Police station, interrogation room.

Jelinton hung his head, looking somewhat speechless at the man and woman who had once again appeared before him, and said weakly, "Officer, if you have something to ask me, just give me a call. There's really no need to frame me for theft."

It turned out that for efficiency, Carol had directly instructed someone to slander Jelinton. He was accused of stealing an old lady's underwear while working as a caregiver and brought to the police station on charges of indecency towards an elder and theft. This accusation was undoubtedly a psychological blow to Jelinton, a man merely in his thirties.

SMACK! Dean slammed the table. "Be serious, Jelinton! I'll tell you straight: if you don't want to go to jail for stealing an old lady's underwear, then cooperate with my questions!"

In any prison, rapists, molesters, and thieves were the lowest in status. Thieves were looked down upon for their cowardice. Rapists and molesters were despised because even other criminals had female family members, and no one tolerated such offenders. If Jelinton really went to prison under the charges Dean mentioned, it was likely that even these groups would look down on him... The eventual outcome... Just thinking about it made Jelinton's scalp tingle.

He quickly raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Officer, sir, please, go ahead and ask!"

"Did Xiami work as a carpenter before?"

"Yes, he... He actually used to be a good person. To take care of me, he endured a lot of hardship. Most of the money he earned from his work was spent on me. But not long after, he changed."

"Who did he work for as a carpenter?"

Jelinton immediately shook his head. "I don't know. Xiami just mentioned that someone introduced him to an apprenticeship as a carpenter. After that, apart from coming back to buy food, he mostly lived elsewhere and rarely spoke to me about his work.

"But within a few months, aside from occasionally giving me some money, Xiami rarely contacted me."

Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, Dean changed the question. "Between you and your brother, are there any relatives you used to be in contact with?"

Hearing this question, Jelinton visibly hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "No. If we had relatives, my brother and I wouldn't have chosen to drop out of school."

This guy was lying! Dean clenched his fist. "I don't like being lied to. I suggest you reconsider your answer!"

Jelinton continued to shake his head. "I really didn't lie. Besides, I need legal aid. That's my basic right as a Commonwealth citizen!"

At this, Dean raised an eyebrow. Jelinton was a seasoned offender with numerous arrests; he knew that lawyers were of little help when facing unscrupulous departments. That was why he hadn't mentioned needing a lawyer at first. Speaking up now was undoubtedly a preparation for staunch resistance.

Carol, on the other hand, imitated Dean's earlier mannerism, her lips curling into what finally seemed like a much more normal smile. Before the interrogation, she had suggested taking action herself. Compared to the "Kaz School Mind Reading Technique," her talent in hypnosis was greater. She could easily hypnotize a timid, ordinary person like Jelinton and guide the questioning. But Dean had refused her proposal. So, seeing Dean thwarted made her a little happy.

Carol nudged Dean and whispered, "Dean, there's not much time left until our shift ends. How do you plan to pry his mouth open? Violence?"

HA! Underestimating me, are we? Dean clenched his fist. "Carol, let me teach you a lesson—it's called tailoring the approach to the individual!"

With that, he got up, walked over to Jelinton, and reached into his pocket.

Jelinton seemed to anticipate what was coming. Gritting his teeth, he looked defiantly at Dean. Even though he was a mere nobody, he still had a sense of loyalty. He would absolutely not betray those who had helped him in his most difficult times. That was his moral bottom line! Anyway, Jelinton didn't believe this pretty-boy cop would dare kill him here!

The anticipated beating didn't come.

Dean took a wad of something from his pocket and casually tossed it. SLAP! A stack of British Pounds landed right in front of Jelinton.

Jelinton's eyes widened. What's this?!

"Just talk, and not only can you walk out of this police station safely, but these thousand British Pounds are yours too!"

He forced his gaze away from the banknotes, saying stubbornly, "I really don't have any relatives left. Your bribery is useless!"

SLAP! Dean tossed another small stack of British Pounds onto the table.

"How about two thousand?"

GULP. Jelinton swallowed hard. His proudly raised head couldn't help but dip to look, but he still resisted. "Don't bother, Officer. I, Jelinton, will never betray my relatives!" This was an admission that such a relative indeed existed.

SLAP! Yet another small stack of British Pounds landed on the table.

"Four thousand pounds!"

Jelinton panted heavily, struggling to shake his head again. "We've stolen together, slept with women together; we're closer than blood brothers!"

Dean sighed, retrieving the four stacks of cash from the desk. "Since you're so eager to go to prison and let someone else look after those sunflowers you've been raising for decades, I'll oblige you. After all, even if it takes a bit more time, we can still find them."

Jelinton panicked. "Alright, four thousand British Pounds! I'll talk!"

Dean shook his head, pulling out two fifty-pound notes and laying them before Jelinton. "Now it's only one hundred. But that's enough for you to buy some drinks to numb the guilt of betraying your relative."

Jelinton: "...Damn it!"

In the end, Jelinton's loyalty was sold for one hundred British Pounds.

According to his statement, they had a distant cousin named Carman. Carman was also an orphan, but he'd been fortunate. Before his mother, his only parent, passed away, she had arranged for him to apprentice with a carpenter in the countryside. Xiami's later apprenticeship as a carpenter was actually thanks to Carman's recommendation. Carman was kind-hearted. After coming of age, he too moved to London to make a living. When Xiami went to prison, Carman frequently helped Jelinton financially and treated him very well.

After getting Carman's address, Dean and Carol went to find him immediately. The area where Carman lived was precisely within the circle Dean had identified in his earlier analysis, essentially confirming him as Xiami's accomplice from three years ago.

They were in luck; they found Carman at his residence.

Carman had a broad, square face and a wooden expression. Though only thirty, he looked like a good-natured man in his forties. When Dean and Carol found him, Carman was in work clothes covered in sawdust, carving letters onto a wooden plank in his yard, seemingly preparing a birthday greeting.

Faced with their sudden arrival, Carman, holding his carving tools, looked puzzled. "May I help you with something?"

"My sister's birthday is coming up, and she wants a small handcrafted carriage. I heard your craftsmanship is excellent, so I came looking," Dean said with a smile.

Carman apologetically pointed to the cluttered wooden planks in the yard. "Sorry, I don't have any time recently. I'm afraid you'll have to find someone else."

Dean glanced at the planks, his gaze instantly shifting from gentle to sharp. "Are those planks your preparations for the Queen's birthday gift?"

"What?" Carman was taken aback and looked strangely at Dean. "Sorry, I don't understand what you mean."

Dean chuckled. "Are you practicing how to leave exquisite English carvings on human bodies? Xiami mentioned you were planning something big. People with no real artistic inclination often think of carving letters onto others, then arranging their corpses to form a sentence. Using white skin, red blood, and letters that turn dark brown to create a soul-shattering effect. Am I wrong, Mr. Carman?"

Carman's expression darkened. "Sorry, I really don't understand what you're talking about. I need to get busy. If you keep bothering me, I will..."

Before he could finish, he violently shook his clothes. A cloud of dust and wood shavings flew up, instantly obscuring their vision. An inconspicuous carving knife, taking advantage of the dust cloud, slashed through the air, aimed precisely at Dean's neck.

Carman was unexpectedly swift, but Dean was faster. Without even drawing his weapon from its holster, he aimed. A series of extreme American Iaijutsu-style rapid shots.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The deafening gunshots left four faint trajectories in the dust cloud, accurately hitting the lunging Carman and piercing the joints of all four limbs.

Before Carol could even react to what had happened, THUD. Carman fell to the ground, clutching his carving knife, his face contorted in a venomous glare at Dean, yet he stubbornly uttered no scream.

"Tough guy, huh?" Dean remarked with approval. He then drew the still-smoking pistol from its holster, aimed at the "tough guy's" body, and repeatedly pulled the trigger until the magazine was empty. Only after hearing Carman finally scream did Dean satisfyingly reholster his weapon.

I must be the first person to bring American Iaijutsu from the United States to the Commonwealth! Too bad Carol is such a blockhead. She's never seen real action and has no idea of the skill involved in my rapid-firing-through-the-holster just now. She didn't show even a hint of shock, which really diminished my satisfaction.

As Carman fell, a message flashed across Dean's mind: [Case 'Fugitive Accomplice' Solved... L18→L19, Attribute Points +1, Skill Points +1. Current Level 19 (200/3600 XP)]

After this series of notifications, Dean gained one thousand five hundred Experience Points! He had already saved up 2,100 Experience Points, so adding these one thousand five hundred allowed him to level up successfully.

Truth be told, this reward exceeded his expectations. In these three years, to prove himself... just how many people had this Carman—now lying there with his limbs mangled—actually killed? But that was no longer his concern.

Dean checked his watch and patted Carol, who was still stunned from the close-range gunfire. "Shift's over, Carol. Call an ambulance. It's all yours from here. See you tomorrow!"

With that, he swiftly left the secluded courtyard.

What a busy day. My dear Niel must be missing me. As for the Skill Points and Attribute Points, I'll deal with those after I find out about Anthony's situation. I just wonder if Niel is awake yet.

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