Chapter 148 Explosives Distribution Authority

Mia watched as Leon leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, thinking that this usually fearless boss had finally given up on this outrageous personnel arrangement.

She held her iced Americano and let out a weak, feeble laugh.

"Heh... Boss, are you desperate now?"

"I knew Chief Sterling was messing with us. This is basically a branch of Arkham Asylum. Maybe we should apply for…"

Mia was just about to say something more sarcastic and pessimistic.

"Bang!"

As a result, Leon slammed his hand on the table and sprang up from his chair like a zombie.

"what!"

The sudden jolt startled Mia so much that her hand trembled, and she almost spilled her iced Americano on the keyboard.

"Despair? Despair my ass!"

"This is absolutely fantastic!"

Lyon's eyes lit up, he grabbed the file folder on the table and shook it, his voice filled with barely suppressed excitement:

"A retired engineer who blew up the gate, and a psychopathic detective who enjoys mentally torturing people!"

"I need this kind of utterly shameless, brain-dead lunatic!"

Mia stared blankly at Leon, who was gesturing wildly.

A profound sense of despair instantly enveloped her.

She opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything for a long time. In the end, she could only cover her face in despair.

It’s over.

It's completely over.

So, after all this time, I'm the only normal human being in the entire ACU department?!

This lousy department is doomed to fail sooner or later!

Just as Mia was questioning her existence, a clear sound of footsteps came from outside the corridor.

Along with the footsteps came a burst of unrestrained and lively chatter.

Three figures appeared outside the half-open glass door of the office.

The woman walking on the far left was extremely petite and slender, definitely no taller than 1.6 meters.

She had long, fluffy blonde curly hair, snow-white skin, and a pair of bright blue eyes that revealed a mischievous and lively spirit.

The girl wore a black beret tilted to one side, a fitted white shirt, and a black coat.

Her lower body, however, featured a provocative white mini-skirt paired with tight black stockings and a pair of Doc Martens boots.

This outfit doesn't look like that of a policewoman reporting for duty; it looks more like that of a delinquent girl getting ready to go clubbing.

She was Chloe, the combat engineer who almost blew up the building.

The man standing next to her was a completely different story.

Dexter Simon.

He wore a slightly loose gray trench coat over a well-tailored suit vest and shirt, his tie was perfectly tied, and a pair of black-rimmed glasses without lenses sat on his nose.

Her hair was neatly combed back with hairspray, and a gentle smile played on her lips.

But coupled with his tall, muscular build, and the way his eyes, hidden behind his glasses, seemed to be sizing up prey…

This person exudes an aura of a refined scoundrel and a highly intelligent psychopath.

And walking on the far right is Lyon's old acquaintance, Ward.

Ward's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

Among a group of plainclothes special agents, he was still wearing his crisp, perfectly fitted dark blue patrol uniform, with the eight-piece suit hanging neatly at his waist. His brows were furrowed tightly, making him look extremely out of place and comical.

"Hey big guy, did you wander onto the wrong set?"

Chloe looked Ward up and down in his uniform, her tone casual and unrestrained:

"This is ACU, everyone here is on duty in plainclothes."

"You're dressed like a traffic cone walking down the street, are you planning to direct traffic at the intersection?"

"Chloe is right."

Simon, the seemingly refined scoundrel, adjusted his glasses, smiling broadly, and joined Chloe in their banter:

"Officer Ward, your uniform is certainly very intimidating."

"But if we're tracking a suspect, your attire would probably scare our target away from three blocks away. This is very detrimental to our ability to conduct efficient investigations."

"..."

Ward's eyes twitched violently, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

He had no intention of paying any attention to those two lunatics.

Ward avoided their gazes, internally screaming.

Plainclothes officers! Of course he knows ACU officers are plainclothes!

He only received the transfer order this morning and had just finished handing over his work when he was suddenly thrown into this situation this afternoon. He didn't even have time to go back to the locker room to change. What could he do? He was desperate!

Are you expecting me to come to the report naked?!

And all I wanted was to learn some practical combat skills from Commander Vance, so why was I grouped with Harley Quinn and Hannibal?!

Is this some kind of circus?!

Besides, you two have only just met, how come you're already so smoothly teaming up to criticize my outfit?!

Sergeant Danfoss was right; he had truly been blind to have any expectations of this department full of lunatics.

To end this tedious chatter as quickly as possible, Ward, with a dark expression, ignored the two guys next to him who were still winking and making faces, and walked straight past them. He then bent his finger and knocked heavily on the half-open glass door of the team leader's office.

"Come in."

Hearing the knock, Leon called out to the door.

As soon as the glass door was pushed open, Chloe, wearing Doc Martens, strode past Ward at the front like a gust of wind and arrived at Lyon's desk in just two steps.

"Hey boss! I'm Chloe Davis! Just call me Chloe!"

She smiled brightly, her golden curls swaying with her movements, and paired with her fiery black and white outfit, she looked excessively lively.

Simon followed her in at a leisurely pace, a polite smile on his lips, and nodded slightly to Lyon.

Wearing a crisp police uniform, Ward walked at the back with a dark expression, and closed the office door behind him.

Leon leaned back in his chair, looking at the three people whose styles were completely different, and casually tapped the manila file folder on the table.

"Alright, make yourself at home. No need for long self-introductions, I've already looked through your files."

Lyon looked at them, his tone indifferent.

"I know who among you blew up half a block with C4, who shoved the suspect's head into a trash can full of excrement, and who was throwing up in the passenger seat."

When Ward heard the last sentence, his eye twitched violently. He wanted to complain that it was clearly the Lyon that was speeding, but he held back.

Chloe stuck out her tongue without a hint of guilt, while Simon maintained that chillingly polite smile.

"Tell me something that's not in the files."

Lyon crossed his fingers and placed them under his chin.

Chloe immediately raised her hand and began to speak with great interest.

"Boss, I can not only demolish walls, I'm also an expert in mixing all kinds of non-standard explosives! Given enough ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder, I can send an entire concrete building flying into the sky!"

Simon gently chimed in from the side, his voice soft:

"I'm personally quite good at listening, sir. Give me a soundproof room and plenty of time, and I can get even the most stubborn suspect to confide in me about the details of his bedwetting when he was three years old."

Ward stood to the side, expressionless, and managed to utter a few words: "Ward, sir, I just want to learn more practical experience from you."

Lyon looked them over and then clapped his hands in satisfaction.

"Great! Very energetic!"

He stood up, placed his hands on the table, and leaned forward slightly:

Let me tell you about the rules here.

"This is ACU, the undercover special operations unit. We don't need to wear uniforms and go out on the street to issue tickets every day."

"Here, the rules are more relaxed, and everything is based on performance."

"No matter what methods you use, as long as you can bring back the people who should be arrested and shut down the place, that's good."

At this point, Lyon's gaze swept meaningfully between Chloe and Simon several times, his voice turning colder:

"But don't mess things up, and don't cause me any trouble I can't handle. Anyone who dares to act recklessly will be the first one kicked out."

Ward, standing behind, followed Leon's gaze and glanced at the two men. He sneered inwardly. Sure enough, his superior knew perfectly well that these two were not normal humans.

"Now, go outside and find Deputy Team Leader Harrison. Have him give you a brief introduction to the specific situation of the jurisdiction and the work at hand."

Leon waved his hand, indicating that they could get lost.

The three nodded and turned to leave.

"etc."

Just as Chloe turned around, Leon suddenly called out to her.

"Chloe, you stay."

Then, Leon turned to look at Mia, who was sitting next to him slacking off: "Mia, you can go out too."

Mia, who was holding an iced Americano, paused for a moment.

She glanced at Chloe, who was petite and wearing a miniskirt and black stockings, and then at Leon, who had solemnly asked her to stay.

Holy crap?

Mia rolled her eyes inwardly.

Is this boss starting again? Openly engaging in illicit activities in the office during broad daylight? Aren't they even going to try to cover it up?!

She gave a forced smile and said, "Okay, boss. You guys can 'chat' all you want."

After saying that, Mia picked up her coffee cup, rolled her eyes, and walked out of the office, "thoughtfully" closing the door behind her.

Leon had no idea what kind of nonsense was going through Mia's head. He simply didn't want too many people to hear the next topic, and it was all Mia's overthinking.

As soon as the door closed, Chloe moved closer to the desk, resting her hands on the surface, her bright blue eyes fixed on Leon with a mixture of curiosity and eagerness.

Lyon sat back down in his chair, his expression turning serious.

"Chloe, let me ask you something. Before you were transferred to ACU, did anyone talk to you about your specific tasks after the transfer, or mention any special arrangements?"

Chloe looked a little strange and tilted her head:

"I'm here to continue doing my original job. I used to work in demolition, so of course I'll be responsible for demolition-related work here as well."

Lyon frowned:

"We are an undercover special operations team. Our main tasks are to conduct reconnaissance, surveillance, and surprise arrests."

"The Seattle Police Department has never granted the ACU authorization to use explosives to breach doors; that's a rule of engagement only for SWAT. You won't find any explosives here."

"So, what exactly happened? Who shoved you here?"

Chloe blinked and spread her hands innocently:

"I don't know either, boss."

"Anyway, someone from above told me that as long as I came to ACU, I could continue playing with explosives, so I signed the papers immediately."

Lyon looked at the girl's nonchalant attitude, seemingly only concerned with whether there was any explosives to play with, and was somewhat speechless:

"You're really naive. You'd do anything for playing with explosives?"

Chloe, completely oblivious to her terrorist identity, readily accepted the remark with a grin and nodded.

"Thanks for the compliment, boss! I also think I'm pretty pure; an explosion is art, after all!"

Seeing her nonchalant attitude, Leon waved his hand and said, "Alright, you can go find Harrison now."

"Okay!" Chloe turned around and skipped out the door.

The office fell silent again.

Leon sat down in the chair and took out his phone.

This is definitely not normal.

Sterling couldn't have just shoved a violent rioter into the plainclothes unit for no reason, especially with the promise that she could use explosives.

Could it be that Sterling, taking advantage of the reputation and achievements he made in the industrial zone recently, pressed his superiors to force the ACU to grant them access to heavy firepower or explosives, a privilege usually reserved for SWAT personnel?

If that's the case, then Sterling's actions were quite swift.

Lyon pulled out Raymond Garcia's number, intending to ask the executive butler what was going on.

Just as Leon's finger pressed the dial button...

"Beep beep—beep beep—"

A monotonous cell phone ring suddenly came through the glass door of the office, the sound growing closer and closer.

Immediately afterwards, the glass door was pushed open with someone's shoulder.

Raymond Garcia, carrying a thick stack of documents, squeezed in breathlessly while fumbling for his ringing phone in his pocket.

"Isn't that a coincidence?"

Lyon looked at the person who had arrived, then immediately pressed the call button on his phone, and the ringing of the cell phone outside the door stopped abruptly.

"I was just about to look for you, Garcia."

"You think I wanted to come here?"

Raymond rolled his eyes in annoyance, walked to his desk, and slammed the heavy stack of documents onto the surface with a bang, panting heavily.

"Director Sterling is treating me like a donkey. These are all new organizational documents and equipment approval forms for your ACU. My wrist is about to break from signing them."

Leon raised an eyebrow and pointed in the direction Chloe had left through the door:

"That's exactly what I was going to ask you. What's with that retired engineer who's obsessed with explosives? Did Sterling promise her access to explosives?"

"Not just her, but the entire ACU."

Raymond pulled over a chair, slumped down without any regard for appearances, and loosened his tie.

"You know about this. The commotion in the industrial area a while ago was huge. Military rifles, mercenaries, machine gun fire—those labels terrified the rich people in Seattle. Didn't you even attend the charity dinner the director specially organized for this?"

"In the past few days, our West District Police Station has received a large emergency security allocation from the mayor and those wealthy businessmen."

"Chief Sterling also took advantage of this public opinion to directly make demands of the mayor and the director-general. Those two are now swayed by public opinion and have no choice but to give her the green light all the way."

"The director took the opportunity to invoke Section 1033."

Raymond rummaged through the pile of documents on the table and pulled out an approval document stamped with a red seal, then pushed it in front of Lyon.

"Section 1033 is a federal law that allows the Department of Defense to transfer surplus military equipment to local law enforcement agencies. Usually, only heavily armed SWAT teams with counterterrorism capabilities would apply for it."

"But the director, citing your encounter with heavily armed mercenaries, forcibly granted ACU the authority to form a tactical mixed formation."

Raymond tapped the table and said, enunciating each word clearly:

"In other words, from today onwards, the nature of your ACU has changed."

"You are no longer ordinary plainclothes anti-crime squads, but have been officially upgraded to high-risk tactical counter-infiltration advance teams. Of course, the missions will remain the same for now."

Lyon took the document and glanced at it.

The equipment list above surprised him somewhat. In addition to the usual bulletproof vests and assault rifles, it did indeed list the allocation of directional explosive cords, stun grenades, and even some light tactical breaching explosives.

"So, we can legally blow up the door now?" Leon asked.

"Theoretically yes. The permissions have been granted."

Raymond shrugged and explained:

"However, as you know, the law enforcement procedures are a classic case of hypocrisy."

"Even if the bureau grants you the authority to be issued explosives, if your team does not have technicians with professional bomb disposal and tactical demolition qualifications, the armory will absolutely not approve half a gram of gunpowder for you."

"Just like how you had to get a marksman certification before you could use that M24 sniper rifle. Without a professional license, if an accident happens, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will have something to say."

Raymond gestured with his chin towards the door:

"Chloe, the one kicked out of SWAT, was specifically brought in for you by the director. With her, your ACU can legitimately take those explosives out of the armory."

"But don't get too excited yet."

Raymond quickly added, fearing that Leon might actually lead his men to blow up the building:

"The initial equipment you receive won't be that amazing; at most, it'll be some directional breaching patches and flashbangs. If you don't cause any major mishaps that collapse the building in the coming period, and your performance is good enough, then you can unlock more equipment."