Super Detective In The Fictional World

by Stayrr

Luke has transmigrated to the United States, but eventually realizes that this United States is different from the United States of his previous life. Here, the superpowers and characters from the movies in his previous life actually exist. How will Luke fare in a world where such terrifying superpowers exist? Fortunately, he has a cheat – the Super Detective System. Join Luke on

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Chapter 195 Promotion and Reunion with Bobby

Dustin nodded his head slightly. "It's done. You got two extra days for your trip because we were in the middle of final negotiations."

"What about Luke's transfer?" Elsa was more concerned about the FBI's intent to hire Luke than their share of the credit.

Dustin nodded his head again. "The credit for rescuing the hostages will go to the FBI, and they'll stop trying to poach Luke."

Elsa understood.

In the Nakatomi Plaza case, the events ranked in order of importance were: reclaiming bonds rescuing hostages arresting robbers.

In this capitalist country, the bonds that were worth 640 million were certainly more important than anything else.

However, this wasn't something that could be said in public. In the public eye, the events were ranked as: rescuing hostages reclaiming bonds arresting robbers.

The FBI got the credit for rescuing the hostages, which made up for the mistakes they made while on the case.

So, the FBI would be considered a major contributor to the case. As for how they would deal with the person who had been in charge, that was a different matter altogether.

Now that the FBI had gotten the credit, they stopped trying to poach Luke.

The FBI was genuinely interested in Luke, who had demonstrated his capabilities, but he had mostly been used as leverage in this negotiation; he wasn't so important yet that they were determined to recruit him.

After a brief hesitation, Elsa asked in a low voice, "Boss, what about me?"

Dustin looked at her calmly and said, "Just do your job as usual. I'm not the chief. I can't say anything for sure about your promotion."

Elsa got it.

Although Dustin wasn't promising anything, he was implying that she would be promoted soon.

The latter half of what he said wasn't an irresponsible remark, but a fact.

Dustin played a big role in campaigning for Elsa's promotion, but it was the chief who would make the final decision.

Until the promotion papers were issued, Dustin couldn't promise anything.

If he guaranteed that Elsa would be promoted, he would be disappointing her later if she wasn't.

Dustin's subordinates had held it against him before over something like this, so he paid attention to detail now.

Seeing that Elsa got it, Dustin said, "You should learn from Luke once in a while. He was bold enough to ask for my permission to take some time off."

Elsa chuckled. "I've been a police officer for eight years, but he's killed more people than I have. I certainly can't sit around and be lazy when I'm not as capable as he is."

Dustin smiled with satisfaction.

Elsa knew herself very well and wasn't jealous of Luke.

I have to work harder to make her a sergeant this time! Dustin thought to himself.

It would be too much of a waste for Elsa and Luke to work as partners.

Elsa in a leadership role and Luke working with an assistant detective would be better for the both of them.

This was because Elsa was a control freak and Luke was… even more so.

They got along well not because Elsa was smart, but because Luke had given in all this time.

Dustin could easily tell from the case files how much credit Luke had given away to Elsa in the past few months.

The real reason why Elsa and Luke never had a conflict was that Luke didn't want to be promoted.

Until now, Luke was the only young officer Dustin had met who wasn't interested in credit.

However, Dustin couldn't watch Elsa claim Luke's credit without doing anything.

Luke had distinguished himself with his abilities, and Dustin had to make sure that he didn't feel it was unfair.

Even though Luke didn't need to be promoted, Dustin couldn't pretend to be ignorant of his contributions.

So, if he promoted Elsa as Luke's commander, they could both benefit from Luke cracking cases

As for Luke's new partner, well, wasn't there a girl who had followed him all the way here to LAPD?

Thinking that, Dustin continued, "But you should still learn from Luke. Tell me, considering his behavior just now, who do you think was the boss, you or him?"

Stumped for a moment, Elsa smiled wryly. "I don't have a choice. In our team, I run the analyses most of the time, while he does the actual legwork."

Dustin waved his hand. "That's not the reason. It's about your attitude. Don't do things yourself when you should get somebody else to do them."

Elsa was delighted, since that implied that she would be promoted to a leadership role soon. "I got it, boss. I'll pay more attention to that."

Dustin nodded. "You can leave now. Just read the case file at home and get some rest if you're tired."

Elsa obeyed and left.

Over on Luke's side, he went to the logistics division with the certificate to claim his car.

He was very satisfied with his new car, not because it was expensive, but because it wasn't an ordinary one.

The car was a brand new Chevrolet Impala with many practical modifications, such as a bumper, reinforced suspension, a police communication system, and bulletproof front doors.

It was far better than the cars which most other officers had.

Luke was quite satisfied. This car was evidently Dustin's acknowledgment of his contributions to the department; he could've given Luke a random new car, otherwise.

After obtaining the car, Luke went to a law firm to get the documents that he had previously entrusted to the lawyers to handle. Then, he returned to his old apartment.

It had been more than ten days. He wondered how Bobby was doing.

Sheerah didn't say anything to Elsa about Bobby harassing her again, so Bobby couldn't be doing too badly.

Luke knocked on the door, and it was only a long time later that someone answered.

When he saw Luke, Bobby suddenly shivered. "You… you're here? Please come in."

Luke nodded with a smile and entered the apartment. "I'll give you ten minutes to clean yourself up. Then we'll talk."

Bobby quickly went to take a shower.

Luke looked around the living room. The place was untidy, but not especially dirty. It was just what one would expect of a single man living on his own.

There were several sheets of paper and a pen on the table.

Luke checked the papers, only to discover that it was a list of information on Larry Page and Google's leadership.

Luke nodded slightly. Bobby hadn't known he was coming, so this couldn't be for show. Bobby really was learning the information.

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Chapter 196 Let's Sell It For Five Hundred Million

Soon, Bobby returned in casual attire. "Do you want something to drink? I have instant coffee here."

Luke said, "No, thanks. Let's sit down and talk."

After they sat down on the couch, Luke got straight to the point. "I've just returned from a trip. While I have the time today, I have a job for you."

As he spoke, he took out a pile of documents from his backpack. "You can take your time reading them later. They're patents that I've applied for. As for what they are, exactly, check this out."

Luke took out a phone with a screen that was larger than normal. He opened an app and gestured for Bobby to take a look.

Watching Luke operate the phone for a while, Bobby asked uncertainly, "Is this… a map?"

Luke said, "That's right. With the GPS on the phone, it can be used as a nationwide or even global navigator, provided that there are enough maps stored in the phone in advance."

Bobby was confused. "How are we going to make use of this?"

Luke said, "Let's sell it to Google. I'm too lazy to create it myself, so I'll just sell the idea for money."

Bobby was suspicious. "Isn't Google… a search engine? Why would they want this?"

Luke chuckled and explained how Google could use this navigator.

Bobby nodded his head and said, "What about the price?"

Luke thought for a moment and said, "Let's sell it for five hundred million."

There was a reason why Luke had come up with this figure.

He had read in his last life about some of the shocking acquisitions that Google made.

For example, Google acquired Motorola Mobility for 12.5 billion dollars, only to sell it to Lenovo for 2.9 billion dollars several years later. It was why Luke knew how generous Google could be.

Luke had no idea how much Google would invest into a map app, but considering how bright the prospects would be after smartphones were invented, an offer of five hundred million dollars wasn't too unbelievable.

What if Google refused the offer? Well, Luke had nothing to lose.

He could always invent some less costly technology and sell that instead.

Despite knowing how things would start to trend, Luke hadn't been able to profit off the knowledge due to his lack of ability and funding

But now that he had learned Tony Stark's four elementary abilities, it was more than easy for him to get rich.

He was going to sell this map patent because he wanted to earn enough money once and for all.

He would be able to live off of five hundred million for a long time.

He wasn't Tony Stark, and wouldn't spend the money as quickly.

Luke left the phone and the app for Bobby to use in his demonstration. He also gave Bobby ten thousand dollars for travel expenses in the next few months.

Luke had kept Bobby not because he wanted Bobby to become a good PR manager, but because he didn't want Bobby to be idle all the time.

He would even give Bobby one percent of a share in the map technology. So, if Bobby could sell it, he would earn five million dollars.

With that money, Bobby would immediately become a millionaire.

Bobby could only smile bitterly at that, because he had to sell the map technology first!

However, he was indeed tempted by the prospect.

Five hundred million dollars might seem a lot, but it was nothing for Google.

Luke wasn't scared of a big corporation like that playing dirty tricks, since he had applied for a patent.

To establish this patent stronghold, he had shelled out almost a hundred thousand bucks in registration and lawyer fees.

He had even mortgaged the villa that he was living in to get the money for that.

The plan with Google would be a lucrative deal in the long run. If Luke wanted to earn a quick buck, however, that was very simple, too.

For example, he remembered that he had an uncle who lived in Las Vegas.

Nevada was right next to California, and Los Angeles was only 430 kilometers away from Las Vegas, which was a four-hour car ride or just a one-hour flight.

However, since he still had plenty of money after mortgaging the villa, Luke wasn't in a hurry to make more.

At noon, Luke drove his car to USC.

The area south of USC was unsafe, and plagued by criminals and gangsters.

Roaming around the area in his car for a while, Luke had a quick lunch in a fast food restaurant. He left at four in the afternoon to return home.

The area that he had checked out was where a gang called WD-36 hung out. The members of this gang had tattoos of "WD" or "36" on them, and they dealt mainly in illegal drugs.

Luke had tracked them down very easily, because it was this gang which sold weed to Miss Jenny.

How did Jenny, who lived in Beverly Hills, find these dealers? It was because she was a student at USC.

She was rich and had security guards, so she got the gangsters to deliver the goods to her

place.

Luke had gotten basic information on WD-36 from Dustin and Elsa during Katie's murder case. Coupled with his own investigation, he figured out which area the gang was active in.

Now that he had a personal space, there were a lot more things he could do.

After he returned home, he searched the fridge for something to cook for dinner.

There weren't any breakfast ingredients, but plenty for dinner. Selina hadn't touched the raw meat or seasoning at all.

So, dinner was easy.

Luke moved the grill that was barely used out to the backyard, and placed a few fillets of meat on it.

Once that was done, Luke searched online for flights to Las Vegas, and worked out how much time he had in his schedule.

He also checked for hotels in Las Vegas that had a casino and a good reputation.

He had to make sure that the hotels could afford the loss, and that whatever fortune he won wouldn't be coveted by desperadoes.

There were casinos in Los Angeles as well, but Luke was a police officer here.

In Las Vegas, he would just be a civilian, and whatever money he won there would be his legal gain.

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Chapter 197 Barbecue and Night Talk

Luke also had a bit of fun looking up the information which the Las Vegas Forensics Center had on Old Greyson while he was at it.

Since he was going over, he would have to pay his uncle a visit, and gifts were a must.

The gifts should be thoughtful instead of expensive. After all, Old Greyson wasn't really short on money.

As one of the best specialists in his trade, he charged thousands of dollars for commercial services, on top of his annual work salary.

Old Greyson's real interest was in entomology, but Luke didn't know anything about insects. He could only give it up.

Checking files and flipping the meat over, Luke waited until half past eight before Selina got back.

"You're pretty late. Do you always get back so late?" asked Luke.

Selina was exhausted but happy. "Let's talk about that later. I bought the things you wanted."

Luke was speechless. "If you had told me that you were busy, I would've gone shopping myself. There isn't much for me to work with tonight. I guess we'll just have grilled meat today."

Selina wasn't displeased at all. She lifted the cover of the grill in delight, only to be stopped by Luke. "Wash your hands first."

Selina immediately rushed back into the house.

By the time she returned with clean hands, Luke had sliced up the meat.

The meat was greasy and fragrant, and right up a meat-lover's alley.

Next to the meat was a plate of roasted vegetables.

Luke was born in Sichuan in his previous life, and Sichuan people barbecued everything.

It wasn't just meat; they also roasted chives, cabbages, eggplants, cucumbers, potatoes, carrots and many other vegetables.

Of course, Luke didn't have that many vegetables on hand. He simply roasted an eggplant.

After he cut the eggplant in half, he covered it with onion, garlic and pepper. The food smelled great.

Selina was indeed a foodie who liked all sorts of food. Enjoying her meal, she said, "Darling, it tastes really good. Let's have this three times a week, shall we?".

Luke said, "I can make this for you if you're fine with holding your butt together when you go to work every day."

Selina was surprised. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Luke said, "Eating too many roasted vegetables is like when you have too much jalapeno."

Selina immediately chickened out.

Her parents were Mexicans and liked making Mexican food, but she was born and raised in America, and wasn't as used to spicy food as actual Mexicans.

The Mexicans had developed two of the top ten most horrifying peppers in the world.

She had no intention of testing her tolerance – she still remembered her experience the last time, when it felt like she was discharging glass pieces whenever she went to the toilet.

After enjoying the barbecue, Luke cleaned the grill and the table, and Selina collapsed in a chair once again.

But it was already past nine. Luke certainly couldn't let her lie in the backyard like that for half an hour. He could only drag her back into the living room.

Then, Luke made her a pot of hot cocoa. She wouldn't put on weight anyway.

Selina was so comfortable that she could barely keep her eyes open.

Luke asked, "How have you been? Very busy?"

Selina snorted lazily. "A little bit. Donald gave me a lot of things to do."

Luke asked, "Such as?"

Selina said, "Reading files and analyzing intelligence. I have to write reports, too. So, I have to work late a lot."

Luke wasn't surprised. That was how newcomers were usually treated.

He could be willful because he had forfeited credit for his contributions so far. Selina certainly didn't have that option.

He thought for a moment before he asked, "Did you learn anything?"

Selina said, "Rub my belly and help me digest my dinner, and I'll tell you."

Luke was lost for words. "If you're so full, why did you fight me for food just now?"

However, he did as he was told.

He had been away for more than ten days, and she had been all alone here with no friends or family, just work.

Her superior was a middle-aged black man who didn't have much in common with her. It was only reasonable that she was bummed out.

Rubbing her slightly bulging belly slowly and gently, Luke continued, "You can speak now."

Selina took a deep breath of relief. "Well, I think I've learned a lot of things. However…"

Luke asked, "However what?"

Selina thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Donald's only a so-so detective. I've picked up his methods. He barely makes mistakes, but he also wastes a lot of time."

Luke nodded his head. "That actually isn't a bad thing. If you were working with Elsa, you might make progress more quickly, but you would've overlooked many details. Donald is slower, but it's not bad for you since you'll be able to keep up with him all the time."

Selina nodded her head, then shook it. "We've been working on a case for a week, but I think we'll probably drop it in a day or two if we still don't get any results."

Luke asked curiously, "What case?"

"The death of a college girl." Selina said, "There's no evidence of a homicide, and it looks like an accidental drug overdose. But somehow I feel that it's more complicated than that."

Luke asked, "Where did it happen?"

Selina said, "She died in an apartment in our jurisdiction, but she's from USC. Also, she wasn't living in that apartment; the tenant is another woman who's gone missing."

Luke immediately knew that there wouldn't be any outcome for this case.

The two people involved were dead and missing respectively. Without more clues, the case would soon be deemed an accidental drug overdose, and thrown into the archive room.

If it were Elsa and Luke who were responsible for the case, they would've given up after three to five days without any leads.

There were too many such cases to investigate.

Luke could only shake his head. "I don't think there's anything else you can do. Just drop it if you can't find any leads."

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Chapter 198 Robbing Friends of Food

It wasn't because they were heartless, but because they had limited time as detectives

In American TV series, many detectives would never give up until they got to the bottom of a case.

But the truth was that detectives weren't allowed to do that at all.

Pursuing one case meant that there were other cases that weren't being investigated. Their boss would have their heads if they obsessed over a single case.

Even if they might be interested in a particular case, they could only investigate in their spare time.

That was also the difference between police detectives and private detectives. The former were supposed to maintain order in society, while the latter were hired to investigate specific cases.

Then, Selina asked Luke about his trip to Paris, and looked at the photos of him and Elena.

Selina was quite jealous.

She said in disappointment, "Why wasn't I part of this fun trip? I want to shop in Paris and sunbathe in Marseilles too."

Luke chuckled. "I'm off to Vegas in a few days. Want to come with me?"

Selina was delighted for one brief moment, before she shook her head. "I doubt I can. I'm very busy right now."

Luke shrugged. "It's alright. We can go somewhere later. Did I tell you that Elsa might get a promotion?"

Selina thought for a moment and nodded. "I've heard whispers, but how does that have anything to do with me?"

Luke said, "If she's promoted, I can apply for you to be my partner again."

Selina was surprised. "But didn't you say that we should establish our own network of connections first in the next few months?"

Luke said, "Elsa and I are quite close. I can make use of most of her resources as long as I share the credit with her. We were shut out in the Major Crimes Division back in Houston, but Dustin and Elsa are both on our side here. It's not a problem for us to be partners again!"

Selina grew excited. "Really?"

Luke said, "Yes. I've talked to Elsa about it, and she has no objections, as long as she can become my boss."

Selina asked, "How long will it take? A year?"

Luke said, "It'll be two months at most, or maybe a month if she's lucky."

Selina exclaimed, "Oh, that's great!"

Luke chuckled. "Are you happy now? Get up and wash the dishes."

Selina complained, "I just realized that I'm still full. I still need to rest a bit more."

Ignoring her lousy acting, Luke rose and said, "Anyway, it's your job. I'm going to take a shower."

By the time he finished his shower, Selina had already done the dishes in the kitchen.

Luke shook his head with a smile and started doing online searches again on his laptop.

The night passed uneventfully.

The next day, Luke and Selina drove their own cars to work.

Selina was reinvigorated, because she had had breakfast cooked by Luke that morning. There was even a new batch of cupcakes for her to bring to work.

Naturally, she was in a great mood.

After they entered the police department, Luke saw Elsa at her desk. She had obviously recovered from her jet lag.

She greeted Luke when he went over.

Luke put the paper bag he was holding on the desk and said with a smile, "Homemade cupcakes for you as a snack."

Elsa was a little surprised. She wasn't a foodie, but she couldn't help but try one of the cupcakes.

But she regretted it several minutes later.

Privacy and distance were appreciated in America, but who was Elsa? She was one of the most experienced detectives in the Major Crimes Division. She had groomed five detectives in this division, who were sort of her students, and she and the rest were close as well.

But when friends got too close, they could become unscrupulous.

Elsa didn't consider the cupcakes a big deal, but other people certainly did.

Dustin happened to pass by the desk. Noticing the cupcakes in the bag, he picked up one and said, "Thanks for breakfast, Elsa. I didn't have anything this morning."

Elsa didn't realize how bad the situation was yet. She was only thinking that the cupcake tasted pretty good.

Then, Billy Wang, a Chinese detective, leaned in and said, "Oh, I didn't have anything, either. Thanks, Elsa." He reached out to take a cupcake.

Another female officer named Melinda also came over and said, "Elsa! You remembered that I love cupcakes! Thank you!" She grabbed one of the cupcakes and fled.

That wasn't the end of it. Several more detectives joined in.

They said similar things, and poached the last two cupcakes in the bag.

The detectives who came late could only scatter without cupcakes.

But one of the detectives, who was more shameless than the rest, exclaimed, "Elsa, bring more next time! I brought a dozen donuts last time for everybody in the office."

Elsa couldn't have felt any more regretful. She only had one of the cupcakes! These jerks!

More importantly, it was quite delicious and could sell for three to five dollars each at the shops. Was it the same as cheap donuts?

Bad decision! That was the only thought in her head.

Had she known how good Luke's homemade cupcakes were, she would've kept them to herself instead of leaving them out.

Those detectives who had robbed her of the cupcakes were all people she was very close to, and she couldn't ask for anything from them in return. That was the most heartbreaking thing for her.

She finally glanced at Luke and said, "Couldn't you give the cupcakes to me when they weren't around?"

Luke smiled but didn't say anything. It wasn't his fault that Elsa couldn't protect the cupcakes that he had given her.

After Elsa finished her lone cupcake, Luke asked, "What's our new case?"

Elsa tossed the case file at him, and Luke read it.

"It really is a tricky case." Elsa explained, "The victim is one William Johnson, who was shot in the head in his car. He was in the real estate business. According to our files, he's linked to multiple extortion and injury cases. The word is that he was also involved in several murder cases in some old buildings which he owned."

Luke read the file and Elsa's notes, then said, "So, he was the leader of a gang, and it was only a matter of time before he was killed?"

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Chapter 199 Innocent Love and College Widow

Elsa nodded her head. "You could put it that way. But Margaret Haley Johnson, his young wife, has been urging us to solve the case."

Luke laughed out loud. "Who is she? She wants us to avenge a major gangster ASAP? She doesn't know how many enemies her husband had?"

Elsa said with an odd expression, "It's possible that she doesn't."

Luke was stunned. "What do you mean?"

Elsa said, "Based on the information I found, she truly thinks that her husband was a legitimate businessman. Also, she's an art student at USC, and she's only 21."

Luke was speechless. "Are you saying that a 45-year-old gangster fell in pure love with a 21-year-old art student?"

Elsa shrugged. "Who knows? Anything can happen in this world."

Luke continued browsing the case file. "Where should we start?"

Since Dustin hadn't told them that the case needed to be resolved, they could give it up if they didn't find any leads in the next couple of days.

What if William Johnson's widow still insisted?

Whatever! There were too many gangsters in Los Angeles. William might have left her an inheritance, but it was impossible for her to try and push the case up to a higher level.

The big shots of WD-36 were rich, too. But could they complain in the media that LAPD didn't care about the murder of an underling?

Of course not! Once they learned what the scumbag did before he was killed, the media and the general public would only gloat at his death.

Nobody would ever sympathize with such gangsters.

Elsa shrugged and said, "Let's go to USC. We have to meet the widow. She's kind of… innocent, but she's not a bad person. If she makes a fuss about this case, it won't be a big thing for us, but she might draw the attention of other gangsters and lose her wealth or even her life."

Luke nodded his head.

It wasn't easy being a boss's woman.

If she were a capable woman, she might've been able to helm her husband's gang in his place.

But since she was merely an art student, both she and her assets would be obvious targets for other gangsters.

Wealth earned through violence would be plundered with violence. That was the rule of the gangs.

The patent that Luke had applied for, for example, could hardly be stolen by the gangsters with violence.

Luke had too much evidence to prove that he was the legitimate owner of the patent, and the judge wouldn't believe the gangsters at all if they couldn't offer any counter-evidence.

However, most of William Johnson's wealth was underground to avoid being investigated by the police and IRS. Other gangsters could take control of the wealth as long as they knew where it was.

If the widow inadvertently leaked the information that she had it, she would be dead very soon.

This time, Luke didn't take Elsa's car. Both of them drove separately to USC.

Luke wondered if he and this place were meant to be, since he had just spent half a day investigating the area yesterday.

Entering USC, Elsa found a studio. "She majors in painting. This is where she usually takes her classes."

They opened the door to find a naked model in the room as well as some ten youngsters who were painting diligently. A middle-aged man who appeared to be in his forties looked at the intruders and frowned.

Luke looked like a student, but Elsa obviously wasn't one. He was rather irritated about the unannounced guests.

After Elsa showed him her badge, the man's expression looked even more awful. He quickly left the studio.

Closing the door, he asked, "Who are you? How can I help you?"

Elsa said, "I'm Detective Elsa from LAPD. This is Detective Luke. We're here for Margaret Haley Johnson."

The man said, "This is a school. Come again when class is over if you want to talk to her."

Elsa narrowed her eyes. "Is your class very important?"

The man looked at her blankly. "Of course. This is a university."

"Can anyone study here if they're dead?" asked Elsa.

The man's expression turned ugly. "Is that a threat?"

Elsa scoffed. "This has nothing to do with you. We're from the Major Crimes Division."

The man said with his head held high, "So what? You don't run this place."

Luke couldn't take the man's lack of cooperation anymore.

"You're a teacher, right? The Major Crimes Division might not be a big deal, except that it handles criminal cases like homicides, gunfights and kidnappings every single day. Do you think we're here to talk to someone for fun?" asked Luke.

The man's face changed, but Luke continued before he could say anything, "We take a serious case every other day, and we have to work late all the time. Now, are you going to bring her out and stop wasting all of our time?"

The man hesitated for a moment, but finally went back into the studio.

He wasn't really an idiot.

Luke had made it clear that they were here as part of a serious criminal case. The man certainly couldn't ask the two detectives to wait until the students were finished.

Margaret wasn't a distinguished painter anyway. She was only here to practice.

He was all about asserting his absolute authority in the studio, but he had chosen the wrong targets this time.

Elsa glanced at Luke and said, "You're responsible for convincing and coercing our targets in the future."

Luke nodded but said, "Don't you like dealing with disobedient guys best?"

Elsa chuckled but didn't say anything. She remembered what Dustin said.

A leader should have their trusted subordinates do the work rather than do it themselves!

By changing her role, she could also prompt Luke's development, and both of them would benefit.

A minute later, Margaret came out. Elsa stepped forward to talk to her.

Her advantage as a woman was that she came across as less threatening and intimidating. It was easier for her to strike up a conversation.

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Chapter 200 Beautiful College Student and Unexpected Encounter

The three of them left the studio for a small park not far away, where they sat down to talk.

But there was nowhere for Luke to sit. Elsa and Margaret occupied the iron bench, and it would be too crowded for three people.

So, he simply stood next to Elsa and listened to their conversation while he observed Margaret.

He had to admit that Margaret was truly beautiful. No wonder William, the boss of a gang, fell in love with her. She had long blond hair, fair skin and a very attractive face.

Her age and her identity as an art student also added to her sex appeal.

The conversation went on for a long time.

Luke bought a few bottles of water from a vending machine for the two women.

Elsa gradually moved away from asking questions about the case to hinting at the possible danger that Margaret might be in.

Elsa felt personally compelled to do so.

Actually, LAPD wouldn't be in any trouble if anything happened to Margaret. Or rather, LAPD would be less troubled, because nobody would pester them to work on William Johnson's case anymore.

But as a woman, Elsa turned soft-hearted when she talked to Margaret, who wasn't a bad person, but just slightly innocent and childish.

Luke didn't interrupt.

The Super Detective System made him ruthless toward villains, but he couldn't be so coldblooded to Margaret, who was just an ordinary civilian.

Margaret wasn't rich because of William Johnson. Her own family was wealthy enough. It was why she was able to pursue arts.

If Elsa wanted to give her a warning, Luke wouldn't stand in the way.

Elsa was a great talker. After all, she was a seasoned detective with eight years of experience, and talking to women was one of the things she was best at.

Her resoluteness and decisiveness could easily win the trust and favor of meek girls like Margaret.

So, an hour later, Margaret had confessed a lot of intelligence on William, and was informed of her current situation.

Luke couldn't have convinced Margaret as easily, but it was a piece of cake for Elsa.

Luke observed them with great interest.

Compared with Elsa, he was actually quite frank. He was more of a doer than a talker.

Of course, being physically capable was good, but he wouldn't mind learning Elsa's way with words.

He wasn't strong enough to crush anyone yet, and might have to do some smooth talking to achieve some of his goals one of these days.

Elsa and Margaret finished their conversation two hours later, and exchanged numbers so that they could contact each other more easily in the future.

At this moment, Luke heard a most familiar voice. "Huh? Why are you here?"

Luke raised his eyebrow. "You're here, too?"

His roommate quickly whispered to him, "We're here for an investigation."

Luke's eyes were full of confusion.

Selina said, "We're here for Mrs. Johnson."

On the other side, Donald greeted Elsa and Margaret, before he flashed his badge and introduced himself.

Margaret was at a loss. "What… do you want from me?" She subconsciously looked at Elsa.

The police department couldn't have sent two groups of people to investigate her, could it?

Donald said, "Mrs. Johnson, we're here about the apartment building on 27 Lipton Street."

Margaret couldn't be any more confused. "Huh?"

Donald said, "It belongs to you."

Margaret said in surprise, "What?"

Elsa and Luke listened quietly and soon got it.

As it turned out, the case that Donald and Selina were working on, which involved the death of one woman and the disappearance of another, had taken place in an apartment building that belonged to William Johnson.

Well, it now belonged to Mrs. Margaret Haley Johnson.

Donald was only here as a last ditch attempt to ask Margaret if she knew anything, but he wasn't very hopeful.

Margaret had no idea about the apartment building at all. Or rather, she didn't even know how much of William's assets were now hers.

However, at Elsa's reminder, Margaret was prepared to find a law firm and sort through the assets under her name.

She certainly didn't hate money, but as an art student from a rich family, she wasn't desperate for it, either.

William Johnson's known assets included several buildings that were worth almost a hundred million dollars. She could live a comfortable life on that alone.

She would get rid of William Johnson's illegal assets as soon as possible.

Once that was done, there was no point in the other gangsters looking for her if they wanted to grab the assets of dubious or outright evil origin that William Johnson had left behind.

Although she might lose a lot of money, this was the safest move for Margaret, given what she was like.

She wasn't a capable woman, nor did she intend to pick up William's mantle. She would be insane if she wanted to keep the illegal assets.

In the end, after seeing Margaret off, Elsa traded information with Donald, and Luke talked to Selina.

They realized that neither of the two teams had any useful leads.

Elsa obtained a lot of intelligence on William, but none of it had to with his murder, and he had too many enemies.

Donald was even worse off, because guileless Margaret was too busy being pretty to learn anything about William's illegal businesses after she married him.

Luke had used Sharp Nose on Margaret, and had detected nothing except the smell of pigment.

It was true that she had never been involved in any of the illegal business.

Although it was still possible that she might be involved indirectly, the chances weren't very high.

After a while, Luke suggested that they have lunch together, and offered to treat them.

Elsa was certainly fine with it. Donald also agreed after a brief hesitation.

It was already half past eleven. Even if he refused Luke's invitation, he and Selina would still have to eat somewhere else.

Luke took them to Home Taste Tea House again. Different from last time, he chose a private room.

The four of them sat in a room that was ten square meters in size, with a glass window taking up one wall and which looked out onto the street. The room was quiet after the door was shut.

Elsa was rather curious. "What is this place?"

Luke explained with a smile, "It's a separate dining room, and it charges an additional 20% service fee. You have to reserve a room like this in advance unless you're a regular customer."

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Chapter 201 c

Elsa realized that Luke was a regular customer at this place and that he wasn't short of money.

Few American restaurants had private rooms. What Luke described as a separate dining room was rare, too.

It was possible to enjoy better service at a higher service fee, like the different classes on a plane.

However, restaurants weren't expected to provide 'private rooms,' which would be discriminatory and unfair to the other customers.

Donald had never eaten here before, so Elsa helped him order.

Luke, on the other hand, ordered for Selina. After all, he could always finish the food that she didn't like.

If Luke was full, he could still pack up the food for Dustin.

After the food was served, they stopped talking and ate first.

It wasn't until they were full that they chatted over their drinks.

Neither of the two parties planned to keep their cases confidential, since it appeared that they would be dropping both cases soon. Hopefully, they might uncover more clues by talking to each other.

After all, the two cases had a lot in common.

For example, Margaret and the girl who died of a drug overdose were both USC students, although they didn't know each other.

Also, the apartment building that the girl died in used to belong to William Johnson, who was notorious among the tenants.

This gave Donald a new lead to work on, but Elsa and Luke still had nothing to work with.

They packed up the food that they didn't finish and said goodbye to each other.

Donald and Selina were going to investigate the apartment building, since the girl's death looked like it could have been William's way of driving the tenants away.

Elsa and Luke returned to the police department to check for updates on their case.

Elsa also offered the extra food to poor Dustin. It was already past one, but Dustin probably hadn't had lunch yet.

She was amused at herself when she delivered the food to Dustin.

She had never been such an ass-kisser before. She was close to Dustin, but it was only about work. After all, she wasn't a gentle and considerate woman.

But after Luke became her partner, she somehow became a regular food supplier. It was rather unreal.

Elsa and Luke remained in the police department in the afternoon.

They discussed the case as they looked for information.

But it wasn't long before they shook their heads.

Too many people wanted William Johnson dead.

From civilians to gangsters to competitive real estate groups, it was too easy to put together a list of dozens of suspects who could've attacked him, not even counting the ones underground.

Only God knew how many evil things William Johnson had done in secret, and how many enemies he had made.

However, Elsa and Luke felt that this might be a hate crime.

According to the two high-class escorts who had been with William when he was killed, someone flew over the car's sunroof and shot him in the head.

This piece of intelligence was hard to believe, but it was still noted down as both escorts claimed the same thing, and William had truly been shot in the head instead of his face.

However… flying over a car going at eighty kilometers an hour and shooting William in the head through the open sunroof?

It was surreal!

Elsa found it hard to believe, but Luke thought otherwise.

Ordinary people couldn't do it, but what about those humans with supernatural abilities?

Luke was determined to talk Elsa into giving up this case since supernatural powers might be involved.

The criminal was undoubtedly decisive and ruthless, to blow up William Johnson's head like that. What if Elsa's head was blown up too if she found something?

As Luke's future boss, Elsa was very important for his future as a police detective.

She would allow Luke to do anything he wanted as long as he was efficient in solving cases.

Luke could then spend most of his time as a vigilante while using the intelligence he obtained from the police department.

A new boss who wanted him around every day would be wasting his time.

While he was busy at work, Luke's phone suddenly rang.

His expression immediately changed.

He had set up a few special ringtones on his phone, and the current ringtone meant that Selina was in grave danger and asking for help.

Putting in an earpiece, he quickly pressed the play button for a message recording that Selina had sent.

Selina said hastily, "We're in William Johnson's apartment building. There's a terrifying shooter here. Help!"

Luke grabbed his keys and started running.

Elsa was stunned. "What are you doing?"

Luke said, "Selina ran into a tough shooter in William's apartment building."

Surprised, Elsa followed him after a short pause.

While it didn't look like it was her business, the odd case that had taken place in William Johnson's apartment building might be related to his death.

Elsa and Luke both knew the address of the apartment building. They had just talked to Donald during lunch.

Luke got into his police car and rushed out of the parking lot.

He couldn't feel any more lucky that he had learned Elementary Driving.

Turning on the siren, he raced down the street.

The apartment building wasn't far from the police department, and Luke arrived seven minutes later.

He turned off the siren but kept the lights on, before he quickly charged into the building.

He then headed for Selina's location.

Luke had put a tracker on Selina, not to monitor her, but to locate her in an emergency

But he didn't need the tracker – he could already hear gunshots. It wasn't a very intense exchange, but they burst out at regular intervals.

Activating Sharp Nose, Luke realized that things weren't looking good.

The scent of Donald's blood was in the air.

Luke soon climbed to the fourth floor. He took out his pistol.

Bang! Bang!

Shooting twice without any hesitation, he forced the person who had been looking out over the stairs to retreat.

But Luke didn't relax at all, and was even more alarmed.

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Chapter 202 Flying Female Shooter and New Ability

He was now much better at shooting than ever.

He wasn't sure how many people he could hit after using up the bullets in his gun back in Shackelford, but right now, his precision was practically 100% at a range of twenty meters.

The criminals he killed with his gun were the best training targets.

During his operations in Paris, he never missed a single target.

But the first person capable of avoiding his bullets at close range had emerged, not because she was fast, but because she had foreseen it.

The moment Luke raised his gun, she had started to retreat as if by natural instinct.

Yes, it was a woman!

Holding back his slight shock, Luke focused.

Having weathered the attack by the Carlos family, Selina was much tougher than regular female officers.

If she said that the woman was a terrifying shooter, then the woman was certainly extraordinary.

Bang! Bang!

Luke shot again, forcing the woman to retreat up the stairs on the fourth floor to the fifth floor.

Bang! Bang!

Suppressing the enemy, Luke ran to the corner of the stairs and whispered, "It's me."

Selina was hiding behind a stone statue at the corner with a gun in her hand, but she didn't say anything

Before Luke ran over, he already saw Donald, who was lying on the ground.

Donald had been shot in the abdomen. His lips were pale, but he was obviously delighted to see Luke.

Everybody in the Major Crimes Division knew how good Luke was.

After finishing off almost fifty professional robbers armed with rifles in an hour, he was acknowledged by the Major Crimes Division as their toughest detective.

Luke wasn't afraid that the woman would attack them again. His Sharp Nose had detected that she was moving further upstairs.

He quickly lifted Donald's clothes and pressed down around the wound. He was instantly relieved.

Donald's wound wasn't fatal; Luke didn't need to be too worried about it.

"Did you call an ambulance?" he asked.

Selina nodded.

Luke said, "You stay here and protect him. Stay alert." He then got up and ran upstairs.

Selina said in a low voice, "Be careful."

Luke was strong, but the female shooter wasn't any weaker.

She had shot Donald in a 2 on 1.

Had Selina not been training with Luke in the last six months, she might've been shot, too.

With his Sharp Nose, Luke realized that the female shooter had reached the rooftop.

Luke was rather puzzled. He planned to fight the female shooter again.

Rushing to the rooftop, Luke stopped briefly at the entrance.

He determined the shooter's location with his Sharp Nose and looked in her direction, only to be surprised by her actions.

In the next moment, Luke realized what she was doing, and exclaimed inwardly.

Not far away, the female shooter had finished the last step of her acceleration.

She stomped her foot so hard that the ground seemed to explode, and she jumped from the rooftop to another building ten meters away at an astonishing speed.

Luke raised his gun without hesitation.

Bang! Bang!

The female shooter suddenly twisted in midair and glanced back angrily.

She reached into her pocket with her right hand and pulled out a gun, which she pointed at Luke's position.

Luke quickly retreated and took cover.

He waited to see whether the woman would fall and be killed.

But she could probably cover the distance between the two buildings with that jump, and the other building was one level shorter.

It was quite shocking.

Bang!

After another gunshot, Luke stretched out a mirror to the side and saw that the female shooter had landed on the other building as she rolled with the momentum.

She had instantly sensed Luke's shot just now, and was only hit in the shoulder.

Luke was astounded. Despite his interference, the woman had made a jump of more than fifteen meters.

She definitely wasn't a normal person!

As Luke's mind whirled with thoughts, he heard a clink. He raised his head, only to see a bullet hole in a metal billboard not far away.

His pupils contracted. What was this?

The bullet hole in the billboard was in the wrong location.

Basic Firearms was the first ability he learned, and he was familiar with its various forms after all these months.

After a quick glance at the bullet hole, he figured out the shooter's position, but the location was empty.

Then, where was this bullet from?

Luke looked in the mirror again, but the female shooter had disappeared from the rooftop. Luke knew that he couldn't chase her anymore.

He could also easily jump fifteen meters, but that would be revealing his extraordinary power.

Also, he had learned a good lesson from the female shooter.

It was because she couldn't do anything in midair that Luke had been able to shoot her.

But that wasn't really an error on her part.

She didn't know that Luke had Sharp Nose, and was much faster than most people.

If it were SWAT, she would've already landed on the other building by the time they reached the rooftop.

Frowning, Luke descended from the rooftop.

The uncanny bullet hole made him uneasy. It was better for him to go back inside.

At that moment, he checked the system notification.

System: You have defeated Rebecca and have received a list of her abilities.

Rebecca's abilities: Basic Firearms, Basic Combat… Physical Outburst (Prerequisites: 20 Strength, 20 Dexterity, 20 Mental Strength and 1,000 credit points. Unavailable), Curve Shooting (Prerequisites: 20 Strength, 20 Dexterity, 20 Mental Strength and 1,000 credit points. Unlearnable).

Luke exclaimed in shock. Curve Shooting? What was that?

Fortunately, he had a system.

Calling on the system, he found new information on Rebecca's abilities.

Physical Outburst (conferred by the Fraternity), Curve Shooting (conferred by the Fraternity).

Luke was lost for words. What were those? Why didn't he know anything about them?

Thinking quickly, he went downstairs and saw that an ambulance had arrived.

Selina had called for reinforcements earlier and stated that a police officer was down.

Donald was soon taken downstairs via the elevator and into the ambulance.

After Selina saw Donald off, Luke asked, "Do you want me to take you to the hospital?"

As Donald's partner, Selina had to accompany him until his operation was done.

Selina shook her head. "No need, I'll drive Donald's car."

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Chapter 203 Unexpected Speculation

Luke thought for a moment and said, "I'll join you. I want to know what happened today."

After arriving at the hospital, they talked outside the surgery room.

What happened wasn't complicated.

Donald and Selina had returned to the scene of the crime to look for clues that they might have missed earlier.

But somebody was in the apartment when they arrived.

They carefully opened the door and saw that female shooter.

Luke finally learned that the female shooter wasn't a random person, but the missing tenant of the apartment.

Naturally, Donald and Selina were excited.

The tenant was definitely a lead. After all, it was strange that she went missing after someone died in her apartment.

Since she was alive, she could be the murderer, or an informant.

Donald immediately stepped forward to try and take her back with them to the police department.

Selina, however, was much more vigilant thanks to Luke's training. She noticed that something didn't look right with the tenant.

She hauled Donald out of the apartment, but the tenant took out her gun and shot at them.

They then took cover on the stairs.

After that, both sides were caught at an impasse.

Selina and Donald outnumbered the tenant, though they weren't as good at shooting as she was. They locked her down on the fifth floor.

A moment before Luke arrived, Donald got careless and was shot.

If Luke hadn't arrived in time, the shooter could've left easily via the stairs instead of having to jump over ten meters between two buildings.

While Luke was asking about the details, Elsa finally arrived.

She was also greatly shocked when Selina told her what happened.

Luke simply told Elsa that she should turn a blind eye if she ran into the shooter, and that she shouldn't try to arrest the woman, with or without backup, or someone might die.

After a long while, Luke finally offered his theory. "It was probably this shooter who killed William."

Elsa was stunned. "How can you be sure?"

Luke said, "Do you remember what the two escorts said?"

Elsa asked, "You mean how someone flew over the car and blew William's head up? Was it done by this shooter?"

Luke said solemnly in a low voice, "Just now, with my own eyes, I saw her jump more than fifteen meters and land on the rooftop of the next building before she escaped."

Elsa exclaimed and couldn't believe it at all.

Luke said, "Let's just wait. This isn't a case we can handle."

After a brief hesitation, Elsa asked, "What about the boss?"

Luke said, "You go talk to him. In any case, I won't investigate this case. That female shooter was abnormal. In order to deal with her, we'd have to surround her and barrage her with overwhelming firepower."

Elsa fell silent.

How could it be that simple? The female shooter certainly wasn't an idiot who would wait to be surrounded.

Given her ability to jump fifteen meters, it would be near impossible to besiege her at all in this city.

After the discussion, Luke and Elsa left, and Selina waited at the hospital for Donald to come out of surgery.

Luke and Elsa returned to the apartment building, which had been locked down by the police.

It was no small thing that a police officer was shot, much less in a follow-up to a homicide in the apartment.

Luke and Elsa went back to the rooftop. Luke examined the area as well as the bullet hole in the metal billboard.

In the end, he realized that the bullet was shot by none other than the female shooter herself.

Her bullet had indeed curved!

Elsa, on the other hand, looked at the footprint where the rooftop had cracked, and was convinced.

Though the building was rather rundown, it still wouldn't crumble that easily.

Only such a terrifying force could have supported a jump of fifteen meters.

After figuring out the situation, Luke and Elsa left the apartment building.

After they returned, they told Dustin what happened, and Dustin solemnly told them to keep it confidential, before he sent them home to get some rest.

Luke shrugged and said, "Alright. I'm going to the hospital. You can go home first."

Elsa shook her head. "I'm going to find Margaret. I'm afraid that the female shooter…"

Luke didn't think that it was likely, but it was still a possibility. He simply reminded her, "Remember, keep as far away from the female shooter as possible if you run into her."

Elsa smiled bitterly. "Is there a need to be so worried?"

Luke was grim. "I don't want you to get sent in for surgery. Don't let anything happen to you."

Elsa nodded silently.

Nobody wanted anything to happen to their partner.

Luke returned to the hospital with a bag of food, water and warm clothes for Selina, since it was inconvenient for her to get them herself.

On the bench outside the surgery room, they talked about the female shooter again, and Selina recalled more details.

Eventually, Luke and Selina confirmed an unbelievable thing: the female shooter hadn't wanted to fight or kill Selina and Donald at all.

If Donald and Selina hadn't blocked the way so doggedly, the female shooter might've left after she forced them to retreat.

The female shooter, whom even Luke had failed to take down, could've killed Donald and Selina at any moment, particularly when their guards were down at the beginning.

But she hadn't.

Luke knew how good she was, even better than Selina did.

It wasn't really a problem for a shooter who was capable of Physical Outburst and Curve Shooting to kill two people who didn't know anything about her abilities.

Selina and Donald were probably only still alive because the shooter had spared them.

The reason why Luke had been able to shoot her in the end was also because she only wanted to run, and had no intention of fighting the police.

Luke couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Come to think of it, his last two shots had been like an ambush.

No wonder the shooter had been angered into taking action, and had used Curve Shooting after she was shot.

Had it not been for Luke's good habit of changing locations frequently, his head could've been blown up.

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Chapter 204 Harvesting Points, and Partners Again

Thus, Selina and Donald hadn't really been in grave danger yesterday, but Luke could've died an unexpected death.

After figuring out what happened, Luke sweated hard. This truly was a dangerous world!

No! He had to boost his Strength to 40 and meet the prerequisite for Elementary Self-Healing

All I need is just another level-up!

Luke couldn't sit around anymore. Telling Selina to be careful, he left in a hurry.

He had nothing else to do, and it was almost seven at night, which was the perfect time for him to take action.

He had been keeping an eye on WD-36 for a while, and he intended to destroy it tonight.

Selina had to stay at the hospital tonight. Donald's operation was successful, but he was still in critical condition, so Selina couldn't leave.

Luke checked her text message and put his phone back into his personal space.

Half an hour later, looking at the huge bungalow before him, he took a deep breath and made his move.

That night, twelve people in one of WD-36's nests went missing with a lot of drugs and cash.

Nobody knew what happened; at least, nobody in WD-36.

On the other hand, a bunch of bodies suddenly appeared in the nest of a gang that was in ongoing conflict with WD-36.

The gang, called 23rd Street, disposed of the bodies secretly instead of making a big thing out of it.

The twelve bodies included WD-36's third in command, who was responsible for money and the goods.

23rd Street would've been ecstatic if the man were alive, but they couldn't interrogate a dead man.

Since they couldn't get anything from the bodies, and they didn't want to start a war with WD-36, 23rd Street simply kept it to themselves.

However, the heads of 23rd Street had a bad feeling

If WD-36's third in command could be so easily killed and dumped in their territory, it wouldn't be too hard for whoever did it to do the same thing to them.

But before they could reach a decision, one of 23rd Street's nests was turned upside down the next night.

Eight people went missing, and the stash and the cash there were gone as well.

23rd Street grew paranoid. Had they been attacked, too?

They were quite smart, because it was precisely Luke's doing again.

He could store the bodies of a dozen people in his personal space, but he had no time to dispose of them, so he simply dumped them on other gangsters, confident that they would never dare call the police.

Thus, he dumped the bodies of 23rd Street's gangsters on WD-36.

What if the two gangs thought of the possibility and teamed up to deal with him?

Well, that would be even better.

If that happened, he could disguise the deaths of the gangsters as the result of a gang fight, and he still wouldn't need to handle the bodies.

Luke didn't stop harvesting points after he started.

After five days, the gangsters near USC were all going crazy.

Five hostile gangs were involved. Regarding them as a free cleaning service, Luke would dump the bodies of Gang A on Gang B, and those of Gang B on Gang C every day.

Finally, the gangs couldn't take it anymore.

The big bosses didn't meet in person, but had their lackeys communicate with one another, hoping to find the psycho who was slaughtering them.

But right then, the killing and dumping came to a stop.

On the sixth day, after fifteen members of a small gang went missing together, no more bodies emerged, marking the end of the indiscriminate massacre.

The gangsters were relieved.

Six groups of people, totaling almost a hundred individuals, had died. It was the craziest hunt ever.

They could only pray to god that the guy had been killed by a gang.

Luke, on the other hand, checked the system notification in excitement.

Mission: Eliminate drug dealers and destroy the illegal drugs.

Total experience: 1,200. Total credit: 1,200.

Contribution rate: 100%. EXP 1,200. Credit 1,200.

As experience has reached 10,000 points, the host has leveled up to level 11.

Extra stat points: 5.

Another level-up! Finally!

What delighted Luke even more was that the stat points he earned from the level-up was now five.

He would now grow faster.

After his Strength reached 40, he had to focus on Mental Strength.

To better utilize his personal space and meet the prerequisite for certain abilities, he had to boost Mental Strength to 20.

Bobby's Mental Communication, for example, had a prerequisite of 20 Mental Strength.

That was a mental ability!

Luke guessed that he had to meet the Mental Strength prerequisite if he wanted to learn more mental abilities.

Elementary Self-Healing's prerequisite was 40 Strength. What about telekinesis and mental control? Would they demand 40 Mental Strength or higher?

Luke went to work in a good mood the next day.

Because of his severe injury and his age, Donald had to rest for at least a month, so Selina was left on her own.

But that wasn't a bad thing, because Elsa was officially promoted.

And the new sergeant was now recruiting more talent for her team.

As a sergeant, Elsa needed at least two individuals to work for her, and if necessary, their group could work a case with two other groups.

After the Nakatomi Plaza case, Luke had helped bring in a generous donation to the police department, so it had enough funding now to hire new people.

Although the money was meant to be used for improving the police communication equipment and vehicles, some of it could certainly be invested elsewhere.

LAPD had always been severely short of hands, and was constantly trying to recruit more officers.

So, after grooming Luke for two months, Elsa got another rookie detective as her partner to get him familiar with the job.

Luke and Selina were back together as partners.

While she was sorry for Donald, Selina was actually happy to have her old partner back.

Dustin helped out a lot, too, so that Elsa could establish her own team after her promotion.

Elsa was the general commander, Luke was the problem-solver, and Selina and the new detective were support.

Dustin could hence give them some of the tricky cases without needing to get any other police teams to help them.

A team that had worked together for a long time was much more capable and efficient than a team that had just been set up.

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Chapter 205 Case Facts and 40 Strength

Elsa and Luke were no longer partners but still in the same team. They could work on more cases, and their abilities wouldn't go to waste.

At Luke's heads-up, Elsa found an important lead and solved the William Johnson case.

The DNA test on the blood left behind by the wounded female shooter confirmed that she was the sister of the college student suspected of dying from a drug overdose.

In the end, it was discovered that the shooter was the elder sister who went missing as a child, and the college student was the younger sister.

There was no telling how they met, but the younger sister, who studied at USC, moved into her elder sister's apartment.

William claimed ownership of the building not long ago, and wanted to drive out Rebecca, the elder sister, who had signed a long-term lease.

But Rebecca wasn't living in the apartment, though she was paying the rent.

For some reason, William sent a guy to kill Rebecca's sister and make it look like she died of a drug overdose.

After discovering that her sister was dead, Rebecca, with her terrifying skills, easily tracked down and killed William, who had murdered her sister.

In fact, after William's death, two men in his gang were also shot in the head in their apartments.

One of them died the day after William's death, and the other died just yesterday.

Nobody had made the connection between these cases before. Thanks to Luke's heads-up and Elsa's deductions, they finally figured out that this was one murder case with multiple victims.

Luke and Elsa even guessed why Rebecca, the female shooter, had shown up at the apartment the previous day.

Perhaps, Rebecca had returned to the apartment to offer her dead sister the lives and blood of her enemies, so that she could rest in peace.

Dustin didn't pursue the case any further.

After all, Rebecca had disappeared, and there was motive for the murders of William and his subordinates. Now was a good point to close the case.

As for Rebecca who hadn't been caught yet, all they needed to do was put her on the wanted list.

It was impossible to dispatch anyone to capture Rebecca.

After listening to Luke's assessment of Rebecca's capabilities, Dustin didn't want any of his men to be killed over someone like William.

After a busy week, Luke and Selina went to Elsa.

Hearing what Luke had to say, Elsa raised her head from the desk that was overflowing with files. "Are you kidding me? What did you say?"

Luke said with a smile, "I'm asking for leave, boss."

Elsa leaned back in her chair. "Do you have any idea how busy we are?"

Luke nodded his head. "I do, but I'm hoping to visit my uncle. He's in Vegas, so I won't be away for long."

Slapping her forehead, Elsa asked, "Do you have to?"

Luke put up one finger. "Yes. We're leaving on the weekend and we only need one day's leave."

Lost for words for a moment, Elsa searched the desk and said, "Since you're going to Vegas, then bring back the test results for these cases from the forensics center there."

Luke asked, "Then would this count as a work trip?"

Elsa rolled her eyes. "In your dreams! I'll ask the boss to send someone to fetch the results if you don't want to take the job."

Luke shrugged. "Okay. Do you want any souvenirs?"

Elsa glared at him. "What souvenirs can you get from Vegas? Chips?"

Luke laughed. "I can buy you a pair of sunglasses. I heard that the sun is very strong there."

Elsa was rendered speechless. "Go away! I'll cut your leave if you're there for too long!"

Luke saluted her and said, "Yes, ma'am!"

The next day was a Saturday. Luke checked in at the police department, but soon slipped away.

Selina had other things to do in the police department. They would take a flight to Las Vegas that afternoon.

They could make the trip by car, but Luke was too lazy to drive.

A flight would only take an hour, which saved a lot of time.

After making preparations at home, Luke finally added the last stat point.

40 Strength!

He was immediately seized with unimaginable agony. The muscles all over his body seemed to twist and burn.

Biting down on a towel, Luke groaned harshly. "Damn it! I knew it couldn't be that easy! Arghhhh!"

When his main attributes reached 20, his body was significantly boosted and much stronger than before.

What would happen when his main attributes reached 40? Luke had made a couple of guesses when he remembered that Elementary Self-Healing required 40 Strength.

He screamed for almost an hour, and finally weathered the most painful phase.

He still felt uncomfortable and grimaced in pain, but he wasn't screaming wildly anymore.

Also, Luke couldn't just lie around on his bed.

He knew that he had lost more body fat again in the past hour, but he wasn't happy at all.

His smooth skin had turned slightly dry. It was obvious that his fat was being consumed like crazy.

Gritting his teeth against the pain and soreness in his muscles, Luke devoured the food that he had prepared in advance.

He also injected himself with his own mix of nutritional fluid to replenish his almost drained body.

He then started feeling uncomfortable again.

The upgrade process wasn't over yet – even the first wave had yet to pass. He had felt better earlier because the system had slowed down the process due to his low energy level

With the new supply of nutrition, the upgrade was activated once more, though it wasn't as painful as at the beginning.

Luke simply gritted his teeth and panted heavily, and turned the agony into appetite.

Eating, drinking, and injecting himself with the nutritional fluid, Luke finally survived the first phase of the upgrade five hours later.

He almost burst into tears.

It was as terrible as torture, and he didn't even have the luxury of passing out.

He had to stay awake and consume a tremendous amount of food and energy to sustain the upgrade.

During the process, Luke went to the toilet more than five times.

When his Strength reached 20, he only went to the toilet once.

It wasn't just because he was consuming too much food, but also because his body was discharging surplus waste now that it had been boosted to a new level.

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Chapter 206 Reborn and Recovery

Luke felt rather weak at the moment, but also like he was floating, as if a weight had rolled off him.

He aggressively scrubbed himself clean in the bathroom.

After the past few hours, his body was covered with sweat and other weird things, and felt quite itchy.

The sweat contained a lot of impurities that were discharged during the upgrade. Washing them off with hot water was almost like peeling off a layer of skin.

After a forty-minute shower, Luke left the bathroom feeling extremely refreshed, and sat down in the backyard.

He felt amazing, as if he had been reborn.

His scars and acne had disappeared, and most of his body hair had dropped, too.

His face was also better-looking than before.

The upgrade had also stimulated his hair growth, and he could finally stop worrying about becoming bald.

Looking at the sky in the backyard while enjoying a cup of tea, Luke felt wonderful.

He checked his stats panel.

Luke (AKA Luke Coulson)

Strength: 40

Dexterity: 20

Mental Strength: 15

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He had added the additional stat point to Mental Strength.

He hadn't felt very good when increasing Mental Strength for the first time, but the effect was obvious.

His head felt much clearer than before.

He knew that it was because his Mental Strength was still too low. An 8% increase was definitely noticeable.

His body that was growing stronger day by day required a more powerful mind.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to utilize the full range of his physical combat ability.

Of course, the most important thing right now was that his Strength had reached 40.

Smiling, Luke quickly paid ten thousand credit points.

The next moment, he couldn't help but frown. "Oh! Sh*t! Again?"

His whole body itched, as if it was recovering from a wound.

Gritting his teeth, Luke soon realized what was going on.

The upgrade just now had caused his body minor injuries.

If he didn't do anything about it, the injuries would recover naturally in a day or two, but since he had just learned Carol's Elementary Self-Healing, it was automatically activated, and was healing his minor injuries.

The injuries weren't serious, and recovery felt like ants crawling all over his body. The feeling was gone five minutes later.

Those minor injuries healed fast, but his left arm, which had been numb for a long time, was still itching

His left arm, which had been broken by the monsters in Wolfkyle, was starting to heal like crazy.

Luke was excited. After such a long wait, his left arm could finally go back to normal!

The next moment, he felt hungry again.

He had no choice but to return to the dinner table and eat again.

It seemed that Elementary Self-Healing guzzled energy too. He had better just stay inside.

Luke cleaned up the house in passing and cut his own hair.

With his strength and dexterity, it wasn't difficult for him to cut his hair using pictures he found online as a guide.

Selina came back at four in the afternoon. She was rather surprised by Luke's new look.

Luke simply made up excuses to her questions and diverted her attention to the upcoming holiday.

They took Luke's car to the airport.

At half past five, they got on the plane, and at seven, they reached Aurora Hotel in Las Vegas.

The hotel even sent a car to pick them up since they had booked a room earlier.

This time, Luke had booked a deluxe business suite, which cost three thousand dollars a night.

Selina ran excitedly around the room and laughed as she played with the facilities.

Luke told her that he would get some rest first, so Selina went to the bathroom to enjoy a bath.

Leaving her alone, Luke simply went to bed.

His body was still changing after his Strength reached 40.

Luke didn't need to test it to know that he was stronger than before.

Based on his observations when his Strength reached 20, it would take a few hours to complete a quarter of such a massive upgrade, twenty-four hours to complete half of it, and around ten days for the upgrade to be fully complete.

So, he wouldn't see the real effects of 40 Strength until ten days later.

That was why Luke intended to get some rest tonight before doing anything.

He made a call to Greyson before he went to bed to see if the man was free the next day.

Old Greyson was surprised to receive the call, but was happy for Luke to visit.

He was busy with an interesting case, so he simply invited Luke to meet him at the forensics center.

Luke thanked him and hung up.

He was rather excited at the thought of visiting the Las Vegas Forensics Center, which was a holy land for all CSI staff in the United States.

After making plans, an exhausted Luke soon fell asleep.

At four in the morning, he woke up.

He washed his face and brushed his teeth. He didn't wake Selina since she was still fast asleep.

He had confirmed it himself.

There was no telling if Selina had been too excited last night, but she fell asleep on her bed with her limbs splayed, and hadn't closed the door.

Luke went to sleep early last night, and had no idea what she had been up to in her room. She was sleeping in nothing but her underwear.

Beautiful things were meant to be appreciated.

Luke looked at her silently for ten seconds, before he closed Selina's door and went downstairs, feeling satisfied.

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Chapter 207 Beautiful Lobster and Diorama Killer

After getting something to eat in the restaurant, Luke entered the casino on the ground floor at five in the morning.

The casino was still crowded with players who didn't care about the time.

There were no clocks or windows in the casinos in Las Vegas, so that tourists could forget the time or wouldn't rest until they had lost their last dime.

Luke took out a thousand dollars' worth of chips and wandered among the tables.

Same as most tourists, he bet when he was interested and left when he wasn't.

After an hour, he had taken a look at almost every kind of game in the casino.

His final conclusion was that it wasn't hard to win!

But the easiest way to make a fortune was blackjack, which required the least cards to play.

As an experiment, he played a few games at a blackjack table.

He left the table after winning a hundred dollars. He converted his chips back into cash, and was left with just 820 dollars after losing the rest.

Luke shook his head inwardly.

He had spent a lot of time wandering among the tables just now. If he had instead stuck to one game the entire time, he could've lost hundreds of dollars in an hour.

It wouldn't be a surprise if he lost thousands of dollars in one day.

Gambling is really bad!

Luke mumbled to himself and went back upstairs. It was around half past six.

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Standing in front of the glass wall with a cup of coffee in his hand, Luke peacefully enjoyed the city skyline before dawn.

At half past seven, Selina came out drowsily.

Luke turned around and looked at her. "What are you doing?"

Selina said, "I'm going to the bathroom."

Luke was speechless. "Need I remind you that your room has its own ensuite?"

Selina said, "Oh, I thought I was at home." She then returned to her room.

Luke chuckled.

Selina coming out wasn't a surprise, but did she forget that she wasn't wearing pajamas?

What he saw just now was quite different from his view at the door to her room earlier.

When she moved and turned, certain parts of her body were truly… bouncy.

Luke returned to his room with a smile and changed his clothes.

He was going to visit Old Greyson, so he couldn't be dressed too casually.

After he changed, he knocked on Selina's door.

She had been in the bathroom the whole time. Did she have that big a bladder?

Leaning against the door, Luke knocked on it again. "Selina, get up already. We're going to visit Greyson. We can't be late."

A long time later, Selina murmured, "…Okay, just let me sleep a while longer."

Luke said, "I heard that the restaurant has Australian lobsters today."

Selina suddenly came out of the bathroom. "Ah, I want to eat lobster."

Luke said, "No problem, but put on your clothes first. I'll be waiting for you outside."

Confused, Selina looked down at herself and asked, "Why aren't I wearing any clothes? Did you take them off me?"

Luke didn't respond to her slander at all. Did she not remember that she had only slept in her underwear last night?

Selina wasn't really bothered either. After living with Luke for months, she had accidentally exposed herself too many times to care.

Half an hour later, when Selina came out in a gorgeous outfit, Luke whistled. "Well, well. You're getting prettier every day."

Selina did a little turn. "How do I look? I've never worn this before."

Luke remarked, "It's beautiful and suits you well."

Selina wasn't dressed in the style of an officer. With her brown coat, her black-and-white plaid shirt, and her gray pants, she looked sexier than usual.

Nobody would think that she was a police officer.

Selina nodded in satisfaction and went downstairs for breakfast with Luke.

She wouldn't have been so gung ho about getting up if it wasn't for the Australian lobster.

After Selina had her fill of Australian lobster and Luke paid the bill, they left for the forensics center.

At ten to nine, they showed their credentials to the guards and entered the forensics center.

Selina was quite amazed by the forensics center's interior design, which was quite futuristic.

Luke smiled and didn't say anything.

He didn't expect to be able to visit the holy land for CSI teams so soon.

He found Old Greyson's office, but nobody was inside.

Luke asked a person who was passing by. The man looked funny and had a funny voice, but he was a nice guy and told them that Old Greyson was in a nearby lab.

Luke and Selina thanked him and found the lab twenty meters away.

A handsome middle-aged man was scrutinizing a diorama in the lab as if he were appreciating a work of art.

Luke knocked, and Old Greyson reluctantly put his magnifying down and looked at the door. He then smiled. "You're here."

Luke asked, "Can we come in? That looks like fun."

Old Greyson said, "Of course, as long as you don't touch it."

Luke leaned closer and observed the diorama for a while. "This is practically a masterpiece. Greyson, when did you become an artist? This is pretty lifelike, and gory."

The diorama was in fact a realistic-looking murder scene. Even the blood and the injuries on the victims were perfectly depicted.

Old Greyson thought for a moment and shook his head. "It's not my work, but an exhibit by a serial killer that we call Diorama Killer."

Stunned for a moment, Luke observed the diorama more carefully. "So, this is a calling card left behind by the killer? There must be more than one of them, right?"

Old Greyson pointed in another direction. "There's another one over there."

Luke went over to the second diorama, but instead of observing it, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

A moment later, Luke turned back with an odd expression on his face. "Have you found any leads on this Diorama Killer? Like… her gender?"

Old Greyson asked solemnly, "Her? Are you saying that the Diorama Killer is a woman?"

Luke said, "Maybe, maybe not. She could be an accomplice, or just the person who helped the killer to make or place this diorama. It's a woman no older than thirty years old."

Old Greyson said, "…Are you high?"

Luke chuckled and said, "No, it's just my gut feeling. I doubt that it can be confirmed without proof."

Frowning at him for a moment, Old Greyson nodded slightly. "Alright, got it."

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Chapter 208 Gift, Inelegant Case-Solving, and Hanging Out

Then, the three of them talked in Old Greyson's office.

Luke gave him a box. "This is a little something for you."

Old Greyson raised his eyebrow. "Can I open it?"

Luke said with a smile, "Of course. There's a user manual inside, but I don't mind explaining it to you."

Old Greyson opened the box, only to see an item that looked like a phone. "A phone?"

Luke shook his head. "It looks like a phone, but it's actually a… voice converter. If you aim the antenna at a target within twenty meters, this machine will record what they're saying and display it as text on the screen for you to read. Of course, the voice recognition might not be very accurate."

Selina's eyes glowed as she listened. It was a handy tool for any detective.

With an indecipherable expression on his face, Old Greyson said a long time later, "Please pass on my thanks to Robert." He then put the phone-like voice converter into his drawer.

Luke nodded his head with a smile and didn't say anything.

Robert had mentioned to him that Old Greyson's mother had a genetic disease that could very likely cause hearing loss.

Old Greyson didn't have any hearing problems yet, but this gadget could still be useful for him.

The FBI and S.H.I.E.L.D. had similar equipment that was usually installed in cars. It could eavesdrop on what was being said within a range of one to two hundred meters.

But the advantage of Luke's gadget was that it was small and convenient.

They talked for a while longer, and Greyson asked Luke things about his work and his personal life.

Luke told the truth most of the time, but didn't say anything about his side gig as a vigilante.

Old Greyson clearly sensed that Luke was hiding something, but didn't pursue it further.

Suddenly, Luke sniffed in surprise. "Greyson, are cleaners allowed to touch the exhibits in your lab?"

Old Greyson replied, "They might accidentally touch the unimportant exhibits, but certainly not the important ones. What are you trying to say?"

Luke turned his head to look at a young female cleaner not far away. "How interesting. This is a surprise."

Unmoved, Old Greyson simply observed the young cleaner along with Luke, until she disappeared around a corner.

Luke thought for a moment, then operated his fake phone.

Thankfully, there weren't any surveillance cameras installed in Old Greyson's office.

So, Luke simply shut the door and asked, "Greyson, are you particular about how you crack a case? Like, does it have to be an elegant solution?"

After a brief silence, Old Greyson said, "Proof is more important than elegance. This is science."

Luke shrugged. "I don't have any proof, but I have an answer that is rather inelegant. Would you like to hear it?"

Old Greyson said, "Just spit it out."

Luke said, "The female cleaner at the door just now is the young woman associated with the Diorama Killer. I don't have any proof, but you could try investigating her."

Old Greyson was suspicious. "I thought you were high on weed, but it seems that you're even more delusional than that."

Luke smiled. "I'm sorry. Although the Diorama Killer is very artistic, I've always preferred to be straightforward. I never thought I would see a serial killer come back to observe how her crimes are being cracked!"

He knew that Old Greyson had dealt with plenty of serial killers before who were smart and challenging, and that by telling Old Greyson who the criminal was, he had spoiled Old Greyson's fun in hunting the criminal down.

Old Greyson's expression was odd, but he nodded his head. "Okay, got it. But I'm afraid that I can't have lunch with you if I'm going to investigate her."

Luke chuckled. "There's still time. We're only leaving the day after tomorrow."

Old Greyson nodded his head. "Okay. Have fun."

Luke promptly rose, and Selina followed him in a hurry.

Old Greyson got up to see them off.

Such a courtesy was rare for him. Even when his boss visited him, he hardly saw the latter off.

Luke and Selina were saying goodbye to Old Greyson at the door when three people who were chattering nonstop passed up.

Old Greyson stopped them. "Nick, where are you going?"

Nick turned serious. "Oh, Greyson. We're going to celebrate Henry's birthday."

Old Greyson nodded his head thoughtfully. "Take my nephew with you. He's a young detective. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

He then looked at Luke. "You have fun with them. They know everything about this place."

All three of them hesitated, but Old Greyson ignored it and demanded, "Take him with you wherever you're going." His back to Luke, he gestured at Nick.

Stumped for a moment, Nick nodded his head and gave a wry smile. "Okay, fine."

He turned his head and said, "Greyson, he's your nephew, but she isn't your niece, is she?"

He noticed Selina. Nobody could fail to notice such a hot Latino girl.

Seeing the look on Old Greyson's face, Luke extended his hand with a smile. "I'm Luke. Nice to meet you, Nick."

The young man had short blond hair and a square face. His grin was particularly heartening.

Nick was a nice guy. He shook Luke's hand and said, "Nice to meet you too, Luke. This is…"

Luke said, "This is Selina, my partner. We're both detectives from the Major Crimes Division of LAPD."

Nick's expression turned shrewd. "Are you…"

Luke chuckled. "She's like a sister to me. Also, she's quite easygoing."

Selina waved at the three men with a smile.

The three young men all smiled back. Since Luke and Selina were both good-looking and were clearly close to Old Greyson, they certainly couldn't turn the two of them away.

Old Greyson said, "Okay, you can go now."

He didn't really care what the three young men's plans were.

Old Greyson himself "helped" newcomers adapt to the job with his "special training."

He was a prank master.

And quite a few of his men had developed a similar hobby.

Luke, Selina and the three men made conversation as they went downstairs.

After they introduced themselves, Luke and Selina got to know them better.

The youngest was called Greg. He was a sunny boy who still looked like a student.

The last one was called Hodges. He was almost forty and balding. He looked rather solemn and uptight.

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Chapter 209 Happy Birthday and Car Accident

They got along quite well after they introduced themselves.

Luke was young and approachable, and Selina was friendly as well as beautiful.

Nick managed to handle it, but both Greg and Hodges were obviously attracted to her.

On the second floor, Nick stopped and said, "Luke, Selina, we have a special plan for Henry's birthday celebration. Would you like to hear it first?"

Luke and Selina certainly had no objections. They soon figured out the plan and agreed to take part.

They were here for fun, and the birthday celebration wouldn't take too long anyway.

Selina, for one, liked the prank, and volunteered to play a bigger role.

Luke indicated that he could also help.

Everybody went downstairs now that Selina and Luke were on board.

Unable to refuse Selina's request, Hodges gave her the tools he had prepared for the "crime," while he and Luke got the substitutes which Selina provided: a new pair of silk stockings.

Half an hour later, a man reached the underground carpark, humming a cheery tune.

Luke almost laughed out loud. Henry, the birthday body, happened to be the funny-looking guy who had pointed out the way to Luke and Selina earlier.

No wonder Nick and his fellows wanted to "surprise" him. The man looked like someone you couldn't help but tease.

Nick made a gesture that meant "go go go."

Luke was lost for words. Did you learn tactical sign language to play pranks?

He followed them, while up front, Selina had already grabbed Henry.

Henry didn't know what was going on at all. When he smelled Selina's fragrance, he was wondering if it was Lancome Miracle, when his hands were seized in a hold and a few guys wearing big masks with the faces of former presidents on them rushed out.

Well, there were also two guys who were wearing black silk stockings over their heads.

Henry's head was covered with a hood. The next moment, he was pushed into an SUV not far away, and the car drove off.

"Hey, guys, I'm just a regular worker. I don't have any money. I'm just a lab assistant. Did you kidnap the wrong guy?" Henry was so nervous that his voice cracked.

He turned his head, only to see that the person who had locked his hands together was Michelle Borg, the incumbent president of America and a Latino woman.

Of course, she was only wearing a mask of said president.

She had the fragrance of Lancome Miracle, which Henry was quite familiar with as a technician who specialized in analyzing and identifying smells.

So, she was really a woman?

Right next to Henry was a guy who was wearing the mask of the previous president. He chuckled creepily and said, "Don't try to fool us, Henry!"

Henry said, "Huh? My name is Hodges. You've got the wrong guy."

"Hehe. Don't fool us. Hodges has far less hair than you do." The person next to Henry snorted.

The man in the passenger's seat coughed in dissatisfaction. "Hodges is much more handsome than he is, alright?"

Henry said, "I'm exactly Hodges! Look at how handsome I am."

Everybody was lost for words.

The car left the forensics center and quickly drove out of the city.

In the car, the man next to Henry continued threatening him. "Henry, do you know why you were captured?"

Henry shook his head quickly.

The man glanced at everyone and said slowly, "Because… surprise!"

Then, everybody took off their masks and silk stockings. "Happy birthday, Henry!"

Henry didn't know what to say.

The guy next to him turned out to be Nick, Hodges was in the passenger's seat, and Greg was the driver.

As for Luke and Selina… Well, who were they?

Henry was a bit confused.

Nick smiled. "This is Old Greyson's nephew, Luke, and his friend, Selina. They're here for your birthday celebration. Isn't that great?"

Henry was rendered speechless.

He cursed out his friends for a long time, but then he noticed that the Latino girl, who had been wearing Michelle Borg's mask, was observing him with a smile.

Henry finally stopped. Like Hodges and Greg, he was shy and anxious in front of beautiful girls.

He unleashed all his fury on his friends and didn't dare look at Selina at all.

Selina held out her hand. "I'm Selina. I didn't hurt you just now, did I?"

What could Henry say? Admit that he was weak?

He could only shake Selina's hand with a fake smile. "Nice to meet you. You're really a great fighter."

Selina burst into laughter. "I'm just an amateur compared with Luke. He's Greyson's nephew. I'm here with him for fun."

Everything got back on track.

Luke finally learned that their destination was a place called "Henry's Hog Hideout."

It was a special rural restaurant that reportedly had the most delicious roast pork.

Selina's eyes glittered as she listened. "Is it really that delicious?"

Greg said confidently, "Trust me. My friend told me about this place. He would've taken us there himself if he isn't sick right now."

"I'm going to have a proper taste of that meat." Selina cheered.

The atmosphere was more lively with Selina around.

After a while, Henry suddenly said, "Every one of my birthdays have been unlucky. I hope we don't run into anything this time."

Hodges said in a lofty tone, "Henry, there is no data to suggest that certain dates are linked to accidents or crimes."

Right after he said that, Greg suddenly interjected, "Hodges, are you sure… Ahhhh…"

Everybody in the car screamed. Greg and Hodges, who were in the front, screamed particularly loudly.

That was because an old red convertible had suddenly shown up in their lane from the opposite direction.

More importantly, the red convertible was headed right for them at a speed of well over a hundred miles an hour.

Nick, Selina, and Henry were in the last row of the SUV, which had three seats, while Luke was seated in the middle of the car.

He was the first to react.

The moment he sensed danger, he lunged forward and turned the steering wheel.

But the SUV had just made a turn before that, and it was impossible for Luke to see what their surroundings were like.

Turning the wheel was already the best he could do.

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Chapter 210 Unexpected Birthday Gift

Thanks to Luke's effort, the SUV didn't crash into the red convertible.

The two cars brushed past each other, but one of the SUV's front wheels clipped a bump in the road.

Luke quickly pulled Selina into his arms.

The SUV flipped 270 degrees in the air, and the tire came off. It flew ten meters and bounced for a moment, before stopping in the barren land next to the road.

Two seconds later, Luke pushed open the deformed door and coughed at the dust as he crawled out with Selina.

Then, Luke craned his head and looked back inside the car. "Don't be too quick to move. Check whether you feel injured anywhere first."

Feeling himself for a moment, Nick shook his head. "I'm fine. No broken bones." He spat out blood as he spoke.

Luke was speechless. "Bro, you're vomiting blood!"

Nick said, "It's my mouth that's bleeding. My teeth might've been knocked around a bit."

Luke nodded his head. As a forensic specialist, Nick knew the human body quite well. He wouldn't be wrong.

Luke then looked at Hodges. The man said solemnly, "Well, I don't think I'm dying either." He also pushed open the door and got out.

After examining himself, Greg said, "I'm fine, too."

But Henry said, "Hm, I think I twisted my ankle."

Everybody was speechless. Was it true that the man was unlucky on his birthday?

They looked at each other. Nick and his fellows had bruises on their faces, but it wasn't very bad.

Luke and Selina, on the other hand, were utterly fine. The others looked at them strangely.

When the car was flying just now, Luke had pulled Selina into his arms and protected her without any hesitation. He could've died!

Luke certainly couldn't explain to them that with Elementary Self-Healing, his injuries weren't a big deal at all.

The pain had already disappeared after he just stood around for a few minutes. Clearly, he had already recovered thanks to Elementary Self-Healing.

They checked their phones, only to see that there wasn't a signal.

Greg tried to start the car, but to no avail.

Luke's modified phone had a signal, and it wouldn't be hard for him to repair the car with Tony Stark's abilities, but he had the feeling that he and the CSI technicians were about to run into something interesting.

So, he simply remained silent. He could always make a call when it was really urgent!

Nick asked, "What do we do now?"

Greg said, "We're less than a mile from Henry's Hog Hideout."

Nick suddenly laughed, and so did everybody else. "Should we continue?"

Henry said, "But my ankle's hurt."

Luke gave him a hand and said, "Let's go. I'll help you."

Twenty minutes later, they saw a rural restaurant in a valley.

On the billboard was a pink pig standing upright and waving its hooves at its customers. Next to the pig was the restaurant's name.

This was the place!

Everybody was ecstatic, like tourists in a desert finding an oasis. Even Henry moved faster.

But a moment later, when they reached the restaurant, their legs turned heavy. Selina even felt like crying.

It was because they saw the big notice on the door of the restaurant, which read: "CLOSED."

The restaurant had closed down.

When they got closer, Nick read the details on the notice. "This restaurant was suspended by the Department of Public Health on 7 December 2003 due to an outbreak of hepatitis B."

Everybody was lost for words.

Hodges said, "So, this place has been closed for five months?"

Nick asked, "Greg, your friend who told you about this place – what is he ill with?"

Greg said, "…Hepatitis B."

Everybody was lost for words.

With a complicated look on his face, Henry patted Greg's shoulder and said, "Thank you for giving me hepatitis B as a birthday

present."

Greg said, "You're welcome, and happy birthday."

While they were talking, there was the sudden sound of a gunshot, followed by the sound of glass breaking

Luke quickly took out his gun and gestured at Selina.

10

Selina drew her gun too and moved forward with Luke.

Greg and Hodges helped Henry hide behind the building, while Nick followed Luke and Selina to where the gunshot had come from.

Luke didn't advance too quickly, as he was using Sharp Nose.

A moment later, he frowned and expanded the range of Sharp Nose carefully.

But there was nobody around.

Five minutes later, Nick returned to collect his fellows. "It's… really weird. Let's take a look together."

They all went to the restaurant and saw a large hole in the glass. Clearly, this was the source of the earlier noise.

Luke and Selina were standing in front of the hole.

Seeing that the technicians had arrived, Luke said, "Well, we've found a dead man."

They looked through the hole and saw a person who had turned black all over and had collapsed against the counter.

Hodges said, "Do I smell roasted meat?"

Henry agreed. "That's right. I think he was set on fire."

Everybody was lost for words. Why had a roasted man appeared in a barbecue restaurant that had shut down?

Luke wasn't surprised. His guess that something would happen if he stayed with these four guys proved to be true.

They entered the restaurant and checked the weird body.

The body was weird because it wasn't just a man; there was also a burned, black raccoon fused to the man's face, as if they had always been one.

Luke and Selina didn't step forward. Nick crouched down and observed the bodies of the man and the animal. "The victim is holding a. 38 revolver. There are no obvious bullet holes, nor any blood around him. Hm, did this raccoon hate him?"

Observing from one side, Nick discovered that the raccoon's tough snout was glued to the man's right eye.

It was probably what had killed the man.

Nick said, "Hodges, give me a hand. I need to examine his back."

Hodges complained, "I'm not a coroner…"

Greg quickly stepped forward and helped lift the man's body. Observing the man's back, he said, "There are no obvious wounds on his back. His upper torso looks like it was burnt, and so does this raccoon."

Hodges said, "This raccoon looks like quite the specimen. I bet it weighed at least thirty pounds when it was alive."

Henry said, "Maybe the raccoon jumped out of nowhere and bit the man's face with its sharp teeth and killed him like a ninja, you know?"

Everybody was rendered speechless.

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Chapter 211 Educated

Henry said, "Maybe we should call the police. Oh, I forgot there's no signal. What a great place for a birthday celebration."

Everybody was rendered speechless.

Henry added, "It seems that they crashed in here from outside."

They looked back out the broken window and noticed some metal buckets not far away.

They went to check the buckets, leaving Henry, who had a bad ankle sprain, to rest on a chair.

When everybody left, he looked at the dead man and asked, "Do you know this place? How does the meat here taste?"

The rest of them discovered bone and food residue in a bucket that was facing the broken window. The smell from the bucket was identical to the raccoon-man inside. There was a warning on the bucket that said "ethylene."

Nick glanced around and noticed a matchbox on the ground. "Matches! It seems that somebody had wild fun here."

They were all picturing the same thing: A man grinning at a raccoon, which was eating out of the bucket, lighting a match, and throwing it

in.

Suddenly, Luke's face changed. He told everyone to stay quiet before he returned to the restaurant.

Inside, Henry was still talking to the body, and didn't shut up until Luke came in.

Standing in the hallway behind Henry, Luke gestured at him to keep quiet.

Very soon, a man emerged from inside with a gun, and looked at Henry in surprise.

The next moment, Luke seized the shotgun the man was holding with just one hand, and pressed him to the wall with the other.

Luke, who was ten times stronger than a regular man, could easily subdue an ordinary person single-handedly.

"Who are you?" asked Luke.

The man retorted, "Who are you? Why did you break in?"

Nick asked, "Are you the boss of this restaurant?"

The man replied, "…No, I'm just a worker here."

Nick asked, "What's your name?"

The man said, "Slick."

Nick asked again, "Where were you and what were you doing just now?"

Slick said, "I was looking for something in the underground storeroom."

Luke and Nick noticed a bag that the man was carrying. It contained a few bottles of hard liquor.

Luke and Nick looked at each other, and Luke let go of Slick.

The man was no longer a threat now that he had lost his gun.

Noticing the body, Slick exclaimed in shock, "Gomez, what happened to you? Did you kill Gomez?"

"Sir, we can explain his death. We've found traces of food, ethylene and matches in a metal bucket outside. Clearly, Mr. Gomez set up a trap, hoping to set that raccoon on fire by lighting the ethylene," Greg explained.

Seeing that Slick was listening attentively, Greg went on, "But the match didn't ignite the ethylene at the bottom of the bucket. So, he shot at the raccoon. Then, he and the raccoon were both blown up."

After a brief silence, Slick said gloomily, "That should be it. Gomez always had it out for the raccoons. Those damn rodents are thieves that steal your food and mess up your place all the time."

Hodges raised his hand. "Sorry to interrupt, but raccoons actually aren't rodents. They're Chordata, Mammalia, Carnivora, Procyonidae, Procyon. Mice, on the other hand, are rodents."

Everybody was lost for words.

Slick stared at Hodges silently for a moment, then suddenly gave him a thumbs-up. "You are truly an educated man!"

Everybody finally relaxed and began to ask Slick where they could find a phone or a car.

But as it turned out, since the restaurant had shut down, the phone line had already been disconnected.

Slick told them that there was a radio in the utility room downstairs.

So, Nick and Greg followed Slick to check the radio, and Luke and everybody else took a break in the restaurant.

Luke looked at the wood ash in the grill for a long time before he shifted his gaze, a weird expression on his face.

In the utility room, Nick found the radio. After he turned it on, it said, "Are you Earthlings? This is Zenith. We've found you. Now, tremble in fright…"

Crack!

The radio popped with sparks as it died and gave off smoke.

Nick asked, "…Are there any other radios in this place?"

Slick said, "I don't think so. You can only try fixing this one."

Nick said, "I'll have to find vacuum tubes first. Do you have any?"

Slick tried to recall for a moment, before he replied, "We only have vacuum cleaners. Will that do?"

Both Nick and Greg were lost for words.

Why don't you just say that you also have vacuum dust bags?

Greg said angrily, "I'll build a phone on my own if we can't find any."

On the other hand, Luke was getting some rest, when he heard the sound of an engine outside. Everybody was delighted.

However, something exploded in the next second, followed by the sound of metal objects scattering

Everybody exchanged looks and opened the door, only to see that a red convertible had crashed into the metal buckets, and smoke was rising from the engine hood.

A middle-aged woman in a thick gray coat opened the door and staggered out.

Hodges said, "…Well, I don't think we can use that car. But why does it look so familiar?"

Luke smiled but didn't say anything.

Selina said, "If I recall correctly, that's the car that swung into our lane and nearly crashed into us."

They had finally found the culprit responsible for their car accident.

The middle-aged woman was half-drunk and didn't notice the strangers until she reached the door of the restaurant. "Who… who are you? Why… why are you in my restaurant?"

She reeked of alcohol, and burped nonstop.

Selina asked, "Are you Henry?".

The middle-aged woman said mockingly, "Ha, I'm not Henry. I'm his wife. To be exact, I'm his abandoned ex-wife."

Everybody subconsciously looked at the other Henry, the birthday boy who was sitting inside the restaurant.

Nick and Greg were looking for tools in the utility room.

Greg asked, "Slick, aren't there any phones here?"

Slick said, "There's one, but it's already busted; even if it wasn't, we haven't paid any bills for a long time. Oh, I think there might be a backup phone on the wall over there."

Greg went to look for the phone while Nick continued looking for tools.

Suddenly, Nick saw what looked like someone standing behind a door.

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Chapter 212 Henry and Henry's Ex-Wife

Greatly alarmed, Nick approached the door with his gun.

Slick said in a panic, "No, there aren't any tools back there."

Nick demanded, "Step back and don't move." He also brandished his gun.

Helpless, Slick stopped. Nick suddenly opened the door, only to see the body of a gray-faced old man hanging from a pig hook. It was pretty horrifying

Also, the old man was in the restaurant's work uniform.

Could this be Henry, the missing boss of the restaurant?

Nick suddenly raised his gun and aimed at Slick. Both frightened and angry, he slowly approached the body.

Slick obediently raised his hands and didn't do anything else.

Gazing at him vigilantly, Nick approached the body, but felt that something was wrong. He sniffed and touched the cheeks, only to be amused a moment later. "A rubber man?"

Slick burst into laughter. "It's just a joke. Henry used to scare the newcomers with this. He said that it was much more effective than dead pigs."

After a brief silence, Nick said, "I totally get

it."

He, for one, knew someone who inducted newcomers with real bodies. That person's name was Gilbert Greyson.

In the meantime, Greg finally found a phone and a few wires. He ran out excitedly. "Finally! We're saved!"

In the restaurant, Luke, Selina and Hodges hid in a corner and watched the farce taking place at the counter.

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Shelly, the middle-aged woman, was talking to Henry about her and her ex-husband, whose name was also Henry.

Henry was quite embarrassed when the middle-aged woman cursed her ex-husband nonstop. At that point, he was wishing that he had a different name.

Luke, Selina and Hodges left precisely because they couldn't stand her complaints, but Henry couldn't move due to his injured ankle.

"Did you know that he suddenly disappeared with all the money in our bank accounts? He only left this." Shelly took out a photo from her purse.

Henry was rendered speechless by the note in the photo. He wondered how his namesake could be so shameless.

Not only had the restaurant owner run off with all the money, he also didn't forget to send his ex-wife, who was now in massive debt, a postcard to show that he was having fun with a new, young lover in Florida.

If the man ever showed up in front of Shelly again, she would probably shoot him!

Obviously devastated, Shelly asked in tears, "Have you ever experienced something so miserable?"

After a brief silence, Henry shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not."

It had never happened to him, but he knew an officer who had caught his wife cheating on him. Enraged, the officer killed both his wife and his wife's lover before he turned himself in.

Shelly was no luckier than that officer. Her love, her family and her career were all ruined.

Looking at Henry, Shelly suddenly smiled. "Do you know that you're adorable?"

Henry didn't know how to respond to that.

He could only look away with a shy and awkward smile.

With a sultry smile on her face, Shelly asked, "Can you tell me why you're here?" She was already touching his shoulder as she spoke.

Henry coughed. "It's my birthday today."

Shelly said, "Oh, why don't you have some fun with Aunt Shelly?" She stood up and sat in Henry's lap.

Henry stiffened. "Ah, please don't."

Shelly's arms went around his neck.

Henry said, "Well, I have a girlfriend. We're engaged… Actually, we're married… Er, I have… syphilis?"

Shelly said, "What a coincidence! So do I!"

Henry exclaimed, "…Seriously?"

The middle-aged aunt desperately seized his head with both hands and kissed him deeply.

The three people in the corner, who weren't visible except for their eyes, didn't move at all.

Selina whispered, "Are you really not going to save him? I think he's being suffocated."

Hodges whispered in an even lower voice, "Why should we interrupt when a woman has offered herself to him just like that?"

Luke said, "I think he's like a poor girl being threatened by a bully."

Selina said, "Yes, look at his hands. He's grabbing onto the back of the chair."

Hodges remarked, "A person subconsciously clutches at things when they feel extremely comfortable."

Luke said, "I think they only do that when they're in extreme pain, right?"

Selina said, "His legs are sticking straight out."

Hodges said, "Only a man will know why his legs are straight in a moment like this."

Luke said, "…Are you very experienced? Then why don't you go there and 'enjoy' this instead of Henry?"

Hodges said: "…I have a girlfriend. Well, actually, we're engaged."

Both Luke and Selina were lost for words.

The three disloyal friends simply watched Henry get kissed without doing anything.

It wasn't until Nick and his fellows got back that Shelly finally let go of Henry, who felt like killing himself. "Oh, cute little boy. Was I

good?"

Henry only wanted to burst into tears.

Not only had he been kissed by an old woman, her mouth stank of alcohol.

But he wasn't as strong as she was. She had done hard labor in the restaurant all this time, while he had only ever dealt with the light tools in his lab. He couldn't put up any resistance.

Nick and Greg were dumbfounded at the scene in front of them.

A long time later, Greg finally asked, "Henry, is this… your girlfriend?"

He wasn't very convinced, because this woman was too strange, even for Henry.

Henry wanted nothing else but to be alone right now.

A moment later, everybody confirmed that the middle-aged woman, Shelly, was indeed the wife of the owner of this restaurant.

Even more unbelievably, the woman soon hugged and kissed Slick when she saw him, abandoning Henry, who had almost been suffocated by her kiss.

The other people could only look at Henry sympathetically. Nick, Greg and Hodges then went outside to connect the phone to a communication line.

Carrying the phone and the wires he had found, Greg had Nick give him a leg up to the simple scaffold on a pole outside the restaurant. Climbing up the scaffold, he then connected the wires to the junction box.

Then, Greg heard something he couldn't understand from the phone. He tried to talk to the stranger, but they couldn't understand each other at all.

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Chapter 213 A Coroner's Coffee Machine and a Psychological Report

Luke laughed out loud at the door of the restaurant.

The man was speaking in Mexican Spanish. He was probably an illegal immigrant.

Greg could only switch to another line. It was free this time.

Excited, Greg hurriedly dialed a number. "Catherine, it's great to hear your voice. You won't believe what happened. God knows what we've been through…"

A moment later, they all went back inside, feeling relieved.

Nick said with a smile, "Alright, the police and the coroner are on their way. Listen, Shelly and Slick, you need to come with us and give your statements."

But the boss's wife and the worker turned a deaf ear to them and kept on noisily kissing and cuddling each other.

Very soon, the officers and the coroner arrived.

After a few simple questions, the officers were about to take Shelly and Slick to the police station.

But Luke stopped them. "Wait."

He pointed at the grill in the restaurant and said, "Officers, I think you better get the coroner to examine the grill. There's something unnatural in there. Get it out and ask Shelly and Slick about it."

The officers looked at him in confusion. Then, a graceful blond woman said, "Let me do it."

Nick said, "I'll give you a hand, Catherine."

It wasn't until then that Luke realized that she had the same name as Robert's wife.

A moment later, some half-burnt human bones were found in the ash of the grill. Everybody looked at the boss's wife.

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Shelly got up in fear. "It's none of my business. I have no idea why that's there."

They looked at Slick, who was right next to her.

Slick quickly shook his head. "I don't know anything either. I'm just a worker here, alright?"

Everybody was lost for words. There's definitely something fishy going on between the two of you!

An hour later, they were immensely relieved to be back at the forensics center.

It had only been half a day, but they had encountered the most bizarre things.

Curious, Luke went to the morgue. There was an old man with white hair and prosthetic legs inside. He was listening to country music as an espresso machine ground beans next to him.

Luke felt that this scene was familiar somehow.

Old Greyson dropped by. He nodded at Luke and went up to the old coroner. "Al, where's the report I asked for?"

Al, the old coroner, said, "It's over there. Do you want a cup of coffee?"

Surprisingly, Old Greyson didn't turn him down. He enjoyed the cup of coffee that Al gave him and asked casually, "This is a great coffee machine. Where did you get it?"

Al was also savoring his coffee. "Bought it as part of the morgue's inventory."

Old Greyson was confused. "You managed to buy a coffee machine with public funding?"

An expensive espresso machine definitely wasn't a necessity for a morgue that only had four coroners.

Al smiled casually and sipped the coffee again. "Nobody wants to know why a coroner buys anything."

Old Greyson: "…"

Nick: "…"

Luke: "…"

Seeing that Old Greyson was about to leave, Luke couldn't help but ask the old coroner, "Dr. Robbins, do you know a forensic doctor named Mars? He works in a town in Texas."

Thinking for a moment, Al nodded a moment later. "If his name is Mars Kubrick, he should be one of my students. But I haven't seen him after he completed his internship."

Luke nodded with a smile. "Well, just as I expected."

Al asked, "How do you know him?"

Luke knew that what the old coroner was really asking was why Luke knew they were connected.

Luke explained with a smile, "Because Mars has to have a cup of coffee and listen to some music before he starts work every day."

Al chuckled. "He must've bought the coffee machine with his own money. Hehe…" His tone was rather complicated.

Luke stopped interrupting Al, who was clearly another great specialist since Old Greyson was much nicer to Al than he was to his boss.

So, Luke certainly had to show the old coroner respect.

After they left the morgue, Luke said goodbye to Old Greyson.

Old Greyson was too busy working on the Diorama Killer case to spend time with Luke. He could only tell Luke to meet with him one more time before Luke returned to LA.

Luke agreed and left with Selina.

In his office, Old Greyson thought for a moment before he called Nick. "Hey, it's me. Did you pay attention to what my nephew did today? That's fine. Write a report on what he did today and conduct a psychological analysis. What? It's not a job; think of it as a test. Try and finish it in your spare time…"

Luke looked back at Old Greyson's office in between the officers who were blocking the way. Shaking his head with a smile, he entered the elevator with Selina.

It was already four in the afternoon.

They left the forensics center at half past nine that morning, and the trip to and from Henry's Hog Hideout had been around six hours all up.

Selina wasn't in a bad mood. She had enjoyed the prank, the two bizarre cases, and the spectacle of a woman kissing a reluctant man today.

But she was really hungry. "Darling, I'm really hungry. I want to eat roast meat."

Luke nodded with a smile. "Let's go back to the hotel. Then we'll have some fun in the casino."

They took a cab and returned to Aurora Hotel.

Although Selina claimed that she wanted roast meat, she also ordered lobster, escargot, croissants, onion soup, and a fruit salad, before she finally stopped.

Luke paid the bill and dragged Selina, who was too full to walk anymore, to the casino.

Not wanting to move at all, Selina sat down in front of a slot machine.

Luke chose the slot machine not really because he was drawn to it, but because the chairs in front of the slot machines were the most comfortable.

Glancing at the slot machine, Luke pointed at the electronic screen on it with a smile. "Do you see this? There's 973,662 dollars in the pool. We'll be rich if you can win that."

Selina was neither interested nor naive. "I'm not stupid. The money in the pool is from other players who wanted to win this prize themselves. Just leave me here. Go play any game you want."

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Chapter 214 Using Abilities to Win Money

Luke stroked her head with a smile. "Stay vigilant in case someone steals your purse."

Selina simply waved her hand, too lazy to talk anymore.

Luke stood up and converted ten thousand dollars into chips, before he went to a blackjack table.

He found an empty seat and sat down, and started to place bets.

An hour later, the chips before him had increased to more than thirty thousand dollars.

But barely anyone paid attention to him, not even the dealer.

In Las Vegas, it wasn't unusual for lucky dogs to win a hundred thousand dollars with just a thousand.

Luke didn't pursue consecutive victories, and gave up when the number was close enough. He was simply betting on chance.

Suddenly, someone walked past and sat down opposite him.

Luke glanced at him and felt like laughing. Why was this guy here? Shouldn't he be at Caesars Palace Hotel?

Although Aurora Hotel and Caesars Palace Hotel were on par with each other in Las Vegas, their styles were quite different.

Aurora Hotel was famous for its new pool and its recreational and entertainment facilities, whereas Caesars Palace Hotel was known for luxury and top service.

Thus, people who wanted fun would check into Aurora Hotel, while the rich and powerful who wanted to show off usually stayed at Caesars Palace Hotel

The difference was partly reflected in the names of the two hotels.

Aurora was glamorous and fickle, while Caesars was certainly majestic.

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But though Luke, as well as most people nearby, recognized the person who had just sat down, the person had clearly forgotten who Luke was.

The man was laidback, and Luke easily detected more than one type of perfume on him, along with the smell of makeup and alcohol.

Luke knew that the man had been fooling around with at least three women just now, but hadn't returned to his room yet.

Since the man didn't remember Luke anymore, Luke certainly wouldn't greet him. He remembered what a bad temper the man had.

Different from the other gamblers, the man threw in chips worth five thousand dollars without looking at his cards.

Luke put in five hundred dollars as per usual. He had been increasing his bets slowly as he won more money.

After a few games, the newcomer complained, "This isn't fun. You go away. I'll be the banker."

The dealer said, "…Mr. Stark, please wait a moment. I'll have to ask for permission."

Yes, the arrogant newcomer was none other than Tony Stark.

He was a superhero on the side of justice, but he wasn't the most approachable person.

Tony Stark's characteristic ego and pride prevented him from getting along with other

people.

Even the Avengers could barely get a nice word out of him if they weren't gorgeous ladies.

He could be quite mean to someone even if he secretly admired them. He was the stereotypical arrogant genius.

Of course, it was also because of his pride that he dared to stand up to any enemy.

Only a few minutes later, Tony Stark took the banker's place.

Happy, the fatty who was the head of his security detail, didn't move. It was another bodyguard who dealt the cards.

Tony Stark, on the other hand, idly enjoyed his drink and gambled against the other people, including Luke, without moving his fingers.

A moment later, Tony suddenly gave Luke a strange look. "You're quite good, aren't you?"

When Tony Stark became the banker, most tourists started to lose, while Luke was the only one who won as many times as he lost. In the last round, however, he won five thousand dollars.

It was highly unnatural.

Luke knew the reason.

Blackjack was one of the few games where mathematics really mattered. In the movie, 21, some geniuses from MIT won a fortune in Las Vegas with their math models.

Tony Stark had probably invented the prototype for Jarvis by now, and he was winning money from the tourists instead of the hotel. So, the hotel wouldn't step in even if he played any tricks.

Luke knew that Tony Stark was wearing a micro-earpiece; it was possible that the Jarvis prototype was counting the cards for him.

Cheating?

It definitely wasn't cheating.

How could it be cheating, when the man was using his abilities to win money?

Luke, for one, had also been changing the cards in the card box remotely with his personal space, which was his own ability.

He had figured out more functions of the personal space, including the ability to store or release items remotely, but that was limited to a range of five meters.

Also, remote storage and release demanded more of Mental Strength.

To put it simply, it was easier for him to move smaller, inert and uncovered objects.

A card couldn't be more than five grams in weight, and Luke could store and release them hundreds of times a night.

Luke simply smiled at Tony Stark's compliment. "It's just luck."

Tony snorted. "Really? You're very lucky, so why are your stakes so low?"

Luke chuckled. "I'm only playing for fun. I don't like big bets."

Tony said, "You think the chips on this table are big?"

Everybody was lost for words. Do you think everyone is as rich as you?

Tony frowned at Luke, who smiled but didn't say anything. He suddenly thought that the young man seemed familiar.

He whispered something, and Jarvis did a check of Luke's identity.

A moment later, Tony was dazed. "You're that young police officer from Houston?"

Luke smiled but didn't say anything.

Tony had a strange expression on his face.

He had paid a small price previously to get the young officer and his beautiful partner transferred to Los Angeles.

But he had been so busy attending end-of-year pageants that he forgot about them.

Luke had been sitting in front of him for quite a while now, but Tony hadn't recognized him at all.

"Interesting. You have enough money for this place? Aren't you a police officer now?" asked Tony.

Luke said, "I'm on vacation and I'm playing with a few thousand dollars. I don't think I'm the only person in this country who can afford that, right?"

Tony couldn't argue with him.

"Alright, let's play," said Tony.

Luke found that odd. "Aren't we playing already?"

Tony said, "I'm talking about a game between us."

Luke said, "Whatever."

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Chapter 215 I've Won This Game

The other tourists were smart enough to stop playing. They all knew what Tony Stark was like.

It was much more fun to watch a game between a rich guy and a poor lad than to be part of it.

The bodyguard dealt again.

Two minutes later, Tony grew impatient. "Five hundred dollars every time? How long do you want to play this game?"

He and Luke had won similar times in the past few rounds, and the amount of chips they had hadn't changed very much.

Luke asked, "Is there a rule here that the bet has to be higher than five hundred dollars?"

Tony was rendered speechless.

Five hundred dollars a round was quite high, even in Las Vegas; most tourists bet much less.

While Tony was rich, he certainly couldn't make up random rules for the casino.

Tony said, "This is too slow. Let's go bigger. One million each time."

Luke shook his head. "I don't have that much money."

Tony said, "Then just play with all the money you have."

Luke chuckled. "Why would I? If I leave now, I can take more than twenty thousand dollars with me. That's half of my annual salary."

Tony realized that it made sense, so he offered, "I'll take your chips as twice their

value."

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Luke thought for a moment and asked, "But there should be a limit, right? I'm too busy to play the entire night with you. After all, you've got too much money to lose."

Everybody secretly whispered, You're telling a billionaire that you're busy?

This boy didn't know what he was doing!

Tony's expression was pretty dark. I've got too much money to lose? Are you sure you're going to win?

"Let's play for ten minutes?" said Tony.

Luke shook his head again. "Ten minutes? If your bodyguard deals faster, we can play five to ten rounds. You're asking me to bet with all my chips in every round, so if I lose just once, I lose everything. Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Tony was lost for words again. He was so eager to humiliate Luke that he had overlooked that. "How do you want to play it then?"

Luke said, "A million. Once I win over a million dollars, our game's over."

Tony thought for a moment. Following this rule, the game would be over if Luke won three to five times in a row.

"Fine." Tony still decided to go ahead in the end. He was too lazy to check how much money Luke had.

Luke tossed his bank card onto the table and said to a hotel manager, "I'd like to state that the money on this card is for the upcoming game with Mr. Tony Stark. You can keep the card first and calculate the result when the game is over, okay?"

The manager didn't immediately take it, but looked at Tony.

Both parties had to agree to the game for it to start.

Tony said impatiently, "That's fine with me. I'm not scared that he'll run away with his debt."

The manager bowed and backed away with the bank card.

Then, the bodyguard dealt the cards.

Luke secretly laughed at his card, which was a K. He put his hand on his hidden card, as if he was studying it, then simply stood up. "Alright, I've won."

Saying that, he approached the manager and said, "Transfer the money I won to my card. Also, issue me an income certificate, okay?"

The certificate was necessary since he had won quite a lot of money; without it, Internal Affairs Division would come knocking on his door.

"What?" The hotel manager was dumbfounded.

Tony Stark frowned. "What are you doing?"

Smiling, Luke pointed at his card and said, "Your card isn't a A, K, Q, J or a ten, so it's impossible for you to even reach a draw. You can take a look at my card for yourself, but of course, you can always refuse to pay."

Tony was lost for words. How much money do you think you have? You think I can't pay?

He gestured at Happy, and the fat bodyguard turned over Luke's hidden card.

It was an A!

Blackjack! Double odds!

The audience all exclaimed. That was too freaky!

The poor lad got a blackjack in the first round against the magnate. It was like a slap to Tony Stark's face.

Tony's expression couldn't be any more unsightly. He had the hotel manager check the balance on Luke's bank card.

The hotel manager hurriedly had a security guard take out a POS machine, only to be dumbfounded himself.

Silently, he gave the POS machine to Happy.

Happy also secretly exclaimed at the figure, but he had no choice except to hand it over to Tony Stark.

Tony couldn't help but curse. "How the hell did he earn six hundred thousand dollars?"

The audience exclaimed in shock again. Very soon, someone figured out how much Luke had just earned.

They couldn't be any more jealous, because Luke had won at least 2.4 million dollars in the game!

Actually, Luke had slightly more than 675 thousand dollars in his account. Plus the thirty thousand dollars on the table, Luke's ante was around 1.4 million.

Since Luke had blackjack, Tony had to pay double.

That meant that Luke had won more than 2.8 million dollars in this round.

Sh*t! Tony cursed inwardly, and wasn't in the mood to play anymore. He got up to leave.

"Mr. Stark, about the money…" the hotel manager reminded him.

Without even looking at him, Tony snapped his fingers at the bodyguard who had been dealing. The bodyguard immediately said, "I'll handle it. Let's make the transfer over there."

Looking at Luke, who had disappeared among a bunch of slot machines, Tony felt quite bummed out. How had that guy won against him twice in a row?

Luke smiled.

It was really fun swindling Tony Stark out of a fortune.

The money wasn't very important to Luke, since he had confiscated half a million by destroying the gang nests near USC.

Though he couldn't openly use that money, he could buy special materials and parts through underground channels, as long as he kept his identity hidden.

He was feeling great right now, not because he had won a lot of money, but because he had won it from Tony Stark.

Also, nobody would think that Tony Stark was trying to bribe him by playing this game with him.

Tony was too powerful to ask a minor detective like Luke for help.

If he truly had a favor to ask, he would talk to the leaders at the highest level in the police department.

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Chapter 216 Jackpot and Old Friend

More than a hundred people witnessed Luke winning money off Tony. It certainly couldn't be kept a secret.

With so many eyewitnesses, the Internal Affairs Division and the IRS wouldn't suspect it of being illegal income.

Finally, Luke returned to the slot machine which Selina was playing.

At that moment, Selina was holding a Dr. Pepper in one hand as she lazed in the chair, while she pressed a button on the machine with her other hand every now and then.

Luke nearly laughed out loud when he saw that Selina was only betting five cents. She was obviously killing time instead of really playing.

Luke asked, "How about it? Did you hit the jackpot?"

Selina looked at him like he was an idiot. "Don't you know that the machine will shout like crazy and let everyone here know that you won if you hit the jackpot?"

As she spoke, she put in all her remaining money and pressed the start button on the machine without checking what she had bet on.

That was because she was in a hurry to leave.

She was only playing the slot machine because someone told her to go away if she wasn't gambling. So, she put two hundred dollars into the machine to claim her seat.

Luke grabbed her purse with a smile and helped her get to her feet.

But Selina leaned against him as if she was boneless. "This place is boring. Can we go back and sleep?"

Luke chuckled. "I heard there's an open-air swimming pool on the rooftop where you can look at the vast sky at a height of two hundred meters."

Selina perked up. "Are you serious?"

Luke said, "Of…"

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Wala! Wala!

Clang! Clang!

Hua! Hua!

Wu! Wu!

The slot machine suddenly screamed with a whole lot of noise, giving them quite the shock. Did the machine just go crazy?

Not only was it screaming, it also flashed with many different colors.

Soon, they were surrounded by people who were shocked and jealous.

In less than twenty seconds, several hotel security guards arrived.

Luke said, "…Hey, I didn't do anything. It started acting up on its own. You're not going to ask me to pay for damages, right?"

Selina suddenly laughed and kissed Luke's face hard. "Haha. Silly! I won the prize! I hit the jackpot! Hahahahaha! A million! I have a million!"

Luke could hardly believe it.

How important were slot machines in Las Vegas? To put it simply, they took up the most space and had the most players in major hotel casinos.

30% of a casino's profits were from these unattractive machines.

The machines might even take cents, but all that spare change could accumulate into a huge fortune.

Nobody knew how much money those slot machines made each year, but it was undoubtedly in the billions.

It truly wasn't easy to win money from a slot machine.

It was as difficult to win from a slot machine as it was to strike the lottery.

However, right after Luke made fun of Selina, she won an enormous prize.

Did I steal too much of Tony Stark's luck, and I can influence the people around me now? Luke couldn't help but ponder the magic question.

The hotel manager had arrived. He was stunned to see Luke again. "Mr. Luke, did you win the prize?"

He couldn't be so lucky, right? The manager grumbled inwardly.

He won another million dollars right after winning 2.8 million off Tony Stark? What were the odds? Was he god's bastard son?

Luke quickly shook his head and pointed at Selina, who was jumping for joy. "She did. Everybody saw it."

The hotel manager looked at one of the security guards, who nodded slightly.

That meant that the surveillance room had observed how Selina won the prize: she hadn't cheated, but had won the money legitimately.

The manager was even more jealous. Even the girl you brought won a million dollars so easily? How lucky are you?

Of course, it was inevitable that anyone who didn't have Luke's luck would think that.

Very soon, the manager handled the money transfer for Selina and wrote a certificate for her.

After learning that the beautiful girl needed a certificate because she was a detective as well, the manager was even more jealous. He could imagine how she would fawn on Luke for his money later.

Well, the manager was too naive. Selina only fawned on Luke when she wanted food from him.

Selina and Luke both got back their bank cards with their earnings transferred to them.

They then changed into swimwear and went to the open-air pool on the rooftop.

Selina hadn't brought a swimsuit with her, as she hadn't expected to swim in Nevada in February

But since she had just made a fortune, she spent eight hundred dollars on a bikini.

Luke could only chuckle inwardly.

The bikini was nothing more than two pieces of cloth as wide as the palm, and it cost eight hundred dollars. It really was easy money.

Selina selected a style from the brochure, and an attendant measured her. Soon, the swimsuit was delivered to Selina, who was sitting by the pool.

The swimsuit was expensive for a reason.

Luke didn't buy one, not because it was too expensive, but because he didn't like a crowded pool.

He had read some reports on people getting dermatitis after swimming in a public pool.

Luke certainly didn't doubt Aurora Hotel's sanitation measures for the pool, but he was still reluctant to dive in.

Selina… didn't really care. Or rather, most people who went to swimming pools couldn't afford to care, or they might lose the courage to jump in.

While Luke was enjoying a drink and observing the scantily clad girls in the pool, he heard something and looked at the elevator.

It was an elevator reserved for VIPs. Although Luke was staying in a room that cost three thousand dollars a night, he wasn't qualified to take that elevator.

The elevator wasn't important – what was important was who walked out of it. Luke was almost amused by how they kept running into each other.

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Chapter 217 Terrifying Woman and Petty Magnate

The newcomer was none other than a certain magnate who had just lost 2.8 million to Luke.

Next to him stood a beautiful woman who had a unique air about her.

Luke's entire attention was almost instantly focused on the woman.

The woman glanced at him, as if she had sensed something, but then turned indifferent.

Luke somehow sensed danger. The woman felt terrifying

He stopped observing her and recalled how Tony had come out of the elevator with her just now.

After being a police officer for a long time, he had picked up the habit of observing and analyzing people.

Sometimes, people would reveal their true feelings through the way they moved, or in even subtler ways apart from their expressions or words.

Recalling what he saw just now, Luke soon realized why it had felt weird.

It was because Tony Stark was behaving too obediently.

Generally speaking, Tony Stark always acted cosy with girls in the news.

While he might not be intimate with all of them, he was almost always up close and personal with the young and beautiful women around him.

So what Luke saw earlier wasn't quite right.

Tony's face, movements and distance from the woman all suggested that he both respected and was somewhat intimidated by her.

This definitely wasn't Tony's normal reaction to beautiful girls, much less to such an outstanding one.

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Though her breasts weren't remarkable, her legs were long enough to reach Tony's waist.

That was right, the woman was half a foot taller than Tony Stark.

Perhaps it was due to her high heels, but she really dwarfed Tony when she stood next to him.

Thinking that, Luke glanced at Selina, who was in the pool.

A moment later, Selina seemed to notice his staring. She swam over to him and got out to sit down in a chair next to Luke. "What evil plan are you up to?"

Luke was at a loss. "Huh?" He had been too busy thinking to notice his surroundings just now.

Selina rolled her eyes at him and put on a robe. "Stop pretending. You're just appreciating the pretty girls, aren't you?"

Luke finally noticed that he was looking at the backs of two girls in bikinis not far away. He was immediately amused.

He had been wondering about the relationship between Tony and the woman, and didn't have time for boobs.

He subconsciously looked at the other side, only to see that Tony and the woman had disappeared around a corner.

Stumped for a moment, Luke shook his head and abandoned his thoughts.

Although the woman was unusual, nothing that happened to Tony, as the son of destiny, was really a surprise.

Selina tried to talk Luke into swimming, but failed. She could only swim on her own for a while longer.

Luke was enjoying his Dr. Pepper, but then noticed people looking at him.

Most people had ordered alcohol or soda since they were here for fun, but Luke and Selina were the only two who had caramel carbonated drinks.

Furthermore, Luke looked like a high school student, which was also the reason why other people were laughing.

How did a little kid like this wind up here?

Although Luke was obviously an adult, rooftop pools like these were actually social gathering places for people older than him.

Many of the young and beautiful girls in the swimming pool had actually been found by the hotels on purpose.

Of course, they weren't prostitutes, but girls who were hoping to get to know the rich and powerful here.

Some of them wanted to marry rich guys, and some were here to look for sugar daddies to cover their living expenses.

So, Luke was quite out of place, mostly because he looked like someone from a middle-class family and couldn't be too rich.

Luke, however, was as calm as ever.

He didn't really care what these men or women were up to, and he didn't need to feel embarrassed.

Suddenly, he saw Tony appear from around the corner again with four bodyguards.

Luke thought for a moment, then activated Sharp Nose.

He found that the woman had disappeared. More importantly, he detected the woman's scent in the sky.

The scent extended from the rooftop to the sky. Luke was pretty certain that no aircraft had passed by just now, not even any big bird.

The woman couldn't have left by air without advanced technology or supernatural abilities.

As Luke expected, Tony was a magnet who attracted unusual people.

Luke had an enormous secret of his own as well, after all. He felt like laughing, and indeed laughed out loud when he saw that Tony had noticed Selina, who had just come out of the swimming pool, and was speaking to her with great interest.

A few seconds later, he looked in the direction Selina was pointing, and his face turned dark.

Luke smiled brightly at him, and Tony snorted and left without looking at Selina again.

Selina went over to Luke, puzzled. "Are rich people all so incomprehensible?"

Luke gave a towel to her with a smile. "What did you say to him?"

Selina said, "Nothing. He invited me to dinner, I said I had company, and he asked who it was, and wanted to talk to you."

Luke said, "Then, he got mad and left?"

Selina nodded her head. "That's right. Oh, is it because of what you did last time? Is he really so petty?"

Luke chuckled and said in a low voice, "He's not petty. I just won 2.8 million dollars from him downstairs."

Selina exclaimed, "What? Are you kidding?"

Luke described what happened just now and concluded, "He's not regretting the money. Two million for him is like two hundred bucks for us. He just can't accept the fact that he lost to me again."

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Chapter 218 Learn From Tony and Refreshed Abilities

As a matter of fact, Tony would've lost even if the game had continued. However, it was obviously a trap since Luke kept the balance on his bank card a secret and proposed to end the game once he won a million dollars.

As long as Luke won just once, Tony would lose 1.4 million dollars, even if Luke didn't get blackjack, and the game would end.

Why did Luke have six hundred thousand dollars on his card? It was the remainder of the loan that he had taken out by mortgaging the villa which Takagi gave to him.

Luke had taken out an eight hundred-thousand-dollar loan. He had spent more than a hundred thousand on the patent application and legal matters, and he had less than seven hundred thousand dollars left.

Without that money, it would've been difficult for Luke to win a fortune here. Chances were that he would be blacklisted by the hotels in Vegas.

The MIT students who had made a great deal of money with their brains, for example, were blacklisted by the casinos here. This decision was even upheld by the court.

Selina's mouth dropped open. A long time later, she finally said, "…That doesn't feel right. Why are you still richer than me?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "When have you ever been richer than me? The furniture and appliances in the villa that Takagi gave me are already worth more than 1.2 million, alright? Also, don't forget that you have to pay a tax on the money you just earned."

Selina was frustrated. "Ah, I forgot about that."

Luke thought for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Keep some of your prize for yourself, and give the rest to me to invest."

Selina nodded, but found it odd. "Invest in what?"

Luke said, "I'm starting a high-tech business, and hopefully, I'll earn some money from Google. It'll pay well if you buy some shares now."

Selina nodded and said, "How much do you want? I can give all the money to you."

Luke shook his head. "I don't need so much. Let's talk about that later."

Bobby had a 1% share in the company, so it wouldn't be too much if Luke gave Selina a 5% share, right?

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Tony had paid a huge price to get Luke and Selina transferred to LAPD because he was interested in Selina. So, Luke definitely had every reason to give Selina some money.

Tony didn't have a good temper, but he was a generous man. Why else would all the transmigrators go to him for help?

Why did nobody go to Obadiah? It certainly wasn't because he was ugly, but because Obadiah was too shrewd and would hardly ever give anybody a large sum of money for no good reason.

Luke was determined to be as rich and willful as Tony Stark.

Even though he wasn't as rich as Tony yet, he could solve some of Selina's practical problems with a small amount of money, so why wouldn't he?

Selina's attitude toward money was complicated.

On one hand, she could compare supermarket prices fastidiously, but on the other hand, she could easily give Luke half of her money, just like that.

Actually, there weren't many things that she needed to buy, as a detective who was busy every day.

She stayed away from alcohol and drugs. Her clothes and makeup were simple. She was hardly ever home, so she didn't need much furniture.

Her only hobby was eating, but Luke always made food for her.

She wasn't short of money. Luke had been paying the bills with the illegal money he had obtained. She had barely touched her paychecks in the last few months.

Luke tried to approach the corner where Tony and the woman had been talking just now, only to be stopped by the two security guards there.

But he was still able to detect more of the smell, and discovered that the woman did leave through the air, but not necessarily by flying

Based on the trajectory of her scent, it was more likely that she had jumped off and glided downward, except that she had leapt an unbelievable distance.

Luke wondered what Tony and the woman had talked about in this place.

Mulling it over for a bit, Luke sat down and checked the list of Tony's abilities in the system, only to find that nothing had changed.

He tried to talk to the system, but the system didn't respond.

Luke wasn't disappointed. He thought for a moment with his eyes closed, then smiled.

While Tony's abilities seemed the same, they had actually been refreshed.

Luke had wondered about this before.

For example, what would happen when he defeated the superheroes or villains who had yet to grasp their abilities?

Tony had now given Luke the answer.

When Luke considered the creation and modification of certain equipment, something popped up in his head.

To be more exact, it felt like new knowledge had suddenly been added to a database, ready for retrieval.

The new knowledge was about an additional 5% on top of what Luke already knew about Tony's four abilities. It was all invaluable knowledge on cutting-edge technology.

On the other hand, Luke considered how frequently he should refresh Tony's abilities.

It would be unnecessary to do it too often, since Tony wouldn't learn so many new abilities over a short period of time.

Since there was only a 5% increase of new knowledge after three months, Luke felt that refreshing the abilities twice by 2008 would be enough.

As he pondered, Selina had had enough fun, so they left the swimming pool.

After showering in their suite, they didn't go to the casino again but watched the free show presented by Aurora Hotel.

The show was quite spectacular, even for Luke, who had seen plenty of shows online in his previous life.

There were dances, juggling, and magic and talk shows, all performed by famous names.

The show was coming to a perfect close, when there was a mishap during a dance which was the last segment of the show.

Countless white, flying ribbons hung above the stage. A dozen beautiful and graceful dancers swung among the ribbons with jaw-dropping moves and postures, like fairies flying in the air.

It was a really creative dance.

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Chapter 219 Grand Entrance

Suddenly, a man was thrown down through the curtain on one side of the stage.

Before the audience realized what was going on, the man hit a few ribbons before crashing onto the stage. After tumbling head over heels a dozen times, he stopped with his ass above his head.

Since the man had crashed into the ribbons, two dancers that had been moving in midair lost their balance. Screaming in panic, they were about to fall from the ribbons.

They were five meters above the stage, and might be slightly injured if they jumped down.

However, both of them were upside down with their legs wrapped around the ribbons.

If they fell like this, they would probably be killed when their heads hit the stage.

Luke certainly wouldn't turn a blind eye to it with his system.

Saving the two girls would mean about fifty experience and credit points. Besides, it wasn't hard for him.

Well, it wasn't hard for him, and nobody else had time to react.

By the time everybody noticed something was wrong, Luke had stepped onto the back of the seat in front of him and sprung more than ten meters forward, like a dragonfly.

He rolled when he reached the stage and stopped below the two dancers who were screaming and falling.

He then jumped and grabbed them in midair. The girls' momentum forced him to do an awkward roll.

He hit the stage and bumped and rolled, but firmly protected the two dancers in his arms.

The brunt of the impact that the dancers would've taken to the heads and their upper torsos was blocked by Luke's arms.

After reducing the momentum of their fall with the roll, Luke came to a steady stop on the stage.

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Actually, he could've tossed the two dancers back up to the ribbons easily, but that would be exposing his extraordinary abilities.

What he did just then was how a gymnastic coach would protect a falling athlete. It was something that an ordinary person was capable of.

The hall was quiet for a moment, before everybody started shouting.

They were all confused, shocked and delighted.

Most fortunately, the two beautiful dancers hadn't died in front of them.

Most people in the world would rather not witness the destruction of beautiful creatures.

Selina was about to quickly join Luke, but he stopped her with a gesture. She looked around warily.

Luke's gesture meant that it was dangerous and she shouldn't come any closer.

Luke wasn't looking at the two dancers he had just saved, but at where the man had been thrown onto the stage.

It was a window high up, which was broken

now.

Through the broken glass, Luke saw a figure jump and run in this direction.

After a quick glance, Luke immediately ran off with the two dancers in his arms.

The person outside definitely wasn't a normal person, and a dozen more dancers were still hanging above the stage; they might be wounded if a fight burst out on the stage.

The two dancers had no idea what was going on. All they knew was that someone had grabbed them when they were falling, before running off the stage.

Hey, why are you so strong? Our breasts hurt a little. Both girls were stunned.

Luke had no time to care about something like that. After taking them off the stage, Luke dashed toward Selina and both of them rushed off.

A moment later, Selina and Luke observed the stage from the gap between the half-opened doors of the hall.

On the stage, the man whose ass was hanging above his head… was human?

He looked more like a monster than a human, though; his clothes and body were that of a human, except that his red skin and the weird black patterns on it made him look like a cosplayer.

Even Luke couldn't twist his body so that his butt was above his head.

"That man is quite flexible," Selina remarked in a low voice.

Luke nodded in agreement. "Yes, but I'm more interested in the person who threw him in."

The next moment, a tall person landed on the stage.

Luke's eyes twitched.

The person had jumped in through the broken window that was almost ten meters up and made a classic superhero landing when she hit the floor, kicking up the dust around her.

Luke was surprised to realize that the person was actually a woman.

Then, the female superhero slowly rose with a… whip in her hand.

Her hand moved quickly as she lashed the red-skinned weirdo with her whip.

Suddenly, the weirdo whose ass was above his head turned blurry, before he disappeared and reappeared behind Luke and Selina.

Alarmed, Luke swung around with a kick without any hesitation.

The red-skinned weirdo disappeared again, and Luke's foot hit nothing but the wall, leaving a deep gouge in it.

The woman on the stage jumped more than thirty meters and landed at the doors. She glanced at Luke when she passed him and finally said, "That was a nice kick. Are you a soccer player?"

Luke said, "No, but I used to play football."

The woman said, "…Alright, get away as soon as you can. That guy is very vengeful. It's possible that he'll come back because you tried to kick him, and kill you."

With a complicated look on his face, Luke nodded. "Got it."

The woman didn't say anything else. She continued her pursuit and left.

Noticing the sword and shield on her back, Luke's eyes glittered.

Watching the woman leave, Selina couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Who on earth is she?"

Luke chuckled and rubbed her head. "Forget it. She's from a different world."

So, Selina stopped asking.

People were already gathering together in the hall behind them, led by the two dancers who were wearing white, skin-tight costumes.

Most of the time, it was Selina who was the center of attention when she and Luke were together. A young and beautiful girl was always more attractive.

At that moment, however, everyone had gathered for Luke.

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Chapter 220 We All Need a Sense of Security

The two dancers whom Luke had saved approached them, followed by their fellow dancers. They all asked Luke, with glowing eyes, "Sir, may we know your name?"

Luke smiled. "My name is Luke."

At that moment, the girls surrounded Luke. Even Selina was squeezed out.

"Mr. Luke, you're really good!" "Are you a dancer too? Or a gymnast?"

"You're really strong if you can pick up Lanchi and Trinity at the same time."

"Are you a kung fu expert?"

"Who's that girl over there? Are you together?"

"What was that red monster? Can you tell us?"

Luke was rather amused.

Why are you not only asking me questions, but also groping me?

He could only say, "I'm a police officer. It was my duty to save you. Okay, sorry, I have things to do." He then slipped away, and didn't have the time to call Selina.

Escaping from the onslaught of girls, Luke finally remarked, "A man's life sure is tough when women get together."

Once the bold ones set an example, the other girls hadn't hesitated to take advantage of him.

Of course, it was his face that mattered most.

After his strength reached 40, Luke was already a certifiably handsome guy. He was strapping and charming. It was no wonder that the girls were so quick to feel him up.

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One of them had even squeezed his butt without him noticing.

It was true that he was a man, but he was still creeped out by a dozen girls eyeing him like wolves eyeing a rabbit.

He called Selina, and Selina simply told him that she would be back soon.

Luke wasn't bothered. She was unlikely to get into trouble anyway.

He took out a bottle of soda from the fridge and stared at the city that was ablaze with lights through the window.

The woman just now was very interesting.

Her face had been obscured by a hazy light that prevented anyone from remembering it.

Also, she didn't carry a scent.

It was quite interesting.

It was likely that she had used some unusual method to disguise her appearance and her identity.

However, she should've covered her long legs.

With Luke's keen observation skills, he connected the long legs to another pair that he had seen earlier.

There were very few women with such long legs, and Luke had just seen one a short while ago. Did she really think that she could hide herself with her little tricks?

Superheroes were already appearing around Tony? But exactly who was this woman?

While Luke was thinking hard, the door to the suite opened.

Selina called out to him from the door. "Darling, someone is here for you."

Luke turned around, only to see three women at the door. With a brilliant smile, he said, "It's you. Can I help you?"

Selina walked in and stepped to one side, pretending that she wasn't here.

The two girls were slightly dazzled by Luke's sunny smile.

A moment later, after Selina coughed pointedly, one of the girls finally came back to herself. She said in a hurry, "Ah, Detective Luke, thank you so much for what you did…"

Luke said, "Just call me Luke. Right, don't you need to get some rest? You should rest up well after the shock just now."

Selina simply watched and didn't say anything.

The other girl said, "Our manager gave us two days off. Well, after what happened just now, we can't perform again until we're cleared of trauma."

Luke nodded and said, "Okay, let's talk elsewhere then. Selina, go pack your things. This place isn't safe. Let's go to Caesars Palace Hotel."

The three women were all stunned.

A moment later, the four of them left for Caesars Palace Hotel.

Luke talked to the girls in the car.

The two girls were naturally Trinity and Lanchi, the two dancers that he had saved.

They were students at an art college. The dance group that they were in was quite famous.

If they had died in the accident, it would've been a major blow to the dance group, even if it wasn't the group's fault.

The manager of the dance group gave them some time off for their own safety. After all, the dance group still had many backup members.

But the two girls were promised that they would still have their spots as main dancers once they recovered.

So, they tried to relax by talking to Luke, who had saved their lives.

Of course, if Luke had looked like Obadiah, they would've only thanked him politely at most.

If he had looked like Danny Trejo, it would've been a miracle that they even thanked him at

all.

Thankfully, Luke's face, which had become more handsome, and his gentleness were much more appealing.

A sense of security was what the two girls and Luke needed most right now.

That female superhero mentioned earlier that the red-skinned weirdo was the vengeful sort.

So, Luke simply moved into Caesars Palace Hotel, which was Tony's territory, and Tony was obviously close to the female superhero.

The red-skinned weirdo had just been disfigured by that terrifying woman. Luke didn't think he would dare break into Caesars Palace Hotel

But if he did, Luke had no qualms killing him!

That guy wasn't the only person in the world who had super abilities!

In Caesars Palace Hotel, Luke reserved another deluxe suite, which cost 3,800 dollars a night.

Selina, however, got herself a deluxe suite too, claiming that she wanted to use some of the money she just earned.

Luke's face was quite complicated when he heard that.

But eventually, he didn't say anything and simply saw Selina off, before he took the two girls upstairs.

The girls were slightly overwhelmed by the spacious room, but Luke's face quickly appeased them.

He had turned into a much better talker after working for half a year as a detective. In no more than half an hour, both girls were already giggling at his jokes.

The atmosphere was even better when they left to look for wine.

Luke called Selina in the bathroom. "You're really not coming back tonight?"

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Chapter 221 Met Two Girls

Selina said, "Do you really not know why I'm not coming back?"

Luke: "…Got it. Thanks."

Selina said, "I'll be shopping for the next two days. Don't bother me, got it?"

Luke said, "Okay, but you have to call me every day so that I know that you're safe. Also, that red-skinned weirdo can be very dangerous. You have to be careful."

Before she hung up the phone, Selina suddenly said, "Go for it. I have high hopes for you, young man!"

After knowing that Selina wasn't coming back, Luke was reassured.

If the red-skinned weirdo did come back, he would definitely go after Luke rather than Selina, who hadn't been the one to attack the man.

It would be safer for Selina if she kept her distance from Luke for a day or two.

When Luke returned to the living room, the two girls were already enjoying their drinks.

Luke couldn't help but shake his head when he saw what they were drinking. "This wine is too lousy. Let's change to a different bottle."

He quickly found a Chateau Latour, a brand that he was very familiar with but had never enjoyed, and filled the girls' cups.

As for himself, he simply had soda water.

Between the two girls, Lanchi was gentler and less talkative, while Trinity was more proactive and straightforward. She simply asked, "Why are you not drinking? Are you trying to make us drunk, so that you can…" She laughed as she spoke.

Lanchi blushed slightly, partly because of the alcohol. She also looked at Luke with a smile.

Luke shrugged. "I'm a detective. I'll be less vigilant if I have alcohol, and it'll also make my hands shake, so I never drink."

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Neither of the girls were convinced. "But don't a lot of officers go to a bar when they get off work?"

Luke chuckled. "I'm different. Sometimes, I have to carry out dangerous missions."

The girls' eyes glowed. "Really? Like James Bond?"

Luke was briefly lost for words. "He's a special agent. His main business is to hit on girls, while his secondary objective is to acquire intelligence from them. It's rare when he finally remembers what his actual job is. He certainly can't compare with me."

The girls laughed at the same time.

After Luke returned, he had sat down between the girls, and they didn't show any reluctance.

Now that they were laughing, the three of them were even friendlier than before.

Gradually, they talked less and started acting more.

In the end, both girls fell asleep from exhaustion, but Luke was still as energetic as ever.

His physique was now ten times that of a regular person, and his body had been sending him strong signals about his explosive energy after his level-up.

That was the reason why he had said yes to the two girls so quickly.

Although it wasn't a big deal for many people, he had never really tried it before.

40 Strength was already so amazing. Should he continue increasing Strength in the future? Hm, maybe he should consider it.

He was a man determined to enjoy all the beauty that the world had to offer, and stamina was definitely necessary for that.

In the next two days, Selina talked to Luke over the phone but never showed up in person.

So, Luke went around Las Vegas with the two girls and took plenty of photos with them.

After their drunken episode on the first day, both girls let go of their worries and enjoyed the unexpected holiday.

Luke wasn't short of money, so they could visit any place they wanted.

After two days, he realized that Lanchi, who seemed gentle, was actually wild and passionate, and Trinity, who seemed proactive, was shyer and more innocent.

But when Lanchi unleashed her wild and passionate side, Trinity was able to set her nature free, too.

Naturally, Luke enjoyed the company of the two girls.

After he woke up on the morning of the third day, he got dressed and left the room.

He reached the forensics center before eight o'clock and found Old Greyson reading files in his office.

Seeing that Luke was here, Old Greyson gestured at him to close the door.

A moment later, Old Greyson shifted his gaze and said, "You look quite relaxed. Did anything good happen?"

Luke chuckled. "Yes. I met two girls who were quite nice."

Old Greyson was astonished. "…Two?"

Luke nodded with a smile.

Pondering for a moment, Old Greyson nodded slowly. "That's not bad. You should try to relax like that once in a while. It'll be good for you."

Luke wondered what Robert's reaction would be if he knew what Old Greyson was telling him.

Noticing his expression, Old Greyson said casually, "Many mercenaries relax and readjust their mindset in various ways, and women are an effective and widely-used method. That's not a problem."

Luke thought for a moment before he nodded. "Got it."

Old Greyson changed the subject. "We nabbed the Diorama Killer; it really was the female cleaner. Is there anything else you would like to add?"

Luke shook his head. "No; I hope you don't blame me for ruining your fun."

Old Greyson said, "You didn't… Well, fine, I am slightly disappointed, but I must thank you for giving me the answer, since we can stop her from slaughtering more random, innocent victims."

Luke chuckled but didn't say anything.

Old Greyson had to be bummed; it was like two evenly-matched opponents playing chess, and a bystander suddenly volunteering to play a move for one of them and checkmating the opponent.

The loser would feel like crap, but the winner wouldn't be happy either, because he hadn't won through his own efforts.

After saying that, Old Greyson fell silent.

He had never been a talker. Had it not been for Luke's special identity and condition, he wouldn't be wasting so much time talking to him.

Now that Luke had an effective method to help him relax, though it was a little premature for an 18-year-old, Old Greyson lost interest in helping him.

After chatting for a while, they said goodbye and agreed to meet more often.

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Chapter 222 Aftermath and Authenticity

Seeing Luke off from his office, Old Greyson shook his head.

Although they said that they would meet more often, both of them knew that they were too busy to do so; they would barely be able to meet a couple of times a year.

However, he could call Robert later and tell him the good news that his foster son had bested him.

At the very least, Robert didn't have a girlfriend, let alone two "female friends," for a long time after graduating high school.

Well, fine; Old Greyson's main reason to make the call would be to mock his cousin, whom he had never seen eye to eye with.

After Luke left, he met Hodges in the elevator.

Both of them smiled and greeted each other, and Luke asked him how the barbecue restaurant case was coming along.

Hodges didn't keep it a secret from Luke since he had been there as well.

The outcome of the case was quite astonishing.

The dead person, of whom only bones remained, turned out to be Henry, the boss of the restaurant.

However, it wasn't his wife who killed him, nor Slick, who had been sleeping with his wife; instead, it was Gomez, the chef who had been crazy enough to set a raccoon on fire, only to be burnt to a crisp along with the raccoon.

It wasn't a complicated investigation; a lot of Henry's ribs had been skillfully removed from the grill.

Henry went missing just as the Hepatitis B outbreak happened in the restaurant, plus he had the disease as well.

The postcard from Florida which his wife thought was from Henry was in fact mailed out a month after the Hepatitis B outbreak.

The writing on the postcard was Henry's, but how could a dead man send a postcard?

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Later, Gomez became a suspect.

From the criminal database, the police discovered that Gomez had a history of faking paperwork.

Furthermore, there were fingerprints on the postcard which belonged to Gomez's mother, who also had a criminal record and who lived in Florida.

It was very clear what happened in this case.

Gomez killed Henry and burned his body, which resulted in the Hepatitis B outbreak in the restaurant.

Then, he wrote a postcard in Henry's handwriting and had his mother send it from Florida, making it look like Henry was alive.

His objective was simple; this was meant to cover up the fact that he murdered Henry, faked Henry's signature, and withdrew 250,000 dollars from Henry and Shelly's shared bank accounts.

Because of the postcard, Shelly thought that Henry had run off with a lover and the money. She never knew that Gomez had killed him.

Luke was lost for words after hearing the whole story.

He didn't know what to say about Gomez.

As a criminal with past convictions, this man murdered someone for money, but blew himself up just a couple of months later. There was no telling if he had used up all the money yet.

After hearing the story, Luke said goodbye to Hodges with the suggestion that they hang out again in the future.

Hodges nodded with a smile and saw Luke off.

After the elevator doors closed, Hodges murmured, "You're such a pretty boy that I'll only be outclassed if we hang out. I certainly won't go out with you."

Outside the elevator, Luke was lost for words.

They were still very close to each other and the elevator doors had yet to close all the way, so Luke heard Hodges clearly.

This man turned out to be much funnier than he seemed!

After he left the forensics center, Luke returned to his hotel room.

Lanchi and Trinity had just woken up, and they greeted him with smiles when they saw him.

They had lunch and chatted in the room.

Mostly, the girls talked about their experiences in New York and the fun they had there.

But as they talked, they moved the conversation to the bed again.

It wasn't until later that night that Luke finally tried out some new things in the bathroom with the girls.

Two hours later, both girls were tired and drowsy when they came out of the bathroom.

They were already snoring by the time they hit the bed.

Luke made a call in the living room. A manager soon arrived with two security guards to deliver a metal case.

After examining the money in the box, Luke asked them to leave.

Closing the door, Luke took out the stuff in the box and returned to the bedroom.

The two passionate and flexible girls were sound asleep.

Luke gently rubbed their ears for a moment, before he drew back his hands and nodded in satisfaction.

After that, he left the room with his suitcase.

Luke met Selina that night and they went to the airport.

On the plane, Selina observed him curiously. "Did you have fun the last two days?"

Luke smiled and didn't say anything, but his eyes gave him away.

Selina asked, "Don't you find two girls exhausting?"

Luke kept smiling. With my physique, I'm still far from exhausted.

Noticing the look on his face, Selina snorted. "Fine, forget I asked."

Luke chuckled. "You bought a lot for yourself, didn't you? Look at your clothes. Well, well, the latest Chanel product. Isn't it worth 12,000 bucks? How does it feel to be rich?"

Selina said guiltily, "I only bought this one. It can't be refunded."

Luke said, "Then just keep wearing it. I don't think the rest of your clothes match this coat, though."

Looking at Selina's sweater and shirt, which had been bought on sale, Luke shook his head and knew that together, they still cost less than even a single button on her new coat.

He just hoped that Selina's coat wasn't the type that couldn't be washed.

If so, she would certainly regret it when the coat became dirty.

Selina was creeped out by Luke's gaze. "What are you looking at? Why are you giving me such a pitying look? This is a genuine product that I bought at a Chanel store."

Luke chuckled.

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Chapter 223 Natural Partners

Luke could only say, "Don't wear this coat to work."

Selina said, "Do you think I'm an idiot who'll go to work in a coat worth more than ten grand? I'm not a celebrity."

Luke thought for a moment and realized that it made sense.

Selina suddenly changed the subject. "You didn't take any pictures this time? Elena's pictures last time were very beautiful."

Luke chuckled. "No. Vegas has nothing special, and I'm a terrible photographer."

Selina remembered how beautiful Elena's pictures were, seeing how the latter was an art student, and what an eyesore Luke's own photos were.

What she didn't know was that Luke had taken a lot of photos when he went around Las Vegas with the two girls, but the SD cards were in his inventory, so it was impossible for him to show them to Selina.

The plane soon landed in Los Angeles. They went home in Luke's police car, which he had left in airport parking.

Selina took off her new coat the moment she got home and carefully hung up the precious treasure in her closet.

All her clothes and shoes combined didn't cost as much as this coat; of course she had to be careful.

Luke threw his suitcase into his room and called Elsa. "Boss, just letting you know that I'm back."

Elsa said, "Well, you certainly enjoyed every second of your holiday, didn't you?"

Luke chuckled.

With more than three million in legal cash and after enjoying himself with two flexible and passionate dancers, he certainly wasn't in a hurry to go back to work.

After complaining for a bit, Elsa immediately got down to business. "It's good to have you back. Get here early tomorrow. I have two cases for you."

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Luke didn't ask about the details, because he was afraid that Elsa wouldn't be able to stop talking if he did.

"Alright, boss. I'll get to your office half an hour earlier tomorrow. Try to get some sleep, or you may get eyebags. Good night." Luke quickly hung up.

Elsa almost choked. She couldn't help but look at herself in the mirror that was on her table, only to immediately place it face down. "No, I have to get enough rest, or he'll definitely mock me tomorrow."

She had been busy at work because she had just been promoted – she had to prove herself worthy of her new position.

Soon, Luke took a shower and said good night to Selina. Both of them went to sleep.

In a certain suite in Caesars Palace Hotel, Trinity woke up.

She felt very comfortable. The white sheet and quilt felt so nice on her naked skin that she didn't want to move at all.

Eyes still half-closed, she dozed for a while, and suddenly smiled as she recalled the way mischief flashed in the eyes of a certain someone.

When they first met, she thought that he was a good guy who was solemn in nature.

But after two days, she discovered that there was a playfulness hidden under his gentle appearance, which made him even more likeable.

Remembering the past two days, she chuckled now and then absent-mindedly.

Suddenly, she sensed someone draw close to hug her.

Trinity opened her eyes helplessly. "Lanchi, didn't you say that you wouldn't learn from Luke?"

Next to her, Lanchi had woken up as well, and she smiled at Trinity.

Hearing what Trinity said, Lanchi quickly tickled her, mischief in her eyes.

Trinity burst out laughing and struggled, but to no avail.

She was so exhausted, as if she had run a marathon. She really had no strength left.

Lanchi, on the other hand, still had a bit of energy, and naturally, could play however much she wanted.

It wasn't until thirty seconds later that Lanchi finally released Trinity, who was almost crying with laughter. She asked, "Why are your lips sweet?"

Trinity was angry. "Because of the ice cream and chocolate you bought, of course. I'm definitely going to gain weight."

Lanchi chuckled and asked, "You don't like them?"

Lost for words for a moment, Trinity admitted, "Fine, they don't taste bad at all."

Lanchi patted her head and comforted her. "When we go back, you can train harder to get rid of the calories."

Trinity nodded. "Fine. you're always so smart. Huh. Wait, what's this?" In the dim light, something glimmered in Lanchi's left ear. Baffled, Trinity reached out to touch it.

Trinity was blank. "Since when did you put in an earring?"

As dancers, they barely wore any accessories because it was inconvenient for them.

While hanging out with Luke, they had never returned to base either, and didn't have anything on them except their phones and purses.

Grinning, Lanchi got off her and turned on the lamp, which illuminated the bed.

Lanchi lay down on the bed again. "It's not just me. Aren't you wearing an earring, too?"

Trinity subconsciously touched her right ear and felt something cool.

Lanchi pushed her hand away with a smile. "I'll help take yours off, and you take off mine."

A moment later, they were each holding an earring, baffled.

This… had to be a farewell gift from a certain someone, right? But why had they each been given one earring instead of a pair?

Also, they realized that the two earrings belonged to the same pair.

What was that about? Both girls mumbled to themselves.

In the end, Lanchi rolled her eyes as she got it. Chuckling, she said to Trinity, "Don't you see? He's obviously implying that we're a pair."

Trinity was confused. "Huh? Really?"

Lanchi said, "Of course. Otherwise, he could've given each of us a pair, right? Huh. Let me look around. That guy likes tricks the best." Then, after searching for a while, she returned with her purse.

Sitting on the bed, she unzipped her purse and poured out everything.

There was a mirror, lipstick, a makeup kit, an eyebrow pencil, eyebrow tweezers, mascara, a keychain, and some cards, coins and bills.

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Chapter 224 Familiar Faces and Familiar Cases

Among the items was a tiny box that had the distinctive Tiffany icon on it.

She opened the box and read the paper that was inside. "Hm, is that guy actually rich? But I don't think police officers earn very much, right?"

Trinity was too tired to move. She simply asked, "What's in it?"

Lanchi said, "An invoice and a certificate for my earring."

Trinity grew curious, but she really couldn't move. She could only say, "Let me have a look."

Lanchi glanced at her and said, "Wait a minute. I'll find your invoice."

A moment later, Lanchi returned with Trinity's purse and poured out everything onto the bed. She found Trinity's box too.

She opened it and showed her the invoice. "Look at this. It's from that guy."

Opening her eyes, Trinity glanced at the invoice, and her eyes bulged. "How much is this? 5,200?"

Lanchi scoffed. "What are you thinking? This is elementary math!"

Trinity was lost for words. She had only chosen the career of a dancer because her grades in elementary school were terrible.

Lanchi said, "It's 52,000 dollars. Mine's the same. So, this pair of earrings costs around a hundred thousand dollars in total."

She checked the certificate and examined the earring more carefully. "That guy engraved your name on the earring."

Trinity checked the earring in her own hand, and indeed, it had an extremely tiny engraving of Lanchi's name on it.

Lanchi shrugged. "Fine. They won't get mixed up now." As she spoke, they exchanged earrings.

Trinity said, "Hm, is it okay for us to accept this?"

Lanchi stared at her and said, "Are you trying to say that you aren't a professional escort who charges for sex?"

Trinity lowered her head in embarrassment, but that was exactly what she was thinking.

Lanchi suddenly chuckled and kissed her again. "Stop dreaming! 52,000 dollars for two days is way too expensive for any escort. You wouldn't be able to earn so much even if you were one."

Trinity bit her lip and said, "I'm not."

Lanchi giggled and said, "Of course you're not. He would've given you maybe two thousand dollars if you were one. The fact that this gift is so expensive means that he doesn't take you for an escort, alright? Besides… Forget it."

Trinity was annoyed when Lanchi didn't finish her sentence. "Hey, can't you finish what you were going to say? Why do you sound more and more like Luke now?"

Lanchi didn't say anything, and simply put the items that were on the bed back into their respective purses.

After cleaning up, Lanchi poured herself a glass of wine and enjoyed it on the bed.

Trinity couldn't keep it up. Like a child, her anger faded as quickly as it had appeared. "Pour me some, please."

Lanchi didn't tease her this time, but quickly poured her a glass. She also helped Trinity, who could still barely move, sit up.

Sipping the wine, Trinity suddenly asked after a brief daze, "Does he like me?"

Lanchi didn't give her a straight answer. She sighed inwardly. Silly girl, look at the gifts we received. He likes the two of us together, not separately!

The two girls chatted in the dim light, mostly about a certain someone who had left.

In Los Angeles, Luke was energetic after he woke up in the morning. After the trip to Las Vegas, he felt like he was on fire, and ready for something big.

With his excessive energy, he first prepared a delicious breakfast, plus dessert for Selina, before he woke her up.

The very first thing that Selina did after she woke up was to check her precious Chanel coat in the closet.

Seeing that it was still hanging there, Selina was relieved. "Great. It wasn't a dream."

Leaning against the door, Luke asked, "What did you think was a dream? That you won the lottery?"

Selina chuckled. "I dreamt that I paid ten thousand dollars for a coat, and my heart ached when I took out the money."

Luke asked, "Does your heart not hurt anymore now that you've woken up and seen it for yourself?"

Selina said, "It still hurts, but the pain is worth it."

Luke: "…"

He never should underestimate a woman's determination in the pursuit of prettiness.

After breakfast, they went to work in their car.

Luke had barely greeted Elsa in her office before she threw a stack of files at him and said, "Look into this case first, and try to find something as soon as possible."

Luke gave the files to Selina to read first before he asked Elsa, "What's the situation?"

Elsa said helplessly, "A bunch of WD-36 gang members have been active in our district recently. They confined their activities to the USC area previously, but they're in our district now for some reason, and have committed quite a few major crimes. Several people from our local upper-class neighborhoods have complained about them."

Interested, Luke nodded and said, "But it can't be too serious, right?"

Elsa said, "They barged into Beverly Hills and even harassed Sheerah."

Luke raised his eyebrow. "They're so gutsy?"

Elsa said, "I don't know if they're crazy or not, but they went looking for Sheerah and told her to pay them a sh*tload of money for the weed that she ordered, before security drove them out."

Luke asked, "A sh*tload of money?"

Elsa said, "They're charging twenty thousand dollars for a pound of weed."Luke was lost for words "…What are they thinking? That's three times the market price."

Elsa said, "That's right. Sheerah called me. She's afraid that it could be a trap to spread the rumor that she's purchasing a tremendous amount of weed."

Luke thought for a moment and realized what that meant.

A pound equaled sixteen ounces, or about 450 grams.

Most people smoked one-eighth of an ounce of weed each time, so one pound of weed was enough for more than a hundred people.

If this got out, many people would believe that Sheerah was having a large gathering of people to smoke weed together, and her reputation would be tarnished.

No wonder Sheerah was so anxious.

Luke understood why Elsa had given him the case. That was because he had met Sheerah before, and they could trust each other.

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Chapter 225 Old Friend of an Old Friend

If it was another detective carrying out the investigation, Sheerah probably wouldn't say anything in case rumors started to spread.

Luke said, "So, what do you want me to do?"

Elsa said, "Find out why they're messing around in our district. The best would be if you can capture some of the hoodlums so we can put them in jail for a couple of months to teach them a lesson."

Luke nodded. "Got it. Have you talked to Sheerah?"

"Yes, I have. If you need any backup, just call me," said Elsa, who saw that Selina was already eager to get going on the investigation.

Luke nodded. "Of course. You've always been the strongest shield that backs us up, boss."

Elsa said, "Quit playing around and get to work."

Lost for words, Luke put a paper bag on the desk and said, "I don't feel happy about giving you my cupcakes now that you've said that. We're leaving. We'll be in touch."

After they left, Elsa quickly hid the paper bag in the bottommost drawer of her table.

When Luke brought her cupcakes previously, she didn't have her own office yet, and her shameless friends stole the cupcakes one after another until there was only one left for her.

She knew better now, and hid the cupcakes well so that she would have something to eat when she was too busy to get proper food.

Giving his boss the cupcakes as a gift wasn't a big deal for Luke.

After all, it made little difference whether he was baking thirty or fifty cupcakes at a time. It only required ten to fifteen minutes of prep work before he put the cupcakes into the oven.

The ingredients cost even less than fast food, but the cupcakes were certainly priceless for those who didn't have time to cook.

They certainly couldn't taste bad, judging by how much Selina praised them.

Of course, Luke had found a myriad of recipes online, and he switched out the flavors every other day in case Selina grew tired of the cupcakes – if she ever would…

Leaving the police department in his car, Luke drove off to Beverly Hills.

He was driving because Selina had to sort through the intelligence and read it to him, sort of like a secretary, so she couldn't drive.

She also had to contact Sheerah, who was generally too busy to meet anyone without an appointment.

However, they were certain that they would be able to see Sheerah today since Elsa had called her last night.

When they reached Sheerah's villa, Luke was prepared to show security his officer's certificate.

Unlike most of the time when he simply flashed his badge, he thought that the certificate would be needed since he was meeting a big star.

As it turned out, he didn't have to show either one before he was let in.

He was quite surprised. Clearly, the head of security, who had followed Sheerah and Luke around when they examined the villa last time, remembered Luke's face.

Sheerah welcomed Luke at the door, which made him even more surprised. He wondered why Sheerah was being so friendly.

After they sat down inside, Sheerah couldn't help but ask, "Is that Bobby guy… alright?"

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Has he been harassing you again?".

Sheerah shook her head quickly. "Not really. But I haven't heard anything about him in a long while, so…"

Luke chuckled.

She was clearly uneasy now that the person who had been harassing her regularly had suddenly gone missing.

Of course, it wasn't like Sheerah was suffering from Stockholm syndrome – she only wanted to know for sure that Bobby was still under Luke's control.

"I found something for him to do. He'll be busy for the next couple of days, so don't worry about him," said Luke.

Sheerah was immensely relieved, but then realized that she shouldn't be too obvious about it. She said quickly, "Do you want anything to drink? Coffee? Meryl, please let the detectives know what we have."

Luke asked, "Do you have green tea? If not, soda water will be fine for me."

Selina said, "I would like a cup of milk tea or a cappuccino."

Meryl nodded respectfully and went to the kitchen to prepare the drinks.

Without wasting any time, Luke said, "Miss Sheerah…"

Sheerah raised her hand. "No need to be so polite. You work with Elsa, and you did me a huge favor, so you're a friend. You can just call me Sheerah."

Luke nodded and said, "Okay, Sheerah. Let's focus on business. What's with those drug dealers? Are you sure that you don't know them, personally or otherwise?"

Sheerah shook her head quickly. "No, I…"

Hesitating for a long moment, she finally said in a low voice, "Earlier, well, you know that Bobby was really bothering me, right? So…"

Luke interrupted her. "I know. So?"

Sheerah said, "But I really have never been in contact with those WD-36 gangsters before. Elsa told me a thing or two about them, and I'm positive that I've never met them before."

Luke and Selina looked at each other, unconvinced.

Human beings were strange creatures, who often lied unconsciously even though it was unnecessary.

Maybe because they didn't want to talk about it, or maybe just for the heck of it, they would twist the facts until their memories changed accordingly.

It was also why time was of the essence in an investigation.The longer the delay, the less reliable the memories of important eyewitnesses became.

Thinking for a moment, Luke asked, "Do you have any suspects? I mean, whoever you think might've gotten you into this mess, including but not limited to acquaintances, neighbors and friends."

Sheerah hesitated again. At that moment, Meryl served green tea and a cappuccino. After Meryl left, Sheerah said in an even lower voice, "I suspect that it's the house over there that attracted them."

Luke was actually surprised that she did have a suspect.

Keep her voice low, Sheerah said, "I think it's the place where the daughter of the president of the Tiger Foundation lives."

Luke and Selina were both astonished.

Luke had told Selina about Katie's case before, including the minor fuss caused by Jenny, the daughter of the president of the Tiger Foundation.

This was a real life lesson for Selina.

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Chapter 226 I'll Remember to Wear Pants

Jenny had left a deep impression on Selina, as she was the typical example of a suspect who wouldn't help with the investigation because they were guilty themselves.

Luke suddenly wondered if he had something to do with all this.

It was WD-36 that had provided Jenny with weed. They were one of the largest gangs in the drug business in the USC area.

Previously, Luke had destroyed six gang bases in six days to get enough experience and credit points. He recalled that he had killed WD-36's third in command.

But Luke didn't say anything and only continued with his questions.

Half an hour later, Luke and Selina rose and said goodbye to Sheerah.

At the door, Luke thought for a moment before saying to Sheerah, "Sheerah, I'll try to resolve your problem in a week. Don't worry too much, and just focus on your own things."

Sheerah wasn't surprised. She knew that Elsa trusted and thought highly of this young man. She nodded and said, "Call me if you need anything from me."

Luke nodded with a smile. "You, too. You have my number."

Selina put on a weird expression.

After they got in the car, Selina suddenly asked, "Are you interested in her?"

Luke was puzzled. "Huh?"

"What she said at the end was very strange. 'If you need anything from me'… Hehe, isn't she in her thirties?" said Selina playfully.

Luke said, "She's only 29. If you say that she's in her thirties to her face, she'll get her security to kick you out!"

Selina said, "I believe she would. Hm, if she calls you in the middle of the night and says, 'I must have you, baby,' are you gonna run over naked?"

Luke said, "No, I'll remember to wear pants."

Selina: "…I must have you, baby."

Luke: "What?!"

Selina: "Why are you still wearing your shirt? You said yourself that you'd only be wearing pants if you heard that."

Luke: …B*stard!

As they talked and laughed, they reached Jenny's villa.

A security guard came over after they pressed the doorbell, and it wasn't any of the ones whom Luke met before. The man asked, "Can I help you?"

Luke showed the man his badge and said, "I'm Luke from LAPD. This is Selina. We'd like to talk to Miss Jenny about some local happenings."

The security guard frowned and said, "You can ask me."

Luke nodded and asked, "Do you know that some dealers are peddling weed in this area?"

Shifting his gaze, the security guard said, "No, I don't."

Luke chuckled and said, "Have any of the neighbors mentioned it before?"

The security guard shook his head. "We aren't familiar with our neighbors. This is Beverly Hills, you know, not an apartment building."

Luke nodded and said, "Then sorry for disturbing you."

Then, he and Selina got into their car and left.

Selina said, "That security guard was too cold. Why does it seem like he didn't like us?"

Luke chuckled. "Who knows? I didn't see him last time. The security guards have changed."

Selina saw that Luke was driving in an odd direction. "Where are you going?"

Luke said, "The front door is fine, but most accidents happen at the back. We need to take a look."

Selina didn't really understand, but she knew that Luke had his reasons, so she stopped asking.

Luke was thinking that if Miss Jenny was still buying weed, the transactions would only happen at the back door. So, it wouldn't hurt to check it out.

At the back, Luke slowed down and rolled down the window as he observed the environment.

How things had changed! The last time he came to this villa, Elsa had still been indifferent to him.

A Ford SUV suddenly blew past them. Luke took a sniff and hit the brake.

Thinking for a moment, he eased up on it and slowly drove on.

This place had changed.

The back entrance, which had been almost directly facing the house across the street, had moved.

Luke observed from the car for a moment, and knew that the back entrance was now out of the range of the surveillance camera across the street, which belonged to Smith.

Jenny had adjusted her own surveillance camera, too. It was installed behind the back door and wouldn't capture a view of anything else.

It seemed that Miss Jenny hadn't given up after the video tape incident last time, and was continuing with her little hobby.

The rich could indeed do whatever they wanted.

But of course, weed wasn't really a big deal in America.

Everybody had the odd friend or two who had smoked weed before.

Observing the environment and taking deep breaths, Luke turned the car around and sped up.

Selina asked, "Huh? We aren't getting out to check out the area?"

Luke said, "No need. Miss Jenny is in the SUV that just passed us. There's no need to be concerned with her villa now."

Selina was confused. "She left her house?"

Luke said mockingly, "Well, I don't know if she went willingly, but there are four men in that car, and none of them are her security guards, so what do you think?"

Selina didn't question his judgment, and merely frowned. "Four men who aren't her security guards? Has she been kidnapped?"

Luke said, "I can't say for sure, but we can track them."

The four men didn't smell as clean as security guards, and reeked of weed, heroin, cash and gun oil as well as gunpowder.

They were all probably drug dealers.

With Elementary Driving and Sharp Nose, Luke caught up to the SUV just several minutes later.

This SUV was pretty shabby and old, but all the windows had been upgraded with dark tint.

It was thus impossible to see what was going in the car except through the windshield.

Tinted windows weren't rare in California, where the sun was strong, and they certainly weren't unusual on a car that had four drug dealers and a girl.

Selina waited, only to realize that Luke was just following the SUV. She thought for a moment before she asked, "Are you hoping to catch more of them?"

Luke chuckled and nodded. "Miss Jenny doesn't like us anyway, so we'll just let her enjoy the company of four men with strong body odor."

Selina had no objections. After all, she didn't know Jenny, and she always supported Luke unconditionally.

Just like that, the two cars left Beverly Hills and entered a neighborhood south of USC.

Luke sped up and parked the car on the side of the road thirty meters away before the people in the SUV got out.

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