In order to protect her son from being beaten by Dean, that corrupt detective, Sama endured the pain in her body and, leaning on a pen, wrote down the details of the incident.

Not long ago, upon learning that her son had committed a crime, Sama's husband wanted to send their son to turn himself in directly. As a fourteen-year-old, if Ta Kel turned himself in, with his father's maneuvering, the most he would face was monetary compensation and some restrictions, like "protective observation," for a period. Essentially, it meant an added layer of constraints. During this period, as long as he abided by the law, attended school on time, regularly met with his probation officer, stayed within community limits, and didn't go out during specified hours at night, it would be considered his punishment.

But maternal love is sometimes great, and sometimes foolish. Under her son's pleading, Sama threatened her husband, saying that if he turned their son in, their family would fall apart, and he would be left all alone. As a middle-aged man with a family, although he was very reluctant, he was still coerced by his family. He put on the LAPD police uniform, a symbol of justice, found the little girl's family, and, with a gun in one hand and cash compensation in the other, made them an offer. Considering the pros and cons, the family compromised.

「A few days passed.」

While "fundraising" on duty to make up for the loss, Sama's husband was shot. The gunman used a homemade shotgun, a large-caliber weapon with average power, but the homemade bullets were filled with iron filings soaked in filth. This caused the man, who had initially suffered only facial disfigurement, to develop a severe infection. Sama's husband, now virtually unable to care for himself, was ruined.

In her grief, Sama suddenly received a text message: "I know about your son's incident. If you don't want to lose your son after losing your husband, then do as I say..."

An unknown person provided the plan and Sarah's address. He wanted Sama to kidnap Sarah's daughter, threatening Sarah to give up investigating her brother's disappearance. Sama, looking at her husband lying in the hospital bed—virtually a broken man—impulsively called her son. They prepared their tools, staked out Sarah's house, and, failing to find a suitable opportunity, eventually tailed Sarah to the hospital, leading to today's incident.

After reading Sama's testimony, Dean became lost in thought. Looking at the timeline, Sama and her son received the threat yesterday and took action today. Yesterday was the second day Sarah's brother had been missing and the first day she had reported it to the police. This suggested a problem: the person threatening Sama and her son was familiar with both Sarah and Sama's family. They might even know Sama's patrol officer husband well enough to be aware of the situation. But first, there was something to confirm.

Dean looked at Harry, who was similarly deep in thought. "Buddy, you stay with Sarah. Hawk and I will take a trip to the victimized girl's home to get a better understanding of the situation."

Harry nodded. "Dean, thank you. I've got this covered here."

「...」

They got the address and set off.

On the road, Hawk, who was driving, didn't look too good. His subordinate had committed an offense and was immediately shot—a clear act of retaliation. Still, he empathized with the victim girl's family. He suspected he would have shot Ta Kel's father the moment the man showed up at his door with a gun. Hawk was feeling a mix of emotions.

Dean, worried that Hawk might drive into a ditch due to distraction, reassured him, "Buddy, everyone has to take responsibility for their actions. Ta Kel's father chose to cover for his son. Punishment is just fate's retribution. You don't need to feel like you've failed."

Anyway, he didn't sympathize with Ta Kel's family at all. If it had been his sister Sinclair facing such bullying, there wouldn't be a need for Ta Kel's father to come knocking. He'd put on a mask and offer a one-stop service of murder and arson, sending them neatly arranged to confess before Satan. As for any regrets or resentment? They could chat with Satan about it. As long as someone dared to harm his family, regardless of their reasons or status, physical elimination was the most direct response!

Silence filled the ride.

「Half an hour later.」

The car arrived at a somewhat old and historic residential complex.

Hawk, an old patrol officer for this area, was very familiar with every community here. He explained, "This neighborhood used to be densely populated by illegal workers, but as more and more Asian workers gained green cards and bought property here, public safety has greatly improved."

Hearing this, Dean felt a bit annoyed. So, in Hawk's eyes, Asians were just law-abiding citizens, huh?

In current statistics, the largest criminal ethnic groups were African Americans, followed by white immigrants from various countries, and finally Asians—to be precise, Chinese Asians. They were often an exploited and bullied group.

In his view, they were all flesh and blood, with hands and guns. Why should their own people be bullied? Unfortunately, Chinese people clustered in large numbers in Los Angeles. But whenever Dean went to the shooting range, he seldom saw Chinese people. Instead, he saw some white people taking their young children there early for 'enlightenment' education. The proportion of Chinese legally purchasing guns was also the lowest among all ethnic groups. Perhaps this was a habit passed down through centuries. They relied on connections for everything. As long as they weren't driven to a dead end, they wouldn't think of picking up a gun. But by that time, even with a gun, you might not win against a criminal who's practiced for years.

However, Dean couldn't help but think about how his ancestors, over a hundred years ago, were willing to abandon their traditions to marry 'barbarians' from other nations, gaining their new family's support to ensure their bloodline could safely continue to this day.

Dean sighed silently, speechless.

After all, if he had descendants, he would rather they grow up to be fierce tigers and leopards than ever allow them to be tame sheep!

「...」

Getting out of the car, Dean, feeling blue, led Hawk—who was equally troubled—to an apartment door. He knocked. "LAPD, please open up."

After a while, there was no response. However, Dean knew there were people inside because of the traces and the spinning electric meter, so he continued, "Buddy, I'm Detective Dean from the Detective Bureau. Some issues can't be resolved by running away. I sympathize with your situation. If you're willing to trust me a little, perhaps you'll find the world isn't as dark as you imagine."

More than ten seconds later, footsteps were heard. Someone was peering through the peephole.

Dean took out his badge and then pulled out a photo of himself with his family from his wallet. "My sister is just a teenager, about the same age as your daughter," he said reassuringly. "Believe me, I'm not here to cause trouble."

"Even if you were, I don't care anymore," a dull male voice replied.

CLICK.

The door opened.

A downcast-looking, middle-aged man with a scruffy beard stood before them. A pungent, foul odor emanated from him and the messy living room. The room was scattered with takeout boxes, empty liquor bottles, and cigarette butts. It was clear the man before them hadn't been doing well lately.

Hawk was about to say something when he noticed a double-barreled shotgun, about half a meter long, lying casually on the couch. Beneath it was a noticeably large, homemade cartridge. The sight startled him. He quickly drew his pistol, aiming it at the man. "Hands on your head and get down! Don't move!"

The man didn't even glance at Hawk. He lay back down on the couch, grabbed a beer bottle, took a swig, and muttered, "Liars. You're all the same. None of you are any good."

"Calm down, buddy." Dean pressed down Hawk's pistol, surveyed the room, and said to the man, "It looks like you've been living alone for a week. Because you compromised, your wife took your daughter and left you?"

"Yes," the man said candidly. "I didn't want them to get hurt, but clearly, that wasn't what my daughter and wife wanted. So, I went to find that patrol officer."

"Do your wife and daughter know about this?" Dean asked.

The man shook his head. "Forget it. I've already signed the divorce papers, to spare my daughter from having a father who's assaulted an officer. For God's sake, let me finish this beer, then take me away."

Hearing this, Hawk's tense nerves finally relaxed. He holstered his gun, hesitated, and said, "Buddy, this isn't your fault. As an officer, I detest what you've done, but as a father, I understand you."

This might just be the sentiment shared among middle-aged men: enduring for their families, only to bear everything alone after being misunderstood by them.

After finishing the beer, the man candidly recounted what had happened. But he denied threatening Sama and her son, and also stated he didn't know Sarah or her brother. In fact, if Sama and her son hadn't been threatened into staking out Sarah's place, they might have been the ones at this man's gunpoint now.

「...」

When the man was taken away by Hawk's colleagues, a message flashed through Dean's mind: [Assault case cracked, Experience Points +200].

This was probably the least amount of Experience Points he had ever gained. But that was to be expected. The case was neither particularly complex nor dangerous. Once the hidden details were known, even a pig could have easily found this man and solved the assault-on-an-officer case.

He was still 2,700 Experience Points short of reaching level 18. With no major cases, it was just a grind.

「Leaving the neighborhood.」

Hawk asked with puzzlement, "Dean, why do I get the feeling that you believed that guy's words so easily?"

"Because he wasn't lying," Dean explained. "In reality, this guy must have been a hardworking, honest person. He was in pain over his daughter's abuse. He compromised in the face of threats. It was only after his wife and daughter misconstrued his actions, leaving him with nothing left to lose, that he lashed out. A man with nothing to lose, who regretted before us not having the chance to castrate Ta Kel, wouldn't abandon his final urge to unburden himself due to other concerns."

"Alright," Hawk said, walking to the car and lighting a cigarette. He then voiced the same question that puzzled Dean, "If this guy wasn't the one who threatened Sama and Ta Kel, then who else is involved in Sarah's case?"

"There's too little information right now, so I'm not sure, but I have some ideas," Dean replied, not elaborating.

He suspected the perpetrator was another officer from the precinct—possibly a close and trusted colleague of Ta Kel's father. Only someone with that status could have access to both Sarah and Ta Kel's family! Things were getting interesting. The person behind the scenes had a clear objective: they didn't want Sarah's brother's disappearance to cause too much trouble. So, they preferred to make a riskier, foolish move rather than let Sarah continue her investigation. But with this approach, if anything went wrong, a simple process of elimination would significantly increase the risk of the mastermind being exposed. So why was 'he' in such a hurry? And regarding Sarah's brother, what exactly made him run away from home? What had he been coaxed into doing that would make the mastermind so desperate to avoid police attention? Dean realized this might be a case within a case.

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