"Kai, do we really need to guard this place every day?" The younger brother asked helplessly.

"Of course, it's necessary." Zhou Kai nodded and said, "This is our cash cow. Without it, where would our salary and year-end bonuses come from?"

"That..." The younger brother paused briefly and then chuckled, saying, "You've got a point. But, it's been so long without any incidents, do we really need so many people guarding it every day?"

"It's our job." Zhou Kai looked at him and said, "Take it seriously."

"Alright." The younger brother nodded helplessly.

Meanwhile, as Zhou Kai and his team were patrolling outside, a group of girls suddenly burst out of Haiqing Pool. These girls, scantily clad, were terrified and disheveled.

"Terrible, terrible, there's a fire!"

"Quick, put out the fire!"

The girls ran frantically in all directions, and among the crowd were not just girls, but also customers. Some were downstairs getting massages, while others were upstairs for leisure. In short, a large number of people swarmed out from inside.

At this moment, thick smoke began to billow out from inside Haiqing Pool.

"No good!" Zhou Kai shouted, "Quick, get in and fight the fire!"

Zhou Kai immediately led more than a dozen younger brothers to rush in. The blaze inside was intense, starting at the staircase, and the wooden stairs had already begun to burn fiercely, with black smoke crazily rushing up towards the ceiling.

"Damn it, go get water. Put out the fire!" Zhou Kai roared.

He led the way straight into the bathroom, then took a hose out and sprayed the flames with it like crazy.

The other dozen or so younger brothers each grabbed pots and pans to fight the fire.

The fire was huge, and as Haiqing Pool had many wool carpets laid out, it was difficult to control quickly. However, the effects of Zhou Kai and his team's efforts were clear, as they managed to control the fire from spreading over a larger area.

Soon after, fire engines arrived with sirens blaring.

With the help of two fire engines and more than ten firefighters, the flames were finally brought under control and were quickly extinguished.

Firefighters started investigating the cause of the fire on the scene. Before long, the police cars from the local police station also arrived, with Zhang Wenhui leading another male officer to the scene. Zhang Wenhui didn't say a word and went straight inside, where the smoke was thick, covering his nose and mouth with a handkerchief. Zhou Kai and his team had already come out.

"Captain Zhang, I'm glad you're here." Zhou Kai grabbed Zhang Wenhui and said, "This must have been arson."

"Why do you think so?" Zhang Wenhui asked, puzzled.

"It's simple, the fire started at the staircase." Zhou Kai said, "What could possibly ignite a fire at the staircase?"

"I'll go take a look." After hearing Zhou Kai's statement, Zhang Wenhui immediately crawled into the chaotic Haiqing Pool and then went to the staircase to investigate. He hoped the staircase would provide some clues.

After reaching the staircase, Zhang Wenhui looked around. From the first to the third floor was a grand wooden staircase responsible for leading upstairs. Moreover, this staircase area was the least eye-catching place. If what Zhou Kai said was correct, then this place should definitely reveal some traces. So, Zhang Wenhui immediately went under the stairs to take a closer look.

Indeed, a black stain on the ground caught Zhang Wenhui's attention.

Zhang Wenhui immediately went forward, touched the black stain on the ground, and his hand came away with a black smear of ash.

"Is this gasoline?" Zhang Wenhui was taken aback.

When he saw the black smear of ash, Zhang Wenhui's first thought was that it looked like remnants from burning gasoline. After touching it, it turned out to be true. As someone with eight years of military service and more than twenty years as a police officer, he had this much judgment power.

Zhang Wenhui immediately took pictures at the scene, then proceeded with a series of evidence collection before leaving Haiqing Pool.

As Zhang Wenhui came out, Lin Chuan had already arrived at the scene. The fire at Haiqing Pool seemed very suspicious; if it was not arson, then something supernatural was going on. Lin Chuan listened to Zhou Kai and the others' chaotic words, but he had not yet made a judgment.

"Captain Zhang, what's the situation?" Lin Chuan hurried over.

"Preliminary judgment, it's arson." Zhang Wenhui said.

"Arson?" Lin Chuan looked astonished and said, "So, someone did it on purpose? Who would that be?"

"Northeast Tiger, it has to be Northeast Tiger." Zhou Kai was suddenly furious and said, "It must have been Northeast Tiger. Who else's interests are hurt by the existence of Haiqing Pool? Only Northeast Tiger's."

Lin Chuan narrowed his eyes. His first thought was also Northeast Tiger. After all, Haiqing Pool directly competed with Tsinghua University Pool. Plus, Haiqing Pool had indeed taken a lot of business away from Tsinghua University Pool recently. Perhaps this angered Northeast Tiger, so it was quite logical for him to be furious enough to commit arson.

"Hold on." Lin Chuan said, "Doesn't Haiqing Pool's lobby have security cameras? Let's check them."

Upon hearing this, everyone hurried into the security room to check.

Unfortunately, the situation inside the security room was grim; several critical hard drives had been taken.

"Damn!" Zhou Kai cursed angrily. "Brother Chuan, the hard drives are gone."

"The hard drives are gone?" Lin Chuan was startled, saying, "Your security measures are way too lax, aren't they? How could someone break into the security room?"

"This..." Zhou Kai and others looked embarrassed.

"Brother Chuan, this… this is all our fault." Lu Dapao said shamefully, "We found staying in the security room boring, so... when there was nothing to do, we'd come down and chat with the patrolling guys, bragging around. Just... we never expected this to happen."

"You guys!" Lin Chuan felt speechless.

Zhang Wenhui took a drag of his cigarette and said, "Let's report this case to our police station. We'll handle the investigation."

"Okay." Lin Chuan nodded, "Another day when I'm free, I'll personally visit Director Liu at the station."

"Alright." Zhang Wenhui gave Lin Chuan a meaningful look.

After Zhang Wenhui collected some evidence at the scene, he and the male officer hurriedly returned to the police station.

The site of the fire was in disarray. Even though the fire had been extinguished, the sheer volume of dark, black water flowing down from the stairs suddenly gave off an impression as if water was flooding the mountain temple. Lin Chuan took a deep breath and said, "Damn, business will be delayed for many days again, seems like we'll have to renovate once more."

"This mess, wouldn't that be a loss of over a million?" Zhou Kai exclaimed in shock.

"Yes!" Lin Chuan nodded.

"Damn it!" Upon hearing this, Lu Dapao became furious, "I'm going to get some guys and settle this with the Northeast Tiger right now!"

With that, Lu Dapao turned around to leave. Lin Chuan glared at him and scolded, "Stay right there!"

"Brother Chuan, we can't just take this lying down," Lu Dapao said angrily. "Last time, that bitch destroyed our venue and we suffered a hefty loss. This time, the bastard secretly set fire to our place. This is... absolutely intolerable. We can't stand by anymore."

Lin Chuan glanced at Lu Dapao and asked, "Do you have any evidence?"

"I..." Lu Dapao faltered, then clenched his teeth and said, "I stake my head on it, it was definitely done by Northeast Tiger."

"How much is your head worth!" Zhou Kai retorted.

"I... what should we do then?" Lu Dapao asked.

"It's not certain that it was the Northeast Tiger, but we can't rule out the possibility it was him," Lin Chuan sneered. "To a large extent, this might have been done by someone from Northeast Tiger. But indeed, we have no concrete evidence."

"Then let's start a war." Lu Dapao gripped a sharp machete.

"Hmph." Lin Chuan snorted coldly, "Do you think you can take on Northeast Tiger's people?"

"Aren't you with us, Brother Chuan?" Zhou Kai said with a grin.

"Last time it was luck, but after such a big incident this time, do you think you're always going to be that lucky?" Lin Chuan glanced at them and said, "You should learn to grow up. And not let your asses decide for your heads. Get it?"

"I... I..." Zhou Kai awkwardly smiled and said, "We were just a bit impulsive."

"Men get impulsive, but growing up means being able to control that emotion," Lin Chuan patted Zhou Kai's shoulder and said, "Get someone to clean up the site quickly, we start renovating again tomorrow."

"Yes!" Zhou Kai nodded, hesitated, and then asked, "Brother Chuan, are we really just going to take this lying down?"

"Of course not." Lin Chuan shook his head, "Since this matter is highly related to Northeast Tiger, let's go meet with Northeast Tiger."

"Great!" Zhou Kai was instantly interested.

Zhou Kai drove the Jinbei van, with Lin Chuan in the passenger seat, Zhao Zhonghai, Lu Dapao, and others got in the van one after another, and they sped off towards Qinghua Pool. Haiqing Pool was only about one kilometer away from Qinghua Pool, just through an intersection and they would quickly reach Qinghua Pool.

At the entrance of Qinghua Pool, more than a dozen younger brothers were scattered around, four of them stood at the main entrance, while the rest were spread out in the parking lot. These men were posing as security guards, greeting customers to park and occasionally helping guests with parking, earning some tips.

Screech...

Suddenly, a grey and white Jinbei van stopped at the entrance.

The young brothers at the entrance, recognizing the van, immediately heightened their alert. As rivals in the Eastern City District, they kept these license plates in mind. This Jinbei van belonged to people from Haiqing Pool, so the young brothers immediately stood up and walked towards the entrance.

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