Chapter 57: The Lives of the Entire Family as a Bargaining Chip

That night, Elder Teng personally brought a lawyer to the police station to bail out the suspects. Even the superintendent of the Sham Shui Po Police Station gave face to the chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk and agreed to release them.

Before leaving the Serious Crimes Unit, Teng Yu-chang led Teng Chung-leung and Teng Chung-ming straight up to Lin Tiansheng and spoke up, "A-sheng, can we call a truce?"

"Whatever you do in the future, I will do."

Teng Chung-leung rolled his wrists, his honest-looking face filled with open hostility as he stared fixedly at Lin Tiansheng. Chang Chin-rong, Ma Delong, and Teng Gengyun stood right behind their boss.

Lin Tiansheng laughed. "Sure. Do you believe that?"

"I believe it."

Teng Yu-chang said, "We are all our own people. There are no grudges that cannot be resolved."

During those three years serving time in the detention center, Teng Yu-chang had underestimated Lin Tiansheng, writing him off as a hopeless good-for-nothing. Yet in just two short months, Lin Tiansheng had once again reminded the former corrupt cops just what the Five-Poison Detective was truly capable of!

"Then it's a truce."

Lin Tiansheng's gaze was burning, his smile mocking as he stubbed out his cigarette butt in a glass ashtray. Teng Chung-leung followed Elder Teng out of the police station. Once in the car, he asked with puzzlement, "Grandpa, we're just calling a truce like that?"

"How much money are we going to have to pay?"

Teng Yu-chang sat in the back seat with a gloomy expression. "Money is useless. To call a truce, you need leverage. Otherwise, even if you are killed, your cash will still end up in his pocket."

"Do you know that the Internal Affairs Division has already handed over the files to the ICAC? The people at Customs and the New Territories North Police District are scared to death."

Teng Chung-leung's expression turned horrified, and he quickly replied, "I told Foul-Mouth Cheung to call it quits long ago; it won't implicate us."

"Go kidnap his entire family to serve as our leverage." Teng Yu-chang loosened his grip on his cane, pulled a photograph from his inner suit pocket, and handed it to his adopted son in the front passenger seat.

Teng Chung-leung took the photo, glanced at it, and felt a chill run through his heart. He gritted his teeth and said, "Alright."

...

Police Headquarters, Internal Affairs Division, detention room.

Wong Kai-hin blew on his hot coffee, cast a glance at the person sitting across from him, and introduced his companion. "Inspector Lin from West Kowloon Major Crimes. Do you recognize him?"

East Kowloon Major Crimes Unit Senior Inspector Ji Zhengjie sat in the interrogation chair with a gloomy expression and replied, "I know him. The Five-Poison Detective, right?"

Lin Tiansheng crossed his arms, stood by the table, and spoke up, "Over twenty thousand Hong Kong dollars every month, paid like clockwork into your overseas account."

"After a few rounds of laundering, it enters your wife's company as legitimate income. The Teng family isn't generous enough to spend hundreds of thousands a year keeping you, are they?"

"Is the smuggled electronics warehouse in East Kowloon?!"

Ji Zhengjie raised his gaze and sneered, "If you're looking for smuggled goods, go find Customs. What are you bothering me for?"

Lin Tiansheng said, "You mean Inspector Wong from Customs? He's already having coffee at the ICAC. If you let him speak first, you won't have any value left."

"Think this through carefully."

The electronics were shipped from Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea to Hong Kong, coming ashore in Kowloon and cleared by land. Setting up the warehouse in Kowloon was indeed more convenient than in the New Territories.

Because a portion of the appliances would be disassembled and sold locally, and Sham Shui Po's Electronics Street was precisely the largest distribution hub in the entire territory.

Ji Zhengjie was clearly more than just a simple hitman. Among Teng Chung-leung's black money accounts, the transaction records showed only one member of the police force.

Upon learning that Inspector Wong from Customs had been taken away by the ICAC, his expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected the Internal Affairs Division to have dug so deep, but he immediately sneered instead. "If I talk, will I get a good ending? I'll just strip off my uniform and go to prison. I expected this long ago."

As a former member of the corrupt cop faction, he knew all too well that these people were devoid of humanity and would never spare a traitor.

Wong Kai-hin sipped his coffee and slowly said, "Who do you think you are that we need to target you specifically? Confess everything, and we'll transfer you to the Traffic Division. You'll still get your pension."

"This can be an internal hearing, or it can be a formal interrogation. Choose before you speak."

Ji Zhengjie swallowed hard, lowered his gaze to stare at the silver bracelets on his wrists, and suddenly spoke up, "Give me a cigarette first, Uncle Hin."

"Smoke up."

Lin Tiansheng pulled a cigarette box from his pocket, took two steps forward, and handed one to Ji Zhengjie.

"I'll talk."

"The warehouse is at Yuangong Electronics Factory in Ngau Tau Kok, Kwun Tong District."

Lin Tiansheng nodded. "A shell factory, right? It doesn't manufacture goods, it only sells duty-free imports?"

Ji Zhengjie bit down on the cigarette and ignored him. Wong Kai-hin nodded, stood up, walked out of the interrogation room, and instructed his men, "Let him go back to work."

Lin Tiansheng picked up his mobile phone, dialed the Major Crimes Unit, strode out of the office, and ordered, "Get the whole team with their guns. We're raiding the Yuangong Electronics Factory in Ngau Tau Kok."

Chang Chin-rong listened to the call and lowered his voice to remind him, "Boss, Ngau Tau Kok is East Kowloon's turf."

"What's there to be afraid of? Tell Inspector Pui to give the order. The whole team, every last man goes!" Lin Tiansheng shouted.

Chang Chin-rong's expression turned solemn. "Yes, sir!"

Learning the address of the electronics warehouse, Pui Chi-bong did not hesitate to offer his full support. He walked out to the office area and clapped his hands to rally the entire team. "Grab your gear, let's move!"

"Understood."

Inside the busy Major Crimes Unit, more than forty officers stopped what they were doing and shouted in unison.

After picking up their bulletproof vests, Team D's Senior Inspector Kong Chi-kai walked toward the restroom, lowered his head to dial a number, and ducked into a corner. "Your warehouse has been compromised."

"I'll have East Kowloon's people rush over there. Find an opportunity to take out Lin Tiansheng," came an elderly voice from the other end of the line. Kong Chi-kai blurted out anxiously, "Are you out of your mind?!"

Teng Yu-chang's tone was calm. "Let me remind you, that luxury mansion in Repulse Bay used to belong to Lin Tiansheng."

The phone call disconnected. Kong Chi-kai felt his limbs go weak, his brain unable to process everything as he hurried off with the Major Crimes Unit.

Lin Tiansheng drove from Headquarters toward Ngau Tau Kok, sirens wailing and lights flashing all the way along the expressway. When they arrived in front of the Yuangong Electronics Factory, the West Kowloon Major Crimes team was already locked and loaded, breaking through the factory gates and charging straight in.

There were no workers inside the factory at all, only a dozen Luen Ying Sing thugs guarding the premises. When the police force stormed into the factory, the thugs wielding machetes instantly lost their nerve and raised their hands in surrender under the barrel of guns.

Lin Tiansheng followed them inside and greeted Pui Chi-bong, who was leading the operation. Several officers peeled back plastic sheets to reveal rows of refrigerators and televisions still in their cardboard packaging stacked right before their eyes.

Suddenly, another round of police sirens sounded outside the factory gates, followed by a dense flurry of approaching footsteps. Pui Chi-bong could guess with his toes that East Kowloon's forces had arrived. He said in a deep voice, "A-sheng, take a team to guard the warehouse and keep a tight eye on the goods."

Kong Chi-kai suddenly piped up, "Inspector Pui, let me do it."

Pui Chi-bong turned back to look at him. "Doesn't matter. Everyone else, come out with me."

Chan Shing and Li Wai-ho each led a team to follow Inspector Pui outside to welcome East Kowloon's finest. Lin Tiansheng glanced at Kong Chi-kai silently without moving his feet.

They had to wait for Customs to arrive and haul the goods away to ensure that West Kowloon retained control of the situation before the case could be considered settled.

Outside the warehouse, the sound of arguing between Inspector Pui and Robin, the Chief Inspector of the East Kowloon Operation Bureau, drifted over from time to time. Kong Chi-kai had a cigarette clamped between his lips, looking extremely nervous as he smoked one cigarette after another...

A moment later, he spoke up, "Inspector Lin, I'm going to take a look around the back."

Chang Chin-rong walked up to his boss and muttered, "Sweating all over from nervousness—Inspector Kong definitely has a guilty conscience."

"Go take a look."