Brazil: Criminal Empire - Chapter 156: Sharing a Training Camp with BOPE Recruits (Patreon)

“Hey, Locke. Tudo bem?”

“Tudo bem.”

At the familiar café in Ipanema, Felício greeted Rock with an enthusiastic hug the moment they met.

Rock returned the hug just as warmly.

Ever since Felício had introduced Rivaldo to Battle Angels, combined with Rock’s relationship with Ieda, the two had gotten along extremely well.

In particular, when the Gracie family caused trouble, Rock had helped Ieda prepare a contingency plan in advance.

That had steadily improved Felício’s opinion of Rock, to the point that he genuinely considered him one of his own.

Rock had specifically come to see him this time. As a senior detective in Ipanema, Felício had plenty of freedom to move around, so he chose the same café in his jurisdiction where he had previously introduced Rivaldo to Rock.

“Felício, do you know anywhere suitable for military training?”

The moment they sat down, Rock got straight to the point.

Connections were there to be used. The more favors exchanged, the closer the relationship became.

Felício didn’t mind at all. This unofficial brother-in-law of his was pretty good company, and talking to him was easy.

Then there was the Romance Club he ran. God only knew where Rock came up with so many ideas, but he had customers hooked, reluctant to leave once they went inside.

Felício personally liked the activity called Red Rope the most.

Well, anyone who had tried it would understand.

So when Rock made his request, Felício seriously searched his memory for somewhere that fit the requirements.

“Locke, there’s a piece of land in the western suburbs. It’s BOPE’s recruit selection and training camp...”

Felício finally thought of a suitable place.

Although it wasn’t BOPE’s regular training base, it would meet most of Rock’s needs.

Apart from occasional recruit selection and training, the place sat unused most of the time.

Quite a few of Rock’s men were former BOPE members. Back then, they had gone through selection at that very camp before entering BOPE.

Veteran instructors like Rivaldo had even trained batch after batch of new BOPE recruits there.

Sending them back to train at their old grounds would probably be quite an interesting experience.

Naturally, it would be much easier for Felício to make the necessary arrangements.

So Rock had no hesitation about leaving the matter to him.

As they talked, Felício also described the layout and facilities of the entire recruit selection camp.

Sure enough, in addition to BOPE’s basic training facilities, the camp also had a sizable combat training gym.

It would be perfect for Rock to sharpen the fighting skills of his special operations squads.

The mention of the combat training gym suddenly reminded Felício of a piece of news that had recently been circulating through Rio de Janeiro’s underworld.

Excited, he immediately shared it with Rock.

A fighter called “Inferno” had achieved an unprecedented 16 consecutive victories in the Demon King Arena Challenge. Eleven of his opponents had been killed on the spot, while the remaining five had also suffered serious injuries.

The underground fighting event held in the Red Nut favela was no secret among those in the know in Rio de Janeiro.

The authorities simply had little control over the place. Too many interests in Rio existed somewhere between the legitimate world and the underworld, so the venue had effectively become something everyone tacitly accepted.

Some officials would even disguise themselves and secretly attend the underground fights, wanting to experience the madness of another world for themselves.

News about the fights and their results usually spread quickly through a small circle after each event ended.

Whether through his family connections or his own position, Felício had no trouble getting access to that kind of information.

So he enthusiastically told Rock about the underground fighter known as Inferno.

Felício firmly believed that if Inferno underwent tactical training, he would become an exceptionally powerful combatant.

As a former BOPE member, Felício wasn’t particularly interested in Inferno’s identity as an underground fighter, nor did he care how many people the man had killed in a single event.

What interested him was how effective someone like that would be against gangs and drug dealers if he could be recruited into the police.

Even if they couldn’t recruit him permanently, bringing Inferno in as a combat instructor would be fantastic.

“Felício, forget it. You people can’t give him the freedom he wants...”

Rock calmly discussed the matter with him.

Felício gave Rock a strange look.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re putting yourself in this Inferno guy’s shoes?”

Rock didn’t explain. He simply smiled.

“Who knows? If I stepped into the ring, I might not do any worse than Inferno.”

Felício was still in contact with Rivaldo, and the two occasionally exchanged minor updates.

He knew Rock was exceptionally skilled in close combat, enough that even Rivaldo acknowledged his superiority in a real fight.

So when Felício heard that an undefeated fighter had emerged in the underground fighting scene, he naturally assumed Rock might be interested in the subject.

But after hearing Rock’s response, Felício simply thought he was being competitive.

After all, no fighter liked admitting that someone else was stronger.

What Felício didn’t know was that the star of the underground fighting event he was so enthusiastically talking about was sitting right across from him, leisurely drinking coffee.

Felício had misunderstood him, but Rock had no intention of explaining.

There was no reason to spread the matter around.

The only people who knew were the members of the Gracie family, and Rock had already beaten them into submission.

Even if someone eventually discovered the truth, then so be it. If trouble came, he would simply fight.

Rock had carved out everything he possessed today with his own two hands.

Now he had men, guns, and territory.

What was there left to fear?

By the time Rock and Felício had mostly settled the matter of the training ground, Felício had also learned that Battle Angels already had quite a few retired BOPE members among its ranks.

With a hint of gratitude, Felício patted Rock on the shoulder.

Having only recently transferred out of BOPE himself, he still cared deeply about his former comrades.

That was exactly why he had been willing to introduce Rivaldo to Rock in the first place.

Felício had known that, given Rivaldo’s personality, he would eventually recommend other former comrades whose lives hadn’t gone particularly well after leaving the unit.

Sure enough, Battle Angels now had quite a few elite BOPE veterans, and according to Rivaldo, all of them were doing very well.

Rock casually slipped several pink cards into Felício’s hand.

They were package cards for the Romance Club and had recently become very popular within a small circle.

Each card entitled the holder to one complete package.

They were equally suitable for personal use or as gifts.

The moment Felício saw the cards, his eyebrows twitched and the corner of his mouth curved upward.

These things were fantastic.

He had already taken his superior and several coworkers to the Romance Club. They had all fallen in love with the place, and their relationships with Felício had become considerably closer afterward.

So Felício tucked the cards into his pocket without hesitation, then patted Rock on the shoulder.

“You should spend less time there yourself. Go see Ieda more often.”

Even now, he was still hopelessly protective of his younger sister.

Rock and Felício bumped fists, then both burst out laughing.

They stood up side by side and walked out of the café.

Rock watched as Felício sped away in his police car and quickly disappeared from sight.

Then Rock got into his own car.

Tarcísio was driving, while Ciro sat in the passenger seat.

“Head to the Attorney Jonas Law Firm.”