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 305 The Missing Mayor and the Mysterious Cave

Bang! Bang!

After another two shots, Luke killed a spider that had planned to ambush him from the top of the building, and kicked its body away.

In a reclining position, he aimed in a different direction.

Bam! Bam! A spider that had jumped to attack from another wall was shot down.

Luke let go of the M4A1, allowing it to dangle from his arm by its sling, while he exerted his strength with both hands and regained his balance.

He kicked out with his right leg, as quick as lightning, at the head of a spider right below him before its long claws reached him.

The spider's head collapsed under his boot, which had a special alloy in it. It smashed to the ground in a bloody pulp.

The people who were hauling on the rope from the second floor all wondered what Luke was doing, as the rope was trembling nonstop.

They might not have been able to hold the rope steady if there weren't four of them.

This string of attacks in fact all happened in the space of five seconds, and Luke was finally pulled up to the window.

Grabbing the windowsill, Luke crawled in quickly and shouted, "Selina, tear gas grenade!"

Selina understood in a flash and took out a tear gas grenade, which she flung down at the open area in front of the entrance.

As the smoke rose, the aggressive spiders suddenly paused, before they started to scatter.

Luke shouted, "Whoever has guns, shoot now. Don't let the spiders break in. Also, aim before you shoot. Cooperate with each other in groups of four and make sure that there's always someone in your team who's shooting."

While shouting, he rushed past several windows and threw his tear gas grenades as well.

He chucked the tear gas grenades a little further away than Selina, at around twenty meters away.

The spiders were forced to go around the quickly rising smoke. As a result, their speed and movements were restricted.

The people in the shopping center were already opening fire, but thanks to Luke's reminder, they weren't shooting too quickly.

However, Selina's tear gas grenade had been too close to the shopping center, and some unfortunate fellows accidentally inhaled the smoke and could only retreat in tears to take a break for the time being.

That couldn't be helped.

Compared with the setback that the spiders were facing, however, this was an insignificant loss for the town residents.

After throwing the tear gas grenades, Luke had already begun to reload all his guns.

He gave the shotgun to Selina after it was reloaded.

In this shopping center stronghold, and with the cooperation of the residents, a semi-automatic shotgun was more useful than the M4A1 for Selina.

While observing the battle, Luke had someone summon Samantha.

Samantha was still on the first floor as she organized for everybody to retreat deeper into the shopping center, and had gotten the residents who were armed to establish a defense line so that the spiders wouldn't flood in through the entrance.

Samantha came up very quickly, and Luke said swiftly, "I've already called the FBI for help, but it'll probably take at least an hour for them to arrive. We need to be prepared to defend this place for that long. Also, we need to think about an escape route. Where's Wade? Isn't this his property? Ask him if there's an evacuation route."

His plan was to have Samantha lead a retreat if something happened, and then he would blow up the shopping center's exits after the spiders were lured in here so that they wouldn't be able to get out so quickly.

But it was best to sound out Wade's attitude first. Luke had a feeling that the mayor wouldn't be too happy about it.

It would suck if he sued Luke later for destroying private property and wanted compensation.

Samantha said, "Okay. I'll go find Wade."

Just as she was about to leave, Luke stopped her and gave her a walkie-talkie. "Take this. Use the first frequency."

Samantha was relieved, because running up and down to talk was too time-consuming, and could easily cause problems.

The residents downstairs were still in a panicked state. A single foolish yell about the spiders breaking in might cause them to lose control and scatter.

Seeing that everybody was safe for now, Luke told Selina and Samantha that he would check the roof to prevent the spiders from breaking in that way.

After all, spiders were all great climbers. The shopping center only had three floors, and Luke reached the third floor very quickly.

Who knew what Mayor Wade was thinking when he decided to build a shopping center here. The second floor of this shopping center was basically empty, with a small number of goods piled up here.

The third floor was even more unbelievable. It was utterly stark and didn't have any fittings at all. Only the basic layout had been completed, and the cement floor was still the rough type that could scrap your skin off if you fell.

There weren't any windows either, so no spiders would be able to crawl in through here.

While laughing at the mayor's business incompetence, Luke went up another flight of stairs to reach the door to the roof.

His keen hearing had already picked up the rustling of the spiders outside the door.

He glanced around but didn't find anything appropriate. Hence, he simply took out several long steel wires from his inventory, and sealed off the door with some pipes and the handrail.

That way, even if the door was broken down, the spiders would be cut up by the steel wires when they crawled in because of their enormous size.

After that, Luke set up a camera on a pillar ten meters from the door to the roof and activated it, before he returned to the second floor.

He couldn't go to the roof. Opening the door would create an opportunity for the spiders to break in. It would be better to deal with the spiders on the second floor instead.

When he returned, he saw that most people were wearing earplugs.

Samantha had found the earplugs in a store on the first floor, since incessant gunfire in an enclosed space was a little hard on the ears. With the earplugs, they could endure the noise with some difficulty.

Some discomfort was still better than the spiders breaking in and eating them.

At that moment, Samantha spoke via the walkie-talkie. "Luke, Wade's gone. Someone said that there's a cave in the basement, which is a branch off an old mine."

Luke was stunned. "A mine opening? Right here?"

This was the center of town. How could there be a mine opening here? It wasn't on the maps that he had seen either.

Chris suddenly interjected, "This town was actually established above the very first gold mine, but this mine has been abandoned for decades, so isn't marked on the maps. Wade's shopping center is precisely on this old mine."

Luke asked, "What are you thinking?"

Samantha had mentioned the cave clearly not because she was worried about Wade's safety. In fact, many residents would probably celebrate if the mayor died.

Samantha said, "I was wondering if we could evacuate everybody from town through this old mine. There are too many spiders in town."

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Chapter 306 Exploration and Rescue

Luke firmly opposed the idea. "I suspect that the spiders have taken over the mines as their nest. Bringing everybody in will just be sending them into the mouths of the spiders as food."

Samantha was surprised. "But Wade escaped through there. He worked in the mines before, and must be familiar with the territory. That guy is cunning. It's possible that this is the escape route he prepared for himself."

Luke thought for a moment, but disagreed. "If Wade really knew that the giant spiders were coming, he could've skipped town for a few days; once everybody was dead, there would be nothing to stop him from selling the town. The fact that he only escaped just now suggests that this isn't an escape route he had prepared beforehand."

Samantha was unwilling to give up, mostly because the panicked residents were urging her to find a way out, the spiders proving too big a pressure on their nerves. Luke suggested, "How about this? I'll go in and take a look first, and if it's safe, I'll come back and let you know."

Samantha hesitated. "Won't that be too dangerous?" It was outrageous to ask Luke to risk his life for some town residents he barely knew.

Luke chuckled. "Relax, the reason Elizabeth asked me to come was to fix the problem. I know what I'm doing."

With Sharp Nose, he could track Wade's scent and detect the spiders in advance; it wasn't as dangerous as it seemed.

Luke went upstairs and told Selina about the camera that he had installed near the roof. She could monitor the situation on the special "phone."

In addition, he gave Selina a huge bag of close to a thousand bullets which he had taken out of his inventory in a hidden corner.

The town residents had a lot of guns on them, but not many bullets. Many of them had simply grabbed their guns before they ran, and forgot to bring more bullets.

Some of them were even carrying old gun models that Peter had brought with him, but there weren't many bullets either.

Selina had just told Samantha to get bullets from the residents on the first floor, or there would be nothing that the defenders on the second floor could do.

Luke told Selina to distribute the bullets, and reminded her that her safety took priority if anything happened.

Selina nodded silently.

She knew that Luke was saying that she could abandon the residents in an emergency.

Luke didn't want her to get herself killed because of her soft heart.

From his words, Selina was more important to him than the residents of the town.

Luke then went to the storeroom in the basement.

as

Examining the mine opening that was revealed after a huge cabinet was moved aside, Luke grew suspicious.

This opening had never been completely sealed off. There were even tracks under the cabinet, which suggested that it was a secret door.

Why would Mayor Wade build a secret door to an old cave in his shopping center?

Drawing out the Glock, Luke ran into the cave with quick steps.

Following Wade's scent, Luke started to get a weird expression on his face as he ran, and he couldn't help but slow down.

Was this Wade… trying to get himself killed?

Luke could already smell a huge number of spiders, and Wade had gone precisely in the direction where the scent of the spiders was the thickest — their nest.

Pondering for a moment, Luke put the Glock back into his holster and took out an alloy rod from his inventory.

This was raw material meant for making equipment, but would serve well as a weapon now.

Luke certainly didn't want to be killed in a gas explosion triggered by him opening fire.

Even if he wasn't killed, he might also be buried alive, which would be too stupid.

Putting on a gas mask, Luke pressed on, and couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath at what he found.

This… had to be the spiders' food store.

Looking at the cocoons littered over the ground, most of whom were human-shaped, Luke quickly examined them with a heavy heart.

After a while, he was certain that these people had basically died by suffocating inside the thick cocoons, including Wade, who had sent himself here.

With his sharp senses, Luke found a survivor. He used his jack knife to cut open one of the cocoons to reveal an elderly face.

The person was about to cry out, but Luke covered her mouth and said in a low voice, "It's me, Luke. I'm here to get you out. Don't make any sound, Gladys, okay?" The old woman was none other than Gladys, Chris's aunt.

She was lucky; the threads wrapped around her didn't completely block her nose, which was what had kept her alive.

Luke also noticed a smaller cocoon nearby that moved from time to time.

Gripping his small flashlight between his teeth, Luke cut the cocoon free of the threads that were attached to it, and put the cocoon in his backpack. He was about to get up, when he noticed something else.

He crouched down and picked up a small piece of ore from the ground where he had cut away the threads.

This piece of ore had clearly just fallen from somewhere as the break was new; perhaps it had been caused by those giant spiders.

Luke looked at the ore for a moment with his flashlight, before his gaze swept over the cave and finally landed on a hole that was obviously newly dug.

With a smile on his face, he turned off the flashlight, put Gladys on his back, and placed the stone inside his inventory before he left the cave.

After Luke was some distance away, Gladys said in a low voice over his shoulder, "When I was caught, I saw a lot of things nearby that looked like oil barrels."

Luke was curious, and asked in a similarly low voice, "What's the problem?" Gladys said, "I've seen those barrels on Vitello's trucks. I asked Wade about them before, and he said that they were goods. However, I noticed that there wasn't any logo on the barrels."

Frowning, Luke asked, "Where are the barrels?"

Gladys said, "There's a bigger cave not far from the one we were in. It's occupied by a huge spider and a lot of smaller ones. It seems that they're using those barrels as nests."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Got it. Get some rest. I'll get you out of here."

He didn't think too much about the matter any longer; he would let the fake FBI captain Wales know later, and let him look into it.

Gladys was shocked by their speed on the way back; it felt like she was riding a horse. Suddenly, two gigantic spiders charged out from a side tunnel up ahead.

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Chapter 307 Tarantulas In the Front, Black Widows in the Back

These two spiders were different from the spiders outside, and were black widows.

To be more exact, the bodies of these black widows were like round, plump balls, and their limbs were thinner and longer. What Luke had killed in town just now were mostly tarantulas. They were all furry and had thick legs.

Luke wasn't surprised to run into these two fellows. They were blocking the only way back, and Luke couldn't go around them.

The moment the two spiders scuttled out, Luke raised his right hand, and the alloy rod that he was holding whistled as he slammed it down on the black widow at the front.

The rod cracked open the spider's head.

Turning with the rod, Luke stabbed it into the head of the second black widow.

After killing the two spiders, Luke withdrew the rod and rushed off without any hesitation.

He had killed two random black widows, but where were the rest?

Activating his Sharp Nose, Luke grew tense and sped up as he ran back to the shopping center.

He placed Gladys down outside the storeroom and told Samantha via the walkie-talkie to send someone to pick up the old woman.

He then threw some tear gas grenades twenty meters into the cave, before he took out several malleable, clay-like objects.

These were safe plastic explosives that were mostly used in building demolitions since they were smaller in size and easily set up for use in special environments.

After quickly setting up the explosives, Luke hid outside the storeroom and tapped a button on his phone.

A few dull explosions rang out, and part of the cave near the entrance collapsed.

Only then did Luke relax slightly. He checked the situation via the walkie-talkie, and Samantha said that she had already sent someone to get Gladys.

Luke thought for a moment before he said, "The cave in the basement isn't safe. It leads to the spiders' nest, and they came after me just now when they discovered me and Gladys."

Samantha was alarmed. "Huh? Do you need reinforcements?"

Luke said, "Not for now. I've brought the cave down, and they can't break through for now. But are there any construction materials around here? It would be best that we seal off the old mine for now. Planks and steel bars or wires will do."

Samantha hurriedly replied that she would have people look for the materials, before Luke switched channels. "Selina, how's it going on your end?".

Selina said, "It's safe for now, but there are too many spiders outside. I'm running out of tear gas grenades, so…" She didn't say the rest, but Luke understood.

Without the tear gas grenades to control the situation, the spiders would use their numbers to overwhelm the people in the shopping center both physically and psychologically. The defenders here weren't trained soldiers, but common civilians.

This wasn't Texas either, which was full of tough, retired veterans. Luke couldn't place too much hope in the residents here.

Luke said, "I'm on my way. You stay calm and keep them organized."

At that point, the men whom Samantha had sent arrived.

Luke handed Gladys over to the two middle-aged men, and then rushed up to the second floor.

Sizing up the battle situation for a moment, he quickly joined in and fired a barrage from his M4A1 out the window.

The army of spiders which had been closing in on the shopping center suffered another setback. Multiple giant spiders fell and twitched on the ground.

Luke quickly threw out two tear gas grenades and then gave the rest to Selina, before he whispered in a low voice, "Defend this place. There's a leak in the basement storeroom that I need to take care of, otherwise more spiders will come through from there." Picking up the tear gas grenades with an ugly expression, Selina simply nodded.

If another group of spiders emerged from the cave, she and Luke would probably be fine, but few of the residents, including Samantha's family, were likely to survive.

Luke secretly stuffed two objects into her hands. "Hide them well. Use them when you must. I can explain them later."

Watching him leave, Selina looked at the heavy items in her hands, lost for words. Chris gave Samantha flowers; what are these things you gave me?

That was right. Luke had given her two heavy grenades, which could only be used when her life was truly in danger.

Luke was afraid that Selina might run into those gargantuan spiders, which couldn't be killed easily with a rifle.

But with the grenades, Selina would at least have a chance to escape.

Luke pressed the walkie-talkie and asked, "Samantha, did you find anything?"

Samantha instantly replied, "We tore up some counters, and the sportswear store has plenty of cables. Will they do?"

Luke said, "Yes, have someone move them to the basement. I'll wait for them there, and be quick."

Samantha agreed, but couldn't help asking, "I think everything here belongs to Wade. If we take them like this…"

She was willing to take these things, but she was worried that given the sort of person Wade was, he would use this excuse to coerce the residents into selling the town afterward.

Luke smiled and said, "Don't worry about Wade. There's no chance in heaven or hell for him to demand compensation."

Samantha was confused. "Huh?"

Luke said, "The lord mayor fled into the spiders' nest and got himself killed."

Samantha gave a heavy sigh of relief, but sensing that it was inappropriate, she hurriedly changed the subject. "Alright, enough. I'll get people to send the materials down to the basement soon."

Luke said, "Okay." After that, he walked past a few windows again.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! He used up all the bullets in his M4A1 again, killing another ten spiders on top of the pile of spider bodies.

The residents at the windows all looked at him in shock and admiration.

They were by no means bumpkins, but Luke's shooting skill was too unbelievable.

He had killed more spiders in half a minute than all of them had in a couple of minutes.

A spider would fall after every triple burst of gunfire; no matter if they were climbing or mid-leap, they didn't escape being blown up.

As he reloaded the gun and ran downstairs, Luke said, "I'll check the situation downstairs. Just hang in there. Reinforcements will be here in twenty minutes at most."

All the residents were energized after hearing that.

They were only putting up a resistance now because there was no other way to survive.

If there really was a way out, they would definitely abandon their posts and flee.

But if FBI reinforcements were going to get here in twenty minutes, they had enough courage to endure that long.

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Chapter 308 The Forgotten Dog

Luke didn't feel guilty about lying. While he didn't know exactly when Wales's reinforcements would arrive, it would be too embarrassing for the FBI's 17th Division if they couldn't get here within an hour after Luke made the call for help.

Twenty minutes had already passed, and if Captain Wales was capable enough, reinforcements would hopefully arrive in twenty minutes.

After all, Boom Town was only eighty kilometers away from Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, and it was only half an hour by helicopter.

Thinking that, Luke called Wales.

The call was picked up quickly. "Luke, how's it going?" Wales's voice was as calm as ever, but his question was to the point.

Luke quickly said, "About four hundred residents have evacuated to the newly-built shopping center in the town, and they're doing their best to hold off the spiders, but several hundred other residents are still scattered throughout the town. Also, there's a mine underneath the shopping center which leads to a nest of spiders. The spiders have found us. I've closed down the tunnel, but I doubt that will stop them for long."

Wales said quickly, "Don't panic. We've deployed two helicopters and sixteen agents. Also, we've informed the sheriffs of the towns in the vicinity. They'll probably be arriving soon."

Luke was dumbfounded. "What?"

Wales noticed that his tone wasn't right. "Is something wrong?"

Luke said, "More than two hundred giant spiders have gathered around the shopping center, and still more are hunting people around town, but you've asked police officers from other towns to back us up? Do you want them to become food for the spiders?" Wales said, "Sh*t! Why are there so many spiders?"

Luke said, "I have no idea, but your agents better not be stupid enough to land directly in town. They won't survive ten minutes if they do. I injured a huge tarantula more than seven meters long earlier. There's also another big guy in the mine that hasn't come out yet."

Wales was lost for words. "…You should've told me that sooner."

Luke said, "…Fine. My bad. But I have good news."

Wales asked, "What's that?"

"Wade, the town mayor, had dealings with a company called Vitello, and a lot of barrels are secretly stacked up inside the cave. We don't know what's inside the barrels, but the big guy has already taken over. Does that ring any sort of bell?" asked Luke.

Wales immediately got it. "Okay, no matter what you do, don't destroy the mine. Just wait for my men. Hang in there."

Luke chuckled. "I believe in you, Captain Wales. Also, remember to tell the sheriffs of the other towns to stay away."

Luke curled his lip after he hung up.

This bait would definitely hook S.H.I.E.L.D..

The unknown substance handled by that Vitello company could turn a tarantula the size of a palm into a monster the size of an elephant. This was definitely something that S.H.I.E.L.D. would be interested in.

At that point, a lot of people had moved planks and ropes to the basement.

After checking the materials, Luke directed everybody in blockading the storeroom.

They didn't need to completely seal it off; they just had to make it difficult for the spiders to get through.

Luke wasn't betting on the blockade to last for long; they just needed to delay the spiders.

If he really had no other choice, he could still set a fire. He had seen many flammable objects in the stores.

After that was done, Luke left two men to watch the cave opening from the entrance of the storeroom with a walkie-talkie.

Even if the spiders came, the two men would hear them digging first, and since the room was blocked with ropes and wooden planks, the two men would be fine.

When that was done, Luke returned to the second floor.

Selina waved her hand quickly when she saw him.

Luke knew why she wasn't using the walkie-talkie.

The town residents were on the verge of a meltdown, but hadn't collapsed yet.

If she yelled for Luke to help, however, chances were that their morale would plummet.

Without any hesitation, Luke stepped forward and pushed aside two residents who were in front of a window. He then started firing the M4A1, which had cooled down completely.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

A few giant spiders that had scuttled over to a corner of the wall were blown up.

After eliminating the biggest threats, Luke assumed the standard posture for shooting and adjusted his breathing.

Sensing that he was in his best state, Luke unleashed fierce fire.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! It was as if a giant bite had been taken out of the middle of the aggressive army of spiders as they collapsed in the center.

Luke didn't stop at all. After using up one clip, he immediately reloaded the gun with the clip in his left hand.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! All the spiders within a range of twenty meters were killed.

"Selina," Luke said just as the last bullet was used up, and he tossed his M4A1 to Selina.

Selina threw her M4A1 to him at the same time, the two of them exchanging guns smoothly.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The residents nearby all stopped shooting, since Luke killed the targets that they had been aiming at.

Luke was far more relaxed this time when he reloaded his gun again.

He looked around. "Hey, the spiders aren't all dead yet. You can shoot further than thirty meters, right?"

Everybody came back to themselves and opened fire again.

After close to a hundred shots, Luke had eliminated all the spiders within a range of thirty meters, and more spiders were starting to take their place.

Selina reloaded the gun and looked at Luke with sparkling eyes.

This fellow was the coolest when he was shooting!

Luke backed away and had the residents nearby take his position.

He suddenly felt his backpack move, and couldn't help slapping his forehead.

He opened his backpack and cut open the small cocoon with his knife, and a black-and-white animal inside started to cry aggrievedly. Luke petted the dog with a smile. "Haha, Bruce, you almost became a real hellhound! Don't run off again."

The little creature was none other than Gladys's bulldog.

It must've been captured along with Gladys, and by the same unskilled spider, since a small gap had been left around the dog's mouth and nose, which had enabled it to survive.

Luke went downstairs and tied a rope around the dog's neck before passing it to Gladys, who hadn't fully recovered from the shock. "This should make you feel better."

Now that it was free and meeting its owner again, Bruce jumped on Gladys in excitement.

Gladys's voice shook. "Oh, Bruce, you're fine? That's great."

Luke smiled at the reunion between master and pet.

It was the only happy scene that he had seen so far on this disastrous night.

Suddenly, a voice rang out in his earpiece. "Detective Luke, quick, come quick! Spiders! A lot of spiders! Ahhhh, hurry up and run!"

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Chapter 309 Eliminating the Black Widows

Luke could tell that it was the two residents in the basement who were yelling for help.

They were the only people who had a walkie-talkie.

Luke rose quickly and ran to the basement, activating the walkie-talkie. "Don't panic, I'm on my way. What's going on over there?"

The walkie-talkie was quiet for a moment. Then, the residents yelled in panic again. "Spiders! A lot of spiders are coming from the underground parking lot! They're chasing as!"

Luke said calmly, "Retreat to the stairs. I'm coming to get the both of you."

He was already on the first floor, and made a beeline for the basement.

Despite his calm expression, his heart was a little heavy.

The residents had been able to hold on in the shopping center because the spiders at the entrance didn't have a real leader. They were basically relying on instinct, and were drawn here by the gunshots.

Rather than say that they were besieging the shopping center, they were more like a bunch of pests.

However, the spiders in the underground parking lot could break this fragile balance, and the traumatized residents in the shopping center could crumble at any point.

He ran ten meters through the basement and around a corner to meet the two frightened residents who had been watching the mining opening. Shocked, they stumbled to a halt when they saw Luke.

Luke reached out to pull both of them behind him. "Wait for me at the foot of the stairs, and don't go up to the first floor."

Even as he spoke, he was already opening fire with his M4A1.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Two giant black widows that had been chasing them closely were blown back.

Luke pulled up the gas mask hanging around his neck with his left hand and then reached into his pocket as if he was looking for something, when he was actually extracting the raw materials to make tear gas from his inventory.

He also took out a small plastic explosive which he had set up earlier, and then stuck it to the jar of raw materials.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

He fully opened fire and blew up the black widows in the hallway, clearing a path for his throw.

Luke then threw the jar into the center of the swarm of black widows, and it landed more than ten meters outside the storeroom.

Ducking behind a corner, Luke swiftly switched to the detonation interface on his fake phone and found the corresponding detonation number before pressing the button.

Bang!

After a small explosion, white smoke spread out in the hallway.

It was chaos in the hallway, and the black widows scuttled around frantically.

They were very sensitive to tear gas, but without gas masks, they could only crawl about randomly in the smoke.

Luke in fact didn't like this situation, because tear gas also hugely affected his Sharp Nose.

But this was an emergency, and he couldn't blow up the hallway, so tear gas was the most cost-effective choice.

His M4A1 trained on the turn in the hallway, Luke slowly backed away as he spoke into the walkie-talkie. "Samantha, have Chris bring me a gun. I'll wait for him at the bottom of the basement stairs."

Chris arrived in less than two minutes with the very M4A1 which Samantha had borrowed from the gun store.

Luke was lost for words. Something was definitely going on between those two! The beautiful sheriff had given the lifesaving weapon to her lover.

Roasting them in his heart, Luke took off his gas mask, nodded at the two residents, and said in a low voice to Chris, "Watch those two and don't let them go back up to the first floor; things might get out of hand if word spreads that a lot of spiders have shown up here."

Chris immediately understood.

Luke said again, "You two, defend the stairs with Chris and don't shoot randomly. I'm going to eliminate those spiders." Saying that, he put on his gas mask again and walked into the hallway, which was gradually filling up with smoke. Chris couldn't help but say, "Luke, it's too risky. Let's just defend this position."

Luke turned to look at him and shook his head. "We don't know where these spiders came from. It's too dangerous. I need to force these guys to retreat. Relax, I'll be fine." As he spoke, he had already disappeared around a corner.

When he was out of Chris's sight, a revolver suddenly appeared in his hand, and he put it into a special holster on his thigh.

It was a Smith Wesson M500, known as a hand cannon.

Few revolvers were more powerful than this gun. It was one of the most classic models.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

The M4A1 fired at regular intervals, blowing up the enormous spiders that were struggling in the smoke one by one.

Walking through the hallway enveloped in smoke, Luke glanced into the storeroom when he passed by, and there were no signs that the tunnel entrance had been disturbed.

According to the two residents, the black widows had emerged from the underground parking lot. It seemed that they weren't making it up.

At the end of the hallway, the smoke was a lot thinner.

Beyond that was the underground parking lot.

It wasn't large, but was still a lot more spacious than the narrow hallway. The smoke that came out of the hallway dispersed here, and was no longer a threat to the black widows.

Luke immediately saw a bunch of giant spiders wandering around restlessly outside the hallway, not daring to charge into the smoke.

Smiling, Luke lowered the M4A1 and drew out the M500.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Outside the hallway, almost ten black widows in three straight lines exploded at the same time.

Their bodies obviously weren't very solid, and in the face of the hand cannon which had a caliber of 12.7mm, they exploded like balloons full of water.

Bam! Bam!

Seizing the opportunity, Luke shot at the spiders twice again.

Quite a few of the spiders blew up. It was a complete mess.

Shaking his head, Luke reloaded the M500 and put it back into the holster, before he raised the M4A1 again.

There were too many black widows outside. An automatic rifle would be more convenient for dealing with them.

Of course, it would be better if he had a machine gun… But Luke couldn't use any since it would be impossible for him to explain how he had one.

Taking advantage of the tear gas and the terrain, Luke went on a killing spree and slaughtered the spiders outside.

A moment later, most of the black widows subconsciously stayed away from the hallway entrance, giving Luke a better look at the situation in the parking lot.

The underground parking lot's metal roller shutter seemed to have been twisted and bent out of shape by some enormous force, leaving behind a huge hole.

The black widows were pouring through this very opening

Luke quickly took out a 20L barrel of oil from his inventory and opened the top.

While firing his M4A1, Luke quickly moved away from the hallway until he reached a medium-sized van, tilting the barrel to leave a trail of oil behind him.

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Chapter 310 Professional Weapons For Professional Men

Luke ignited the oil trail with a lighter. As the bright fire rose, the black widows stepped back in fear.

They were scared of both fire and light. Luke then broke the window of the van next to him with a punch and poured the remaining oil from the barrel into the van.

After that, he released the van's emergency brake and jammed the wheel in place with a club. Finally, he threw the lighter into the driver's seat.

Very soon, the van was consumed by fire.

Luke walked to the back of the van. He reloaded the M4A1, and holding the gun in his right hand, he suddenly lifted the back of the van with his left hand and turned it by thirty degrees.

He craned his head to make sure that he was aiming in the right direction, and with a low yell, he unleashed all his strength.

The van was immediately pushed forward, and started moving at a regular speed.

Luke gradually exerted more strength to increase its speed.

Pushed forward by Luke's brute force, the burning van accelerated and crashed into the broken entrance of the parking lot at around twenty kilometers per hour.

After an explosion, half the van was stuck in the entrance.

In the meantime, Luke opened fire with his M4A1 to eliminate the giant black widows nearby.

After Luke cleared the area earlier, and now that the gap was blocked, the number of black widows plummeted.

In the next few minutes, Luke blew up the remaining dozens of black widows in the parking lot with his M4A1, Glock and M500 in

turns.

Luke reloaded the three guns and found a car. He broke its window, hot wired the car, then drove the car to the van and stopped behind

it.

He pulled up the brake, got out, and pushed the car so that it was pressed up to the back of the van, before he was satisfied.

He packed up the flammable junk in the car and tossed them to the front of the van to keep the fire going.

After that, Luke took out his fake phone and checked the time. Fifty minutes had passed since he contacted Captain Wales. The reinforcements from the FBI's 17th Division should be arriving soon.

At that point, Selina said over the walkie-talkie, "Luke, I think I hear a helicopter."

He was delighted. "I'm coming. I've settled things down here for now."

After setting up a camera to monitor the entrance to the parking lot, Luke quickly went upstairs. When he got to the stairs, he told Chris to stay on guard.

On the second floor, he eliminated some of the spiders at the entrance with the remaining bullets in his M4A1, before he said, "Everybody, stop shooting for thirty seconds."

Ten seconds later, all the defenders stopped shooting.

Luke took out his earpiece and listened carefully at an open window, and finally sighed in relief.

It really was a helicopter! It couldn't be a random helicopter passing by such a remote town in the middle of the night.

Luke raised his head to scan the dark sky where the sound of the helicopter had come from.

A moment later, two flashing red spots emerged.

At that point, Luke's phone rang as well.

He left his post and had the defenders resume shooting. He then quickly ran to the first floor and picked up the call. "This is Luke."

The guy on the other end of the phone said, "It's Charles, Luke. I've been ordered to back you up. We're close to Boom Town now. Hang in there…"

Luke interrupted him. "Okay, thank you very much, Charles. We're at the shopping center, the place with the most intense gunfire right now. I need to remind you that those spiders are very tricky. They're great jumpers and can ambush you from dark corners."

Agent Charles (whose real name was Cheney Spike) said on the other end, "Captain Wales already reminded us, so we won't land for now. We'll provide firepower support from the air until most of the spiders are eliminated."

Luke was greatly relieved.

Captain Wales was indeed a leader familiar with field missions, unlike Dewey Robinson, who was more used to office work and would put his men in danger.

The greatest advantage of a helicopter was that it could attack the spiders without being attacked itself.

A moment later, Luke was impressed by the professionalism of their reinforcements.

He thought that they would shoot from the helicopters with rifles, like police officers did most of the time.

But unexpectedly, chains of fire were launched from both helicopters with a dull and intense boom to create furrows in the dirt in front of the shopping center.

Luke was lost for words; they weren't using rifles at all, but aircraft artillery!

The helicopters hovered above the shopping center, and very soon, almost all the spiders nearby were exterminated.

They all burst like cockroaches that had been swatted with a flip-flop, when they had seemed invincible a moment earlier.

After a brief silence, the townsfolk in the shopping center all cheered wildly with joy.

Luke said to Samantha via the walkie-talkie, "Keep the residents under control, and don't let them run off. Although reinforcements are here, it'll still be dangerous if the people run into spiders that are still alive. Have them stay there until the agents have eliminated all the spiders."

Samantha had been cheering too, but she calmed down at Luke's words.

She then realized some of her crazy compatriots were already yelling about charging out and getting revenge on the spiders.

She immediately sweated. "I'll try to, but they seem too excited at this point."

After a brief silence, Luke said, "Got it. You hold them back for now. I'll convince the overexcited ones later."

It was easy for people to act irrationally when their emotions were running high.

The townsfolk were all ordinary people. It wasn't unusual at all that they would lose control of themselves.

Ending the communication, Luke took out his M500 and fired.

Practically all the residents were cheering. They had stopped shooting when the spiders outside fell.

They were all shocked by the sudden burst of loud gunfire from the M500.

They turned back, only to see Luke standing calmly with the revolver in his hand. They almost subconsciously stopped cheering.

They all remembered Luke's valiance in the battle just now very well!

Human beings tended to respect those who were strong, particularly when their lives depended on those people. When everybody fell quiet, Luke said indifferently, "Everybody, I need to remind you that you were crying for help and could barely stand an hour ago because of those giant spiders."

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Chapter 311 Suppress the Warriors and Steal the Points

After a pause, Luke continued, "Your family and friends may have been killed by the spiders. So, you must not underestimate them. They're still monsters that can easily kill you with one bite."

He was quite blunt, but it was the truth.

A moment ago, he had to maintain morale and couldn't have the residents getting depressed.

But now that reinforcements had arrived, he needed to calm them down.

Laying low and staying alive was the most important thing.

Otherwise, what was the point of them fleeing and fighting just now? To be killed for nothing before dawn? That totally wasn't worth it. "Now, check your weapons and stay alert. I can tell you that the dead spiders may only be half their population. This shopping center is the only thing keeping you alive to see tomorrow. Are we clear?" asked Luke, raising his voice.

"Got it," replied some of the residents. Luke said, "I can't hear you! Are they the only people who understood what I said?"

"Got it," said everybody in a jumble.

"Are you all dead? Are you going to use that attitude to deal with those monstrous spiders? Answer me in loud voices!" yelled Luke.

"Got it!" All the residents finally yelled at the top of their voices.

Their frustration at Luke's stern criticism earlier also disappeared.

Luke nodded and put on a gentle smile. "That's great. Everybody, I hope that I can leave this place safely with all of you tomorrow morning!"

After that, he got up and went downstairs. When he passed Selina, who had a question in her eyes, Luke looked around and said in a low voice, "Their mindsets are very shaky. Suppress them with that air of yours from killing the Carlos family shooters in Shackelford so that they'll listen to you."

Selina smiled and punched his chest. "Don't underestimate me, little brother."

Amused, Luke went to the first floor and saw that while Samantha was shouting anxiously, most of the residents weren't listening to her. Instead, they were all excited, as if they were about to charge out of the shopping center and fight the spiders outside.

Luke raised his hand and fired.

Bang!

Everybody fell quiet. Since nobody here had been fighting, they weren't wearing ear plugs. While the gunfire on the second floor was noisy, it wasn't entirely intolerable because of the distance.

Everybody's ears buzzed at the M500's loud report.

As he had done on the second floor, Luke rebuked all the residents on the first floor.

Then, he declared that he could give a hand to the warriors who didn't fear death, and who planned to fight the spiders.

How, exactly? By throwing them onto the street from the windows on the second floor, of course.

Luke even promised to give those determined warriors a splendid weapon, say, a spear or a knife, so that they could demonstrate their valiance in front of their fellows.

Everybody in the lobby fell quiet.

It was human nature to follow the crowd, particularly in a crisis like this one.

When someone proposed to attack, everybody grew bold.

But if some idiots were picked out and told to take action alone, they would immediately chicken out.

Looking at the residents, Luke said, "If you're really willing to help, go to the second floor. The people there are still fighting to protect themselves and their families even though they can barely hold up their guns anymore. You can prove yourself there, instead of encouraging other people to do silly things with you."

encou

He then raised his voice. "Samantha, replace the defenders upstairs with anyone who is willing to help. Remember, don't let anyone who is bad at shooting or cowardly go up."

Samantha nodded, but she knew that most people on the first floor didn't meet the requirements except for a few like herself.

But her children were here, and she had to keep the residents calm as the sheriff. So, she couldn't go to the second floor either.

Luke returned to the second floor and observed the situation.

The area outside the entrance to the shopping centre was pretty broad, which made it easy for the spiders to gather, but just as easy for the FBI's helicopter to launch a barrage.

After the barrage, most of the spiders were wiped out, leaving behind stragglers who weren't a threat at all.

So, Luke quickly deployed some manpower to the basement stairs to assist Chris with the defense there.

While the entrance to the underground parking lot was blocked by the van, he didn't know how many black widows there still were outside, so there had to be a line of defense down there.

After completing the arrangements, Luke said a few words to Selina before he quickly climbed out a window.

All the residents on the second floor were puzzled, wondering what the young detective was going to do.

On the outer wall where they couldn't see, Luke climbed up to the roof with the help of protruding bricks.

With his Sharp Nose, he could tell that there were no longer any spiders on the roof.

After clearing the area here, the two helicopters gradually widened their attack range. Under the searchlights, the spiders couldn't escape their doom even as they jumped away and tried to hide.

Luke called Charles back. "Charles, I'm going to start rescuing the residents in the areas that you've already cleared. Ask your shooters to pay attention and not hit me." Stunned for a moment, Agent Charles said, "Luke, that's too dangerous. Why don't you act with us once we're done with the clean-up?"

Luke said, "Don't worry, I'll stay away from your helicopters. I'll start with places close to the shopping center." He then hung up the phone.

He murmured to himself, If you kill all those spiders, I might not get any points for rescuing the survivors!

Now that the fake FBI agents had wiped out the bulk of the army of spiders, Luke could use this opportunity to rescue the residents in the houses around the shopping center.

With his Sharp Nose, he could easily detect the spiders that were hiding and the residents, and he would be much more efficient than Cheney's team.

Saving one person meant twenty experience and credit points. That was easy income.

In the next two hours, Luke carried out a solo search and rescue operation.

Half an hour later, after the helicopters sprayed the spiders that were still visible on the ground with bullets, it had become much less dangerous, and the agents in the helicopters joined the search and rescue.

Luke asked Charles for four agents to cooperate with him.

That way, he only needed to locate the survivors and kill the spiders, and the time-consuming task of bringing the survivors to a safe place could be given to the agents with him.

Charles moved with another team, while the remaining agents all went to the roof of the shopping center, where they eliminated the occasional spider on the street with sniper rifles and protected the survivors who made their way to the shopping center.

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Chapter 312 Good Rewarded with Good

The shopping center was at a good height, and a straight street lay before it. Thus, four sniper rifles and four drones were enough for the agents to control what happened in a range of several hundred meters around the shopping center.

The search and rescue operation didn't stop until midnight. After all the survivors were rescued, an exhausted Luke finally returned to the shopping center.

Before he returned, he gave Agent Charles the maps of the mines and marked a location. "Here, this is the cave where that unknown substance is stored. According to the manager of the mines whom I saved, there's a super big guy in the cave as well as many smaller spiders."

Agent Charles was reinvigorated by the information, since that was the reason why he was here.

He hadn't asked Luke earlier, partly because they couldn't search the mines before all the spiders were killed, and partly because he didn't think that Luke knew the specific location of the unknown substance. After all, Luke had only been here two days.

Who knew that Luke would directly verify the exact location.

After Luke told him about Gladys, her nephew Chris, and the previous proprietor of the mines, Agent Charles had a lot of mixed feelings. It almost felt like fate.

Gladys had refused to hand over the maps of the mines because they were her brother's lifelong work.

However, Chris gave Luke the maps, which enabled the latter to rescue Gladys.

So, was this good being rewarded with good? Hearing Agent Charles sigh, Luke whispered inwardly, You're damn right, but you don't know what my real reward is.

After that, Luke went to the shopping center to look for Selina, and found her bellowing at the residents and telling them to find a place to rest on the second floor.

The town hadn't been fully purged of the spiders yet, so the residents couldn't go home.

Even though they were in a safe place, they had to take turns keeping watch in case a spider snuck in and killed them.

Luke observed them quietly for a moment, before he went downstairs with a smile. He cleaned himself up in a bathroom and found his car.

Thanks to his foresight, he had gotten Selina to park the car on one side of the shopping center, and it was basically undamaged except for a few scratches.

The cars that had been parked in a panic at the entrance to the shopping center were buried under the bodies of spiders and their disgusting fluids.

Luke didn't even need to look to know that there had to be a lot of bullet holes in the cars. It would cost a fortune to fix them, if the townsfolk could get their cars back at all.

If there was something wrong with those spiders, it was possible that all the cars had to be destroyed.

Luke had learned this the hard way when he lost his car in Laquin.

Luke took out the Napoleon cake from the mini-fridge in the car and returned to the shopping center.

Patting Selina on the back, Luke showed her the box in his hands and said, "Please take a break, Detective Selina."

Selina turned around. Seeing the big box in his hands, she immediately smiled.

This was their exclusive food box, which contained delicious food every time it made an appearance. She would automatically start drooling whenever she saw it.

She was about to open the box, when Luke moved it out of reach. "Wash your hands, okay? I washed my hands multiple times before I fetched the cake for you."

Selina glared at him angrily but still went to wash her hands.

Following her and making sure that she cleaned her hands and her face, Luke finally gave her the box. "Let the FBI take care of the rest. I've already spoken to Charles. We should get some rest now since we'll likely be questioned for a while tomorrow."

Selina nodded and asked, "Where do we sleep?"

Luke had already scouted the area. "There's an unused utility room in a corner on the first floor. It's absolutely safe and away from the lobby. We can get some sleep there." Selina said, "Haha, that's good…" As they spoke, they reached the utility room.

Seeing that an inflatable camping tent had been set up inside the utility room, Selina was even more satisfied. "We don't have to sleep on the floor? Great! Right, where did you find this?"

Luke said sorrowfully, "It's an offering from the dearly departed ex-mayor Wade, who owned a camping equipment store here."

Selina shrugged. "What a shame. I'll pray for him tomorrow morning." Luke nodded. "Yes, we must thank him for his generosity, if there's nothing wrong with him."

Selina was curious. "Is there anything wrong with him?"

Luke replied, "Those giant spiders are probably related to Mayor Wade. However, since your acting is terrible, I'll tell you the details when we're out of here. Now, be good and finish the cake, brush your teeth, and go to bed."

Selina nodded. She wasn't in a hurry now that she had a basic gist of the situation.

She yawned, quickly brushed her teeth with some mineral water, then collapsed inside the tent.

With a smile, Luke straightened Selina's body, before lying down on a blanket next to the door and falling asleep as well.

Luke woke up after only two hours of sleep, which was all the sleep he needed now.

Elementary Self-Healing was definitely a valuable ability for anyone who burned the midnight oil.

After he got up, he called Agent Charles, but nobody picked up.

Setting up a camera in the room, he closed the door, then went to look for an FBI agent. He then learned that further reinforcements had arrived, and Agent Charles had led them into the mines.

Luke immediately lost interest in the matter.

This was something that only the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents pretending to be the FBI could do. He would be a pest if he was too enthusiastic about it.

There were more and more residents in the shopping center. The four hundred survivors at the beginning plus the couple of hundred that were rescued by Luke and the agents later added up to around six hundred people here.

According to Elizabeth, around a thousand people lived in this town; it seemed that the rest of them had been killed.

It was already midnight, but the shopping center was still noisy.

Some people were sleeping soundly and some were weeping quietly, while some were devastated and some wandered about aimlessly.

The beautiful sheriff was still busy.

She had to keep the anxious residents calm, make sure that the situation was under control, and deal with the issues of food and a place to sleep.

This was supposed to be the mayor's job, but Wade had gotten himself killed, so the sheriff had no choice but to take charge of the remaining members of the town council to handle this matter.

However, with Chris's help, she wasn't on her own.

Luke walked over and greeted her. "Samantha, you can take a break. Chris can help you look after things. Isn't that right, Chris?"

Chris smiled. "I'm not half as capable as Samantha."

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Chapter 313 An Invitation From Good Guy Luke

Luke shook his head with a smile. He then signaled to Samantha, and they spoke in private a few steps away. "Samantha, have you called Elizabeth?"

Stunned for a brief moment, Samantha slapped her forehead. "I forgot."

Luke comforted her. "It's fine. I'll call her in the morning and tell her what happened, but she'll be more relieved to hear from you. So, get some rest and call her in the morning, okay?"

Samantha nodded. "Thank you, Luke."

She was feeling grateful, fortunate, scared and happy all at the same time. If her daughter hadn't persuaded her to allow Luke and Selina to help with the case, it would've been hard to say if her family could have survived the disaster last night.

Looking at the six hundred residents here, Samantha knew that almost half of the town's population was gone.

But it was a good thing that nothing happened to her children, or she would've broken down.

Luke nodded with a smile. "You're welcome, but you should really thank Elizabeth, who asked for our help even though she could've been reprimanded for it. You have a good daughter!" He then left.

It was three in the morning, not the best time for phone calls. He would have Selina call Los Angeles in the morning.

It was already habit to leave the long-winded reports to Selina.

After speaking with Samantha, he went through the shopping center once more and took back all his equipment.

There was no way he would let the fake FBI agents take his steel wires or the cameras.

Those agents were now too busy searching the mines and rescuing residents to examine the shopping center yet; this was the best time for Luke to cover his tracks.

After that, Luke walked over to the front of the shopping center and nodded at the two agents who were guarding the entrance. "Don't mind me, I'm just looking around."

The agents simply nodded and remained on guard against any activity outside.

The door had been rolled up, and a lot of things could be seen through the glass doors of the shopping center.

A helicopter hovered in the sky and occasionally took potshots at the giant spiders that popped up every now and then.

Teams of agents were searching the rest of the town to see if they could find more survivors who might still be hiding. Luke shook his head slightly and stopped looking around. This town had been about to close down in the first place. After this incident, most of the residents would probably move away.

However, there might still be a way to turn things around. As he pondered this, Luke returned to the utility room. Selina was still sound asleep inside the tent.

Luke sat down on his blanket and examined his harvest from tonight.

For each resident he saved, he got twenty experience and credit points. After a night of hard work, he obtained 4,200 experience and credit points.

He was also rewarded with more than three hundred experience and credit points for miscellaneous tasks that he had accomplished.

So, he obtained more than 4,500 experience and credit points in one night. The hard work had been worth it.

Good rewards for a good guy! Luke smiled in delight. At dawn, the residents were escorted to buses and transferred to a temporary shelter in the neighboring town of Wintersburg. They couldn't return until Boom Town was completely cleaned up.

At the shelter in Wintersburg, investigators who had already been waiting questioned the survivors one by one about what happened last night.

Luke and Selina were the very first to be questioned and also took the longest time.

Luke basically told the truth. After all, this matter was on file in LAPD, and so was Elizabeth's birthplace.

The two agents in charge of the interview were very polite as well.

They had personally seen Luke risk his life to rescue others when the agents had still been eliminating the spiders in town.

After hours of arduous work, Luke rescued dozens of residents.

Everybody liked a hero.

But of course, if the hero had died the moment he showed up, he would've only ended up as a name in the casualty report and would have been easily forgotten. The questioning was finally over by noon. Luke asked the agents if he could leave.

The agents made a call and soon returned. "Detective Luke, you and Detective Selina are free to go, but I'm afraid we might have to trouble you again during our investigation in the future."

Luke thanked them with a smile. "That's fine. We're in Los Angeles anyway, and you can look for us there at any time."

They bumped into Samantha on their way out.

After some thought, Luke greeted her. "Samantha, is your interview over?"

Samantha replied with a tired expression, "Yes, it is."

Luke said, "That's good. We're returning to Los Angeles today."

Samantha was surprised. "You're leaving so soon?"

Luke nodded. "Since all of you are safe and sound, we can report to Elizabeth now that we've completed our mission."

Samantha was a little embarrassed. "Thank you very much for everything." Luke chuckled. "You've already said that. Right, why don't all of you come to Los Angeles with us?"

Samantha shook her head. "But there are a lot of things that need to be done here."

Luke waved his hand. "Samantha, the incident here isn't simple. Boom Town will probably be closed for a while for investigation. You might as well make a trip to Los Angeles for a couple of days instead of idling here. After what happened last night, don't you think Elizabeth will be relieved to see you in person? She almost asked for leave to fly back here right away when I called her this morning."

Samantha hesitated. "But…" She then looked at Chris.

Luke noticed that and smiled. "How about this? I think Chris is a nice guy. Bring him to Los Angeles with you. As it so happens, there's something I want to discuss with him."

Samantha found that odd. "What is it?"

Luke simply replied, "It's about the mines."

Samantha didn't ask further, and went over to talk to Chris.

When the two of them returned, Luke talked to Chris in private. "Chris, can your mines still operate?"

Chris shook his head with a bitter smile. "The FBI told me that they have to clear the spiders' nest in the mines before I can send workers in. That'll take at least two months."

Luke nodded. "In that case, why don't you come to Los Angeles with Samantha? I want to talk to you about the mines."

Chris thought that Luke was only being polite, and quickly shook his head. "Thanks, but I'll be fine here."

Luke patted his shoulder. "Chris, even if the FBI clears the mines for operation, will they still make money? As far as I know, your mining business isn't doing very well."

Chris smiled bitterly.

"Not very well" was an understatement. The truth was that the company was about to go bankrupt.

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Chapter 314 Guests At a Picnic

Chris hadn't declared bankruptcy yet because the company was his father's lifelong work, and he felt very guilty toward his father.

Luke said, "Come to Los Angeles. I have some thoughts about your mines. I'll have my secretary talk to you." Chris was surprised. "What?" Why would a detective have a secretary? Why are you talking like a big boss? Are you serious? Luke simply patted his shoulder again thoughtfully. "Chris, the opportunity is right before you; it's up to you whether or not to seize it. Don't let Samantha down."

Chris looked at Samantha, who was talking to Selina not far away. That familiar and mature charm wasn't something he could give up. "Fine, I'll talk to my aunt."

Luke waved his hand. "Take Gladys with you. And Bruce, too. I'll arrange your room and board in Los Angeles."

Chris walked back in a daze, with no idea what Luke was up to.

It definitely wasn't about Samantha. Charming as she was, she was 38.

However…

Chris looked at Ashley, who was standing next to Samantha. This one seemed to be of a more appropriate age.

But recalling everything that Luke had demonstrated last night, he subconsciously shook his head.

Ashley was the right age, but their temperaments and styles didn't match at all.

Then, he remembered that Ashley had an elder sister who was Luke's colleague.

But it still didn't seem right, since Luke already had a hot detective named Selina with him.

For a moment, Chris became even more confused as he overthought things.

Eventually, Luke and Selina left in their car first.

However, both Samantha and Chris promised that they would visit Los Angeles in a day or two after they dealt with the aftermath of this incident.

They weren't in a hurry to return, and Selina took a nap in the backseat after talking to Luke for a while.

Luke turned on the radio, making sure to turn down the volume.

"…God, aliens are attacking Earth. They have eight big claws, and hop about and kill human beings…"

Luke was lost for words. He recognized it as Boom Town's resident radio station. The radio host was fine? S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't done anything about him?

But Luke then realized that it was impossible to gag hundreds of people forever. They had probably only been told not to exaggerate the story.

But what was this guy talking about? Aliens? Eight claws? Those who didn't know might think that the monsters were octopuses.

Aliens like these appeared all the time on local radio stations across the country every day. Nobody would believe it.

Luke changed the channel to country music. He nodded in satisfaction and then… changed the channel again.

Some people said that listening to too much country music would cause depression.

Though Luke didn't believe it, he wanted to listen to something more relaxing. A moment later, the pleasant sound of a violin rang out. Hands back on the wheel, Luke whistled a tune as he drove.

He drove all the way out of Arizona into California.

In the afternoon, after taking a turn, Luke couldn't help but stop the car.

He observed the flat land that had more grass than trees. It was bright under the brilliant afternoon sun. The wild flowers in shades of pink and purple amidst the grass added color to the view.

Luke couldn't help but look back at Selina, who was still sound asleep. With a smile, he turned the wheel and drove into the grass. A moment later, he woke Selina up. "Hey, it's time to eat."

Selina opened her eyes in confusion. "Huh? We're in Los Angeles?" She sat up and turned in the direction of the noise.

Luke was standing outside. Behind him was glorious sunlight, as well as a blanket and food boxes on the grass. Selina smiled. "A picnic?"

Luke pulled her out of the car and showed her what he had been hiding in his left hand.

It was a bundle of tiny wide flowers in pink, purple and white. It wasn't spectacular, but it was pretty cute.

"My angel, do you like it?" asked Luke with a smile.

Accepting the flowers from him, Selina observed them in satisfaction and smiled brilliantly. "Yes, I do."

They then enjoyed a late lunch in the meadow under the afternoon sun. The tension of last night's battle and the exhaustion from the long inquiry today gradually faded.

In the car, a female host was speaking passionately on the radio.

"…It's camping season again! Let's see what places are worth visiting nearby.

"… Lake Salton is big enough for most water activities… Lake Maxwell is closer… Huntington Park, which is 73 kilometers to the southeast of Long Beach isn't bad either…

"…Do avoid the school holidays… However, the water at Crestview is clear, and kids love it…"

As Luke chatted with Selina, he couldn't help but recall the famous opening line of a certain program in his previous life: Spring is the best season for mental and physical communication between living creatures.

They resumed their journey as the sun was setting, and night had fallen by the time they got back to Los Angeles. They headed straight for home.

Selina went to her room and put the flowers in a vase that she had never used.

She didn't come out of her room again until Luke made dinner.

Just as they were about to enjoy the food, there was a knock on the door.

Selina opened the door. "Oh, Elizabeth, are you here for free food?".

Luke was secretly amused. A visit during a meal was definitely one of Selina's least favorite things.

Though she wasn't happy, she still let Elizabeth in.

Luke looked at Elizabeth and asked, "Do you want some?"

Selina rolled her eyes and knew that he would say that. She hurriedly returned to her seat and made the first move as she picked up a huge chunk of steak and started chewing.

Elizabeth nodded without any hesitation.

She had learned that from Selina and Elsa.

The female detectives of the Major Crimes Division couldn't be as coy as regular women, or they would never get their jobs done properly.

Luke didn't talk about Boom Town during dinner.

Elizabeth's family was safe, so it was unnecessary to talk about depressing things at the dinner table.

Thanks to their collective efforts, the food was finished very quickly.

Selina picked up the dishes to wash them in the kitchen, leaving the living room to Luke and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth even complimented her. "Ah, Selina, that was a wonderful dinner you made. You must teach me later."

Luke chuckled, and Selina didn't know what to say.

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Chapter 315 Gratitude

After Selina left, Elizabeth finally expressed her gratitude to Luke solemnly.

Samantha had already told Elizabeth what happened, particularly the part where Luke rescued many residents, including her family.

Without Luke, the whole town could've ended up as the spiders' food. Luke quickly interrupted her. "Alright, that's enough. I helped your family, so you better work harder in return. Did your mother mention that she's coming over with your siblings?"

Elizabeth nodded. "She did. I'll take care of them."

Luke thought for a moment before he continued, "Do you remember that Chris?"

Elizabeth smiled in embarrassment. "I do. He's my mother's… old classmate."

Luke could tell from her face that she knew about their relationship. He nodded with a smile. "Good to know."

They talked for another ten minutes. Then, Elizabeth went to the kitchen and thanked Selina as well.

A few minutes later, Luke saw her off.

At the door, Luke suddenly asked, "Elizabeth, if you become rich someday, like, super rich, will you continue doing this dangerous job?"

Elizabeth considered for a moment before replying with a smile, "You're already very rich. Why are you still doing this job?" She pointed at the house behind her.

Luke shrugged. "It's more of a hobby. A life without anything to work on would be too boring."

Elizabeth nodded. "I think so too. When I'm older, I may consider transferring to a different post. But right now… I love my job."

Luke patted her shoulder and said, "Remember that, and have a good rest. I'll see you at work tomorrow."

Elizabeth chuckled. "Okay, we're waiting for you to come back. I'm leaving."

Watching her get into her car, Luke closed the door and turned around, and Selina looked at him playfully. "You're more and more proactive now, aren't you?"

Luke sat down on the couch. "Proactive about what?"

Selina said, "About girls, of course."

Luke rolled his eyes. "If you think that's being proactive, wouldn't Dustin be harassing his female subordinates every day?"

Lost for words, Selina asked him a moment later, "Do you have high hopes for her?"

Luke nodded. "Pretty much. Given how smart she is, and her diploma and her diligence, she'll become a sergeant in a few years with any luck, and my support then won't be as valuable as it is right now."

Selina wasn't convinced. "You're lying. That's definitely not the reason why you asked her what she would do if she were rich."

Luke admitted it. "I'm only checking out the situation beforehand, in case I lose a capable helper. If that happens, there'll be too many things for you to do."

Selina thought for a moment. "Are you saying that she's going to be rich soon?"

Luke said, "I'm not sure. She might not be the one who's gonna get rich, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Okay. Take a break. We'll start training later."

Selina was speechless. "This is definitely payback, isn't it?"

The next morning, Selina was woken up by Luke's alarm. She enjoyed Luke's breakfast and went to work with Luke's dessert in a good mood.

They went to Elsa, but saw that Martin and Roger were in her office.

Naturally, they didn't barge in. Luke quickly turned around and led Selina back to their desks, where he observed the door to Elsa's office from afar.

Roger had gotten Luke involved in an assignment last time to split the risks, but then they were ambushed by Bullseye.

Luke decided that he needed to keep a distance from that guy, or he might be caught up in yet another disaster.

The battle against Bullseye actually wasn't a big deal, since it would've happened sooner or later. However, Luke suspected that Roger was a harbinger of misfortune. Why else would his partner Martin look so wretched?

Very soon, Roger and Martin left the office. They didn't notice the two people hiding in the distance.

Luke and Selina slipped into the office and closed the door.

"Boss, what's with Roger and Martin?" asked Luke casually.

Elsa sighed. "Martin… hasn't been in good condition recently. He needs more rest. So, they came to talk to me and transferred their cases to us."

Luke frowned. "What happened to Martin?"

Elsa shook her head. "Don't ask, and don't tell anyone else, but he can't take any cases for the foreseeable future."

Luke got it.

If it was just a short break to readjust, a detective would only transfer the urgent cases at most so that the investigations wouldn't be held up.

But Elsa had implied that those two had transferred most of their cases, and that it was possible that Martin might stop being a police officer.

That wasn't unprecedented.

Family mishaps, trauma, serious illnesses and many other reasons could prevent a police officer from working. They could only take a break, and after a period of time, they might resign.

Elsa clearly wasn't happy about it either.

Martin had only just transferred to the Major Crimes Division a few months ago, and Elsa wasn't very familiar with him, but Roger was a seasoned detective in the department.

It was obvious that Martin's problem had something to do with Roger.

An officer's partner was like their spouse. If they had a terrible one, work would be a nightmare.

Elsa stopped the unpleasant conversation and said, "Now, you need to pick up their important cases."

Luke nodded and asked, "Where are the case files?"

Elsa jerked her chin to the side.

Luke and Selina looked over, only to see a stack of files that was more than thirty centimeters tall.

"You're kidding." Luke turned around and looked at Elsa suspiciously.

Elizabeth sighed helplessly. "Sadly, I'm not. It's the boss's order. Yours are just the important ones. Actually, most of the cases have already been given to Elizabeth and Billy. I even have to work on some of them myself."

Luke chuckled. "Truly appreciate your efforts, boss."

There was nothing he could say now; he couldn't avoid it since even Elsa herself had been assigned some cases.

Luke picked up the files, and Selina put the dessert down as usual, before they returned to their desks.

Elizabeth and Billy greeted them and said, "Good to have you back."

Luke threw the case files onto the table. "We've got a lot of work to do."

Elizabeth chuckled. "That's why I said last night that we're waiting for you."

Selina said, "Thanks very much, Elizabeth. You let us have a good night's sleep, at least."

Elizabeth said, "You're welcome, I only did what I should."

Naturally, Luke and Selina didn't blame Elizabeth for not informing them earlier, since they had already been assigned the cases.

There were even more case files on Elizabeth and Billy's desks. Stacked together, the pile would be more than fifty centimeters tall.

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Chapter 316 Old Cases and Sticking Your Nose In

Although Elizabeth and Billy had more cases, that didn't mean that their burden was heavier than Luke and Selina's.

Most of the cases were minor ones, and didn't have to be cracked within a certain period of time.

The cases that Luke and Selina had received, in comparison, were the really tricky ones, as were all the cases that they had ever worked

on.

Luke didn't find it surprising.

Martin was new to the Major Crimes Division, even if he was a great marksman who had retired from the navy. Roger, on the other hand, was a true veteran.

Five years ago, Roger's partner was Dustin Hammond, who was now the head of the Major Crimes Division.

He had worked with Dustin for three years, before Elsa worked with Dustin for another year.

Roger was definitely one of the most experienced detectives in the Major Crimes Division.

However, he didn't have the mental fortitude for more important positions, nor did he want to shoulder even more pressure. Thus, he had never chased a promotion, and stayed in the Major Crimes Division.

He was one of the people that Dustin trusted the most.

Luke ran into Bullseye on the case that Roger had asked Luke for help with last time, which showed just how dangerous the cases that he worked on were.

Luke and Selina stopped chatting with Elizabeth and Billy as they were all busy.

Selina quickly screened the files and threw three of them to Luke. "Check them out, especially the first one." She then continued reading the other files.

After reading the first case file for a moment, Luke frowned. "This case… hasn't been closed

yet?"

There were too many unsolved cases in the Major Crimes Division, but this particular case had to do with the shooting in the donut store, which was related to Bullseye.

Luke hadn't investigated the case further after he drove Bullseye away.

After all, this case belonged to Roger and his partner, and his intervention might not be appreciated unless they asked for his help.

Now, according to the file, Bullseye had only been following orders, while the mastermind in this case hadn't been found yet.

Thus, the case hadn't been closed even though Bullseye had run back to New York.

Palmer, the beautiful DEA agent who had something going on with Martin, had been in another shooting recently, but fortunately was unharmed. So, it was easy for Luke to reach a conclusion: It was Palmer, and not her unfortunate partner, who was the real target in the shooting at the donut store. Bullseye had taken action because of Kingpin. However, Palmer wasn't looking into Kingpin, but the head of a local drug gang which had major dealings with Kingpin.

Luke didn't dive into the details, but browsed the other two cases first, only to find that they were just as tricky. One was the murder of a police officer, and the other was about a girl in pajamas who had been hit by a car on the road.

These two cases weren't any easier than Palmer's case, but there was no deadline on them for now, so they could be worked on one at a time.

Luke raised his head. "Is there anything else? Is it just these three cases?"

Selina nodded. "The other cases aren't as important. The three cases you're holding can turn into a huge deal if they aren't closed. Well, fine, they're actually already pretty big deals now."

Luke grabbed his coat and said, "Let's go and talk to Martin's quasi-girlfriend."

Selina didn't joke about Palmer with Luke this time.

Anybody with the least bit of intelligence could see the sparks between Martin and Palmer.

Also, Luke and Selina were still in the police department. There were eyes and ears all over the place, so jokes like that were inappropriate.

Elizabeth raised her head. "Do you need any help?"

Luke pointed at the case files in front of her and said, "Only come help out after you've handled your cases. Also, don't forget about Samantha. I can arrange accommodation for them."

Elizabeth said, "Alright."

As he walked to the parking lot, Luke murmured to himself, This is a case with psychos like Bullseye. If you get involved, you might die like that SWAT team.

He had high hopes for Elizabeth and Billy, and didn't want them to get involved.

While every case could be dangerous for a detective, the opponents in this case were too ruthless.

Los Angeles now had a crime rate that was even higher than New York's, but cases were still rare where someone would spray bullets at a DEA agent with an automatic weapon.

That was nuts!

The FBI had targeted the Carlos family previously when the latter killed several police officers and FBI agents.

The DEA was just as powerful as the FBI, and even tougher, since it was impossible to deal with crazy drug dealers without being fierce themselves.

A lot of their people were retired special force veterans.

Luke wouldn't be interested in getting involved if Roger and Martin hadn't handed them the case. It was possible that the DEA was about to eliminate some gang; they didn't need Luke going in to steal their credit.

For the sake of Martin's girlfriend-to-be, however, Luke decided to work on this case first.

He never felt guilty about wiping out drug dealers.

He called Palmer, only to discover that she happened to be at the police department, and was with Martin.

Selina blinked and asked, "Are we really going to go over? Wouldn't we be interrupting them?"

Pondering for a moment, Luke said, "Let's see what's the situation. If they're done, we'll stick our nose in. If they're still cuddling, we'll… wait for five minutes."

While whispering to each other about Martin and Palmer's love story, they reached the lounge. They found Roger standing forlornly outside the lounge, and saw that Martin and Palmer were talking in the lounge, which had tempered glass walls.

Luke had no choice but to take a deep breath and walk over to Roger. "How are they doing?"

Roger smiled bitterly at them. "Thank god Palmer is here. A woman is much better comforting someone than I am."

Looking at Roger's dark face and his bald head, Luke couldn't agree more.

A man with a dark face and a bald head tended to leave the impression that he was a villain, even if he actually defended world peace.

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Chapter 317 Tailing the Beauty

Luke could only change the topic. "I've read Palmer's case file. Did you find anything in your investigation?"

Roger said, "A little bit. It's possible that Palmer found a thing or two about a guy nicknamed 'The Maker,' which is why the guy's trying to kill her." Luke asked, "Exactly what did she find?" "I don't know," Roger said decisively. "Palmer's been looking into him, but she can't share all her information with us. You know, she's investigating too many targets. If she gives us all the information, we would have thirty suspects at least."

Luke sighed and didn't ask who the suspects were.

The guys that the DEA investigated were mostly tricky vermin who baited and corrupted people.

It wasn't unusual to investigate one suspect and then unearth a whole bunch of them.

Luke looked inside and asked in an even lower voice, "What's with Martin?"

Roger said bitterly, "I hope that he can more or less recover after a month of rest." Luke hesitated. "What about you?" Roger didn't have to rest when Martin did.

As an experienced detective, he could totally get a new detective to help him with the cases.

Roger scratched his bald head. "I'm old. With Martin's issue and my family situation…"

After a brief silence, Luke patted his shoulder and said, "Get some good rest, but you better come back soon, or I'm afraid Dustin will go crazy."

Roger simply nodded and didn't say anything.

After about twenty minutes, Palmer and Martin were finally done with their conversation, and they walked out of the lounge.

Roger had a few words with them and then took Martin home to rest.

Palmer managed a smile for Luke and Selina. "Luke, Selina, how can I help you?" Luke pointed at the lounge. "Let's talk inside."

They talked for half an hour in the lounge, before they came out again. Palmer said, "Luke, you don't need to pay too much attention to this case. Our people are already working on it; oh, I don't mean anything else by this."

Luke knew that she was saying that she wasn't trying to drive them off the case.

He nodded with a smile. "Palmer, I understand, but we have to do what we can, for Martin's sake. At least, we can't allow those guys to wander around with automatic weapons and find an opportunity to shoot you, right?"

What could Palmer say? Naturally, she didn't want to live in fear every day and with the suspicion that anyone around her who didn't look right might be a shooter out to get her.

Luke said, "We'll follow up on the case for a couple of days and let you know if there are any updates; we won't meddle with any of the cases on your end."

Palmer nodded. "Thank you. Then, I'll take my leave." She knew that Luke was doing this for Martin's sake.

Luke was only going to work on the assault case, and wouldn't steal the drug cases that the DEA was working on.

Watching Palmer leave, Luke said, "Let's follow her."

Selina was surprised. "What?" It was a serious violation to follow a DEA agent without official notification.

If the situation was reversed, the Major Crimes Division would also be unhappy if someone from the DEA was tailing a detective from their department.

Both organizations were engaged in dangerous work, and were quite sensitive about this sort of thing.

Luke said, "We don't need to follow her too closely. I just want to see if the shooters are still around her."

Palmer was the perfect bait. He wouldn't be able to track the shooters without her.

When he drove the car out, Selina was still at a loss. "Are you really going to follow her?" Luke chuckled. "Only you know that we're following her. To everyone else, we're just on our way to investigate a case."

Selina was befuddled.

She couldn't see Palmer's car at all. How could they track her?

Luke smiled as he drove the car at an unhurried speed. He caught a whiff of the unique perfume that Palmer was wearing.

It was Givenchy Jardin d'Interdit, which matched her personality perfectly.

Any woman, even a DEA agent, loved being beautiful!

They followed her all the way to the DEA's office building, and nothing happened.

Luke wasn't disappointed, since it was only natural.

When detectives followed or monitored suspects, they spent most of the time in their cars instead of chasing the criminals. They were often bored, but had to stay focused.

It was easier for Luke. He drove the car around the area surrounding the DEA building as he looked for unusual guys.

Other people could only observe with their eyes, but Luke had Sharp Nose, which let him know if anybody was carrying a gun.

After all, it would be quite suspicious for anyone to be loitering outside the DEA building with a gun.

He looked around and detected a few armed people, who were all DEA guards.

If a shooter was waiting for their target to show, they would exhibit more unusual behaviour.

For example, they would be anxious, or keep looking at the exits, or pay attention to people with similar features — like those who were female, beautiful, had long hair, and were dressed professionally.

All these described Agent Palmer to a tee.

After taking stock, Luke and Selina simply went home for lunch.

Palmer bought lunch from a hot dog stand at the entrance of the office building, and went back inside. Clearly, she wouldn't be out any time soon.

Luke and Selina didn't know what Palmer's schedule was like, and the shooters probably didn't either.

After the second attack, Palmer's movements were kept strictly confidential, and it wouldn't be easy to ambush her.

So, the only time the shooters could probably attack was when she was on her way to and from work.

Anybody who had a fixed job usually had a fixed schedule for when they started or got off work.

Luke had asked Roger earlier about Palmer's office hours.

Luke and Selina returned to the DEA building before half-past four, and did another round of the area one block away.

Very soon, Luke chuckled and said, "Selina, keep an eye on the silver Toyota on the right with the 5AJ* plate."

Selina didn't even raise her head. She simply operated her tablet and adjusted the angles of the cameras on the car to focus on a Toyota that was half-exposed at a street corner.

The Toyota's car windows were tinted black, but it was clear that the people inside didn't know the first thing about tailing someone, as they took turns smoking outside the car every now and then.

Although they were smoking behind the car and out of sight as much as possible, Luke already had a clear picture of them from the specially modified cameras on his car.

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Chapter 318 Ambush, and Singing With the Beauty

The tattoos on the necks and arms of the two men in the Toyota suggested that they probably weren't good guys.

Tattoos weren't rare. People of any age and gender could get a tattoo if they wanted.

There were plenty of people who got tattoos on their arms or backs.

But the tattoos on these two men were different.

Nobody in Los Angeles would dare get a tattoo like this, and even if they wanted to, regular tattoo parlors wouldn't do it so casually, since this design had a special meaning.

It was a tattoo of a church steeple; the number drawn on the cross indicated seniority, and the subtle differences in the crown on the cross represented the role each individual played in the group. The black drops of blood that fell from the crown represented the number of people they had killed.

Of course, some reckless young men really had gotten this tattoo design, but these idiots usually didn't live to see the end of the week.

If someone with this tattoo walked down a particular block, a car might suddenly stop next to them, and someone would ask, "Where are you from?"

It seemed like a common question, but the person who was asked might be fired upon like crazy.

That was because the tattoo suggested that the person held a high position and had killed many people, and since he had accidentally trespassed on enemy territory, they would definitely kill him in the most ruthless way to defend their turf.

The two people lying in wait here could be considered pretty cautious.

They were wearing long-sleeved shirts and had even buttoned their cuffs and collars. Only the edges of their tattoos could just be seen on their necks and wrists.

Unfortunately for them, the mini-program which Luke had created very quickly compared that small bit of the tattoo with the criminal database, and found an 80% match with the tattoo of a certain gang. Also, why were they hanging around one block away from the DEA building?

This might be a free country, but the truth was that people who weren't supposed to appear in a certain area would barely appear there.

Even if they did, they would usually only be passing by; if they hung around for too long, something had to be wrong.

In a relatively safe area, anybody wandering around dressed like a vagrant would be stopped and questioned by a patrolling officer, even if they hadn't broken any sort of law.

Taxpayers and the poor were completely different species.

The safety of the taxpayers had to be ensured, and uncertain factors should be discreetly removed from good places, like depicted in the movie First Blood.

Of course, Luke didn't really go up to the two gangsters to question them. He simply leaned in to look at the surveillance image with Selina.

"Run them through the database. Start with the Latino gangs," instructed Luke.

Selina nodded and started working.

Less than five minutes later, she chuckled and said, "Sure enough, these two guys aren't clean."

There were mugshots of the two guys in the Toyota.

Luke now had the support of all the bosses in the police department, and had found a way to copy certain files in the police department.

Of course, it was definitely against the rules, and he hadn't really gotten permission.

He had set up a mini database inside his car that primarily had information on local suspicious figures, most of whom were gang members.

On the tablet, two names were displayed: Domingo Torres and Paladia Mendoza.

They were hardcore members of a particular gang, who were involved in multiple cases of severe bodily harm. They were currently on parole, but hadn't contacted their parole officer in months.

In other words, there would be no problem if Luke and Selina arrested them immediately.

But of course, Luke wouldn't waste such an opportunity; right now, they could only be charged with breaking parole at most, and would only be in jail for another couple of years.

He would wait for them to take action and then catch them in the act, which would be a felony.

Even if their attempt wasn't successful, most lawyers would be reluctant to defend them because they didn't want to end up on the police officers' blacklist.

A large part of how much power a lawyer had depended on how close they were to the local police and court. Furthermore, the district attorney who was in charge of prosecution would usually have gone through the police system.

Being blacklisted by the police meant being shut down by the district attorney, which wasn't good for a lawyer's business in the long run.

Luke said something to Selina, who then dialed Palmer's number. "Palmer, it's me, Selina. Are you getting off work soon? We want to talk to you about something. Why don't we have dinner together? I hope we aren't disturbing you? Okay. We'll wait for you at the parking lot exit."

Hanging up the phone, Selina made an okay gesture. "Done. She'll be out in twenty minutes."

Luke nodded with a smile and said, "The car is yours. Let me know if anything happens." As he spoke, he took out his wireless earphones and got out.

Selina moved to the driver's seat. Looking at the surveillance feed, she drove the car to the DEA's parking lot exit.

After he got out, Luke strolled leisurely toward the DEA's office building.

He surveyed his surroundings as he walked, looking like an eager young man with too much energy and time on his hands.

A young woman in tight sportswear, a white towel around her neck, and a pedometer on her wrist, ran past him.

Luke whistled as he looked at her.

She didn't hear him at all since she had earphones on, and she continued jogging. Luke chuckled and ran behind her as well.

He stayed five meters away from her, his eyes landing on the girl's exercise pants every now and then.

Well, those are definitely tight buns, he murmured to himself.

He followed her down the road, before finally stopping at a street corner.

Seeing that outstanding figure gradually disappear into the distance, he took out two coins with a regretful expression, and bought a Dr. Pepper from a vending machine. Sitting down on some steps, he opened the can and drank from it.

Burping comfortably, he began to whistle Baby Got Back.

"I like big butts and I cannot lie,

"You other brothers can't deny,

"That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist,

"And a round thing in your face…"

At that moment, another girl ran past him.

She was a curvy Latino girl in a halter neck sports top and shorts, and with a fiery personality. "What a rogue!"

Luke didn't know what to say.

The girl even looked back at him and chuckled.

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Chapter 319 Lookout and Sniper

Luke wondered if he had just been hit on. However, this wasn't the best time.

Helplessly, he looked out of the corner of his eye at the Toyota on the street corner thirty meters away. Selina said, "Luke, you've changed! You're actually expressing your interest in song now instead of keeping it to yourself!"

Luke mumbled, Acting! It's all acting, alright?

Selina's sarcasm stopped there, and she didn't continue teasing him.

They were going to catch a big one, and using the comms to gossip would be going overboard.

A few minutes later, Selina alerted Luke. "Palmer's car is out. It's at the B2 exit."

Luke got up and walked unhurriedly to the parking lot exit.

Almost at the same time, the Toyota moved as well.

Luke narrowed his eyes.

The parking lot exit couldn't be seen from here, so… did someone inside the DEA let these two gangsters know, or was someone keeping a lookout nearby?

A traitor inside the DEA would be the DEA's own problem; it wasn't unusual to have moles inside the DEA.

But if there was a lookout, Luke had to be extra careful.

Let alone Bullseye, a veteran or someone from the special forces would already be very dangerous.

"Selina, move the cameras on the top of the car and check the surrounding buildings for possible lookouts," said Luke quietly.

"Got it. I've already adjusted them. I'm also monitoring the streets with the roadside surveillance cameras nearby," replied Selina.

Luke hummed in response and pressed on.

He was walking on a straight path through the trees on the edge of a small square.

The Toyota, on the other hand, had to turn a corner in order to reach the parking lot.

Luke was walking along the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle, while the gangsters were taking the L-shaped route; they were weirdly coordinated.

We

By the time the Toyota reached B2, Luke was already in position.

"In the northeast, there's unusual activity in the third window on the tenth floor of that gray apartment building," said Selina. Luke shook his head to clear his mind, and as he hopped forward on the path, he glanced at the window.

With his keen sight, he saw the light glint off something faintly.

Lens? Was it binoculars or a scope?

"Selina, call Palmer and tell her to wait five minutes before she comes out. I'll check out the guy on the tenth floor," said Luke.

The apartment building to the northeast wasn't far away from B2, but a row of trees blocked the line of sight.

Only when Palmer turned out of this exit would those lying in ambush have the best chance of shooting her.

Nobody knew how long it took a woman to get off work, and it wouldn't be unusual for Palmer to touch up her makeup in the parking lot. A five-minute delay shouldn't alarm the assailants.

Of course, Palmer would have to be allowed to take part in the interrogation later.

She had been used as bait, so she had the right to some of the credit.

Luke passed B2 and moved northeast.

His movements were concealed by the trees, and he had put on the close-fitting alloy bulletproof vest before he went on duty.

In two minutes, he had dashed into the apartment building two hundred meters away. Instead of waiting for the elevator, he simply rushed up the stairs and activated the surveillance function on his fake phone.

If the enemy was a good sniper, it was possible that they had high-tech equipment too. Luke had to be careful.

This was an old apartment building. Naturally, there were no surveillance cameras in the hallways. Thanks to his extraordinary Strength and Dexterity, Luke reached the tenth floor in just thirty seconds.

It would've only taken him ten seconds if he hadn't been worried about the creaking floors of this old building making too much noise. On the tenth floor, Luke took a deep breath, and caught the mixed smell of gun oil and powder.

Even though the man had taken a shower, he couldn't completely get rid of the scent.

Luke quietly approached the unit and paused for a few seconds to make sure that there weren't any traps on the door and to pinpoint the man's location inside.

With one hand, Luke abruptly struck the lock.

The lock was sent flying into the room with a bam, as if it had been hit by a battering ram, and the door was abruptly flung open.

A baseball suddenly appeared in Luke's hand, and he threw it at the head of a man three meters away who was turning around.

Bang!

The man had only turned halfway when he was hit, and he fell over the table.

Luke quickly handcuffed him and found a walkie-talkie when he did a body search.

He took a photo of the guy's face and sent it to Selina. "I've sorted out the guy on the tenth floor. Look into him. He might be from the military."

It was easy for Luke to guess what the man's background was.

His gear was all standard military equipment. He looked exactly like a special force soldier sans badge.

Looking at the layout in the apartment, Luke could tell that the man was well-trained.

The long dining table had been pulled over to the window and the back had been raised to create a natural incline.

The curtain was drawn open just a crack and fastened in place so that it wouldn't move in the wind and affect the shot.

This man was clearly much more professional than shooters who just casually placed their guns on the windowsill.

Naturally, a sniper didn't always have the most comfortable environment to shoot in, but the best situation that they could make for themselves would significantly increase the accuracy of their shot.

Luke examined the sniper rifle.

It was an M24. It had obviously been modified, and definitely wasn't a new gun.

But to his surprise, the glint just now wasn't the light reflecting off the scope of the gun; this professional had covered it well with a hood.

What the light had reflected off was actually a glass object on the top of a cabinet.

This uninvited sniper obviously hadn't expected the owner to use the top of the cabinet as storage.

Luke dragged the man into the bedroom and tied him up with the rope from his inventory. Basic Roping made him deft with using rope.

Finally, he taped the man's mouth shut.

Closing the apartment door, Luke quickly went downstairs and made a call. "Elsa, I've caught a sniper who was about to target Palmer. I'll send you the address. Send someone to pick him up ASAP. There are another two shooters that I need to take care of, I don't have time for this guy."

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Chapter 320 Captives, Doctor, and Texans

Elsa replied without any hesitation, "Got it. Be careful."

Luke quickly added, "The sniper is likely from the military. Tell reinforcements to exercise caution."

Elsa hummed a response and ended the conversation.

After he was done with the call, Luke left the apartment building and walked over to the street in front of the parking lot at a quick but not urgent pace.

The Toyota was already parked on one side of the street.

Luke said, "Selina, you can ask Palmer to come out now. Tell her to pay attention to the Toyota."

"Copy that," Selina replied. She then contacted Palmer. A moment later, she said, "Palmer is on her way out. She just told me that her car is specially modified, and the doors and windows are bulletproof against common rifles."

"That's a relief." Luke approached the Toyota from one side.

"She's at the exit. I see her," said Selina.

Luke also saw the black Chevrolet SUV at the B2 exit. It was every agent's favorite color and car model.

S

The SUV left the parking lot at a normal speed and turned right on the street.

However, there was no response from the Toyota.

"What's going on?" asked Selina.

Luke said, "Don't be hasty. Even if they don't do anything, we can arrest them later." In any case, he had caught the sniper in the apartment building, who might know more than these two did.

There was nothing unusual about Palmer's car. Like most people, she slowly sped up after she got on the street, and switched to the middle lane.

At that moment, the Toyota finally moved. Driving directly against traffic, it crashed into the left side of the SUV.

Caught unprepared, the SUV swerved and stopped on one side of the road.

The Toyota also sped over.

Before the car even stopped, the shooter in the passenger seat had already gotten out and started to fire the Uzi in his hand at the driver's seat of the SUV.

The driver of the Toyota got out too, and was also about to open fire with his own Uzi.

Luke was no longer worried the moment he saw the Uzis. He knew that this gun wouldn't be able to penetrate the special bulletproof doors so quickly.

He had started running the moment the Toyota turned around. When the first shooter opened fire, Luke was only twenty meters away.

He opened fire with the Glock in his hand almost at the same time as the gangster did.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Both shooters screamed and collapsed.

Luke hadn't yelled out a warning since due procedure didn't really matter at this point. He could directly kill these two gangsters for attempting to murder a government agent.

Bloody bullet holes appeared in the legs of the two shooters, and Luke put his gun back into the holster. He jogged over and stepped on the right hand of the driver, who was still holding the Uzi.

Crack!

The driver screamed wildly.

Luke kicked the Uzi away from the driver's hand with a sweep of his foot. The driver's fingers were mangled from the force of the strike.

Pushing off the ground with his other foot, Luke jumped and slid over the top of the Toyota. Landing on the other side, he kicked the person in the passenger seat and knocked away his Uzi as well.

Selina drove the car over at that moment and directly pushed the Toyota back to cover Luke.

Luke caught the handcuffs that Selina threw to him and handcuffed both shooters.

Both men were screaming that their hands were broken as they were handcuffed, but Luke and Selina simply turned deaf ears to them.

On the other side, Palmer straightened in the driver's seat in the SUV and was about to get out.

Luke raised his hand to stop her. "Don't get out. Let's take them back to your agency right now and interrogate them there. Someone there should know first aid, right?"

Palmer sneered. "Of course, we have medical doctors inside."

She waved at Luke, then the SUV turned around. After Luke stuffed the two men into the back of the car, she led Luke and Selina back into the DEA building.

The two unfortunate shooters were pale, not just because they were bleeding from the bullet holes in their legs, but also because they had been caught in the act of trying to kill a DEA agent.

DEA agents weren't ordinary police officers; their interrogation methods were a lot more ruthless.

Naturally, the shooters who accepted such a mission weren't cowards, but there was a limit to human endurance, while there was no end of tricks to extort a confession.

Also, in many cases, the DEA wouldn't convict the gangsters who pissed them off, but release them after the interrogation.

The next time they were caught, those uncooperative gangsters, along with everybody else in their nest, would be killed as drug traffickers.

The DEA's tough reputation wasn't just hot air.

When Luke and Selina drove their car in, five people had arrived at the carpark.

Four of them were clearly agents, but the last person was wearing a white coat and complaining, "Hey, I'm a doctor in pharmacology and biology, not a medical doctor, okay?"

Palmer stood calmly in front of him. "Morris, I want these two guys alive for the next two hours. I'm sure you can do that, right?"

The doctor called Morris instantly became uncomfortable under Palmer's gaze. "But… I'm not a professional at saving lives."

Palmer suddenly gave a charming smile and patted the man's shoulder. "These two guys fired multiple shots at me earlier. I'm sure you can understand how I feel, right, Morris?"

Morris shivered and stepped back abruptly. "Okay! Okay! I understand. Carry them to my lab. I can't do any surgery here."

Luke and Selina watched as the two shooters were calmly carted off, as if nothing had happened just then.

After the five guys took the shooters to the elevator, Palmer turned to Luke and Selina. "Thank you."

Luke shrugged. "It's fine, as long as you don't blame us for using you as bait."

Palmer chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. "I agreed to it, didn't I?"

Luke said, "We need to be there during the interrogation. We don't care about anything else, but we want to know who's after you."

After a long moment, Palmer finally sighed. "Are people from Texas all this persistent?"

Luke spread his hands to indicate that there was nothing he could do to change that. Both he and Selina were born and raised in Texas.

Martin was also from Texas. He had been a soldier in his youth, and joined the police after he retired.

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Chapter 321 I Have An '82 Lafite

Martin's hometown, however, was El Paso, which was further south of Shackelford and close to the Mexican border. The place was known for how chaotic it was.

Thus, while he didn't have the protection of Luke's daddy system, Martin was adept at killing.

Palmer didn't say more. After all, she couldn't blame Luke for being concerned about his colleague.

Palmer led Luke and Selina to the room next to the interrogation room. Two DEA agents in the room glanced at them but didn't say anything.

It was Luke who had caught these two gangsters, and they were all on the same side today.

The interrogation lasted an hour.

Luke observed the proceedings with a calm expression, as did Selina.

Ever since the encounter with the Carlos family, they had no sympathy for drug dealers at all.

These two shooters happened to be hardcore members of a particular drug trafficking gang.

Luke would've blown up their heads just now, if he wasn't interested in their intelligence.

Palmer's expression was exhausted when she came out, and she looked at Luke and Selina with an apologetic smile. "I didn't scare you just now, did I?"

Luke grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "I like your efficiency."

Palmer chuckled and nodded. "The Maker should be hiding in Wellborn Consulting."

As she spoke, she took out a case file and flipped to a particular page. "Stanford White, major shareholder and chairman of the board."

Luke looked at her. "Are you going to do it, or should we?"

Palmer hesitated for a moment before she said, "If possible, can you let us…" She appeared a little embarrassed.

Luke raised his hand. "Not a problem, but remember that you owe me one."

Stumped for a moment, Palmer smiled wryly. "Fine."

She didn't like owing other people favors.

Neither did Luke, since it meant that he would have to return the favor later, even if it was something which violated the law, or he would lose his good fortune.

Luke smiled. "Don't worry, I won't hold it over your head for long."

Lost for words, Palmer nodded.

Luke said, "Like I said earlier, we need to follow up on this case until we uncover the person who's trying to kill you; we won't meddle in anything else."

Palmer rolled her eyes. "Then I don't owe you anything."

Luke nodded firmly. "Not a problem." In any case, he didn't really care about the favor.

Everybody got in their cars and left for Stanford White's residence.

Twenty minutes later, three cars carrying five people reached a high-end apartment building

After they entered the building, Palmer showed the building manager her badge, and everybody waited for the elevator.

Since it was midnight, there were very few staff members around.

As the elevator was coming down, Luke took a sniff, then tapped Selina's arm in a fixed rhythm without drawing anybody else's attention.

Selina immediately got it. She said, "Oh, I should've used the toilet just now. You go up first. Don't wait for me."

She then went over to the manager with an embarrassed face. "Excuse me. Is there a public bathroom here?"

After a brief hesitation, the manager said, "I'm sorry, but we don't have a public bathroom."

Selina looked even more embarrassed. "Then can I use yours?"

The manager was quite surprised, and didn't immediately agree.

While Selina was talking to him, Luke stepped forward and said, "Palmer, would you like to have dinner with me later? I have an '82 Lafite."

Palmer stared at him blankly at first. She then said, "That's impossible. You can't afford that."

Luke leaned in close and grinned. "Maybe it's an '02. I don't know much about the numbers."

The other two DEA agents looked at each in bewilderment. What are you doing? Are you seriously discussing private affairs during an assignment?

At that moment, the elevator dinged and the doors slowly opened.

Luke had already drawn close to Palmer by then under the guise of chatting, and he suddenly tackled the woman and rolled over the floor.

Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu!

The moment the elevator doors opened, two men inside opened fire with their Uzis.

At the same time, the manager's face darkened, and he took out a pistol and aimed at Selina right in front of him at the reception counter.

Selina's head was turned, as if she had been distracted by the sound of the elevator doors opening, and her guard looked like it was down.

But the moment the manager pulled out his gun, Selina braced herself on the counter and jumped onto it, and her legs went under the man's armpits before she wrapped them around his neck.

At the same time, she grabbed the manager's right hand that was holding the gun, and her entire body pulled and twisted at the same time.

Crack! The manager howled in pain.

But Selina didn't show any mercy. She fiercely twisted the man's wrist again.

Crack! This time, the manager was in so much pain he couldn't even scream anymore, and could only gasp helplessly with his mouth wide open. His gun fell to the floor, and Selina kicked it into a corner.

Only then did Selina take out her gun and hit the manager in the head to knock him out, before she took cover behind the counter.

On the other side, Luke rolled away with Palmer in his arms. It looked like a mad scramble, but it was very quick, and they were actually able to duck behind the stairs some ten meters away quickly.

Both shooters weren't able to follow Luke's strange but quick movements, and their storm of bullets only hit the empty floor behind Luke.

At the corner of the stairs, Luke put Palmer to one side and pulled out his Glock. He raised his hand and waited a couple of seconds.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Two shooters who had just appeared on the second floor screamed and rolled down the stairs.

Luke didn't even bother to look at them. When they hit the landing, Luke pulled the trigger again.

Bang! Bang!

The shooters instantly stopped screaming.

Luke then looked at Palmer and gestured at her to keep an eye on the stairs above them.

The woman absolutely wasn't just a pretty face.

When Luke killed the two shooters from upstairs, she had already taken out her pistol.

It was a Beretta 92FS, an expensive and elegant little guy.

Luke was very pleased with Palmer's composure. He pretended to feel around in his chest pocket, and took out a small mirror.

Of course, he had better items, but since Palmer was right behind him, he would rather not reveal any of his trump cards.

Actually, even the mirror was just a cover.

The moment he held out the mirror with his left hand, he also stuck out the Glock in his right hand.

Bang! Bang! A shooter who had been closing in on them was shot twice, and he collapsed with a scream.

As calm as ever, Luke slightly readjusted the angle.

Pa!

The shooter's scream was cut off abruptly as he was shot in the head.

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Chapter 322 The DEA Without Traitors Wouldn't Be the DEA

Luke suddenly darted out and fired at another shooter who was closing in.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Ah!"

The second shooter also screamed and fell. He had been killed in three shots, and Luke didn't need to put any more bullets in him.

Luke took cover again and put the mirror back. He took out his fake phone and activated the voice connection function.

A few seconds later, he heard the sound of faint tapping in his earphones, which was Selina's signal that she was online.

Luke simply said in a low voice, "Don't expose yourself by leaving cover."

Behind him, Palmer's hands trembled slightly, and she was frowning as well.

Luke turned back to look at Palmer. "Call for reinforcements, but don't contact anyone who's close to those two 'colleagues' of yours."

Face dark, Palmer nodded and took out her phone. She quickly dialed a number and said, "Boss, I've got a problem. You'll have to come in person. That's right, something's wrong with Walker and Semir…"

Luke leisurely sent Elsa a text message with his fake phone.

A moment later, he received Elsa's reply, and was relieved.

Martin, your future girlfriend is really a huge troublemaker! Luke sighed inwardly.

For a moment, it was quiet in the lobby of the apartment building.

Five minutes later, two police officers cautiously stuck their heads in and shouted, "LAPD! You're surrounded. Lay down your weapons…"

Luke was amused.

He had to admit that the familiar line was too reassuring

On the other side, Selina had already handcuffed the unconscious manager, and she slowly backed away to the entrance, using the manager as a shield.

At the same time, she showed the officers her badge. "LAPD! I'm from the Major Crimes Division."

Seeing the way she was moving, the officers grew even more vigilant. Instead of barging in, they took out their guns and covered her retreat.

Only after Selina left the building with her shield did Luke relax.

Nothing could go wrong now.

The two agents who came with Palmer slowly backed out from where they were hiding as well.

Luke shot them a glance from around the corner and whispered, "Those two guys are out. Keep your distance."

Next to him, Palmer's expression was awful and furious.

Of course, she wasn't looking at Luke but outside the entrance.

Three more patrol cars had arrived with the wail of sirens to join the first one.

Luke said, "Let's go, Palmer. I'm guessing you'll be working overtime tonight."

Palmer smiled bitterly. "I must thank you for this."

Luke chuckled. "You're welcome. I only did what I should."

Palmer didn't know what to say.

Luke had already said earlier that he was only aiming for her attackers, which was exactly what he had just done.

What made her mood foul was that the two DEA agents who came with her might be traitors.

Palmer wasn't stupid; she hadn't relied on her outstanding looks to get to her position in the DEA.

She just needed to recall the details of the attack earlier to know that something wasn't right.

The shooters hadn't attacked her colleagues. Instead, they simply focused on her and Luke. Furthermore, her colleagues hadn't fought back.

She hadn't seen what happened when Luke grabbed her and ran for cover, but she wasn't deaf.

She hadn't heard the sound of return fire at all.

Also, she had driven herself here.

Only she, four agents, and Luke and Selina knew that she was coming here.

Putting the two colleagues back in the office aside, the two agents who came with her had reacted too abnormally.

They weren't ordinary police officers, but elite agents who were always on the frontline in the fight against drug trafficking. It was unfathomable that they wouldn't fire in a surprise attack, nor get shot at.

She also knew that the two shooters could've killed her easily if Luke hadn't grabbed her and escaped just now, in which case the two agents wouldn't have needed to do anything.

After Luke escaped with her, those two couldn't find an opportunity to approach them, which was probably why they hadn't attacked.

And the reason why they hadn't attacked before that was very simple.

Until Selina went to the front desk and Luke hit on Palmer, the two of them had been behind the three DEA agents the entire time, and it wasn't easy for the two agents to kill three people at the same time.

Chances were these two had already cursed Luke and Selina countless times in their hearts for being such pains.

Neither too far nor too close, Luke and Selina stayed in the agents' blind spots — behind them — the entire time.

Experienced fighters that they were, they weren't dumb, and could easily tell that Luke and Selina were very vigilant. Although it wasn't necessarily toward them, Luke and Selina still had their guards up nonetheless.

While this wasn't necessarily unexpected to Luke, it wasn't as if he would think there was something wrong with these two agents at the beginning. Having said that, he didn't believe that all the agents in the DEA were clean either.

On the contrary, the DEA and drug gangs often infiltrated each other. After all, the drug dealers were rich and stayed in the dark.

Luke led the way and kicked the second shooter's Uzi a few meters away, before he slowly retreated out the main doors.

He had already put on his badge by then. The officers simply looked at him and didn't point their guns at him.

Luke grabbed the nearest officer and said to him, "I need two men to go in with me and carry the wounded suspects out and take them to the hospital. You can ask Agent Palmer here about the rest. She's the DEA person in charge of this case."

The officers nodded and sent two patrol officers in with Luke.

Luke gave Selina a meaningful look, and she nodded slightly in return.

At that moment, two more patrol cars arrived, followed by three of the black SUVs which DEA agents were fond of.

Luke didn't approach them, but saw that the ten or so people from the SUVs were fitted out with bulletproof vests and helmets, and were armed with automatic rifles.

Clearly, Palmer's boss was pissed off at the shenanigans of these drug traffickers, and had directly deployed agents with heavy firepower to pick her up. Well, it might also be to detain those two highly suspicious DEA agents as well.

Luke brought the two patrol officers in with him, and when they carried the bodies of the four shooters out, he noticed that the two agents were already sitting in the back of one of the SUVs — a place that was usually reserved for drug traffickers.

At that moment, a middle-aged white man walked over to Luke, with Palmer following behind him.

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Chapter 323 Returning the Favor

The middle-aged man stretched out a hand to Luke. "Hello, Detective Luke. I'm Bill Yorlington. Thank you for helping Palmer."

Luke shook hands with this Bill with a smile. "You're too kind. She's a friend, and more importantly, a colleague who's working on the same case as I am."

Bill had a sturdy frame, but his narrow eyes and thin lips made him look grim and cold.

There was nothing but a chill in his gray eyes. Though the man was expressing his gratitude, Luke couldn't sense any warmth.

Luke wasn't really surprised.

Bill was the deputy director of the DEA branch in Los Angeles. There was no telling how many drug traffickers had been put down because of him.

So, Palmer had a powerful supporter behind her.

Whoever tried to kill her would have to face Bill's direct wrath once they were found out.

Different from most deputy directors who did admin work, Bill used to be a field agent, and he was well-known for his bad temper.

He wouldn't hesitate to go out and shoot the drug traffickers himself if he was pissed off.

Tonight, the man was clearly enraged by the consecutive attacks. He wouldn't hand the two traitorous agents over to LAPD either. This was an internal matter that the DEA should handle themselves.

Luke couldn't argue with him even if he was the one who had saved Palmer and unveiled the two traitors.

Only by preventing this scandal from leaking out would the Los Angeles branch of the DEA avoid a hit to their reputation.

Luke could only go through the formalities with Bill before tactfully withdrawing.

This man was too powerful and wasn't Luke's direct boss, so there was no need to try and curry favor with him.

Before he left, he gestured to Palmer and stepped away from the cars.

Then, he said with a smile, "I'm calling in that favor."

Palmer said, "Tell me."

Luke said, "No matter how busy you are with this case, don't forget to check up on Martin once in a while. I'll consider the favor returned if you talk to him every few days. How does that sound?"

After staring at him for a long moment, Palmer heaved a sigh. "Are you Martin's long lost brother?"

Luke chucked. "Given the way I look, I don't think so. Alright, deal?"

Palmer nodded without any hesitation. "Deal."

Luke said, "It would be even better if you can have dinner with Martin. That's not part of the deal. Just a suggestion." Then, he waved goodbye and left.

Palmer shook her head in amusement and got into her car. "Let's go back to the office. We have a busy night ahead of us."

Luke exchanged a few words with the patrol officers, before he and Selina got into their own car.

On the road, he called Elsa and said, "Boss, that sniper may be useful. Don't let the DEA know anything, and don't let them take him away. I'll give you more details later."

They returned to the police department.

Since it was late at night, the police department wasn't as crowded as it was during the day.

They went to Elsa's office, only to find Dustin there too.

They closed the door, and Luke briefed them on what happened today.

Elsa didn't say anything, but simply looked at Dustin, who was pacing and lost in thought.

A few minutes later, Dustin nodded. "I got it. You can drop this case now."

Luke shrugged. "Deputy Director Bill was there. I'm not qualified to look into this case even if I wanted to."

Dustin looked calm but secretly scoffed, You think I don't know how ballsy you are? If I didn't specifically say anything, you would be wiping the DEA's asses for them.

Luke's earliest kill record was of thirteen shooters from a drug gang in one night.

Dustin didn't think that Luke would go easy on any other drug traffickers.

Besides, Luke had already cleaned up a number of drug traffickers and shooters during the day. In the afternoon, Luke had delivered two shooters to the DEA, and one sniper to the police department. That night, three shooters were shot in the head, while one was shot three times in the abdomen, and died before he reached the hospital. There were no survivors.

Dustin was certainly scared of how efficient Luke was at sending people to the morgue.

After his instruction, Dustin said, "Alright, you can go back now. There's work to do tomorrow." He got up and left.

The other three people rose and saw their boss off.

Elsa picked up her purse and said, "Okay, we've finally closed one case today. Let's keep trying tomorrow." Luke snorted and walked out with Selina. Shutting the door for Elsa, he asked, "Boss, aren't you going to praise us?".

Elsa said without looking back, "Forget it; it'll be good enough if I don't have to take responsibility for the other two cases you're working on."

Luke was silent.

He wasn't an idiot.

A lot of wrangling would be involved in the other two cases.

When it came to wrangling, Dustin and Elsa were professionals, and Luke only needed to work the cases.

Elsa wasn't asking Luke to promise it wouldn't happen; she was merely reminding him not to cross the line, or the pressure on her and Dustin would be too much.

The three of them went their separate ways.

After dinner at home, Luke began to go through the information.

He felt a little regret.

The gang that had put out the hit on Palmer was probably 23rd Street, which was a fairly large criminal group in Los Angeles. It was also one of Luke's key targets, and he had cleared several of the gang's nests.

The shooters weren't from 23rd Street, however, but another smaller gang called Hellish Mushroom.

When Luke annihilated the members of WD-36, he had triggered conflict among the gangs, and the crime rate in Los Angeles had jumped.Now that the DEA had their eye on 23rd Street, Luke could take advantage of it.

Once the DEA's revenge operation began, there would be a lot of movement, whether it was the police or the gangs; it wouldn't be unusual for other gangs to move against 23rd Street.

Luke started to plot; he was sure everybody would be happy to see the smaller groups, which had popped up after WD-36 broke down, disappear.

The next morning, Selina was surprised to see Luke, who had just cleaned up, walk out of his bedroom. "You haven't made breakfast yet?"

Luke chuckled. "I like a lie-in every now and then too, you know, unlike a certain someone who can sleep to eight o'clock every day." Selina snorted. "But how many people have to train until midnight, and can only go to bed at one?"

Luke said, "Which is why I've made new snacks for you today."

Selina had already rushed into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.

She knew that Luke wouldn't allow her to touch the food until she had cleaned up.

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Chapter 324 One Riot, One Ranger

A few minutes later, while enjoying her cheese and ham sandwich and milk, Selina looked curiously at the cake that Luke was packing. "What's that?".

Luke said, "An opera cake. It occurred to me that both you and Elsa like tiramisu. An opera cake also has chocolate and coffee, but it's a little tricky to make."

Actually, it wasn't tricky so much as torturous.

Luke only made it because he didn't need much sleep, and the meticulous process was a way to stabilize his mood. It had taken him two hours last night to come up with this extremely difficult product.

He could also now add another fancy dessert to the recipe list for Selina.

Before Selina could say anything, Luke had already pushed a piece of the cake to her. "Don't eat too much, or it may put you off."

Selina said, "No way, I'll never get tired of this sort of bittersweet taste. Food like this is God's gift to me."

Luke said, "…Do I have to remind you that I stayed up last night to make this cake, not God?"

Selina said, "I'm referring to my tastebuds and the fact that I don't put on weight no matter how much I eat, okay?".

Looking at Luke's face, she immediately added, "Of course, the person I still need to thank the most is you, darling."

This glutton's desire to live was still strong! Luke was amused.

After Selina had breakfast, they went to work.

They checked in at the police department and let Elsa know which case they were working on so that she could be prepared.

Elsa simply nodded. She had them wait a moment, before she picked up the phone and said a few words.

A moment later, she jerked her chin toward the door of the lounge. "See that? Someone from your hometown is waiting for you."

Luke and Selina, and with one glance, they could tell that the stranger was Texan.

"Who is he?" asked Luke.

Elsa said, "A Texas ranger, who's here specifically for the Mark Owen case." He was the person whom she had called just now.

Luke and Selina went to greet the man, before they left for the morgue together.

Samuel Petri was the name of this old Texan man.

Of course, it was a little exaggerated to call him old, but he was coming up to fifty, and with his white cowboy hat and massive gut, he did seem older than he actually was.

He was a Texas ranger, which was under the state police.

At the same time, Samuel was the boss of the victim in Luke's case.

Luke had good reason to say that Roger and Martin's cases were tricky, based on the two cases he had in hand.

Palmer was attacked multiple times, but was lucky enough to survive all of them.

This Texas ranger called Mark Owen who was lying on the table wasn't as fortunate.

Three days earlier, Ranger Mark was escorting Wade Davis, a murder suspect, back to Texas for a trial, when he was ambushed on the road outside L.A..

Mark was shot three times and killed on the spot, and the suspect was in the wind.

"Mark was a good kid, so I'm here to bring him home." Looking at Mark's pale face on the table, Samuel took off his hat and pressed it to his chest.

After a brief silence, he continued, "I want to say that doing all you can to fight criminals is the right thing to do, but…" He stared sorrowfully at the young face not far away.

Luke sighed. "But it's not always the best option."

He then stretched out his hand. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Samuel shook hands with him as well as with Selina, who also offered her condolences.

Scorsese, a black forensic scientist, said, "All the test results will be out in two days." This could be considered extremely quick; it was clear that the department was working overtime on this case.

The three detectives all nodded.

Luke said, "Let's talk outside."

A short while later, the two of them watched Samuel leave.

Selina shook her head with a bitter smile. "A Texas ranger?"

Luke knew what she was sighing about. "Their motto is 'One Riot, One Ranger'."

Smiling at each other bitterly, they went off to investigate.

The murder suspect whom Mark had been escorting was a real estate business magnate in Texas, yet the Texas police had only sent one police car and one Texas ranger for the long transport back.

Those people were truly audacious.

After flipping through the case file and talking to the detectives who had helped out with this case previously, Luke and Selina left the police department at noon, and a car was waiting for them outside.

Luke waved at the black female officer in the car when he passed by to indicate that they could leave, and two cars left for lunch.

They had a quick lunch, and both teams traded information as they ate; it was more comfortable to communicate in a less formal setting

After lunch, they left for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in two cars.

Luke frowned when he walked into the lobby.

The place was utter bedlam, with people milling around and shouting.

He nodded slightly at the other police detectives who had come with him. Sonia Belly, the black female officer, took her partner with her to the reception desk to explain the purpose of their visit.

The receptionist, who was also a black female officer, looked at Sonia's partner in surprise. "Alessandro Cruz? Thanks for helping me win fifty bucks — I bet that you'd be here again. Fine, what did you do this time?"

Sonia said without a change in tone, "Yes, he did the dumbest thing in the world — he became a L.A. police officer."

The receptionist was speechless. "I know that LAPD is having a harder time recruiting people, and that you've been lowering your requirements, but this is… absurd." With utter mocking and disdain, she picked up her phone, as if she didn't want to talk to them anymore.

Sonia said calmly, "We're looking into the murder of an officer. So, we can wait until you've finished your important call to answer our questions."The receptionist paused, then put down the phone awkwardly. "I'm sorry. How may I help you?"

Sonia said, "Two days earlier, a suspect called Wade Davis was transferred to a Texas ranger. We would like to know who was responsible for the transfer."

The receptionist said, "Then you need to talk to Lila Jones. She was on duty two days ago."

Sonia asked, "Where can we find her?"

The receptionist pointed to one corner of the lobby. "She just went to Big Nick's office."

Luke had been listening to the talk around them as he surveyed the situation. He suddenly asked, "What happened here?"

Stumped for a moment, the receptionist asked, "You are…"

Luke showed her his badge and said, "Luke, from LAPD's Major Crimes Division."

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Chapter 325 Extravagant Big Nick

After a brief hesitation, the receptionist said, "Three days ago in the morning, someone ambushed an armored car, and four of our colleagues died in the line of duty."

The faces of Luke and his companions turned dark after hearing that.

Those robbers really had guts to kill four police officers at the same time.

No wonder the receptionist had seemed busy and impatient.

Sonia apologized in part for the minor quibble just now, before they went over to the office that the receptionist had pointed at.

Sonia leaned in close and asked in a low voice, "Luke, isn't this a bad time for us to visit?"

Luke said helplessly, "How could we have known we would run into this? But the ranger was a police officer too. We can't give up on him."

Sonia frowned and fell silent.

Four police officers of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department died in the line of duty, but so did the Texas ranger called Mark.

Luke narrowed his eyes when they entered the office. Holy sh*t! Who are you declaring war on?

The office was plain with just wooden and glass partitions, but it was quite spacious.

In a room more than fifty square meters in size, a dozen police officers were aggressively checking their weapons.

Not only did they have M4A1s and AR15s, they also boasted expensive guns like the HK416, which was unbelievable.

Even the special forces only had submachine guns and shotguns as one part of their whole setup, but these county officers all had heavy firepower weapons. An officer noticed Luke and asked with a frown, "What do you want?" Luke flashed his badge. "Luke, from LAPD." The man was stumped. "Why are you here?"

Luke replied, "I'm here about the murder of the Texas ranger."

With an ugly look on his face, the man turned around and shouted, "Big Nick, a detective from LAPD is here on a case."

Almost everybody in the office stopped what they were doing to look at them.

A moment later, a tall, bearded middle-aged man approached them with a displeased expression. "What do you want?"

Luke said calmly, "Do you remember Mark Owen, the Texas ranger who was shot dead on the road three days ago?" Nick frowned. "Yes, so what?" Luke said, "So, I would like to know who approved the transport route." Nick grew cold. "It was me. What are you implying? Do you want to take me back to your police department for an interrogation?" Luke said as calmly as ever, "Mark Owen was a police officer who died in the line of duty. I believe his family would want an answer."

Nick's expression was ugly, but he didn't dare say anything outrageous.

Nobody liked a scumbag who would dare disrespect an officer who died in the line of duty, particularly when some of their own colleagues in the department had just died the same way.

"I can see that you're all very busy. How about we save some time, and talk in private for a moment?" asked Luke.

Nick led them to a corner of the office and kicked a man who was preparing his gear there. "Off you go; make room for our dear colleagues from LAPD."

The man was chased off, but the grin he gave Luke was full of ridicule.

Luke didn't even bother to look at him.

He knew that he tended to be underestimated because of his looks, but he didn't rely on his face to make a living.

Less than ten minutes later, Luke said goodbye and left.

Sonia was about to say something after they exited the office, when Luke interrupted her and said, "Let's talk outside."

Sonia looked around and closed her mouth. After they left the building and were on their way to the parking lot, Luke finally asked, "Sonia, did you notice something?" After a brief hesitation, Sonia said, "Luke, did you notice what they're wearing?".

Luke nodded and said, "It's all custom made; it can't be cheap. What else?"

Sonia said, "Their shoes. I didn't recognize all of them, but I know the brand of the leather boots which Big Nick's wearing: they're from a particular boutique shoe store in Los Angeles."

Luke chuckled. "Let me guess. The price is crazy, right?"

Sonia nodded. "I wanted to buy a pair as a birthday gift for my father before, but even the cheapest cost almost two thousand dollars a pair. The calfskin boots that Nick's wearing, on the other hand, are at least twice that."

Selina clicked her tongue. "Wouldn't that be weeks' worth of our wages?" She then looked at her own boots.

Well, she was wearing custom made boots too, but they weren't branded — because they were modified by Luke. Nick's calfskin boots were nothing compared with her genuinely special pair of boots.

The special alloy layer in them alone was worth almost ten thousand dollars, and didn't even include Luke's labor fee.

The young police detective Alessandro, who had the same name as the son of a drug dealer that Luke had taken down, spoke up. "Quite a number of them are wearing pricey watches too."

Luke looked at him. "How much are they?"

Alessandro replied, "Some are worth thousands of dollars, and there were a couple that were worth over ten grand."

Selina and Sonia were utterly nonplussed.

It wasn't unusual for the odd police officer or two to wear an expensive watch, but something was definitely off when so many field officers had them.

Dirty cop!

Everybody thought the same thing. In a seemingly strict police system, a lot of police officers in fact weren't clean.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was the biggest county department and the fourth biggest police department in America. It was responsible for the wider L.A. district, and provided law enforcement services to 42 of the 88 cities in the district.

It had as many employees as LAPD did, and the number of people in its jurisdiction rivaled the population of downtown Los Angeles.

It was definitely impossible for every police officer in this enormous police department to be loyal and dutiful.

Without sufficient diplomacy and skill, honest officers wouldn't be able to navigate the complicated web of affairs and interests inside the department.

Dustin was about to be promoted as captain, but he didn't dare wear expensive clothes or watches at all.

Big Nick was only a sergeant, but had the balls to wear them in public.

Luke had also noticed even more details.

With his keen sight, he had easily spotted identical tattoos on a handful of people in the room.

These were only the ones that he could see that weren't covered — who was to say that more people didn't have the same tattoo under their clothes?

Clearly, Sergeant Big Nick wasn't alone, and had a bunch of loyal underlings or brothers.

As they spoke, they reached the parking lot, and got into their cars.

Sonia asked through the open window, "Where to now?"

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Chapter 326 Bank Robbery

Luke looked back at the county police department and was about to say something, when a bunch of police cars suddenly charged out of the parking lot and headed northwest.

With his sharp eyes, Luke caught sight of Big Nick and his group in a few black SUVs. He said, "Let's follow them."

Almost ten cars had been deployed. It was definitely something big.

This was probably what Big Nick and his group had been preparing for when Luke and the rest interrupted them earlier.

Luke wasn't going to steal credit or whatnot; he only wanted to see how Big Nick worked.

Following them all the way to a small bank called Piclavie, Luke saw that more police cars from the county police department had arrived.

There was even a helicopter in the sky.

That was right, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Police Department had their own air support division.

The air support division provided backup during wildfire disasters and rescues which required a helicopter.

To Luke's surprise, he even saw two FBI agents at the scene.

Luke murmured to himself, What major case is this?

Thinking for a moment, he had Sonia and her partner watch their surroundings and remain on standby.

"Have the cameras monitor the bank. Aim the long-distance sound collector at LASD and monitor their comms," said Luke.

Selina quickly operated the tablet to monitor the comms line via her earphones.

The car radio played the information gathered by the long-distance sound collector at a low volume.

Putting everything together, Luke soon figured out what was going on.

Nick's team had recently been monitoring the group of robbers which was currently inside the bank, but the FBI also had its eye on this bunch.

These were most likely the same suspects who had robbed the armored truck and killed four county officers a few days earlier. So, the local police and the FBI were both after the robbers.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a gunshot.

Luke was stunned. Then, he heard Nick and an FBI agent arguing.

At that moment, they were so loud that Luke could hear them even without the sound collector.

A hostage was dead!

This was a warning from the robbers, since the county officers had half-heartedly said earlier that they needed to consider the robbers' demands: ten million in cash and a helicopter with a full tank.

Luke furrowed his brow.

Robbers who didn't hesitate to kill hostages to put pressure on the police were the trickiest.

Also, they hadn't minced words with the county police, and weren't giving them a chance to negotiate.

Criminals who talked too much lost — the robbers were clearly aware of this principle.

Luke rolled down the window and activated Sharp Nose.

Selina alerted him: "The county police are about to send a helicopter."

Luke nodded and closed his eyes. A moment later, he opened them and signaled to Sonia to withdraw.

The two cars moved back twenty meters and hid behind a building not far away.

Deep in thought, Luke asked, "Selina, in what sort of situation would robbers put pressure on the police by pretending to kill a hostage?'

Selina was going to say, "When they don't want to kill." After all, murder was a more serious felony than robbery. Looking at Luke's face, however, she thought of something else. "Are they playing tricks?" Luke said, "Let's wait and find out. These guys are… heh, interesting." That being said, there was nothing but indifference in his eyes.

He had no mercy for robbers who killed police officers in the line of duty. In the next few minutes, Luke kept his eyes closed, while Selina monitored what was going on around them.

Suddenly, there was an explosion, which shattered the bank's windows.

"Are they blowing up the vault?" Selina exclaimed in surprise.

Luke simply hummed a response and didn't reply.

A moment later, he suddenly said, "Selina, tell Sonia to follow us."

Selina signaled to Sonia's car behind them, and Luke drove the car west.

Luke stopped one street away and got out of the car. Checking some location on the side of the road for a moment, he had Selina give Sonia a walkie-talkie. "We're going to check out the robbers. Be careful and don't expose yourselves. Those guys probably have military backgrounds, and are too ruthless."

Sonia said, "What?" She didn't expect this to be the reason for Luke's mysterious departure earlier.

While the county officers were still arguing, her amazing colleague was going to lead them to the robbers.

Thinking this, Sonia's palms were wet with sweat. She was both nervous and excited.

These weren't simple robbers, and this could be a big case.

The danger of getting involved in a case like this with Luke wasn't low, but it was still a lot safer than with anybody else.

After all, Luke was the detective with the best fighting ability, not just in Westside, but in the entire LAPD.

The two cars stayed a hundred meters away from each other, and communicated via the walkie-talkies.

Luke wasn't really counting on Sonia and her partner to back him up.

Sonia could be helpful. She was only twenty-four and a fit woman, but her partner, Alessandro, was pitiful; Luke felt that one Sonia could take down two Alessandros.

Thus, he had them hang back to act as lookouts.

Like he said earlier, the robbers might have military backgrounds, and Sonia and her partner might be killed in a matter of seconds at their level.

After the Texas rangers and LASD, Luke didn't want Westside LAPD to lose police officers too.

"Don't lose your head, and don't be reckless. Follow my lead," said Luke.

"Copy that," Sonia replied naturally, as if it was Dustin himself who was speaking; she didn't react adversely to the way Luke's words sounded like a command.

As they talked, Luke sped up, before stopping the car a hundred meters away from a building.

He narrowed his eyes at the building, which was the Federal Reserve's Los Angeles branch!

Selina looked at the building as well. "Is that their real target?"

Working with Luke, her wits had gotten much sharper, and it was easy to derive the formula: bank robbers cover-up = trick real objective.

When she got a clear look at the sign on the building, she was shocked. "Are they crazy? That's the bank of all banks. Nobody has ever robbed them."

Luke's mind was whirling with thoughts, and he said, "There are always some people with more guts than others."

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Chapter 327 Bank of Banks, and Garbage Trucks

Selina frowned. "Whoever hangs around here for more than ten minutes will be chased off by security. If they show up again, the FBI will look into them. How can they possibly succeed?"

Luke nodded and turned on the walkie-talkie. "Sonia, do me a favor and find out which bank the county department's armored truck in the murder case was from."

Sonia was good at gathering intelligence and at cybertech. She was a promising specialist in the Major Crimes Division.

Two minutes later, Sonia replied, "Luke, I think the armored truck belonged to the Piclavie bank which was robbed this morning."

Pondering for a moment, Luke said, "Check if the truck's route includes the L.A. Federal Reserve branch."

Sonia's reply was even faster this time. "Yes, the truck transports money there on a daily basis."

Luke hummed in response and ended the call.

Selina immediately realized what was going on. "Are you saying that they hijacked the armored truck to use it to sneak into the L.A. Federal Reserve branch?"

Luke nodded, but then shook his head. "To be more exact, I think they want to quietly take the money out."

The Federal Reserve was the bank of banks.

Pissing off the FBI wasn't as bad as pissing off this agency, which was America's moneybag. These robbers wouldn't be stupid enough to really force their way in to rob this place. One mistake from idiots like that and they would be killed on the spot.

The Federal Reserve branch had extremely tight security to begin with, and if it really was attacked by dauntless criminals, thousands of police officers from LAPD and LASD would swarm them; there would be no way for them to escape.

Luke checked the time, and it was slightly past three.

Telling Sonia and Alessandro to keep an eye on the building's exit, Luke drove the car around the neighboring area.

After half an hour, Sonia suddenly contacted him. "Luke, something's going on."

Luke said, "Tell me."

"That Big Nick brought two cars of county officers with him. They detained a black man who just came out of the Federal Reserve branch, and are now beating him up," said Sonia.

Luke said, "Don't do anything. Just keep an eye on the environment. I'll be back soon."

He turned the car, and just as he was about to pass the exit of the Federal Reserve branch's underground parking lot, a garbage truck came out of the parking lot ahead of him.

Luke took a sniff and smelled a lot of cash, but the scent was a little strange.

"Focus the cameras on the garbage truck up ahead," said Luke.

Suddenly, another garbage truck appeared and cut into their lane, before it sped up.

Luke was stunned. Two garbage trucks in a row?

It wasn't entirely impossible, but it definitely wasn't common.

Each garbage truck was responsible for a certain area. It wasn't too surprising that their routes would overlap from time to time, but it was unusual for two garbage trucks to gather outside the L.A. Federal Reserve branch.

Even more strangely, the second garbage truck also had an odd smell of cash; it was very similar to the smell from the first truck, but not the same.

"Luke, Nick is taking the black man away. Do we follow him?" Sonia updated him.

Luke closed his eyes and considered for a moment. "No need. I'll be back soon. Just stay where you are."

At that moment, the garbage truck in the lead took a left turn off the street.

The garbage truck in front of Luke, however, slowed down to thirty kilometers per hour.

Luke slowed down as well and tapped the wheel unhurriedly.

A minute later, the truck took a right turn off the street.

Luke's car also took a right turn to follow it. Selina suddenly said, "Luke, someone's robbing the other garbage truck." Luke was surprised. "What?" Why would anyone rob a garbage truck? He took a quick glance at Selina's tablet, only to see a man pointing a gun at the driver in the other garbage truck several hundred meters in the distance, before he got in and drove it away.

What a surprising move! Luke suddenly chuckled and looked at the garbage truck in front of him.

He suddenly activated the walkie-talkie. "Sonia, stay on the garbage truck in front of me. Do you see it?"

Sonia soon replied, "I'm on it."

Luke said, "Don't get too close. Just follow it and make sure that it doesn't escape. I'll call the boss to come over, and the both of you can stop the garbage truck together." "Okay, don't worry, I'll keep an eye on it," replied Sonia.

Luke turned off the walkie-talkie and made a call. "Boss, we've got a situation."

Elsa asked, "What situation?"

Luke said, "I have two suspicious garbage trucks. I suspect that the robbers are using the trucks to transfer their loot. On my side, one of the robbers has just hijacked a garbage truck, and I'm not sure about the situation with the other truck. I've asked Sonia to keep an eye on it, and to wait for you to back her up."

Elsa said, "Got it. I'll contact Sonia right after this. Anything else?"

Luke said, "Those robbers probably have military backgrounds, and they're ruthless. For your safety, boss, you better bring more men and weapons with you."

Elsa said, "Okay, I'll ask Dustin for enough reinforcements."

Luke said, "It would be best if we get the garbage truck back to our department before we examine the stuff in it. You copy, boss?"

Elsa said, "…I know better than you do."

It was very likely that the garbage truck was carrying a load of cash, which could be a major problem if it wasn't sorted out in the police department.

The problem could be from the outside, or from the officers involved in the operation. Elsa knew that very well.

After the conversation, Luke turned the car around and went in pursuit of the garbage truck that had been hijacked.

A moment later, Sonia said over the walkie-talkie, "Luke, I'm following the truck. Elsa just called too."

Luke said, "Listen to Elsa for now. I'll call you when I need you."

Sonia said, "Got it." After ending the call, she heaved a long sigh.

She had planned to learn more by following Luke today, but it was quite a bummer that the two targets split up.

But she was a professional, and quickly threw away irrelevant thoughts and focused on the garbage truck in front of her.

Luke wasn't interested so much in the garbage trucks as he was in the robbers.

He followed the hijacked truck all the way to an old, abandoned car yard.

He stopped the car at a distance and closed his eyes for a long time. Then, he opened them with an odd expression on his face.

Ten minutes later, two SUVs belonging to the robbers drove out and headed southeast.

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Chapter 328 Overly Professional Robbers

Luke didn't follow the SUVs until a moment later.

On the road, Selina alerted him: "It looks like they're going to take Route 91. If that happens, they would be able to escape using either Route 605, Route 5 or Route 57."

Luke agreed with her.

Suddenly, three SUVs sped past them.

He quickly checked the surveillance feed, only to see that it was Big Nick and his brothers.

Frowning, Luke took a right turn at the next intersection and sped up, before turning back onto the earlier road.

At that point, he was in front of the robbers' two SUVs.

It was actually a good thing that the county officers led by Nick had arrived, or there would be a lot of bickering between Westside LAPD and LASD later.

Suddenly, one of the tires blew on a big freight truck in the distance up ahead, and the car behind it crashed into the truck.

The truck immediately swerved and scraped the cars next to it before it finally stopped.

The driver of the truck got out and looked around with a worried frown on his face; he knew that he was in serious trouble.

Sure enough, the drivers of the other cars got out to surround him and kick up a fuss.

Some of them called the police, but the road was completely blocked.

Luke's car was fifty meters away from the accident, and he couldn't move further.

He looked at the surveillance feed with an odd expression on his face.

Selina raised her head and looked at him. "The robbers are stuck as well."

Luke heaved a helpless sigh. "Let's just hope that nobody gets hurt." There wasn't much he could do in this situation

The eight fully-armed robbers in the two SUVs probably had special force training, and were highly anxious at the moment.

It was the middle of the day, so Luke couldn't reveal his full strength.

More importantly, the county officers including Nick had reached the back of the traffic jam.

Considering what Luke had seen, he didn't think that the bad-tempered Big Nick would be able to hold back.

"Let's change into our gear," said Luke.

Selina pressed a button to recline the passenger seat, and she crawled into the back and quickly put on the gear which Luke threw to her.

In the meantime, Luke darkened the car windows while he monitored the robbers and the officers behind them.

A moment later, he couldn't help but curse. "Are they crazy? There are dozens of cars and people here." He had considered waiting until the robbers drove to a less populated area, but Nick obviously wasn't as patient.

The county officers had already gotten out of their vehicles. They were all armed with the heavy firepower weapons that Luke had seen in their office.

Luke quickly checked his own guns and threw an M4A1 to Selina in the backseat, but didn't take a gun himself.

It wasn't the first time that he had fought among cars.

He had done it before when he eliminated Sergei's gang in New York.

His opponents this time were stronger, but he had grown stronger as well.

Luke was certain that in a range of twenty meters, he could attack faster with a pistol than the robbers could with their automatic rifles.

The next moment, he was slightly relieved.

The county officers, including Nick, weren't too crazy after all.

Coming up from the rear, the twelve officers spread out and pushed forward slowly while they warned the people in the cars to stay low or run away ASAP.

The green bulletproof vests and the yellow "Sheriff" words on them were a clear indication of their identities to everyone.

Seeing the heavy firepower weapons they were holding, almost everybody who was warned fled quickly.

Hiding inside their cars wasn't safe, since there was still a chance that they would get hit.

The officers weren't holding pistols but automatic rifles. Anybody with the slightest bit of common sense knew that apart from the engine, a regular car couldn't block a rifle shot.

But a car only had one engine, and wasn't absolutely safe.

Done changing, Selina examined her gun and asked, "When do we take action?"

Luke frowned.

He didn't really dare open fire in the current situation.

This was Los Angeles County, not downtown Los Angeles.

More critically, the county officers and the robbers were all heavily armed.

If Luke was the first to shoot, all the casualties would be on his head.

It would be impossible for him to immediately kill eight fully-armed, highly vigilant robbers with military backgrounds.

"Wait a moment. Don't be hasty," Luke said.

But his tone changed the next second. "Sh*t!"

That was because he saw a robber get out of the passenger seat of one of the cars… with an M249 paratrooper machine gun. Lunatics!

That was all Luke could think.

Do you need such a lethal weapon for a robbery? This isn't a warring country!

Thinking quickly, Luke took out a tear gas grenade from his inventory. Getting out of the car, he threw it out.

With his current Strength, fifty meters was nothing.

A moment later, smoke suddenly spread out from the robbers' SUVs with a bang.

Alarmed, the county officers immediately went low.

But the robbers were too professional. A few gas masks were thrown out of the cars, and everybody put them on.

Luke was lost for words. Are you here for a robbery or to fight terrorism? Why would you carry gas masks for this operation?

But his tear gas grenade had achieved its purpose.

The robbers' pace was disrupted, and the county officers behind Luke were now more vigilant and had slowed their approach as they became even more cautious.

Luke sat back inside his car and closed the door in relief.

If he hadn't thrown the grenade out just now, it was possible that some of the county officers might've been killed.

Though they might be dirty cops, there was no evidence to prove it yet. Besides, they were doing their duty to catch the robbers, and Luke certainly couldn't watch them die.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Selina was quite shocked by the deafening gunfire. Her mouth was wide open as she watched the surveillance feed on the tablet. "A machine gun? Seriously?" Those who had never seen a machine gun barrage could barely imagine its power.

Machine guns appeared in countless movies, but their force tended to be weakened for plot purposes.

A burst of hundreds of bullets from a machine gun could easily suppress dozens of foot soldiers.

This was something that the county officers were all too well aware of.

Almost everybody was lying on the ground, and didn't dare raise their heads at all.

Even so, there were still two screams amidst the gunfire.

Luke looked carefully at the surveillance feed; it seemed that two unfortunate officers had been hit by stray bullets.

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Chapter 329 Stubborn Robbers and Luke's Secret Weapon

The screams were good, since it meant that the injuries weren't critical hits and that the officers would still live, even if they might be disabled.

Luke frowned.

He didn't dare casually stick his head out now.

After this setback, the county officers returned fire the moment the robbers' M249 stopped firing.

Their dozen automatic rifles were almost as powerful as the machine gun, and had a wider range.

Unfortunately, Luke's car was in the way of their bullets.

Bending down, Luke whispered to Selina, "Stay low."

He had already changed the car's windows so that they were bulletproof, but they still weren't as safe as the reinforced steel and Kevlar in the car's frame.

Naturally, Selina listened to him and lay almost flat in the backseat, her eyes fixed on the tablet as she observed the battle outside.

The battle was heated and desperate the moment it began.

After the robbers injured two officers with the M249, the other officers were enraged.

With their advantage in numbers, they suppressed the robbers with a storm of bullets.

However, the robbers were well-organised, and covered each other in turns as they yelled out when they were moving or reloading.

The county officers were obviously well-trained too.

Not a second went by without gunfire.

But luck seemed to be on the county officers' side, as they hit two of the retreating robbers first.

One was hit in the thigh and then in the head while he was struggling. He was killed on the spot.

The other was shot in the neck. He clamped a hand to the injury and gasped for breath on the ground, but it was clear that he was dying Ten against six – the county officers had the clear advantage.

But the robbers' battle training was exceptional. They covered each other and continued to retreat at a steady pace despite their two fallen comrades. Their formation didn't collapse, nor did they scatter.

Soon, another two officers were shot. They screamed and fell.

But they were lucky they could scream at all, when the two robbers who were shot were already growing cold

Eight against six!

The situation seemed to be at an impasse once again.

Luke saw the officers split up on the surveillance feed. Two officers jumped over the guardrail and ran to an abandoned factory next to the road, hoping to flank the robbers from behind.

The robbers were gradually drawing close to Luke's location in their retreat. Luke could hear the thuds of multiple bullets hitting his car.

The number of police officers and robbers dropped, but the battle grew even more intense.

A robber collapsed with a scream. He struggled but couldn't get back to his feet, and his rifle had also been sent flying.

One of the officers also screamed at the same time and fell, gripping where he had been shot in the leg.

Seven against five!

At that moment, the robbers were only four cars away from Luke.

One of the robbers shouted "Moving," but was only able to take two steps before he was shot right in the head.

The other robbers couldn't check on him at all, and continued to retreat.

The situation was clearly becoming more and more disadvantageous for them. They were in the territory of the county officers, who had reinforcements coming.

Luke narrowed his eyes as he observed the positions and movements of the four robbers. He quickly took out a car jack from his inventory, and gave it to Selina without looking back.

Selina was dumbfounded. She asked in a low voice, "What??"

Why are you giving me a car jack when everyone one else has rifles and machine guns?

Luke whispered something to her, and Selina's eyes lit up. She took the car jack and weighed it in her hand, looking very pleased, before she leaned against the back door on the right.

Finally, one of the robbers retreated to Luke's car, and leaned on the hood of the car to change clips.

Luke stared at the guy in silence. Seeing that the guy's sweaty elbow was on the hood, Luke immediately pressed a button on the center console.

While taking out a new clip, the robber shouted, "Relo… uh uh uh."

Crash!

The man's entire body convulsed and he fell over the car hood.

Looking at the surveillance feed, Luke raised three fingers at Selina, who was waiting at the back door.

Three! Two! One!

When Luke dropped the last finger, Selina had already rolled down the car window.

A robber who had used up his bullets was reloading his gun when he passed the back of the car. He was shouting, "Reload…"

Clang! There was a low but pleasant sound.

Hearing it, Luke could tell that the guy had a hard skull.

The robber who had a hard skull didn't finish his sentence. He passed out from the pain that exploded in the back of his head.

Selina quickly pulled back, lay down, and rolled the window up.

On Luke's end, he sat up straight and rolled down the window on the driver's side. Just nice, a robber who was crouched down was facing Luke.

A white ball grew bigger and bigger in the robber's line of sight.

Bang!

The robber's head jerked up violently, and he was knocked into a car on the side before he fell to the ground. Only the whites of his eyes could be seen, and blood oozed from his mouth and nose.

All of a sudden, the gunshots became sparse.

The last robber turned around, only to see the robber who had just fallen on the left side of Luke's car, and his eyes turned red. "McCourt!"

He dashed over to check the robber who had just fallen, and completely missed Luke, who rolled down the window once again.

The car on Luke's left was slightly to the back, and the driver's seat of Luke's car was parallel with the other car's front hood.

The last robber was only one meter away from Luke.

As he rolled down the window, Luke stretched out his right hand, and Selina immediately passed him the car jack which she had used to knock out a robber just now.

Switching the jack to his left hand, he stealthily stretched his arm out the window, and it hung in the air for one moment, before he finally brought it down on the last robber's head.

Clang!

The robber's body went limp, and he collapsed. Luke quickly pulled back and threw the car jack into the front passenger seat. "Handcuff the guy at the back door."

Selina immediately opened the door and handcuffed the robber she had knocked out.

Luke shifted over to open the front passenger door and quickly got out. He dragged the unfortunate robber who had passed out from an electric shock off the car hood and handcuffed the guy as well.

Where was the shock from? Naturally, it was an electric shock defense system that Luke had come up with to deal with car thieves.

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Chapter 330 A Lose-Lose Situation, and Mastermind Behind the Curtain

After everything was done, Luke and Selina pulled back into their car again.

With the county officers approaching, they certainly didn't want to be taken for robbers and shot.

In less than a minute, the county officers arrived, providing cover for each other. Seeing the four robbers on the ground, they subconsciously looked around.

They surrounded the robbers warily from behind the cars with their rifles. Two men stepped forward and kicked the robbers' guns away before they shouted, "Clear!"

At the shouts, the county sheriffs approached the robbers warily, and two people quickly collected the robbers' guns.

It was only now that the two county officers who were going to attack the robbers from the rear finally arrived. All of them were stunned.

"What the heck?" Big Nick's expression was a mix of surprise and vexation. "Who handcuffed them? You?"

The two officers who had just arrived quickly shook their heads. They were panting hard from running. They weren't capable of capturing four tough criminals alive without getting hurt. Luke finally sat up straight and rapped the car window, before rolling it down a little. Immediately, all the guns were trained on him.

Luke was as calm as ever. After all, his car was bulletproof, and he would be fine even if any of the guns went off.

That was also the reason why he was still in his car and had yet to fully roll down the window.

Big Nick narrowed his eyes and stared at him in disbelief. "You're… that guy from LAPD?"

Luke raised his hand to point around, and Nick came back to himself. "Put down your weapons. He's with us." In the current situation, Luke was without doubt on their side.

Seeing them put their guns down, Luke finally opened the window. "Those people were planning to hijack my car, so I fought back. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

Nick was stunned. "You…"

But looking at Luke's calm face, he suddenly realized what was going on.

Big Nick wasn't some good, naive cop. He was even more familiar with dirty tricks than Luke was.

He knew that by saying that, Luke was giving away the credit for arresting the robbers to Nick's team.

Nick immediately looked much friendlier. "Not a problem at all. So, how did you…"

Luke interrupted him. "Nick, your men are injured. I happen to know some first aid, and I have some medicine and bandages with me. Do you need help?"

Nick slapped his own face in annoyance. "F*ck!" He had been so surprised just now that he had forgotten about his colleagues who were still lying on the ground.

At Luke's reminder, he nodded quickly. "That would be great. Thank you."

Luke picked up the first aid kit that Selina passed to him and gestured subtly at her.

Selina nodded slightly. After Luke got out of the car and closed the door, Selina moved into the driver's seat and continued observing their surroundings. In the meantime, she called in and reported to Elsa.

She would've done so even without Luke's subtle reminder.

These county officers weren't entirely trustworthy, and it would be safer for both her and Luke if she stayed in the car.

Ten minutes later, the ambulance arrived to take Nick's injured men away.

Luke stopped to greet Nick when he drove the car past him. "Nick, I'm sure you're very busy, so I won't waste any more of your time."

Nick nodded wryly. He thought for a moment, then said, "About that thing you asked about… Call me tomorrow. We can talk about it later."

Luke nodded and drove away.

"Just now, Nick and his men uncovered a huge amount of cash in the robbers' truck, but they discovered it was counterfeit." Watching Big Nick disappear in the rearview mirror, Selina asked, "So, did the robbers play the county officers?" Pondering for a moment, Luke shook his head. "Not necessarily. If they were so smart, they wouldn't have been stuck here. From what we saw, they didn't expect Nick to catch them at all."

Selina asked, "Then what's with the counterfeit money that Nick found?"

Luke chuckled. "Why don't you make a guess based on the information we have?"

Deep in thought, Selina said in a low voice, "The county officers suffered severe casualties and the robbers were all caught. Obviously, both parties thought that the money was real. Is there something wrong with the other garbage truck?".

Just then, Luke picked up a call. "Hey, boss. What's up?"

Elsa said a few words on the other end before hanging up. Luke said, "Good news. Elsa stopped the other garbage truck and brought it to our department. Just now, they found several large bags of hundred-dollar bills in the truck."

Selina was stunned. "So I was right?"

Luke chuckled. "No. They investigated the truck driver. He was just driving his usual route and didn't act out of the ordinary. According to his schedule, he moves the trash to a dump an hour after leaving the Federal Reserve. He didn't act unusually at all during questioning."

Selina frowned. "If he was one of the robbers, or knew that we had intercepted the money, it would've been difficult for him to hide his emotions."

Luke nodded in agreement.

That wasn't something that one could rationally control.

It would be impossible for anyone to control their feelings with so much money at risk.

Luke had told Elsa to take more men and even Dustin with her to intercept the garbage truck, precisely because he was scared that someone would embezzle the money if they weren't enough people around.

A huge pile of cold hard cash was much more attractive than a dull number on a check.

Selina frowned. "So, who's behind this?"

Luke chuckled. "Do you need me to give you an answer?"

Selina raised her hand. "Wait, I'll figure it out on my own. The answer can't be so complicated, otherwise you would've told me directly. Wait. One of the robbers escaped; the black guy who was at the Federal Reserve branch!"

Luke didn't say anything.

Encouraged and inspired, Selina declared, "He was there when the robbers used the armored truck to enter the treasury, and also at the Federal Reserve branch. He's clearly an important part of the operation, but he didn't leave with the robbers. Just now, he took advantage of the fight to secretly undo his handcuffs and escape from Nick's car."

Luke nodded slightly. "Anything else?"

Selina closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, as she subconsciously tapped the car door with her right hand. "The black man was caught the moment he left the Federal Reserve branch. Nick then came here to intercept the robbers. Now, his companions are either dead or have been caught."

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Chapter 331 Firmly Evading Non-Beneficial Matters

"Wait." Selina suddenly opened her eyes. "If we hadn't intervened, none of the robbers might've survived."

Four robbers were caught alive because of her and Luke.

Considering the fierce battle between the police and the robbers, it was unlikely that they would have surrendered. They would probably have all been killed.

Big Nick wouldn't have let them go when so many of his men were wounded.

Selina's eyes glittered. "So, the black guy is the mastermind behind the curtain. He intentionally led Nick to this place to try and get his companions killed. While the robbers he sold out thought that the counterfeit cash was real, he could hijack the other garbage truck and take the money for himself."

After that, she looked at Luke. "Is that the case?"

Luke applauded her with a smile. "Correct, my thoughts exactly."

Just now, he had received the system notification.

Mission: Catch the bank robbers and reclaim the loot.

Total experience: 1,000. Total credit: 1,000.

Contribution rate: 60%. EXP 400. Credit 600.

EXP 16,890.

Selina asked, "Shouldn't we go after him?"

Luke chuckled. "Don't forget that the loot is in Dustin's hands, so this isn't entirely our case anymore. We should ask the boss what to do next."

Selina was stumped, wondering when Luke had become so obedient.

Luke, however, knew that too much money was involved, and that it might not be good to go off on his own and detain criminal suspects without talking to Dustin first.

More importantly, the Federal Reserve hadn't responded yet.

How could the Federal Reserve still be so calm when the robbers stole so much money? They should've sent out a request for investigation before this.

It was this unusual situation that made Luke decide to talk to Dustin first.

Sometimes, people wouldn't necessarily thank you for cracking a case, and might hate your guts instead.

Luke returned to the police department and went to a corner of the underground parking lot, which had been cleared out and partitioned off with plastic sheets. A foul smell wafted out from the area.

Luke's nose twitched, and he instantly shut off his Sharp Nose.

Elizabeth was guarding the entry point in the plastic sheets. Her big mask covered her pretty face.

Seeing Luke, she said excitedly, "Luke, you're back. Do you know that the garbage truck… Forget it. The boss will tell you about it."

Luke nodded with a smile. "That's right. Don't say anything that you shouldn't."

Selina patted Elizabeth's shoulder and said, "Good girl!"

Elizabeth took out two masks from her pocket. "Take these. It doesn't smell very good inside."

Luke and Selina put on the masks and walked in.

Both Dustin and Elsa were inside.

Billy and Simmons were going through the trash meticulously.

On one side, Elsa was taking cash out from the black bags and throwing it into a plastic box.

Most of the garbage was shredded paper that had been compressed into round blocks.

This was also the source of the weird cash smell that Luke had detected earlier. Old dollar bills had been shredded and compressed into round blocks, and thus gave off a distorted smell of money.

Seeing Luke and Selina, Dustin waved at them. "Luke, Selina, over here."

Dustin led them to one side. Elsa simply nodded, but didn't follow them.

In the corner, Dustin asked in a low voice, "What's the money about?"

Luke briefed him on what happened in the afternoon and shrugged. "I don't know exactly what the money is about. I only found the garbage truck suspicious because it was in the wrong place. I don't dare guess where the money came from."

Various emotions flashed across Dustin's face as he looked at Luke. "Who else knows about this?"

Luke said, "Just us, Sonia's team, and the people who were with you, boss."

Dustin nodded and said, "Keep this under wraps, and you don't have to follow up on it."

Luke hummed. "Got it. This wasn't our case in the first place."

Dustin was stumped. "Huh?"

Luke chuckled. "It was Sonia who watched the truck and you who examined the garbage. We didn't have anything to do with it."

Dustin was lost for words. It all sounds very reasonable, but why do I feel like beating you up?

"Then, we're leaving, boss." Luke said, "We're making progress on the Mark Owen case. I need to follow up on it."

Dustin looked at them and opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

He himself had told Luke and Selina to steer clear of this case.

Luke had also made it very clear that the money had nothing to do with him, and that he had done nothing more than ask Sonia to keep an eye on the truck. Any discoveries related to the truck could be attributed to Sonia's team, or Elsa's team, or even Dustin's team, but they had nothing to do with Luke or Selina.

Since they weren't involved in this case, Dustin couldn't ask them to go through the trash here.

Waving his hand helplessly, Dustin said, "Get out of here."

Luke chuckled. "Where's Sonia and Alessandro? I need their help in our investigation." Dustin said, "Call them yourself. Am I an

operator?"

Luke immediately saluted him. "Yes, sir." He then ran away with Selina.

This case was so complicated that he didn't want to touch it at all.

He wasn't interested in the black man who was likely to be the mastermind either.

Luke wasn't a man of pure integrity. This case entailed a lot of trouble and promised few rewards. He certainly would rather keep a distance from it.

The problem wasn't the police, but the Federal Reserve.

The huge amount of money could've only been acquired from the Federal Reserve branch, but the Federal Reserve had yet to respond.

The FBI would search for leads like crazy even if only one dollar was stolen, to say nothing of the looting of tens of millions of dollars.

Furthermore, it wasn't just about the money, but also about the holes in the Federal Reserve's security system.

Who knew how much money would be lost the next time something like this happened?

Luke immediately withdrew from the case before he was too deeply mired in it, and threw everything to Dustin.

He could ask to join the investigation since he was the one who had found the initial leads, and Dustin trusted him, but what could he get out of it?

Even if Luke took the money, it would still be illegal cash. Like the millions of dollars sitting in his inventory, he wouldn't be able to use it openly.

It wouldn't help with getting a promotion either. Elsa had already said several times that no matter how he and Selina put it off, they would be promoted to level three detectives in a month, which was the highest level for detectives.

So, it was unnecessary for them to work for more credit.

If he was involved in this case, it was likely that the FBI would fully investigate Luke and his family, and that was something that Luke wanted to avoid.

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Chapter 332 Communicating Important Business Matters

Luke decisively let Dustin take responsibility.

Dustin was a professional at dealing with complicated situations. Plus, he had Director Brad behind him.

Luke walked out of the parking lot and threw his mask to Elizabeth. "Get a good taste of the daily life of a forensic scientist. It'll be good for you."

Elizabeth didn't know what to say. Gee, thanks very much!

Luke and Selina went back to the Major Crimes Division to look for Sonia. Luke said, "We're following up on the officer's murder, but what happened today will be handled by someone else. Just keep it between us, okay?"

Sonia nodded and asked, "Luke, exactly what happened on your side?"

Luke was too lazy to explain. He simply gestured to Selina, before going off to buy a few drinks from the vending machine.

He got soda water for himself, Dr. Pepper for Sonia, juice for Sonia, and milk for Alessandro.

Looking at the milk in his hand, Alessandro was stumped. "… This is for me?"

Luke snorted and looked around. "I think you're below average in terms of body build. Milk will be good for you."

With a bitter smile, Alessandro could only drink the milk.

Luke was famous for his capabilities in fighting, Selina was one of the top three fighters in the Major Crimes Division, and even Sonia could defeat him single-handedly.

After all, each of Sonia's legs was almost as thick as Alessandro's waist.

Alessandro knew that this was a friendly reminder from Luke, expressed as a joke.

If a detective of the Major Crimes Division had health problems, they would likely switch to a desk job or retire in a few years.

Alessandro was only 23 and hadn't been a detective for long; he had no plans of retiring any time soon.

Selina had already told him and Sonia about the battle between the robbers and the county police, which shocked them and made them sigh.

They were shocked at the unexpected event, and sighed at missing it. However, they also felt lucky that they hadn't gotten involved randomly.

When Selina described how the robbers had taken down two county officers with an M249, Sonia and Alessandro were dumbfounded.

Why would anyone use a machine gun in a robbery? In that famous North Hollywood bank robbery years earlier, the two robbers only carried AKs with a hundred bullets.

At that point, Sonia and Alessandro felt that it wasn't entirely a bad thing that they hadn't followed Luke.

Police usually kept an eye on their target from behind.

If they had been behind the county police, wouldn't they have been in the M249's line of fire as well?

Luke smiled. "However, there's good news. Nick has agreed to talk about the Mark Owen case with us."

Sonia was delighted at first, but then her expression turned heavy. "Luke, is it possible…"

Luke nodded slightly. "Let's hear him out first. Things can't be worse than they are right now, can they?"

Sonia had her doubts. Considering Nick's attitude, it was possible that the case was more complicated than it seemed.

The power struggle in LASD was as bad as in LAPD.

After the meeting, everybody went home.

After taking a shower, Selina had dinner, and was the happiest as she lazed on the couch afterward.

Luke's phone rang.

He picked up the phone and said a few words, before he got dressed. "Well, I'm going out for a business negotiation."

Selina was surprised. "What?"

Luke said, "You haven't forgotten that you own 5% of my company shares, have you?"

Selina was astounded. "Seriously? My two hundred thousand dollars really turned into shares in your toy company?"

Luke was speechless. "Let me tell you some good news: Jenny reached out to a VP at Google and is going to sell two products to them."

Selina wasn't entirely convinced.

Luke didn't try to convince her, either. He was only letting her know in advance, to prevent her from trying to extort new snacks or food out of him in compensation for her shock later.

Selina said, "So, I can lock up the house tonight?"

Luke hummed in assent. "Also, turn on all the alarms, and don't sleep too deeply."

Selina nodded her head listlessly. "Okay, get the hell out of here."

Luke didn't forget to remind her, "Don't skimp on your training today."

Selina said, "And you'll be training in bed tonight, I'm guessing." Luke shrugged and drove off.

He went to the hotel in Beverly Hills again and knocked on the door of a suite, which was answered very quickly.

He hugged Jenny, who jumped on him, and entered the room with a smile.

They sat on the couch and talked business first.

On Google's side, Jenny directly found her Uncle Lamarck instead of talking to the staff at the lower levels.

The VP of the company had better foresight than the Google staff whom Bobby had met. He confirmed that Luke's products were very valuable.

However, this VP Lamarck also felt that Luke's asking price was excessive.

Luke wasn't surprised. He said with a smile, "Don't worry about it. Also, do you mind if we use your Uncle Lamarck's name?"

Jenny asked, "How, exactly?"

Lamarck said, "For example, we can tell Easygo that Lamarck is very interested in our technology."

Jenny didn't get mad, but pondered the idea.

Business was business.

If Lamarck refused because it was too expensive, there was nothing to stop her from marketing it elsewhere.

Luke didn't interrupt her musings. He sipped on his wine.

He wasn't a fan of wine, but he would drink some since he was with Jenny.

A moment later, Jenny nodded and said, "It shouldn't be a problem."

Luke smiled. "It's just a suggestion. If you're not keen, then forget it; you can keep negotiating with Google. I'm not in a hurry, anyway. Hm, are they interested in the touchscreen technology?"

Jenny said, "Yes, but…".

"But the problem is the price as well, isn't it?" asked Luke.

Jenny nodded.

Luke thought for a moment and said, "They're not involved in manufacturing phones yet, so I don't have to sell it to them. Well, Jenny, are you interested in becoming a CEO?"

Jenny was surprised. "What?"

Luke chuckled. "Smartphones. We can create them ourselves."

Jenny was lost for words. "Do you have any idea how much money that requires?" Luke said, "That's fine, we can take our time. You can lay the groundwork first."

Looking at Jenny, who was deep in thought, his hands started to move sneakily.

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Chapter 333 Cooperation, and the Elsworth Family

Jenny exclaimed and looked at him in surprise.

Luke used a little more strength. "Let's forget the boring stuff for now and communicate on more important issues."

Jenny blushed slightly. "What… What more important issues?"

Luke said solemnly, "For example, mutual cooperation between a CEO and his personal secretary."

Jenny took a deep breath. "I… I thought you were going to talk business with me the whole night."

Luke said, "This is business too. Show me your work attitude, Secretary Jenny."

Jenny said, "Okay, Mr. CEO." As they talked, the secretary began doing her job.

The next morning, Luke knocked on Selina's door. "Rise and shine!"

Selina grumbled, "Beat it." She threw a police baton at Luke.

Luke caught the baton and threw it onto the bed with a smile. "Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes. It won't taste good once it's cold."

Selina immediately sat up and asked, "What is it?"

"A traditional Chinese dish," Luke said casually, before he went back to cooking.

Ten minutes later, Selina sat at the table and said, "You may serve the food now, Chef Luke."

Luke brought breakfast over from the kitchen and said with a smile, "Soybean milk and youtiao. If you want meat, there's also pan fried dumplings."

Selina was already drooling. She reached for the bowl.

Luke saw it coming, and slapped her hand away. "It's very hot. Put sugar in the milk first, or salt, if you want; I don't like it salty myself. Also, you can dunk the youtiao in the milk if you want. You can have the pan fried dumplings first, and see if you like those." Eventually, it was Luke who added sugar to the soybean milk, because Selina was too busy devouring the pan fried dumplings. Luke had already anticipated that, so there was hardly any hot liquid inside the pan fried dumplings, and the glutton wouldn't burn her mouth.

Luke, on the other hand, leisurely ate the youtiao that was soft from being dunked in the soybean milk.

The crispy and salty youtiao with the hot and sweet soybean milk was most delicious.

After finishing six pan fried dumplings, one bowl of soybean milk, and two youtiao sticks, Selina looked at her bowl and said, "Why do I still want to eat when I'm already full?"

Luke said, "Because it's your first time having this. Let's go. It's time to work now that you're full."

Selina had already gotten her reward from Luke, so she couldn't goof off.

Elizabeth greeted them when she saw them at the police department. "The boss wants to talk to you in her office." She then nodded at Elsa's office.

They went to the office and Selina gave the snacks to Elsa first, while Luke leisurely sat down on the couch.

Elsa told Selina to close the door, before she asked, "Are you trying to dig me a hole?" Luke chuckled. "Of course not; when I considered the benefits, the first person I thought of was you."

Wearing a complicated expression, Elsa glanced at Selina before she said, "Alright, pretend that you don't know what happened yesterday, and so will I."

Luke nodded.

Elsa then continued, "What's the progress on the Mark Owen case?"

Luke nodded with a smile. "A sergeant called Big Nick may be willing to tell us something."

Elsa asked, "Who is he?"

Luke said, "He's the man who transferred the prisoner to Mark Owen. Selina and I helped him a little when they caught the robbers yesterday, and I think he wants to return the favor."

Pondering for a moment, Elsa nodded, but then reminded him, "Don't trust them too much. Things are a lot more complicated in the county police than here."

Luke understood that very well.

While the population in the county office's jurisdiction was similar to that of downtown Los Angeles, the area that the county office was in charge of was much bigger, and covered 42 cities.

A person had to be shrewd to thrive in that sort of environment.

Luke could only blame himself if he was naive enough to believe that this sort of person had good intentions, and he later wound up in a trap for it.

Instead of immediately sending them out, Elsa changed the topic. "You have another tricky case on hand, don't you?"

Luke thought for a moment and asked, "The girl in pajamas who was hit and killed?"

Elsa nodded solemnly. "I read the case file earlier and noticed something. Do you know who was driving the car that killed the girl?"

Luke thought for a moment and said, "It seems it was from Prime Exotic, a luxury race car club? It's definitely related to those rich kids obsessed with special hobbies."

The club's name could be interpreted in two ways: It could refer to expensive fine goods, as well as to the best exotic dancers. When linked to luxury race cars, the meaning couldn't be any more obvious. Elsa asked, "Do you know who's behind this race car club?"

Luke thought for a moment. "A bunch of sons from big name families?"

Elsa nodded, but then shook her head. "Most of those who play around at the club are only customers. They'll make a bit of trouble for you at most, but the Major Crimes Division isn't scared of them. However, I have information that the person who truly has a deep connection to this club is called Dylan Elsworth."

Luke hummed in response and waited for Elsa to continue.

But it was Selina who cut in. "The Elsworth family?"

Elsa said, "It seems you've heard of them. You give him the basic rundown on the Elsworth family, then."

Selina said, "If it's the Elsworth family I'm thinking about, I only hope that they're not mixed up in this." Luke grew interested. "Are they that amazing?"

"Dylan Elsworth's father is Henry Elsworth. His grandparents are Sheldon Elsworth and Doris Elsworth," said Selina.

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me?"

There hadn't been much word on Sheldon Elsworth in recent years, but Luke had seen this name before when he looked into the history of Los Angeles. The man retired as the mayor of Los Angeles twenty years ago, and then continued working as a city councilor.

Ten years earlier, his son Henry Elsworth took his place as city councilor, and ran for mayor.

Doris Elsworth wasn't a politician, but she managed several major charity funds in Los Angeles and was also the leader of multiple women's rights organizations.

Organizations like these didn't have any real power, but a lot of celebrities, as well as their daughters and wives, took part in them.

Selina nodded. "That should be them. You know Elsworth Avenue, right? Or visited Elsworth Park in the east? Both are named after their family."

Elsa interjected, "If you're not familiar with the roads or don't go to parks, California also has a city called Elsworth."

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Chapter 334 Feeler, and an Unsavory Meeting Place

Luke's and Selina's eyes widened. "Their family's… city?"

Elsa nodded. "Back then, their ancestors found a gold mine and built Elsworth on it, making them one of the top families in California to this day."

Selina drew in a sharp breath.

It wouldn't be good to provoke families like these which were still going strong even more than a century later.

And looking at Sheldon's and Henry's standing in the community, the family showed no signs of declining. Luke asked, "So…" Elsworth said, "So work on other cases first! Unless you're absolutely certain… No, as long as the Elsworth family is involved, you must let me know first before you touch them."

Luke looked at her and suddenly smiled. "Okay, Elsa."

Elsa wasn't discouraging him. She was well aware of the power that these local families had, and what their bottom lines were.

She was as good as saying that she would shoulder a huge part of the responsibility and risks, which wasn't a smart move.

But she was truly a boss whom Luke admired.

Those who didn't cover for their subordinates couldn't expect their subordinates to work hard for them.

After he left the office, Luke went to Sonia. "How's your investigation on Big Nick coming along? We have an appointment with this big shot later."

Sonia looked away from her screen and said in a low voice, "Something is seriously wrong with them; they get no less than thirty complaints every year about their use of violence."

Luke chuckled. "Does that mean that each person gets a complaint every quarter?" Sonia said, "That's just complaints about their use of violence; they get other minor complaints practically every week. But…" "But they're good," Selina finished for her.

Sonia nodded. "They're basically either from the special forces or the military, but they refuse to join SWAT, and just stay in the county police's Major Crimes Division. They're really good at dealing with violent crime, which is why the county police turn a blind eye to minor infringements." Luke understood perfectly.

n

a

The county office couldn't demand that they practice personal discipline when they were so good at handling cases.

Why would such capable people want to stay in the county police? They would definitely go somewhere better.

So, the county office chose the lesser of two evils and tolerated Nick and his crew.

After all, there were few officers who could have fought the professional robbers yesterday without retreating.

A bunch of regular officers would have absolutely been taught a lesson by those ex-marine corp robbers.

Luke pondered the matter for a moment as he leaned against Sonia's desk. "So, this Nick is actually quite influential in the county police department? Then our hard work yesterday wasn't for nothing."

Sonia shrugged. "That's right. They're quite powerful and more well-informed."

Luke was amused. Nick's crew absolutely worked in the gray area; they didn't come across as decent police officers.

He looked at his watch. Since it was already eleven, he called Big Nick.

After a few simple words, Luke got up. "Let's go. But later, only Alessandro and I will be asking the questions."

Both Sonia and Selina were confused, but neither of them said anything. They got into their cars and drove off.

In the car, Selina asked, "What did Elsa mean?" She was puzzled by what Elsa said earlier.

They hadn't started working on the case of the girl in pajamas yet.

If it was troublesome, they could just put the case aside. Why would Elsa warn them but not stop them from working on the case?

After some thought, Luke sighed. "Those with power and influence will naturally have enemies, who might use us as a feeler."

Selina hadn't expected that answer. "Are we going to follow up on that case?"

Luke nodded. "It's our duty to work on cases. We certainly should investigate it."

But he himself would decide how to investigate or even close the case. He wasn't foolish enough to become someone else's

gun.

That was what Elsa had been implying earlier.

But someone who could go toe to toe with the Elsworth family certainly wasn't someone she could piss off, nor could she speak explicitly about it; she could only tell Luke to talk to her before he did anything.

This was the knowledge and insight of a seasoned detective!

Luke was still a stranger here compared with Dustin and Elsa, and he wasn't as sensitive to the power struggles that were taking place.

After another year or two, however, he should be able to establish his own information network, and not just anyone would be able to manipulate him then.

Very soon, the two cars reached their destination, and Selina's eyes bulged when she saw the sign. "You didn't get enough last night? We're coming here during the day?"

Luke said, "It was Nick who chose to meet here, okay? Also, I'm very healthy. One night is nothing."

Selina was lost for words.

True, Luke would never be desperate enough to come here during the day.

When he got out of the car, Luke said, "You and Sonia stay here. Keep the comms open and pay attention to your surroundings."

Selina nodded and took the driver's seat.

Luke and Alessandro gave Nick's name to the security guards at the entrance, and they entered the club called South American Jungle.

It was very quiet inside.

It was only just past eleven, which was still time to rest for places like these.

The two security guards at the entrance shouted at them and pointed at one corner.

Luke and Alessandro went in that direction and passed through a hallway to reach what looked like a room.

"1024, this is the place." Looking at the number on the door, Luke knocked.

A moment later, the door opened with a click.

Nick opened the door in jeans and a tank top.

Luke could only turn down his Sharp Nose and try to keep his distance from the bearded man.

But the smell in the room was even more vile.

For safety reasons, he couldn't turn off his Sharp Nose, so he could only try to decrease its sensitivity.

Nick stared at Alessandro. "He's with you?"

Luke glanced at Alessandro and nodded. "Yes."

Nick made way for them. "Come on in."

Luke and Nick finally entered the room.

It turned out to be a suite, with a lounge that was more than thirty square meters in size and which was connected to four or five other rooms.

It wasn't especially lavish, but it definitely had class.

The leftover wine and food around the suite also clearly illustrated how expensive this place was.

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Chapter 335 The Real Suspect, and Taking You For a Spin

Thank god there wasn't any weed or meth! That was good, since it would be a big problem if the police officers were collectively indulging in these two things.

Also, the doors to two of the rooms were wide open, and Luke noticed pale and dark skin entwined around each other.

Fortunately, these people were just sleeping and not doing anything else.

Luke also smelled blood, which belonged to the two officers who were injured in the gunfight yesterday. Luke could only admire their lackadaisical attitude toward life. But women and alcohol weren't things that officers had to avoid. On the contrary, Luke himself had to count on Jenny and Jimena to help stabilize his mindset, and he couldn't despise these officers for doing the same.

He didn't wait for an invitation from Nick before he sat on the cleanest part of the couch that he could find.

Alessandro didn't sit down, and simply stood next to him.

Nick lit a cigarette and poured himself a glass of wine. After drinking a mouthful, he said to Luke, "Do you want some?"

Luke shook his head with a smile. "I don't drink."

Disdain flashed across Nick's face, but only for a moment.

This detective who just looked like a boy was a tough character who had taken down four robbers yesterday without getting hurt.

Both Nick's team of twelve along with the eight robbers suffered more casualties, so he really couldn't look down on this young man.

"Mark Owen, Texas ranger. You're interested in him, right?" Nick looked at Luke and asked.

Luke nodded.

Nick was silent for a moment as he played with the glass he was holding, before he said, "Are you sure you want to investigate this?".

Alessandro couldn't help but hold his breath; something about those words didn't sound right.

Luke nodded again. "He was a police officer who died in the line of duty in Los Angeles, and I'm a police officer too."

Nick fell silent again, before he said, "A word of advice: If you don't have a boss who's got your back, you should give up."

Luke smiled. "As it so happens, I do." Nick stared at him, then suddenly grinned. Ridicule flashed in his eyes, but it clearly wasn't aimed at Luke.

Leaning back against the couch, Nick had another mouthful of wine before he said, "Lucas Barton is a level 2 deputy sheriff. He's a little below me and I've never crossed paths with him before. However, he was the one who handed the Wade Davis matter to me, you get it?"

Luke nodded.

Nick was a sergeant and a level higher than Lucas Barton in the county police system.

If Nick was telling the truth, Lucas Barton had obviously used him as a shield, which was why Nick had given out his name so easily.

Luke had done Nick a great favor yesterday without asking for anything in return, while Lucas Barton had set him up even though he was a colleague, so Nick didn't hesitate to sell him out.

Luke got up now that he had a name. "Thank you very much, Nick. I won't waste any more of your time. Goodbye."

Nick didn't ask him to stay.

Luke had helped him out a lot, but from their brief encounters, Big Nick vaguely sensed that the young detective wasn't the same type of person as he was.

The best would be if they went their separate and opposite ways.

Just as Luke was about to disappear from view, Nick finally said, "Hey! A piece of advice!"

Luke turned his head. "Huh?"

"Lucas Barton isn't a one-man show," Nick said. "Don't cross the line."

Luke chuckled and walked away without saying anything.

What was the line?

Nick was giving him a warning as a cop who wasn't clean himself, so he clearly wasn't referring to the issue of Lucas Barton being a dirty cop, but was more likely implying that there was someone behind Lucas Barton.

Mind whirling with these thoughts, Luke walked out of the club with Alessandro.

Before he got into his car, Luke said to Sonia, "The two of you go back to the police department and look into Lucas Barton. He's a level 2 deputy sheriff in the county police

rtment. Investigate the people related to him as well."

Sonia nodded silently.

It was clear that this Lucas Barton was the real suspect in the officer's murder.

Big Nick and his crew, on the other hand, were more blatant about being dirty, and the probability that they were the ones who had killed the officer was very low.

The intelligence showed that Nick and his crew hadn't gotten rich overnight.

They clearly had their own source of income, and didn't have to break a prisoner out for money.

Besides, they were very flashy in their police department, and an enemy would definitely seize the chance to mess with them if they had killed an officer.

These were Sonia's thoughts, which were more or less in line with Luke's.

The two cars split up on the road, and Selina asked, "Now what?"

Luke said, "Let's go for a spin."

Selina chuckled. She didn't believe him.

Luke had always been a boring old fogey. She didn't think that he would ever take her for a ride.

Some time later, Selina was surprised. "You're really taking me for a ride?"

Luke stopped the car on the edge of a park with a smile, and fetched Selina's regular snack from the mini-fridge in the backseat. "Let's go. How about an afternoon picnic here?"

Selina asked, "Where are the drinks?"

Luke patted his head and took out a few Dr. Peppers and two cups from the trunk, which he gave to Selina.

He then rummaged around for two thin blankets. "We've got everything now." Selina cheered and pulled him into the park. "Haha, I spotted a great place for sunbathing earlier. Let's hurry, otherwise somebody else will take it."

Ten minutes later, Selina was blissfully lying on her stomach on the blanket, a small dish with the opera cake on it in her hand. She had been obsessed with the cake recently.

Luke wasn't in a hurry to eat. Instead, he opened a Dr. Pepper and remarked, "The sunlight's nice."

Selina didn't even look at him and simply snorted. "Of course the spot I picked would be good. Satisfied?"

Luke smiled at the three girls in their twenties who were several meters away.

They were basking in the sun in their bikinis.

Luke was generous with his praise. "Of course, you're an expert."

Selina enjoyed sunbathing too, but she was wearing too much gear at the moment, plus they were on the clock, so she couldn't be like the three girls.

She looked at the three girls and sniffed. "You're fine with such skinny bodies?"

"It's a free show," Luke replied casually.

Indeed, the three girls weren't nearly as magnificent as Selina. They weren't on the same level at all.

Selina asked casually, "Right, where are we? This place is quite nice." Luke said, "Elsworth Park."

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Chapter 336 Baby, and Unexpected Gunfight

Selina was surprised. "Are you kidding me?" No wonder this fellow suddenly said that he was taking her for a spin. Also, did they just pass Elsworth Avenue?

While she was surprised, she didn't say anything else.

Luke was a lot more prudent than she was.

Looking at the people who were enjoying the bright sunshine in the park, Luke remarked, "What a quiet and peaceful…"

"Oh god, why is there a baby here?" a woman cried out in the distance.

Luke turned back, only to see a baby on a merry-go-round dozens of meters behind him.

The woman was also looking around as she exclaimed in shock.

She was too far away for Selina to hear her, and Selina was still enjoying her cake.

Luke frowned and got up.

He wouldn't have bothered if it was any other minor issue, but a baby had been dumped in the park, and he had to at least go over and confirm the situation.

"Selina, it's time to work," he called out to the glutton.

Selina raised her head in confusion, and followed his gaze. "A baby? What's going on?"

Even as she said it, she was already putting down the cake and getting to her feet.

Right then, four men in black ran toward the merry-go-round. The woman picked up the baby and raised her voice. "Whose baby is this?"

The four men in black quickly ran over. "Give us the baby."

The woman subconsciously stepped back when she saw the four men. "You…" No matter how she looked at them, they didn't look like guardians at all. Luke sped up and shouted, "LAPD! Don't move!"

The four men abruptly looked at him, and two of them reached under their armpits, while the other two lunged at the middle-aged woman.

Luke's expression turned grim.

He was too far away.

He was thirty meters away from the four men, who were too close to the middle-aged woman carrying the baby. He wasn't confident that he could kill them all at once.

He could only push off of his feet with a burst of speed.

Bang!

There was a sudden gunshot, and the woman holding the baby screamed and fell as blood burst out of her thigh.

Luke's face turned cold, and he took out his gun.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

As he opened fire with his Glock, he began to zigzag instead of moving in a straight line.

Two men fell before they could aim their guns at him.

One was shot in the abdomen and the other in the head. They were killed instantly.

Luke came to an abrupt halt.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The other two men who had planned to steal the baby also collapsed from a shot in the abdomen and the head respectively.

In those two short seconds just now, Luke had closed the distance to twenty meters, but the woman had also been shot.

But the moment she fell, the woman broke free of their hold.

Luke no longer had any qualms.

These men were simply scum, to shoot an innocent woman holding a baby.

Selina had already closed in from the side, but she didn't say anything, and instead looked around warily.

She never doubted Luke's ability to crush criminals. Her responsibility was to make up for anything he might miss. "Three o'clock, fifty meters, the black SUV!" she suddenly shouted.

Luke moved swiftly as he threw himself behind a nearby tree.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Grimly, Luke yelled, "LAPD! Everybody lie down and don't move!"

There were dozens of regular residents here who were enjoying the afternoon sun in the park.

Two automatic rifles had already started firing wildly at Luke's position from the black SUV which Selina had pointed out, and the tree shuddered with the impact from the bullets.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

There was suddenly a pause in the gunfire from the automatic rifles, as Selina had taken cover and was firing back at the shooters in the SUV.

Almost at the same time, Luke darted out and fired his Glock rapidly as he ran.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Now that both he and Selina were coordinating, the shooters didn't dare raise their heads anymore.

Multiple bullet holes appeared in the windows of the black SUV, and the two people in the car could only stay as low as possible.

At that moment, the sound of Selina's gunfire stopped as she had used up her bullets.

Luke wasn't surprised since he had been counting the remaining bullets in her gun.

He stopped shooting as well, and the shooter on the driver's seat tried poking his head out.

Pa!

The last bullet in Luke's Glock 23 was reserved for this man.

The bullet pierced his right eye and blood blossomed on the back of his head.

Luke was now five meters away from the black SUV.

Over such a short distance, even a heavy machine gun wouldn't be as fast as his pistol.

After the shot, Luke put the gun back in his holster and took out the M686 from another holster. "LAPD! Open the door slowly, throw out your gun, and crawl out."

As he was yelling out the instructions, he saw that Selina had closed in, and was behind a tree ten meters away as she stayed on high alert.

If she hadn't noticed the black SUV beforehand, the two of them might have been seriously injured in the ambush just now, and they couldn't let their guards down yet.

There was no response from the black SUV.

Luke wasn't impulsive. Shifting his gun to his right hand, he observed his surroundings while he put on his badge.

"I'll shoot if you do not surrender on the count of three," Luke said calmly.

"One, two, three…" Just as he finished counting down, the door of the black SUV opened on the other side, and a man in black tried to run away. Bang! Bang!

After two gunshots, the man screamed and fell. The gun dropped from his hand, and he clutched his legs as he writhed on the ground.

Luke had shot him in his right thigh and his left knee.

The man might still be able to use one of his legs if he was lucky, otherwise he would have to choose between a wheelchair or a pair of crutches for the rest of his life.

Luke then stepped forward and handcuffed the man.

He searched the man and didn't find any other weapons on him. He then said, "Selina, bring our car over and call for reinforcements."

The police intercom system in the car was the easiest way to call for backup.

Selina ran off to get the car. Luke didn't check the black SUV, which now only had the driver, whose head had been blown up.

He quickly ran back to the woman who had been shot, and examined her injury as he soothed her.

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