, the transaction will take place by the riverside over there. Both sides will bring a lot of people, so when the transaction occurs, we will pretend to attack so they will send out that monster against us. Li Xiao Yao, you will try to ambush it so the other officers don’t get hurt. Kill that animal, but leave the corpses behind for us, we’ll want to send it back to the lab for testing later.”
Nodding my head, “Yea, I understand!”
“Good, be prepared!”
……
Both of my legs were getting dirty with mud and I had been waiting for so long, the moon had already reach the peak of its cycle when at last, I saw movement in the distance. A car came and, stopping at the location, illuminated the field around it with light while people piled out!
Before long, both groups of people came to the rendezvous point. From where I was at, I could even see them holding submachine guns. I shuddered from the bottom of my heart, these groups of people were the type of people who’d do anything for profit.
w.a.n.g Xin gently raised his hand to signify the start of the operation, “Snipers, be ready to shoot the gunmen in 10 seconds, the rest charge in for 100 meters to lure the beast out!”
Tensing up, I awaited with narrowed eyes for the gunfire to start.
“Pew pew!”
Although the sniper rifles were equipped with a silencer, the two men who had the light machine guns and were shot down were close to the group, causing instant pandemonium amongst the group.
“Charge!”
w.a.n.g Xin cried out for the officers to charge, each one of them rushing in one after the other.
……
“F*ck! We’ve been betrayed! Liu San Er wasn’t the traitor, it was someone else. We’ve killed the wrong person!” Someone yelled out, “Che, take the money and not the stuff! Release the secret weapon and slaughter the cops!”
“Hou hou…”
While the roar came from a distance, its voice rattled some of the people. A huge being covered completely in black fur had come. Its speed was far beyond what regular humans were capable of!
“Shoot!”
The squadron of police that had been squatting in the weeds began to shoot at the target with bullets. However, the beast’s skin was far too strong, and the bullets only bounced off of it.
“Come on!” w.a.n.g Xin’s face was red with anger, “Li Xiao Yao!”
“Pa…”
Stamping into the paddy fields as I rushed forward, a stream of air came bursting under my feet as I sped myself up, “Keng!” came the sound as I unsheathed Xiao Hei. Concentrating on focusing my Qi, I met head on with the beast, and I swung my blade to try and cleave it in two!
“Kacha!”
A hand of black claws blocked my sword, and the claws were accompanied by the monster’s hideous eyes glaring at me under the moonlight. To add to the fright, its mouth began to open, showing off the sharp teeth that were attempting to take a bite of my arm.
Hardening my heart, I delivered an uppercut with an iron fist!
“Peng!” A heavy punch closed his mouth as I weaved around and sent a kick at him. Grasping my sword hilt firmly, I grunted as I slashed at it with an arc, aiming for the brain of the monster!
“Ca!”
A howl was suddenly cut short as the b.l.o.o.d.y head of the monster came tumbling through the air. Its giant body came crashing down to the earth with a great tremble!
I swiped my blade clean in silence, although, as I watched the corpse over a matter of seconds, something strange was happening. The black fur receded into the body, revealing the corpse of a 28 year old man. The head was obviously cut off but there were numerous pinholes that marked the entirety of the neck, showing off the results of an experiment.
……
w.a.n.g Xin wasted no time, and waved his arm, “Charge, chase down the stragglers!”
Then he came running over to me, and frowned at the sight of the decapitated young man. “So this is what it was in the end…why would a man turn into a beast, did…did we kill the wrong person?”
My expression clearly told w.a.n.g Xin what I thought about his question, “This was no mistake, bring him back for testing, Captain. This thing is definitely a complex being, you’ll have to dig out as much information as you can about the Underworld or else Hang Zhou will no longer be a safe city.”
w.a.n.g Xin nodded, “Ah, I know, I’ll contact the lab over in Beijing.”
“Then I’ll be taking my leave.”
“You’re leaving?”
“Why not?”
“How about you write the report for me!”
“I won’t write a single detail, do it yourself! It’s not like you didn’t see what happened here.”
“What a brat you are…”
……
Within 15 minutes of the end of the clash, all of w.a.n.g Xin’s men came back. This was definitely the cream of the crop, men who were capable of actual combat! They could even compete with the higher levels of the police force but of course, having been a part of the special ops team, I could say that these people were still below them in quality.
The sounds of the sirens came blaring as the general police came and arrested the people connected to the drug trade. 17 people in total were arrested, and 12 of them were a.s.sociated with the Bloods. With the skull and crossbones on their arm, it was rather obvious.
I sat in the police car as we were being driven back to the city and as I leaned against the armrest, a policewoman with a round face turned to talk to me, “You’re…the legendary Li Xiao Zi Zai?”
Opening and closing my eyes, I nodded, “I am, why do you ask?”
“Why was it that our bullets couldn’t even penetrate the beast, but he was split in two with your sword?” She asked, eyeing the hilt of my sword.
I gave a profound laugh, “Because my sword is legendary!”
“Ah?”
Taking a closer look at my sword, she began to stroke the hilt, observing the engraved writing on it, “Ah, there’s words on here…Gan Jiang?! Ah! Could this be the legendary sword Gan Jiang from ancient legends?”
TL Note: The story of Gan Jiang and Mo Ye
I gave a serious nod, “Correct, do you have any other questions?”
w.a.n.g Xin gave an amused look as the police woman gave a nervous laugh and looked away.
……
It was already 3 AM when I got back to the studio. I crept inside my room at the studio. It seemed that Strawberry Matcha had fallen asleep but failed to lock the doors, she probably forgot about it.
Dragging out the box from under the bed, I placed my sword and M9 pistol inside and pushed the box back underneath.
When I looked up, a pair of big eyes stared back at me, followed by a flurry of hits from the pillow onto my head while Strawberry Matcha shouted, “There’s an invader in my room! A predator, ah, someone come quick!”
Quickly grabbing onto her arm, I whispered sharply to her “Strawberry Matcha, it’s me, Li Xiao Yao!”
“Ah? Boss?”
Strawberry Matcha closed her mouth and looked at me. A light went off in her head as her face flushed slightly, “Boss, what are you doing here…”
……
The door slammed open at that moment as Song Han, Ran Min, and Fox came running in, “Where’s the pervert!? Ah? Boss?!”
Song Han looked at me with a great big smile on his face, “Hehe, brother Xiao Yao, how…how will you explain this?”