Flandre took the folder, skimmed the contents briefly, and then casually tossed it to Hong Meiling sitting beside her.
Hong Meiling tilted her head, catching the manila folder with one hand. "Why are you giving this to me?"
"Take a good look at their faces," Flandre replied matter-of-factly, "so you don't hit the wrong people when we charge in later."
"Huh?" Meiling stared at her, slightly speechbound.
Standing nearby with her massive triangular shield, Hoshiguma cleared her throat and reminded them gently, "That's... not entirely how standard protocol works..."
"Do you really need to follow rules when dealing with bad guys?" Flandre expressed her genuine confusion.
"At this stage, they are technically criminal suspects," Hoshiguma explained patient law enforcement procedure to the little girl. "Until a court hands down a formal conviction, we must treat them as suspects. It's a fundamental measure to prevent miscarriages of justice."
"But don't you already have mountains of evidence proving those five are the murderers?" Flandre spread her small hands, feeling that mortal bureaucracy made zero sense. If the culprits were already hundred-percent confirmed, why waste time with redundant formalities?
"Yes, but procedure exists precisely to keep the system fair," Hoshiguma answered patiently.
Flandre turned her head toward Meiling and instructed, "Meiling, remember to go easy on them. Don't kill anyone."
Hoshiguma's eye twitched slightly. When she had mentioned "protocol" earlier, she meant protocol regarding civilian involvement in tactical arrests—not an operational authorization for Meiling to break bones!
"Sigh, didn't I say it before?" Flandre's crimson eyes darted around slyly as she argued, "Helping the Guard Department purge bad guys who threaten Lungmen's safety is the duty of every good citizen! We're just fulfilling our civic duty, so it's completely fine!"
"Uh..." Hoshiguma rubbed her temples. "These men are not only highly trained martial artists from the Gouwu Dojo, but they're also exceedingly cruel and ruthless. Since today is your first day back in Lungmen, we just don't want either of you getting hurt."
"Don't worry," Flandre pointed at Hong Meiling and boasted proudly, "if those guys were somehow strong enough to hurt Meiling, your officers wouldn't stand a chance against them anyway!"
Hearing Flandre's utter confidence, Hoshiguma cast a surprised look at the green-robed woman. Ever since stepping into the armored vehicle, Meiling had kept her eyes half-closed, looking thoroughly drowsy. Yet, knowing Flandre's absurd baseline strength, anyone who earned such high praise from the girl couldn't possibly be ordinary.
Before long, the heavy transport pulled into a side alley near the target coordinates.
The L.G.D. operators deliberately kept their sirens silent and parked a distance away from the specific apartment complex. The reason was obvious: this was a densely packed, multi-story residential block housing hundreds of working-class families.
The surrounding streets were cramped, choked with night market stalls, street vendors, and maze-like alleys. If the suspects realized the police were closing in, they could easily spark a panic among the crowd to cover their escape—or worse, seize innocent civilians as hostages to leverage a standoff.
Neither the Guard Department nor the Chief Executive's Office could tolerate such an outcome, as both scenarios carried an unacceptably high risk of civilian bloodshed. Therefore, the tactical plan called for a quiet, high-speed breach to subduing all five targets simultaneously before they could even react.
Throughout the drive, Hoshiguma continually coordinated via radio with outer perimeter squads, finalizing unit placements. By the time they arrived, every contingency seemed accounted for.
Yet, man proposes, and fate disposes.
Just as the assault units deployed into position, one of the five suspects happened to walk out of the main complex stairwell to buy a pack of cigarettes at a corner stall. Catching sight of uniform-clad L.G.D. officers moving along the alley, the man didn't panic or bolt immediately. Instead, he calmly stood in the shadow of an awning, lighting a cigarette while observing the officers pass by.
Scanning the area, he realized the entire residential block was quietly being surrounded. Realizing his crew was trapped, his mind raced to find a way to create an instant, violent distraction to break the siege.
His eyes landed on a row of roadside market stalls nearby.
Most were makeshift clothing racks built from flimsy iron pipes and plastic tarps, packed tightly with flammable fabrics. It was an absolute fire hazard. Nearby stood an emergency fire hydrant and a couple of mounted extinguishers.
Moving casually, the suspect strolled over, grabbed one of the heavy fire extinguishers, and kicked it deep under a dark wooden display where no one would easily spot it. Then, he unhooked the high-pressure canvas hose from the fire cabinet, dragging it toward the densest cluster of clothing racks.
Flicking open a brass lighter, he prepared to torch the entire market line. The inferno would instantly trigger mass chaos, forcing the L.G.D. to abandon their breach to save civilians and giving his crew inside the building a window to escape.
As for how many innocent vendors or shoppers might burn to death in the blaze? That wasn't his concern in the slightest.
Just as the spark hovered near the dry fabric, a clear, young girl's voice called out behind him.
"Mister, why are you dragging that fire hose away? If a fire breaks out later and there's no hose, that's going to be a huge problem."
The man snapped his head around, spotting a small blonde girl standing a few paces away, staring directly at him.
A murderous glare flashed in his eyes. "Get lost, brat!"
"Get lost? That won't do," the girl refused with righteous indignation. "If I let you start a fire here, where would I, Flandre, put my face?"
Realizing he had been spotted, the man didn't waste another word. Dropping the hose, he lunged forward, his right hand stiffened like an iron spear, driving a lethal palm strike straight toward Flandre's throat!
Flandre didn't even flinch. She simply reached out her small hand and made a subtle squeezing motion in the air.
CRACK-SHRED!
In an instant, the man's entire right forearm twisted into a gruesome, spiral knot! Jagged white bone fragments burst through his skin and muscle, spraying blood onto the pavement.
"ARGHHHAAAGH!"
The next second, the sheer, unimaginable agony hit his brain, and he shrieked in absolute torment.
The bloodcurdling scream instantly drew the attention of nearby shoppers and stallholders. When people looked over and saw a man's arm violently mangled and gushing blood, gasps of horror erupted across the street, with several vendors scrambling to call for emergency medical help.
Pain-crazed and realizing his plan had utterly failed under the gazes of dozens of onlookers, the man tried to turn and scramble away.
SNAP-TWIST!
Before his foot could even hit the ground, both of his legs wove together into a sickening, grotesque braid.
The intense, agonizing shock destroyed his balance instantly, sending him crashing face-first onto the dirt, thrashing in horror.
The surrounding crowd recoiled in utter disbelief, taking frantic steps backward. The scene was far too horrifying—the man's legs had been twisted into something resembling a wrung-out dishcloth. It was a physical impossibility for a living human body!
The man rolled frantically on the ground, his hoarse screams filling the air.
At that moment, a squad of L.G.D. officers patrolling the outer perimeter heard the commotion and sprinted into the alley.
"What happened?!" The squad leader took one look at Flandre, then looked down at the mangled figure squirming on the ground, letting out a sharp gasp.
Isn't this one of the primary suspects from the official wanted list?! Shouldn't he be upstairs in the hideout? How did he end up down here like this?!
An officer with sharp eyes spotted the unhooked fire hose and the lighter discarded on the ground, instantly piecing together the suspect's arson plan.
A cold sweat broke out across every officer's back. If Flandre hadn't intercepted this monster, the resulting inferno in this crowded market would have caused unimaginable tragedy.
"Cuff him and haul him out!" the squad leader immediately ordered. His subordinates secured the suspect's hands, hoisted his twisted body onto a tactical stretcher, and dragged him away, instantly reporting the emergency capture to the central command unit.
Meanwhile, deep inside the residential complex, Hong Meiling led the way up the dimly lit stairwell. With Hoshiguma's breach squad stacked tight behind her, they had already arrived directly outside the door of the main target's hideout.