Meanwhile, at an abandoned parking lot on the outskirts of the city, Ma Qiang received word in the middle of the night that Qi Dawei and his men had been arrested. He immediately called his backer.
"Hello, Young Master Zhao! The district police station has made a move on us! Qi Dawei and his crew were caught red-handed..."
"You fucking useless piece of shit!"
Before Ma Qiang could finish, a hysterical roar boomed through the phone.
"I've kept you for all these years, feeding you like a useless dog! Huh? You can't even handle a simple thing like this? Were you raised on shit?"
Listening to the foul-laced abuse, Ma Qiang clenched his fists tightly. But he didn't dare utter a sound, waiting until Young Master Zhao had finished venting before asking in a cautious voice, "What should we do now?"
"What do you mean, what should you do? Stay right where you are! I'm sending men to back you up!"
What did that mean? Were they going to fight the police?
"Young Master Zhao, I'm afraid this..."
"What are you scared of? If we don't finish them off, you won't survive either!"
"Understood!"
Ma Qiang hung up the phone, furrowed his brow in deep thought for a long time, and then ordered his subordinates to prepare their gear. This time, they were going to pull off something big.
"Boss, don't you worry! As long as you let the brothers go all out, whoever comes today dies!"
"Those smelly fish and rotten shrimp from the police station—how many guns could they possibly have? If the brothers rush them all at once, we can crush them just by weight of numbers!"
Seeing that his men were not only unafraid but actually excited, Ma Qiang felt considerably more at ease.
Next, he instructed Zhen Sanjiang not to hold back, passing along the explicit orders from his backer.
"Don't worry, Brother Qiang. As long as those rabid-dog cops dare come to my place, not a single one of them is getting out alive!"
Zhen Sanjiang had a fair idea of who Ma Qiang's backer was. Therefore, he wasn't particularly terrified about fighting the police. As long as his backer could cover for them, beating a cop or two to death was no big deal!
***
At six in the evening, ninety percent of the precinct's officers mobilized, splitting into two tactical teams that rushed toward their respective targets.
In the car on the way, Wang Zhan looked extremely nervous.
"Master, do we have an operational plan for this raid?"
"Plan? What plan do you need? Just go in and hit them!"
"Ah?"
Before long, a swarm of police cars arrived, surrounding all the exits of the Red Romance Bar.
Qi Tongwei stepped out of the vehicle, adjusted his communication headset, and frowned as he looked at the seemingly closed establishment.
Something felt wrong. It was far too quiet!
Even though Qi Tongwei suspected that Zhen Sanjiang and his men had most likely set a trap, the arrow was already on the bow and had to be released. There was no turning back now. He issued his orders directly through the headset.
"Second Team, enter through the back door! First Team, follow me through the front! Third Team, provide backup outside! All units, move in immediately!"
"Copy that!"
At Qi Tongwei's command, the two police teams kicked down the doors, only to be met immediately by a hail of gunfire.
The veteran detective leading the charge was shot and collapsed on the spot!
"They have firearms! Take cover!"
Inside the ground floor of the bar, at least seven or eight handguns were firing, pinning down Qi Tongwei and his men and preventing them from lifting their heads.
Although Qi Tongwei's officers were armed as well, their angles of fire were terrible, giving them zero advantage.
"Captain! We're meeting fierce resistance at the back door! Requesting backup!"
"Hold your positions and wait for my orders!"
At that moment, Wang Zhan pressed himself against Qi Tongwei, his voice trembling as he asked, "Master, what do we do now?"
"Calm down!" Qi Tongwei scolded his shivering young apprentice.
Then, he raised his gaze to sweep across the large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, forming a plan in his mind to break the deadlock.
He spoke in a deep, commanding voice to the detectives around him, "Nobody move! Wait for my command!"
*Bang, bang, bang!*
The next instant, Qi Tongwei raised his service pistol and shattered every single light in the main hall with pinpoint accuracy, plunging the entire bar into pitch darkness.
That move threw the gunmen and thugs into a panic. They began firing blindly into the empty space based on pure instinct, quickly exhausting the ammunition in their magazines.
"Master, we don't have night-vision gear!"
"Neither do they!"
With that, Qi Tongwei waited until the gunfire inside subsided, then lunged forward into the main hall.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
"Aaaah!"
Scattered gunshots mixed with shrieks rang out continuously through the darkness, setting the nerves of the dozen or so detectives waiting at the entrance on edge.
Fearing that his master might be in danger, Wang Zhan grabbed his walkie-talkie and roared into it in a hoarse voice, "Third Team, Third Team! Ram the front doors open right now and shine the searchlights in! We're facing heavy resistance!"
Hearing the plea for help over the radio, the officers outside sprang into action.
***
In the darkness, Qi Tongwei moved as if he had his own built-in night-vision system. Like a phantom of the midnight, he swept across the hall at breakneck speed.
Every gunman and thug crossing his path took a bullet to the leg, crashing to the ground to wail in agony.
Zhen Sanjiang!
Qi Tongwei quickly located Zhen Sanjiang, who was cowering behind a sofa.
In a flurry of panic, Zhen Sanjiang switched on the flashlight feature of his phone. The instant the bright beam cut through the dark, a dark figure flashed across his field of vision.
Startled out of his wits, Zhen Sanjiang raised his gun and fired twice, but missed completely.
"Dirty cop, come out and face me!"
Holding the phone in one hand, Zhen Sanjiang spun around and around, searching for Qi Tongwei.
Suddenly, as Zhen Sanjiang whipped around again, Qi Tongwei materialized right in front of him like a ghost.
"Aaaah!"
Jolted with terror, Zhen Sanjiang tried to raise his weapon, but Qi Tongwei caught him by the wrist and snapped it with a sharp *crack*.
*Bang, bang!*
Two gunshots rang out. Zhen Sanjiang took two bullets to the knees and dropped heavily to his knees before Qi Tongwei.
"Dirty cop, do you dare kill me? Huh? Go ahead, shoot!"
Seeing that Zhen Sanjiang was still fierce, arrogant, and thoroughly unyielding, Qi Tongwei clicked the safety on his pistol and brought the butt of the gun down hard against Zhen Sanjiang's head.
With a heavy thud, Zhen Sanjiang's forehead split open, bleeding profusely as he collapsed and struggled in agony. He hadn't expected Qi Tongwei to hit so brutally, completely ignoring police protocols and daring to deal such a vicious blow to a surrendering criminal.
"Dirty cop, I'm going to report you!"
"Report me?"
Qi Tongwei sneered, picked up a stray baseball bat from the floor, gave it a practice swing, and walked over to Zhen Sanjiang.
"Wait—wait a minute!"
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
The baseball bat came down in a relentless series of blows, beating the breath right out of Zhen Sanjiang!
The pain was excruciating!
"Stop hitting me, stop hitting me! I was wrong!"
Qi Tongwei targeted all the most vulnerable spots on the human body, applying immense force while carefully avoiding fatal injuries. Under the torment, Zhen Sanjiang quickly passed out cold.
Dropping the nearly splintered baseball bat, Qi Tongwei pulled out a lighter, lit a cigarette, and strolled casually toward the entrance.
*Boom!*
At that exact moment, the front doors of the bar were smashed open by a police cruiser.
Three blinding searchlights swept inside, forcing Qi Tongwei to squint against the glare.
"Who goes there? Hands where we can see them!"
Framed in the harsh white light, the officers at the entrance could only make out a tall figure standing with his back to them, unable to tell whether he was a drug dealer or not.