"Kid, look carefully, my name is Edward York, criminal police from the Bajian Police Station. I don't care if you're one of Deng Zihao's lackeys—even if Deng Zihao himself were here, I'd still beat him up!"

"If you dare talk crap again, do you believe I'll beat you to death?"

The blond stared at him wide-eyed, unable to say a word for a long while.

With people like this, that's how you have to be. Reasoning with them is useless; if you want to keep them in check, you have to be tougher and more ruthless than they are.

In short, you can't treat him like a person—you have to treat him like a bird!

If you treat him like a person, he'll forget who he even is.

"Cuff him!"

Edward York barked the order.

"Yes!"

The security team member didn't hesitate any longer. With a click, he cuffed the blond.

Half an hour later, everyone was back at the police station.

Bajian Police Station is a proper urban police station, one of ten in the city of Ping'an. Yangguan District is in the west of Ping'an, and the Bajian office is in the west of Yangguan. Although it's solidly in the city, it borders the suburbs, and not far past that is the mining district.

So, the Bajian office is basically an urban-rural fringe area, and the security situation faced by Bajian Police Station is quite complicated.

In the early 21st century, any place bordering a mining district had a complicated security situation.

The chaos in the mining district—if you haven't experienced it yourself, it's hard to imagine.

That's why Bajian Police Station has more officers than a typical urban station. Besides the basic division of patrol areas, there's also a dedicated criminal police unit to handle criminal cases in the jurisdiction.

Edward York is part of the criminal police unit.

He's an ordinary detective, with no official rank for now.

The public security system is a place that values seniority above all else, and the pecking order is strict. Someone like Edward York, a young guy who just transferred from the army and isn't even a proper police academy graduate, has no chance of promotion from any angle.

Not to mention, his personality isn't great.

Edward York's stubbornness is famous throughout Bajian Station.

But Eddie doesn't care. He's not the type obsessed with climbing the ranks. For him, as long as there's a case to solve at work, a drink after hours, and friends to shoot the breeze with, that's better than anything.

Whether he's a leader or not really doesn't matter.

Besides, do you think being a leader isn't exhausting or tough?

It was already late at night. The usually quiet police station suddenly became noisy, naturally alerting the duty supervisor.

Tonight, the supervisor on duty was Instructor Jack Foster. Instructor Foster is in his forties, not as energetic as the younger guys, and had gone to sleep in the duty room a little after nine. The commotion outside woke him up immediately; he got dressed and came out to see what was going on.

"Hey, so lively... Fifty-Four, did you catch the fugitive?"

"Fifty-Four" is Edward York.

Officer York's full name is Edward York, and his nickname is Fifty-Four York.

The reason both his full name and nickname are so simple is mainly because his dad was too lazy. He was born on May 4th, and when everyone asked his dad to name him, his dad just called him Fifty-Four York. Later, he thought Fifty-Four York was still too complicated—worried the kid wouldn't be able to write his own name in kindergarten—so he just made it five plus four equals nine.

From then on, Edward York was his full name, and Fifty-Four his childhood nickname.

The first time Eddie York heard the story of his name from his dad, he covered his face and cried for a long time. Just how much did his dad doubt his intelligence, thinking he couldn't even learn to write Fifty-Four York in kindergarten?

But as it turned out, his dad wasn't wrong. Since he was little, Edward York was incredibly agile—no matter how complicated the martial arts moves, he could pick them up instantly, and soon surpass his teacher.

By comparison, Eddie's academic performance was just so-so.

Think about it—if he'd been able to get into a good university after high school, would his dad have sent him to join the army?

If he hadn't performed outstandingly in the army, and hadn't been a city recruit with a placement card, he might not have been assigned to the public security system after retiring.

Up to now, Edward York is still just a contract worker. He plans to take the civil service exam in a couple of months to get a proper position first.

Contract workers in the public security system aren't completely without prospects, but the ceiling is obvious.

At best, you can make it to deputy section chief. If you want to hold an important leadership position, that's impossible. That's a privilege reserved for those with a special legal affairs civil service status—in other words, to be a leader, you have to be a civil servant first.

Studying is indeed a bit stressful for Eddie York.

But he still has to take the civil service exam.

Eddie York doesn't want to be looked down on.

A person should have some ambition.

Otherwise, if someone just gives him a contemptuous look and says, "All brawn and no brains," Eddie York can't stand it. With his short temper, wouldn't he end up fighting someone?

"Instructor Foster."

Just after sitting down, before he could even change into dry clothes, Edward York hurriedly stood up to greet Jack Foster, leaving a puddle of water at his feet.

Jack Foster nodded, glanced around, and asked, "Where's the fugitive?"