He opened the case files he had brought back from the office.
The first thing he saw was a photograph of a corpse in a body bag, shot between the eyebrows and looking just like an executed prisoner.
The corpse had been discovered inside the incinerator at New York Prison. It did not belong to any registered body, so when the junior apprentice filling in for his master discovered it, he reported it immediately.
Soon after,
the case was forwarded to the NYPD, and by afternoon, it had landed in Lake's hands.
"Another John Doe!"
Lake rubbed his brow and glanced at the preliminary examination report. The corpse's fingerprints were not in the fingerprint database. Cases involving unidentified bodies with no records were always the most troublesome.
I still prefer simple and violent cases.
Compared with unidentified-body cases that might take a great deal of time to investigate, Lake much preferred straightforward murder cases or serial-killing cases.
Those cases basically required no brainpower. Just catch the suspect and finish the job.
But this one?
To uncover the truth, the first step was to determine the man's name. Also, the incinerator definitely had not been the original crime scene.
Just then,
his girlfriend Maureen appeared at the study door. She seemed somewhat annoyed, probably because of the situation at their home in Los Angeles. Without saying anything, she simply crooked a finger at Lake.
Lake's eyes lit up. With a smack, he shut the case file in front of him, got up, and hurried after his girlfriend as she turned and left the study.
What was solving a case compared with having fun with his girlfriend?
The man was already dead anyway. Waiting one night would not matter.
The next day,
Lake and his girlfriend Maureen arrived at the police headquarters together.
His girlfriend went upstairs.
Lake went downstairs.
The underground levels of the police headquarters housed the police archives, storage rooms, and the Medical Examiner's Office. It seemed that every law-enforcement agency kept its medical examiner's office in the basement.
Was that some kind of tradition?
Medical Examiner's Office.
Olivia had medium-length silver hair, an unusually pale complexion, and a somewhat sweet appearance. When she saw Lake enter, she greeted him.
Lake walked in and looked at the corpse on the autopsy table in front of Olivia. "Did the prison send the body over?"
Olivia hummed. "I was just about to start the autopsy, so don't ask me what clues I have. He just arrived, and I haven't even met him face-to-face."
Lake took a sip of the coffee he had bought that morning. "You know I won't rush you."
The unidentified man was already dead, after all.
Solving the case a day early or a day late made no difference. Besides, having a case on hand gave Lake an excuse to skip work and handle his own business.
Solve a case?
Heh.
Whether every American died out had nothing to do with Lake.
It was just that...
When Olivia opened the body bag, revealing the John Doe inside—a corpse that had been dead for five or six days and reeked intensely—Lake suddenly raised an eyebrow.
There was no other reason.
A certain item had been activated.
Ding! A copyable entity has been detected. Searching and extracting copyable skills. Extraction successful. Adrenaline Boost—Stimulates potential, allowing you to move faster, jump higher... Gun Fu—A powerful ability combining martial arts, marksmanship, and swordsmanship. Its power is immense, its lethality terrifying. Through precise calculation of movement, it launches maximum-damage attacks from positions causing minimal harm to the user. It can shoot at any blind spot around you, changing unpredictably and striking with uncanny mystery. Extract/Cancel
"..."
Obviously, he was going to extract it.
Extract!
Buzz!
Lake's entire body shuddered!
Olivia glanced at Lake, who was violently shaking in place as if trying to radiate some kind of domineering aura, and rolled her eyes. "Was last night another vegetable night? Did you get drained? I left yesterday's hamburger in the refrigerator."
Lake: "..."
Information about Adrenaline Boost and Gun Fu poured into Lake's database. His mind was flooded with streams of data, like a computer screen being overwhelmed by countless lines of information.
Soon,
Lake stopped shaking. As he felt the information from the two skills, he raised an eyebrow. Before he could rejoice, Olivia's words made him cough violently. "What do you mean, 'get drained'? My constitution is indestructible."
Olivia let out a mocking laugh. "Do you want the hamburger or not?"
Lake raised his brows. "I do."
Olivia: "..."
Why would he refuse?
Although he had not gained much energy from last night's activities, Lake felt that he was still a long way from being depleted. Still, after going several hours without eating meat, he did feel somewhat uncomfortable.
After a while,
Lake drank coffee and ate the hamburger Olivia had left in the refrigerator. Sitting in a chair nearby, he watched Olivia perform the autopsy.
His gaze... fell on the corpse being dissected.
The Adrenaline Boost had not reminded Lake of anything.
But Gun Fu?
Wasn't that the signature skill of the Textile Factory?
So...
Who was this guy?
Lake seemed to have thought of something. He stood up, walked closer, and carefully examined the corpse's features, which had become somewhat unrecognizable after five days, comparing them with the movie faces in his database.
With a ding,
Detective Joe Martinez, who had just joined the department, walked in from outside and looked up to see the scene.
Olivia's face glowed with fervor as she dissected the corpse.
Beside the corpse...
Lake held coffee in one hand and a hamburger in the other. He took a sip of coffee, then a bite of hamburger, his gaze fixed on the corpse being cut open as he ate with relish.
The scene was downright horrifying.
Detective Joe Martinez was silent for a moment, then summoned the courage not to be assassinated by the two of them and coughed.
Lake and Olivia came to their senses and looked over.
Olivia looked at Detective Joe Martinez. "Hello. Who are you looking for?"
Lake said to Olivia from the side, "He just joined yesterday. He belongs to George's team, Detective Joe Martinez. For now, though, he's working with me on this case. Once George's assignment is over, he'll return to Team One."
Olivia nodded without saying anything else. She lowered her head and resumed dissecting the corpse, removing the various parts, weighing and recording them, then sorting them and setting them aside.
Detective Joe Martinez walked over to Lake. "Detective Edwin, don't you think eating in front of a corpse is disrespectful? Or do you have some kind of special fetish?"
Lake was trying to match the corpse's features with the movie faces in his database. Hearing that, he unconsciously hummed. "It tastes good."
Detective Martinez's face immediately darkened.
Tastes good?
Was he crazy?
Detective Martinez said stiffly, "Detective Edwin, please maintain the professional conduct expected of a law-enforcement officer. Otherwise, I will..."
Before he could finish,
Detective Joe Martinez watched as Lake turned and walked toward the office door.
PS: The corpse is from Wanted—the guy at the beginning who looked cool for less than a minute before getting shot in the head!
Before you continue