New sirens blaring in the distance interrupted the playful banter between the five operators.

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Everyone took a deep breath and turned serious, stunning the nearby policewoman. The sudden change of expression was more dramatic than those seen in soap opera actors.

Of course, this shift did little to hide the dust and dirt on the single bullied operator, whose face now bore black smudges in addition to the lipstick mark.

The policewoman stifled a laugh at the operator’s disheveled state, managing to keep herself from embarrassing the situation further. Enjoy new stories from novelbuddy

While she and her colleagues considered transferring the case to the teams requested by a foreign province, the four operators—fellow Spirit Fox members—had stern expressions.

What must come would come. They had no intention of transferring the case away without first handing it over to Yang Qingyue’s aides. Otherwise, truth and justice would never be achieved. From the confessions of the three men, they understood just how high the stakes were.

Sure enough, vehicles from another province arrived—unmarked vans and marked sedans pulling up nearby.

Numerous figures disembarked, and what appeared to be the leading party strode toward the suspect and the two arrested men.

The group’s gleaming eyes, joyful expressions, and eager demeanor made it clear—they were elated to see their job seemingly completed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your hard work. We’ll be taking it over from here," the lead detective declared as he stepped forward. "We’ll remember your cooperation and assistance. It’s an honor and fate to meet here."

Before the Province N police officers could respond—especially the officer-in-charge—the Spirit Fox leader, the most senior member, stepped forward. "The honor is ours. You must have had a long trip to come here."

The officer-in-charge frowned, feeling his role had been usurped. A twinge of displeasure rose in his heart, but he knew better than to damage the situation by blatantly asserting his presence.

Then, he felt a comforting pat on his shoulder and turned to see the source. It was another Spirit Fox operator, who leaned in to whisper, "Don’t rush ahead. This is a battle between two provinces. You haven’t forgotten the confession our two ’hostages’ made, right?"

The officer glanced at the terrified suspects, who seemed to see hope in the arrival of the other province’s police.

He understood exactly what the operator meant. The convoluted twists and turns behind the scenes were beyond his or his township station chief’s ability to handle.

It was clear: only Spirit Fox could intervene. Central authority was required to contend with similar authority.

"I completely understand. Don’t worry, we’ll be watching from behind and waving flags," said the officer.

The operator’s lips twitched. She had merely wanted to soothe his conflicting emotions to avoid jeopardizing their next plan. She hadn’t expected him to have the mood to watch like a spectator at a cinema, complete with popcorn. Clearly, he had a big heart to withstand the drama ahead.

Meanwhile, the lead detective frowned at Spirit Fox’s response but masked his emotion and offered praise. "As expected of Spirit Fox. Justice is served swiftly, Ma’am."

He knew the matter wouldn’t end simply and disliked having to interact with these operators.

Spirit Fox’s reputation preceded them. Whoever became their target would face dire consequences if they showed even the slightest resistance. While they were indeed great assets to the police, their involvement in this case signified something else entirely—Province N’s commissioner had intervened.

For a crude manslaughter case, their presence was unnecessary. Even if they wanted to help, they typically wouldn’t engage directly with him.

"You’re overpraising us, Sir. Everyone works hard and cooperates seamlessly," the Spirit Fox leader replied.

"Thank you greatly. I don’t want to take much more of your time. We’ll handle the case from here."

As the conversation unfolded, the officer-in-charge listened closely, his ears perked up. Meanwhile, Spirit Fox operators moved casually but positioned themselves in a formation that suggested they were prepared for the worst.

At the same time, Athena delivered good news through their comms: Yang Qingyue had approved their decision to directly intervene.

"That won’t be necessary," the Spirit Fox leader stated.

"What do you mean?" the lead detective asked, furrowing his brows. As he feared, matters had escalated to the worst-case scenario. Still, he clung to the hope that his suspicion was merely a false alarm.

"It means exactly what you think it does," the woman replied with a shrug, her tone kinder but her words sharp and concise. "I don’t think we need to strain our relationship over this matter."

"This issue doesn’t need to escalate to that level," the lead detective argued. "Besides, there’s too much paperwork involved. Let us take care of the rest. The suspect committed multiple homicides in our province. I assume your actions are beyond your authority."

"Unfortunately, they are not," the woman countered, shaking her head. "With all due respect, the chase ended in our jurisdiction, which means, through formal channels, you can only transfer the prisoners once we’ve finished handling the matter."

She paused before adding, "Commissioner Yang has instructed us to say hello to your superior. I suggest you contact your boss before making any decisions."

Despite being frustrated, the detective knew he shouldn’t act brashly until more information arrived. From the confidence in the opposing operator’s tone, he had a premonition that they would return to their office empty-handed.

Just as he reached for his phone, agonized and uninvited pleading sounded from behind the Spirit Fox operator.

"Help us, please. We’ve been detained arbitrarily. Get us out of here!"

Seeing the two men in dismay, cuffed and treated harshly, the detective grew curious and asked for an explanation. The answer left him stunned.

He hadn’t expected hostages to be involved when he sent the relevant intel. Why were they captured? And why did their expressions seem so desperate, begging him to intervene?

"Why were they arrested then?" he asked.

"For murdering and raping a girl," the woman answered.

"Absurd! These are unfounded charges."

"You’ve already confessed to what you’ve done. Otherwise, how could you have incurred the wrath of her brother?" the woman calmly replied, turning her gaze toward them.

Her words piqued the detective’s interest, but he wasn’t easily convinced. Everything needed to be backed by evidence, not mere speculation or words.

"Of course, who wouldn’t admit to anything under gunpoint and torture? Detective, please save us! Spirit Fox is the absolute embodiment of police brutality. No, it’s the behavior of tyrants. As fellow police, you wouldn’t want your reputation tarnished, right?"

The detective stared at the leading woman. "Is there any truth to what he’s saying?" He didn’t entirely dismiss the men’s claims, as he had his own network among criminals and informants, some of whom had narrowly escaped Province N.

"Of course not. Do you believe their one-sided accusations? We abide by the rules and regulations when enforcing the law," the woman replied, shaking her head. "Has anyone seen us overstep our boundaries? As righteous parties, such claims are the most outrageous slander."

When she asked this, every member of Province N—officers and Spirit Fox alike—exchanged knowing glances and shook their heads.

"How could that be? I didn’t see the slightest threat," an officer remarked.

"Yeah, they spilled the beans so quickly the moment they saw Spirit Fox uniforms. They must’ve done something wrong," his colleague added.

"What I saw was them mumbling hurriedly before confessing outright. We never expected our hostages to be criminals," a policewoman chimed in.

The most unexpected comment came from the murderer being pursued by the detective’s team.

"Officers, though I don’t like being arrested harshly by Spirit Fox, I must admit they didn’t wrong those two bastards. Their guilty conscience led to this outcome, just after I admitted my own motives."

The lead female operator spread her hands, as if to emphasize her point. On the other hand, the two men looked as though their eyes would pop out of their sockets.

"You and I both know, from their confession, that things have escalated to a level demanding cooperation between the two parties," the woman said.

The detective nodded helplessly and reluctantly called his boss. Both sides understood the stakes involved. The murderer wouldn’t survive imprisonment and would likely die in an "accident" if taken back to their province.

Now he realized why his superior had ordered him to shoot on sight, citing the suspect as dangerous. Luckily, he had insisted on capturing the murderer alive and refrained from giving orders to fire unless there was a direct threat or danger to the public.

Damn, was he about to be dragged into another fierce storm unknowingly?

He could only hope to survive the chaos.

Soon, the detective ended the call and learned that the two commissioners had already negotiated. It seemed justice was served for the young man and his sister, though the result was a bit extreme.

As he observed more carefully, he noticed that Spirit Fox operators had subtly maneuvered into an L-shaped formation, effectively blocking his team. He broke into a sweat and coughed nervously, prompting concerned looks from his subordinates.

Damn, this was exactly what he expected from the notorious special unit—a group that dared to encircle a military convoy and face threats head-on without fear.

He felt fortunate that neither he nor his team had acted superior or tried to coerce anyone. In fact, the moment Spirit Fox operators were spotted, everyone dropped any pretense of suppressing the township-level police.

…

Once an agreement was reached, the operator responded with a pleasant tone.

"You can wait while our special investigation team from City N drives here. Or you can go back and read our reports later."

"I’ll wait," the detective replied. Only a fool would return without gaining anything. "That about those men…"

"They will be under our control," interrupted the woman. "The two confess in our province and will be handled by our department."

"That’s natural," said the detective as he wiped his cold sweat. His colleagues didn’t look either.

What was their presence? A mere group of clowns to watch the show? All the merits were robbed away!

Like business, an enmity is forged when capital is affected. Hagging away merits that were destined for the officials, were no different from killing them.

Nonetheless, in front of pure strong force, their protest appeared weak and childish. It was better to save face by acting magnanimous.