Moress dared to be so unrestrained on the phone, which meant that she had already arranged everything concerning George's death case. Unless Dean resorted to violence, there was no way to arrest her.

In that case, there was no need for Dean to trouble himself for a bit of Experience Points.

"You can start by stating your conditions," Dean said in a deep voice.

"First," Dean continued solemnly, "that crew member responsible for George's death must turn himself in, and you must compensate George's family with a sum of money. Second, make my older brother get lost; I don't want him to be involved with you!"

"No problem!" Moress agreed readily. "Even if you didn't mention it, things would have unfolded that way. As for your older brother, although he's quite spirited, he's the kind of man that, if I wanted, I could replace with countless others at any time. I'll ensure he leaves respectfully."

"Good. Once that crew member surrenders, this case will be over. Now you can talk about the case that is about to happen."

Dean was curious why Moress would choose such an alternative method to kill George and then not deal with the matter, making it so troublesome. However, it wasn't necessary to meddle in affairs that didn't concern him. His only concern was his own benefit. Justice was simply a matter of convenience.

「A moment later.」

Dean hung up the phone, lit a cigarette, and sank into thought.

The case Moress mentioned involved the Detective Bureau's Anti-Black Division engaging in internal corruption related to drug trafficking, and it was being pushed along by someone with an agenda. If successful, it wouldn't just be Eve who would have a hard time; the entire Detective Bureau would lose face. If Dean could handle it well, there would be great benefits. This was undoubtedly a very worthwhile deal.

However, Moress had only heard through her channels that such an incident would occur, but she wasn't clear on the specific timing. This was somewhat troublesome, but not a major problem. The key was the channels Moress mentioned.

As a former professional Sweeper in his past life, Dean knew very well that in the underworld, there was a sophisticated process for laundering illicit goods and securing financial channels. Small operations were called underground banks, while larger ones were known as international listed trades. No matter if you were selling stolen goods or purchasing them, you couldn't avoid these gray zones.

So... it was highly probable that Moress, or her family, were part of this circle from the beginning. That was why she could be so ruthless, her methods so clear, and why, even after getting involved with gangs, she was still standing firm and alive to this day.

As for George's case, Moress might have been worried about Dean's excessive curiosity, but in the end, she still subtly hinted at it: George had slept with a boss's woman, and the boss was a straightforward man. Since you messed with my woman, I'll make sure you get messed with too!

Dean guessed the ultimate reason for George's death, apart from the messy stimulant and aphrodisiac drugs that Li Meimei injected him with, was Moress's intentional act. After all, it was at Moress's gathering that the boss's woman couldn't resist cheating. Her cryptic actions were probably meant to appease the boss—no need to aim for great merit, but as long as it was somewhat useful, then she wouldn't come out at a loss. And George? In Moress's mind, he was just expendable, and her compensating the 'expendable's' family with a sum of money already made her a great benefactor.

「After pondering for a while.」

Taking advantage of the time before work ended, Dean stretched lazily, then turned on his computer.

These days, Harry and Carlo, those two, were addicted to a pixelated game, playing all night long, utterly engrossed. Even Dean's well-intentioned forceful persuasion hadn't fully solved the problem. So Dean decided to try the game himself to see what all the fuss was about.

The game was called "The Fallen Hero," with a Western fantasy style. The main storyline was about a hero overcoming numerous obstacles and eventually rescuing the princess who had been taken by the villain.

Limited by hardware, the game's graphics were rudimentary. It started with a little red figure, on a dark and stormy night, bagging the sleeping princess in a heavily guarded palace and leaving behind a letter. The King was heartbroken and issued a decree: anyone who could follow the clues and hints left by the red figure to rescue the princess would be allowed to marry her and succeed his throne.

That's it? Dean curled his lip. It was just a crude and clichéd story. I'll take a look inside the game.

Following the prompts to create a character, Dean's computer screen went dark and then lit up again, displaying a pixelated forest full of tree-like figures. Using the arrow keys, Dean could control his pixelated character, moving forward while dodging attacks from creatures in the forest and finding unexpected gains like water, food, medicine, and money on some squares. The gameplay was quite simple, a bit like the "Super Mario" Dean had seen in his previous life.

With his super-fast neural responses and hand speed, Dean breezed through the first level.

DING!

The computer entered a cutscene. A scroll-style envelope appeared on the screen, while a little red figure stood in the upper right corner of the scroll, informing players that this was the clue and letter deliberately left by the villain who had kidnapped the princess:

She is as pure as crystal, yet born in a filthy place.

This is a desecration of beauty.

This special experience is both a salvation for the spirit and a gift of wealth.

Three completely unrelated lines, Dean thought, perplexed, as he continued to the second level.

The second level, aside from being a bit more difficult and having more items, was pretty similar to the first in gameplay. Dean still passed it quickly. He was even more puzzled. Although the game could be enjoyable for someone who had never played games before, it was easy to grow tired of it, and it seemed unlikely to become as addictive as it was for Harry and Carlo.

He clicked on the hint for the second level's cutscene. This time, just like with the first level, only the words changed:

Congratulations, you're one step closer to the end.

I'm very curious, if you had to choose between the princess and wealth enough to live without worries, which would you pick?

The designer of this game is such an idiot, Dean thought, rolling his eyes. With the princess comes the kingdom; why would you worry about going hungry? Living off a woman is so sweet!

Dean sped up his progress through the game. He cracked one level after another. The clues left behind were all nonsensical, yet the game's difficulty kept increasing, with more traps and mechanisms. Once you entered these, you had to solve a puzzle before escaping. This made the game much more interesting. But, aside from feeling that the game continued to deepen and cultivate the players' curiosity and anticipation for what was at the end of the levels, it still wasn't at the point of making someone forget about eating and sleeping.

「Outside the Chief Inspector's office.」

Harry yawned and turned to look at Carlo, who was equally sapped of energy. "Buddy," he said, "I bet Dean is definitely playing 'The Fallen Hero' right now."

Carlo nodded vigorously. "Definitely!"

That clatter of keys could only be 'The Fallen Hero'; that game required such high-frequency operation.

Opposite them, Daisy was applying makeup with a mirror in hand and asked curiously, "I think I've heard of this game. Sounds like a little hero-saving-the-princess kind of game. I don't really like that the hero is always depicted as a man, so I never played it. Is it fun?"

Harry shook his head. "It's hard to play, sometimes makes you want to smash the computer, but... there's just this magic that makes you keep playing!"

Carlo nodded in agreement. "Harry's right. We started playing the game just to kill time when we were bored, but somehow, after level ten, we just really wanted to know what the treasure mentioned upon completing the game was."

"What treasure?" Daisy asked, confused. "I thought the game ends with marrying the princess and becoming the King?"

"Let that damned pixel princess hit the road," Harry rolled his eyes. "The forums already have walkthroughs for most of this game. They say those end-of-level hints seem random and unorganized, but every ten levels there's a puzzle to solve. By deciphering it, you can get a tip.

"And if a person in the real world follows that tip, they can actually get a small sum of money.

"So everyone's guessing that the game's designer might be some wealthy person in the real world who's bored and wants to play a game with everyone."

"Could this just be a marketing ploy for the game?" Daisy asked skeptically.

"Maybe," Harry replied, "but no one cares. At least, it's a novel approach and the game is fun. Anyway, I often can't resist playing it."

Harry looked deflated. Dean had said that if they dared to play 'The Fallen Hero' in the office again, he'd send them to Fallen Street to work the corners. And now this bastard was playing it himself.

In the midst of their conversation, Dean walked out of his office with a dark expression on his face.

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