HLM – Chapter 61 A Different Kind of Law

Since a fight was inevitable, there was no point hesitating. Back in his youth, Old Wang had attended a township school and was a battle-hardened veteran—after all, during the era when gangster movies were all the rage, students, whether good or bad, fought constantly.

So, Old Wang had long accumulated plenty of combat experience, and the tactics in small group brawls were simple: endure the blows, hit back harder, and finish it quickly!

He kicked the burly man in the chest, sending him flying, and then charged forward with fists swinging. He didn’t rely on any fancy martial arts—he just shielded his head with one arm, hunched his body, and swung his other fist with all his might!

In street fights, you generally shouldn’t use your legs too much—once you’re knocked down, you’re done for.

Fortunately, even with just his fists, Old Wang was ferocious enough. After all, he was a beast in human form with the heart of a lord—his punches packed the power of a heavyweight professional boxer. He rarely needed a second punch; each one dropped an opponent.

A dozen or so thugs charged at him together. After taking a few hits, Wang Bo quickly knocked down half of them. The rest panicked and lost their nerve, too afraid to keep fighting.

Just then, two more of them screamed and collapsed to the ground, twitching violently. The last two or three were scared out of their wits and immediately backed away.

Wang Bo didn’t even need to look—he knew those two were taken down by Eva’s high-voltage stun gun. Chances were they’d lose control of their bodily functions for the rest of the day.

Eva’s voice came from behind him: “Hey, Officer Wang, pepper spray!”

Only then did Wang Bo remember—damn it, he’d been so blinded by rage at the thug with the scorpion tattoo that he’d completely forgotten the pepper spray he’d just taken out.

But it wasn’t needed anymore. The remaining few were so terrified they didn’t dare make another move. They jumped on their motorcycles, wishing their parents had given them wheels instead of legs at birth.

Old Wang grabbed one of the fleeing thugs, shouting, “All of you get the hell off those bikes! You’re all under suspicion of assaulting a police officer—get on the ground!”

Eva calmly called for backup. Two police cars arrived quickly—this time, Chief Smith himself led the team.

“What’s going on, Wang? You again?” the chief asked, looking over the heap of unconscious men and then back at Wang Bo with a face full of exasperation.

Wang Bo explained the situation. Robert walked over, grabbed the thug with the scorpion tattoo on his face, and snapped handcuffs on him with a click. He sneered, “Ali, you’ve really gone too far—assaulting an officer now?”

The tattooed man was crying and sniffling, clearly shaken by Wang Bo’s kick. He shouted in panic, “Shit, shit, shit! That yellow monkey’s really a cop? No way! Since when did Oak City get a Chinese cop?!”

“Not just assault—racism too,” Robert said as he patted the guy’s face. “Get ready to spend some time in jail.”

At that moment, Wang Bo finally understood: the thugs had dared attack him not because they weren’t afraid of the police, but because they didn’t believe he was one. They thought he was wearing a fake badge.

All the thugs were taken into custody, including the stylish Mexican guy, Juan, who was also brought in.

After just one meal, the two of them were back at the police station—but their roles had switched. Juan was now the suspect, while Wang Bo was the witness.

“What the hell happened?” Wang Bo asked, handing Juan a cup of coffee.

He was used to being the one receiving coffee—now that he was the one handing it out, it felt great. Power really was a wonderful thing.

Old Wang had a feeling: once Sunset Town grew bigger, he would love the decision he had made to turn his territory into a township.

Juan looked downcast but dodged the question. “Thank you for saving me, Mayor Wang. If it weren’t for you today, I’d be in big trouble.”

To be honest, Wang Bo had a good impression of Juan. He was a passionate and upright young man. At the dinner table earlier, he had shown great respect to both Wang Bo and Eva, none of the usual frivolousness or arrogance common among young people—he made a good impression.

Since Juan didn’t want to talk about it, Wang Bo didn’t press. After all, this wasn’t his jurisdiction. He had no legal authority here, and certainly no right to act as judge.

Later, when the interrogation results came out, Wang Bo was shocked after reading the report.

Juan was an accountant who had previously worked for a finance company. When the company’s boss fled the country, Juan was scapegoated for cooking the books and went to jail. He’d only recently been released.

As for the gangsters, they weren’t exactly villains in this situation. They had been hired by investors to recover debts by force. In a sense, they were trying to help people who had been swindled by that finance company.

They had found Juan because a victim had spotted him on Strawfield Street and alerted the others.

Unfortunately for them, they mistook Wang Bo for an accomplice of Juan’s, thinking he was another conman—so they tried to beat him up. And then… well, they got wrecked.

Assaulting a police officer is a serious crime in any country. Just like the time Wang Bo clashed with those guys from the “Bloody Nose Finance” firm—they all ended up in jail.

But this time, things took a turn—Wang Bo was the one getting the short end of the stick. The gangsters hired a lawyer and planned to sue him!

When Wang Bo first heard about it, he thought it was laughable. But Judy seriously warned him: “You better get a lawyer. If you don’t have one, apply for legal aid. Don’t underestimate this case.”

She explained to him that New Zealand was different from other countries. It placed a heavy emphasis on human rights—and criminals were still people who deserved protection under the law.

That’s why New Zealand police couldn’t use excessive force even when catching thieves or robbers. And ordinary citizens had it worse—even if they caught a criminal red-handed, they weren’t allowed to hurt them. For instance, if a thief broke into someone’s house and the homeowner knocked them out with a chair, the homeowner could be sued…

After hearing that, Wang Bo was dumbfounded. “Damn, the laws in New Zealand are insane!”

Judy offered to help him apply for free legal aid, which wouldn’t cost him anything. But she warned that New Zealand’s court system wasn’t like China’s—if you tried to cut corners, it could bite you hard.

In the end, Wang Bo had no choice but to call in his own lawyer. He phoned Attorney Mueller and told him he was at the police station.

Mueller said, “Listen, kid—don’t answer a single question from the police. Stay silent until I get there.”

In fact, under New Zealand law, anything a suspect said before seeing a lawyer could be overturned. But after a lawyer was present, any statements made would be binding.

Mueller was highly professional. He arrived at the station in under half an hour.

After hearing the case details, he smiled confidently. “Don’t worry, there’s nothing to fear. I’ll talk to their lawyers—no need to go to court.”

The thugs had hired two lawyers. After Mueller had a brief chat with them, they nodded and agreed to persuade their clients to drop the lawsuit against Wang Bo.