“...what are you saying?” Bri Fung went silent for a moment, then looked Captain Ko straight in his eyes: “You’re saying - ”

“I’m saying that the things and topics we discussed, we’re both right on some points and wrong on some others. And almost all things we discussed and foresaw with the grimmest outlook, it seems, have been correct.” Captain Ko raised his jaw at a painting of the councilman and scoffed: “And I think - people know this, more are aware of this than we thought.”

“What proof do you have of this? ” Bri Fung shook her head.

“Depends on what you mean by ‘proof’.” Captain Ko shrugged and chuckled: “For one, you know what happened at the docks? Regarding that sunken platform?” This earned surprised looks from both Kevin and Keryn, for they both knew about the incident, and were under the impression that the incident was still unresolved and went a while without updates.

“What? The one you casually handed to some intelligence dealer in the South-Eastern District?”

Captain Ko chuckled, then almost laughed out loud. This jab did not affect Captain Ko like it would probably on other police officers or captains: “Bri, you’ve been with the city folks for too long and have forgotten a lot of the potential downfalls. Chef Tang was not some random intelligence dealer. The shop stood in that district for more than a few decades, and the chef remained the only one whose intelligence anyone could fully trust - as long as you can afford it.”

“Yeah - so? It doesn’t change the fact that the people who injured your detective got away with it - at least from the looks of it.”

“It may surprise you, handing these men to him was the best choice under the circumstances. Even if we gave them protective custody of the highest order, they’d be dead within a week.” Captain Ko shrugged.

“Oh? And you are certain of this because whoever was behind this, they will be leveraging the unclean against these men?” Bri Fung scoffed: “Do you know how - how crazy that sounds? I know we have our differences - but this is - this is way too much.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Humor me. You asked for proof, I’m giving you the proof that I gathered. If you let me, I can explain everything to the fullest extent, to the best of my abilities.” Captain Ko nodded, then pointed at the sofas in the waiting area: “Maybe we should sit down first?”

“Fine. Help yourselves to some water. ” Bri Fung sighed after a short moment of awkward silence: “Bear in mind that I only have - ten minutes, tops. I can’t miss this meeting.”

“It’s fine.” Captain Ko sat down at a spot closest to Bri Fung.

Kevin and Mick went to get some water, while Keryn sat by the captain’s side. Kevin took a look at Keryn, then decided to bring another cup of water back.

“Dude, I think I need help with the information. Please enlighten me afterwards.” Mick shook his head as he sipped his water: “And - maybe when my head is clearer - I’m still a bit dizzy here.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kevin shrugged: “It’s - it’s common. You should get some rest after this.”

“Sure - sure, when we actually find a place we can rest.” Mick raised his eyebrows and yawned.

“... I know you have your doubts about the chef. But here’s the thing, I received credible confirmation - that those men in his custody? Majority of them are still alive.” Captain Ko pulled out a small notepad: “Of fourteen of them in total, five were dead. And the rest were somewhat willing to talk. Though, it may take some time to actually get some useful information out of them.”

“But still - five are dead.” Bri Fung frowned: “And this is - GOOD? To you?”

“Like I said - if they were to be put into any other kind of custody, they would all be dead.” Captain Ko shrugged: “One example - one of our detectives actually caught one of these people - people who are linked to this trafficking syndicate. The man was locked in a holding facility under the management of the South-Eastern community collective, and without any actual human interference, the perp was killed right in front of his eyes. His throat got punctured, as if someone rammed a sharp spear through, only no one was there. And - if that sounds familiar to you, then - ”

Kevin was expecting Bri Fung to rebut the captain. But to his surprise, she only frowned lightly and nodded, signaling the captain to continue.

“I see - so there ARE cases like this in the city, just - unreported, I assume?” Captain Ko sighed and shook his head: “Yeah, curse kills to make sure no one talks, that’s not that big of a deal, right? I’m sure the city has been seeing a rising number of those, especially recently huh?”

“Well - actually - ” Bri Fung hesitated, as if she was about to say something then decided against it: “ - nevermind - keep talking.”

“And last night, something I’d never expect happened, and it prompted me to call for this meeting.” Captain Ko narrowed his eyes: “An investigator from the community collective, who’s on the books a liaison from the collective, led a group of unidentified men into my precinct trying to assault my officers, who had to come to my place last night to hide.

“Mind you, this is AFTER they asked us for help to look for those reclusive scholars and monks.” Captain Ko couldn’t help but pick up Kevin’s water and drank it all, Kevin was about to remind the captain, but was not able to in time. “So - he’s trying to use US to find those scholars for their OTHER employer.

“And - I also had some dealings with Brooklyn Payne recently.” Captain Ko leaned back with a mysterious smile: “Guess what interesting information he told me?”

Bri Fung’s left eye twitched at the mention of the name, she pretended she was not affected by it, yet it did not escape anyone present.