North American Detective: I am Proficient in All Kinds of Gun Quick Draws Chapter 318 204: Case Closed, The Fallen Hero2

Moress dared to be so unrestrained on the phone, which ant 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 mber 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 ntion 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 ti. I'll ensure he leaves respectfully."

"Good. Once that crew mber 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 thod to kill George and then not deal with the matter, making it so troubleso. However, it wasn't necessary to ddle in affairs that didn't concern him. His only concern was his own benefit. Justice was simply a matter of convenience.

「A mont later.」

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

The case Moress ntioned involved the Detective Bureau's Anti-Black Division engaging in internal corruption related to drug trafficking, and it was being pushed along by soone with an agenda. If successful, it wouldn't just be Eve who would have a hard ti; 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 sowhat troubleso, but not a major problem. The key was the channels Moress ntioned.

As a forr 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 thods 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 ssed with my woman, I'll make sure you get ssed with too!

Dean guessed the ultimate reason for George's death, apart from the ssy stimulant and aphrodisiac drugs that Li ii 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 ant to appease the boss—no need to aim for great rit, but as long as it was sowhat useful, then she wouldn't co 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 ti before work ended, Dean stretched lazily, then turned on his computer.

These days, Harry and Carlo, those two, were addicted to a pixelated ga, 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 ga himself to see what all the fuss was about.

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

Limited by hardware, the ga's graphics were rudintary. 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 ga.

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, dicine, and money on so squares. The gaplay 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 gaplay. Dean still passed it quickly. He was even more puzzled. Although the ga could be enjoyable for soone who had never played gas before, it was easy to grow tired of it, and it seed unlikely to beco as addictive as it was for Harry and Carlo.

He clicked on the hint for the second level's cutscene. This ti, 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 ga is such an idiot, Dean thought, rolling his eyes. With the princess cos the kingdom; why would you worry about going hungry? Living off a woman is so sweet!

Dean sped up his progress through the ga. He cracked one level after another. The clues left behind were all nonsensical, yet the ga's difficulty kept increasing, with more traps and chanisms. Once you entered these, you had to solve a puzzle before escaping. This made the ga much more interesting. But, aside from feeling that the ga 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 soone 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 ga 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 ga. Sounds like a little hero-saving-the-princess kind of ga. 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, sotis makes you want to smash the computer, but... there's just this magic that makes you keep playing!"

Carlo nodded in agreent. "Harry's right. We started playing the ga just to kill ti when we were bored, but sohow, after level ten, we just really wanted to know what the treasure ntioned upon completing the ga was."

"What treasure?" Daisy asked, confused. "I thought the ga 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 ga. 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 ga's designer might be so wealthy person in the real world who's bored and wants to play a ga with everyone."

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

"Maybe," Harry replied, "but no one cares. At least, it's a novel approach and the ga 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.