RLTT CH 1

Chapter 1: The Reckless Cop x Loyal Amnesiac Witness

Late into the night, the bustling downtown of the Special District offered a glimpse into the vibrant nightlife of an Asian international metropolis. Neon lights flashed, music thumped, and the streets brimmed with people who had no intention of sleeping.

At 10:20 p.m., in the old town’s budget pedestrian street, a game arcade on the ground floor was packed with teenagers. The clatter of buttons and the noisy sound effects of fighting games filled the air in waves. This was the first scene that greeted you when stepping inside.

As you ventured deeper into the arcade, you’d find the latest rhythm games and dance machines—popular in recent years—blaring an incomprehensible mix of foreign music. The occasional cheers from spectators at the basketball shooting games would disrupt the cacophony. Deeper still, where the lights began to dim and flickering, aging bulbs struggled to stay alive, were three or four rows of bulky racing machines.

Near the edge sat three Batman racing machines. At this hour, two familiar figures often occupied them. Every Friday night, without fail, it was always these two. The owner would quietly bring over two glass bottles of soda and casually greet them, “Here to play again, officers?”

Wei Jiaxi, 26, was a Senior Inspector with the Special District City CBD Unit 2 Major Crimes Division. Tonight, he exchanged 50 dollars for game tokens and picked his favorite Batmobile, setting the Joker as his opponent—the toughest villain in the game. He was now battling through the fifth stage, the one he’d been stuck on for the past few months. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t beat it. He pressed the gas pedal with one foot and the brake with the other, gripping the steering wheel tightly. His fingers furiously smashed the missile launch button, his eyes glued to the screen, his expression contorted in concentration.

Sitting beside him at another Batmobile machine was his long-time friend Yang Zhen, two or three years older than him and now a Superintendent at the CBD Division.

“F…” Wei Jiaxi slammed the steering wheel as the mocking “Game Over” message appeared on the screen. He nearly cursed aloud but caught himself just in time. Although the arcade was noisy enough to drown out conversation, public servants using foul language could still risk complaints, and he didn’t want to lose his hard-earned bonus.

Yang Zhen, watching the Joker laugh maniacally on the screen, sighed regretfully. “Oh…” he muttered as the countdown to insert more coins began.

Stretching his arm, Wei Jiaxi grabbed a glass soda bottle from the floor, bit down on the straw, and took a sip. “Still root beer… Hasn’t the owner restocked lately? I wanted 7-Up.”

Yang Zhen drained his own soda and replied, “Come on, the guy gives us free drinks every time we come here. Don’t be so picky.”

“We spend dozens of bucks every time we come here. If we drink a couple more sodas, he still makes a profit.” Wei Jiaxi dismissed his friend’s concern, putting down the empty bottle and picking up a small bag of tokens to weigh it. “I’m going to get more coins.”

“Wait a second!” Yang Zhen quickly grabbed Wei Jiaxi before he could stand up. “Uh… Shi Shi has some vacation time next month, and we’re planning a short trip or something. So, uh… I need to cut down on extra expenses, you know?” He gave an ingratiating grin.

Shi Shi was Yang Zhen’s prosecutor girlfriend, and their relationship was stable enough that they were already discussing marriage.

Wei Jiaxi rolled his eyes. “Shi Shi this, Shi Shi that… You can’t even let her go when we’re out gaming? So annoying.” He counted the remaining tokens in the bag but kept a watchful eye on a small private booth across the aisle.

The arcade had several small rooms separated by curtains, rented out by the hour for tabletop games. These rooms were often filled with young couples or groups playing games like Werewolf. But neither Wei Jiaxi nor Yang Zhen was particularly into tabletop games. After all, their day-to-day work involved real-life “murder mysteries,” so card games felt a bit juvenile. They’d rather spend their time playing Mahjong at a parlor.

However, tonight, one of the tabletop rooms caught Wei Jiaxi’s attention.

The Fourth Person

Usually, a single round of board games takes about 20 to 30 minutes in a room for ten players. However, tonight, something unusual was happening in one of the private rooms. When Wei Jiaxi entered earlier to play the Batmobile arcade game, there were only four or five people inside. Throughout the evening, those individuals didn’t leave the room. Instead, new faces appeared periodically—young men sneaking up to the door. A man with dyed blond hair would lift the curtain, let them in, and within ten minutes, they would leave again. Then, another person would approach. This cycle repeated all night.

Now, the fourth person had just gone in.

Wei Jiaxi sighed dramatically, glancing at Yang Zhen. “There’s hardly anything left to play with here. Let’s try something else.”

Yang Zhen gave a knowing nod toward the corner of the arcade. Two motorcycle racing machines stood there. “How about that?”

“Bro, you always know what I’m thinking.” Wei Jiaxi’s lips curled into a devilish smile. His single dimple gave him a mischievous yet undeniably handsome look.

Inside the small private room, three men sat around a table, but there were no board games or cards in sight. Instead, a black briefcase with a lock rested on the table. The blond-haired man was counting a small stack of crumpled bills. Next to him, another man wearing a baseball cap held a laptop displaying surveillance footage from the arcade’s CCTV cameras.

A knock sounded from outside. Blond Hair looked up. “Come in.”

The curtain was lifted, and a man stepped in, followed closely by a nervous-looking boy, probably around 18 or 19 years old.

“Where’s the money?” Blond Hair asked, directing his question to the boy.

The boy quickly fumbled through his pockets, pulling out a mess of wrinkled bills and a few coins. He placed the money on the table, his hands trembling.

Blond Hair gathered the cash and began counting. “Eighty… ninety… a hundred and ten. That’s enough. Give it to him.”

He nodded to a bespectacled man sitting beside him. The man unlocked the briefcase, pulled out two small plastic bottles filled with a dark brown liquid—each about 30 milliliters—and tossed them to the boy.

The boy caught the bottles with shaky hands and immediately turned to leave.

“Wait,” said the man who had brought him in, grabbing the boy by the collar. “Don’t leave so quickly. Hang around for a while so no one outside gets suspicious.”

The boy reluctantly nodded and stood awkwardly in a corner, clutching the bottles tightly. After a moment, he asked timidly, “If… if I need more next time, should I come back here to find you?”

The man laughed, ruffling the boy’s hair roughly. “We don’t stay in one spot for long. Don’t worry—we’ll find you when you need us.”

Blond Hair glanced at his watch and then spoke impatiently. “Alright, you can leave now. Keep those bottles hidden. Don’t let anyone see them.”

The boy stuffed the bottles into his pocket and slinked out of the room, thinking he was being stealthy. However, he ended up brushing past Wei Jiaxi, who was swaying wildly on a motorcycle simulator nearby.

Wei Jiaxi and Yang Zhen noticed everything.

After dismounting the motorcycle, they casually walked toward a claw machine near the entrance, their expressions calm.

Wei Jiaxi inserted a coin, moving the joystick aimlessly while keeping an eye on the private room. He muttered under his breath, “That kid earlier didn’t look old enough, did he?”

“Nope,” Yang Zhen replied, crossing his arms as he leaned forward to peer through the glass of the claw machine. “There’s been an increase in kids using that liquid around these streets lately. NB (Narcotics Bureau) has already taken notice. Tonight is probably not an isolated incident.”

“So, should we do something about it?” Wei Jiaxi shifted his gaze back to the machine, focusing on a Peppa Pig toy inside.

Yang Zhen shook his head. “We don’t know what NB’s plans are yet. Acting rashly would be against protocol.”

As if he had expected this answer, Wei Jiaxi rolled his eyes and pressed the claw machine button. A cheerful “ding!” sounded as a pink toy hairdryer dropped into the collection bin.

“You actually got it?” Yang Zhen’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Wow, young man, you should buy a lottery ticket!” a passing auntie with a child laughed.

Wei Jiaxi bent down to pick up the Peppa Pig toy, turning to a nearby high school student with a single-strap backpack. With a cocky yet charming move, he flicked his nose in mock arrogance.

The two then headed toward the exit.

As they neared the door, Wei Jiaxi suddenly paused. “Ah, those two glass bottles…”

In most places, empty glass bottles from drinks would be collected by the shop owner and sent back for recycling. Although someone would eventually clean up, both Wei Jiaxi and Yang Zhen had a peculiar relationship with the arcade owner—

He was well-acquainted with the place, so simple favors like this were usually met with politeness—being courteous never hurt, and it made it easier to bum a soda next time. Wei Jiaxi tossed the Peppa Pig plush to Yang Zhen. “I’ll handle this. You go ahead and bring the car around,” he said, jogging back into the arcade.

He approached the Batmobile machine, bent down to pick up the glass bottles, and handed them to a nearby cleaning lady, his eyes fixed on the door of the small board game room. One by one, the four men inside exited the room, with the blond man carrying a black briefcase. Wei Jiaxi turned to face a nearby gaming machine and waited until they had all walked past him. After a moment, he quietly followed them, slipping out of the arcade’s back door.

The alley was dimly lit, with only a few neon signs above casting light on the wet and grimy concrete. The narrow pathway was cluttered with debris. As Wei Jiaxi stepped out, he immediately spotted the four men at the end of the alley, counting crumpled bills in their hands. It was clear they were dividing their spoils.

“Hey! Police!” Wei Jiaxi shouted, striding toward them.

“What? Run, run!” The four men whipped their heads around in alarm and hastily stuffed the money into their pockets before turning to flee.

Wei Jiaxi had anticipated their reaction. Keeping his composure, he broke into a sprint, chasing after them. The blond man leading the group clutched the black briefcase tightly, not daring to look back. The lackeys trailing behind him began pulling down debris from both sides of the alley, throwing it to the ground to slow Wei Jiaxi down. Unfazed, Wei Jiaxi swatted away the falling clothes-drying poles and grabbed one, jabbing it forward to trip the last two men in the group.

“Stop running!” Wei Jiaxi ignored the fallen small fry, focusing his pursuit on the blond man. Reaching out, he grabbed the man by the shoulder, yanking him backward. The blond man, caught off guard, swung a punch in desperation.

Wei Jiaxi’s reflexes were far quicker than those of a street thug. Not only did he catch the punch, but he also twisted the man’s arm and shoved him against the wall. They wrestled against the base of the wall, and the briefcase was thrown aside. Just then, the sound of a police radio crackling came from outside the alley.

The blond man lunged for the briefcase, but Wei Jiaxi grabbed his leg and yanked him back, pinning him to the ground. Raising his fist, he prepared to strike.

“…Young Master Xi?!” the blond man cried out in terror.

Hearing this, Wei Jiaxi froze, his raised fist halting mid-air. He looked closer and found the man vaguely familiar.

“If Master Yi sees you, you’re done for,” the blond man blurted out, still trembling.

“Why are you here?” Wei Jiaxi finally recognized the man. “This isn’t Hongsheng’s territory. How dare you show up here?” By the time he finished speaking, he had grabbed the blond man by the collar and lifted him halfway off the ground, his tone dripping with anger.

“This area… has long been taken over by Hongsheng,” the blond man stammered, his voice shaking. The fear in his eyes was unmistakable. “Young Master Xi, you haven’t been back for years, so you wouldn’t know. Hongsheng has already taken control of several districts nearby…”

Wei Jiaxi’s expression grew darker, his anger barely contained. “…Don’t call me that,” he said through gritted teeth. He reached into his pocket, intending to take out his phone and call for backup.

Suddenly, one of the thugs grabbed a pole and swung it hard at his back, knocking him to the ground.

“Police! Everyone freeze!” A patrol officer’s voice echoed from the alley entrance, drawn by the commotion.

“Senior! It’s one of us!^[1]” Wei Jiaxi shouted as he struggled to turn over, his hand reaching for the briefcase. The blond man seized the moment to flee, dragging another thug with him. The remaining two were quickly subdued by the arriving patrol officers.

“Are you okay, Senior?” One of the officers ran to Wei Jiaxi’s side.

Wei Jiaxi clutched the briefcase in one hand while pulling out his badge with the other. Holding it up to the officer helping him, he shook his head. He handed the briefcase to the officer and instructed, “Possession and sale of hallucinogens^[2], possibly to minors as well. You know what to do. Ah, my poor back…” He groaned, clutching his lower back as he hobbled toward the alley’s exit.

At the mouth of the alley, as expected, Yang Zhen stood there with his arms crossed, glaring at him with an expression that could sour milk.


To be continued…

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