[2] Several years after his arrest, Sung Tse-ho is offered early parole by the police in exchange for spying on his former boss and mentor, Lung Sei, who is suspected of heading a counterfeiting operation.

Inspector Wu, the leader of the task force, wants to mark his retirement with the capture of a high profile criminal like Lung.

Though Ho initially declines because of his loyalty to Lung, he eventually changes his mind when he discovers that his younger brother, Kit, who is expecting a child along with his pregnant wife Jackie, is working undercover on the same case.

Meanwhile, Ho learns that his deceased friend Mark Lee has a long-lost twin brother, Ken, a former gang member who left Hong Kong as a teenager to travel across America, eventually opening a restaurant in New York City.

Lung decides that he would rather destroy his organization with his own hands than let it fall into dishonor and ruin, and the group starts planning to act against Ko.

Knowing that he will not make it however, Kit persuades Ken to stop at a phone booth to call Jackie, where he manages to name his newborn child Sung Ho-yin ("the Spirit of Righteousness") before succumbing to his wounds.

After attending Kit's funeral, Ho, Ken, and Lung take revenge on Ko by attacking his mansion during a meeting with a counterfeiting client.

[11] Writing in Sex and Zen & A Bullet in the Head, Stefan Hammond and Mike Wilkins describe the film as "gorged with Woo's trademarks" and "a funhouse exaggeration of its central motifs".