Chapter 19: Masters Among the People

“Julia, the director wants you to sign these documents. The administrative leave is set for one month, but based on your psychological evaluation, it can be reduced to half a month, depending on your condition.”

Julia is the English name of Li Siyao. Outside working hours, everyone usually calls her by her first name rather than her title.

Here in Dapiao Liang, after a cop shoots someone, they get paid leave—well, administrative leave—generally lasting one to three months, depending on the situation.

After signing, Li Siyao stared at the female officer before her for a long moment. Then, quite abruptly, she embraced the officer and sniffed her, a joyful expression lighting up her face as she looked at Yang Jie.

“She has no scent!”

Yang Jie immediately covered his forehead. “Siyao, it’s very uncivilized to suddenly sniff an adult woman!”

The female officer looked surprised, but Li Siyao held her close like a polar bear hugging a husky, sitting down on the sofa, and spoke in Longguo dialect.

“She’s been with me since I became a cop. Now she’s a sergeant. She’s taken six administrative leaves over five years—all for black ops missions, similar to your taste. Last year, she went to Los Angeles for special operations training and excelled. I think she’s great!”

“Do you know her background well? Besides, she’s a purebred Dapiao Liang native. Would she abandon her family and career to return with us? If she brought a bunch of relatives, I wouldn’t agree!”

Looking at the female officer’s doll-like face and petite figure, Yang Jie was speechless. Women of such appearance and build were extremely rare in Dapiao Liang.

Female officers here were usually broad-shouldered and sturdy. Even those with nice figures had hips wider than their shoulders, giving them a powerful presence—not this fragile-looking beanpole!

Li Siyao smiled warmly. “She’s the only normal one left in the precinct. Her father ran away when she was a child, and when she grew up, her mother was shot and killed by an old black addict named Feiyezi.”

“Due to her upbringing, she despises the LGBT community and harbors intense hatred for Feiyezi and the black gang!”

Yang Jie glanced at the group of women.

“Any opinions?”

Cui Huizhu waved her hand, signaling non-involvement. Sophia had no objections either. Finally, Zhao Baitong spoke up.

“Siyao, you should ask her opinion. We don’t want to decide something she doesn’t want.”

Li Siyao immediately looked at the female officer. Without trusted allies in the precinct, one would be utterly sidelined.

This female officer was the one most influenced by Li Siyao. The other trusted ones were decent but all had families.

In a way, this officer had been half ‘sinicized’ by Li Siyao.

After some discussion, Chris said she needed a few days to think it over, since Li Siyao hadn’t explained the reasons clearly, only mentioning the whole family’s plan to return home, implying they might not come back.

***

After Chris left, everyone began discussing and tallying the day’s acquisitions.

Based on each person’s report of items and quantities, they crossed off items from the list. They also noted miscellaneous goods purchased according to each person’s preferences.

Though they didn’t know if these would be useful now, it was better to have them than not when the time came. With so much cash, money could still be used after the apocalypse, but its depreciation was terrifyingly fast—on par with a stock market crash.

Sophia excitedly spoke first.

“I ordered two Robinson R44 Raven light four-seat helicopters and a Sikorsky S92 helicopter.”

“Pfft!”

Yang Jie nearly spat out blood, staring blankly at Sophia.

“How much?”

“I bought top-of-the-line models—thirty million dollars in total!”

Yang Jie clutched his chest, looking like he was about to cough up blood.

Sophia rolled her eyes indignantly. “Hey, stop pretending. Although you didn’t say it, everyone knows—isn’t the apocalypse coming?”

Yang Jie fell silent instantly. After taking a drag of his cigarette, he calmly asked, “How did you know?”

Sophia looked around and smiled. “Someone who values money more than life, selling off all assets and frantically buying huge amounts of supplies and weapons—what else could it be but the end of the world?”

“Since it’s the apocalypse, we naturally have to buy things we’ll need. And don’t forget, I set up an apocalypse group chat. Everyone’s discussing it. As the saying goes in Longguo: ‘The masters are among the people.’”

“I just asked in the group what the best vehicle would be for the end of days. Many recommended helicopters. If I could get one, I’d even buy a CH-53E Super Stallion!”

Yang Jie gasped. The women guessed correctly that he wasn’t surprised—he hadn’t intended to hide it.

But Sophia’s appetite genuinely alarmed him. The CH-53E Super Stallion was Dapiao Liang’s largest transport helicopter—more impressive than a Chinook.

It had a fierce temperament and was outrageously expensive. If you really wanted to buy one, it would cost at least 135 million dollars—but even then, it’s basically priceless and not for sale by the military.

“Alright, you bought well, but have you thought about one thing?”

“What?”

Sophia looked puzzled.

“Did you buy aviation kerosene and aviation gasoline?”

***

Sophia suddenly broke out in a sweat.

“God above, I forgot!”

Yang Jie immediately gave orders. “Tomorrow, go buy aviation kerosene and gasoline. Best to buy directly from the refinery. Control the quantity yourselves!”

“Understood!”

Yang Jie was truly impressed by this old fox.

After Sophia finished, Sharapova pulled out a box, smiling.

“I bought some experimental equipment and chemical reagents. But the biggest score today was on the black market—I bought two spacesuits!”

Yang Jie sat up straight, his eyes blazing as he stared at Sharapova.

“No way! Really? Are they for indoor or outdoor use?”

Indoor spacesuits didn’t impress Yang Jie much, but if these were outdoor suits, they were a real jackpot.

Don’t blame Yang Jie for valuing them so highly. A spacesuit sounds like just a garment, but it’s actually a miniature life-support system. It can withstand temperatures up to 120 degrees Celsius and as low as minus 150 degrees or colder.

Such gear, properly used or modified, would be invaluable for extreme weather.

When scorching heat arrives, you want to wear as little as possible outside—but how long can you stay out? A portable spacesuit would allow you to venture out for much longer—imagine the advantage!

“Of course they’re outdoor suits. Indoor ones wouldn’t cost this much!”

Grabbing the box, Yang Jie eagerly pulled out two thick white spacesuits inside. His eyes nearly popped out.

“These look like the latest models! Each must be worth over a hundred million! Where did you get the money?”

Sharapova handed him a receipt.

“Ten million per set. The seller was contacted via the dark web. They’re probably leaked from NASA.”