In the past, anti-corruption incidents rarely resulted in human lives, but in cases like the Z Fund involving huge funds, it is not uncommon for people to lose their lives.
Therefore, whether for his own safety or to investigate this case more smoothly, Luk Zhilian urgently needs the help of the Hong Kong Island Police.
In other words, he needs a more violent and legal team than the ICAC to help deal with more vicious enemies.
As for the force that is more violent and legal than the ICAC, the entire Hong Kong Island is naturally the police force.
Originally, it was normal for the ICAC to turn to the police for help when it encountered a tough nut to crack.
But Lu Zhilian had just met a rogue police officer like Huang Wenbin, and coupled with the ICAC's understanding of the police force, sometimes it was not easy to find a relatively reliable partner.
This time Zhou Xingxing and Liu Baoqiang came unexpectedly, which made Lu Zhilian tempted.
Although the two of them said they regretted it after learning their identities.
But judging from the courage of the two of them to break in in the face of more than a dozen gunmen, they are obviously qualified police officers.
So Lu Zhilian also really wants to cooperate with the two of them.
"Hey, you old Lian went out on an investigation mission, did you get any extra subsidies?"
Zhou Xingxing walked in the narrow and dim passage. Originally, he was not interested in Lu Zhilian's proposal.
After all, he still had the case assigned to him by Zhang Pin to handle. It was unclear whether that case could be solved. Naturally, he didn't have time to deal with other cases.
But after hearing Lu Zhilian say that the Independent Commission Against Corruption's case handling funds were much more abundant than those of the police force, he was immediately moved.
The reason for this is naturally because Zhou Xingxing has personally participated in a very well-funded task before.
It was precisely because of his participation in that mission that the unlucky guy Zhou Xingxing actually earned enough money to buy a house on Hong Kong Island.
Although it was only a down payment, it was originally an astronomical sum for Zhou Xingxing.
He spent countless nights imagining that he would once again encounter a case with ample funding, but every time he woke up, he was disappointed.
This time Lu Zhilian proposed cooperation, which gave Zhou Xingxing hope again.
"You said you can't apply for a business trip subsidy. As long as you can help me, if you don't mention anything else, just this time, I can at least help each of you apply for more than 10,000 yuan in labor expenses."
When Lu Zhilian heard Zhou Xingxing withdrawing money from him, he breathed a sigh of relief.
You must know that the Independent Commission Against Corruption itself is a department engaged in anti-corruption work.
Therefore, they know much more about corruption than ordinary institutions.
The first step for many people to commit corruption is naturally due to lack of money, so the Hong Kong team has always advocated high salary and integrity.
As the ICAC is an anti-corruption department, the salary level is naturally not much lower.
At the same time, it is not only to prevent ICAC investigators from being corrupted, but also to ensure smooth investigation, so the ICAC is never stingy with case handling funds.
Even in order to make it easier for investigators to penetrate into corruption, the funding for various informants is also frighteningly generous.
For people like Zhou Xingxing who want labor fees, Lu Zhilian is the favorite.
"This is what you said. I didn't take the initiative to ask for money from you. It is our duty as police officers to help the citizens. We should not ask for benefits from you.
But since you sincerely want to give us hard work money, for the sake of the integrity of the police and the family, I can’t destroy the close friendship between the two parties. Hey, I will reluctantly accept this 10,000 yuan.”
When Zhou Xingxing heard that there was money to be received, a surge of motivation immediately arose in his body.
"Why don't you let me go to the front? I suspect there might be danger outside because it's too quiet in the back."
He immediately took the initiative to speak out, wanting to go ahead, and also reminded everyone to pay attention to the situation.
"There's something wrong. The gunmen didn't seem to follow us from the passage. Could it be that they are still outside the house and don't know that we have left?"
Director An on the side was skeptical about Zhou Xingxing's words.
He mainly didn't believe that the enemy knew so much about the ICAC's safe house.
"Be careful. We're at the exit. I'll give it a try."
Lu Zhilian was not as reassured as Director An.
He himself was very confused about the enemy appearing outside the safe house tonight. After all, the purpose of the ICAC safe house was to hide.
Not to mention that for safety reasons, he moved to a safe house in Yuen Long this afternoon.
Unexpectedly, he moved the safe house with his front foot, and the enemy arrived with his rear foot.
Such a quick move inevitably made Lu Zhilian wonder whether an insider had leaked the news.
And if it was really the insider who leaked the information, since the other party was able to leak the information about the safe house, it would not be surprising that the information was leaked through the channel.
So Lu Zhilian stood not far from the exit and was not in a hurry to go out.
He first checked the weapons on his body and filled the magazine with bullets.
Then he took off his suit jacket and kneaded it into a ball.
Then he looked at the people behind him, signaling them to get ready, and finally quietly pushed open the hidden passage exit.
While pushing open the exit, he said: "Quick, quick, hurry up, come out quickly."
After making sure that the sound could be transmitted outside, he waited for another two or three seconds, and then threw out the suit that was crumpled into a ball in his hands.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang——
Just as the suit flew out, intensive gunshots suddenly came from the originally silent exit. The suit flying in the air was instantly beaten into rags.
"There's really an ambush!"
Director An looked in disbelief.
"There is indeed a mole!"
Lu Zhilian actually breathed a sigh of relief.
He is not afraid of a mole, because as long as the mole is careful, he can find it out, and as long as the mole is careful and does not reveal his information, the other party can only stare.
On the contrary, if the other party is not a mole but can find the safe house of the Independent Commission Against Corruption and knows the safe passage of the safe house, then the other party's energy is terrifyingly strong.
"Get ready, they're almost out of bullets!"
Different from the thoughts of the ICAC and the two men, Zhou Xingxing was eager to give it a try after learning that there was an ambush outside.
Originally, he felt that saving the ICAC people would be of no use, and he would also be in danger, so it would not be worthwhile if he tried his best.
But now Lu Zhilian wants to cooperate with them on the case, share evidence, and pay them.
Zhou Xingxing immediately gained the motivation to work hard.
Moreover, the cooperation with the Independent Commission Against Corruption is not a one-time deal. In order to repay the mortgage, Zhou Xingxing has already made a decision. He must perform well this time and strive for a long-term cooperation with Lu Zhilian.
After all, he knew his situation and was very unlucky on weekdays.
Although the salary in the police force is good, his daily expenses are not small. Now that he has a legal revenue channel, how can Zhou Xingxing be willing to give up.
"Damn, I really need to fight hard!"
Liu Baoqiang’s thoughts on Zhou Xingxing are unknown.
But he wanted to make progress, so naturally he couldn't leave things alone this time. Besides, even if he wanted to retreat, the gunmen outside probably wouldn't agree.
So although he didn't think as much as Zhou Xingxing thought, he was still ready to work hard.
"Damn it, ten thousand yuan is not enough. If everyone survives this time, you, Mr. Lian, must cover our expenses for a month!"
Liu Baoqiang gritted his teeth and did not forget to bargain with Lu Zhilian as he rushed out.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang——
Zhou Xingxing and Liu Baoqiang were both very skilled. When they heard the sporadic gunfire outside and stopped, they immediately rushed out at the same time.
"Ahhhh——"
The safe passage built by the ICAC safe house leads directly to a road.
This time the gunmen thought they had an ambush and would be able to catch all the ICAC officers, so they were careless in their stance.
They didn't even expect that there would be other intruders in this operation.
As a result, Zhou Xingxing and Liu Baoqiang seized the opportunity to kill them. The gunmen standing on the road were instantly killed and turned upside down.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang——
With Zhou Xingxing and Liu Baoqiang as role models, Lu Zhilian and Director An also followed suit.
The four of them beat the gunmen to a pulp in one moment.
Taking advantage of his side's advantage, Zhou Xingxing put away the empty magazine of his pistol, then rushed into the crowd and chose to fight hand to hand.
"Leave a few alive as witnesses!"
He directly clipped a gunman with a deadly scissor kick, and then did not forget to warn others.
After hearing Zhou Xingxing's words, Lu Zhilian and Director An remained indifferent. They just shifted the muzzle of their guns, and then stood there and continued to shoot at other gunmen who were either running away or hiding.
The work of the ICAC is still different from that of the police. They do not need the gunmen as witnesses.
But Liu Baoqiang was different. After he heard Zhou Xingxing's shouting, although he was a little worried, he still rushed forward without hesitation and chose to fight with his bare hands.
Fortunately, because the two consecutive ambush failed, more than half of the men were killed, and the courage of the remaining gunmen was already frightened.
Originally faced with the shooting of four people, some gunmen, in order to survive, did not forget to turn around and shoot while escaping to stop the pursuit of several people.
However, when they heard Zhou Xingxing shouting that they were going to be captured alive, these people all ran away quickly, and naturally no one foolishly turned around and fired cold shots.
It has to be said that Zhou Xingxing's voice was a mistake, which directly relieved the resistance of several gunmen.
"Done!"
In this way, after Zhou Xingxing controlled the two gunmen, the scene suddenly calmed down.
"Which of you is the leader? What is the purpose of coming here!"
After confirming that the situation was under control, Lu Zhilian stepped forward and asked about the instigators behind the gunmen.
"Bah, you don't want to know the news about our boss from me, and I won't tell you that I contacted him through text messages."
The gunman who was questioned by Lu Zhilian said he was very tough, but in fact he was very sensible.
"Very good, I guess you are wise."
When Lu Zhilian heard what the other party said, he nodded, put down the pistol aimed at the other party's head, and then took out a mobile phone specially used for communication from his body.
"mission completed!"
It was clear that all the gunmen had been taken care of, but Lu Zhilian still pretended to be the gunman and sent a text message back to the person behind the scenes who contacted them.
"You two, don't mind if we stay at your police station for two days!"
After learning that there was an enemy mole in the ICAC, Lu Zhilian was not prepared to continue to contact the ICAC people in the past few days. Instead, he was going to hide, hoping to wait until the case was formally filed before showing up with witnesses.
"Oops, let's leave quickly, we almost don't have time to find the fool."
But in response to Lu Zhilian's request, Zhou Xingxing was about to discuss terms with the other party, but Liu Baoqiang on the side slapped his thigh anxiously, then pulled Zhou Xingxing and prepared to escape.
"I'm sorry, we have urgent matters. If there is anything else, let's talk about it after we get back from the work."
When Zhou Xingxing heard Liu Baoqiang mention Silly Biao, he immediately came to his senses. Compared with cooperating with the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the task assigned to him by Zhang Pin was obviously more important.
"Wait a minute, what case do you want to handle? Why don't we work together? It's easier to do things with more people."
When Lu Zhilian saw that Zhou Xingxing and Liu Baoqiang were about to leave, and he had just left the danger, he naturally did not want these two bodyguards to leave, so he took the initiative to continue cooperating with them.
"It seems that you can really cooperate with us, but there is no time to say more. We have to find Silly Biao before ten o'clock!"
When Zhou Xingxing heard that Lu Zhilian wanted to cooperate, he immediately thought of the other party's abundant funds.
So he agreed without too much hesitation, but seeing that it was almost too late, he didn't say anything more.
"Are you going to just run away to handle the case? I have a car here!"
Lu Zhilian was relieved when he heard that the two agreed to handle the case together. After all, his and An Ying's safety was guaranteed.
Then he took the initiative to call out to the two people who were running around like headless flies. At that moment, Director An, who had left before, drove over in a car.
Since the Independent Commission Against Corruption has set up a safe passage here, it naturally also prepared transportation tools for this purpose.
"Tell me about this case. There should be nothing confidential involved, right?"
After getting in the car, Lu Zhilian looked at An Ying beside him who was silent for a second, and then started chatting with Zhou Xingxing in front of her.
Originally, according to the rules of the ICAC or the police force, it stands to reason that the case should not be discussed in front of outsiders.
But the situation is different now, and An Ying is very important to the Z Foundation case. Lu Zhilian does not dare to risk letting the other party out of his sight, so he can only choose to violate the rules slightly.
This is why he emphasized confidentiality when questioning.
In fact, this was his deliberate reminder to Zhou Xingxing.
"Speaking of this case, it is actually very appropriate for the Independent Commission Against Corruption to investigate. Just two days ago, we received a report that a trader at the Jockey Club was shot dead. This may involve peripheral gambling."
The reason why Zhou Xingxing agreed to Lu Zhilian's cooperation was really not nonsense.
