Chapter 49: The Super Courageous "Little Flower" (Seeking Monthly Tickets, Seeking Recommendations)

Zhong Zhihui shoved the car door open, his gaze sweeping across the dock where corpses littered the ground, pockmarked with bullet holes. Armed to the teeth, the police officers pointed their weapons at the criminals with murderous expressions.

He strode up to the senior officer, speaking concisely, "Sir Lam, customs arrived in five minutes, the marine police in ten. Even if they jumped into the water, they couldn't escape."

Tsuen Wan Pier housed a customs inspection unit, and marine police patrol boats passed by on regular schedules. As long as the command center was called, backup would arrive swiftly.

Lam Tinsheng patted his shoulder, his expression grateful, "Hard work for all of you, colleagues."

"Just doing our duty." Zhong Zhihui gave a slight nod, looking around as officers handcuffed criminals and carried out arrests. His eyes held a look of admiration, "Well done, Sir Lam, swift and decisive."

"Just a minor case." Lam Tinsheng handed over a cigarette. Their eyes met, and they shared a knowing smile. No matter how dangerous a case was, once the dust settled and the job was done, it was nothing more than a "minor case."

Tam Jaming wore his badge pinned to his chest, gesturing for the tabloid reporters to assist the Regional Crime Unit. Although the boss never overtly showed excessive closeness to Sir Lam, everyone in the CIB knew the significance of the West Kowloon Crime Unit. On several occasions, Superintendent Zhong had already mobilized resources to prioritize following up on the Crime Unit's cases.

As the customs and marine police successively arrived, more than a dozen police cruisers gathered in front of the pier berths, joined by a rolling procession of ambulances and paddy wagons. Flashing lights illuminated the seaside, turning it lively and bustling.

A senior inspector from both customs and the marine police arrived at the scene, but their attitudes were far from warm. There was no helping it; the Crime Unit hadn't given them a heads-up before taking action. They wouldn't get a share of the credit, yet they were left to do the heavy lifting. Maintaining a neutral face was already a courtesy extended out of professional camaraderie.

The criminals who had jumped into the water to escape were fished out by marine police speedboats, while the sailors and captain aboard the freighter were likewise detained by customs. The wounded were loaded into ambulances, the criminals into paddy wagons, and the overflow of crew members was crammed into the police transport vans.

The sea breeze whipped past. The cigarette in Lam Tinsheng's hand burned down quickly, the skin on his face chapped and peeling as he stood in front of an ambulance chatting idly with Shi Zhanpeng.

As long as someone could still speak, they were out of immediate danger. However, two B-team officers had been struck by multiple 7.62mm rifle rounds, losing too much blood. Their faces were deathly pale, and their lives hung in the balance.

"I'm sorry, it's my incompetence, Sir Lam..." Before being pushed into the ambulance, Shi Zhanpeng's eyes were red-rimmed, filled with guilt. When a mission went wrong, the blame fell squarely on him as the team leader. Lam Tinsheng had led Team E right into the thick of it, leaving no room for anyone to find fault.

"Get some rest; the police force will make arrangements." Lam Tinsheng let out a sigh and turned back. On the pier, a gantry crane was lowering the final shipping container onto the shore.

At the command of the customs senior inspector, twenty customs officers—divided into teams of five—rushed forward with disciplined precision to unlock the containers. The officers, who had just emerged from a fierce battle, cast their gazes over. The first container held textiles; the second container held textiles; but in the third container, rows of wooden crates marked with serial numbers, white lettering against a green background, burst into their field of vision.

"Damn, Sir Lam, you've made a massive contribution!" Chen Sheng stood nearby, one hand tucked into his pocket, staring at the container full of weaponry with trembling lips and unconcealed excitement.

Even more than anticipated.

Lam Tinsheng clapped a hand on his shoulder, correcting him, "We've made a massive contribution."

"Sir Lam, Sir Zhong, it's me, it's me, Ah Dong..." Daozi Dong was being dragged toward a police car, wailing loudly.

The customs senior inspector's expression also turned grave as he ordered all hands to immediately inventory the cargo. He then approached Lam Tinsheng, extending a polite hand, "Good job, probationary inspector Lam. Leave the rest to us at customs."

Earlier, seeing that Lam Tinsheng was only wearing a "pip"—a probationary inspector—he couldn't help but look down on him slightly. After all, ever since their establishment, the marine police and customs had been managed separately from the land-based police force, a triangular balance intentionally set up by the Hong Kong government.

During the Chinese police protests in 1977, the Hong Kong government had even deployed the marine police to suppress the land-based police. The tension in "water-land relations" was second only to "police-ICAC relations." Customs sat right in the middle, offending neither side, but they rarely understood the internal politics of the Criminal Investigation Division.

Though he hadn't heard of the moniker "Five Poisons Detective," just seeing the results of tonight's operation made it clear that the young "pip-wearer" before him was no simple character.

After shaking his hand, Lam Tinsheng smiled, "Sorry to trouble you, Inspector Mok."

"Inspector Chen, Ah Rong, tell the lads to wrap it up."

Chen Sheng and Zhang Jinrong stomped their feet in a salute, "Yes, sir!"

Before outsiders, they gave Sir Lam plenty of face.

Although the Crime Unit possessed broad jurisdiction—handling major, severe, and difficult cases regardless of their nature—the tallying and management of smuggled goods were exclusively handled by the Customs Smuggling Investigation Bureau to prevent police corruption. Lam Tinsheng had no reason to touch customs' "perks," so after handing over the scene, he led his men back to the precinct.

Following a fierce battle, the three teams were down three men. The officers from Teams A and B knocked off early, while Team E remained to handle interrogations and follow-ups. It wasn't until morning, when Li Weihao and Jiang Zikai's teams arrived for their shift, that the Crime Unit regained its bustling atmosphere.

Pi Zhibang stepped into the office area and, seeing the busy scene, stopped an officer to ask, "What case are you all rushing to finish?"

The officer snapped to a salute, full of energy, "Sir Pi, probationary inspector Lam cracked a firearms case. He's currently interrogating suspects and taking statements."

Pi Zhibang's eyebrows jumped up as he said excitedly, "A firearms case?"

"Yes, it's been confirmed. It's tied to the Yee Chi Tsok faction of the Wo Sing Ho triad. Quite a few thugs have already cracked and agreed to turn crown witnesses. Bearded Yung is going to have time added to his sentence." The officer smiled.

Inside Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, Bearded Yung, who had just come out for yard time and was playing basketball, had no idea the sky was falling.

"Good, good, good. Work hard." Pi Zhibang repeated "good" three times, patting the officer's shoulder, his satisfaction overflowing.

His gaze swept over Lam Tinsheng, who was catching up on sleep lying across a chair, feeling a twinge of pity. Checking his watch, he returned to his office and called a restaurant, "Please send a bowl of bird's nest to the West Kowloon Crime Unit, charge it to my account, and say it's for probationary inspector Lam."

...

Operations Wing, Superintendent's Office. Superintendent Henry received a call from customs, his expression stunned, "What? Eighteen tons of heavy weaponry!"

"Yes. After inventorying, we found 1,200 AK-47 rifles, 50,000 rounds of ammunition, 50 infantry grenade launchers, and 500 matching grenades," said the customs superintendent and Tsuen Wan Pier chief, the gwailo Mike, over the phone. "This is the largest firearms case cracked by the Hong Kong Police Force in the past decade. The manifest has already been submitted to headquarters."

"Sir Henry, congratulations."

Henry's weathered face creaked into deep wrinkles as he flashed a mouth of yellow teeth, "It's all thanks to the lads below risking their necks."

"For the officers below to risk their necks is a direct reflection of good management. Come year-end, the superintendent's post is well within your grasp, right?" Mike chuckled heartily, clearly enjoying a good relationship with Henry.

Within the rank of superintendent, the police force adhered to the principle of "foreigners first, Chinese second," but competition existed among the foreigners as well. The colonial rule of thumb: whoever knows how to train the dogs gets to the top.

If there was a massive contribution to be claimed, he naturally had to drag Pi Zhibang along to see the district commander and "protect his man."