The beach bar is filled with laughter, the aroma of barbecue spreads everywhere, tourists are swaying and playing to the music, and the sound of the sea waves is beating against the snow-soft beach.
Shen Zhuo ate barbecue and stood by the shallows, looking out at the sea and enjoying the breeze. A group of giggling locals came over and offered him a bottle of beer. He thanked them in Spanish and gave them half a pack of cigarettes, politely declining their suggestion to go for a drive together.
"I remember there are regulations that prohibit human chief inspectors from eating out," a teasing voice sounded behind him.
"Unless the surroundings are absolutely safe." Shen Zhuo took a sip from the bottle and nodded: "Grand Inspector Amatulla."
Amatullah was wearing a gauze over her black swimsuit. She was in her forties, but she kept exercising, had extraordinary energy, and had a stern and sharp aura, although she looked relaxed at the moment: "—Make sure the surroundings are absolutely safe?"
She looked around the noisy bar and asked teasingly, "Is it because of your S-rank boyfriend?"
"We don't have such a formal relationship." Shen Zhuo said calmly, "He has his own things to do."
Adults had intimate contact but "not such a formal relationship." Amatullah nodded with an expression of knowing everything, raised an eyebrow and said, "Actually, I have always had a question."
Shen Zhuo answered directly: "I have nothing to do with the Director General."
"Oh, I know. It's hard enough to face the big boss at work. If you face the big boss again at night, you'll want to vomit." Amatullah gave a playful wink to the reluctant waiter not far away, made a gesture that he would find you at night, and said with a smile: "I just want to ask, if your political alliance with Nelson is about to collapse, then in the upcoming re-election, how can I win your vote?"
Shen Zhuo burst out laughing.
"You are hard to win over, dear lady." He turned his head to look at Amatullah, seeming to be very regretful: "You are shrewd, rational and wise, destined to be an excellent leader, so you are not so easy to fool. If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. It is difficult for a fish like me to survive in a pond that is too clear."
Amatullah hinted: "Perhaps if a fish's appetite is not so big, it can survive longer and more stably in the new pool..."
Shen Zhuo turned to her with a smile, "Maybe I am a piranha."
Amatullah raised his eyebrows, but before he could say anything, the sound of an engine speeding towards him was heard in the distance.
Soon after, several modified off-road vehicles stopped on the beach. A dozen or so local men with unfriendly looks got out of the vehicles and walked into the bar. Each of them had a dagger on his waist and carried a submachine gun unscrupulously.
The leader was a man with tattoos on his arms and Latin looks. He was quite young, but looked very aggressive. He came up and pushed the waiter at the door to the ground. The bar guests who were originally singing and dancing saw that the situation was not good and hurriedly retreated to the surroundings.
Amaturaqi asked, "What's going on here?"
Shen Zhuo grabbed the bartender who ran out in a panic, listened to him chattering in Spanish, then waved his hand and explained concisely: "The local snakehead gang came to collect protection money."
The bar owner was probably used to the arrogance of this group of people, so he hurried out to stuff the cash in, but was kicked to the ground by the tattooed Latin man who led the group. Perhaps because they were dissatisfied with the small amount of money or were angry, several bodyguards kicked over the tables, chairs and wine boxes, knocking the waiter to the ground with the wine.