Chapter 60: Plainclothes Principal, Local Enforcer

Lin Tiansheng could not pin all his hopes on Foul-Mouth Cheung. He contacted Zhihui to borrow the Intelligence Section's resources to run checks, and then told Zhang Jinrong to sniff around the underworld for any gossip.

However, kidnapping differed from smuggling, disposing of stolen goods, and armed robbery. If handled with sufficient discretion, it could genuinely be airtight, leaving no one able to unearth any information.

For example, if one hired a gang of Mainland desperadoes to abduct a person, immediately silenced them, and sank the body into the sea, even the most well-connected person would be helpless. The "Century Bandit" Zhang Tiejun relied precisely on this tactic to hold property tycoon Li Jiacheng by the throat.

Yet Lin Tiansheng believed that Deng Yuchang, as the head of his family, could not have abducted Li Zhongying's family merely to vent his anger. After making the arrangements, Li Zhongying had already taken a taxi to the West Kowloon Police Station, where the front desk officer escorted him to a waiting room.

Lin Tiansheng walked up to the door and looked through the glass. He saw Li Zhongying sitting in a chair, his face buried in his hands, looking utterly exhausted and haggard. As soon as he entered the room, without a word, Li Zhongying dropped straight to his knees and pleaded, "Mr. Lin, only you can save the lives of my entire family."

Having spent three years in prison, his property had been confiscated and his bank accounts frozen.

His wife, who used to be a full-time housewife, had to work as a seamstress in a small workshop, earning money zipper by zipper and button by button just so their children could afford to go to school. Everything he did after getting out of prison was driven by the hope of giving his family a decent life once again.

As a man, he knew that making something of himself required gambling with his life.

But that did not include the lives of his wife and daughter...

Lin Tiansheng helped him up, offered him a cigarette, and said, "Don't worry. Your wife and children will return home safely. Don't worry about company matters for now. Sleep here at the police station tonight, and I'll have the lads bring you a blanket."

Li Zhongying was completely panicked, muttering distractedly, "They should be all right, shouldn't they?"

Lin Tiansheng patted his shoulder in reassurance, "They'll be fine. A gambler who has lost everything is simply looking for new chips. Since they are chips, they certainly won't be thrown away."

"Targeting you is targeting me! Harming your family is harming my family!"

As the licensed operator of a legitimate business, Li Zhongying possessed exceptional management skills. In just over a month, he had already earned more than 700,000 Hong Kong dollars. Even after deducting the twenty-odd properties cleared out by the Number Gang, his transaction success rate remained extremely high, and his luxury real estate deals were steadily picking up. He was no incompetent; since he was under Lin Tiansheng's wing, he had to be protected.

If one brother met with disaster and you stood by with folded arms, and the second brother met with disaster while you watched coldly, then when your own turn came, who would lift a finger to help?

Lin Tiansheng promised, "Whoever harms my family will pay the price—a life for a life!"

Reassured by this promise, Li Zhongying felt much more at ease. He gripped Lin Tiansheng's hand tightly and said, "Thank you, thank you, Mr. Lin."

Lin Tiansheng asked, "How much money in the company accounts can be mobilized?"

Li Zhongying quickly reported the figure, "Five hundred and sixty-seven thousand dollars, after deducting next month's wages and rent."

The agency business dealt in information and services. Since the firm had not yet entered the property speculation market, almost all the agency fees earned were liquid cash.

"Take three hundred thousand out and wire it to this account." Lin Tiansheng wrote down an account number—a HSBC account set up using a fake passport.

"Understood. First thing tomorrow morning when the market opens," Li Zhongying replied, tucking the slip of paper away. He accepted the blanket handed to him by He Li and placed it on the lounge chair.

Before leaving, Lin Tiansheng did not forget to leave a pack of cigarettes, instructing, "If you need anything, just tell the uniformed lads. I've already informed them."

Originally, Ma Delong and the others had been looking forward to finishing work, going home, and having dinner after catching Foul-Mouth Cheung. But this sudden kidnapping case forced the entire squad to work overtime.

Power, as the core product of social organization, required countless blood, sweat, energy, and time to contend for.

At eight o'clock in the evening, while Lin Tiansheng and his men were eating late-night snacks, Zhang Jinrong brought back news from the underworld: "Not a single whisper of wind."

Ma Delong shoveled a mouthful of chicken leg and rice, "It wasn't done by the Luen Ying Shing. Foul-Mouth Cheung personally called the Luen Ying dragon head, crying louder than if his own father had died, and that side denied it completely."

Lin Tiansheng remarked, "The Intelligence Section has no news either. Only one option is left: drag Deng Zongliang back in for questioning."

There was another option, which was to wait for Deng Yuchang's phone call, but since they had no intention of making peace, waiting would be a waste of time. Deng Gengyun picked up the remaining piece of barbecued pork from his superior's lunchbox and said with satisfaction, "When are we making the arrest?"

"We wait for the Independent Commission Against Corruption's paperwork."

A missing person case and a kidnapping were still different. Before receiving a call from the kidnappers, the police force could only classify Li Zhongying's family as missing persons.

It could not be officially categorized as a kidnapping.

Even so, that did not mean they could only sit and wait for death. The senior inspector arrested at the customs had already been interrogated by the ICAC for two days; the moment there was evidence, Deng Zongliang could be arrested immediately.

Unlike the previous "assisting with the investigation," once he came back in this time, he wouldn't even think about getting out.

"I've communicated with Inspector Wong from the Internal Affairs Division. Headquarters is pressing the ICAC, and there will be results soon," Lin Tiansheng said.

This case was not aimed at Li Zhongying; it was aimed at Lin Tiansheng, at the entire faction of old loyalists. A mere probationary inspector couldn't pressure the ICAC, and a senior inspector might struggle too, but surely a chief inspector or a superintendent could?

If they couldn't even help with this much, what was the point of the old faction hanging on? They might as well all become traffic cops. This test was mutual; once Lin Tiansheng made his attitude clear, the old faction was bound to go all out.

After finishing the late-night snack, Lin Tiansheng raised his Citizen watch and said, "Ah Rong, you stay in charge. Call me if there's any news."

"I'm taking Gengyun out for a spin."

Zhang Jinrong had just opened his liquor flask and reluctantly put it away. "Understood, boss."

Lin Tiansheng exchanged a glance with Deng Gengyun, who picked up his jacket, draped it over his shoulder, and followed his boss out of the administrative building. After getting into the Chevrolet, Deng Gengyun asked, "Are we going for late-night congee, boss?"

"Are you mental? We just finished a midnight snack and now you want congee? Aren't you afraid your belly will burst!" Lin Tiansheng shifted gears, stepped on the accelerator, drove out of the police station gates, and announced, "We're heading to Wing Shing Building in Kowloon City to visit Instructor Tin."

Tin Haishan had been the tactics instructor for Lin Tiansheng, Deng Gengyun, and the others at the police academy. He was also a former instructor to Detective Sergeant Lui Lok in his youth. Having served at the police academy for over twenty years—from his twenties into his forties—many plainclothes officers, Police Tactical Unit members, and even Flying Tigers operatives were his students.

During his time in the police force, he had been sent for training at the British Garrison in Hong Kong and exchanged to Scotland Yard for studies. He frequently recommended talent to the "Four Great Detective Sergeants," and countless trainees had secured transfers to the Criminal Investigation Department through his connections.

He held a formidable status among corrupt cops, earning the nickname "Principal of Plainclothes," while his students simply called him "Instructor." Following the police restructuring, he was implicated, sentenced to two years in prison, and had his assets confiscated.

Two years ago, he led thirteen dismissed instructors to Macau, where he hacked the double-flower red pole enforcer "God of Wealth"—who had embezzled his assets—into pieces on the street, recovered millions in illicit funds, and returned to Hong Kong, shaking the underworld. After that battle, numerous restless, highly skilled dismissed corrupt cops sought refuge under his wings, competing with Mainland gangs for business and taking on dirty jobs like fencing stolen goods, kidnappings, and armed robberies. They could truly be called the "local flag-waving soldiers."

Because of his deep-rooted connections within the police force, he had managed to stay out of trouble for the time being and was currently running a guesthouse in Kowloon City.