Due to deal restructure text to speech player is currently unavailable. Will find a solution soon.

Chapter 827: 827

Chapter 827: Principle

Zhang Heng smiled, and he did not dwell on this issue .

Five minutes later, those that were supposed to be on duty tonight had gathered downstairs . The entire patrol team had a total of twelve people . Usually, they were divided into two different teams, where one would be responsible for the day patrols and the other, the night . With such a clear division of labor, both teams should get enough rest every day .

However, the twelve-man patrol team was not enough to take care of such a large area, not to mention that they were divided into two teams . Even Black Mamba’s gang had more people than them . Among the patrol team, some were young men, and some were older . Except for Aris, the captain who injured his leg and fought on the battlefield before, the other patrol members did not even have proper combat experience .

In fact, most of those assigned to this area had either made a huge mistake or offended someone powerful . Zhang Heng could also not rule out that some more unfortunate ones were sent here without knowing this place . Their roles were solely to fill up the shortage . And once they were stationed here, leaving this place would prove extremely difficult .

Aris and others had attempted escape before, but their attempts were all but futile . After all, no one wanted to stay in a place infested with criminals and chaos . Even if their welfare wasn’t a priority, they had to think about their family members .

But for some well-known reasons, all of their efforts were in vain .

Aris was considered to be one of the more responsible captains . When he first came here, he thought about bringing sweeping changes to the place . He had written countless letters to the top until now, telling them about the area’s problems, hoping that they would send more people and allocate more funds . Unfortunately, no one responded to his letters .

He even attempted to, within his power, try to influence the people around him a little by little, hoping to bring back the order to the chaotic streets . However, this whole place was like a vast quagmire . No matter who stood in it, moving forward would prove challenging . In the end, the person would only sink deeper and deeper until it engulfed them . Aris did not know how long he could hold on . To him, this was all but a hopeless place now .

“Your circumstance is not looking good,” Zhang Heng said . He saw Aris taking out his armor and putting it on neatly before the patrol . This was the armor he wore when he last fought on the battlefield . After that, he brought it with him here, and it looked well maintained .

However, his five subordinates were not so lucky . Some wore wearing rusty armor, some had incomplete armor, and some wore no protective gear at all .

“Because every time we place last, we get very little funds . They are barely enough to make ends meet, so we have to get our own weapons and armor elsewhere,” Aris said . “Do you have armor with you?”

“I don’t need that kind of thing,” replied Zhang Heng .

“Trust me . If you have it, you’d better wear it because you are going to need it,” Aris insisted . “I know you’re a good fighter, and although I never witnessed your heroic achievement in the arena, I guess you must have beaten up your opponents pretty well . You could even fight two enemies simultaneously, but trust me, this is different from the opponents you encounter in the gladiatorial performances . Gladiators value honor a lot and will never do anything that will make the audience despise them . These people here are different . You might not get to fight them face-to-face, and it can happen at any time, anywhere . The person next to you might just suddenly draw a knife and stab you . The worst part is you have no idea who the person is and why he wants to kill you . ”

“Thank you, but I can handle an assassination without armor . ” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows .

Having learned and familiarized himself with an assassin’s methods for some time now, if he were stabbed by someone random here, Dadatis’s teaching would be in vain . After that, Aris did not try to persuade him anymore . After all, it was the first time that the two met . Aris had reminded Zhang Heng of the danger of this place only because they were colleagues . To him, Zhang Heng was an arrogant man, and he did not have high hopes for him .

Although there were rumors that the emperor attached great importance to Zhang Heng, being assigned here said a lot about him . Out of good intention, Aris reminded him again, “Have you offended someone recently?”

“Yes, for now . ” Zhang Heng smiled again, but he seemed to not want to dwell on the issue . And soon enough, he changed the subject . “You mentioned the assessment just now . Can you tell me more about its rules?”

This part was something Zhang Heng could not inquire about earlier . Such information could only be received from the patrol team .

“Of course, this is also something that you should know . ” Aris nodded, “As you can see, each team is responsible for patrolling different areas . Every two months, the higher-ups will send someone to conduct a statistical inspection . Mainly, they will check on the crime rate in different areas, for instance, the number of burglaries and homicides in each area . They need to know whether the cases have increased or decreased . They would also want to know how many cases we have solved . Finally, they will randomly select residents in the area and gauge their satisfaction on current public security . ”

Aris paused when he said that, “We are in a special area . I believe you had checked this place out when you came here . We have a large number of Jews and some from the eastern provinces and immigrants from Egypt or Mauritania . We don’t even know where a number of them come from . In short, this is a very complicated place . With so many people from different places cramped altogether in such a small place, conflict inevitably breaks out every day . ”

“Unsurprising,” Zhang Heng said .

“We see a robbery or street fights every day . Sometimes, people of the same race would fight among themselves . And in order not to be bullied, many choose to join a gang . In the end, countless armed gangs are born because of this reason . The smaller gangs have a dozen members, but as for those big gangs, they have at least hundreds of people . And many of them embark on the journey of becoming a criminal once they acquire enough weapons . The small-time thugs and the gangsters on the street are backed up by the gangs here . Sometimes, you might offend the entire gang if you catch one of them . And it could cause a lot of trouble… The patrol team can’t do anything about it . After all, the patrol team was led by a lame man, and they were abandoned by Rome as well . We don’t even get a full salary . ”

When Aris first came here, he was worried about how the safety of the residents in this place . However, after he experienced living here for so many years, he had become a little numb by it . To him, no one could solve the problems in this place unless the government decided to bring in the armies to kill all the people here . Otherwise, this place would always be a paradise for the thieves, villains, and murderers .

“Fortunately, we are just a patrol team . We don’t have much money with us . Under normal circumstances, the criminals will not target us . However, if you want to live here long enough, you have to remember a fundamental principle, that is, don’t be nosy,” warned Aris .