Special District 9 Chapter 86: The Arrival of the Storm

The following day, nine in the morning.

The rays of the sun peeked through the cracks of the curtains of a hotel room, scattering golden light all over the ground.

On the bed, Ma Lao-er was hugging a woman while snoring loudly. Scattered all over the room were their clothes, as well as a bunch of tissue papers and rubber.

Dong dong dong!

There was a series of anxious knockings on the door, and someone shouted, “Brother Lao-er, are you there?”

Ma Lao-er groggily woke up from his sleep and rubbed his eyes. He shouted to the door, “Who is it?”

“I am Little Liu. Hurry up and open the door!”

“…!” It took a while for Ma Lao-er to finally snap out of his daze. He grabbed his watch beside the bed and took a look at it before cursing, “Fuck. Look at what time it is? Can’t you trouble me a little later?”

As Ma Lao-er spoke, he picked up the clothes on the ground and draped it over his body before opening the door.

“Brother Lao-er, something bad has happened!”

“What? Did the son of the Chief Executive die or something?” Ma Lao-er asked with a yawn.

“I’m not joking!” Little Liu exclaimed anxiously. “Yesterday, two people died after using our medicine. Right now, there are already fifty medicine buyers who have surrounded our warehouse. Brother Zishu was cornered by them when he tried to enter the warehouse, and he ended up getting beaten up.”

Ma Lao-er immediately woke up after hearing those words. “They died after using our medicine? How did they know where our warehouse is?”

“I’m not sure either!” Little Liu shook his head. “I tried calling you earlier, but it wasn’t connecting… Uncle Ma is really furious about this. You have to call him right away.”

Ma Lao-er quickly headed back into the room.

On the bed, the woman lazily opened her eyes and asked, “Honey, what are you so flustered about?”

Ma Lao-er paced around the room frantically as he said, “My pants. Hurry up and find my pants for me!”

“… Aren’t you already wearing them?”

…

Opposite of the street where the Ma Family’s warehouse was, Old Ma opened the car door and got down with his usual military coat. Together with four subordinates, he began making his way over to the warehouse which a huge crowd was surrounding.

“Don’t go over right now, Uncle Ma!”

It was at this moment that Liu Zishu and a young lad rushed over with blood still trickling down their cheeks. They grabbed Old Ma’s arm and stopped him.

“The two of you are here too?” Old Ma was stunned.

“There are over a hundred people outside the warehouse right now, and they are all our old customers. They have already lost their rationality, beating up anyone who tries to go in or out of the warehouse…” Liu Zishu said as he held onto a wound on his head. “It isn’t wise for you to head over. They wouldn’t listen to anyone’s words right now.”

“Bullshit. They should at least let me get a word in, right?” Old Ma exclaimed anxiously. “I’m going to explain to them that there’s no way there would be any problems with our medicine!”

“It’s useless.” Liu Zishu grabbed Old Ma’s arm persistently as he shook his head. “It’s a fact that two people have lost their lives, and they are very agitated at the moment. No words will get through to them. Besides, those from the Police Bureau are here too, and they have already sealed off the warehouse. You won’t be able to get out if you head over!”

Old Ma nearly glared at Liu Zishu furiously as he berated, “Why didn’t you get the goods to another place as soon as something happened?!”

“I didn’t know what happened either. Fifty people suddenly appeared outside the warehouse… They barged in and attacked us without any warning,” Liu Zishu said helplessly. “If I hadn’t pushed through them to get out, I might have already been beaten to death inside!”

Old Ma was still deeply displeased.

“Listen to me and leave for now. Let’s first figure out what’s going on before making a move,” Liu Zishu said as he dragged Old Ma back onto the car.

At the entrance of the warehouse were more than a hundred loyal customers, and they had really lost their temper. They were standing around the entrance, shouting furiously.

“Old Ma, you immoral scoundrel! We used our money to support you, but you sold us fake medicine to harm us!”

“Get those who sold those medicines to us out here, or else we’ll charge right in and beat up all of you!”

“If not for us supporting you in DIrt Street, you wouldn’t have stood a chance against the others at all. Is this how you repay us?!”

“…!”

Shouts, cries, and all sorts of dissonant sounds echoed in front of the warehouse. These poorer folks who had scrimped out the money to buy medicine couldn’t retain their composure in the face of such a situation. On one hand, they hated the Ma Family for committing such an inhumane act. On the other, they were afraid that they wouldn’t be able to live without cheap medicine.

All kinds of emotions cause them to go on a rampage. They began to smash the warehouse door. On the other hand, no matter how many officers the Police Bureau sent over, they weren’t able to curb the rage of the crowd. These officers could only hide at the backdoor and request backup.

On the streets, Yong Dong sat in his car as he laughed to himself, “Fucking Ma Lao-er, let’s see if you dare pull your gun on me again!”

“Brother Dong, how do we handle the other side?” Ol’ Three asked.

“Get rid of him,” Yong Dong replied without any hesitation.

Ol’ Three was stunned. “Is that necessary? Wouldn’t everything be resolved once he leaves?”

“We can’t take a risk out of blind compassion. Get someone to get rid of him,” Yong Dong replied with a frown.

Ol’ Three felt deeply uncomfortable after hearing those words, but he only had that much say here. He wasn’t in a position to refute Yong Dong’s order.

…

Soon, the time ticked to near noon.

Superintendent Li returned to the Police Bureau with a dark look on his face. The first thing he said after returning to his office was “Get Qin Yu into my office right now.”

A short moment later, Qin Yu entered the office and closed the door. He greeted, “Superintendent Li.”

“How the hell do you handle your stuff?” Superintendent Li sat on his chair with an awful look on his face. His eyebrows shot up in displeasure as he asked, “Have the alcohol gotten to your head, such that you thought rat poison can be sold as medicine too?”

Qin Yu stood in the office, not saying a word at all.

Superintendent Li smacked the table furiously and bellowed, “Speak! What the heck is going on?!”

“To be honest with you, I’m not too sure either,” Qin Yu said with a frown, “I only heard about this matter a moment ago.”

“Before I came here, I got a call from the Police Headquarters. They informed me that this case has something to do with the wanted fugitive, Old Ma, so the detectives of the Police Headquarters will be handling this case personally,” Superintendent Li said gravely. “As soon as I received this news, I immediately got my aide to look into it, and he told me that Old Ma’s warehouse has been ransacked, and the Police Headquarters has taken it back to their laboratory to test the content.”

Qin Yu appeared to be a little dazed, as if trying to digest the information.

“Do you still not get it?” Superintendent Li glared at him.

“I understand,” Qin Yu immediately replied. “It’s the Yuan Family’s doing.”

“I get that the Yuan Family has been trying to drag the Ma Family down,” Superintendent Li said as he rose to his feet. Then, his tone suddenly turned much sharper as he hollered, “But what I can’t understand is how the fuck did the Ma Family end up releasing fake medicine under their supervision! What the bloody hell is Old Ma doing? Does he want to die?”

Qin Yu was also unable to make sense of this part. He couldn’t comprehend how the Yuan Family managed to lay their hands on the Ma family’s goods.

“Those two who had died from fake medicine had been taken to the Police Headquarters’ hospital,” Superintendent Li pointed his finger at Qin Yu as he spoke. “If their cause of death is found to be related to the medicine they ate, do you understand what the consequences will be?”

Cold sweat poured down Qin Yu’s back as soon as he heard those words.

“This means that the Ma Family’s reputation will be shattered. They will never be able to sell a single box of medicine anymore,” Superintendent Li pointed out the crux of the issue sharply. “There are many people out there who know that we’re looking after the Ma Family. If their reputation plummets, what do you think our plight will be?”

Qin Yu nodded his head solemnly before speaking up, “I’ll liaise with the Ma Family on the issue.”

“Make sure you move discreetly. Don’t let anyone know that you’re in touch with them,” Superintendent Li instructed.

“I will take note of it,” Qin Yu replied grimly before walking out of the office.

…

Two minutes later.

A ringtone sounded in the office that Qin Yu had just left, and Superintendent Li immediately received the call. “Hello?”

“This matter is more serious than I thought. The other party came prepared,” the friend on the other side of the phone said concisely. “Your nephew, Old Cat, has been walking too close with Ma Lao-er recently. You have to guard against slanders from the other party.”

Superintendent Li pondered for two seconds before replying, “Old Cat has a lot of friends out there. Who he associates himself with is none of my business. Also, I have never come into contact with the Ma Family before.”

“If it looks like the Ma Family is going to fall, you need to make a stand right away and sever everything cleanly so as to not implicate yourself,” the friend instructed.

“Got it. Thanks,” Superintendent Li replied.