The anti-American vanguard starts in Mexico!

"Sir... do I still have to go to work at the nightclub tonight?" Maria asked cautiously as Qi Yun put down his phone.

It was getting dark, and the nightclub was about to open.

If she doesn't go early, regular customers might not be able to find her and will likely seek service from someone else.

"Go." Qi Yun pulled himself together, took out a wad of cash from his pocket—ten US dollars and a hundred-dollar peso. "This is your salary for this month, plus the taxi fare I reimbursed you for. Now get out of here."

God!

He even considered my taxi fare!

Maria was overjoyed and accepted the stack of crisp hundred-dollar bills: "Thank you, sir!"

Although the terms had been agreed upon beforehand, she still couldn't quite believe her eyes when she actually held the thousand knives in her hand.

A full thousand US dollars! That's more than she's earned in the past few months combined!

For them, struggling to make ends meet, this money was undoubtedly a huge sum, allowing her and Daniel to live a stable life for at least a while...

The overwhelming surprise moved her to tears. Her lips trembled as she tried to say more words of thanks, but remembering that Qi Yun had told her to leave quickly, she swallowed the words back.

She quickly stuffed the money into her bra, bowed gratefully to Qi Yun, then turned and walked away quickly, her figure soon disappearing at the end of the alley.

Qi Yun withdrew his gaze, his eyes turning cold once more.

...

On the fifth floor of the apartment building, Carlos stood in the narrow corridor, staring at the closed door in front of him.

The agreed five minutes passed quickly, but Qi Yun still hadn't appeared.

He took a deep breath, took out his phone, and dialed the number again.

But this time, all I heard from the receiver was a message that the phone was switched off.

Carlos frowned, stood still for two seconds, and then walked towards the stairwell.

Once downstairs, he went straight to the car, opened the door, got in, started the engine, and put it in gear.

But just as he turned his head to reverse, he froze on the spot as if he had been electrocuted.

That's a Glock 19.

The dark muzzle of a gun was pointed directly at him.

Indeed, Qi Yun was sitting in the back seat, his hand holding the gun on his thigh, looking at him with a strange expression.

Carlos's expression froze; he thought the guy in front of him might have already run away.

But to everyone's surprise, Qi Yun not only didn't run away, but instead boldly sneaked into his car!

What's this kid up to?

"Good evening, Director..."

Qi Yun's tone was somewhat intriguing when he said this.

After meeting Carlos, he realized that all his previous guesses might have been wrong.

Name: José Carlos;

Sin value: 20;

Crimes: He was once forced to accept bribes, but anonymously donated all the money to the church to repair public cemeteries and provided long-term financial assistance to several orphans.

This bureau chief is a complete hypocrite! A damn righteous person!

He was caught in a corrupt environment and had to make certain compromises, but he still retained his bottom line and conscience, which is why he disposed of the embezzled funds in that way.

Such a person... probably wouldn't be after their own money, and most likely wouldn't work for drug dealers...

So, why did he come alone tonight?

Qi Yun carefully examined the middle-aged man in front of her, who had a mustache and meticulously combed hair.

"Qi Yun, you're pointing a gun at me, are you trying to kill me?" After a brief moment of shock, Carlos came to his senses.

He did not panic, nor did he issue a harsh but insincere rebuke. Instead, he remained calm and simply gazed at Qi Yun.

"Director, please answer a question for me."

Qi Yun withdrew the gun from Carlos, but did not put it down; he simply rested it casually on his knees, with the muzzle pointing out of the car window.

"Why are you in such a hurry to see me?"

"I'll save you," Carlos uttered.

"Save me?" Qi Yun raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

"Not long ago, a federal police officer pulled up the files of everyone in your squad. That guy works for drug dealers, and you can probably guess what that means!"

Federal Police?

Qi Yun's heart sank suddenly.

The federal police have considerable power in Mexico, far exceeding the status of the FBI in the United States.

These people have no respect for the local police department. They have independent investigative and arrest powers, and can even bully the local police!

The federal police played a crucial role in Mexico's ability to be controlled by various drug cartels.

Carlos stared intently at him, his tone stern: "Tell me now! What happened! Why can't we contact anyone in your team except you?!"

Qi Yun squinted, his brain racing.

Carlos is not an enemy; he may even be a potential ally.

Moreover, the other party is the branch director, who wields certain power, and might be able to leverage this power in certain situations.

However, this requires a certain level of trust between the two parties, and the first step in building trust is limited honesty.

"They're dead..."

Qi Yun gave a general account of the warehouse incident, but he didn't mention the double-cross plan. Instead, he said that Sheriff Leon received a tip and led them to arrest the drug dealers.

Although it sounds like a joke, he had to say it.

We can trust Carlos to some extent for now, but we won't give him any leverage.

"I survived by sheer luck, and during my escape, I killed two more drug dealers," Qi Yun said, pulling open his shirt to reveal bandages on his shoulders.

Carlos's gaze fell on the blood-soaked bandages, and his eyes narrowed sharply.

The wounds cannot be faked, which proves that Qi Yun did indeed experience a fierce battle.

After a moment of silence, he gave Qi Yun a deep look: "Those people will come after you soon, whether for revenge or something else, you are in great danger right now."

Qi Yun nodded, having been mentally prepared for this.

"What are your plans? I can grant you some leave so you can go out and hide for a while."

"Hide?" Qi Yun smirked, his tone righteous and indignant. "Chief, I'm a police officer. Fighting crime is my duty! Why would I hide?!"

Carlos was taken aback, seemingly not expecting such a response.

In Tijuana, police officers who loudly proclaim their duty to fight crime are either a rare breed of idiots, or... have ulterior motives.

Carlos naturally didn't think Qi Yun was a fool; a fool wouldn't be so cautious and vigilant as to sneak into his car and ambush him beforehand.

Then only one other possibility remains.

But he didn't say anything, only his eyes became even more profound.

"So, what are you planning to do?"

"Take the initiative! Crush them!" Qi Yun's answer was simple and brutal.

Carlos's expression changed noticeably after hearing this; he began to doubt whether his earlier judgment had been flawed.

This guy might really be an idiot!

A lowly police officer actually dared to declare war on a drug cartel!

This isn't courage, this is madness, this is courting death!

"How can I help you?" Carlos asked calmly.

Qi Yun didn't answer the question directly. Instead, he stared intently at Carlos and asked in return, "Director, I still have a question."

"Why...why are you telling me all this? Or rather...why do you want to save me?"

As the chief, Carlos couldn't possibly be unaware that he and Leon were corrupt cops.

Who cares about the life or death of corrupt cops?

Just report more "daily losses" at the end of the month.

Why did Carlos not only risk coming to see him, but also offer to help him?

This is what he can't understand.

Carlos's face twitched. He glanced at the Glock 19 in Qi Yun's hand and wanted to shout, "Have you forgotten you were pointing a gun at me just now?"