Chapter 325: Night Flower
A sense of tension filled the National Police Headquarters. The police officers preparing to set out on a public security sweep had gathered in the main hall, ready to depart.
As required before a unified operation, all participants had to fasten their duty belts and carry handguns and batons—even personnel seconded from clerical departments like the Household Registration Office were no exception. At the National Police, all officers were armed while on duty. Although the Senate’s police philosophy and system largely imitated and copied the public security systems of the old world and Japanese police administration, its application was American-style: that is, there was no hesitation in using force.
In addition to weapons, personnel carrying out raids and spot checks were issued special “stab-proof vests”: a vest made using cotton armor techniques. The actual effectiveness of this item was questionable, but it was better than nothing. There were no steel helmets; they were replaced with rattan safety helmets.
For effective identification at night, all participants wore red and white armbands. An operation of this scale inevitably involved personnel from the Peacekeeping Army and the Lingao Garrison Battalion. Larger-scale sweeps sometimes even mobilized sailors from Bopu. The Senate’s police system was still plagued by a shortage of qualified personnel. All large-scale operations required a full system mobilization, temporarily drafting personnel from clerical departments and even requesting assistance from the General Military Affairs Office.
Today’s operation was a county-wide action. The sweep covered not only the three main towns of the county seat, Dongmen Market, and Bopu, but also other smaller towns and commune locations. A large number of personnel were needed. Not only were all leaves canceled, but the rule against working for more than 48 consecutive hours was also suspended.
On the surface, this was to rectify public order. More importantly, it was to arrest the few martial arts masters who had escaped the major manhunt a few days prior.
The police officers gathered in the main hall conversed in low whispers. Such “sweeps” had been conducted frequently recently, on varying scales. Due to the surge in the immigrant population in Lingao, the pressure on public security was immense. They had to resort to these campaign-style “sweeps” from time to time. For Ran Yao and the others, although the Senate’s police system had expanded to an absurdly large scale by 17th-century standards, it was still far from adequate by 21st-century standards, not to mention the actual work capabilities of these naturalized citizens in police uniforms.
“All rise, attention!”
With this command, the police officers gathered in the hall simultaneously clicked their heels and stood at attention. Pan Jiexin appeared on the open gallery on the second floor of the hall.
Pan Jiexin was in his early thirties, the director of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department. His actual specialty was economic investigation. He had originally been an investigator in the economic investigation brigade of a certain city’s public security bureau. Because some of the Transmigration Group’s preparatory activities had alerted the local police, they were believed to be a large-scale, organized, and premeditated fraud. Thus, Pan Jiexin joined the Transmigration Group under the guise of a resigned police officer to go undercover.
Within the Transmigration Group, he was accepted into the security team. Over the next few months, he was overjoyed. It was the first time he had encountered such a bizarre and entertaining case of economic fraud. He estimated the final value of the case would exceed one hundred million. Although the amount wasn’t huge, the case was so rare that it was worthy of being included in a public security textbook. After solving the case, a promotion and commendation were practically guaranteed.
After D-Day, Pan Jiexin almost went insane. The promotion and commendation were out of the question, and he had simply “vanished from the face of the earth” in the old world. In the end, he would surely be declared a “martyr.” He didn’t even dare to think about how his family would react to the news.
Although being a public security officer was inherently dangerous, and he had been prepared to make sacrifices when he accepted the undercover mission, “disappearing” in such a dramatic way was not the ending he wanted.
After a few days of depression, Pan Jiexin assessed the situation and decided to make the best of it. He kept his mouth shut about being an undercover agent. Officially becoming a “Yuanlao,” he had, in a sense, gone from being a stock-picker to a shareholder.
Since he was in a new world, it was naturally more convenient to stick to his profession, and it was also easier to make a name for himself. So, Pan Jiexin joined the Senate’s police force. He had originally wanted to continue in his old line of work, but since the volume of economic investigation cases was not large in this era, it was not feasible to set up a separate department. At Ran Yao’s suggestion, he became the director of the Criminal Investigation Department and was granted the rank of Police Regional Commander. He knew this rank was deliberately kept low; when the enterprise grew, becoming a Police Grand Regional Commander was just a matter of time…
Pan Jiexin, dressed in a high-grade police uniform of wool and cotton blend, wearing a duty belt with a Glock handgun, stood on the second floor looking down at the crowd, appearing majestic and imposing. The hearts of the new female officers from the Household Registration Department pounded like a frightened deer.
He surveyed the naturalized police officers of varying heights below. He always felt they were too thin and their complexions weren’t very good—except for the recently assigned batch of female household registration officers who had graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences. However, their morale was quite good. Although their clothes were a bit shabby, they didn’t have the wretched look characteristic of people in photos from the modern era.
“Reporting to the Regional Commander! All personnel have assembled. Please give your instructions!” the officer on duty reported loudly.
“At ease!” Pan Jiexin shouted. “Inspect weapons!”
A clatter of firearms immediately sounded from below. The standard police weapons were the Type 1632 revolver and shotguns. High-powered rifles like the short-barreled Minié had been withdrawn from police service. Only a few high-precision Jr-standard Minié rifles were kept as sniper rifles.
Following the report of “inspection complete,” Pan Jiexin checked his watch and waved his hand. “Begin the operation!”
The headquarters’ main gate immediately opened, and the police officers who had been gathered in the hall and corridors poured out like a tide. The courtyard was already filled with four-wheeled police horse-drawn carriages. The “mobile team” was equipped with the rather rare bicycles for maneuvering in Dongmen Market. Bicycles were much faster and more convenient than carriages.
Li Yongxun, leading a few female officers from the Household Registration Department, boarded one of the carriages. Today, her job was to accompany the team to sweep the “customs business district” of Dongmen Market.
In Lingao, the prostitution industry, or as the Australians called it, the “customs industry,” was legal. As long as one obtained a license and paid taxes according to regulations, one could operate legally. However, the customs industry was only allowed to operate in designated areas and was subject to stricter public security management.
This time, the sweep of the customs industry district was a key target area because the fugitives were very likely to hide in the customs district, following their old habits. Most of the people engaged in this trade in Lingao were former practitioners from the mainland. Their understanding of the new society established by the Senate was not deep, and their thinking was inevitably backward. The girls and madams all loved money, and under the temptation of a large reward, it was hard to guarantee that no one would defy the law and hide the fugitives.
As the police carriages and bicycles poured out of the police headquarters courtyard, in several other places, the assembled squads of Japanese and Korean Peacekeeping Army also set out on command, fanning out to control various intersections and traffic arteries. They would enforce a complete blockade of the key search areas, allowing no one in or out.
Lin Ming looked at the brothel before him. It looked no different from the others, with a sign that read “Night Flower.” A curtain hung in the doorway as usual, and there was also a large plaque. Wang Xinglong, however, was on familiar ground, and he lifted the curtain and walked right in.
This Wang Xinglong is only eighteen or nineteen, yet he’s so familiar with this kind of place. The world is truly going downhill! Lin Ming thought. Despite his thoughts, he followed him inside.
Passing through a small entrance hall, they found a different world inside. The decoration was elegant and refined, in no way inferior to the brothels of Guangzhou and Foshan. Lin Ming saw a large, colorful poster on the wall. A closer look, after many days at sea, immediately elicited a physiological reaction in him. The poster depicted a nude woman in various alluring poses. The poses themselves were one thing—he had seen all sorts of erotic art and secret paintings—but this woman was completely different from the “naked sprites” in those pictures. She was as vivid and lifelike as a real person, with a well-defined figure.
Lin Ming was worldly and had seen “Western paintings” in Guangdong, so he knew this was the Western style of painting. However, compared to the plump, white Western women in those paintings, the woman before him was more alluring.
There was also a line of text on the painting: “Night Flower proudly presents eighteen new styles of service, letting you experience the pleasure of a king or prince.”
“Treatment fit for a king or prince,” this brothel was really bold, simply lawless.
“What’s wrong, Brother Lin? Want to try these eighteen styles?”
Just as Lin Ming was about to speak, a pimp came out from inside, a broad smile on his face. “Master, you’ve arrived? Do you have a girl you know?”
“No, this is our first time at your establishment,” Wang Xinglong said. Hearing this, Lin Ming grew secretly anxious. Brothels were notorious for fleecing newcomers. Without an experienced regular to guide them, they could spend a fortune and not even get a cup of water, and be ridiculed by the prostitutes and pimps as “plague students.” He had thought Wang Xinglong was a regular here, but it turned out to be his first time too. Young people were just too reckless!
“Master, you’ve come to the right place. We’re having a grand promotion right now, more for the same price. I guarantee you’ll both be satisfied.” The pimp said, leading them inside.
“What grand promotion?” Lin Ming asked.
“Oh, that’s an Australian term. You’ll find out in a moment. Watch your step, this way.”
After a few turns, the pimp led them to a place that looked like a flower hall. Several people were sitting inside. They glanced up at Lin Ming and then lowered their heads again to drink tea and look at picture albums. A few servants were serving tea and water around them. The faint sound of string and bamboo music drifted in.
“Master, if you don’t have a girl you know, please come with me,” the pimp said to Lin Ming in a low voice.
“Alright.” Lin Ming followed the pimp through the flower hall and continued inside.
“Masters, I can tell at a glance that your temperaments are out of the ordinary. I, Little Six, won’t introduce you to the common girls. I’ll help you choose some of our house’s finest treasures. I’ll make sure you are served to your satisfaction today.”