“So, uh, Detective Cai?” Unfortable on the bumpy taxi ride to the South-Eastern District, Mick asked: “Where are we going, specifically?”

  “Are you hungry?” Marcus shrugged and chuckled.

  “Well, yeah, I could eat. But why?”

  “You don’t e here very often, do you Mick?” Marcus looked out the window as the taxi slowed down before a traffic light and a small group of locals rushed through the crosswalk before the green light was even on.

  “I’ve e here twice, maybe three times.” Mick looked out the window, with no iion to hide his curiosity: “But I’ve never been here on duty, so…”

  “The entire South-Eastern District?” Marcus chuckled: “Why?”

  “You know how the parents in South-Western District are. They don’t really like other districts that much, maybe just the tral part of the Northern District.” Mick sighed: “I’ve spent more time in other cities thaher two districts. Maybe if I joined a teology or import-export pany, I would have spent more time in the Northern District, but here? Yeah, maybe only for the occasional volunteer work and cultural t. Well - at least that’s my parents and their friends.”

  “Sounds cozy enough.”

  “Yeah, but it’s als, and - I don’t know how best to describe this - ” Mick looked Marcus in the eye and shrugged: “It’s like everything is coated with sugar, and soap bubbles, you know?”

  “’t say I do.” Marcus alsed, and opehe door of the taxi when it stopped on the side of the road: “But here’s nothing but down and dirty for you. Hope you have a good stomach.”

  “Hey! You fot the cab fee!” When Mick got off the taxi, the driver yelled at him and Marcus: “Pay up! Now!”

  “Newbie?” Marucs smiled and patted Mi the shoulder.

  About a five minute walk from where they got off the taxi, Mick followed Marcus into a pedestrian-only street with street vendors and humble snad street food stands on both sides. This street looked better ahan many others, and much er. And thus there seemed to be more tourists.

  “Where are we heading to?” Mick was distracted by the wide variety of food s along the street and the homey and spicy smell: “There’s plenty of food here.”

  “Just a bit ahead of us.” Marcus pointed forward: “The best Noodle iire city.”

  “Chef Shinzo’s Ramen?” Mick asked: “Didn’t know they opened up a ore here.”

  “What? No!” Marcus almost ughed out loud as he led Mito a wooden arch painted red with golden patterns and had red nterns hanging on the side: “Believe me, long lines and ridiculous prices don’t always mean good food. Here we are - Chef Tang’s.”

  “Good m, Marcus.” The middle-aged waitress led Marcus to a booth in the er: “The usual for you? And what about your friend here?”

  “Actually, I have a special request.” Marcus took out a folded note from his jacket and ha to the waitress: “It’s a big favor, I know. But I believe it will be mutually beneficial.”

  “I see. I’ll ask the chef.” The waitress hen turo Mick: “What about you, young man?”

  “And I would like ynature beef hand-pulled noodle soup please.” Mick took a look at Marcus and hahe menu back to the waitress.

  “I see, ing right up.”

  The waitress went back to the kit after p them some tea.

  “Okay, so, this will be a doozy of a first day.” Marcus smiled: “But here’s my advice: be kind to the people in the South-Eastern District. Yes, our prect is teically in your district, but the area we’re responsible for spans across the border, and you’ll be dealing with people from different crowds. And as you tell, this is not just another noodle shop - they dabble in intelligerading as well.”

  “Oh - okay.” Mick seemed a little put off: “So - the owner of this restaurant is a CI?”

  “No, pretty far from a or an informant of any kind. But just intelligence dealers.” Marcus shook his head: “I am not their hahey don’t have handlers. And they are not under our and by any stretch of the definition. The first thing you o know when w with the local unities here is they have a differeionship to the city than residents of other districts.”

  “I uand, is it because of the existence of the unity collective?”

  “No, it’s BECAUSE they have a differeionship to the city that they have a unity collective.” Marcus smiled: “Be ready for a world of headache if you think it the other way.”

  Mick hesitated, seemingly curious about what was on Marcus’ he was not sure if it was a good idea to ask. Just this moment, the waitress came back, with a bowl of beef noodle soup and a bowl of thick soup with tofu, sliced wood ear and egg inside.

  “Thanks.” Mick’s eyes opened wide as the smell from the noodle soup hit him: “Oh my - this is incredible.”

  Yet Marcus looked at the soup with a frown, as he kinda knew what this bowl of soup represented - it was the soup of “closed doors”, which meaion. “Why?”

  “Chef said he doesn’t appreciate dealing with cops like this.” The waitress bowed and answered in an apologetie: “Especially now, things are a little - plicated. So it is not a time to trade intelligence like this. I’m sorry, Marcus.”

  Mick sat straight and said to the waitress with an ear, almost begging smile: “ you send a message to the chef, that this is pretty serious, and we would really appreciate it if he’s willing to cooperate with the iigation, it would make the unity a lot safer - ”

  “Mick, don’t - ” Marcus stopped him and turo the waitress: “What else did he say?”

  “Nothing, just that.”

  Marcus sighed and sat ba his chair, then said to the waitress: “ you tell him this - you know, as he knows, I don’t really care about the politics behind all of this. But I do care about the safety of the people here - especially the children. I was there at the docks that day, and I happeo know that these are not your usual traffickers. They are n to trade with some distant barbaric families or some city elites. These are a highly anized and even cultish group, and to bat it effectively we’ll o work together. At least, give me some lead to trace these crimes.”

  The table went silent, and the few noodles between Mick’s chopsticks fell bato the soup.

  “I’ll let him know, please wait for a moment.” The waitress turned around and rushed back to the kit.

  “Traffig?” Mick asked with a frown on his face: “Not that it’s not important - but I thought we are chasing a lead on the reparations team?”

  “We’re chasing both.” Marcus shook his head, “We’ll make aop ter.”

  About ten mier, the waitress came back with a pte of fried noodle, and a few pieces of paper - one of which age from a mini dar with some dates circled, and the others were descriptions of missing children: their height, their hair color, eye color, skin color, clothing when st seen and rough age, but their names were redacted.

  “Thank you very much. ” Marodded at the waitress: “Please extend my gratitude to Chef Tang.”

  “Of course.” The waitress responded with a bright smile: “Now, is there anything else I help you with?”

  “That would be it for now. Thank you.”

  “Have a nice meal, and please don’t hesitate to call me if there’s anything.”