strong

I did it because...

It's all gone. I put a whole decade of savings into this deal! And now it's all gone!

Well, I guess it's for the best.

Who ever said Jaye's a coward, a small man, an ordinary guy? You're way more of a badass than the undercover cops in the triad shows. They're all acting, but you're the real deal, as brave as it gets.

Calm down. Hear me out.

I don't want to hear another word from you. Later. We'll pretend I never came back.

Ah Wei, I can't let you go just like that.

What more do you want? The successful sting's not good enough for you? You want to take the perp in yourself, too?

What, are they going to name you citizen of the month?

Go look over there.

Search through every one of these alleyways. Don't let anyone get away.

Jaye, move.

Your plan's a bust. Your buyers won't let you off easy. You're in with some merciless guys.

That's why I'm leaving Lungmen right now.

I'm not letting you go.

Hmph... Don't say I didn't warn—Hm?

I swiped your weapon back at the port.

You remember how we never held any grudges against each other for more than a day? Every time we had a difference of opinion, we worked through it the same way.

Like this!

Jaye punches his friend square in the face.

So anyone involved in this smuggling operation will get a much harsher sentence than the Char Sius and the Lou Seois?

That's right.

Like... how harsh are we talking?

All the guys wanted to do last time was sell crude, shoddy Originium products. Besides, you busted them halfway through, and they also owned up to the whole thing with a pretty good attitude throughout, so they got light sentences.

That said, the bosses still got two years in the can.

But if our intel's correct, they're smuggling some powerful hallucinogens. On paper, they're just very hard to get 'painkillers' and 'sedatives' that work fast.

But, of course, they don't come with any instructions, and they don't tell the users about any potential side effects—that the trace amounts of purified Originium can accelerate the deterioration of Oripathy.

Th-That's dirty money.

It's gonna make the patients severely dependent.

The Lungmenites tormented by sickness will have both their last pennies and last breaths of life sucked dry. They'll bring a herd infection that's even more uncontrollable.

That's why the L.G.D. has always enforced hard on this kind of contraband, and even the triads rarely deal in this stuff.

The mastermind will have to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

That's a serious crime...

Then what if it's only attempted? Would that make any difference? What if they turn themselves in? Does that make the sentence any lighter?

Where did you learn all that...?

T-Tell me, Officer.

If it hasn't caused any severe, irreparable harm yet, then there's still room to turn things around.

But even if they manage to escape, if they have a criminal record, they'll never be allowed to in Lungmen again.

Can't come back to Lungmen, huh?

Alright, Jaye, I've answered all your questions.

Now it's your turn to tell me what you know.

Officer Hoshiguma, I want you to help a friend of mine.

You don't have to help me, but you didn't have to backstab me like that!

Ah Wei, I <i>am</i> helping you!

A series of muffled, rhythmic sounds can be heard. Deep in the back alley, the two men exchange blows.

Like some kind of silly, turn-based game.

You used to make antennas, incense holders, and comms terminals out of soda cans.

You were the 'Soda Can Magician,' you were my hero, you were so smart. Just an amazing guy.

You should never have gone down this path!

Do you know why I had to leave Lungmen all those years ago? You probably heard that my family ran into some kind of trouble, but you have no idea what exactly happened, right?

It was a stupid gang fight. Two sides had a turf war and got into it, and the bosses had to send in guys to clean things up.

My parents just happened to pass by. We had nothing to do with the triads. Why would we?

Do you know who was in charge of the cleanup? Why do you think I left Lungmen without so much as coming to say good bye?

...Uncle Tung.

'Soda Can Magician?' Magician my ass!

In Lungmen, soda cans get kicked around and dumped in trash cans.

But I don't blame you. You're Jaye. This has nothing to do with you. It doesn't even have anything to do with Uncle Tung. Because this is Lungmen. 'There's no good or bad. All that matters is survival.'

You know, even if you didn't join me on this gig, once I had the money, I was going to help you franchise your finball stall.

We were going to take those finballs all over the country. Shangshu, Jiangqi, Yumen. Even beyond Yan.

Jaye takes a few punches and slowly backs up against the wall. He steps on something, slips, and falls to the ground.

I don't need that.

Living on dirty money... I can't have that on my conscience.

Ah Wei, you know that people could die because of those drugs you were smuggling, right?

I don't know what you've been through over the last ten years. I'm sure you've done all sorts of things to survive. Everybody's got a different way to get by, right?

You don't have to have lots of money. You don't have to be in a position of power.

Has Lungmen really changed? The slums, the port, the park, the seafood market... There are so many folks here, trying their hardest, living life without hurting anybody.

You're such an amazing guy. What's stopping you from doing that?

I can help you.

I'm tired. I-I've got nothing left to say.

Jaye lies down on the ground. A stream of blood gushes out of his forehead and wells up in the corner of his eye.

He shuts his eye hard to keep the blood from flowing into his eye. He has always looked like a pretty mean guy, and with how his face is bloodied, he now looks all the more ferocious.

*sigh*—

Goodbye.

The man isn't able to step away. He looks down to find his brother, his eye barely open, clinging to his leg.

Just like when they were both kids, he is a quiet guy, but he is as stubborn as one can be.

Jaye, let go. I really don't want to hurt you.

Jaye does not answer, nor does he let go.

The man grits his teeth, leans down, and pulls the scaling knife out of Jaye's pocket.

This is your fault.

All of a sudden, the man finds that he has come face-to-face with Jaye, both of them on the muddy ground. Yet he feels not the slightest bit of cold, perhaps because of the numbness from the intense impact.

The very moment before his consciousness drifts away, he faintly spots a terribly dented soda can. Perhaps that was the thing that crashed into his head mere seconds ago.

Phew—

Made it just in time.

That's about the size of it.

All the merchandise have been recovered. The overseas smugglers and the local recipients have all been taken in by the L.G.D.

Thanks, Madame Oni.

How are things on your end?

We may have put a stop to the problem upstream, but those downstream aren't blameless. I put together a list of the ones in the slums waiting to distribute. And I paid each of them a visit before I came here.

I won't trouble the L.G.D. with our housework.

Should've expected no less from the 'Lin the Violet,' huh?

It's nothing. My dad's still resting up after his injuries, and I don't want him to get out of bed.

Right, he wanted to ask. How was Jaye on this sting?

He was hurt, but it was nothing serious.

Without him, we wouldn't have been able to wrap up this operation at the port or round them up so easily.

If even an ounce of this shipment had made it into Lungmen, things would've got much trickier.

Right.

Even outside the slums, there are plenty of gangs who would be willing to deal in hallucinatory drugs of this level. Taking care of it all right up front is the safest approach, of course.

But Jaye's just a normal guy, and given Uncle Tung's age, Dad doesn't want him to...

I get it. The situation's unique... but rest assured the L.G.D. will protect its informants.

And how is Mr. Lin's prognosis?