A Sudden Scheme

People in different positions naturally saw different scenery.

Wesley's fat female supervisor and the colleague who had cuckolded him had indeed called the police, but after Lake's friend talked with them for a while, they withdrew the case.

After all, the two of them were merely ordinary employees of an ordinary company.

Although the capitalists here were not afraid of law enforcement officers, that did not mean everyone was fearless. Besides, these two had never even touched a capitalist's backside.

Ten minutes later.

Wesley walked out of the 33rd Precinct and looked up, momentarily dazzled by the sunlight.

Lake came over from behind. "Let's go. Stop thinking about doing anything illegal. By the way, your father didn't die at the hands of The Assistance. The man who had the gunfight with Fire Fox back then was your father. Fire Fox only wanted to train you into an assassin to use against him."

Wesley's expression changed drastically as he looked at Lake. "You're lying to me."

Lake chuckled. "Lie to you? What do you have that's worth lying about? The hundred thousand dollars in your bank account? If I hadn't helped you, that hundred thousand would already have been frozen."

Wesley: "..."

That was the truth.

After the police raided The Assistance, they confiscated more than a million dollars in cash from the safe, along with more than a dozen bank cards. Once they traced the transactions, freezing the hundred thousand in stolen money transferred to Wesley was perfectly normal.

As for stealing Wesley's hundred thousand dollars?

Lake disdained doing such a thing.

He liked black-on-black dealings, making money through his own abilities. He had no interest in cheating, swindling, or deceiving people.

Lake looked at Wesley, who was standing dazed at the entrance to the precinct. Too lazy to say anything else, he patted Wesley on the shoulder, told him to take care of himself, and walked toward his car parked outside.

He got in.

Lake turned the car around and drove toward Police Headquarters.

He had fulfilled his promise. As for what the future held for Wesley, it had nothing to do with Lake anymore.

After an unknown amount of time.

Wesley came back to his senses. Looking at Lake's car, whose taillights had already disappeared, he stood there in silence for a while. Then, as if he had thought of something, he hurried toward the nearest ATM.

He looked... as though he had just been released from a mental hospital.

Half an hour later.

Lake parked the car in a roadside parking space beside Police Headquarters.

He got out.

Lake walked directly toward the steps of the police building.

Just as Lake was about to reach the steps, someone blocked his path.

Two people.

Their profession...

Thugs?

Lake narrowed his eyes as he looked at the two nonconformists in black and white standing before him. "What do you want?"

Good grief.

Had they gotten high and come to provoke the police, or did they not want to freeze to death outside and plan to find an excuse to spend a warm night in the precinct's holding room?

"Buddy, lend me some money!"

"..."

Lake's brow twitched repeatedly.

Seeing that Lake did not move, the white nonconformist reached toward Lake's right pocket with shameless familiarity.

Good grief.

"Ah!"

The white nonconformist immediately cried out. "Let go! It hurts! Officer, he's assaulting me! Officer, he's assaulting me!"

The officers working at the precinct instantly turned their attention toward them.

Lake narrowed his eyes and let go.

All right.

They were not high, nor were they homeless vagrants looking for somewhere warm. He had been targeted.

By whom?

Lake glanced at the two men and sneered. He could not be bothered to fall for such a low-level trap, so he simply walked past them.

There was plenty of room on the path.

I'll give you way. I hope you can afford the price.

The price of your lives.

Except...

Lake's decision to back off seemed to look like cowardice in the eyes of the two nonconformists. The shorter black-haired one thought he had the upper hand. Seeing this, he reached out to grab Lake. "You hurt me. I told you to leave... Bang!"

A shooting star streaked across the air.

Bang!

The black-haired nonconformist, who was about to grab Lake's shoulder, was sent flying straight into the air. He soared nearly five meters before crashing heavily into a flower bed in the distance.

The other nonconformist's pupils contracted as he looked at Lake.

There was no panic.

There was even a hint of smugness in his eyes.

Then the nonconformist opened his mouth to Lake. "Your mother exploded!"

Bang!

Lake kicked again, sending the man flying into the flower bed five meters away.

Interesting!

Lake rolled his neck and stretched his arms. Expressionless, he walked toward the flower bed, where the two nonconformists lay coughing blood, with three broken bones inside each of them. Neither could stand up.

You had the life to take the money. Do you have the life to spend it?

Crack!

Lake reached out and exerted force, pulling a section of steel pipe from the railing. As he looked at the two small-time thugs, whose faces were filled with terror at how serious their injuries were, a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

A cruel smile.

Just then.

"Stop!"

"Move aside!"

Bang!

"Lake, are you freaking insane?"

"..."

Lake frowned as he looked at Second Unit Detective Beckett, who had blocked his path.

Beckett said quietly, "Look down there."

Lake looked up.

A group of reporters from who knew where had rushed out and were taking pictures of Lake and the two nonconformists.

Beckett dragged Lake toward the police building. "Hurry up!"

Lake did not resist.

Without a doubt, someone had set him up.

But...

If it happened again, Lake would still fall for it. There was no other reason—his personality was simply like that. At worst, he would deal with whatever came his way.

Lake could also guess what the two nonconformists would do next.

Sue him, probably.

Heh.

Lake had no doubt the two men would file a lawsuit against him, and they certainly would. But he could solve another problem.

If the people who filed the lawsuit died...

Then...

Would the court still accept the case?

Sixteenth floor of the police building.

Maureen, Lake's girlfriend, was reading documents in her office. Hearing the commotion outside, she saw a group of people gathered by the floor-to-ceiling windows, all looking down. Curious, she walked out and asked with a smile, "What are you looking at?"

A newly hired blonde beauty from the Psychological Treatment Department gazed down with stars in her eyes. "Wow, Detective Edwin is unbelievably handsome."

Another woman was also excited. "He kicked someone five meters away with one kick. What incredible physical fitness."

Maureen was completely confused.

A member of the Negotiation Team walked over to Maureen and told her what had just happened downstairs. Then he said, "Doctor, this is probably going to be troublesome."

Maureen gave an inscrutable hum.

Anyone could tell without thinking that the whole thing had clearly been staged.

What newspaper would stake out New York police headquarters like that? The moment Lake made his move this time, a whole group of reporters who seemed to have been lying in wait nearby instantly rushed out.

Maureen gritted her teeth and headed straight for the elevator.

The capture operation had begun.