A sudden breakup?

"Bang!"

"..."

Lake, sitting in Inspector Montgomery's office, glanced up at the furious Inspector Montgomery, whose face was already dark and now even darker with anger, then looked away again.

He wasn't spacing out.

Lake was pondering who was behind this trouble.

He had just finished his sick leave today, and before he had even entered the police station building, someone had run over to frame him.

This was clearly planned.

It even...

It was very clear they knew Lake would be returning to duty today.

Who could it be?

Could it be remnants of The Assistance causing trouble, planning to get rid of him this way and then find a way to assassinate him?

Lake blinked.

The only person or organization he could think of with a motive to do such a thing was The Assistance.

But the style of causing trouble wasn't like The Assistance.

The people from The Assistance were assassins. Why would assassins bother with so many underhanded tactics? If there were truly remnants of The Assistance, a bullet should have found the back of Lake's head while he was walking somewhere carelessly.

But besides The Assistance, who else have I offended?

Lake stroked his chin, continuing to space out, thinking this in his mind.

"Bang!"

Seeing Lake glance at him and then continue to ignore him, Montgomery felt like his nose was about to smoke from anger: "Detective Lake Edwin, I'm talking to you."

Lake snapped back to attention: "I'm listening."

Why yell so loud? What's the big deal that warrants such a fuss?

His girlfriend, Maureen, also walked in from outside.

Lake looked at his girlfriend entering, the corners of his mouth curving upwards: "Looks like the gossip spread pretty quickly."

This was a joke.

Maureen didn't find it funny. Instead, she said to Lake, "Do you know you've been framed?"

Lake shrugged: "I know. What's the big deal?"

Montgomery's brow twitched erratically. Hearing Lake's dismissive words made him feel like he was about to explode: "What's the big deal? Fine, Detective Edwin, I'll tell you how big of a deal this is."

Slap!

Slap!

Montgomery hadn't even finished speaking when he heard two slaps. His vision blurred, and when Montgomery came to his senses, he saw two items placed on his desk.

His badge.

His service weapon.

Lake looked at Montgomery, who was now stunned, and smiled: "Inspector, you just wanted me to hand these two things over, right? No need to say it, I'll give them to you."

Perfect timing.

Lake also felt that after only resting for a week, his energy and spirit hadn't quite returned to work mode. Now, it was good to take this opportunity to rest for a few more days.

I really am the protagonist.

A pillow arriving just as I'm about to fall asleep.

After being stunned, Montgomery sneered at Lake: "You think it's that simple?"

Lake shrugged: "What else?"

His girlfriend Maureen said sternly from the side: "Lake, since you know this is a setup, why..."

"Why don't I back down?"

"..."

Lake directly interrupted Maureen's question, narrowing his eyes: "Because there are always people who yield to me, but there's no reason for me to yield to anyone."

Returning to this life, with a cheat system.

And with the SSR immortal body buff, with this kind of start, if Lake were to remain calm or even take a path of retreat, he felt he might as well hang himself.

A setup?

Go ahead and set it up. As long as you show yourself, I guarantee I'll beat your brains out.

Bring it on.

If you have the guts, face me head-on. Whoever flinches is a puppy.

Who's afraid of whom!

Maureen, his girlfriend, looked at Lake expressionlessly. After a moment, her gaze seemed to fall on Lake with some disappointment. She shook her head and turned to leave Inspector Montgomery's office.

This is…

Back to being single?

Lake watched Maureen leave the office, raising an eyebrow.

Lake knew what Maureen was thinking.

But…

Knowing is one thing, but admitting defeat is another. There was no reason for that.

Lake then looked at Montgomery in front of him. "Inspector, is there anything else? If not, I'll be heading back."

Montgomery opened his mouth and waved Lake away. "You can go back. You're suspended."

Lake said "oh."

Hooray, after finishing work tonight, I don't have to get up so early tomorrow.

He walked out.

His partner, Joe, walked over, looking at Lake with concern.

In broad daylight, at the entrance of the NYPD, a detective kicking two unarmed citizens – what kind of situation was this?

Lake looked at the worried Joe and tilted his head. "What's up? It's just a suspension. It's not like I haven't been suspended before. It's no big deal."

Joe was a bit speechless.

Joe felt that Lake was the only one in all of New York who could talk about suspension so casually.

When Joe was first transferred to the NYPD, he was very happy. But when he found out his colleague was Lake, who was suspected of taking bribes, Joe was unhappy.

And now?

Having gone through life and death with Lake, Joe knew that if a Lake with such skills still needed to take bribes, then no detective in the NYPD was innocent.

Joe was a little worried. "Are you really okay?"

Lake waved his hand. Suspension was nothing. When Lake took action, he had already anticipated this outcome. He just didn't expect his relationship to end as well.

"Esposito, go to the court and apply for a search warrant to check the bank accounts of these two."

"Understood!"

"Ryan…"

"Got it. Get their call records."

"...Right."

"Understood, I'll go now."

"…"

Lake looked at the busy Second Squad and said to Beckett, who was standing there, "Beckett, you should know that when I kicked them, I already knew they were deliberately arranged, right?"

Beckett said to Lake, "If it were me this time, and you were in my shoes, you would have done the same, wouldn't you?"

Lake pursed his lips and said, "Thank you."

Although George and Beckett often argued over who got which case, Lake, as part of the Third Squad, got along well with both of them.

Lake wasn't picky, and for some smaller cases, the chance of double-crossing was even higher.

Besides.

The arguments were only about cases. In private, Lake, George, and Beckett were good friends. After all, the three of them often went for drinks at the bar when they weren't busy.

Lake looked at Joe. "Alright, get back to work. I'm going home to sleep."

After sleeping, he'd go kill someone.

No matter who was pulling the strings behind the scenes, since they messed with me, every single one of them can go report to hell.

Weighing options?

Compromise?

Considering the bigger picture?

Eat my sniper rifle.

I came here to play an invincible build, not a stealthy development build. At worst, if pushed, Lake would directly rob the New York Bank vault. With a hundred billion US dollars, Lake didn't believe he couldn't get a completely invincible skill or item.

If the cheat system accepted stolen US dollars for top-ups.

I wouldn't even fear Gu Yi if he appeared before me.

Heh!

In broad daylight, under everyone's gaze, with reporters arranged nearby, the "Free America" isn't that free. Here's your pen, you write it. They'll find fault with everything.