The next day.

As Xiaoyun came out of his SUV alongside Houqin, he was all the way over at the police's headquarters in Guangzhou.

Several journalists and cameramen were already standing right by the entrance, taking pictures as he headed towards the building.

The very first person he met was Li Zhen, who stood at the end of the entryway, with ten police officers right beside him.

"Good morning, Governor."

"Morning. Is everything ready?"

After looking over to the cameraman nodding their head, Xiaoyun cleared his throat before Li Zhen began guiding them inside the police station.

"Governor, is this the first time you're entering a police station?" Li Zhen curiously asked as they walked past the main lobby.

"Sound shocking to say this, but yes. I have never been inside a police station. Let alone be inside the police headquarters." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

As the cameramen and journalists followed the two of them into the building, all the other police officers were standing at the end.

"This place is a lot bigger than I had imagined. And a little empty."

"Gets a lot busier the later the day... Governor, do you want to check out the detention center or the working area first?"

"Bring me to the detention center."

After walking through a bit, the two of them finally arrive at a long hallway, with several armed guards standing by next to rows upon rows of empty cells.

"Morning, Governor!"

"Morning... Can I ask what gun you are holding?" Xiaoyun asked as the camera panned to the armed guard he's talking to.

"It's an MP 40, sir."

"MP 40, huh. Do you like holding it?"

"Any weapon is a good weapon, sir." The guard answered with a straight face, maintaining his straight posture the whole time.

"You don't have to be so formal. I'm just asking for your opinion... Would you prefer a different gun if one were given to you?"

"Um..."

The guard hesitated for a second as if it wasn't a part of a script. But after a while, he spoke up again.

"It would be nice to have a different gun. It feels a little weird to be holding a German submachine gun as a police officer."

"That's what I was thinking when I first saw you as well. Houqin, can you place new gun orders for the police force?"

"Yes, sir."

As the cameraman panned over to Houqin, scribbling something down in her notebook, Xiaoyun and Li Zhen had resumed walking.

"Li Zhen, why is the detention center so empty today? You didn't move them all out just to appease me or something, right?"

"Of course not, sir. It's only empty because most of them are detained in their local police station. We only house them here when the local ones are full."

"That makes sense... Has the crime rate recently spiked? There have been a lot of people moving into our settlements recently."

"Not as significant as we had expected. Only a 2% increase from 5%. And the majority of them are petty crimes that get sentenced quickly."

"I see."

After walking through the detention center, they arrived back at the main lobby as Houqin and the cameramen followed behind.

"Can you bring me to the SWAT team? I just wanted to see what they look like." Xiaoyun suddenly requested.

"Of course."

As the two of them headed towards the right, they soon arrived at a whole separate compound with metal detectors.

The guards nearby quickly turned them off, allowing Xiaoyun and the camera crews to continue inside.

Once stepping foot inside the SWAT's official area, everyone was a little surprised by all the equipment they had.

"Damn, these cars look massive," Xiaoyun murmured as he knocked his finger at one of the massive armored cars.

"It can hold ten fully equipped soldiers inside." Li Zhen answered as they walked past the garage section.

"How often is this car used?"

"At least once a month. The last time it was used was when there was an attempted bank robbery at Qingyuan.

Those robbers immediately surrendered when they saw this thing rolling in... It's a gas-eating machine, though."

"I can definitely see that."

As they walked further down the compound, Xiaoyun soon noticed the thing that he had been looking for.

"Are these AKMs used by the SWAT teams?" Xiaoyun asked as he pointed at all the guns openly attached to the walls.

"Yes. The SWAT team mostly uses passed-down equipment from the military." Li Zhen answered.

"That won't do. These guns make the SWAT team look more like bandits than police officers."

Right before the camera, Xiaoyun grabbed one of the AKMs from the wall. Then he held it sideways with the strap falling down.

"Hey, cameraman, do I look like a bandit or do I look like a SWAT officer? Give me your honest opinion."

"Um... It kinda looks like those Somali pirates."

A small frown appeared on his face as he put the gun back on the wall, with the cameraman zooming towards other AKMs.

"Houqin, I remember there's a new rifle that Anna developed that is meant for special forces. I want you to issue new orders for the entire SWAT team."

"Commander, it's going to be extremely expensive..." Houqin warned.

"If we can't properly afford police officers to protect our citizens, what's the point of having the government collect tax dollars from the people?"

"I... I don't know, sir."

"Just write down the orders. Money is no problem."

"Yes, sir."

As Houqin began noting things down in her notebook again, Xiaoyun had turned his attention over to the protective equipment.

From gas masks to riot shields to body armor and batons, he could feel that most of the stuff was made before the outbreak.

Almost all of them had scratches, with cracks and lines running through the riot shield's panel and body armor.

"What happened to this equipment? How are they not replaced yet?" Xiaoyun curiously asked as he lifted one of the vests.

"The budget restraint—"

"Houqin, after the interview is over, Li Zhen will send you a list to replace all this outdated equipment."

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you so much, governor." Li Zhen bowed down in gratitude, his face showing genuine respect towards him.

"No problem... Ahem, let's go somewhere else now."

---

After the police tours, Xiaoyun and Houqin were back inside the car. With the camera crews and journalists sitting in the other car right behind them.

"Commander, are we actually replacing that equipment?" Houqin suddenly asked.

"Of course, we are going to replace that old equipment. I promised them in front of the broadcast."

"But we don't have the money for that."

"Who said they're getting their new equipment right away? They'll get it next year when we get a new round of budget for the military."

Houqin immediately realized what Xiaoyun was trying to imply. Her heart felt a little disgusted, but her mind knew it was the right choice.

"Where are we going next, commander?"

"To the border patrol."

After driving for a few minutes, they finally arrive at the border patrol's headquarters located near the city's outskirts.

"Morning, Governor!"

"Morning."

This time, Xiaoyun and Houqin were welcomed by only a single person. A middle-aged man whose head was completely bald.

"Governor, I had been waiting for this day so much. I'm so honored to be your guide for today."

"No problem. Ahem, is this place supposed to be this empty?" Xiaoyun asked as the camera crew finally caught up with them.

"All of the agents are out right now. Only a few of us are at the office... Do you want me to call them back?"

"No need... I almost forgot to ask this. What's your name?"

"My name is Ming Jianguo, sir."

"Nice to meet you, Jianguo. Can you show me around?"

"Of course, sir."

---

The touring lasted for half the day this time, as Jianguo was determined to show Xiaoyun all the workplaces that the border patrol was stationed at.

Along the way, he interviewed several of the border agents. Most of them complained of the long hours and low wages.

Outside of standard issues, Xiaoyun found their biggest complaint happened to be exactly what he wanted to hear.

It was once again the old military-issued equipment, but this time, it was the M16. An American gun held by a bunch of pseudo-police officers.

Just like the MP 40 and the AKM, Xiaoyun once again told Houqin to place new orders for them to be replaced.

After the border patrol tour was done, Xiaoyun ended his tour at the military base. More specifically, the training field at Luoping.

When he entered past the gate with the camera crew, Yiming was already waiting with ten soldiers.

"Good evening, sir!"

"Evening."

Yiming quickly brought them inside the training field, walking towards a training track that had a whole shooting range.

"I hope you're all ready to show what you're capable of today. I don't want the military to be embarrassed in front of the cameras." Xiaoyun murmured.

"Yes, sir!"