Lord of Prayer

Chapter 475: Chapter 300: Sowing Discord (Part 2)

From then on, everyone knew who the true masters of this city were.

On a normal day, the police and Bear Group employees appeared to keep to themselves. In reality, the officers didn’t dare to clash with anyone from the Bear Group. If the Bear Group came looking to settle a score, the police would have no choice but to hand over the officer involved to appease their wrath.

They just hoped that fewer people would get dragged into it.

The entire police department was dead silent. The officers sat at their desks, not daring to even breathe too loudly, as if any sudden movement could detonate a non-existent bomb.

"F@CK! F@CK! F@CK!"

A furious, cursing roar echoed out. The police chief stormed out and furiously hurled the teacup in his hand. It shattered against the wall with a CRACK, sending shards flying.

"Who fired that shot? Who the hell fired that shot?!" The chief grabbed an officer by the collar, roaring his question. His face was flushed red, veins bulging on his forehead, like a savage beast about to devour someone.

"He... he fired the shot..." The officer stammered, pointing a trembling finger at Zhou Chen, who was standing alone in the distance. No one dared to go near him, afraid of getting involved.

The chief strode over. Just as everyone thought he was about to give Zhou Chen a brutal dressing-down, he instead grabbed Zhou Chen’s hand, shook it vigorously, and exclaimed excitedly:

"Beautifully done!"

Instantly, the entire police department fell silent. The officers stared, dumbfounded, countless question marks seeming to float over their stunned faces. They wondered if they were dreaming.

"An outstanding officer like you—brave, fearless, and unafraid to stand up to the powerful—is a true pillar of our nation! Everyone, learn from him! When you encounter illegal activity, you must strike hard. I believe that all evil will be brought to justice!"

"That’s right," Zhou Chen nodded with a serious expression.

The officers were stunned, like weathered stone statues, unable to snap out of it. ’Is this our chief? Isn’t he scared to death of the Bear Group? How did he become like this?’

The chief snorted coldly. "At a time like this, if the Bear Group dares to keep acting so arrogantly, the Government Army can send troops to wipe them out!"

"Chief... what’s going on?" an officer asked meekly, not understanding why the chief had suddenly become so assertive.

"Obviously. We’re in a state of war."

The chief said sternly, "Whether you’re a police officer or a security guard, once you pick up a gun, you’re a soldier! If the Bear Group dares to touch a North Carolina Government Army soldier, that’s treason!"

’That seems right...’ The officers thought it made sense. Right now, their common enemy was the Salvation Army. If the Bear Group dared to cause trouble now, it would be infighting, and they could be directly labeled as traitors.

And yet, despite this rare show of backbone, the officers felt no sense of triumph. Instead, their hearts were filled with terror, afraid of retaliation from the Bear Group. They were so used to being suppressed that they believed, down to their very bones, that the police department was no match for the Bear Group.

"Don’t worry, everyone. An order came down from above. We, the Government Army, and the Bear Group are to cooperate against the Salvation Army. The Government Army has the most authority, we’re second, and the Bear Group is at the bottom. With this order in place, the Bear Group absolutely will not dare to retaliate," the chief swore confidently.

With that, the officers’ confidence was bolstered. Everyone actually knew that despite the Bear Group’s arrogance in Bear City, they were really just a dog kept by the government. They wouldn’t dare defy a government order. This time, it was probably just a warning to put the dog back in its place.

·

「Half an hour later.」

Bear City. An open field.

"What? No retaliation?" A man with a centipede-like scar on his face answered a call, his expression one of disbelief. "Why? They killed one of our Bear Group men!"

"No means no! It’s an order from the boss, don’t you understand?" The voice on the other end of the line grew louder. "This is a special time. Anyone who dares to stir up trouble, I’ll kill their whole family! If they don’t have a family, I’ll bury them alive in concrete!"

BEEP— The call disconnected.

The scar-faced man furiously smashed his phone on the ground. "Dammit, why the hell can’t we get revenge!"

"Yeah! The Bear Group always repays its debts! We have to let them know we’re not to be trifled with! We have to avenge our brother!"

In the crowd, a disguised Zhou Chen yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice filled with righteous indignation. He instantly whipped the crowd into a frenzy, and countless men began shouting for revenge for their brother.

"We have to kill that cop! The Bear Group needs to make a statement!"

"KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!"

"He dared to kill our brother! We have to waste him! We have to scatter his goddamn ashes!"

And just like that, the momentum was built.

Zhou Chen was satisfied.

After being given free rein, he began to execute the plan he had formulated earlier. The intelligence provided by the Salvation Army contained detailed records of Andre’s personality, the government’s attitude toward him, the relationship between the Bear City Police Department and the Bear Group, and other key information.

Combining that intelligence, Zhou Chen had an idea. He would sow discord, getting the Bear City Police Department and the Bear Group to fight like dogs. Then, he would escalate it to a fight between the Government Army and the Bear Group, forcing Andre to commit treason.

As his "Violent Bear" nickname suggested, Andre was an unruly man. He didn’t like being ordered around, manipulated, or disciplined. Over the years, the North Carolina Government had done plenty to piss him off, and he had likely been harboring resentment and thoughts of rebellion for a long time.

This would provide a reasonable explanation for Andre later joining the Salvation Army to attack a North Carolina military stronghold. It would also lure Andre out—the building where he stayed had extremely high security measures, and as long as he hid inside, the Poisonous Sore Gang was helpless and couldn’t swarm him.

So, Zhou Chen disguised himself and infiltrated the Bear City Police Department, killed the Bear Group member from the bar, and then brainwashed the Bear City police chief. He had the chief issue orders to strike back hard against the Bear Group. However, Zhou Chen hadn’t expected the officers to completely lack the courage to face the Bear Group.

Just as he was preparing to brainwash the officers, the North Carolina Government, by sheer coincidence, sent a new order. With their superiors backing them up, the officers finally found their courage.

But to be on the safe side, Zhou Chen brainwashed them anyway. There was no harm in having more "temporary workers." The Bear City police weren’t exactly good people. Though they were bullied daily by the Bear Group and felt they had low status, their actual rank was second only to Bear Group employees, and they had committed just as many dirty deeds.

Now, Zhou Chen had infiltrated the Bear Group and was preparing to fan the flames further, to make the Bear Group openly defy government orders and force Andre to rebel.

The plan was going incredibly smoothly. The Bear Group’s members were arrogant thugs and gangsters to begin with, used to bullying others. Now that they were told they couldn’t retaliate, who could possibly swallow that insult?

Zhou Chen only had to nudge things along a little, and the crowd got so worked up they lost their heads. He even saved a lot on the wish value it would have cost to brainwash them.

"Let’s go! Avenge our brother!"

Ignoring the direct order from above, the mob grabbed their guns and headed en masse toward the Bear City Police Department.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

RAT-A-TAT-TAT-A-TAT!

In the quiet night, gunfire roared!

·

A flicker of fire suddenly lit up the view outside the window, and thick black smoke billowed into the sky.

Andre stared intently and saw it was coming from the direction of the Bear City Police Department. A sense of foreboding instantly enveloped him.

"Shit, did those fucking idiots ignore my orders and go get revenge?" Andre had heard about the death and instantly guessed the reason for the fire at the police station. He furiously smashed his expensive desk with a single punch, grinding his teeth in rage.

’This is bad.’

It hadn’t even been two hours since the new government order came down, and his men had already gone and burned down the police station. How would the government, which already distrusted him, see him now?

’They’ll definitely think I’m planning to rebel!’

Andre’s expression shifted drastically. He immediately looked to the side.

"Joker, what do you think?"

Leaning against the wall, the man in clown makeup spread his hands and chuckled lightly.

"Since the North Carolina Government thinks you’re going to rebel, then why not just rebel?

After all, the gates of Fallen Paradise are always open for you!"