Chapter 17

Chapter 17 The Many Faces of District Nine

In the dormitory.

Qin Yu kept his head down, wiping his service pistol, and tilted his neck to look at Lao Hei. “Brother, how did you end up in District 9?”

“Same as most people.” Lao Hei replied softly, head lowered. “The disaster hit, countries formed a joint government and set up the Eight Districts as refuges. But with so many people in the world, there was no way everyone could get in. Too many people, too few resources, too few livable places — so if you wanted into one of the Eight Districts, you had to wait for the joint government to randomly draw permanent residency rights for people all over the world. But ‘random’ was just a word — most of the spots went to the social elite, and the small portion that was left got driven up to astronomical prices. Toward the end, a single ticket was going for tens of millions of dollars. My hometown was in war-torn Africa — just staying alive was hard enough, let alone having money for a ticket.”

At that, the Thai brother also chimed in quietly, “We all went through the same thing.”

“My dad held onto a sliver of hope back then. He heard that Districts 7 and 8 still had spots open and were still issuing permanent residency rights, so he did everything he could to get to Asia — only to find out the population was full and they couldn’t take anyone else.” Lao Hei smiled and asked Qin Yu, “Do you know how District 9 came to be?”

“I’ve heard a bit.” Qin Yu nodded.

“Districts 7 and 8 are both within your country’s borders, and they were the last two residential zones with unfilled spots. So at the time, people from all over the world who still had a shred of hope of drawing residency rights came flooding here, waiting for that slim chance. But once Districts 7 and 8 hit capacity, there were still tens of millions of homeless people left behind. They had no way to survive, so under someone’s leadership they rioted, trying to storm the other residential zones. The joint government had no choice but to carve out some resources and allow the establishment of the Ninth Special District — but they didn’t have the capacity or enough resources to supply this place, so in the end they let us govern ourselves. That’s the history of District 9. It’s a lifeline that people like us, the bottom of society, fought for. It’s chaotic, but it feels like home. Even if you told me to go to one of the other Eight Districts now, I probably couldn’t adjust.” Lao Hei was an optimist — whenever he talked, he always flashed a mouthful of white teeth that gave people a warm feeling.

After a long silence, Qin Yu asked again, “So do you have any family left?”

“No one. My mother and younger brother died in District 9’s first armed conflict. My dad was one of District 9’s first police officers — he also died in the line of duty.”

Qin Yu was taken aback. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I made my peace with it a long time ago.” Lao Hei smiled again. “What about you? Do you have family? How did you end up in the unplanned zone?”

“Me, I might be even worse off than you…” Qin Yu hesitated for a long time, just as he was about to open up to his colleague.

“Ring ring ring!”

Just then, a phone rang.

“Hello?” Qin Yu answered the police phone.

“That core guy from the Ma family took Old Man Ma over to the Third Ring Road area. I’ve been watching for a while — I’m about 80% sure the person they’re meeting is the contact.” Xiao Liu’s voice on the phone was concise as he laid out the situation.

“How many people on their side?”

“Whether the contact is actually here is based on my read of the situation.” Xiao Liu replied with a frown. “I haven’t seen him in person, but at the entrance to the alley there are at least 2 to 4 people standing watch.”

“What about Old Man Ma’s side?”

“He went in alone. The people he brought are waiting outside — three of them total.”

“Any sense of what kind of firepower they’re packing?” Qin Yu asked.

“No way to tell just by looking, but from experience, I’d say these guys are heavy hitters — they’ve definitely got serious firepower.” Xiao Liu answered without hesitation.

“Got it. Stay put, don’t move. We’ll be there soon.”

“OK!”

After the two finished talking, Qin Yu immediately clapped his hands and called out to the others, “Gear up — we’re about to go to work.”

Lao Hei was the first one on his feet at the sound of it.

“Ha, let’s get the job done first, then we’ll grab a drink and keep talking.” Qin Yu patted Lao Hei on the shoulder with a smile.

“Sure.” Lao Hei didn’t have the petty flaws that a lot of his fellow countrymen had — he worked hard without complaint, wasn’t lazy and didn’t shy away from trouble. He could handle both the observer and demolitions roles, and his shooting was solid too. He was one of the few real heavy hitters in Team 3.

“Meet downstairs.”

Qin Yu dropped that line, turned, and walked out of the dormitory, immediately dialing Yuan Ke’s number.

“Hello? Xiao Qin!”

“Captain Yuan, I need to request some backup.” Qin Yu stated his request plainly.

“You’ve got a big fish?” Yuan Ke’s eyes lit up.

“Can’t confirm yet — have to reel it in first.” Qin Yu licked his lips. “They may have serious firepower. Preliminary estimate puts their numbers around ten.”

“How many people do you need?”

“At least one full squad.”

“…Right now I’d have a hard time pulling together even two teams for you — all our people are tied up on cases.” Yuan Ke felt it was a bit of a headache.

“If you don’t give me people, I can’t make the arrest.” Qin Yu said with a frown. “You know the situation with Team 3.”

Yuan Ke weighed it for a moment. “I’ll call the Team 3 squad leader and have them send people to help. Wait for them downstairs.”

“Old Mao’s squad?” Qin Yu was surprised.

“What’s the matter? Is that a problem?”

“No, no problem at all — having him come works great.” Qin Yu replied with satisfaction. “I know him well, easy to work with.”

“That’s settled then!”

……

About five minutes later.

Old Mao led twenty people out at a brisk stride, dressed in light green tactical SWAT gear, boots on their feet, folding riot shields slung over their shoulders, five M464 rifles in hand.

“That was fast!” Qin Yu walked over with a smile.

“Damn, the only reason I came to back you up is because I heard you were leading the op. If it were anyone else’s job, I’d have dodged it for sure.” Old Mao grinned and cashed in a favor with Qin Yu. “This is everyone left in the building — the rest are all out on cases!”

“Thanks.”

“Skip the small talk — we’re here to help, just tell us what to do.” Old Mao waved it off.

“Come on, we’ll talk in the vehicle!” Qin Yu pulled Old Mao along and turned to shout at his own team members, “Check your comms equipment — we’ll work out the arrest plan on the way.”

“Yes sir!”

Team 3 called out in unison and got into their vehicles.

A few minutes later, four police patrol cars and one multi-purpose tactical van all headed toward the Third Ring Road at the same time.

……

In an alley, inside a dark and damp room.

A Long was eating braised beef, tilting his head to look at Old Man Ma. “Can you actually smooth this thing over or not? If you can’t, I’m handing the job off to someone else.”

“I can handle it, just give me a little more time.”

“I’ll wait one more week at most.” A Long considered it for a moment before replying. “I really can’t drag this out any longer — if the warehouse gets raided, I’ll be wiped out completely.”

“I understand.” Old Man Ma stood up. “I’ll resolve the problem within a week.”

“Good!” A Long took a sip of baijiu and looked up. “See Ma-ge out!”

As Old Man Ma turned and walked toward the door, he paused slightly, then suddenly looked back and asked, “A Long, competition in our line of work on the black market isn’t actually that fierce — only a handful of players. But everyone else’s drug prices are double ours. I just can’t figure out why you refuse to let us raise our prices. Do you know how much money we’re leaving on the table?”

A Long picked at the corner of his eye and laughed carelessly. “As long as there’s profit, who cares how much we make?”

Old Man Ma thought for a moment. “Fair enough. I’ll be off.”

“Get it sorted quickly.”

“I know.”

Old Man Ma pushed open the door and walked out of the room.

……

Three minutes later.

Xiao Liu called Qin Yu. “Squad leader, situation’s changed — Old Man Ma suddenly left!”

Qin Yu was stunned for a moment, then immediately asked, “Are the people inside still there?”

“They are!”