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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Read Super Detective in the Fictional World - Chapter 337 - Licensed Legitimate Therapy Clinic online free - Light Novel Full

Chapter 337 Licensed Legitimate Therapy Clinic

A moment later, Luke soothed her with a smile. "Ma'am, the bullet didn't nick your artillery or bone. There's no need to be anxious."

The woman finally calmed down at Luke's gentle voice and warm air. She remembered something and said, "The baby… a man took the baby. I couldn't stop him."

Luke comforted her. "It's alright. I've already let my colleagues know to look for the baby. It'll be fine."

Looking at the woman, he sighed inwardly. What a nice person! She was still worried about a baby she didn't know even when she had been shot in the leg.

Selina arrived with the car. Luke found the first aid kit and treated the woman's injury, before he had Selina watch her.

Luke then got up and examined the bodies of the four men in black. Verifying that they were already dead, Luke left them alone.

He stood up and narrowed his eyes at a bridge hundreds of meters away.

On the bridge, a big man was leaving quickly with a baby.

How interesting.

A few minutes later, the patrol cars arrived.

Luke informed them of the situation since Selina was taking care of the wounded woman.

A few minutes later, an ambulance arrived.

Luke and Selina escorted the woman to the ambulance and gave her a card. "You can call us if you run into any trouble."

The woman nodded gratefully. "Thank you."

Luke patted her hand and said, "You'll be up and about in no time."

Watching the ambulance leave, Selina asked in a low voice, "What's up with that baby?"

She had noticed an impoverished-looking middle-aged man take the baby away, and that Luke had seen him, but hadn't given chase.

Luke took off his thin gloves and threw them into a dustbin. "That man was the one who put the baby here in the first place."

Selina was surprised. "What?"

Luke started the car and said to Selina, "Also, he was around the entire time we were fighting the four shooters."

Selina was even more confused. "But why?" They were police officers, and if the man had planned to abandon the baby, he could've just given the baby to them.

Luke's eyes flashed. "It's hard to say. Let's go and find out what this gentleman is up to." The car sped up and drove away from the park.

"Ask Sonia to look into baby-related cases in recent days, like missing person cases. The baby can't have been born too long ago," Luke said.

Selina immediately called Sonia.

A moment later, she hung up the phone and shook her head. "Nothing." There were missing children in this enormous city every day, but no newborns had gone missing recently. Luke wasn't really surprised.

Six armed men, and a single man who clearly wasn't to be trifled with – these were the two parties involved in this incident, and their focus was the baby.

As for Luke and Selina, and the unfortunate woman who had been shot, they had only gotten caught up in it by accident. The baby that the two parties were fighting over couldn't be simple.

Very soon, Luke caught up with the destitute man.

The baby he was carrying was much easier to track. What Luke hadn't told Selina was that the man carried a strong smell of the baby's milk and poop, which meant that he had been taking care of the baby for a while and hadn't just picked it up for the first time earlier.

The man had enough time and opportunity to kill the baby or use it to achieve some goal, but he had instead put the baby in a park and waited for someone else to pick it up, which was very strange.

Half an hour later, Luke parked the car in front of a standalone five-story building.

The red and white building looked like a church, but it definitely wasn't one. With his Sharp Nose, Luke was very clear on this point.

Selina looked at the building. "This is the place?"

Luke nodded and got out unhurriedly. "Let's go. This will be a great eye-opener for you. Remember not to look too surprised."

Selina immediately grew vigilant. She thought of multiple possibilities: Rotten and bloody corpses? Gang members torturing their enemies?

Luke knocked on the door, and a young woman in a nun's robe opened it with a smile.

She was stumped for a moment when she saw the strangers. "How can I help you?"

Luke smiled and took out his badge. "LAPD."

"Ah!" The woman immediately grew solemn. "We're a licensed, legitimate therapy clinic."

Selina was dumbfounded. Was this woman… a shrink in a nun's robe?

She couldn't help but examine the nun's robe more carefully, and immediately sensed something wasn't right.

The nun's robe that the woman was wearing was a little strange and seemed a little revealing

Also, what was with her nipples?

It might not be a stipulated rule, but wearing a nun's robe without a bra… didn't make sense.

During Selina's observation, Luke said, "We're not here to check your license or search this place, but we don't mind doing so if we don't get satisfactory answers. So, I'll ask and you'll answer, okay?"

The young woman's face changed for a moment, before she finally nodded. "Ask, then."

Luke asked a few questions, and the answers he received weren't a surprise. He nodded and said, "Okay, take us to this Mr. Smith."

The young woman hesitated, but looking at Luke's smile that wasn't a smile, she could only nod. "But please don't interrupt the patients that are being treated, okay?"

Luke nodded.

The young woman let them in and closed the door, before she turned around and went upstairs.

Selina almost couldn't help exclaiming in shock as she stared at the young woman on the stairs with wide open eyes.

Luke covered her mouth and said, "Be cool, okay? You also need to keep cool once we're upstairs."

Selina nodded dumbly. Staring at the naked butt in front of her, a thought floated through her mind: Were nuns allowed to wear G-strings?

But what nun would wear a robe that only covered the front?

Luke simply smiled and dragged Selina along. The nun's robe that the young woman in front of them was wearing didn't have a back at all. Her back, waist, butt and legs were all exposed to the air.

The woman definitely wasn't a nun.

She looked back at Luke and Selina every now and then, afraid that they might suddenly shout "LAPD," which would reduce this place to chaos.

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Chapter 338 I Just Want An Answer

It was true that this clinic was licensed, but it remained to be seen how many customers in this place were willing to be interrogated by the police.

"Ah! Oh! Huh!" The door to the first room was open.

Unperturbed, the young woman said, "This is jiu-jitsu training to reduce stress."

"Come on, baby!" Slapping sounds rang out from the second open room.

The young woman said earnestly, "That's whipping therapy, which is quite expensive."

Luke found that odd. "Do you serve female clients too?"

The young woman immediately realized his meaning. "No, the customers are men."

Luke was rendered speechless.

It might be against the law if a male customer whipped a female therapist, but if he was paying her to whip him… that seemed to be within the law?

Selina was shocked but didn't say anything.

They reached a room at the end of the hallway on the second floor, which had an image of the queen of hearts on the door.

The young woman knocked on the door. "Miss Donna, could you come out for a second?"

A moment later, a woman replied, "Please wait a moment."

Luke raised an eyebrow.

There was the vague hint of an accent in the voice, and it sounded exotic, like whispers late at night.

Her voice reminded Luke of Vanessa, the long-legged woman with electrifying eyes.

Of course, it wasn't her, but the woman's voice had the same allure.

Luke chuckled and patted the young woman's shoulder. "You can go now. I don't think you'll be interested in what happens next, right?"

After a brief hesitation, the woman went downstairs, but didn't forget to add, "We have a proper license, so don't mess around, alright?"

Luke nodded wordlessly; while the woman had started off sounding righteous, she trailed off into a gentle plea… maybe it was an occupational disease.

After the woman disappeared down the stairs, the door of the room finally opened with a click.

Luke gave a few hand signals, and Selina dutifully stayed back and hid behind the door of another room.

Luke smiled at the woman at the door.

She had long, straight, black hair and large, slanted eyes which made her look a little like a fox.

Her lips were plump and attractive.

She asked, "Are you… here for therapy?"

Luke didn't look like most of the customers who came to her for therapy.

Luke smiled slightly and sized her up for a moment. "No, Miss Donna, I'm here for Mr. Smith."

The woman was stumped for a moment. "What Smith?"

Luke chuckled. "The man who's hiding behind the clothes rack next to the door with a gun in his right hand and a baby in his left hand. He's a middle-aged white male with stubble, 6 feet 2 in height, and wearing a black jacket and a pair of jeans. Need I go on, Mr. Smith?"

Luke looked in a certain direction, as if he could see through the wall.

The woman at the door was stupefied. She opened her mouth, but didn't seem to know what to say.

Luke glanced at her and sighed inwardly; the woman crushed Selina in every aspect!

She was wearing a dark red bondage outfit, which set off her breasts magnificently, black silk stockings, and a pair of knee-high boots.

Wow. What a professional therapist!

As the random thoughts crossed his mind, nobody said anything in the room.

Luke said to Miss Donna directly, "Can I ask you a few questions?"

Miss Donna subconsciously nodded under Luke's gaze.

The young man seemed friendly, but as a "special" therapist, she vaguely sensed an air about Luke that was hard to describe and at odds with his appearance.

"Then please talk to my partner over there, will you?" He gestured to Selina behind him to take Donna away.

Watching Miss Donna leave, Luke continued peaceably, "Mr. Smith, you had a chance to shoot us in the park, but you didn't. So, I think we can talk."

After another brief silence, the man in the room finally said in a low voice, "What do you want to talk about?"

Luke said, "The baby! Because of him, I killed five armed criminals in the park, and they shot an innocent woman, who's now in the hospital. I think I deserve to know the reason for all of this."

"Hehe. You're a police officer." The man chuckled but didn't sound happy.

Luke said, "What's the problem? I'm sure you saw my badge in the park."

"Then this isn't something you can take care of," the man said. "You should go now."

Luke narrowed his eyes. The police couldn't take care of it?

"I haven't received an order to stay away from this case yet," Luke replied calmly.

There was a low sneer in the man's voice. "A pregnant woman and more than twenty armed gang members died in an abandoned factory last night. Have you seen the news? No? I think you'll receive a call soon."

At that very moment, Luke's phone rang. He looked at his phone and picked up the call. "What's wrong?"

A moment later, Luke hung up with a cold expression. Pondering for a moment, he walked into the room and closed the door.

Turning to look to his side, Luke chuckled. "Mr. Smith, it seems that you're right. I was just told that the case has been transferred."

Next to the door was a tall man who was holding a gun, but he didn't have it raised.

This Mr. Smith smiled when he heard that. "So, I guessed right, but that doesn't make me happy."

Luke observed the tall man for a moment before he said, "Me neither. Let me ask you something. You must need money, and maybe weapons too, right?" Smith narrowed his eyes. "What are you getting at?"

Luke told him an address and then took out a wad of cash from his pocket.

"There are a few guns in the basement of that abandoned factory. You can have them since I won't be using them. As for this…" He threw the money onto the bed. "Consider it a reward!"

Smith frowned. "What do you mean?"

Luke kept smiling. "I'm a curious man, so when you find the answer, do let me know."

Although he was smiling, there was no emotion in his eyes.

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Chapter 339 Rules and Violence

After a brief silence, Smith asked, "How do I contact you once everything's over?"

Luke took out a card and flicked it toward Smith.

Smith caught it easily. "What do you want, exactly?"

Tilting his head, Luke thought for a moment. "Maybe, just an answer?"

As he spoke, he opened the door. "One last question: Why are you protecting this baby?"

Smith said, "No women, no kids. Those are the rules."

Hearing that, Luke nodded at Smith in the dark corner, and stepped out of the room.

Smith frowned and listened to the footsteps fade away. A moment later, when Miss Donna returned, he asked, "Quintano, are they gone?"

Donna Quintano was the woman with even more magnificent breasts than Selina. She said in confusion, "Yes, I watched them leave."

Smith sighed heavily with relief. He put the card in his pocket and memorized the address he had been given, before he grabbed the wad of cash that was on the bed.

Donna's eyes bulged. "Where did you get that?"

After a brief silence, Smith said, "A commission." He then put the cash into his pocket.

"Now, five thousand bucks for taking care of him for a day. Deal?" He held up the baby and looked at Donna.

Donna bit her lip and didn't say anything.

On the other side, Luke turned to look back at the building after he and Selina left, and curled his lip. "We've been running into a lot of rich people lately!"

They went home instead of returning to the police department.

After Selina took a shower, she found Luke bustling around in the kitchen. She hesitated for a moment, before she asked, "Is there anything you need to tell me?".

Luke asked, "About that call?"

Selina didn't say anything.

Luke continued chopping vegetables swiftly but not carelessly.

He was precise and efficient. Nothing could be heard except the rustle of vegetables being cut.

"Dustin called to tell me that someone from HQ is taking over the Elsworth Park case," Luke said calmly.

Selina was surprised. "Is Dustin…"

Luke paused for a moment, before he continued, "I thought about it. It's probably unrelated to him. He's not a captain yet, and he was probably only relaying the order of some big shot."

That was a huge relief to Selina.

Dustin and Elsa were really good bosses whom she liked, especially compared with petty Brock.

"You…" Selina abruptly stopped, then changed the topic. "When will dinner be ready?"

Luke chuckled. "In twenty minutes at most. You can watch TV for a while."

Selina nodded and returned to the living room. She turned on the TV. "…Henry Elsworth has recently proposed a new motion in favor of gun control to make school campuses peaceful once more…"

Stunned for a moment, Selina turned down the volume and watched the broadcast for a few more minutes before she picked up her phone and made a call. "Sonia, how's the investigation on Lucas Barton coming along?"

After dinner, Luke told Selina to train on her own as he went to the garage.

Looking at his back, Selina curled her lip as she took care of the dishes.

To save time, they now had a modified dishwasher. All Selina needed to do was put the dishes inside, and once they were sparkling clean, take them out and put them away in the cupboard.

Half an hour later, Luke stopped a black Ford SUV outside a rundown apartment building.

He lay down comfortably in the driver's seat and watched a video recording on his tablet.

Another tablet that had been placed on the middle console had an image of the apartment building on it.

After going through the footage that he had just received, Luke sneered. "These people are really well-informed. They found the therapy clinic so quickly."

Murmuring to himself, he checked the surveillance feed on the middle console.

The apartment building on the screen had already been abandoned, but there were lights in a few windows on the fifth floor.

At that moment, there were five men in black outside the main entrance. One was trying to open the door while his companions looked on.

Luke's sound collector caught their conversation loud and clear.

"There are so many abandoned apartment buildings in this city. Why do you think he's here, boss? Another lucky guess?"

"No, he doesn't guess. He can sense things we can't see. He used to be a behavioral analyst with the FBI."

The man who was opening the door turned back with a resigned expression on his face. "I was a behavioral consultant, as I've told you countless times. Can you stop giving me new titles? Details! The details matter!"

While talking, he exerted strength, and the door opened. He was about to walk in, when his underlings stopped him. "Don't you think you should stay at the back, boss?"

The boss, who was wearing glasses and had a thick beard, grinned. "The leader who stays in the back can only eat leftovers."

As he spoke, he walked in first.

Luke raised an eyebrow.

This guy was quite interesting!

Luke sat up, but wasn't in a hurry to get out of the car. Instead, he merely adjusted the voice collector.

"… Violence is the most interesting thing in the world that's worth watching." The man's voice was full of expectation.

Luke sneered. That was only true when you weren't the victim of that violence.

"Get me at least fifty men. Our Mr. Smith is an expert marksman; he won multiple quick shooting championships in the UK when he was just 16." The man gave the order in a low voice.

Luke realized why Mr. Smith had left such a unique impression on him.

In some sense, the man and Luke walked similar paths.

Precise, efficient, cold and steady – no wonder Mr. Smith's expression had been so composed when he said that he had killed more than twenty shooters.

He was a natural assassin.

Interestingly, while Mr. Smith was supposed to be a heartless man who would do anything for money, he was trying to protect that little baby. Luke shook his head in amusement and pulled the hood of his shirt over his head before he got out.

"Do you know what I hate most in a movie?" the bearded man asked the group of people who quietly entered the lobby of the apartment building.

The shooters all looked at each other in bewilderment.

"I hate it when the director always lets the good guy who plays the hero go." The bearded man's smile was gone. "So, don't let it happen to you; no one takes my money for nothing."

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Chapter 340 Smith's Hardcore Battle and Luke's Covert Assistance

All the shooters nodded at the same time.

This big shot was known for his brutality. They couldn't afford to piss him off.

One of the subordinates approached him. "Sir, the men on the roof are ready."

"Now, go up and kill that baby as well as Mr. Smith. Right, kill that nanny too." The bearded man rose and waved his gun.

All the shooters immediately went upstairs.

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

Bang!

Whooosh!

Ahhhhhhh!

A moment later, the shooters in the lead had already engaged the target on the fifth floor while the last of them were still on the second floor.

When they got to the third floor, Luke, dressed in dark clothing, walked right through the wide open entrance of the apartment building.

He shook his head inwardly at the shooters that had swarmed upstairs; they hadn't left anyone behind to guard the entrance.

But that was understandable. They must've thought that they could finish Mr. Smith off easily.

Thinking that, Luke took out a P226 and put a silencer on it.

He was only here to provide covert assistance, and would stay low as much as possible.

There was the sound of glass shattering, and one of the shooters landed with a crash on the first floor.

Luke looked at him and chuckled inwardly.

The man had crashed through the skylight with a hole in his chest, and had gone on to be killed by the fall.

Choosing a corner on the second floor, Luke raised his gun and aimed at the shooters at the top of the stairs on the fifth floor.

Da! Da! Da! Da!

Four shooters who just reached the fifth floor collapsed.

Three died silently, but the last one still cried out.

Luke knew that the silencer affected his accuracy a little, and it wasn't really unexpected.

A silencer couldn't completely cancel out the sound of a gun.

With the silencer, his P226 sounded like a nail gun, and also masked the burst of fire from the barrel.

In the apartment building that was full of chaos, it was as good as a soundless pistol.

Luke wasn't greedy. He stopped for a moment after eliminating four opponents.

He paid special attention to the shooters' responses, particularly that of the bearded man.

The guy had an ugly face that was wan and bloated, but he was quite the professional.

When he had the time, Luke would ask Old Greyson if he knew this behavioral consultant.

It was clear that this bearded boss hadn't thought about the possibility of a sneak attack. His attention was completely focused on the fierce exchange upstairs.

Luke continued decisively with his attack.

Da! Da! Da! Da!

Another four shooters went down without anyone struggling this time.

Luke swiftly retreated.

The bearded man glanced downward; he had clearly sensed that something wasn't right.

Luke smiled. The man really was an expert.

Luke swiftly left his position and exited the building through one of the rooms. Throwing out his grappling hook, he climbed to the top of the building.

During his earlier ambush, four shooters had rappelled down from the top of the building.

Luke didn't think that they had anybody left on the roof.

When he got to the top, Luke took a deep breath before he flipped over the edge of the roof. Looking through a broken skylight, he moved to another one that was several meters away.

This was close to Smith's position.

He raised his gun and pointed downward.

Pa! Da!

Two guys who were firing wildly with their Uzis were shot in the back of their heads.

Luke quickly moved to another skylight.

Pa! Da! Da!

Three shooters were shot down one by one. This was like a game of shooting the balloons for children! Luke chuckled to himself.

ns

While he was shooting the enemy from the dark, Mr. Smith went on a rampage down below.

He stepped onto a table and jumped as he opened fire with the two guns in his hands.

The four shooters who surrounded him screamed and fell with sprays of blood.

Smith hit the floor and rolled over to a flatbed cart, before he pushed off with a burst of energy to get the cart moving. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Another two shooters who had just reached the fifth floor rolled back down the stairs.

The cart collided with a shooter who ran out, and when the man doubled over, Mr. Smith aimed a gun at the man's head.

Pa!

Rolling over to some shelves nearby, Mr. Smith tossed his HK-P7 and P226 aside, and grabbed a HK416 that was on one of the shelves.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Two shooters who appeared at the other end of the shelves were blown back.

Smith grabbed a long skateboard and lay down on it, before he pushed off of a shelf.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Sliding through the shooters that surrounded him, Mr. Smith opened fire left and right with his HK416, and the shooters screamed.

By the time he reloaded his gun at the end, the skateboard had already shot out of the shelves section.

Ten or so shooters were in a rough circle, but their guns were pointed at the shelves.

Lying on the skateboard, Mr. Smith dashed into the ring.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! He pushed himself around with his legs and the skateboard drew a huge arc on the floor.

Mr. Smith didn't even need to move his gun too much. He just let the skateboard carry him around, and he fired at every shooter that he passed.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" The shooters all collapsed.

Looking down from the skylight, Luke was amazed at Smith's capabilities.

He glanced at the stairs again and almost laughed out loud.

The bearded boss was already charging… downward, followed by four of his trusted subordinates, as they fled without hesitation.

The last bunch of unfortunate shooters who had reached the fifth floor were picked off one after another by Smith, who was in berserker mode.

Smith was roaring to himself, F*ck! Do you think you're the only ones with weapons? I also have weapons now!

He had been short of money recently, and had had to use his bullets judiciously, so his battle with the shooters last night had been quite unsatisfying.

Now that he had acquired a batch of excellent firearms and a tremendous amount of bullets, he was finally able to let loose.

Seeing that Mr. Smith was crushing the enemy on his own, Luke simply put his P226 back into his holster.

After a while, the gunfire on the fifth floor stopped.

Luke was full of admiration.

Smith's marksmanship was absolutely first class. A shooter fell every time the HK416 opened fire, and after only a dozen seconds, all the remaining shooters had been killed.

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Chapter 341 Genuine Carrot and Another Elsworth

Smith quickly packed up the guns and stuffed them into a long knapsack.

These guns were handy and top rate. There was no way he would throw them away.

Slinging the knapsack over his shoulder, he suddenly raised his head.

There was nothing but the dark sky outside the broken skylight.

Frowning, he grabbed Miss Donna, who was holding the baby, and said, "Let's go; we'll check out the bar where that heavy metal band is playing." Miss Donna ran after him. "This is absurd. Oliver is so small, how can he be into rock music?"

Smith said, "That may be our only lead."

He murmured to himself, In any case, I've taken ten thousand dollars from that young man; I can't not do anything. On the roof, Luke watched them leave before he jumped off.

Half an hour later, three black SUVs stopped in front of a rock n' roll bar in the eastern district, and a dozen men in black suits got out.

They definitely weren't gangsters.

They had the air of professional security guards.

Luke whistled a tune: "If you like to gamble, I tell you I'm your man. You win some, lose some, it's still the same to me…"

It was the same song that could be vaguely heard from the bar.

Those men in black suits rushed in, and a moment later, a tall man led a gorgeous woman who was holding a baby out of a side alley, before they entered a hotel that was diagonally opposite the bar.

Naturally, it was Mr. Smith and the special therapist Miss Donna.

Luke was amused. "Sure enough, you're good. Even professional security guards can't catch

you."

A few men in black suits ran out and looked around with guns.

Someone then cursed, "Damn it, someone killed Philly. Did you see anybody suspicious?"

They spoke over the walkie-talkie for a bit, before they returned to the bar in frustration.

Luke knew that some of them must've been killed soundlessly by Mr. Smith after they ran into him.

But what were those men doing here? As Luke pondered this, he looked at the surveillance feed of the surroundings which he had set up, then suddenly exclaimed, "What the hell?"

The men in black suits were moving close to ten bodies in black body bags out the back door.

But one of the bags wasn't zipped up all the way, and a man's head lolled out while the bag was being moved.

There wasn't anything strange about the body itself; what was weird was that in his left eye, there seemed to be… a carrot?

Was it a carrot-shaped toy? Murmuring to himself, Luke adjusted the camera to focus on the carrot.

In the end, no matter how he looked at it, it was a genuine carrot.

A moment later, a man noticed the exposed head and the carrot. He cursed angrily and zipped up the bag.

But in his carelessness, he accidentally broke off the carrot.

Luke was lost for words. Was that really a carrot?

In no more than twenty minutes, the men in black suits cleaned up everything and drove off.

After some thought, Luke went to the back door.

He picked up the broken carrot.

Observing it carefully for a moment, he exerted some strength, and instantly crushed some of it into powder.

Luke chuckled and put the carrot in a plastic bag, before he stored it in his inventory.

Returning to the street in front of the bar, he had yet to come out of the side alley, when he saw that a dozen guys in black combat uniforms had surrounded the hotel.

Their objective was clear and their movements were swift as they surrounded a room on the second floor.

Where were these guys from? Luke was baffled.

But the room they had surrounded was where Mr. Smith and Miss Donna were hiding.

Luke rolled his eyes and chuckled, before he took out his P226 and aimed.

Bang!

"Ah!" One of the men who was creeping forward on the first floor screamed and fell.

Luke ran off immediately after the shot.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Intense and chaotic gunfire rang out, and a number of the guys in black combat uniforms fell from the second floor, screaming.

Some were blown out of the room, and some were killed before they could charge in.

Their weapons were quite good, and a few of them were using the expensive MP5K.

Regretfully, even the best weapons were nothing when wielded by unworthy users.

Mr. Smith in the room, on the other hand, was without doubt an expert gunsman, and he was holding a top class weapon made by a HK company.

Despite their absolute advantage in numbers, the men in black combat suits died one after another at Mr. Smith's hands.

In less than five minutes, all eight men were killed.

Even the guy who was hiding in the shadows downstairs after being shot in the butt didn't escape death.

At that point, another song started playing in the bar opposite: "I've got a bad boy and that's all right with me. "…Is nothing that I can't keep clean…"

Humming the song, Luke walked past unhurriedly on the opposite side of the road, and waited in the dark.

A few minutes later, Smith reappeared with Donna and the baby, before they disappeared around a street corner in the distance.

Luke smiled and went up to the room. Surveying the environment, he quickly took photos of the men in black combat uniforms and their gear with his fake phone, before he left.

In his car, he took out a laptop from his inventory, transferred over the pictures he had just taken, and had a program start looking for relevant leads.

He started up the SUV and drove off.

When he got home, Selina was wearing a bathrobe and drying her hair in the living room.

She simply looked at Luke and didn't ask anything. After Luke took a shower and came out, Selina said, "I checked Lucas Barton's files. His record's clean."

Luke hummed a response and looked at the information that the program had just put together on the tablet about the weapons and equipment of the men in black.

He saw a name – Hammerson Defense.

Selina continued, "This Lucas Barton is practically a model officer compared with Nick. There've been no complaints about him in the last two years."

Luke began to search for Hammerson Defense while he asked, "He sounds like an upstanding officer, then. Does he not have any medals from the county office?"

"But there's some information here which indicates that Lucas Barton is very close to someone from the Elsworth family," said Selina.

Luke paused and raised his head. "Who is it?"

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Chapter 342 Elsworth Again

"Wolf Elsworth, Henry's biological brother. Also, what's interesting is that this Wolf Elsworth has been working with a real estate company in the last few years to try and break into the real estate market in Los Angeles, and a big project was just launched recently. Does that ring any bells?" Selina blinked as she looked at Luke.

Luke smiled. "As I recall, Wade Davis is in the real estate business in Texas? And he has a pretty big company." Selina gave him a thumbs-up. "That big project is managed by a newly-established construction company called 3M, which has two major shareholders. Wade Davis provides most of the capital and equipment, and has roughly 32% of the shares, while Wolf Elsworth has about 21% of the shares. The remaining shares are distributed among eight others, but even the biggest proportion among them is only 11%."

"So, Wolf Elsworth is the second largest shareholder in 3M." Luke was deep in thought.

With ridicule on her face, Selina said, "Regretfully, this new company is looking at possible bankruptcy in recent months."

Luke had some tea and said casually, "Wade Davis is a professional real estate businessman, but has been accused of two first degree murders and will stand trial in Texas. Things don't look good for him."

Both he and Selina grew up in Texas, so they knew very well what the place was like.

Texas was famous for a lot of things, including its criminal justice system, which handed out more death sentences than anywhere else in America.

In comparison, California had the death sentence too, but it had already been decades since anyone had been executed.

The southern American states carried out far more executions than the eastern and western states, and Texas was a paragon southern state. No matter how many marches and protests there were, the death sentence had never been abolished.

The judges in Texas were ruthless and merciless when handing down the death sentence.

It was almost as if they were declaring to the whole country that they dared to do what other people didn't.

This was exactly what the Lone Star Republic was like.

If Wade Davis stood trial elsewhere, he would be sentenced to life imprisonment at most.

After a few years and as long as he had the money, there would always be a way for him to return to the beautiful world out there.

Once he was extradited to Texas, however, even if it might be years before he was finally executed, there would be no way for him to get out of prison before then.

Wade Davis was the person supplying the project with money and equipment. If he was caught, the project would lose its true patron.

The banks certainly wouldn't give the project anymore loans, even if the Ellsworth family was involved.

After all, business was business.

The Elsworth family's enterprise wasn't in real estate. They weren't experts in the field, and the banks wouldn't bend for them.

So, this big project was as doomed as the new 3M construction company. "How are things between Wolf and Henry?" asked Luke.

Selina said, "There's no sign of a conflict between the two brothers, but they rarely see each other."

Luke shrugged. "It seems that they don't share a close brotherly bond."

Selina finally asked, "What's the situation with that baby?"

Luke thought for a moment, then shook his head. "There's no progress for now. I'll tell you later once things are sorted out. Go to sleep."

Selina yawned and returned to her room. "Okay. Good night."

Luke nodded and decided to sleep two and a half hours tonight; he would treat the additional half an hour like a holiday.

The next morning, they drove to the police department after breakfast.

Sonia greeted them at the police department. "What's the arrangement for today?"

Luke nodded. "I'll go see Elsa first."

Sonia went back to her own desk after hearing that.

Luke and Selina entered Elsa's office and shut the door.

Elsa raised her head. Seeing them, she dropped her pen and asked, "What's up?" Luke got straight to the point. "Wolf Elsworth, Henry Elsworth's brother, is involved in the Mark Owen case. I thought you should know."

Elsa dropped her forehead into her hand. "What happened?"

She had just warned them to be careful on the case with the girl in pajamas, but the Elsworth family was also involved in the officer's murder.

They were a big local family, and things wouldn't be pretty if they were involved in the murder of an officer.

While the rich might boss the police around, the police wouldn't let themselves be led around just like that, and couldn't pretend that nothing had happened. If they had killed a Texas ranger this time, who was to say that they wouldn't kill a Los Angeles officer next time?

This definitely wasn't a precedent that could be set.

Elsa had already known that something was wrong with the county police, but she hadn't expected the Elsworth family to be part of this too.

Luke told her the basic situation, and Elsa took a deep breath and frowned as she leaned back in her chair.

Wolf Elsworth was really a major suspect in this case.

The file showed that the real estate project he was on was worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and tens of millions had already been invested into it.

While Wolf was mostly helping out on the project by making use of his social connections, some of the money invested was his as well.

If the project succeeded, Wolf wouldn't need to worry about money for the rest of his life.

Killing a Texas ranger wasn't a big deal when so much money was involved.

Elsa got up and said, "I'll talk to the boss. You wait here for a bit."

She didn't return until almost half an hour later.

She closed the door, and even before she sat down, she said, "Keep investigating the case, but just focus on Lucas Barton. Do you understand?"

Pondering for a moment, Luke nodded. "Got it."

Looking at him, Elsa sighed. "You're really too…" She shook her head and waved her hand at them to go.

At their own desks, Selina asked in a very low voice, "What was that?"

Lucas said, "We'll make it very clear that we're only investigating Lucas Barton. As to who hired him, it's none of our business."

Selina frowned. "Is that possible? That Wolf Elsworth seems to be the mastermind."

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Chapter 343 Falling Objects

Luke sneered. "Don't think that rich guys are stupid. Wolf would be an idiot to leave behind any evidence that he bribed Lucas Barton, and without evidence, nothing that Lucas Barton says will count. Besides, I don't think Lucas Barton would dare reveal Wolf's name. If Mark Owen can die, so can Lucas Barton."

Selina nodded quietly. She had seen for herself how savage the rich could be, back in Wolfkyle.

There were always scumbags in this world who had no regard for life.

Sonia joined them and noticed their unusual expressions. "Is there a problem?"

Luke shook his head. "It's nothing. Have you found anything else?"

Sonia said, "I talked to the female officer named Lila yesterday, and she told me something interesting."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"She said that Lucas Barton doesn't like talkative colleagues." Sonia had a complicated look on her face.

"And?" Selina grew curious.

Sonia took a picture out of a dossier. "And not long ago, the dog of a 'talkative' officer died."

Selina glanced at the picture before immediately giving it to Luke. "Damn it! This guy killed a golden retriever?"

Sonia didn't say anything, but she was obviously angry.

Many Americans regarded their dogs as part of the family. For example, the old golden retriever called Dollar was the darling of Selina's family, and had been with them since Selina was a young girl. Dollar was old now, but still a loyal playmate for her brother and sister, and absolutely a part of the family.

Selina would have no qualms shooting whoever hurt her Dollar.

Luke was also fond of dogs, but not as much as Selina.

Staring at the picture for a moment, he asked, "Has anyone examined the dog's body yet?" Sonia said, "That's why I'm here; let's go check out the autopsy results."

Luke rose and said, "Let's go and see what Officer Barton did to this dog."

In the forensics department, they found the forensic scientist Scorsese, who was a young black man with curly hair.

"Did you find anything?" Luke got straight to the point.

Scorsese's complexion didn't look good. "A little bit."

Sonia stared at him and said, "Wow, you don't look very well."

Luke was curious. "Hey, Scorsese, isn't it your job to dissect bodies every day?"

Scorsese said, "I specialize in dissecting human bodies, not dogs." Luke was speechless. Clearly, this man was a dog person too.

Scorsese avoided the uncomfortable topic and said, "All in all, we found two bullets in this golden retriever called Lightning. They're from a mini-14 assault rifle, which is a standard gun in the county police department."

Selina asked, "Is it the same gun that killed Mark Owen?"

Scorsese shook his head. "It's the same model, but not the same gun."

Luke asked, "Are there other leads?"

Scorsese shook his head again. "This is all we have."

Luke nodded and said goodbye.

Sonia said in a low voice behind him, "During my investigation on Lucas Barton, I found out that a charity group called 'County Police's Home for Boys' recently bought four mini-14 assault rifles."

Luke nodded and said, "But it isn't strange for a charity organization under the county police to buy some guns for training, right?" Sonia sneered and said, "But this County Police's Home for Boys is actually a private organization, established and run by that level 2 deputy sheriff."

Luke paused for a moment. "A private charity group using donations to buy guns? Is that their usual practice?"

Sonia said, "Not really. From buying records, this is the only time that the County Police Boys bought guns in the last two years."

Pondering for a moment, Luke asked, "But the bullets in Mark Owen don't match these four guns?" Sonia said, "No."

Luke wasn't really disappointed.

Lucas Barton was an experienced officer who wouldn't make such a rudimentary mistake.

"Let's go and visit this Officer Barton of honor and integrity," said Luke.

They drove east.

They asked the receptionist at the county police department, only to learn that Officer Barton had gone off to host a fundraiser.

"Ha. What a great philanthropist," Luke couldn't help but remark when he got into his car again.

Selina, however, was focused on something else. "The county officers are pretty good, they can go bowling together. Why doesn't our department have anything like that?"

Luke was as calm as ever. "…Actually, there was something like that once, but we went straight home after work and didn't join them."

Selina said, "What? Why didn't you tell me?"

Luke coughed and said, "My bad. I'll let you know next time."

They would be wasting several hours fooling around during a social activity like that, when they could spend the time training.

So, Luke had never intended to participate.

Selina wasn't really bothered, as her thoughts once again turned to something else. "Home for Boys… That name… Hehe." She glanced at Luke in the driver's seat.

Luke shrugged. "Every man is a boy who will never grow up. That's definitely true."

Selina couldn't help but remark, "Do you really think the county officers are boys?" She recalled the huge beard on Big Nick's face.

At the venue for the fundraiser, Luke had a lot of mixed feelings when he saw the big "DINNER" sign above the bowling alley. "This is a swanky fundraiser, isn't it?".

Sonia and Alessandro joined them as well.

Sonia said, "It looks like the county police has much better benefits than we do."

Luke nodded, "That's right. Why don't you talk to the boss about getting us more benefits too? You have my full support."

Sonia rolled her eyes. Only an idiot would piss off their boss like that.

Leading them to the bowling alley, Luke said, "Don't look like that. If the boss is reluctant, I can personally invite all the colleagues in our division to…"

BOOM!

A huge noise interrupted him.

Luke turned his head, only to see something land on a nearby car.

His face changed as he looked up at the sky.

"Holy sh*t!" He couldn't help cursing. "Don't run about, stay together!"

There were several black dots in the sky that were falling rapidly, and they crashed nearby with loud bangs.

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Chapter 344 Old Acquaintances

The black dots got bigger as they fell, and four of them hit the empty ground around the bowling alley, while three of them smashed into it.

Luke smelled an intense stench of blood. He quickly ran back to his car and took out a pair of binoculars before he looked at the sky.

"What the hell?" He was dumbfounded by what he saw despite his usual calm.

Several more objects were still falling from the sky, but had already passed over Luke's group.

But that wasn't important.

The important thing was that, with the binoculars and his acute dynamic vision, Luke had seen Mr. Smith's face.

Even wilder was that the guy and four men in black suits were shooting at each other in freefall and had yet to open their parachutes.

Luke finally realized what was going on when he looked at the two bodies that had just fallen.

Mr. Smith was somehow engaged in an air battle with those men in suits. The ten or so bodies that he had caused to fall from the sky left quite a few huge holes in the bowling alley.

Mr. Smith, I think only Detective John can compete with you in terms of crazy! Luke was utterly stupefied.

He would never do anything like this – this was playing with your life. If the battle grew too heated and he opened his parachute too late, he would be smashed to pieces on the ground. Elementary Self-Healing wouldn't save him from that. Swallowing hard, Luke thought for a moment, before telling Sonia to wait here.

He and Selina drove the car in the direction that Smith had landed.

Mr. Smith opened his parachute in the end, but Luke had to find out if he had survived the landing.

Suddenly, Luke raised his head, only to see a few more parachutes in the sky.

Looking at them through his binoculars, he was instantly amused. "Hey, they're all old acquaintances."

The guys landing from the sky were none other than the bearded man who called himself a behavioral consultant as well as his trusted subordinates.

Luke hit the gas pedal and sped toward the abandoned factory where they landed.

He snuck into the factory after the bearded man and his man entered, leaving Selina in the car to keep an eye on the surroundings.

In the factory, Smith was struggling on the ground as he gasped, "You again?"

The bearded man gave an ugly grin. "That's right, Smith. How are you going to escape this time?"

Smith coughed and didn't say anything else.

He had been shot in the shoulder, and he had broken several ribs during the landing. He had also dropped his gun.

He was at the end of his rope now. Luke didn't step forward, and merely watched in silence.

The bearded man obviously wasn't going to kill Smith immediately. He was like a cat toying with a mouse.

"Smith, tell me where the woman and the baby are, and I'll give you a quick death," he said with a creepy smile.

Smith spat a mouthful of blood and saliva at him.

The bearded man had seen it coming, and avoided it. "What a tough guy! So, let's talk somewhere else. We have a lot of time, don't we, Smith?"

He then had his subordinates tie Smith up.

Twenty minutes later, two black SUVs arrived and picked up the bearded man as well as Smith.

Luke returned to his own car and chased after them.

Selina asked, "What's going on?"

Luke thought for a moment, but still shook his head. "Pretend you don't know. I'm also an outsider here, so it's safest to know nothing."

He had checked the bodies of the men in suits who fell from the sky earlier.

While their bodies were mangled, their clothes and equipment all suggested that they were well-trained and very rich.

Or rather, that their employer was very rich.

The fifty shooters who attacked Smith last time were almost beggars compared with these guys in suits.

Only the men in black combat uniforms who had been killed in the small hotel were on the same level.

A boss who could afford a team like this couldn't be ordinary.

Or rather, a boss who needed a team like this couldn't be ordinary.

For example, Jennifer Perry could afford a team like this as a big celebrity, but she didn't need this sort of advanced equipment.

This was a team more geared toward killing rather than protecting.

Luke had made up his mind to stay out of the matter, at least on the surface.

Smith seemed to be a bigger troublemaker than he thought. He didn't know why the guys in suits were so bent on hunting him down.

From what Luke could tell, the guys in suits and the bearded man clearly weren't on the same side.

So, Mr. Smith had pissed off two tricky forces at the same time.

Selina didn't ask anymore questions after getting an answer.

She wasn't as good at acting as Luke was, and ignorance was the best cover.

Driving east for another twenty minutes, Luke stopped the car and said, "Drive the car back and tell Sonia to return to the police department."

Selina nodded and drove off after Luke got out.

Luke broke into an abandoned building next to the alley where he had stopped the car. A moment later, he climbed out of another window in a black mask, gloves and a hoodie. He then approached a factory two hundred meters away.

He turned on the electronic detection function on his fake phone; he didn't think that there were any cameras around, but it never hurt to be cautious.

With his grappling hook, Luke climbed nimbly up to a broken skylight. He fixed a camera at an angle before stealthily slipping away. Looking at the feed on his fake phone, he went around the factory and then eventually climbed up the side of one wall.

Entering through a wide gap between the top of the building and the wall, Luke slowly made his way through the mess of abandoned machines as he approached the group at the entrance.

Gloating, the bearded man said, "Some people are smart and some are idiots. Who's the winner now, Mr. Smith?"

Smith looked at him and said, "Your boss Hammerson's plan is screwed. Henry Elsworth is dead. You can't threaten him with the baby anymore. Also, everyone will see his death as the doing of weapon dealers like you, and his gun control plan will receive even more sympathy and support."

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Chapter 345 Rescuing Knight Smith

The bearded man burst out laughing. "Smith, do you really think that I was hired by just Hammerson Defense? Councilor Henry's gun control plan affects more than one person. Also, I'm sorry to have to tell you that Councilor Henry's plane just crashed into the ocean, and his body can't be recovered. How about that?"

Smith found that hard to believe. "That's impossible. You can't cover this up."

The bearded man grinned sardonically. "Yes, we can. The people behind me are more powerful than you can imagine. Now, tell me where the woman and the baby are."

Smith was suspicious. "If you've succeeded, why are you still looking for them?".

Chuckling, the bearded man was about to say something, when another group of men entered the factory.

He rose and greeted the newcomers with a much more sincere smile. "Oh, boss, you're here."

Luke raised an eyebrow at the "boss" who had just arrived.

It was none other than the chairman of the board of Hammerson Defense. After inheriting the weapons manufacturing company from his father twenty years earlier, he became the new leader of the company; he was someone who had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

When Luke had examined the black combat uniforms of the men who attacked Smith at the hotel, he had discovered that their arms didn't carry any branding, but were quite advanced.

After doing a search with his program, Luke discovered that those guns had the same functions as some of the latest models that Hammerson Defense was about to release.

Recalling the conversation between Smith and the bearded man, Luke now had a faint idea why the chairman of the board of Hammerson Defense was involved in this.

One of Henry Elsworth's campaign promises was a large-scale clean up of illegal weapons.

The focus was on illegal weapons, but less people buying weapons illegally would also lead to less legal purchases of weapons.

Money was also needed to buy illegal weapons. Henry's proposed bill wouldn't affect just Hammerson Defense, but also the livelihoods of other arms companies.

If the gun control plan proved to be a success in Los Angeles, which was plagued by crime and gangs, other districts would definitely follow that example; after all, gangsters had much fewer votes than regular citizens.

Hammerson Defense was a fairly large company, but most of its market was based in Los Angeles and nearby cities.

Councilor Henry's proposed bill thus unavoidably shook the foundations of Hammerson Defense.

Even more critically, several new weapons which Hammerson Defense had developed at great cost were about to be released. If they couldn't make a profit in the Los Angeles market, Hammerson Defense might risk losing a lot of money.

It wasn't a complicated situation. Luke's only question was: Why was the baby the center of everyone's attention?

While Luke was pondering this, Hammerson had joined the crowd.

He was close to fifty years old, and had a long and thin, sickly pale face.

Unexpectedly, he had brought a German shepherd with him to this unsavory affair.

Hammerson stepped forward with the dog, ignoring the bearded man.

It was clear that Hammerson didn't think much of the bearded man, although the latter had been so cocky a moment earlier.

"Mr. Smith, do you think yourself clever? There are so many things you can do in this country, as long as you have money. For example…" Hammerson waved his hand.

A gorgeous woman with a baby was dragged in by two men in black combat uniforms.

The moment he saw the woman, Smith's eyes widened and he struggled violently.

Hammerson chuckled.

The bearded man also started laughing out loud. "Oh, Smith, look at you now. How humiliating."

Hammerson waved his hand and stopped the bearded man. "Alright, since Mr. Smith wants to play the knight, let him watch the person he was protecting die. That will be the perfect ending."

Hearing that, Luke knew that this Hammerson was scum as well.

The bearded man smiled maliciously. "As you wish." Saying that, he raised his pistol.

Bang! Bang!

After two gunshots, everybody was stunned.

Miss Donna and the baby in her arms were safe and sound.

The bearded man, however, screamed. His arms dangled at his sides, a bloody hole in each of his shoulders.

It was he who had been shot.

The four men in black combat uniforms that had come with Hammerson immediately raised their guns. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! They fell at the same time before they were able to spread out. They were all shot in the chest and the head.

The bearded man's four trusted subordinates finally came back to themselves, and protected him as they ran out of the factory.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Gunshots rang out once again.

The loyal lackeys of the bearded man finally ran out of luck. They collapsed, as blood sprayed from their chests and heads.

Smith had the keenest senses although he was heavily wounded.

Almost the instant the gunshots rang out, he raised his head and saw someone lurking in the shadows.

Hammerson, this weak pansy, looked around in fright and shouted, "Who is it?"

He had barely yelled the words, when a wooden stick flew out and hit him in the head.

Hammerson's eyes rolled back and he passed out.

Gritting his teeth, the bearded man roared, "Who are you? What do you want? Money? We can give you a huge amount of money."

Luke curled his lip.

People like this always liked to use money as a last ditch attempt.

While it worked most of the time, it was useless for a man who had a system.

Bang! Bang!

The bearded man screamed again, as a bloody bullet hole in each of his legs.

Smith didn't say anything. He simply stared at the person high up in the shadows, his eyes flashing

Under his gaze, the person unhurriedly reloaded his gun and then casually tossed the Glock down to him.

Narrowing his eyes, Smith said to Donna, who was still stunned, "Come here and untie me."

Donna, who was holding the baby, jerked out of her stupor. She looked around and took a dagger from one of the men who had just fallen.

Less than a minute later, Smith got up. Rubbing his numb arms and legs, he asked, "What do you want?"

The person didn't speak. He merely pointed at the bearded man and the unconscious Hammerson, before he drew a finger across his throat.

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Chapter 346 Mr. Smith's Rescue and Gratitude

Smith lowered his head and stared at the Glock on the ground in silence.

Suddenly, he picked it up and raised the gun.

The bearded man roared, "No, you can't…"

Bang! Bang!

The bearded man's expression froze as two bullet holes appeared in his forehead.

Smith didn't even bother to look at him. He moved his gun to the side.

Bang! Bang!

Two holes appeared in the forehead of the unconscious Hammerson on the ground.

Lowering the gun, Smith was breathing hard as he looked at the person in the shadows. "What now?"

When he asked the question, his finger trembled on the trigger; he was ready to attack if necessary.

The person in the shadows seemed to chuckle and also clapped his hands soundlessly, as if applauding Smith's decisiveness.

Then, the person unslung a black travel bag from over his shoulder.

Throwing the black travel bag down to Smith, the person in the shadows quietly retreated into the darkness.

Frowning at the spot where the person had vanished, Smith opened the black travel bag after a brief hesitation, only to see rolls of euro and dollar bills.

After a quick check, he confirmed that the cash wasn't new and was fine to use.

Taking a deep breath, he zipped up the travel bag and gave it to Donna. "Let's get out of here."

Donna was surprised. "Huh?" She looked at the bodies all over the ground, then hurriedly accepted the bag and helped Smith out of the factory.

Smith said, "We'll take this car. Drive Hammerson's car into the factory, then find something to lock the entrance."

Donna immediately understood.

Hammerson was a rich man and his car was very eye-catching.

Gangsters like the bearded man, on the other hand, definitely didn't use cars registered under their own names, so they wouldn't be easy to track.

Secondly, this was an abandoned factory.

As long as the entrance was locked, nobody would notice the cars that were inside for months, or even years.

Donna helped Smith into the car, then gave him the baby. "You can keep Oliver company first. It seems that he missed you."

Smith lowered his head with a smile; the face of the baby in his arms wrinkled with an aggrieved look, as if it would start crying at any moment.

Smith said softly, "Hey, we'll find a quiet and beautiful place soon, and start a new life. Nobody will hurt you anymore, Oliver.'

The baby burst into tears despite the soothing, but Smith's smile didn't dim at all.

This was the cry of life!

He was alive, Donna was alive, and even little Oliver was alive.

There were hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bag, enough for them to hide somewhere for years.

Rocking little Oliver in his arms, Smith's mood was complicated when he recalled the stranger just now and how the man had tossed him the bag of cash.

A German shepherd suddenly jumped out of the factory. It was none other than the dog which Hammerson had brought with him.

It circled Smith and sniffed Oliver, and it whined as it wagged its tail in delight.

Smiling, Smith touched the dog's big head and said, "It seems that you don't want to stay either. You can come with us."

A few minutes later, Donna drove the car away from the abandoned factory with Smith, Oliver and the German shepherd dog.

Soon after they left, Luke returned to the factory. Watching them go off, Luke chuckled. "In the end, I'm still the one stuck with clean-up; hitmen really aren't professional at getting rid of trash."

Ten minutes later, both the bearded man and Hammerson, as well as the men that had come with them, disappeared completely from this world, although their cars were still parked inside the abandoned factory.

Who was to say that these two didn't suddenly receive enlightenment, and decided to go on a journey with their subordinates?

Not long after, Luke waved his hand on the side of the road as Selina came to pick him up.

Recalling everything that had just happened, he secretly murmured that it was quite nice to be a spectator once in a while.

He checked the system and was quite satisfied.

Mission: Eliminate Hertz's gang.

Total experience: 2,000. Total credit: 2,000.

Contribution rate: 80%. EXP 1,600. Credit 1,600.

Mission: Kill Hammerson.

Total experience: 500. Credit: 500.

Contribution rate: 80%. EXP 400. Credit 400.

20% of the experience and credit had gone to Mr. Smith for being the one to actually kill the two bosses, which was understandable.

And this was just Luke's earnings for today.

He had also obtained 200 experience and credit points for killing the five shooters in Elsworth Park, and 350 credit points for providing assistance last night.

He had earned 2,550 experience and credit points from Hammerson and the bearded man in just one day, and his experience had reached a total of 19,440 points.

More importantly, Mr. Smith would take the blame for all the kills.

Suddenly, a system notification popped up.

System: You have received Smith's appreciation. You may now learn all his abilities.

Smith's abilities: Basic Firearms, Basic Special Combat, Basic Intelligence Gathering… Elementary Penetration (special mental class)

Luke was stunned. What was that?

Closing his eyes, he studied Smith's ability in the system carefully.

Elementary Penetration (special mental class): Prerequisites: 20 Mental Strength and 10,000 credit points. There wasn't much information, but Luke didn't think that the ability could be bad, based on both its value and the simple explanation.

An image popped into Luke's head: The man in black in the body bag, who had a carrot sticking out of his head.

Luke smiled. It seemed that there was one more ability for him to buy after his level-up.

He was running out of credit points again, which was so… exciting.

Selina noticed his smile. "You ran into something interesting again." It wasn't even a question.

Luke nodded and said, "Let's go back to the police department first and see if there's any news."

Selina didn't question him further. This definitely wasn't a small matter, and confirming it through official channels was also a good thing. What was an official channel? For example, private information straight from Elsa and Dustin's mouths, which would be very trustworthy.

Back at the police department, Luke wasn't in a hurry to see Elsa. Instead, he fetched two Dr. Peppers and enjoyed them with Selina.

If it was big news, it would take time for it to be confirmed first, and Elsa and Dustin wouldn't get word so quickly.

No more than an hour had passed since Smith's skydiving act.

Sonia and Alessandro joined them. Luke looked at them and smiled. "Do you want one too?"

Sonia thanked him but declined, and Alessandro said, "I think I need more calcium."

In other words, fizzy drinks were bad for the bones.

Luke chuckled and opened his desk drawer.

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Chapter 347 Rich Man Luke? Ascetic Luke?

Pa! Dum!

A carton of milk and a bottle of juice were placed on the desk. "The milk is for you, and the juice is for Sonia."

Alessandro was lost for words.

Sonia picked up the juice and had some, before she said in a low voice, "We ran into Lucas Barton when we were checking out the bowling alley just now. It almost turned into a fight."

Luke didn't stop drinking as he hinted with his eyes for her to continue.

Sonia said, "The guy was almost killed by a body that smashed through the skylight. When we ran into him, he interrogated us like we were prisoners. He certainly didn't look like an officer who hadn't received a complaint for two years running."

Luke was amused; after encountering this massive incident, the mask that Officer Barton used to fool the rest of the world had crumbled.

"Also, after he inspected the men in black who fell from the sky, Officer Barton's expression… was pretty ugly," Sonia added. Luke nodded calmly. "Anything else?" Sonia shrugged. "Then, the guy kicked us out."

Luke wasn't surprised at all.

The place where the fundraiser was held was the county officers' turf.

There would be dozens of county officers in the bowling alley; Sonia and Alessandro certainly wouldn't be able to do anything.

Sonia looked at Luke. "After this incident, I don't think Lucas Barton will be in the mood to deal with us."

Luke nodded. "Then let's drop the case for now. Are you working on any other cases?"

Sonia shook her head. "Only minor ones."

She still wanted to work on a few more cases with Luke, as Luke was very capable and wasn't greedy for credit.

Luke nodded and said, "Have you looked at the case of the girl in pajamas, who was hit by a race car?"

Sonia shook her head.

Luke gestured at Selina, who gave the case file to Sonia.

Luke said, "You can study it first and do some background research, but don't alarm the family." Sonia asked, "Which family?" "The Elsworths," Luke replied.

Sonia paused just as she flipped opened the case file. "Them again?"

Luke nodded but murmured to himself, No need to be scared. There's one less Elsworth to worry about; let's see when the obituary comes out.

For now, he was the only person in the police department who knew that Henry Elsworth was dead.

Checking his watch, Luke rounded up Sonia and Alessandro, as well as Elizabeth and her partner, for lunch together.

When they returned from their early lunch, their colleagues at the department were headed out for their own food, so Luke and Selina didn't have to hide the takeaway boxes as they brought them to Elsa's office.

Alessandro sighed in his seat. "I want to be rich too."

Sonia was freshening up. She laughed when she heard that. "He doesn't smoke, drink or go to bars. He works hard during the day and works out when he's off work. You better learn from Luke's lifestyle first instead of envying his wealth. That way, you'll be a lot stronger, and you'll save a few thousand bucks a year on your social expenses while you're at it."

Alessandro was lost for words. Was that how a human being lived? Besides, how would she know that Luke didn't have any hobbies? In any case, even if Alessandro drank, smoked, and went to bars to pick up girls, he was a good officer, so why did he need to change?!

It wasn't like Sonia had investigated Luke; she was drawing her conclusion from her daily contact with him.

So, a lot of her assumptions were wrong.

For example, Luke had so many hobbies that he was always busy after work.

He had to craft equipment, familiarize himself with all his abilities, practice shooting and combat skills, and relax with Jenny or Jimena once in a while.

Not knowing that his colleagues viewed him as an ascetic, Luke entered Elsa's office and gave her the lunch takeaway. "Boss, here's your lunch."

Elsa hummed a response. A moment later, she raised her head. "What's wrong?"

Luke gestured at the takeaway Selina was holding. "That's for Dustin."

Elsa dropped her pen. "Really, what's wrong?"

Luke's face didn't change. "Nothing's wrong. I treated Sonia's and Elizabeth's teams to lunch, and I thought I should bring some for you and the boss."

Elsa looked at him suspiciously and got up. "Put mine in the drawer." She then took Dustin's lunch, and went off to give the lonely middle-aged man some warmth.

Selina watched Elsa walk past the lounge to Dustin's office in a corner opposite, and said in a low voice, "Did you really plan for her to deliver lunch?"

Luke chuckled. "Who knows. Let's just wait and see. In any case, you can't return takeaway."

They waited for more than half an hour before Elsa finally returned from Dustin's office with a strange look on her face.

With Luke's eyesight, he had easily been able to see Elsa and Dustin conversing.

From their expressions, he knew that they were talking about something important.

Elsa closed the door the moment she came back. "You knew?"

Luke was confused. "Huh?"

Elsa glared at him and sat back down in her chair. "Enough. Don't play dumb in front of me…"

Luke still looked at her innocently.

Elsa could only give up. "Fine, let's talk business. Henry Elsworth is missing. The word is that his plane crashed, and the coast guard is now searching where the plane went down."

Luke looked shocked. "Really?".

Elsa said, "…Yes, but it's unclear exactly what happened to Henry. Also, he's not the only Elsworth. Don't do anything reckless."

Luke nodded solemnly.

Elsa, however, found his attitude unusual, and stressed again, "I mean it. Don't do anything stupid, okay? Old Elsworth isn't dead yet. Henry is just a rookie compared with him."

This time, Luke and Selina nodded at the same time. "Got it, boss."

Lost for words, Elsa waved her hand and said, "Okay, get the hell out of here. If you're free, look into this case." She threw a case file at them.

Luke picked up the case file and said, "Alright, boss. Not a problem, boss."

Elsa frowned and muttered in a low voice, "Why do I always feel like this guy is up to something? Am I being too sensitive?"

A moment later, she dropped it.

Luke had always been diligent and prudent, and had never committed any grave mistake, which was one of the reasons why Elsa and Dustin trusted him.

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Chapter 348 An Idea, and a Plan For College

When they left, Selina asked him a question with her eyes.

Luke simply grabbed her coat and her purse. "Let's go and look for leads."

Selina was stunned. "Huh?"

Luke patted the case file in his hand. "Don't we have a new case?"

Selina was lost for words. Really? We're going to go out and investigate a case that we still don't know anything about?

Sonia looked at them curiously when she saw that they were about to leave.

When Luke passed her desk, he looked at her computer screen and nodded. "You work on this for now. It may be very helpful in a couple of days."

Sonia nodded, showing that she understood.

Luke and Selina were about to leave, when Elizabeth coughed and walked over to them.

Seeing her expression, Luke greeted her and asked, "Is something the matter, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth smiled awkwardly and said in a low voice, "I just received a call. My mother will be here in a day or two."

Luke didn't think much of it. "No problem. I'll pay for their stay here."

Elizabeth was speechless. "That's not what I want to talk to you about. I've already found a place for them to stay. It's Chris. Didn't you say that you need to talk to him in private? I'm telling you in advance that he's coming, in case you become too busy."

Luke slapped his forehead.

Elizabeth naturally knew how busy Luke had been in the last few days.

Roger and Martin's unexpected hiatus had caused the three teams under Elsa's command to become especially busy. Even Sonia's team had to help them out.

Elizabeth's reminder was quite timely.

Luke had almost forgotten about the thing with Chris.

That was because whether Chris succeeded or not, it was only a bit of money to Luke.

Now that Elizabeth had mentioned it, however, Luke simply had her follow them to the parking lot.

When they got into the car, Luke and Elizabeth sat in the back, while Selina was in the passenger seat. Luke asked, "Elizabeth, do you have any personal savings that you can use?"

Elizabeth was surprised, but then shook her head with a bitter smile. "I don't have any money. I haven't paid off my college loans

yet."

Luke got it.

It wasn't easy to get into a good college in America. The tuition fees alone could be over a hundred thousand dollars.

Elizabeth was born and raised in a small town, and her mother wasn't rich. So, it was inevitable that she would have a huge college debt.

Furthermore, most college graduates earned much less than even blue-collar workers in the first years after starting work.

This was another invisible chasm which enabled the children of the rich to maintain their excellence and forced the children of the poor to remain as ordinary workers.

Some rich kids could be depraved and useless, and some poor kids could be extraordinarily talented geniuses.

But money demolished all odds, and a rich kid had a much higher chance of making something of themselves.

It was one of the reasons why the rich stayed rich and the poor remained poor.

Luke thought for a moment, then said, "How about this…"

He put forward his idea, and Elizabeth and Selina both looked at him in bewilderment.

A moment later, Elizabeth couldn't help but ask, "Why… would you do this?"

Luke coughed and said, "Because I think very highly of you." Both girls gave him strange looks after he said that.

Seeing their expressions, Luke raised his hands helplessly and apologized. "Fine, that came out a little wrong. To put it simply, if this works out, you'll have contributed to it, but since we're colleagues, I can only compensate you in a roundabout way."

Elizabeth shook her head again. "You saved my family. That's a favor that I must return. So…"

Luke chuckled and interrupted her. "Don't. I have my own ideas on the matter. You only need to try your best to get it done, got it?"

Elizabeth hesitated for a long moment, but eventually gave in under Luke's gaze. "Ookay, but I can't promise that I'll succeed."

Luke got out of the car. "It'll be best if you do. I trust Samantha more than I trust Chris."

Elizabeth was surprised. "What?" How was this related to Chris?

Since Luke had gotten out, however, it was a clear sign that the conversation was over.

She could only get out and watch Luke take the driver's seat, before he waved goodbye at her and drove off.

Frowning, Elizabeth slowly walked back to the office.

Her mind whirled with thoughts.

She went over everything that Luke had said from the beginning to the end. Then, she remembered something that Luke mentioned at the end. "Is it about that mine…"

She subconsciously shut up.

As Luke said, this was a sensitive matter, and it was best if she didn't say anything about it unless it was necessary.

Her mind in a mess, she entered the office as if she were sleepwalking.

In the car, Selina glanced at Luke. "What's on your mind, exactly?"

Eyes on the road, Luke said casually, "The cooperation with Chris will be part of the company's business. What do you think?"

When Selina finally caught on, her mouth dropped open and she pointed at herself. "Are you saying that I have a share in this too?"

Luke nodded. "That's right. You're the second biggest shareholder of the company with 5% of the shares."

Selina said, "…Just keep bragging. I really shouldn't have traded two hundred thousand dollars for shares in a minor workshop."

After a brief silence, Luke said, "Do you want more shares? If you don't want to be a police officer anymore, you can supervise the company."

Selina was confused. "In what way?"

Luke said, "It's like the Internal Affairs Division in the police department, and it investigates company members."

Selina shook her head in disdain. "People will hate me for doing that. You can keep your shares. I'm not interested."

Luke hummed a response and said, "That's fine too. Right, I asked Jenny to look for a few colleges for part-time study… cough, and which you can graduate from easily. Why don't you sign up for one of them?"

Selina pulled a long face. "Really? I still have to train."

Luke chuckled and slowly stopped the car, before he whispered something in Selina's ear.

She exclaimed, "You can really do that?"

Luke nodded. "Yes, but that's between us, alright? We'll be in serious trouble if anybody else finds out."

Selina chuckled and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, darling, you're really considerate. Why didn't I meet you in high school?" Luke rolled his eyes. "Come on. I didn't go to high school until you graduated, alright?"

At home, Selina went to train, while Luke gave Bobby a call to make arrangements for the visitors.

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Chapter 349 The Truth About the Baby

Business was business.

Since he was going to negotiate with Chris in his company's name, it would be best to do it through official channels.

After that, he called Jenny to say that the two of them had to discuss the future development of the company that night.

Jenny pooh poohed at him over the phone, before she hung up, giggling.

Luke scratched his head. I'm being serious here. What's with this attitude? I'm going to show you the fury of a CEO tonight.

After he did all that, Luke began to make dinner.

They had gotten off work early, and he had more time today.

More importantly, until he could determine what Mr. Smith had done, it was best to lie low.

When he was searching for suspicious activity online with the mini-program he had created, he received a notification on his laptop.

Looking at the notification, Luke opened a forum message. After decoding the message, Luke was lost for words.

Mr. Smith was truly a lunatic.

The information which Smith sent to the contact number which Luke had left him had been encrypted and forwarded online as a nonsensical post on a major forum.

The content wasn't very complicated, but it was quite thrilling, and divulged the details about baby Oliver.

That night, Smith had run into a young pregnant woman who was carrying a baby. He had killed more than twenty shooters who came after her, but the woman still died, and Smith could only leave with the baby.

To his surprise, nothing about the gunfight appeared on the news, and it seemed that the media hadn't caught wind of it at all.

At noon the next day, while passing by Elsworth Park, he thought about using a stranger to get the baby sent to an orphanage.

That was when the gunfight which Luke got caught up in burst out. Unwilling to see the baby fall victim to the shooters, Smith took him away again.

After that, Smith ran into another group of killers, which struck him as even stranger.

That night, thanks to Luke's help from the dark, Smith killed all the shooters who attacked his temporary shelter.

Following a lead, he went to the second floor of the rock n' roll bar, only to discover that it was a secret surrogacy clinic, and that many men and women had died there.

The pregnant woman whom he had tried to save was precisely a survivor from this place.

After the battle, Smith looked for leads in several places, and finally discovered where the bearded man and the men in black had come from.

The bearded man worked for Hammerson Defense, and the men in black suits were part of Henry Elsworth's security force.

Henry Elsworth had leukemia, and needed a bone marrow transplant.

Who knew if he had talked to his son or his brothers at all, or if there wasn't a match, but eventually, Henry decided to create a matching bone marrow for himself with a newborn baby through surrogacy. The bearded man and Hammerson Defense learned of this. They wanted Henry to die, so they attacked the rock n' roll bar, and killed the women and security guards there.

Henry Elsworth's condition might deteriorate at any point, and his only hope was the baby.

Smith reached out to him, and boarded the councilor's private plane.

But after the plane took off, he discovered that Henry Elsworth had reached a compromise with Hammerson and sold Smith out.

Smith could only counterattack. He grabbed Henry, and shot the councilor in the end, before he jumped out of the private plane. That was the reason for the falling bodies over the bowling alley.

Luke sucked in a sharp breath of air when he read this.

Smith seemed even tougher than Detective John!

Detective John was brutal when it came to robbers, but Smith wasn't the least bit lenient even when it came to big shots.

If it were Luke, he wouldn't be so unbending.

He was an upstanding detective, after all, and if he ran into a big shot like Henry… he would definitely change his face first before he killed the man.

Luke rejoiced that it was Mr. Smith and not him who had clashed with Henry Elsworth, Hammerson and the bearded man.

Hammerson and the bearded man had also disappeared from the face of the earth.

As a super assassin with all that cash, Mr. Smith could hide anywhere in the world without needing to show his face for years.

As Luke sipped his tea and occasionally checked the meat on the grill, he went over everything repeatedly in his mind to ensure that he hadn't left any traces behind.

He was finally sure that he hadn't. The bag of cash was from Taha's safe back in Paris, which couldn't be tied back to Luke.

The guns he had given Smith were from Damon and his daughter, and had always been stashed in that basement.

He had also personally modified the Glock which he had tossed to Smith at the end, and there were no records of it.

The card that Smith had gotten was one of Luke's secret backup contacts; there was nothing but a number on it.

It seemed like he had taken the card out of his pocket, but he had actually extracted it from his inventory. He had even been wearing gloves when he tossed Smith the card.

The truly big issue was that Smith had killed Henry Elsworth.

However, Luke had been standing in front of the bowling alley with his colleagues when Henry's plane crashed. So, all was right with the world!

Reaching that conclusion, Luke called out with a smile, "Selina, try the roast meat."

Selina had just finished her shower. She came out in her bathrobe.

She cut a slice of the meat and tasted it, then nodded. "It tastes fine, but it could do with a bit more time on the grill."

She then took off the bathrobe to reveal the bikini she was wearing underneath, and jumped into their big "bathtub" in the backyard.

She had a lot of training to do that night, so she had to seize the chance to soak in the sun.

At four in the afternoon, Elsa called Luke "Where are you?"

Adjusted his mindset, Luke made himself sound exhausted. "I just got home from working a case."

Elsa said, "Wait for me at home. I've got something for you." Luke: "What?"

Elsa said, "…Why do I feel that you suddenly sound a lot more energetic?"

Luke immediately lowered his voice. "No, I was just a little… surprised."

Elsa snorted and said, "Whatever. There's something I need to talk to you about face to face."

Luke put his phone down and scratched his head.

Why did Elsa suddenly want to come over? Although she knew his address, she had never visited him.

In her own words, there was no need for her to visit him when they saw each other at work every day.

Luke thought that made sense. After all, his boss hardly spent time at home, except to sleep.

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Chapter 350 Elsa's Visit, and a Constant Reminder

Luke told Selina that Elsa was coming, and she didn't show any surprise.

The glutton's words were: "Cool. In any case, you've roasted a lot of meat today."

Luke was lost for words. Does this have to do with food? Can you be more serious? Whatever; for this person, food was an extremely serious matter.

Half an hour later, he welcomed Elsa into the backyard.

Elsa's eyes were full of envy when she looked at Selina. She asked Luke, "Is she like this every day after work?"

Luke thought for a moment and shook his head. "No; if the weather's good, she's like this maybe twice a week."

Elsa rolled her eyes.

Los Angeles seldom had bad weather; it was more than easy to enjoy the sun in the big bathtub twice a week.

Selina, however, grinned and greeted Elsa from the big bathtub. "Boss, do you want to join me? This bathtub has temperature control and a massage function, and can really soothe muscle fatigue."

Elsa asked, "Really?" But then she glanced at Luke.

She had to maintain the dignity of a leader… As if!

Luke used to be her partner, and she and Selina were now very close as well.

Both of them were straightforward and outspoken, and weren't wishy-washy at all.

"I didn't bring a swimsuit," said Elsa.

Selina got out and put on a big bathrobe before she pulled Elsa into the house. "I bought a few new swimsuits which I haven't worn yet. You can choose one for yourself."

Ten minutes later, Elsa came out in a bathrobe too.

Luke smiled and gestured at the barbecue. "Do you want to eat something first?"

Selina quickly proposed a better idea. "It's more comfortable to eat in the big bathtub."

Elsa looked at Luke, and he shrugged. "It's possible, as long as you don't expect me to prepare a whole table of dishes for you."

A moment later, Luke delivered roast meat and salad to the two women in the pool, while he sat on a deck chair nearby and ate leisurely.

Elsa never paid attention to what she ate, but what Luke made was quite delicious, and the place was nice too.

Los Angeles was no longer as cold in March.

In the warm afternoon weather, Elsa's exhausted body was massaged by the water in the big bathtub in the backyard.

She moaned comfortably. "No wonder you go home the moment you get off work."

She would stay home more often too if she had such a big bathtub. She might even consider getting off work two hours early to enjoy a soak in the sun.

Finishing a plate of roast meat and salad, she finally got out and dried herself, before she sat down in the chair next to Luke in a bathrobe.

Enjoying the peace and comfort of the afternoon for a moment, she finally said, "Somebody wants you to do your best and chase up on that case about the girl in pajamas." Luke hummed a response and waited for Elsa to continue.

Staring at the sunny sky, Elsa lowered her voice. "That's an order from the director, but…"

Luke sipped leisurely on his tea and listened on.

Elsa was suddenly amused; it seemed that she was even more anxious than Luke was.

She relaxed slightly and leaned back in the chair. "But the boss and I think that you should only pretend to work on the case, because we might not be able to protect you if anything happens."

Luke smiled. "Got it. It's all about acting."

Elsa gazed at him, then nodded. "Just keep it to yourself. Don't work too hard."

Luke nodded and poured her a cup of juice. "Thank you."

Elsa had a mouthful of the juice and closed the parasol above her head. "Selina, come here and put sunblock on me. It's been a while since I've sunbathed."

Selina got out and went to help her.

Luke sipped the tea and considered what Elsa had just said.

It seemed that Henry's disappearance alongside his plane had been confirmed, and someone was trying to cause trouble through Director Brad.

However, everybody was selfish.

Dustin was Director Brad's trusted subordinate, not his puppet.

What could Dustin get from taking down the Elsworth family? Could he be promoted to director?

Furthermore, as a family that was over a hundred years old, the Elsworths couldn't fall so easily.

When the Elsworth family counterattacked, it might be very hard to deal with the big forces, but it would be more than easy for them to deal with a few petty police officers.

As long as they were willing to fork out the money, they could easily set Luke up and have him trapped in an investigation by the Internal Affairs Division.

The Elsworth family had a lot of connections in the police department, including the Internal Affairs Division.

Director Brad would protect Dustin, but he might be unwilling to try his best for Elsa and Luke.

However, for Dustin, Elsa and Luke were subordinates that he had to do his best to protect.

If he didn't have these capable detectives, his performance as the leader of the Major Crimes Division would be a poor one.

Of course, if Dustin were in Director Brad's position, he might think differently.

For Luke, the whole thing was very simple.

He could investigate the case, or drop it; nobody could force him to do anything.

Not just Dustin, even Director Brad couldn't threaten him now.

Director Brad couldn't fire or demote Luke, because it was Tony Stark who had sent Luke here. Nobody dared to give Luke a hard time without good reason.

Besides, Luke was very rich. He had declared his gain of two million dollars from Las Vegas.

It was unrealistic to threaten a young man who had more than three million dollars with a dangerous job that made no more than a hundred thousand dollars a year.

Dustin and Elsa were also well aware of that, which was all the more reason why they would rather that Luke stay away.

If anything happened, Luke could retire and still be rich.

If he wanted to be an officer, he could go to the FBI or return to Houston.

If that happened, Dustin and Elsa would gain nothing and instead lose a capable subordinate.

Luke considered all these things while he checked the barbecue and read the file.

Elsa relaxed and enjoyed herself in the comfortable environment and with Selina's company. She didn't leave until after dinner. Before she left, she reminded Luke again when Luke saw her off, "Remember, don't work too hard on it. This isn't a regular case, and is just a power struggle between the rich. If we get involved, we'll just be cannon fodder whose lives nobody cares about."

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Chapter 351 Going Through the Motions at the Party Palace

Luke nodded with a smile and put a big bag of food in her car. "Got it. If you're really worried, why don't you arrange a simpler case for me?"

Elsa seemed to seriously consider it. "That does make sense. I'll see if there are any suitable cases to keep you away from this one."

Luke was lost for words. A moment later, he finally said, "There's no need to rush. I have to investigate this case for a few days since this is an order from the top, otherwise the director won't be happy."

Elsa realized that was true. She nodded and got into her car. "Okay. Tomorrow… don't come in too early."

Luke waved goodbye and saw her off.

He shook his head and entered the house after Elsa's car disappeared around a corner.

It had to be a really big deal this time, since Elsa wasn't the sort of person to flinch at just anything.

Until he figured out the situation, he wouldn't take any further action.

After seeing Elsa off and reminding Selina to finish her training, he left in his car as well.

He had to discuss the company's new business venture tonight with Jenny.

Elsa's unexpected visit had delayed him, but his appointment with Jenny was set for after dinner, so it wasn't too late.

When he met up with Jenny, he told her about Chris and told her to finalize the details of the cooperation regarding the mine.

After that, all Luke would need to do was find a lawyer to go through the contract or run it through his mini-program before he signed it.

Jenny also brought up the navigational map and how she had reached out to several companies, but had made little progress.

That was fine with Luke. If he couldn't sell it, he would just build it into his phone software; he had already created a web version.

To get his foot in the door before Keyhole Inc., Luke had invented a simple and practical map technology, and applied for a patent.

In any case, with Tony's skills, it was only the work of a few more hours each day, and as it so happened, Luke had a lot more hours than other people did at night.

At the same time, since Luke had brought up making his own phones, Jenny had asked around. A lot of companies were interested, but their offers were very unreasonable as they wanted to buy out Luke's patent for just several hundred thousand dollars.

Luke chuckled. "Did you acquire that company like I asked you to?" Jenny said, "Yes, but its technology is several years out of date, and anything of value has already been sold off. It's mostly a shell now."

Luke shrugged. "But it was very cheap, and we have the patent for its cell phone technology."

Jenny said, "We couldn't have acquired it so easily if the company's chairman of the board hadn't died from illness and his children weren't desperate to get rid of the mismanaged company."

Luke said, "What we need is just a shell. When I have more time later, I'll be able to create the phones, and you can be the CEO of the company to sell phones."

Jenny said, "…Can you stop talking about selling phones like it's selling off-season clothes at a huge discount in front of a mall?"

Luke said, "Okay, we'll be ushering in a new age of phones and leading everybody into a new world. How does that sound?"

Jenny said, "Mm, much better." Luke: "Hehe."

Once they were done with these minor matters, Luke finally got down to real business with Secretary Jenny.

It was of paramount importance that a CEO and his secretary had good and frequent communication with each other so that they were on the same page about the future development of the company.

At half past ten the next day, Luke drove home and called Selina to come out.

Unsurprised, Selina munched on the cake that Luke had bought from some dessert shop and asked, "What are we doing today?"

She had also heard what Elsa said yesterday. It seemed a little early for them to go to work.

Luke turned the car in the direction of the west coast.

"Let's pay Mr. Dylan Elsworth a visit first," he said.

Selina paused in eating her cake and looked at him in surprise. "But didn't Elsa say…"

Luke nodded with a smile. "We have to pretend to investigate the case. If we don't publicly visit this guy, how will the big shots know that we're doing the work?"

Selina asked, "Then where can we find this gentleman?"

Luke said, "At his party palace."

After getting onto the Santa Monica highway, they drove all the way west.

Selina said suspiciously, "He doesn't live in Malibu Beach, does he?"

Luke burst out laughing. "As if. He's not his grandparents; he's not at an age where he enjoys nature."

Ten minutes later, they arrived at a seaside villa.

Luke parked the car along the road before they reached the villa. He checked their surroundings for a moment via the car's cameras, then flipped through some information.

He rolled his eyes before he got out of the car and said, "Let's go. Our target is on the beach."

Selina clicked her tongue in wonder at the blue sky, the white clouds, and the bikinis and shorts. "Is this the life of the rich? It's still the morning."

Luke chuckled. "So what? We can have lunch on the beach later as well."

Selina nodded in satisfaction. "That's a brilliant idea, darling. You should come up with more creative suggestions like this in the future."

"As you wish," said Luke with a smile.

Approaching the beach, he didn't find a sign to indicate that it was private property. "This beach probably doesn't belong to our target. You can choose a place for lunch first."

On the beach, more than thirty men and women were horsing around.

Women made up the majority, and only one fourth were men. Furthermore, each man was accompanied by at least two women.

Selina said in a low voice, "Is this what I think it is?"

"Money is the root of all evil." Luke nodded slightly.

After working so many cases, they had realized that money could make anything happen.

Girls who dreamed of becoming famous overnight flooded into Los Angeles every day. The successful ones would become the examples that later girls aspired to, while the failures were like rain from the sky.

Some would flow into the sewers and become dirty and filthy.

Some would return to the rivers and seas to find their real selves.

And some would be processed and packaged into goods to be sold.

The girls on the beach were clearly between the sewers and the packaged goods.

Unfortunately for the girls who hung around this metropolis, they were much more likely to end up in a sewer than to succeed as a star.

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Chapter 352 Arrogant Man and "Kindhearted" Sister

Selina had an odd expression on her face as her voice dropped even lower. "He's holding a party at this time? Is he really an Elsworth?"

Luke's expression didn't change, but he was a little puzzled as well.

It didn't make sense at all for a man to hold a party at his seaside villa the day after his father was confirmed missing.

Looking at the joyous party, Luke said, "What do I feel like… this is a celebration?"

"I think so too!" Selina immediately agreed with him.

They had reached the partygoers on the beach by then, and two security guards noticed them.

The security guards blocked them and said, "This is a private party. No entry unless you have an invitation."

Luke craned his head and looked behind the security guards, before he flashed his badge with a smile. "LAPD. We need to talk to Mr. Dylan Elsworth about a case."

The security guards turned wary. "He isn't available. You can go now."

Luke nodded and said, "Then I'll bring Mr. Dylan Elsworth in for drug abuse in a public place and talk to him at the police department. How about that?"

One of the security guards frowned and asked grimly, "Do you know where you are?"

Luke grinned brilliantly. "Of course I do. I'm in my jurisdiction. I don't usually pay attention to illegal drugs, but with your attitude, sticking my nose in it once in a while isn't so bad. Just nice, I also know Bill, the DEA's deputy director."

The security guard's face turned dark. Finally, he said, "Fine, please wait a moment while I let him know."

If Mr. Dylan really was taken to the police department, the security guard didn't know what would happen to this young officer, but he knew that it wouldn't end well for him.

Fake smile still in place, Luke said, "Thanks very much."

They watched the security guard say a few words to Dylan, who simply waved his hand impatiently.

The security guard returned with a resigned look on his face. "Mr. Dylan has invited you in… You better not try anything." He had realized that Luke wasn't as harmless as he appeared.

Smiling, Luke put his badge on, and Selina did the same. She knew that it was time to put on a show.

When they reached Mr. Dylan, Luke greeted him politely. "Hello, Mr. Dylan Elsworth."

He sounded polite, but he didn't stretch out his hand nor bow, and was clearly just going through the formalities.

Dylan didn't really care. He didn't look at Luke and continued to flirt with the young girls next to him.

Ignoring that, Luke continued, "You own a red Ferrari F355, don't you?" Dylan cocked his head, as if trying to recall, but then smiled unconcernedly. "I don't know; maybe. I have too many cars."

Luke was almost amused by this pretentious show of wealth.

He simply nodded and said, "This particular car appeared on the road two kilometers away from this villa. A young girl in pajamas — oh, similar to the girls next to you — was hit by the car and killed when it crashed into a tree on the roadside. Are you aware of this incident?"

The two girls looked shocked and doubtful when they heard this.

Dylan didn't seem bothered at all. He asked, "Hey, Toby, do you remember where that race car of mine is?"

The security guard replied solemnly, "Sir, the F355 that this officer mentioned was stolen a week ago. We made a police report back then."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Someone stole your car and drove it back to your villa two days later to hit the girl?"

Dylan laughed in amusement. "You're a cop. What are you being paid for if I have to tell you everything? To eat sh*t? Haha."

He then looked at the security guard. "Where are the newcomers today? Aren't they here yet?"

The security guard said, "They're over there."

Unperturbed, Luke took a casual glance in the direction they were looking at, and was stunned.

Selina was dumbfounded. What the heck?

Another security guard led a group of girls over; they were all gorgeous and dressed beautifully.

One of the girls exclaimed in delight. "Huh? Why are you here?" Luke narrowed his eyes. "I'm here for work. And you?" The girl said with a smile, "A senior told me about a party here and brought me with her."

Luke sighed and pulled her away, before he asked in a low voice, "Jimena, do you really not know what sort of place this is?"

Jimena was confused at first, but then seemed to realize something. "Are you jealous? Don't worry, I won't let them take advantage of me. Parimera is a senior from my school, and we have a pretty good relationship. She said I would be able to meet a lot of financial experts here."

Luke was convinced by Jimena's genuine delight; she didn't look flustered at all.

She was now a part-time clerk at Nakatomi Corporation.

For Luke's sake, Takagi had arranged a position for her with much better pay than for regular employees. Luke often gave her little pragmatic gifts, like phones, perfume, makeup, purses, and so on.

These gifts were mid-range products that were suitable for her job, so Jimena was able to save quite a bit on necessary expenses.

They had been meeting several times a month, and she wasn't a secret service agent; it was impossible for her to hide any changes from Luke.

His Sharp Nose would have easily detected any abnormalities in her.

So, that Parimera senior had tricked her into coming here.

This was how treacherous a person could be!

Jimena wasn't short of money; anybody with a brain would be able to tell that from her clothes and her daily expenses. Then why would Parimera bring her here?

Luke didn't believe in a "pure and kindhearted" senior.

This was more a person who wanted to drag down someone who was living a better life than she was into the abyss with her so that they could be ruined and filthy together.

There were always people who felt happy when they saw other people doing poorly in life.

"Blacklist that b*tch. She's trying to set you up," said Luke.

Jimena gave an "oh" of surprise, but already had a faint inkling of what was going on.

Actually, as soon as she had arrived at the beach, she had noticed that something wasn't right.

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Chapter 353 Public Arrest and a Deliberate Performance

Jimena would've left immediately if she hadn't come with her friends.

Dylan got up and walked over to them. "Hey, this is the playmate I called over. Get lost and don't disturb us, got it?"

As he spoke, he reached for Jimena's arm.

Jimena subconsciously hid behind Luke.

Luke slapped away the man's hand, and this young master cried out in pain. "F*ck! What are you doing?" Luke turned to Jimena and blinked at her. "Are you here to party?" Jimena was stumped for a moment before she caught on, and she quickly shook her head. "No. My senior told me that this is an upper-class party for business elites to discuss recent financial trends in Los Angeles. I'm only here to learn."

Luke turned back to Dylan. "Playmate?"

Dylan smirked. "Prude." He then returned to his original seat and took a deep whiff of a small pile of white crystals with a rolled-up hundred dollar note.

Lifting his head with a contented look, he seemed even more deranged. "You're just a third-rate b*tch who's here to sell yourself. Who are you pretending to be? Just because you know a small police officer, you won't admit it now? Everybody whom that sl*t Parimera brings is also a sl*t! Haha!"

Looking at Dylan who was high and crazy, Luke suddenly laughed.

He stepped forward and knocked away the two security guards next to Dylan, before he pressed Dylan's face into the crystals on the table.

"You are now suspected of illegal drug possession and use, Mr. Dylan. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do say can be used against you in a court of law…" Luke unhurriedly recited the necessary lines for an arrest.

He then handcuffed Dylan and pressed down on the guy's neck with his left hand.

Dylan, who had been cocky a moment ago, couldn't say a single word now.

He could barely breathe under Luke's hand.

Everybody who noticed the scene was shocked.

A young officer had actually arrested Dylan Elsworth in his home? Was this some kind of show?

Grimly, the two security guards tried to pull Luke off of Dylan.

Pressing down on Dylan's neck and forcing him to stoop before Jimena, Luke raised his badge with the other hand. "Guys, don't tell me you aren't armed."

The security guards immediately stopped and pulled back their hands.

Luke and Selina had been wearing their badges since they came to the beach. Anybody who wasn't blind would have seen them.

Luke was within his right as a police officer to kill the security guards if they tried to stop him when they were armed since he could argue that they had intended to assault him.

The beach was a public venue, after all, and Luke had law enforcement power here.

Watched by dozens of people, the magnificent Dylan was hauled off the beach and stuffed into the backseat of a car like a dog, and Luke sat next to him.

Jimena followed Luke out, and sat in the passenger seat.

The two security guards were making phone calls with unsightly expressions, but neither of them dared to stop Luke.

Luke certainly didn't seem easy to deal with.

Nobody knew what the Elsworth family would do to the young officer, but for now, the security guards didn't dare try anything.

In the car, Selina looked at Dylan in the backseat and sighed helplessly. "My beach picnic was ruined by this sort of person."

Jimena lowered her head. "I'm sorry, Selina, it was my bad."

Selina glanced at her. "Enough, you better be smarter in the future. You're lucky you met us today, otherwise…"

She remembered the girl in pajamas who had been knocked down on the side of the road.

Jimena was also from Texas, after all. She wasn't a bad person, and she and Luke were "close." Of course Selina didn't want to see anything happen to her.

Luke said from the backseat, "It's fine. We were here to work a case, after all."

Jimena hummed a response and fell silent.

She was curious about Selina and Luke's relationship, but decided in the end to drop it.

She wasn't Luke's girlfriend, and had even less intention of getting married anytime soon, so it wasn't her concern.

Half an hour later, when they passed a bus stop, Jimena asked Selina to stop the car, and said that she would take the bus back herself.

Luke didn't stop her. He let her go, and gestured to indicate that he would call her.

They then returned to the police department, and transferred Dylan to an interrogation room and handcuffed him to a table.

Dylan's mind was a lot clearer now that the effect of the drug had faded. He asked suspiciously, "Don't you know who I am?"

Luke and Selina smiled at each other. One of them took out a phone, and the other began reading the case file.

After two minutes, Dylan couldn't tolerate the strange silence. "Hey, there's something you want to ask since you've arrested me, isn't there?"

Luke looked up from the phone. "Sorry, but there isn't. You just need to stay quiet here, and don't disturb us while we're doing research, okay?"

Dylan exclaimed, "F*ck! What do you want?"

Luke rose and said to Selina, "Let's go. We'll just leave him to scream here."

Dylan was lost for words. Are you messing with me?

But Luke and Selina didn't return after they left.

Elsa had arrived at the observation room next door. The moment Luke closed the door, she asked, "Why did you arrest Dylan?" Luke chuckled and sat down in a chair. "He took illegal drugs right in front of our faces, which was an obvious violation. As an upright detective, I couldn't ignore it."

Elsa was stumped for a moment. She sat down as well and tapped the table softly.

A moment later, she looked at Luke and asked, "Did you do this on purpose?"

Luke shrugged. "I believe this is clear and high-profile enough, right?"

Elsa looked at Dylan again.

Not only wasn't he in his right mind, there were also a lot of white crystals on his face. Anybody from the forensics department would be able to present a report in a few hours to confirm his drug abuse.

It wasn't that serious a crime, but since Luke had caught Dylan red-handed with the evidence all over Dylan's face, it was possible to sentence him to a few months in prison.

Considering how spoiled the guy was, he would probably collapse after a few days in prison, let alone a few months.

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Chapter 354 Useless Teammates, and Lawyer

Looking at Luke and Selina as they sat down again leisurely, Elsa realized what Luke was up to.

All this was just an act.

Somebody wanted the police to use the case of the girl in pajamas to go after the Elsworth family, and Luke immediately arrested Dylan, a grandson of the family.

However, Luke didn't interrogate the guy after he arrested him. Clearly, he was waiting for someone from the Elsworth family to rescue the fool.

He had never planned to send Dylan to prison in the first place.

As for why he arrested Dylan at that particular moment, Luke definitely wouldn't admit that it was because of the man's bad attitude… Nope, Luke wasn't such a petty person!

Looking at his phone, Luke said casually, "Boss, we'll just wait here. You can go back to your business."

After a brief hesitation, Elsa rose and said, "Remember not to cross the line. You've done enough."

Luke said, "Got it."

After Elsa returned to her office, she pondered for a moment, then summoned Elizabeth. "Didn't the department receive invitations to some school activities recently?" Elizabeth nodded. "Yes, we received a lot." Elsa said, "Do any of the activities run for five to ten days an hour's drive out of the city? List them for me."

Elizabeth nodded and checked the files.

Elsa's eyes flashed as she finally made up her mind. "I have to keep this guy away from muddy waters. The Elsworths aren't the most reasonable people."

She knew that Luke always exercised restraint during his operations, but Dylan and his uncle Wolf from the Elsworth family had never been low-key.

On the other side, Dylan was beginning to feel regret after he was left in the interrogation room on his own for half an hour; he almost missed the two officers.

He couldn't do anything here, and the dull and shabby room was absolutely bare.

His hands were still handcuffed to the table, and he couldn't even switch to a more comfortable position.

Thankfully, the Elsworth family was as powerful as it was said to be, and Luke soon received Sonia's call. "Luke, Wolf Elsworth is here. Be careful. His lawyer is pretty tough."

Luke gestured at Selina and asked, "Oh? Which lawyer is it?"

Sonia said, "Ellen Shaw. He isn't some big shot lawyer, but he always achieves his objectives by hook or by crook. He's quite tricky."

Luke hummed a response and said, "Got it."

After a brief hesitation, Sonia added, "He's a lawyer from Yang Fritt Berotti."

Luke asked, "Is that a problem?"

Sonia said, "That law firm has always worked for the Elsworth family."

Luke got it. "Thank you, Sonia."

Since the law firm had always worked for the Elsworth family, it couldn't be very clean.

So, Luke had to be very careful and not allow the lawyer to grab hold of any weakness.

Outside the observation room, Luke and Selina saw four men at the end of the hallway.

In the lead was a middle-aged man who looked a little like Tony Stark.

They didn't have similar features, but they both had the obvious air of a playboy.

Also, this guy obviously wasn't as talented as Tony, or he would be just as famous all over the country.

Thus, this guy wasn't some secret savior of the world, but a genuine playboy – Wolf Elsworth.

Half a step behind him was a slightly plump young lawyer who was no more than thirty years old. He was followed by two bodyguards.

Luke merely gave them a glance, before he opened the door to the interrogation room.

Dylan, who had been so bored he was about to knock his head against the wall, finally raised his head. "What do you want? I'm going to file a complaint…"

Luke didn't even bother to look at him.

This guy was just a stage prop, and was no longer useful.

He might be the descendant of a powerful family, but he lacked the necessary qualities to make something of himself.

Dylan was still ranting, when the door of the interrogation room opened and Wolf's team walked in.

"The interrogation is over, detective," said the young lawyer Ellen as he looked at Luke and Selina.

Luke shrugged and waved at Dylan.

Dylan's mind seemed to have cleared up. "Get me out of here. These two people left me alone in this small sh*thole as soon as we got here."

Ellen was lost for words.

After a brief silence, he tried a different tack. "As I understand it, you barged into Dylan's home without a warrant…"

Luke stopped him again and looked at Dylan.

Dylan lowered his head in embarrassment. "We were having a party on the beach."

Ellen was confused, but Wolf seemed to realize something, and awkwardly whispered into the lawyer's ear.

Ellen's expression was conflicted, and he looked like he wanted to hit someone. If you Elsworths are rich enough to build a seaside villa, why didn't you f*cking buy the beach as well?!

Luke was secretly amused. It was clear that the lawyer had been summoned in a hurry and hadn't checked the details of the matter yet, thus resulting in this embarrassing slip-up.

Wolf Elsworth said, "My apologies, detective, my lawyer was a little hasty. From what I can see, Dylan behaved inappropriately, and there's no need to assign blame in this matter. Considering the exact state of affairs, however, this is our family matter…"

At that moment, the door to the interrogation room opened again, and Dustin walked in.

He stretched out his hand to the visitors with a smile. "Mr. Elsworth, I'm sorry that you had to come in person."

Luke watched them exchange formalities and didn't say anything. Once the formalities were over and they exchanged a few more words, Wolf shook hands with Dustin again and said, "Thank you for your cooperation, captain."

Dustin's face changed slightly, but he kept smiling. "Alright, Mr. Dylan is free to go after the paperwork is sorted out."

It was only a rumor that he would be promoted to captain, and Wolf was obviously implying something when he addressed Dustin that way.

Perhaps Wolf was insinuating that if Dustin wasn't discreet, the position would never be his?

Dylan was overjoyed. He laughed when Luke undid his handcuffs. "See? You still have to let me go, right?" Luke hummed a response. "Which is why I especially turned on my body camera when I arrested you this morning. Happy?"

Everybody was stunned.

For a moment, Dylan didn't understand. "So what?"

Luke chuckled. "Nothing much. The forensics department collected evidence from you when you first came in, right? I sent a copy to the forensics center in Las Vegas and tagged it as urgent."

Everybody was lost for words.

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Chapter 355 Cuckolding

Wolf signaled to his bodyguards, and they covered Dylan's mouth and dragged him out.

After Dylan disappeared from the room, Wolf fixed his gaze on Luke. "You are?"

Luke smiled. "I'm just a minor detective, you don't have to bother with me, Mr. Elsworth."

Wolf narrowed his eyes and nodded. "Very well, let's get to know each other if an opportunity arises." He then stepped out.

After he was some distance away, he said to Ellen, "Reach out to that detective later and see what he wants to do with the evidence."

Ellen nodded.

It was impossible for a lawyer to earn the big bucks without doing the dirty work.

On the other side, Luke watched Wolf slap Dylan in the face while they waited for the paperwork to be sorted out, before he hugged his nephew and left the police department.

Staring at the backs of the uncle and nephew, Luke suddenly asked Selina, "Don't you think they're very… similar?"

Selina subconsciously nodded. "Yep, their temperaments, their looks, their way of doing things… Wait, are you saying…"

Luke raised his hand to stop her from saying it out loud. He returned to his desk and whistled a tune from his previous life. "What a unique green hat[1]…"

Dustin instantly summoned Luke the moment Wolf and Dylan left the police department.

Luke and Selina went to his office, closed the door, and stood in front of him obediently.

Dustin's expression was inscrutable. He simply said, "This is enough, stop looking at this case. Don't you have other cases to work

on?!

Luke nodded. "Got it, boss."

Pondering for a moment, Dustin said, "Look out for that Ellen Shaw. He has some annoying little tricks."

Luke looked puzzled.

Dustin didn't really care for the young lawyer, and said bluntly, "He often uses tricks that aren't entirely legal to achieve his goals, like framing someone or sensationalizing groundless accusations, but once a compromise is reached, he'll stop and wipe the slate clean, which is why nobody is willing to pick a bone with him."

Luke understood and nodded. "Got it. Then we'll work on other cases first."

Dustin nodded and went back to his own work.

Luke and Selina dropped in on Elsa before they left in their car.

It was already noon. Luke and Selina had lunch, then headed for the outskirts.

This was the case that Elsa had given to them earlier. Now that they were done with their song and dance opposite the Elsworth family, they could resume working on regular cases.

Flipping through the case file, Selina said, "It happened the day before yesterday. A driver reported that someone attempted to carjack the fuel truck he was driving."

Luke nodded.

Selina added, "However, this fuel truck wasn't registered, and his cargo clearly wasn't clean either."

Luke remarked, "Robbing a fuel truck? Are they crazy? How much fuel can it hold?"

Selina checked the file and said, "The driver didn't say, but according to the field report, this particular fuel truck was a big guy with a fifty-ton capacity."

"Truly a 'huge' sum of money!" Luke snorted.

Fuel and a fuel truck were much easier to track than cash.

Also, there had only been slightly more than ten thousand gallons in this truck, and at two bucks a gallon, the fuel would only have been worth thirty thousand dollars at most. Furthermore, if the price had to be lowered given that it was stolen fuel, then the gains would be even less.

As they spoke, they arrived at their destination, which was a high slope.

They stopped the car to look at the long road that ran downward as well as the fuel truck that had flipped and burned on the side of the road.

"Looks like it was a violent robbery," Selina remarked.

Luke nodded, and both of them walked down the slope.

They found scattered parts of the fuel truck on the way, and there were clear traces of burning here and there as well.

Fortunately, this was a remote hill with basically nothing but dirt and rock. If there had been any trees around, the burning might have caused a mountain fire.

Luke and Selina circled the fuel truck and examined it.

Luke finally said, "The fuel truck blew up completely; those robbers wasted their efforts."

Selina answered casually, "Who knows, it might have been just for thrills — they would get more money from stealing a few luxury cars."

Luke looked around and said, "This place actually has a nice view. How about we catch some rays on the peak later, since we didn't get to do so at the beach yesterday?".

Selina was only dazed for a moment, before she smiled.

She had her own guess as to whether Luke had been putting on a show yesterday or doing it for Jimena.

But since he was willing to make up for it today, Selina decided to forgive him.

She turned back to look at the mountain ridge behind her, which did have great sun.

They weren't really concerned about the fuel truck robbery. Nobody died, and only a truck had been burned; in Los Angeles, this wasn't really a big deal.

As they walked back, Selina started looking for a good sunbathing spot.

Suddenly, two black SUVs drove up the road.

Luke was stumped for a moment, before he smiled. "Yo, fancy running into a familiar face in this wilderness."

The black SUV stopped next to them, and a tall, beautiful woman with braided hair got out from the passenger side. "Hey, Luke, Selina."

Luke and Selina nodded and smiled. "Hi, Palmer." It was none other than the DEA agent.

She gestured and the three of them walked over to some shade on the side. She then asked in a low voice, "Are you here about the fuel truck robbery?"

Luke nodded. "It's a huge robbery case with explosions and fires; we just had to check it out."

After a brief hesitation, Palmer said, "Do you have any leads?"

Luke shook his head. "No, we just arrived. We haven't even examined the field yet."

He was amused when he noticed Palmer's expression. "If you have something to say, just spit it out. We're friends, after all."

Palmer smiled awkwardly. "This case is related to a lead that we've been working on."

Noticing Luke and Selina's curiosity, she nodded helplessly. "Alright, it's actually about the Maker. We suspect that the guy hired someone to smuggle in goods from Mexico. So…"

Luke asked, "So, you're worried that us following the trail will alert the Maker?"

Palmer smiled and said nothing, but it was clearly a yes.

She murmured in her heart, At your level, if that group runs into the both of you, all our leads on the Maker will disappear completely.

[1] In Chinese, if someone's wife cheats on him, he's said to wear a green hat.

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Chapter 356 A Piece of Cake, and Personal Gratitude

After Luke saved Palmer last time, the DEA had cut a deal for the sniper to be transferred from Westside.

It was from this sniper that Palmer and her colleagues had learned more about the Maker.

Although they still didn't know the Maker's true identity, they had been able to suss out an important drug transportation route.

At the same time, Palmer had gotten a deeper understanding of Luke's combat ability.

That sniper was a special force veteran, but he didn't even see Luke before the latter knocked him out.

Palmer didn't think it would take Luke long to crack this case.

Luke chuckled and said, "This case isn't important. We can drop it if you want. …So, how has Martin been?"

Palmer was quiet for a moment, and seemed a little down. "Martin isn't in the best shape. Roger's already helped him contact a quiet nursing home in the countryside where he'll get more complete therapy."

Luke was stunned. "Is Martin's condition that serious?"

He had been too busy in the last few days with the cases that Roger and Martin had transferred to them to notice.

But thinking about it, he understood.

The fewer people who knew about Martin's condition, the better; if word got out, Martin might not be able to go back to work even if he recovered.

Palmer was only telling Luke because the latter had been nice to Martin and she trusted him.

Luke nodded. "You know him better than I do. Consider this a favor. We haven't started working on this case yet. You can have it."

Palmer looked at him and said, "Thank you."

Luke waved his hand. "Alright, don't let us take up your time. Selina and I are going to have a picnic on the ridge. Feel free to have some food with us if you have the time."

Palmer: "Huh?"

A moment later, four DEA agents, including Palmer, started their investigation. A thirty-year-old male agent turned back to look at the ridge and remarked, "Young, beautiful, and free to do what they want — I'm jealous."

Palmer glanced at the two of them and quickly looked away. "He's called Luke."

The male agent was her new partner and didn't really react to her words. "Skywalker?"

Palmer chuckled. "Luke Coulson, from the Major Crimes Division."

The male agent was stunned for a moment. "Wait, that name… he's that Luke?"

Palmer continued examining the field as she said, "Yes. If you've heard about the Nakatomi Plaza case, that's him."

Thinking for a moment, the male agent immediately shut up.

The Nakatomi Plaza case was a big deal.

More than 640 million in bonds, more than fifty hostages, explosions, and heavily armed robbers pretending to be terrorists — it had all the elements of a headliner.

To protect the officers involved in the case, Luke and McClane's personal information wasn't made public, but as another policing agency, the DEA knew a bit of the inside story.

For example, they knew that one of the detectives was from Los Angeles and had contributed significantly to the battle.

The rumors were never officially confirmed, but the police officers in Los Angeles had all heard some things, such as how there was an officer in LAPD who was crazy good at fighting The male agent had a lot of complicated feelings when he saw such a legendary person catching some rays on the ridge.

He didn't dare comment on Luke anymore, or he might appear jealous and leave a bad impression on Palmer.

On the ridge, Selina enjoyed her drink and looked at the detectives who were searching for leads. "Is it really alright that we're taking it so easy?"

Holding a piece of opera cake in his hand, Luke said, "I don't think Agent Palmer would be happy if we're more proactive."

Selina asked, "Hey, are you always this unrestrained in front of a beautiful woman?"

Luke chuckled. "This one has Director Bill behind her."

Selina nodded and said, "What are you thinking?"

Luke shrugged. "This isn't a big favor, and Palmer can't refuse when I ask her to do something for me later."

Selina thought for a moment, and realized that it did make sense.

The DEA wasn't simple. It was more like a combat unit compared with regular police departments.

At the same time, they had dense intelligence networks in the Americas and parts of Asia.

It was definitely worth doing this favor for Palmer, who had powerful supporters in the DEA.

Luke and Selina spent a leisurely afternoon, and Palmer waved at them before she left.

She was too busy climbing the mountain to say goodbye to them in person.

Luke had planned to take it easy until five o'clock before they returned home for dinner, but his phone rang slightly past four.

He said something over the phone, and then said to Selina, "Let's go to the hospital." Selina asked, "What for?" She began to pack up.

Luke said, "Do you remember the woman who was shot when that baby was taken? She called me and said that her husband wants to thank us in person."

Selina found that odd. "Why thank us?"

After the gunfight in the park, they could've easily sued Luke for causing her to be shot, and it wouldn't be a surprise.

Luke shrugged. "For saving her. Her husband insists on meeting us." They got to the hospital and met the woman in a regular ward. Luke hugged her with a smile and asked, "How's it going, May? Is your leg better?"

The woman called May grinned, showing off her gleaming white teeth. "Much better. The doctor says that my leg will be fine with enough rest and recuperation."

Luke nodded. "That's good to know. Do you have any other problems? Like medical costs or whatnot."

May quickly shook her head. "Everything's fine. I have insurance."

Luke said, "Do tell me if you're in any trouble. I can raise some funds for you."

May nodded. "I'll go to you for help if I need it."

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Chapter 357 Beautiful and Kindhearted Woman

At that moment, a middle-aged man walked into the ward with a boy who was about three years old.

The boy was playing and pretending to shoot a toy gun.

May raised her hand. "Ben, come here."

She then turned her head and said to Luke and Selina, "This is Benjamin, my husband."

Luke and Selina smiled and shook hands with Benjamin.

Benjamin was a nice guy, who sincerely expressed his gratitude after the formalities.

Luke said with a smile, "Actually, I quite admire May. She wasn't scared at all when she was faced with four robbers."

Benjamin smiled bitterly. "Thank you, but I wish I was the one who had encountered them instead."

Looking at his expression, Luke smiled and said, "No, it's best if this doesn't happen again. You're not a police officer, and it's not your duty to crack down on robbers."

While they were chatting, the boy suddenly asked Luke, "Are you a police officer?"

Luke nodded with a smile. "Yes."

"Did you save May?" the boy asked again.

Luke pondered for a moment before he shook his head. "No, May saved a baby, and I only helped her deal with the bad guys."

The boy frowned. "So, May beat up the bad guys too?" He was obviously doubtful.

Luke was amused. "To me, she did."

The boy nodded. "I'm going to be a police officer, and I'll help May beat up the bad guys too when I grow up."

Everybody looked at each other in amusement.

Luke rubbed the boy's head and said, "Is he your son? He's cute."

May chuckled. "He's… our child, and lives with us now."

Looking at May's and Benjamin's faces, Luke had a faint inkling.

He immediately changed the topic and asked, "What's his name?"

Benjamin replied, "Peter."

Luke said, "Haha. He's a smart boy."

After a short chat, Luke and Selina got up and said goodbye.

Little Peter followed Benjamin to the door and waved at them as they left.

At hospital reception, Luke flashed his badge and asked for May's bill.

Looking at the figure on the bill, he asked, "Has the bill been paid?"

The receptionist shook her head. "They only paid the deposit."

Luke thought for a moment, and then called Jenny to give her a few instructions.

Outside the hospital, Selina asked curiously, "Why are you covering her medical bill?"

Luke thought for a moment and answered, "Because she's beautiful and kindhearted?"

Selina snorted. "She is indeed beautiful, but she's already 39, alright? She does look like she's only in her twenties – so many women would be jealous."

Luke nodded in agreement. "So, we should help the beautiful and kindhearted people of this world."

Selina stopped asking and simply rolled her eyes at him.

Usually, when a man said that a woman was beautiful and kindhearted, he was implying that she was gullible.

Luke had called Jenny to find an excuse and pay off the rest of May's medical fees in the name of his company.

From what Luke could see, he knew that May's family wasn't exactly rich. They might be able to cover the medical fees, but it would severely affect their quality of life.

In the meantime, medical insurance companies had a lot of tricks, such as demanding that patients use a doctor on the list they provided, or they might refuse to cover the costs.

May's injury was an accident. It remained to be seen when and how much the insurance company would cover, or if they would at all.

Luke didn't want to see May fall into an awkward and troublesome situation for doing a good thing

Actually, a large part of May's injury could be blamed on Mr. Smith.

On the other hand, Mr. Smith did Luke a great favor by finishing off Henry, an important member of the Elsworth family, and making a very special ability available to him.

Now, Luke was returning the favor by lending a hand to May, who had unfortunately been caught up in it, for his peace of mind.

If he just needed to spend some money to fix a problem, he wouldn't hesitate to do so.

They drove home. Elizabeth then called to tell them that Chris was here.

Luke asked and learned that the visitors had arrived in the afternoon, so he invited them to his place for dinner.

Elizabeth hesitated for a moment. "Is that alright?"

Luke chuckled. "It's fine, I'll be able to talk to Chris then." Recalling Luke's earlier proposal, Elizabeth agreed. "Alright, we're on our way."

Forty minutes later, two cars reached Luke's house.

Luke and Selina opened the gate for them and let the cars in.

The visitors got out of the cars, and Luke hugged the mature and charming sheriff and kissed her cheek. "Samantha, it's so great to see you. We can have a lot of fun in the next few days."

Elizabeth smiled bitterly. A lot of fun? It seems you don't know what Elsa has arranged for you yet.

Luke hugged Ashley, and then picked up Mike to spin him around. "Haha. How have you been, my entomologist?" Mike struggled. "I'm doing fine. Don't treat me like a little kid."

Luke put him down with a smile. "Okay. Then learn to take care of yourself and your mom."

Then, it was Chris. Luke shook hands with him and patted his back. "You look sharp, Chris."

Chris smiled at him. "You too."

Luke lowered his head and picked up a black-and-white animal that was tugging at his pants. "Wow, our hellhound Mr. Bruce is getting tougher!" He then pressed down until the little dog stopped squirming.

Luke then reached out with one arm to hug Gladys, who was smiling on the side. "I'm glad to see you here, Gladys." Gladys took Bruce back with a smile. "Me too. Let me take this naughty guy."

Selina greeted each of them, before they all went into the house.

A moment later, they moved to the back of the house to have dinner, where everybody was more used to the bigger space.

Very soon, the group was clearly divided into two.

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Chapter 358 New Weapon and New Case

Although Samantha was almost forty, she was still very charming. Of all the women that Luke had met, only May could compare with her.

Ashley was a younger version of her mother and even more attractive because of her youth.

If Luke approached them, it might cause a misunderstanding, so it was Selina who kept them entertained.

Gladys was old and smart and could take care of herself.

Elizabeth was the best bridge between the two parties, and could also look after her siblings.

Luke, on the other hand, pulled Chris aside to talk to him in private.

Nobody else joined them, although they glanced at the two men chatting over alcohol every now and then.

Mike had wanted to go over, but was stopped by Elizabeth, the sister he idolized.

Luke and Chris talked for about half an hour.

In the end, Luke patted Chris's shoulder and said, "If you're willing to accept my offer, call my secretary, Jenny. I'm busy at work and might have no time for this, but you can come find me if you're in any trouble."

Chris accepted the card which Luke gave him, and went back to dinner, but he was clearly absent-minded.

An hour later, Luke and Selina saw them off at the gate, where Bobby was already waiting for them in his car.

Luke said with a smile, "I told you that I would cover your stay here. Mr. Bobby Max will take you to the hotel. I've already booked the rooms."

Elizabeth was about to say something, but seeing Luke's expression, she decided to keep quiet.

Luke was gentle and firm. Eventually, with Elizabeth's persuasion, her family finally went to the hotel with Bobby.

After the two cars left, Selina asked, "You're not exactly someone who likes to take risks. Why are you so enthusiastic about this?"

Luke chuckled and walked back into the house. "Let's go in first. I'll tell you about it."

In the house, he explained everything to Selina, and she was shocked. "Are you kidding?"

Luke shrugged. "No. Actually, I brought back evidence and personally verified it."

Selina was speechless. "…I knew it. You wouldn't be so proactive if you weren't getting anything out of it."

Luke chuckled and didn't say anything. He then called Jenny and told her about Chris.

They then trained respectively, and after that, Selina went to bed, while Luke kept working.

After the battle at Smith's apartment building, Luke had realized some problems.

He needed to take the environment into consideration when he used his weapon, and using subsonic bullets was one example.

Subsonic bullets were bullets that were slower than sound when shot.

Since they weren't as fast as the speed of sound, the sound of the gunshot was substantially reduced.

In order to achieve this effect, subsonic bullets usually had less gunpowder in them.

But this would affect the gun's accuracy, and quickly tarnish the inside of the gun barrel.

To overcome this problem, the shape and weight of the bullet had to be changed. Thus, Luke's gun and bullets would all be custom made. Naturally, he wouldn't go out to buy them. It wasn't easy to find suppliers who sold this sort of unique bullet, plus they wouldn't be as effective as whatever he modified himself.

With the subsonic bullets and the special silencer, his pistol would be as close to being soundless as it could get.

That was right, this would be Luke's exclusive weapon for sneak attacks.

Since it was for sneak attacks, the various shortcoming of the subsonic bullets weren't too important.

Generally speaking, his target would be within a fifty-meter range when he needed to use these bullets.

In the battle at Smith's hideout, Luke had been no more than twenty meters from the shooters.

Thus, he was fine with a gun that had less precision and power.

He just needed to practice and get used to the special bullets.

Also, the key to sneak attacks was to hide oneself.

He couldn't attack too frequently if he didn't want to expose his position. Thus, he only needed several hundred of these special bullets.

Luke couldn't think of any situation where he would need to use so many subsonic bullets.

It didn't take much effort to make these bullets, and he had churned them out in the last few days.

He tried the bullets with a modified P226 and felt they were fine. Pleased, he then went to bed.

When Luke and Selina got to the police department the next morning, they had barely sat down when Elsa summoned Luke to her office.

The moment he entered, Elsa slapped a piece of paper on his chest.

Luke took the paper and asked, "What's this?"

Elsa said, "Your new case!"

Luke unfolded the sheet of paper, only to see that it was a poster. He was suspicious. "Spring camp? What's this got to do with me?" Elsa explained, "Our Westside Department interacts with L.A. No. 37 Public School every year. For example, we send elite detectives to give daily training and safety lessons as part of the school's camp activities, and at the same time to keep an eye on the overly-exuberant kids – you know it's not unusual for some to get lost or fall into pits every year."

Luke was lost for words for a moment, before he said, "Seriously? Boss, you're actually kicking me out to Crystal Cove State Park? That's eighty kilometers from Los Angeles. After I get off work, I still have to drive two hours back home?"

Elsa's expression was serene. "The camp committee will give you a dorm free of charge. The department will also reimburse you for food expenses."

Luke said, "…You've got everything covered, don't you?"

Elsa nodded at him. "You've done a good job. The boss and I both feel that it's better for you to stay away for a couple of days."

Luke said resignedly, "When do I leave?"

Elsa said, "Today. The officer over there will wait to do the handover with you before leaving. It would be best if you get that done by four in the afternoon."

There was nothing Luke could do but nod and prepare to leave the office.

"Leave Selina behind. The camp only has a quota for one police officer," Elsa added.

Luke turned his head. "…It's a waste that you don't work in HR, boss."

Elsa said, "That was my major in college. Do you have a problem?"

Luke was speechless. "…No."

He told Selina about the arrangement, and her face filled with despair. "What am I going to do when you're gone?"

Luke said, "Relax, I'm going to go home first and get ready. While I'm at it, I'll make you some snacks and food for the next few days. You won't starve."

Selina was gloomy. "But you'll be on vacation while I still have to work."

Luke chuckled. "I've already told you, if you have the opportunity to slack off, there's no need to be so proactive."

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Chapter 359 One on Vacation, the Other on Duty

Selina nodded listlessly and dropped her head on her desk with a thump after Luke left.

When Elizabeth heard the noise, she came over and patted Selina on the shoulder. "The boss asked me to look into it yesterday. The one I chose is only for two weeks, and the previous officer has already been there for almost that long, so it's just a few more days. Hang in there."

What could Selina say? This was clearly to help keep Luke out of trouble, and she wasn't the one who had pissed off Dylan, so she certainly didn't have to go.

After consoling her, Elizabeth put a stack of case files on her desk, her face full of sympathy. "This is your assignment for now. The boss told me to tell you that you won't be on field duty for now."

Selina was going to knock her head on the wall in despair.

It turned out she was too naive, after all. Elsa was protecting her as well.

It was just that Luke had been sent out, while she was stuck in the office. Wasn't it going to be boring as hell?

Looking at her, Elizabeth couldn't help but say in a low voice, "You can come in to work late and leave early; you're not on field duty anyway, so a couple of hours less don't really matter."

What could Selina say? Even someone as diligent as Elizabeth was telling her to take it easy. She could only languish away in the office now. "Thanks, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth smiled. "Let me know if you need any information on tough cases."

Selina nodded.

While Selina returned to the life of a desk job officer after so long, Luke went home to pack and prepare a huge amount of food for Selina.

To make sure that she didn't finish all of it in one go, Luke made sure to divide the food into various lunch boxes that could be heated up separately.

After everything was done, it was only noon. Not in a hurry to set off, he called Selina. "Come back for lunch."

Selina came home and wolfed everything down, then lay unmoving on the couch as she listened to Luke's reminders.

Mainly, he had to tell her about the security measures at home.

He was the one who usually took care of it since he slept late and woke up early.

Luke had no enemies on the surface, but after being a police detective for a while, who knew if he would run into a psycho or a vindictive man one day, so safety was everything.

After all the nagging, Selina finally asked, "Do you have your own protective measures?"

Luke was caught by surprise. "What?" Selina said, "You're only eighteen years and nine months old. Those students are still your peers. Students now… hehe, you know."

Luke was lost for words. "… This is an official department activity. If I do something, nobody will keep me on."

Selina snorted. "Fine, my bad. I just hope that when you come back, you don't have a pocket full of slips of paper with phone numbers on them."

Luke's expression was inscrutable. "Alright, I'll remember."

Selina asked, "Wait, what will you remember?"

"The slips of paper…" Looking at Selina's face, Luke finally finished the sentence, "…I won't bring them home."

Selina didn't know what to say.

She went back to work at half past one. Luke told her to take their police car, while he took a secondhand Ford.

With his countless modifications, the police car was much safer and sturdier, and more suitable for Selina.

Luke was going on a vacation, and didn't need that much protection.

If anyone wanted to take action against him while he was out, they would be more than welcome.

He also brought a huge pile of items that might be of use, like a sleeping bag, tent, a field lamp, and some tools.

He would just need to go through the motions with the students' training, and the main school activity was camping. The previous officer would also have already gone through the safety training and things that the students needed to know.

He couldn't waste all the free time he would have on his hands.

Apart from doing handicraft work, he could also go through the information he had on the gangs in Los Angeles, and figure out his next target.

He hadn't been very active at night in recent months. He always locked onto a target beforehand, then waited for the right moment to get rid of them.

He didn't touch small fry who didn't deserve death; his targets were confirmed hardcore gangsters.

These were people with verified criminal records in Los Angeles.

As for lesser gangsters, there would definitely be some informants or even undercover police officers among them, and Luke would be in trouble if he accidentally killed them.

Even if they just went missing, it would draw the FBI or DEA's attention.

Both the FBI and DEA had planted a lot of undercover agents in various gangs, but few of these agents were part of the leadership, nor would they have local criminal histories.

Generally speaking, undercover agents often assumed the identities of criminals from other states, and the local gangsters wouldn't be familiar with them; it would be too easy to be found out if they pretended to be local criminals.

Thanks to Luke's caution, he hadn't killed the wrong person yet.

Why was he certain of this? Because daddy system had never deducted credit points for him killing a wrong person yet.

After more than two hours, Luke finally packed up all the stuff he needed.

Looking at L.A.'s clear sky, he sighed. "It's still better here."

His night operations once or twice a week could give him a tremendous amount of experience and credit points, along with whatever he earned from working on cases daily; it was absolutely better than some forest park.

Unfortunately, Dustin and Elsa were clearly determined to keep him away from the Elsworth family, so this vacation was unavoidable.

Luke drove southeast down Route 405.

It only took him an hour to cover the eighty kilometers since there wasn't any traffic.

When he was twenty kilometers away from the campsite, he happened upon a young hitchhiker.

She was a girl named Annie Lester. She was about 1.6 meters tall and had curly black hair. There were also cute freckles on her cheeks that were slightly red.

After Luke picked her up, they chatted casually Annie had graduated from high school half a year ago, and a relative had gotten her a recommendation to work at a campsite to make food for twenty children and five workers.

Confused, Luke asked, "The campsite at Crystal Cove State Park? The one occupied by No. 37 School?" No. 37 School had more people than that.

Annie shook her head. "No, it seems it's a new campsite. It's kind of small and remote."

As she spoke, Annie searched the super big bag she was carrying for a moment, then took out a map. After looking at it for a while, she finally nodded before she pointed to a location on the map and said, "It's around here."

Luke glanced at the map and thought for a moment. "That's about twenty kilometers to the northeast of No. 37 School's campsite. There's a country road on the map that leads to the site. I'll ask around No. 37 School's campsite first. If there aren't any cars around, I can take you there."

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Chapter 360 Hitchhiking Annie

Annie gave a brilliant smile, her eyes curving into crescent moons. "That would be fantastic."

As they chatted, the car reached the campsite. Luke was pleased to discover that the place had the necessary facilities.

There was a small supermarket, a diner, an inn and a gas station.

The officer who had been waiting for Luke at the hotel gave him the key and let the lady innkeeper know about the room transfer. He then hopped into his car and was about to drive off, itching to get home. It might be fun to live in the wild for a day or two, but if one stayed too long, it was boring as hell.

Amused, Luke stopped the officer and asked him about the campsite that Annie was headed for.

"It's kind of remote, and no cars go that way." The officer pointed in one direction and said, "There's a side road several hundred meters down that way. Take that smaller road, and after driving for about forty minutes, you'll get there. However, the road conditions are really bad, so drive slowly."

Luke thanked him with a smile and said to Annie, "Looks like I'll have to take you there."

Annie nodded quickly.

If Luke didn't drive her, she would have to either ask someone from the campsite to pick her up, or walk thirty or so kilometers on a country road with a backpack that weighed dozens of kilograms.

Luke and Annie got back into the car and followed the officer's directions.

Road conditions were indeed bad. There were a lot of cliffs and woody depressions around them, and if Luke wasn't careful, the car might not make it.

Thanks to Elementary Driving, it wasn't too dangerous for Luke, but it still took him twenty minutes to get Annie to the campsite.

At the camp entrance, a man who was bare to the waist was cutting down a tree. Noticing the car, he stopped and looked at the strangers.

He smiled when he saw Annie. "Annie Lester?"

Annie asked, "Stephen Christie?"

The middle-aged bearded man smiled and said, "Yes. You can call me uncle or Stephen."

Annie said, "Okay, Stephen. Oh, this is Luke. I don't know how long it would've taken me to get here, if it wasn't for him."

Stephen patted the dust off his hands and shook Luke's hand. "Thanks, Luke. I was so busy that I forgot. Do you want anything to drink?"

Since it was only slightly past four, Luke wasn't in a hurry to go back.

"Thank you, Stephen. The view here is nice," he said politely as he entered the campsite.

This place was close to a lake, and next to a gentle slope. There was grass, trees, and a sandy shore.

When the weather was good and the lake was clear, it was indeed a perfect place for a holiday.

It was just that the road here was in bad condition, and might take a while to be fixed.

A row of plain-looking log cabins had been set up on level ground not far from the lake, and would become the lodging for visitors.

Stephen soon returned with a shirt on. He said with a smile, "Annie says that she'll make drinks. What would you like?"

Luke replied, "Coffee is fine."

Stephen hollered at a cabin on the end, which was the kitchen.

Annie replied from inside.

Luke spent half an hour at the camp. He didn't talk with Stephen for very long, since he was clearly busy as the camp manager. When Annie delivered the coffee, Stephen simply smiled and told them to have a chat, before he went back to business.

Luke soon left the campsite with an additional number saved into his phone.

Well… It wasn't on a slip of paper.

When he left the campsite, he noticed its name on the way out.

CAMP CRYS*?

Fine. Stephen hadn't replaced the old and ragged sign.

Annie had told him earlier that it would be another ten days before the camp was officially up and running. Obviously, a lot of things weren't finished yet.

Actually, the twenty kids wouldn't arrive until the summer holiday at the end of May. Stephen had secured this "big" business himself.

It was only the end of March right now, and there were still two more months to go.

Luke shook his head with a smile.

It would be a while before the camp started making money; who knew for how long that chirpy Annie could endure here.

But that wasn't his concern.

He sped up on his way back, and returned to the campsite just as the middle schoolers were let out for a break.

The kids were all in the ninth grade. Most of them were fifteen or sixteen.

Selina's "outrageous notion" was really too much.

Practically everybody here were minors; even if Luke was only two years older, it was a discernible gap.

Fortunately, nobody saw Luke as a classmate.

However, a lot of the young girls huddled together to stare at him and whisper to each other.

Luke looked young, but he was clearly far more mature than a regular middle school student; it wasn't unusual that he would catch the attention of the girls who preferred that sort of thing.

After questioning two of the girls who were sneaking peeks at him, Luke finally found the person in charge of No. 37's camp activities.

She was a middle-aged woman named Juliet Norton, and she was… pretty fit.

She was 1.75 meters tall and had dark brown hair and a square, plain face.

She was wearing a tight T-shirt, which highlighted her muscles. Luke knew that she must work out a lot.

They exchanged greetings, and Luke showed her his badge and explained that he would be replacing his colleague for the rest of the safety training Juliet was a little surprised. After sizing him up, however, and even feeling his arm up and down, she said with a smile, "This physique… You've undergone special training, haven't you?"

Luke smiled but didn't say anything; he didn't want to deal this lady a blow.

Juliet recalled how his ID said that he was a level two detective in the Major Crimes Division, and her faint resentment disappeared.

Generally speaking, those who worked out and kept fit the way Luke did couldn't touch drugs or anything, otherwise they wouldn't be able to maintain a proper body fat ratio.

As a level two detective from the Major Crimes Division, he would be under a lot of internal supervision.

That was enough to prove Luke's integrity and professionalism.

It wasn't a big deal that Luke was younger. Actually, it was easier for a bigger boy of around the same age to restrain the other teenage boys.

He could intimidate any of the boys here with sheer strength alone.

For youngsters, strength and their fists were the simplest and most straightforward form of authority.

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Chapter 361 Barbecue Chef and a Chat

Juliet summoned the rest of the teachers to explain the change in police officers.

They were a mix of men and women, and between twenty and forty years old. They were clearly both experienced and energetic, or they wouldn't be able to keep one hundred kids under control.

After they exchanged greetings, Luke asked what he should be doing the next day.

Juliet said with a smile, "Actually, the officer's training is done. You just need to help keep an eye on the kids. Also, if there's an accident, we may need your help. You're a professional, after all."

Luke nodded. "Okay, I'll have dinner first."

Juliet said, "Let's go together. We usually eat at that small fast food place."

Luke quickly shook his head.

In such a beautiful environment, he wasn't keen on having fast food.

"I can barbecue something. Would you like to join me?" he asked with a smile.

Juliet hesitated. Luke looked at her expression and said, "The other teachers can all come if they want, but I don't have that many ingredients with me. Is there a place here where I can get fresh meat?"

Looking at his friendly face, Juliet eventually accepted. "Thanks. I can buy some meat from the fast food place. There's firewood behind the building; I'll let them know, and you can take some first."

So, she would be supplying the meat, and Luke just needed to cook it.

After all, they weren't that familiar with each other yet for Luke to treat all of them to dinner for free.

Luke nodded. "I'll get started first."

He had seen a flat area near the lake that had no grass or trees. It was the perfect place for a barbecue or a bonfire party.

Luke found firewood, and moved equipment from his car to the empty area near the lake. He then set up the grill.

By the time he was done, Juliet had come over with two male teachers, and they were carrying a lot of meat.

Juliet left after dropping the meat off. As the camp supervisor, she was quite busy, and the two male teachers were left behind to help Luke.

It only took Luke twenty minutes to marinate the meat. Then, after telling the two teachers what they should pay attention to next, Luke was free.

He took out a folding chair from his car and sat down by the lake with his laptop.

He brought two bottles of beer over for the two male teachers in passing, while he sipped on hot tea that he had just made and read his files.

The two teachers chatted over the cold beers in the evening breeze from the lake.

Just like that, the sky turned dark after six. Nothing except a faint red glow could be seen on the horizon.

Luke put his laptop away, and after asking the teachers, learned that the kids were having dinner, which meant that it would soon be time for the faculty to take a break.

He had the teachers skewer the marinated meat and start the fire.

While the two teachers roasted the meat, Luke continued reading the files.

The noisy campsite fell quiet around seven. Most of the kids had returned to their dorms.

Juliet came over with six men and women and greeted Luke. "Thank you very much, Luke."

Luke said with a smile, "No, no, Joey and Duncan did most of the job. I was only responsible for marinating the meat."

He greeted the people who came with her, and everybody sat down.

All of them had brought their own utensils and plates, and Luke chopped the meat on the grill into chunks small enough to fit their plates.

He was done in less than five minutes.

There were no rules for an outdoor barbecue party. Everybody simply gathered round and talked to each other.

Juliet sat next to Luke, and another two female teachers sat on the other side. They were clearly interested in him.

They found Luke's age, looks, job, temperament and behavior very interesting.

Nobody asked any personal questions, and Luke simply talked to them about unimportant issues.

On the other hand, the teachers' conversation was an eye-opener for Luke.

Maggie, one of the female teachers, said, "It's actually at night that we're more likely to have trouble. I caught two troublemakers last night who actually wanted to go for a midnight swim. The water might be shallow, but there won't be anybody around to save them if they have an accident in the middle of the night."

Lily, another female teacher, also said, "At least you managed to stop them before they went in; when I was on duty the other night, two of them had already been skinny dipping for a while before I spotted their clothes on the bank during my patrol."

Juliet nodded. "That's why this is the best campsite. After all, this Moon Lake is basically a pool. Even the deepest part is only 1.5 meters deep. There's less chance of an accident happening here than upriver, where the water is deep."

It wasn't until then that Luke learned that the lake was called Moon Lake.

Everybody left over an hour later after they were done eating and chatting, except for the two female teachers, who helped clean up.

Luke talked to them while they were cleaning up, and learned that he wasn't assigned night duty or patrol.

He was here mainly to deal with possible emergencies.

For example, if dangerous wildlife appeared, he could use his gun to deal with it.

The school had already informed the police about their program beforehand, and Luke was free to use a gun on camp grounds if necessary.

The cleanup was soon done. Tactfully refusing Lily's offer of coffee, Luke took out a tent and a sleeping bag from his car and returned to the fire by the lake.

He was going to make camp here; he had checked the room at the inn, and it wasn't anything spectacular.

He also couldn't be bothered changing the previous officer's bedsheets, so he decided to camp out next to the lake.

Since the teachers had mentioned that students might sneak out to swim at night, he could keep watch from here. After all, he only needed two hours of sleep.

The night got darker. There was nothing but Luke and the bonfire next to the lake.

The insects were blocked by the tent's mosquito netting, and Luke enjoyed hot tea and read files inside the tent.

Except for the lack of a beautiful female companion, all was right with the world.

At midnight, the fire outside the tent died out, and Luke pulled open the tent's outer layer.

He crawled out of the tent and walked to the edge of the lake, looking at the ripples on the surface of the peaceful water.

Suddenly, he heard faint footsteps on the other side of the lake.

Luke turned his head silently, and couldn't help being amused.

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Chapter 362 Acting and Setup

Two girls crept out to the lake in their slippers. After looking around, they quickly took off their shorts and T-shirts.

They looked at each other and laughed quietly, but just as they were about to go into the water, Luke turned on his flashlight.

He didn't shine it directly on them, but on the sand in front of them. "Alright, this is your only warning. If I catch you again, I'll take you to Juliet."

Both of the girls were startled.

Luke's voice sounded unhurried and casual, and coupled with the flashlight which every teacher had when they went on patrol, the girls knew that they were busted.

Hearing what Luke said, the girls quickly put on their shorts and T-shirts and quickly ran

off.

Luke chuckled inwardly after they disappeared.

He had done that on purpose.

In middle school, he had seen many tragic scenes of the dean catching mischievous troublemakers in the act.

Luke had always wanted to try that, but since he had never wanted to be a teacher, he didn't think he would have the chance.

Little did he expect that the police department would send him here to manage a bunch of students.

As a keen bystander, Luke had concluded when was the best time to catch students in the act.

It had to be when they were just about to make a mistake and before they fully succeeded. That halfway mark when students were trapped in their dilemma was the best.

After that fully deserved bit of mischief, Luke didn't feel like sleeping. He simply locked his tent and started patrolling.

He didn't need to check the campsite, as two teachers were on patrol duty every night.

He focused on the lake, where mishaps were more likely to happen.

Although the water was less than two meters deep, people could still drown, especially if they were short and were panicking.

After walking for several hundred meters, Luke trained the flashlight on a tree. "I'll give you ten seconds to put your clothes back on. If I catch you again, I'll take you to Juliet."

With his keen ears, he could even hear two people putting their clothes on in a flurry behind the tree.

Actually, Luke was only bluffing.

He didn't think it was necessary to turn the kids in.

He had graduated high school just a year ago, and knew that kids flushed with hormones wouldn't learn their lesson even after they were reprimanded, since they couldn't control themselves.

Luke then turned off his flashlight. "What are you waiting for? You want me to see your naked butts?"

There was rustling behind the tree, before a boy and a girl poked their heads out to look at him.

"What are you looking at? Go back to camp – I'll be watching you until you enter your dorms." Luke continued to scare them.

They lowered their heads and quickly ran back to camp.

Luke followed them and watched them return to their respective dorms before he resumed his patrol.

What energetic adolescents! Luke thought to himself.

After making two rounds of the lake, Luke caught five kids who were up to no good.

It wasn't until four o'clock in the morning that Luke finally returned to his tent and got some rest.

On the second day, Luke finally saw what a typical day at camp was like.

His biggest impression was that it was noisy.

These ninth grade students were, to a large extent, still kids, and when they came together, it was bedlam.

Some were fighting, some were shouting, some were laughing, some were cursing, and some were looking for the teachers or calling for their comrades.

Luke decisively avoided them and kept his distance; he was grateful that daddy system hadn't told him to become a teacher, otherwise he would definitely beat these brats up one by one.

Luke's morning was noisy yet peaceful.

It was noisy in his ears, but peaceful in his heart.

But someone arrived to disrupt that peace in the afternoon.

Looking at the young man who got down from a Benz, Luke raised an eyebrow, impressed by how well-informed the guy was.

The young man looked around and found Luke enjoying the sun next to the lake.

He walked over to Luke and stretched out his hand with a smile. "Nice to see you, Detective Luke."

Luke turned his head and nodded. "There's no need to be so polite. We don't exactly want to see each other, right, Mr. Lawyer Ellen?"

The man was none other than Ellen Shaw, who had always worked for the Elsworth family.

Ellen casually drew his hand back and said, "Alright. Detective Luke, you are indeed a straightforward man, so I'll be straightforward as well. There's a report which I hope you will be able to revoke."

"Ellen, I have some understanding about what Mr. Dylan's temperament is like. Half a year ago, an officer gave him a speeding ticket, and two months later, the officer's leg was broken when a car lost control." Luke chuckled.

Looking at Ellen, Luke continued, "A year ago, another officer arrested a young female for DUI. Three months later, a big drunkard struck him when he was on his way home, giving him a severe brain concussion. Before all that, the officer once stated that he saw a man in the driver's seat, and Mr. Dylan was the only man in that race car apart from three

girls."

Ellen said calmly, "Detective Luke, there are plenty such rumors about every celebrity in Los Angeles. So, why don't we just talk terms?"

Luke was amused. "Ellen, I'm not like those two officers, you understand? You can't threaten me with a car malfunction or a drunkard. If you're so capable, why don't you try your luck in Las Vegas? Elsworth is so good – I believe in your abilities."

After a brief silence, Ellen threw an envelope to Luke.

Luke raised his laptop to block it.

The envelope fell on the ground, and a stack of one hundred-dollar bills spilled out.

Ellen stared blankly.

Luke, however, stood up and stepped forward. "Mr. Lawyer, you don't have a good reputation. Now, take your attempt at a bribe and leave this camp. Right. Now!"

As he spoke, he waved his hand at Lily, who had been observing them at a distance.

With an unsightly expression on his face, Elsworth picked up the money on the ground and silently withdrew from the campsite.

Watching him leave, Luke glanced at a hidden camera in a tree not far away.

Ellen, who specialized in framing others, couldn't have known that his every word and action, particularly his attempt at a bribe, had been captured on camera.

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Chapter 363 A Couple on Holiday and Bratty Kids

Luke had seen too many similar setups in movies and TV shows before. When he noticed Ellen, he had adjusted the surveillance range beforehand.

The camera had an infrared function to monitor the lake 24/7 in case students snuck out for a swim and got into trouble.

Of course, it was Luke who suggested setting up the camera, and who provided the device.

He didn't charge the school a fee for it, and would just take back the surveillance equipment once this assignment was over and both he and the students returned to Los Angeles.

It wouldn't be easy to convict Ellen with the camera footage, but if the Elsworth family planned to set Luke up later, the footage would be great evidence to prove his innocence.

After the unannounced guest was driven away, Luke's agenda was clear in the afternoon.

On the third day, the teachers took the kids to a nearby mountain to teach them the basics of surviving in the wild. They also had to cook for themselves.

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Of course, they had to bring their own ingredients, since the teachers didn't dare let them eat the things in the wild.

Luke followed them to the mountain as well. He had much more stamina than the kids and teachers did, so he simply wandered around and appreciated the scenery while he practiced the jungle fighting abilities that he barely used.

He ran and jumped around easily on the mountain, even swinging from the trees every now and then.

He wasn't worried about anyone seeing him as he was only using the strength of an ordinary person; at most, people would only think that he was having a bit of childish fun.

When he leapt onto a road, he smiled.

It was the road that led to Stephen's campsite. He heard Juliet's voice over the walkie-talkie: "Alright, all the kids should be back at camp now. Please do a headcount."

A moment later, all the teachers reported numbers like they were shepherds counting sheep.

The numbers were correct, which indicated that no kids were missing.

Juliet said, "Alright, dismissed. Let them get some rest."

Luke reported, "Juliet, I won't be back at noon. I'm going to have a picnic on the mountain."

Juliet simply replied to say that she got it, before she cut off communication.

Luke was only reporting to her so that he wouldn't be considered missing.

The kids would have a break at noon, and then do a round-up of their camp experience in the afternoon at the campsite, so they wouldn't be in any sort of danger.

Thus, Luke could blatantly skive off work.

He was quite bored after two days in the camp. He wondered if he should visit Annie.

That girl was quite nice. She was chirpy and wasn't shy at all, and most importantly, she was pretty.

Lily, for example, was also interested in Luke, but Luke had intentionally avoided her, as Lily was only a five on a scale of one to ten.

Luke was relaxed as he jogged down the road.

Though he called it a jog, he was actually faster than a car as he leapt through the woods at forty kilometers an hour, as if he was flying

A car would have to slow down on the winding road, but when Luke felt like it, he could jump across pits and ravines easily.

His extreme parkour and jungle fighting abilities was a match made in heaven which he couldn't be any more pleased about. In the city, he was always restrained by people and all kinds of surveillance, but in the remote wilderness, he could finally run without inhibition at all.

Just like that, Luke ran for twenty minutes and reached Annie's campsite.

He looked at the sign at the entrance and laughed, as Stephen had finally fixed it.

The brand new sign sported a name in blue: Eden Lake Campsite.

Suddenly, he heard the sounds of an engine behind him.

Luke looked back and moved away from the road.

A blue and black Cherokee stopped when it passed by him, and a handsome man in the driver's seat asked with a smile, "Is there a lake around here?"

Luke stepped to one side and pointed at the campsite's new sign.

The man was amused when he saw it. "Eden Lake? That's a beautiful name. Thank you very much. Have a pleasant afternoon."

Luke nodded with a smile. "You too."

In the passenger seat, a girl with long blond hair smiled at him as well in a gentle and friendly manner.

They drove on without entering the campsite. Luke shook his head with a smile.

They were definitely a couple who were looking for a private spot. They had probably bypassed the campsite to look for a spot on the other side of the lake for themselves.

Luke turned around and entered the campsite. He soon arrived at the log cabins.

He shouted a greeting, and Annie immediately responded in delight, "Ah,

Luke?"

She popped her head out of the kitchen window. "It's really you! Why are you here? Don't you need to teach those kids?"

Luke waved his hand. "The kids are having their afternoon break. It's going to be noisy later, so I've decided to hide out here."

Annie smiled. Her crescent eyes suggested that she was quite happy. "Just a minute, let me finish washing the dishes. Right, do you want anything to drink?"

Luke patted his backpack and said, "I brought beer and wine. Would you like to join me?"

Annie giggled. "What about food? Or have you had lunch already?"

Luke shrugged. "Not yet. I'm counting on the charity of the kindhearted chef Annie."

Annie laughed. "Okay. Then give me ten minutes."

Ten minutes later, Luke got up from where he was sitting on the porch and took a tray from Annie. They then walked to the lake together.

He asked, "Where's Stephen?"

Bouncing ahead of him, Annie replied casually, "He's out checking the electric line. It seems it was messed up by some brats in the town down the mountain."

Luke asked, "Which town? The one we passed through?"

Annie shook her head. "No, it's a town in the northeast. There aren't any direct roads from there to here. Those kids took the trails."

Luke hummed a response and asked, "Do they often cause trouble?"

Annie sighed. "Stephen mentioned a thing or two. It doesn't happen very often, but they've destroyed a water pipe, a fence and the electric line…"

Luke frowned. "Did Stephen not talk to their parents?"

Annie shook her head. "I've never talked to them, but according to Stephen, their parents… aren't exactly friendly."

Luke didn't continue asking.

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Chapter 364 Rubbing on Oil and Dog Without a Leash

It wasn't unusual for remote towns which lacked access to the outside world to have unconventional mindsets.

Some towns changed for the better, where their people were more kindhearted and innocent.

But some towns changed for the worse, with people losing their sense of morality.

In Wolfkyle, the residents of the nearby town had willingly worked for the killers in the game for money.

Luke and Annie put the unpleasant topic aside and sat down on a couple of deck chairs by the side of the lake, and Luke ate the lunch which Annie made.

Lunch for Americans was very simple, as generally, it was dinner when they had a proper meal. They usually only had an hour for lunch, so they basically had simple sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers or salad.

Thanks to good quality ingredients, the sandwich which Annie made was above average.

After Luke finished the sandwich, they opened a bottle of wine to enjoy.

According to Annie, she had only had beer at most, and had never had the chance to enjoy wine.

Luke knew that she was implying that no man had ever hit on her with wine.

What could Luke do? Happily teach her the basics of drinking wine, of course.

As they chatted, they put their deck chairs right up to each other – that was the advantage of chairs without arms.

Luke told her what the kids at his campsite did, and how he kicked five young couples out of the woods in the middle of the night.

Annie giggled and punched him when she heard about how awful he was to them.

She had only graduated school half a year ago, and was basically Luke's age.

She couldn't help but blush when she remembered the students who were caught naked by their dean during her time at school.

It wasn't bashfulness, but pure embarrassment and a bit of excitement.

She couldn't help imagining what if she were the one Luke caught, and she felt hot all over.

It was another sunny day. She was wearing a long-sleeved shirt because it was slightly cold on the mountain before noon.

But on the shore of the lake with the sun right above her, she suddenly felt hot.

She took off her shirt to reveal a short-sleeved T-shirt underneath. She paused as she looked at the other side of the lake. "Ah, they're sunbathing."

Luke looked at them and said, "They're a couple; they passed by the camp entrance earlier, and asked me for directions. They seem quite nice."

He then turned and looked at Annie. "Do you want to sunbathe too?"

Annie hesitated for a moment, but still nodded in the end.

It would be a waste if she couldn't bask in the sun on such a beautiful afternoon and with such a perfect man.

Luke asked with a smile, "Do you have a swimsuit?"

Annie nodded quickly. "Yes, it's in my room. I brought suntan oil as well."

She had known that there was a lake here, which was one of the reasons why she had chosen to come here to work.

Luke got up with a smile, and so did Annie.

He carried her on his back and said, "Haha, you're too slow. I'll take you there." He then carried her to the cabins.

Annie exclaimed at first, before she burst into laughter.

Luke dropped Annie off at her cabin so that she could put on the swimsuit, and they wound up dawdling for half an hour.

When Annie finally came out, she blushed at the way Luke stared at her. "What's wrong? It doesn't look good?"

Luke chuckled. "It's very pretty and suits you; it would be nice if it was smaller though."

Annie: "Pooh!"

A while later, Annie was lying on the deck chair while Luke rubbed the oil on her back. Feeling comfortable, she turned her head and said, "This feels really nice."

Luke chuckled but didn't say anything.

He, too, felt it was quite nice.

Annie's legs were smooth and fair, except for a few uneven dots on the back.

Clearly, she had shaved during that half-hour delay in her room.

Everywhere else was clean, but she had missed a few spots on the back.

They didn't eclipse her beauty, however.

What could Luke say, when she had tried so hard? He could only meticulously and conscientiously finish rubbing the oil over her.

He couldn't be any more satisfied as the skin under his hands felt even smoother with the suntan oil.

Suddenly, there was the vague sound of a dog barking. Luke turned his head and saw a group of teenagers horsing around close to the couple from the Cherokee.

A big dog which the kids had with them ran over to the couple, who were sunbathing, and barked loudly at them.

Luke frowned.

The couple were quite friendly, but those had to be the brats from the town down the mountain whom Annie had mentioned earlier.

And it was clear that those unruly kids were the problem now.

It was extremely ill-bred to walk a dog without a leash, particularly when the dog was a rottweiler instead of a small breed.

It might be loyal to its owner and could keep the kids company, but it could be dangerous to strangers. It was poor behavior to bring such a big dog out to a place with strangers without putting a leash on it.

Furthermore, the dog had been barking for quite a while, but the kids showed no signs of restraining it at all.

Luke had hated people like this the most in his previous life.

as

They rushed out to protect their darling dog at all costs, but only after the other party was driven to clash with the dog because they were frightened by it.

If those people loved their dog so much, why didn't they do something earlier?

Annie raised her head. She sensed that Luke's hands had stopped, and she heard a dog barking.

Turning her head and looking at the opposite side of the lake, she cursed. "It's those brats and that dog again."

Luke hummed a response and picked up the suntan oil again. "What's wrong with the dog?" Annie lay down and complained, "I like dogs too. I have a labrador and a beagle back at home, but they're not as nasty as this one."

Luke understood very well.

Labradors were easier to train and pretty obedient, while beagles liked human company and were fond of barking.

Since Annie kept a beagle, it couldn't be the barking that she was unhappy about.

As Luke expected, Annie went on, "The dog isn't the problem. It's because its owner didn't train it when it was young, and let it act hostile toward strangers. That's a bad habit. The dog isn't bred for hunting; do they have to train it to be so fierce?"

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Chapter 365 Conflict, and Do You Have Any More Questions?

Luke nodded in agreement.

How obedient a dog was depended largely on innate talent, but still on training in part.

A key factor which determined a dog's habits was proper training by its owner.

The dog barked for quite a while, before one of the naughty kids finally called the dog back.

Luke could only shake his head.

Looking at the dog's movements, he knew that it had pooped not far away from the couple.

That was really disgusting.

The man was clearly angry. He stood up and said something to the kids.

They confronted each other for a moment, before the man helplessly walked back.

Judging from their body language, the kids had clearly gotten the upper hand.

Luke could only feel sorry for the man.

What else could the man do? Fight the kids? If he beat up minors, he would certainly be put in prison.

But when he quarreled with them, it was impossible for him to suppress six aggressive and forceful hoodlums.

The couple then moved over a hundred meters away from the kids, and the conflict finally came to an end. Luke didn't pay any more attention to them. After all, this was too common, and he had seen dozens of similar cases in less than a year as a police officer, all of which basically ended like this.

Once the kids turned eighteen, however, the world would no longer indulge them.

A lot of people with nastier characters wouldn't hesitate to curse them out even more viciously, or simply punch them at the slightest provocation; this, too, was all too common.

At that time, they would have to become obedient and honest citizens, or they would end up becoming the dregs of society.

While he was mulling over this, Annie leaned in close and asked, "What's on your mind?"

She was petite next to Luke at just 1.6 meters tall, but she wasn't skinny.

Luke relaxed and chatted with her.

At six in the evening, Luke said goodbye to Annie. He had to return to the campsite. He could skip the afternoon since the students were all together, but he couldn't skip the night patrol.

Annie was reluctant to let him go, but Luke just smiled. "Don't you have my number? We'll talk when we're free. I'll be spending a few more days at the campsite."

Eden Lake Campsite was in the mountains and wasn't covered by a base station, but Luke's campsite was a popular one and had a phone signal.

Annie could use the landline to call him.

Luke waved goodbye at Annie and returned along the lake.

He could've taken Annie back to her cabin that afternoon.

But Luke wasn't in a rush.

It wasn't like he was only here for a day, or that he had never had a girlfriend before.

Some fruit tasted more delicious after a wait.

Walking along the lake, Luke soon reached the opposite side. The couple had started a fire on an open area near the lake, so Luke found them quite easily.

He went over and greeted them from a distance.

Only after they noticed him and the woman covered herself did Luke finally approach them.

The man rose and smiled. "It's you. What a coincidence."

Luke nodded with a smile and pointed at the other side of the lake. "I have a friend who works at the campsite over there. I was here to check up on her. Right, I'm Luke." He stretched out one hand.

The man did the same. "I'm Steve. That's my girlfriend, Janet."

Luke nodded at the blond with a smile and said, "The kids from this afternoon are from a town down the mountain. They don't seem to have a good reputation. You should be careful."

Steve was stumped for a moment, before he nodded. "Thank you for the warning."

Looking at his expression, Luke knew that he didn't consider it a big deal. He could only warn them again, "They often vandalize things, like the campsite's electric line and fence. You should keep an eye on your car and your personal belongings. If you're in trouble, you can ask Stephen, the owner of the campsite over there, for help." Stunned again, Steve then said much more sincerely, "Thank you, Luke."

Luke nodded. "I'm going down the mountain. I wish you a pleasant vacation. Goodbye."

Steve walked back after Luke left.

Janet asked in a low voice, "Why was he here?"

Steve smiled but didn't mention what Luke said. "He told us to pay more attention to our safety. Right, he also told us that the owner of the campsite is called Stephen, and if we run into any trouble, we can ask him for help."

Janet, however, wasn't as dumb. She thought for a moment, then asked, "Did you notice his holster?"

Steve was stunned. "What?"

Janet pondered again, then shook her head. "He doesn't look like a bad kid. He has an authoritative air about him, a little like… a police officer?"

Steve was lost for words. "Janet, he doesn't seem older than twenty. How can a police officer be so young?".

Janet laughed. "What if he just looks younger than he is? Unlike you, look at those wrinkles…"

Steve hugged her angrily and pressed her down onto the blanket. Then, nothing but the murmurs and chuckles of a couple could be heard by the quiet lake.

Luke returned to his campsite and set up a small grill. He casually roasted some meat for himself.

Lily came over again and chatted with Luke for quite a while.

Luke behaved the way any other person would with someone they had just met.

While she wasn't refused outright, she didn't make any progress either.

She certainly wasn't as good at talking as a certain detective. In the end, another teacher called for her, and she went back to work, slightly disappointed.

Thanks to Lily, the students around them didn't dare approach Luke.

However, after wandering around suspiciously for a long time, two girls finally summoned their courage to go over. "Are you a teacher?"

Luke couldn't help smiling. "No."

The girls looked at each other, and the bolder of the two asked, "Were… Were you the one who scared us the other night?"

Luke gave them a bright smile and waved his hand at them. "Come here. Let me show you something."

The girls weren't scared, as they were on open land next to the lake and surrounded by dozens of people.

They leaned in close to Luke, and he took out his badge. "LAPD. I'm now the instructor for your safety training in this camp. Do you have any more questions?" The girls' mouths dropped open as they looked from Luke's badge to his face.

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Chapter 366 "Drowning" Girls, and Murderous Kids

A moment later, the two girls finally came back to their senses and bowed to him. "SSorry, s- sir. We… We still have other things to do…" They quickly fled even before they finished speaking.

Using his identity to suppress these kids was a great feeling. The two girls were naturally the unlucky students whom he had caught wanting to go for a swim on the first night.

They obviously remembered his voice, which was why they had come over to confirm it. As a safety training instructor, Luke had no authority over the students from No. 37 Middle School except during his lessons and when it was a matter of safety.

The safety training was already over, but Luke certainly had to keep an eye out for students trying to sneak out for a midnight swim; it could even be considered one of his main responsibilities in the camp.

The girls thus didn't have the courage to pick a fight with him.

Of course, Luke was aware that the girls might not necessarily be here to complain; one of their goals was simply to talk to him.

As he ate leisurely, he noticed a bunch of girls chattering among themselves, and the two girls whom he had just scared off were questioned by their classmates.

He was amused by what he overheard.

The other night, the girls had clearly been about to undertake that timeless tradition of middle school camps — the test of courage.

The test was quite simple.

Whoever could sneak into the lake after hours and swim one round in it would win the challenge.

Basically, it was the same principle as elementary school kids making faces at the teacher's back when the latter was writing on the blackboard.

But the students only had one shot during camp, since their parents would be contacted if they committed a second violation.

The girls were discussing the two players who failed the challenge as well as Luke's identity.

Luke didn't keep his identity a secret, but he didn't wear his badge on his chest either, as that would be too eye-catching.

as

It was another quiet, tranquil night. Luke caught quite a few students who were going to try their luck at a midnight swim, but what left him speechless was that a number of girls ran over to the part of the lake that he was at, before heading toward the water.

What was even more of a pain was that some of the girls dawdled as they took off their clothes, and hardly moved when they got into the water.

Luke realized what the girls were doing, and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

After two incidents, he simply called for Lily over the walkie-talkie and had her guard this place in exchange for taking her night patrol.

Lily was greatly moved.

But after Luke left and Lily caught a few groups of girls in a row, she finally realized that something was wrong. What was going on? Also, if Luke really was that considerate, shouldn't he be accompanying her on her patrol?

After successfully shifting the responsibility to avoid the awkward situation, Luke leisurely did a few rounds before he returned to his tent, thanked the gloomy-faced Lily, then went to bed.

On the third day, there were a few more programs happening in camp. There was a lesson on knowing how to save oneself after falling into water in the wild, which could also be seen as a lesson on improving one's swimming ability. The students were divided into various groups and led into the water like ducklings.

The training zone was a shallow area marked by buoys. Luke and a few other male teachers patrolled the shore to make sure that no students drowned or swam out of the designated area.

But for a period of time, a few girls almost "drowned" one after another.

Luke had no choice, and could only go into the lake to pull the girls with poor acting skills back to shore.

But it was very clear that these girls hadn't swallowed any water at all. Instead, they simply stared with starry eyes at the manly body that was revealed by his wet clothes.

Two of them were even reluctant to let go of him when he got them back to shore, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

What could he do?

In the end, he could only speak to Juliet, then stay far away. If he stayed here any longer, more girls would "drown."

Luke spent the whole day at the campsite without leaving

When night fell, dark clouds covered the sky.

Luke looked at the sky and thought it was odd. "Is it going to rain?"

Lily, who was counting the students, said casually, "Yes, a storm's coming in from the ocean. That's right, the weather forecast did mention that there might be a thunderstorm."

Luke hummed in response, and relaxed slightly.

With the thunder and rain, there would be a lot less kids out tonight. After all, few idiots would swim in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Lily thought of something and asked, "Won't it be dangerous in your tent? How about I clean up a room for you?"

Luke quickly said, "Thanks, Lily, but that's not necessary. I'll look for a friend later, and ask Juliet for leave tonight."

Lily was greatly disappointed.

Luke hurriedly slipped away.

He really couldn't blame her for trying so hard.

Slightly after seven, Luke asked Juliet for leave and left the campsite.

In this weather, he would rather stay with Annie at Eden Lake Campsite.

It was already dark, and the trees swayed in the strong wind.

Nevertheless, Luke was in a good mood. He whistled as he climbed the mountain.

When he was a few hundred meters away from the campsite, his phone rang.

He took out the phone and smiled.

It was Eden Lake Campsite's number. It had to be Annie.

He picked up the phone and said, "Hello, is that you, Annie?"

On the other end of the phone, Annie said in a very soft voice, "Luke, come and save us. Those kids… They're crazy… They're killing people. Hurry! Ah, they're coming…"

Du…

All Luke heard was the dial tone after that.

He frowned and started to run.

As he ran, he took out his equipment from his inventory. He put on his skintight bulletproof vest, and then a thick waterproof combat uniform. He also put on two holsters, and clipped the backup magazines to his uniform.

On his way, he looked up at the sky.

The storm was going to hit at any minute.

Conditions definitely weren't favorable, and his Sharp Nose would be greatly affected by the storm.

It would be a lot harder to look for people later.

At that thought, he moved even faster.

Ten minutes later, he reached Eden Lake Campsite.

His heart became heavy when he looked at the dark cabins.

There was no light in the cabins at all when it was already dark, which was highly unusual.

He quickly approached the cabins, and was hugely relieved to discover that the blood he could smell belonged to a man and a dog instead of Annie.

Remembering what Annie said earlier, he could roughly guess what happened.

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Chapter 367 Steve: I Think I Can Still Be Saved

The blood was from the man named Steve.

As for the dog blood, it should be from the dog that belonged to the kids from the town down the mountain.

Luke didn't enter the cabin. Instead, he quickly tracked Steve's blood into the woods.

Janet and Annie's scents were mixed in with the smell of Steve's blood.

Annie had called Luke probably because the couple had asked for her help.

When he spoke with Annie, Luke had mentioned that he was a police officer and the safety instructor for No. 37 Middle School's campsite.

If she called 911, it would take forever for the police officers to arrive.

This wasn't a town, but the woods in a mountain, and the police officers had every reason to be wary of accidents.

Luke moved quite fast. He covered several hundred meters quickly and stopped in front of a dilapidated cabin near a pool.

He approached the cabin and whispered, "Annie, don't make a sound. It's Luke."

Annie still let out a small cry of surprise, but forcefully swallowed the sound halfway.

Luke then opened the shabby door and walked in.

The situation inside was quite grim.

Steve's entire body was bleeding as he lay on the floor, fright and desperation in his eyes.

When Luke entered the cabin, he trembled for one moment, and was clearly afraid.

Janet hurriedly repeated next to his ear, "It's Luke. He's a police officer."

With hope in his eyes, Steve looked at the stranger.

But he already could no longer speak. His trembling lips were pale, suggesting massive blood loss.

Janet and Annie were covered in blood too, but they weren't hurt. The blood was Steve's.

Luke hushed them and turned on a small flashlight to examine Steve's wounds.

A moment later, he gave the flashlight to Annie to hold. He frowned. "Who did this?"

Janet replied, her voice shaking, "It was those kids."

Luke asked, "Those five boys and one girl with a dog from the town down the mountain?"

Janet nodded. "Yes, them."

Luke had already taken out medical supplies from his backpack. He put on rubber gloves and began to cut the cloth near Steve's wounds. He asked again, "Why did they do this?" Steve was badly wounded, but it wasn't a single, violent stab wound.

Hotheaded kids tended to attack too recklessly without considering the consequences. That was why they often got people killed.

However, Steve had a dozen wounds all over him, some of which were crooked and overlapped each other.

This suggested that he wasn't stabbed, but cut in a slow way. Whoever did it even paused and cut the same area many times.

To be blunt, it was more like torturing someone to death instead of pure murder.

The wounds were horrifying.

Hope flared in Janet's heart when she saw Luke start to treat Steve, and she told him what happened earlier. "They… They stole our car. We searched for it. Steve found where they had planted weed, and tried to take our car back. They let the dog go. Steve stabbed the dog, and they grabbed him… Then, they tied him up and took turns cutting him…"

Luke simply listened and didn't interrupt her.

What Janet said might not necessarily be the truth, or not the whole truth.

But he did detect the scent of a minute amount of fresh weed on Steve and Janet.

Annie added that Janet came over with a wounded Steve for help, and when she was calling Luke, that was when the kids came after them.

At Annie's reminder, Janet discarded the clothes which she had been using to stop Steve's bleeding on another trail.

After that, the two of them helped Steve into this old cabin to hide from the kids who were hunting them.

From what they said and what he was seeing, Luke had reached a rough conclusion.

Steve and Janet might've clashed fiercely with the kids, but that didn't justify the way they had tortured Steve.

Normal kids would go to their parents or the police, instead of capturing their enemy and taking turns to cut him with a knife.

No normal kid could be so brutal.

While Luke was thinking this, his movements sped up.

After giving Steve painkillers, he washed out Steve's wounds and wrapped them with bandages.

This was a temporary measure to stop Steve's bleeding

The good news was that Steve's main arteries hadn't been nicked, so he might still live if he got to the hospital in time.

After Janet told him what happened, Luke asked Annie, "Where's your uncle, Stephen?".

It was highly unusual for Stephen to not stop the kids, as the owner of the campsite.

Although Stephen was alone, he had an old shotgun in his cabin, which should've been enough to threaten a few kids.

Annie shook his head. "Those kids seem to have destroyed another line. He left in the afternoon to check it out, but hasn't come back."

Luke was rendered speechless.

These f*cking kids were real troublemakers.

"Is the pickup at the campsite still there? Do you have the key?" asked Luke.

Annie said, "It's there. The key is on the wall next to the living room door."

Luke quickly treated Steve's wounds and said, "Hang in there. I'll help you move."

Steve could only nod his head to show that he understood.

Luke helped him to his feet with his left hand. "Let's go. We'll take the car and send Steve to the hospital."

Janet said, "But those kids…"

Luke drew his Glock out of the holster with his right hand. "If anyone points a knife at me, I would be happy to shoot a few suspects who assault a police officer."

Only then did Janet get it. "You…"

Annie hurriedly explained, "He's a police officer."

Luke couldn't be bothered to take out his badge at the moment.

If Janet was suspicious of the man who helped save her boyfriend's life, he would simply leave her behind. Janet, however, quickly said, "Thank you, Luke."

Luke simply nodded and said to Annie, "I'll keep watch. Don't panic, and just follow me."

"Okay." Annie nodded.

The four of them left the cabin.

There was a burst of thunder in the gloomy sky, and it started to pour.

Without any hesitation, Luke simply said, "Let's go."

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Chapter 368 Hospital, Alarm and Trouble

As an expert in jungle combat, Luke chose the easiest route and returned to Stephen's log cabins in less than ten minutes.

At that point, all of them were drenched.

Luke helped Steve into a chair on the patio and looked for the key to the pickup.

A few minutes later, Luke and Annie were in the front seats of the pickup, while Steve lay in the backseat as his girlfriend took care of him.

The Ford pickup started up and drove down the mountain.

Luke didn't rush. While Steve didn't look good, he wasn't dying.

On the other hand, if Luke accidentally drove the car off a cliff, they would be killed.

Thanks to Elementary Driving, it only took Luke thirty minutes in the heavy rain to return to the campsite for No. 37 Middle School.

Luke parked the car outside Juliet's cabin and knocked on the door.

Juliet opened the door and was surprised to see Luke fully kitted out. "What's wrong?" Luke said, "A tourist from another campsite is heavily injured and needs urgent medical care. Where's the nearest hospital?" Juliet said, "I know where the hospital is, I'll take you there." Luke stopped her. "Juliet, you're responsible for the students here. Besides, it's not safe to drive right now. Just tell me where the hospital is. That'll be enough."

Juliet meant well, but she might get into an accident if she drove too fast on such a rainy night.

Juliet thought he had a point. She wasn't very confident in her driving skills.

She hurried to find a map in her room and marked a location on it. "We usually send students and teachers who require first aid to this hospital called Hatchmobis. It takes thirty minutes to get there. Keep the map, I have more copies of it."

Luke thanked her and accepted the map. Surveying it and taking a photo with his fake phone, he turned around and said, "Thanks, Juliet. I might not return tonight."

Juliet saw him off and shouted, "Be careful. Call me if anything happens." Luke signaled OK with his hand and quickly drove out of the campsite.

They arrived safely.

There was no problem with Juliet's map and the hospital was easy to spot.

Forty minutes later, Steve was rushed into the operating room.

Looking at the two wet and shivering women, Luke said to Janet, "Wait for Steve here. I'll take Annie to buy some things, okay?"

Janet trembled and nodded, her eyes fixed on the doors of the operating room.

Knowing that she was too worried about her boyfriend to go anywhere, Luke left with Annie, who was also shaking.

He asked a nurse, and found a 24-hour supermarket.

He then told Annie to choose some clothes for herself and Janet.

Women were better in that aspect. Luke wasn't an expert, except when it came to determining cup sizes.

On the other hand, Luke picked up a few towels, some water, and a big backpack, before he paid for everything.

He booked a room at a motel a hundred meters from the hospital, and told Annie to take a shower and change her clothes.

Luke took off his equipment too. He put away his guns, his holsters and his bulletproof vest.

After Annie came out in a big bathrobe, Luke took a quick shower as well.

He then smiled at Annie. "Can you keep going? If you can, let's go to the hospital to keep Janet company; she should change out of her clothes at the very least, and it would be inappropriate for me to take her to do that."

Annie was amused even though she hadn't recovered from her shock yet. "Dream on."

She had gotten completely drenched during the storm, and Janet was no exception; she certainly wouldn't let Luke watch her change.

Refreshed, Luke and Annie returned to the hospital, and Luke persuaded Janet to find a place to change into dry clothes.

After the two girls left, he took out his phone and called the police. Actually, the hospital should have already called the police; Luke was only making another call to make sure.

Ten minutes later, a local constable arrived.

Luke showed him his badge and told the constable what he knew.

While they were talking, Annie and Janet came back.

Annie was holding a bunch of transparent plastic bags that contained everything they had been wearing except their underwear.

Luke gave the plastic bags to the constable and said, "Here's the evidence."

The constable was stunned for a moment, before he smiled wryly. "Well, thank you for your cooperation, Detective Luke."

Luke didn't think it was a big deal. "I hope this can reduce your workload a little."

The constable naturally agreed.

A lot of things were easier with the cooperation of someone in the same field.

Another constable showed up, and the two of them questioned Annie and Janet separately.

After a while, neither of the constables had good expressions. The older of the constables came over and asked to speak to Luke in private.

They talked for a while, and Luke knew that this matter was a little tricky.

Those kids were from another town on the other side of the mountain, which wasn't in the constables' jurisdiction.

If the constables wanted to arrest the kids, they had two options: Climb the mountain right now, or talk to the constable of the other town first before they arrested the kids.

Looking at the storm outside the window, Luke didn't think that the constables had the courage to climb the mountain in this weather.

As for arresting the kids from another town, that was a completely different matter.

Luke had no interest in telling the constables what to do. He made it explicitly clear that he was only a passer-by in this case, and that the constables should do as they saw fit.

He had never liked to stick his nose into someone else's business, even after becoming a police officer.

He had accomplished his objective of saving Annie, Steve and Janet.

Given Steve's wounds, if he was determined to sue those kids, there was a high chance he could get them sent to juvie, and bankrupt their parents in damages.

This type of case which involved serious bodily harm was something that "professional" lawyers would be very interested in taking on.

Luke would naturally follow up on the case as well.

He wouldn't act without reason, but once he confirmed certain things, he didn't mind spending another weekend here.

The two constables were relieved; at least they didn't have to risk their lives climbing the mountain at night.

The identities of those kids weren't a secret. It would be impossible for them to run.

Police matters in the other town were entrusted to LASD. It was better to communicate with LASD first before taking any action.

Two hours later, Steve was wheeled out of the operating room.

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