My Milf Conqueror System novel Chapter 227

Chapter 227: The Shield

[Jake’s POV]

The message was delivered, but the underlying problem remained.

The penthouse of the Golden Koi was dark. Floor-to-ceiling windows made the room feel like it was floating above Macau. Outside, the city buzzed with neon and traffic, but inside it was quiet. Too quiet.

The only light came from a secure tablet on the glass table. It cast a cold blue glow across my face and across the polished surface. Every time I swiped, the screen made a soft hiss.

I was reviewing the municipal police deployment maps. Red lines and blue dots moved slowly under my finger. The tablet was warm from use.

Li sat across from me. A cup of tea rested untouched in front of her. Steam rose from it in a thin white curl, then disappeared into the cold air. The room smelled faintly of jasmine and dust.

The air conditioning blew down from a vent above us. It was too strong. It raised goosebumps on the back of my neck and made the papers on the table shift slightly.

"Lin will not retaliate immediately," Li said. Her voice was low. She didn’t look up. Her eyes were scanning the reports, reflecting the blue light. "Your strike was too precise. He will be paranoid, wondering how we found his chop shop so quickly and how we bypassed his security in the dark. He will assume we have a mole in his organization."

The glass table made a soft sound when I set the tablet down.

"Paranoia buys us time," I said. "But it doesn’t solve the police issue."

My voice echoed a little in the big room.

"The Four Dragons have deep pockets," I continued. "If they can’t beat us on the street, they’ll use their political connections to pressure the local authorities into raiding our parlors and shutting down our collection routes."

Li finally looked up. The light caught the edge of her face. "The Outer Harbour precinct has always been lenient. My husband established a comfortable arrangement with the local captains years ago."

"The local captains don’t matter if the pressure comes from the top," I countered. The words felt heavy. "We need a shield. Someone high enough in the municipal government to block any targeted investigations into the Golden Koi, and to look the other way while we continue to expand."

I reached up and tapped my earpiece. The plastic was warm against my skin. A faint static crackled before Claire answered.

"Claire, who is the primary liaison between the Macau police force and the organized crime division?"

There was a pause. Keyboard clicks came through faintly. "Pulling the organizational charts now," Claire replied, her voice crisp in my ear. "The Organized Crime and Triad Bureau is headed by Chief Superintendent Valerie Cho. She’s a rising star in the department. Hardline, ambitious, and completely clean. Internal affairs has audited her three times in the last five years, and they haven’t found a single dirty pataca."

I leaned back. The leather chair creaked under me.

"Nobody is completely clean," I murmured. "Everyone has leverage. You just have to dig deep enough to find it."

"I’m running a deep dive on her financials, communications, and personal history," Nia chimed in. Her voice overlapped with Claire’s for half a second. "But she practices excellent operational security. She doesn’t use unsecured networks, and her bank accounts are standard government issue."

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