Zhou Qingfeng suddenly smiled, "It's nothing, I'm just glad you're still working hard at school."
This inexplicable remark left Raul dumbfounded.
At this moment, after a short break, Chief Constable Conges pushed through the police cordon and returned to the 'Scorpion' bar in town.
Although the bodies and injured had been taken away, the bar remained temporarily closed after the shootout, and chaos reigned inside and out.
The place looked as if it had been swept through by a storm.
Tables and chairs were askew, some overturned on the floor, others with broken legs leaning at angles. Tablecloths had been ripped off, trampled by countless feet, now wrinkled and crumpled on the ground.
Broken bottles littered the floor; blood splatters marked the walls, and a heavy scent of blood mixed with the sharp smell of alcohol filled the air, making one nauseous.
The liquor rack behind the bar was also affected, with neatly arranged bottles shattered into shards, amber liquid mixing with dark red blood, bearing witness to last night's madness.
The paintings on the walls hung crooked, some had even fallen, with shattered glass from their frames scattered everywhere.
In the corner, an old jukebox was smashed beyond recognition, records strewn on the floor like abandoned memories.
Bullet holes were visible on the walls, the bar counter, and even the ceiling.
The echoes of gunfire seemed to still linger in the air, low and oppressive, as if an invisible hand was pulling Conges back to the harrowing moments of a few hours ago.
He stood in the center of the bar, his gaze sweeping across the mess, filled with doubt.
Gang conflicts were not uncommon in this small town, but a shootout to the death like last night was anything but ordinary.
Conges knew that behind this bloody conflict, there had to be deeper motives.
"What on earth happened to make these guys go mad?"
Conges muttered to himself. Having been a police officer in the town for over a decade, he'd witnessed plenty of gang disputes but never bought the shallow explanation of "drunken impulse."
To him, alcohol was at most a trigger; the real powder keg had long been buried in some unseen corner.
"These are all seasoned drinkers, how could a few drinks make them lose control?" Conges walked towards a luxurious booth in the bar.
It was a semi-enclosed spot, offering a view of the bar's main floor while maintaining some privacy, clearly a favorite among gang members.
He stood by the booth, focusing on the remaining glasses and cigarette butts on the table, as if he could see the scene from last night through these remnants.
"According to the surveillance, the deceased Tochi entered the bar at 10:50 PM and chose this booth. About half an hour later, he started a dispute with another deceased, Maxim, who was sharing the booth with him."
Conges turned around, looking at an overturned table opposite the booth. Its legs were broken, bottles and glasses shattered on the tabletop, and the bloodstains had dried to a dark brown.
"According to James, one of the injured, the two were originally having a good conversation. The argument and fight broke out suddenly."
"Maxim tried to leave the bar, but Tochi stopped him." Conges' gaze followed the line of the booth towards the bar's entrance, as if he could see the figures grappling.
"They knocked over several tables on the way and called their accomplices to join in. The scene quickly spiraled out of control, throwing the bar into chaos."
Conges' steps halted in the center of the bar, his gaze fixed on a bloodstain on the floor. "To stop Maxim, Tochi pulled out a knife he was carrying and stabbed him in the back."
"Severely injuring someone like that could land Tochi in prison for twenty years.
But he never got the chance. Before going down, Maxim pulled out his gun and blew Tochi's brains out on the spot."
Conges frowned deeply. He squatted down, carefully examining the bullet holes and bloodstains on the floor, his doubts growing wider.
"By all logic, the conflict should have ended there."
He murmured, as if questioning himself, "But in reality, it was the opposite. Those present fought even more fiercely, pulling out knives and guns, firing at each other desperately."
His gaze shifted towards the direction of the bar's kitchen, "Then, the third victim appeared. A barmaid took dozens of bullets and finally collapsed at the kitchen door."
"This doesn't make sense."
"Maxim, who started the shootout, just got a knife wound, Tochi only took one bullet to the head.
Why would an ordinary barmaid get shot dozens of times? Those guys lying in the hospital must be hiding something."
Conges' gaze swept over every corner of the bar, searching for the hidden truth. He knew that this shootout was far from as simple as it appeared on the surface.
And behind the silence of those gang members in the hospital, there must be a greater secret concealed.