The Major Case Triggered by a Car

Does a mere City Councilor dare to block my murderous intent?

If so, where would my reputation as Lake stand?

With the military at my back, Homeland Security at my feet, and a Federal Prosecutor in my corner, this background was destined to ensure one thing.

Lake was meant to play an invincible role from the start; he bullied others, but no one had ever bullied him.

Ten minutes later.

The gunfire gradually ceased, and the scent of blood began to spread from the horse farm.

Just then.

Adam’s voice came through the earpiece: "Sir, I think you should come take a look."

Upon hearing this, Lake glanced at Secretary Kelly’s call on his phone and tossed his own phone to the Los Angeles Supervisor, who had just arrived. "You take it."

The Los Angeles Supervisor looked at the flashing phone in his hand, blinked, and then, watching Lake’s retreating back without a second glance, took a deep breath and silently answered the call.

Inside the horse farm building.

Good heavens.

Lake ignored the bloodstains on the ground and looked at the various drug-making tools on the table, especially the box of finished products. "Good heavens, are they really doing this so openly? What is the Los Angeles police force doing? Do they really think Chinatown is beyond the law?"

Adam emerged from a room not far away. "Sir, not that, it’s over here."

Lake looked up.

He walked in.

This room had the most resisting individuals; at a glance, there were at least six down for the count.

Adam directly bent down and lifted a floorboard, revealing a hidden door.

Of course.

The chain on the hidden door had already been broken.

Lake raised an eyebrow and looked at Adam.

The next second.

Adam directly opened the hidden door. Instantly, as the soundproof door opened, screams from various girls could be heard from within.

Lake took a flashlight from an agent and knelt down, aiming the beam into the hidden door beneath the ground, enduring the mixed stench that rushed out.

A crowd of Asian girls in tattered clothes, clearly smuggled in, were crammed together, appearing in Lake’s vision.

Damn it.

Lake stood up, cursing inwardly. Now, he didn’t even need the fake evidence he had prepared.

As expected.

Handsome, ruthless, and decisive handsome men are favored by God.

Look.

He just started shooting, and the evidence just walked right to him.

Lake returned the flashlight to the agent and, after telling Adam to notify the local Immigration Agency and Women’s Protection Agency to send people over, patted his pocket.

Adam looked curiously at Lake, who seemed to be searching for something.

Lake then remembered he had left his phone outside and said to Adam, "Where’s your phone?"

Adam replied, "In the car."

An agent took out his phone and handed it to Lake. "Sir, I have one here."

Lake glanced at the agent, asked for his name, said thank you, and then immediately called Rachel.

Rachel answered the phone.

At that moment, Rachel was already in the repair shop’s office, watching the live broadcast of the Chinatown shootout.

Lake said directly, "There’s big news here that I think you’ll be interested in. I’ll hold it for you for half an hour, and the Immigration Agency and Women’s Protection Agency are also on their way. If you’re late, I won’t be able to help you."

Immigration Agency?

Women’s Protection Agency?

Rachel immediately thought of something and stood up. "I’m coming right away."

Lake hung up the phone and returned it to the agent.

"What about that guy, Lance Nguyen?"

"Seriously injured."

"…"

Lake looked at Adam, frowning slightly.

I wanted him dead.

He already had evidence that this guy had stolen his car. Why keep him alive? To wait for the new year?

Adam gave a wry smile. "He was on a video call with his councilor father. We only fired one shot, and in that situation, we couldn’t fire a second one."

A video call?

Good heavens.

Did you think you were Wu Ji and your dad was Min Deng?

"Where is he?"

"Next door. The team is bandaging him up."

"…"

Lake took a deep breath and turned towards the adjacent room. Inside, he could still hear a man yelling in a language that wasn’t East Asian, while someone else was speaking sternly in English.

Enter the room.

Lance Nguyen, who was leaning against the wall holding a smartphone, instinctively aimed the device at Lake when he saw Lake enter, dressed in a suit.

On the phone screen was a Vietnamese man who looked very much like Lance, but older.

"I am…"

"Bang!"

"Son!!!!"

Lake directly shot Lance Nguyen, who had a mocking smile on his face after seeing him, and then bent down to pick up the phone on the ground.

"I saw it, I saw you, you killed my son, you killed…"

"Noisy!"

Lake hung up the phone directly.

You think I saw it just because you say so?

It’s perfectly reasonable for an elderly person to have a child, and for that child to be shot and killed by the police during a criminal act. It’s also perfectly reasonable for them to then experience hallucinations.

Besides.

Go ahead and sue.

But…

You won’t have the chance.

Lake said to Adam, "Are the girls under the secret door enough for the team to arrest this damn councilor?"

Adam looked up and thought.

Lake chuckled. "Enough. He’s already on his way. Tell the guys outside to grab him as soon as he comes down. Like I said, I’ll take responsibility if anything happens."

Adam snapped back to attention and nodded.

Just then.

An agent brought Rachel and Dominic in.

Dominic looked at the bloody scene on the ground and clearly felt unwell. After all, this Lance Nguyen was his nemesis, his enemy. The guy had taken his goods and hadn’t paid, but Dominic had no recourse because this guy had a councilor for a father.

But now?

His organization was wiped out just like that?

For some reason.

Dominic looked at Lake, who was standing there in his spotless suit, laughing, with a strange expression. He didn’t know if he was glad he had wisely chosen to tell Lake the truth, or if he was glad he hadn’t gone after this batch of cars.

God as his witness, when Dominic and the others had tracked the train to Chinatown, they had considered hijacking this shipment of cars.

Fortunately, they hadn’t.

Rachel gagged a few times, wiped her tears, got out of Lake’s embrace, and stood properly. "Where are they?"

Lake pointed to the secret door that had been closed again. "Inside."

"How many?"

"Adam?"

Adam, standing nearby, was stunned for a moment, then looked at Rachel. "Two agents went down for a preliminary check. There are about forty-odd women, but it’s best not to go down there right now."

Rachel frowned. "Why?"

"When the two agents went down, they saw two bodies. In such a dark environment, there might be viruses. The Immigration Agency and the Women’s Protection Agency are already on their way."

"…"

Just then.

The Los Angeles Homeland Security supervisor outside couldn’t take it anymore. With a pained expression, he found Lake and said, "Sir, Secretary Kelly requires an immediate call with you."

Lake took the phone. "I am…" As soon as he started speaking.

Secretary Kelly’s angry roar came from the other end. "Is that true or not? Damn it, Lake, that was just one car. Your annual salary can buy twelve of them. For a damn car, you’re going to turn Los Angeles upside down? And you shot and killed the son of a city councilor in front of him. Shit, that was just a damn car."

Lake didn’t say anything, just held the phone away from his ear.

After a moment.

Secretary Kelly seemed to have finished venting his anger.

Lake put the phone back to his ear. "Minister, this isn’t about a car."

It wasn’t about the car.

It was about face.

From the beginning, this was about the car… no, this wasn’t about the car at all, it was about face, face, face!

Secretary Kelly grumbled, "In any case, release the councilor immediately."

"Impossible."

"What?"

"Minister, let me show you something."

"…"

Lake hung up the phone directly and said to Rachel, "Lend me your phone."

His phone was a flip phone, capable of taking pictures, but with extremely low resolution.

Rachel took her phone out of her bag and handed it to Lake.

Lake directly gestured to the agent standing by the secret door, then stuck his phone into the underground space. With a click, he took a photo and sent it directly to Secretary Kelly’s phone.

Sent successfully.

Lake said to Rachel, "One, two, three…"

The phone rang.

Lake smiled and answered.

Secretary Kelly was no longer angry this time, merely asking with curiosity, "What is this photo?"

Lake replied, "We received intel that this Lance Nguyen is not only involved in smuggling related to the previous nuclear test crisis, but we also found conclusive evidence during this raid that Lance Nguyen and his councilor father have been holding smuggled girls captive."

As he spoke, Lake’s tone became serious as he said into the phone to Secretary Kelly, "Minister, I am requesting an arrest warrant for this councilor’s father, Lance Nguyen."

"You already arrested him."

Secretary Kelly said irritably, then added, "Prepare the evidence."

Lake smiled. "No problem. Tomorrow morning, no, this afternoon, you will see reporter Rachel Toledo’s on-site interview on the front page of The Sun in Washington D.C., along with evidence of these imprisoned women accusing the Nguyen father and son of atrocities."

Secretary Kelly was silent for a moment, not speaking.

Undoubtedly.

Silence meant tacit consent, and tacit consent meant agreement.

Finally.

As Secretary Kelly hung up the phone, he frowned and asked Lake, "So… this has nothing to do with your car being stolen?"

Lake replied with full vigor, "Sir, this was never about the car. I am irreconcilable with evil."

Secretary Kelly, sitting in his office, opened his mouth, then shook his head and directly hung up the phone.

I don’t believe you for a second.

This whole case was triggered because you lost a damn car.