Extreme Almightiest Young Master Chapter 37

Zhou Yang sped along with the siren wailing at full blast. A trip that normally took over an hour, he covered in less than 20 minutes. Knowing in advance of his arrival, the branch director Fan Ming had been waiting by the door early on.

"Deputy Director Zhou," Fan Ming hurried forward to greet him, but Zhou Yang didn’t waste time with pleasantries and, with a wave of his hand, entered the police station gates.

"Where is Lin Feng?" Zhou Yang’s primary concern was Lin Feng. Having heard Boss Wang’s analysis, he was deeply worried that Fan Ming might make some blunder that would irritate Lin Feng, the consequences of which were unthinkable.

"The interrogation room, I suppose. They should still be interrogating him, I believe." Fan Ming, unclear about the deputy director’s intentions, could only respond cautiously.

"Nonsense. You only conduct interrogations when there’s evidence. Bring him out at once. To request someone’s cooperation, you should show some respect—move him to another room to rest. You, come to your office with me," Zhou Yang ordered, then started climbing the stairs.

Huh? What’s going on here?

Following behind, Fan Ming was puzzled. Lin Feng was just a down-and-out wealthy young master, and even before, his family’s influence in Tianhai City was quite ordinary.

He was previously puzzled, but as soon as Deputy Director Zhou opened his mouth, Fan Ming realized someone must have sent for Zhou Yang. After all, he was an executive deputy director, but he had never seen Deputy Director Zhou behave like this. What was going on today? What could possibly prompt such urgency that an executive deputy director would intervene personally and hurry over?

In Fan Ming’s office, he attempted to make tea but was stopped by Zhou Yang.

"Lin Feng didn’t cause any trouble, did he?" Zhou Yang went straight to the point, concerned that there might have been issues on this end.

"No, not at all. Nothing’s happened since he was taken to the interrogation room. They’ve just been waiting there," Fan Ming, now even more confused upon hearing this, thought to himself what exactly Deputy Director Zhou’s intentions were—the conversation seemed increasingly troubling.

"Good. Now, what exactly happened?" After confirming that nothing was amiss, Zhou Yang finally inquired about the incident.

"The situation is actually quite simple. A French teacher named Rafael was beaten up by some thugs, and then he accused Lin Feng of orchestrating the attack," Fan Ming briefly recounted the incident.

"That’s it? You took him in for questioning and detainment just based on an unfounded accusation? That’s outrageous. Release him immediately," Zhou Yang understood that the accusation alone was flimsy and his tone shifted upon realizing this.

"This..." Fan Ming found himself in a difficult position. Under ordinary circumstances, he would have complied with Deputy Director Zhou’s order to release the person, but now...

"What, is there a problem?" Zhou Yang sensed something amiss from Fan Ming’s hesitation and frowned slightly.

"Director Zhou, let me put it this way, the main issue is that I am under pressure from above and it’s out of my hands," Fan Ming thought it best to be frank.

"Huh? What do you mean? Make it clear," Zhou Yang thought to himself, could there be more to the situation? Pressure, that seemed like an overreaction for a relatively minor incident.

"This Rafael comes from a not-so-simple background. Just here in Tianhai City, his uncle is the Deputy Consul at the French Tianhai Embassy. Moreover, the well-known foreign company in Tianhai City, Bolinte Group, is his family’s business. Currently, various parties are putting pressure on the municipal party committee and government..." Fan Ming stopped mid-sentence, leaving the rest unsaid but understood.

"What pressure, no pressure. Tell me which leader is putting pressure on you. Nonsense. The judicial system is independent. Just because of his status or your so-called ’pressure’, that does not mean we should distort the facts. Without evidence, all talk is useless. Release him immediately," Zhou Yang was well aware of the situation. The city leadership couldn’t possibly have directly said anything about such matters. He was all too familiar with the workings of bureaucracy. Upon hearing this, he grew even angrier. You’re trying to frame Boss Wang’s brother, distort the facts, no matter who tries to interfere. He was now determined to take this matter into his own hands.

On the battlefield, the bonds formed between life and death meant entrusting one another with their lives. He had saved Boss Wang before, and Boss Wang had risked everything for him. After so many years, Boss Wang had contacted him for the first time about something, and Zhou Yang would definitely take full responsibility to resolve it.

This?

Upon hearing Zhou Yang’s stance, Fan Ming was momentarily stunned. Having already made himself clear, he couldn’t believe the deputy director completely disregarded it—what did he mean by that?

"Deputy Director Zhou, Lin Feng, just a fallen young master. Is it really necessary?" Unable to contain his curiosity, Fan Ming blurted out. Who was Lin Feng to him that he would go to such lengths to protect him?

After all, it wouldn’t be that simple to clear Lin Feng’s name.

"It’s not about protecting him—it’s about the facts. Do you have any evidence? If not, release him." Zhou Yang was no longer the man he used to be when he worked closely with Wang Anjun. With years of navigating the official scene, he detected an odd tone in Fan Ming’s voice and decided not to give him any leverage, sticking strictly to discussing the incident on its own merits.

"Normally, when you speak, sure, it can be done. It’s just a person, after all. But today... it really can’t be done. The higher-ups have given a heads-up, and the investigation isn’t clear yet. You know how troublesome foreign affairs can be, so... Lin Feng can’t be released," Fan Ming was also hesitating in his heart, but he eventually made a decision and directly responded to Zhou Yang.

Thinking to himself, Zhou Yang should use his brain. If I could release him, wouldn’t I have done so the moment you arrived? But Deputy Mayor Li has specifically made a call, how could I release him?

If I did, how would I explain it on my end? Besides, you are just a deputy director and don’t have much chance of rising higher, still the deputy director in charge of criminal investigation. On the other hand, there’s the deputy mayor in charge of the economy, who has more power—that’s something any fool can tell, and Deputy Mayor Li has the chance for promotion, with strong backing.

Fan Ming couldn’t pass up this rare opportunity. He didn’t care too much about Zhou Yang. If he could rise another step, he wouldn’t be too far behind Zhou Yang, so he didn’t hold back.

"So you’re saying you’ve let him go?" Zhou Yang looked incredulously at Fan Ming, thinking, is this the same Fan Ming who used to be so respectful and cautious around me? How dare he speak to me like this today, who gave him such courage?

"I can’t release him, and moreover, we’ve preliminarily determined that Lin Feng instigated others to commit assault and retaliate against a foreign teacher, which is essentially established. I plan to handle it by normal procedures, impartially," Fan Ming thought for a moment, decided to rely on his team, and wasn’t a hot-headed youth anymore, so he brought up the procedures.

"Say that again." Zhou Yang’s face darkened, his eyes staring fixedly at Fan Ming.

"I could repeat it several times, it’s all the same. Lin Feng can’t be released, we must handle this impartially," Fan Ming insisted, determined not to release him. What a joke, he had no way back now. If he didn’t handle it well, he would be finished in the eyes of Deputy Mayor Li, with no hope left. He absolutely couldn’t release Lin Feng. How would he be accountable? How would he explain it to Deputy Mayor Li?

"Fine, acting all high and mighty now. The city bureau wants to take over the case, and I’m going to take Lin Feng away right now," Zhou Yang got angry and abruptly stood up.

"Deputy Director Zhou, don’t make this difficult for me. At this point, I definitely won’t hand him over to you, nor will I let you take Lin Feng away," having reached this point, Fan Ming also stood up, speaking with certainty.

"You dare..."

"This is my duty..." Fan Ming was ready to go all-in now, thinking of it as a gamble. If he succeeded, he would align himself smoothly with Deputy Mayor Li, and his career path would be clear. As for failure, he had already analyzed everything—although the Lin Family somehow managed to involve Deputy Director Zhou, Zhou was not a match for Deputy Mayor Li, so he had nothing to worry about.

Moreover, the situation with Rafael was not ordinary, with the embassy stepping in and enterprises exerting pressure, coupled with Deputy Mayor Li. No matter what, losing was almost impossible.

The voices of both men were rising, and as they argued,

"Bang..." The door suddenly opened, and Wang Ming walked in holding a thug, entering directly.

Noticing a second person, a deputy director, in Fan Ming’s office, Wang Ming couldn’t help but laugh. Not for any particular reason, but Wang Ming had once partnered with Zhou Yang back when Zhou had just joined the police force. However, Wang Ming, less adaptable and making more mistakes, didn’t rise up the ranks as Zhou did, and thus was doing slightly worse—although even now, the two occasionally had a drink together.

"Wang Ming, what are you doing? Didn’t you see there’s someone in my room? Get out," Fan Ming glared at Wang Ming with a grim face. You’re not intentionally trying to embarrass me, are you? At a time like this, coming here to add to the chaos.

"With Deputy Director Zhou here, that’s perfect, no need to leave. Let’s hear the situation out as well," Wang Ming wouldn’t be so calculatingly fearful if he could calculate everything so clearly, he’d have been promoted long ago.

"Director, didn’t you say during the meeting that the camera’s footage wasn’t clear? I went and caught these two thugs so you could listen to them well; this is the truth. What foreign teacher? A complete fraudster," Wang Ming said.

"Hmm? What’s going on here?" Zhou Yang caught the implication in Wang Ming’s words—it must be about Lin Feng’s case.

His eyes lit up, an unexpected twist in the task assigned by Boss Wang while he himself was annoyed. Now a sudden change occurred, and he felt a surge of joy.

"How could it be? A foreign teacher claimed he was beaten, said the one who instructed him was called... Lin... oh right, Lin Feng. I watched the camera footage before the meeting, it was nothing like that. But for some reason, Director Fan had already made up his mind that it was Lin Feng’s doing, determined the nature of the case without clarifying the situation, and proceeded with questioning."

"Since the director wouldn’t let me get involved, I went out and caught these thugs. Only after questioning them did I find out... They wouldn’t **** speak up; do you want me to speak for you?" Wang Ming angrily kicked one of the thugs.

"That foreigner, he slept with our girl two nights ago. It was agreed to pay two thousand, but after the deed, he said the service was bad and refused to pay. Later we went to ask for the money, he wouldn’t pay, so we beat him up. We have the video of haggling over the price at the time. It’s definitely not extortion..." Wang Ming might not be good at flattering superiors or getting promoted, but he sure knew how to handle these thugs.

The group knew of his reputation, and since it was just a brawl, they confessed quite easily. They ran a group that used young girls dressed as students or white-collar workers to **** at high prices—they were both pimps and enforcers.