The business van screeched as the brakes slammed hard. To avoid the tumbling motorcycle, it veered violently into the opposite lane—nearly colliding head-on with an oncoming bus!
The two vehicles scraped past each other with a shriek. One side mirror of the van was torn clean off. Passengers on the bus erupted into terrified screams.
On the van’s roof, Xia Liu Yi nearly lost his footing from the violent sway, his long legs slamming against the rear window. Inside the compartment, the assassins were thrown into a heap.
Amid the chaos, He Chu San rubbed the gag loose from his face and caught sight of that familiar lean waist and long legs hanging outside.
A killer beside him struggled to raise his gun and fire at Xia Liu Yi—
He Chu San let out a muffled roar and threw himself forward, knocking the man aside!
Bang!
The bullet went wide, blasting a hole through the rear window.
Xia Liu Yi kicked off and hauled himself back onto the roof. A spray of bullets followed, tearing out of the van in a clattering storm within the tunnel! Some lodged into the tunnel walls, others ricocheted wildly—some even rebounded, punching back through the van’s body into the cabin!
One assassin who had been striking He Chu San was hit and dropped with a scream.
He Chu San scrambled, dragging Kevin with him as best he could, shrinking into the corner near the door.
“Don’t fire inside the tunnel!!” the driver roared, wrenching the wheel hard. Dodging oncoming cars, he sent the van into a wild S-shaped drift.
On the roof, Xia Liu Yi’s body slammed again and again with heavy thuds—flung left, then right. Inside, the assassins and He Chu San alike stared wide-eyed at the roof and windows, their heads jerking left and right in unison like puppets caught in a storm.
He Chu San’s heart hammered wildly.
Then—he saw it—
Xia Liu Yi’s figure flashed past the opposite window—
—and was flung away!
“Uuugh—!!”
A strangled cry tore from He Chu San’s throat.
One assassin by the window instinctively leaned out to look—
Only to have his neck snapped by a savage kick from Xia Liu Yi, who was still clinging to the roof!
In the next instant, Xia Liu Yi kicked the corpse back inside, hooked a long leg against the frame—
—and like a black dragon, slid into the van in a blink!
He Chu San had nearly been driven to tears in terror—
—and then, as if descending from the heavens, Xia Liu Yi reappeared before him.
Helmet on. Bare-armed. Clad only in a black tank.
So that earlier fall—
had been a feint. He had shed his outer jacket to deceive them!
He Chu San let out muffled cries of joy. Xia Liu Yi flicked him a glance amidst the chaos—no time for greetings.
He swung the helmet like a hammer—smash!—into the face of a nearby assassin!
Then, using the man’s body as a battering ram, he slammed backward, sending several attackers crashing into the rear seats—stacked atop one another in a tangled heap!
But these seven or eight killers were no pushovers. They surged forward, fists flying, surrounding Xia Liu Yi!
The already cramped van became a writhing mass of bodies—like a basket of fighting lobsters!
Even the front passenger unbuckled and leapt in—only to be kicked straight back into the driver, throwing off the steering!
The van nearly slammed into the tunnel wall—then swerved, barely missing an oncoming car, spinning into another wild drift.
Everyone inside was tossed about like laundry in a washing drum—flung left, then right—yet still grappling desperately.
One assassin’s punch grazed Xia Liu Yi’s cheek and smashed into the window. Xia Liu Yi seized the chance—grabbing the man’s head and slamming it into the glass!
The window shattered, leaving the man’s head jammed halfway through.
Xia Liu Yi swung a punch at another attacker—but the van lurched—
—and he was thrown bodily off balance, crashing down squarely onto the man’s face!
Amid the chaos, He Chu San seized his chance.
Huddled in the corner, he desperately rubbed his face against anything to dislodge the cloth gag from his mouth. Once he managed to spit it out, he immediately employed his Bone-Shrinking Technique, struggling to loop his handcuffed hands from behind his back, under his feet, and over to the front.
Unfortunately, his waist lacked the necessary flexibility, and despite several frantic attempts, he failed to complete the maneuver.
Faced with this failure, he leaned over instead and bit at the cloth gag on Kevin’s face, tearing it away.
Kevin’s complexion was ashen—his breathing faint.
Looking closer, He Chu San’s heart sank.
Not only had Kevin suffered head trauma—
a large shard of glass was embedded deep in his shoulder and back. Blood had already soaked the floor beneath them.
A sudden glint of light fell across Kevin’s bloodied face.
He Chu San looked up—
The van had exited the tunnel.
The driver had drawn his gun—
—and was aiming straight at Xia Liu Yi.
Without hesitation, He Chu San lunged forward, knocking Xia Liu Yi to the ground!
The bullet pierced through his shoulder—blood spraying across Xia Liu Yi’s face!
“A’SAN!” Xia Liu Yi shouted.
“Take Kevin—go! He won’t last!” He Chu San gasped into his ear.
Another burst of bullets followed!
Xia Liu Yi grabbed He Chu San and rolled, then—seeing every gun trained on himself—he shoved He Chu San beneath the seat and rolled behind the assassin whose head was stuck in the shattered window!
Bang! Bang!
Bullets slammed into the corpse, jerking it violently.
Xia Liu Yi drew his gun to return fire—
—but a stray shot struck the barrel, knocking it from his hand!
He looked up—
He Chu San had been dragged out from beneath the seat.
A gun was pressed against his throat.
“They won’t kill me! GO!!” He Chu San roared.
Xia Liu Yi yanked open the van door, seized Kevin by the leg—
—and rolled out of the moving vehicle!
……
Inside the General Police Headquarters conference room—
All department heads were present.
All except one.
Deputy Commissioner Xie Ying Jie.
The blond, blue-eyed Commissioner—“Number One”—took his seat at the head of the table, casting a puzzled glance at the empty chair.
“Where is John?” he asked in clumsy Cantonese.
The others exchanged confused looks. Xie Ying Jie was known for his strict punctuality—he was never late.
Just then, the doors opened.
Xie Ying Jie entered, impeccably dressed, striding in with hurried steps. He inclined his head apologetically.
“Sorry, Sir. I was giving a lecture at Long Gang University. Some students stayed behind to ask questions—I was delayed.”
“No matter, sit,” the Commissioner said amiably. Then, noticing, “What happened to your leg?”
Xie Ying Jie limped slightly, offering a wry smile.
“Twisted it on a mountain path—stepped on a loose stone.”
“Our ever-careful John makes mistakes too?” the Commissioner joked. “There’s a Chinese saying—‘Even a man may stumble, even a horse may lose its footing.’ Seems you’ve lost your footing this time!”
“Yes,” Xie Ying Jie laughed lightly. “Getting old—like an old horse stumbling.”
Laughter filled the room. Colleagues offered greetings and concern, and the meeting began in a surprisingly lively atmosphere.
……
With a gasp, Xia Liu Yi jolted awake from a blood-soaked nightmare.
“A’SAN!!”
Blinding white filled his vision.
He struggled violently—
Clang!
One arm and one leg were shackled to the hospital bed rail. An IV needle was still embedded in his hand.
He reached to rip it out.
A police officer rushed forward, pressing him down.
“Hey! Don’t get worked up!”
“Let me go! I have to save him!”
“Did you hit your head too hard? Do you even remember who you are—Xia Liu Yi? Boss Xia?!” the officer snapped, restraining him.
Xia Liu Yi looked around—
A hospital ward.
His last memory—rolling on the ground with Kevin, his head smashing against a roadside barrier.
He grabbed the officer by the collar and roared:
“That van—where is it?!”
“We should be asking you that!” the officer shot back, shoving him down. “Two vehicles breaking through barriers into a tunnel—gang fight, is it?! Who’s the other injured man?!”
“Kevin? Where is he?!” Xia Liu Yi struggled up again. “I need to see him!”
“He’s in critical condition—still in the emergency room! And you—were you kidnapping him?!”
“It wasn’t me! It was Xie Ying Jie! Those two cars that exploded near the factory—that was him! His men kidnapped me—my friend—and Kevin! And there were many ICAC officers—they were all killed!”
The officer stared at him as if he were listening to some far-fetched tall tale. “Are you putting on a Stand-up Comedy routine? What ICAC agents? Those two cars that blew up are related to you too? Was that more of your triad infighting? And who is Xie Ying Jie? Some new triad kingpin?”
Elio’s notes: The stand-up comedy routine mentioned here is a form of Cantonese stand-up comedy popular in Hong Kong since the 1990s.
“Deputy Commissioner of—”
Xia Liu Yi stopped.
Reality hit him cold.
This whole matter already sounded like a Stand-up Comedy routine—
A crime lord’s lover, working with the ICAC, attempting to arrest a Deputy Commissioner of Police.
What biting irony.
No one would believe him.
They would only think him mad.
He sank back onto the bed, forcing himself to appear calm.
“I want to see my lawyer.”
The officer let out a cold laugh.
“Knew you’d say that.”
Futile Devices Scans 
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