Enforcer Manual
Chapter 123: Future_1

Chapter 123: Chapter 123: Future_1

In the following days, the first issue of the Law Enforcement Handbook achieved enormous success. The underlying reason was the "civic-minded citizen"’s appeal to District 17. The mere gimmick of an exclusive interview was enough to attract attention. In fact, they didn’t have to do much promotion afterward as people actively contacted them.

A few days later, copies of the Handbook were available in public places, transportation platforms, shopping malls, bars, and even fronts of underground boxing arenas throughout District 17.

In the exclusive interview with the "civic-minded citizen", the interviewer addressed many thorny issues that concerned the public, such as persistently high crime rates, unemployment rates, and missing persons rates.

For the first time, these issues received formal acknowledgment from the relevant authorities, not just optimistic rhetoric suggesting an overall rosy situation, as was portrayed in the previous programs.

However, this time, with the collapse of the Chai Ke Group and the death of Viper, overall crime rates had indeed dropped significantly. With the "rat" escaping away, the Law Enforcers’ primary task would be tackling the remaining two criminal gang leaders, the "Hyena" and the "Wild Boar".

One of these criminal gangs controlled the illicit drug business in most bars in District 17, while the other was a purely violent group hired by large corporations to act as their enforcers, carrying out assaults, kidnappings, debt collection... They resorted to violence to solve problems for corporate executives.

The images of the gang leaders made it onto the Law Enforcement Handbook. Aside from the exclusive interview with the "civic-minded citizen", the detailed crime data released by the Law Enforcers also drew extensive attention from the public. Unlike previous generalisations of "a certain decline" and "continuing to decrease", the Law Enforcement Handbook clearly published the number of cases received by the department in the previous week and their respective outcomes.

The rate of solved cases became a new yardstick for driving the work of the Law Enforcers.

Even with the downfall of several major criminal organizations, the number of cases occurring each week is still astonishing. Combatting crime remains a long and arduous journey.

As for the unemployment rate, it remains at its previous levels. Unfortunately, this issue falls outside of the Law Enforcers’ jurisdiction. They can only make the public aware of the seriousness of the city’s problems through the frequency of protests and the influence of unemployed people on the city’s crime rate.

Right now, they can only hope that public opinion can shift the focus of the mayoral candidates’ work.

With the Foster family pulling out of District 17, and the next mayor yet to be determined, no one knows where the city’s future lies. Not even the authors of the Law Enforcement Handbook have any idea.

In this wave, the happiest of all was Ivan, the barman at Gold Digger’s Bar.

The 200-watt bet on the Law Enforcers brought him huge profits. But more than the money he won, he immensely enjoyed the sight of the losers wailing.

Even after Chai Ke’s death, not many people believed in the Law Enforcers.

Because District 17 had never had a tradition of Law Enforcers taking the lead. This place has always been a heaven for criminals.

No one could have imagined that Lu Xiang could lead the Law Enforcers in bringing down the new High Prosecutor. The dangers involved were far more than what the flat narration and numbers in the Law Enforcement Handbook could convey.

As the hub of all information in District 17, Ivan could feel a significant change taking place in the city.

...

In the meantime, since the day Song Lan drove home after work with Lu Xiang, his mood had been remarkably stable.

Both tacitly understood not to reveal the final truth. However, this gave him the feeling of having a comrade-in-arms, someone who would fight beside him. Unlike before when he had to operate alone, constantly worrying about potential clues left behind which could jeopardize his identity. His partner would now ensure all traces were erased.

Besides, this partner happened to be the leader of the Law Enforcement Department.

He could afford to be a little arrogant. If even the chief of police was on his side, was there anything else to worry about?

However, dream as he may, due to the ongoing publicity of the Law Enforcement Handbook, their department was busier than ever. Local businesses have started to contact them privately, expressing their wish to meet and discuss future cooperation.

This matter was not directly related to their department’s duties. Still, after Song Lan’s passionate presentation at the meeting, he had come to be viewed as the cornerstone of the department’s economic recovery.

Therefore, both in his official capacity and private interest, Lu Xiang assigned him to attend the meeting with the business executives.

"Tesla Technologies, ah," said Roger, organizing a pile of documents. "I can’t believe the first one to propose a partnership is such a high-level company."

Song Lan took the documents. He had also studied Tesla Technologies these past few days.

In simple terms, it was a multinational corporation spanning daily commodities, transportation, prosthetics, and the military industry. Its headquarters were in District 3, and its CEO was a standing member of the United Government’s Review Meeting, holding sway over policies that could impact the government’s future.

Of course, such a heavyweight would not bother with them. The person who had requested a meeting with them was Tesla’s CEO in District 17.

Nevertheless, this role certainly carried significant weight. Until Lu Xiang, no chief of the Law Enforcers had ever been invited by them.

Establishing a good relationship could be obviously beneficial to the Law Enforcers.

If Tesla were willing to provide them with military support, it would mean they could have access to new weapons developed by Tesla, enhancing their firepower to a new level.

The advantages to daily law enforcement were clear. After all, the ordinary officers faced not major criminal organizations on a daily basis, but regular criminals who had sourced weapons from the black market and fancied making headlines every day.

Many of these were desperate criminals who would rather be shot to death than surrender to the Law Enforcers.

In a place like District 17, it was commonplace for Law Enforcers to get injured during operations. Thanks to the advanced medical capabilities of 2166, minor injuries could be healed overnight. Otherwise, they would have been incapacitated by now.

Partnership with Tesla Technologies is an opportunity, but on the other hand...

"Such a large-scale company won’t sponsor us for free."

Zhuang Chi shrugged. In the eyes of these major corporations, the Law Enforcers were no different from ordinary citizens. If not for the "civic-minded citizen" and the recently debated Law Enforcement Handbook, the CEO of District 17 wouldn’t have noticed them.

"So, it’s the same old problem," said Song Lan.

The more substantial the returns, the more likely a trap is hidden.

"But what’s the price?"