Landlord in the Arctic-Chapter 100: Friendly

"Are you sure?" Louise looked at Chief Wright with a half-smile. He nodded. "Ma’am, we didn’t fly for eight hours just to eat donuts."

"Alright then, follow me."

Louise nodded and led the group to the inn where Morris was being held. Feng Shan was sitting imposingly by the door, a Type 56 rifle leaning beside him, wearing a ’keep your distance’ expression.

Seeing the rifle, the four troopers quickly drew their sidearms and scattered for cover.

"Pal, you’d better not move. We’re state troopers. Hands up, drop the weapon." Chief Wright ducked behind a dumpster, peeking out and squinting to size up Feng Shan, who was sitting in a chair wearing a coat of animal hides.

’He doesn’t look old, probably around twenty.’

’From his features, it’s impossible to tell if he’s Inuit, Indian, or from the Aleut People. One of the Indigenous People, anyway.’

As a veteran who’d retired from the Rangers, his sixth sense was screaming at him that the man before him was dangerous.

Feng Shan glanced contemptuously at the troopers hiding behind cover, then put on an exaggerated look of surprise, a look that seemed to hide a flicker of cunning.

"Mayor Louise, who are these people?"

"Feng, they’re state troopers from the Fairbanks security office here to investigate Maria’s case. I already told them a safety officer had taken over," Louise explained, affecting a troubled expression.

Feng Shan spread his hands. "Fellas, I’m Feng, the Kivalina Safety Officer. Sorry, but you’ve made a trip for nothing."

Their terrible acting, as they played off each other, could have won them a Hollywood Razzie.

Chief Wright’s face darkened. He gave his colleagues a look, signaling for them to lower their weapons, then stepped out from behind the dumpster himself.

His gaze was sharp, his tone accusatory.

"What do you mean? Mr. Safety Officer, we flew eight hours to Kivalina to investigate this very case. Are you telling me you don’t want the suspect to face the full force of the law?"

Feng Shan put on a frustrated expression and gestured helplessly toward the room door behind him.

"Here’s the thing."

"I’m not just the Kivalina Safety Officer, I’m also the Crown Land Chief. A while back, Morris illegally trespassed on private land to poach reindeer. I was commissioned by the Crown Territory to come and arrest the poacher, Morris."

’Another case?’

’Why didn’t Kivalina mention it?’

’And it involves poaching and illegal trespassing on private land.’

’Most importantly, where the hell is the Crown Territory?’

Chief Wright took a step back and holstered his pistol. "Chief, please show me your identification and your badge."

Unhurried, Feng Shan pulled a few sheets of paper from his pocket and handed them to Chief Wright.

"Sorry, the Crown Territory Security Office was just established. The badges and IDs are still being made. This is the commissioning document."

’Just established?’

Chief Wright narrowed his eyes, studying Feng Shan. No matter how he looked at it, he felt the man before him was lying.

’Establishing a security office is a big deal. Why wasn’t the State Department of Public Safety notified?’

’Normally, there would be an official notice and related documents for this kind of institutional change.’

’Just like in other regions, when a new law enforcement agency is established, they always notify surrounding departments in advance to ensure coordination and smooth communication.’

’But this time, there was no warning at all. It’s too strange.’

Chief Wright took the commissioning document, glanced at it, and his brow furrowed immediately.

’This is a commissioning document??’

It was an extremely simple, perfunctory sheet of white paper with only a few lines of text.

[Feng Shan is hereby appointed as the Crown Land Chief, responsible for law enforcement within the Crown Territory, including arrests, patrols, investigations, and other related duties.]

The signature at the bottom was also ’Feng Shan’. Beyond that, there were no other seals or official markings.

"And who, may I ask, is Feng Shan?" Chief Wright asked, forcing himself to be patient, his eyes betraying clear dissatisfaction and suspicion.

Feng Shan pointed a finger at himself, a relaxed smile on his face. "That would be me. The owner of the Crown Territory."

Chief Wright shook the commissioning document in his hand, his expression growing uglier.

’This is an absurd farce.’

In all his years on the job, the commissioning documents he’d handled were all formal, rigorous, and legally binding. This so-called document, on the other hand, looked like a child’s scribble.

The chief’s face turned as dark as a storm cloud, and his voice was filled with menace.

"Then who is this ’Crown Land Chief Feng Shan’? You have two people named Feng Shan? Buddy, this joke isn’t funny at all. I’ll arrest you for obstruction of justice. And you too, Mayor Louise."

Following Frank’s instructions from last night’s phone call.

Feng Shan put on an exaggerated expression, his eyes wide and his mouth agape. He then pulled out a satellite phone, his voice rising several decibels as if agitated.

"My God, who says you can’t appoint yourself chief? Is there a federal law against it? I don’t seem to recall one. Should I call Lady Kelly at the governor’s office to check?"

"Hold on!" Hearing Lady Kelly’s name, the ugly look on Chief Wright’s face softened considerably. He held up a hand to calm Feng Shan down, then turned, took a satellite phone from a colleague, and walked a short distance away with the commissioning document.

As he walked, he mulled it over.

’Lady Kelly has considerable influence in the state government. If she’s really involved in this, I can’t act rashly.’

’There was that one time I acted without getting the full picture. Arrested some kid for speeding while high on the highway and ended up pissing off some big shot. Caused me a lot of trouble.’

’Can’t make the same mistake twice.’

Reaching a relatively quiet corner, Chief Wright made a call to verify the strange commissioning document.

After a while, he returned to the inn.

After signaling his colleagues to stand down, Chief Wright, now with a warm smile on his face, walked briskly up to Feng Shan and offered a friendly fist bump.

"Buddy, I just checked on the phone. The Crown Territory did indeed register a security office. We’re on the same team."

Of course, the chief didn’t mention it was registered late last night.

’Getting that lazy bunch in the DPS logistics office to work overtime in the middle of the night... the difficulty of that can’t be explained in just a few words.’

’It’s hard enough to get them to do anything efficiently during normal work hours, let alone pull an all-nighter.’

Feng Shan also extended his fist.

The two fists tapped together, a gesture of mutual acknowledgment.

"Buddy, how’s the bastard in there?" Chief Wright’s gaze fell on the locked door.

"Not so good." Feng Shan gave a wry smile. "Morris trespassed into the Crown Territory to hunt reindeer. When he was discovered, he fled all the way to Kivalina to continue his crimes. I chased this bastard to a snowy mountain on the Tundra, where we exchanged fire. I got grazed by a stray bullet while returning fire."

As he spoke, Feng Shan rolled up his sleeve, revealing a small, not-yet-healed scratch on his arm.

It was only about an inch and a half long, a thin little scratch.

’This wound... ’

’You can tell at a glance it just happened. It didn’t even break the skin.’

’If he’d shown it any later, it would have already healed.’

’Dammit, couldn’t you have made it look more realistic? I have to write a report when I get back.’

Chief Wright shook his head helplessly, shot Feng Shan a look, and waved a hand at his colleagues.

"Alright, let’s see this bastard."

A trooper with a full beard wearing a winter hat opened the door and went inside. He came out dragging Morris, who was tied up with ropes like the Michelin Man.

Morris was thrown to the ground. It was obvious that at some point, he had been beaten badly. His face was a mess of black and blue, so swollen he was almost unrecognizable.

Seeing the troopers, Morris whimpered excitedly, his eyes full of desperation. He struggled to say something, but with his injured mouth, he couldn’t form a single coherent word.

The bearded trooper glanced at Feng Shan before reporting to the chief.

"Chief, this bastard looks like he got hit by a truck. His mouth is messed up. Looks like he’ll need a long stay in the hospital."

"Fuck, citizen taxes aren’t meant for traffic accidents," Chief Wright cursed in frustration, then looked at Feng Shan. "Buddy, since he’s a suspect from the Crown Territory, you have first priority under the arrest protocols. Do you want us to take him, or should we leave him with you?"

This situation was similar to a cross-jurisdictional theft case he’d handled recently. The local sheriff and the state police had a similar tangle over jurisdiction.

Deciding whether the case belonged to the department that first arrested the suspect or the one where the crime occurred often required weighing various factors.

Chief Wright was currently running the calculations in his head.

’If he lets us take the suspect, the follow-up investigation will be smooth, but it might step on his toes. If he decides to keep the suspect, that will create its own set of problems for us.’

"I’ll take him. The Crown Territory has a hospital and a prison. We’ll investigate the illegal trespassing and reindeer poaching case first, and then I’ll hand him over to you."

Feng Shan could see that the friendly-sounding Chief Wright had no intention of taking Morris at all.

Mmmph! Mmmph!

Morris, lying on the ground, writhed like a maggot, his eyes filled with terror and fear.

’I’d rather be taken by the troopers! I can’t be left in this demon’s hands!’

’He’ll kill me!’

Morris screamed frantically in his mind, but only muffled whimpers escaped his mouth.

"You see, Chief? Mr. Morris seems to fully agree with my suggestion!" Feng Shan said with a grin, a hint of smug cunning in his smile.

Chief Wright also gave a meaningful smile, as if he could already foresee Morris’s fate.

Alaska is huge, covering one-fifth of the United States’ landmass, but its population is only 730,000.

Hundreds of people go missing every year—and that’s just the official count. The true number is likely much higher.

"Buddy, if all safety officers were as understanding as you, our job as troopers would be a lot less stressful. I’ve got another case to get to in Point Laya, so it’s all yours."

Feng Shan caught the chief’s deliberate use of the word ’it’. An experienced, well-trained chief wouldn’t make such a basic slip-up. That could only mean one thing.

Feng Shan’s mind raced. He instantly understood the deeper meaning and gave a subtle nod. "Of course. I understand."

"Later, buddy!" Chief Wright raised a hand in farewell, a satisfied and genuine smile spreading across his face. He turned to Louise and said, "Madam Mayor, you’ve got yourself a qualified safety officer. The residents of Kivalina will praise your judgment."

"Goodbye," Louise replied coolly. Now that she wouldn’t need the troopers’ help anymore, there was no reason to be nice to them.

Chief Wright shrugged, seemingly unfazed by Mayor Louise’s attitude.

To the sound of Morris’s desperate, muffled sobs, they watched the Alaska State Troopers gradually disappear from sight.

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