Chapter 122 The Master's Kind Heart

Lyon slowed his pace as he walked back toward the door flashing pink and purple neon lights.

The night breeze on his face cooled his feverish brain a little.

His hands were in his jacket pockets, his fingertips lightly touching the edge of his phone.

The recording on the phone, along with the live fat guy Z locked in the car, was undoubtedly a nuclear bomb capable of detonating within the West District Police Station.

But how should this nuclear bomb be used?

Should it be handed over directly to the Ministry of the Interior or the District Prosecutor's Office?

This is neither realistic nor appropriate.

He had to consider Sterling's position.

Sterling is now his biggest backer and protector. What does she want from entrusting ACU to him?

What we need is performance, to eradicate the gangs, and to deliver a satisfactory report to the bigwigs above, proving that the West District is safe.

It sounds wonderful.

But Lyon had spent so much time on the streets that he knew all too well the grassroots dynamics of America.

Purge the gangs?

Totally impossible.

He couldn't help but recall the conversation he had in the back room of Big T's barbershop a few days ago.

Even if he transforms into the Punisher tonight and wipes out all the core members of the 12th Street Boys and completely wipes out this red-light district, so what?

Will the government come here to build schools, hospitals, and provide relief funds?

will not.

The power vacuum will only last a few months at most. Soon, new street thugs, like the 12th Street big guy, will take over the area with guns and start collecting protection money and selling drugs again.

Because the soil here is rotten, the poor need the distorted order provided by gangs to make a living.

Furthermore, what about inside the police station?

How many police officers, sergeants, and even superintendents like Williams take bribes and then go to protect gangsters?

In a sense, the U.S. police system is the largest legally armed gang in the country.

The deeply entrenched vested interests make this a systemic problem that cannot be solved simply by catching a few corrupt officials.

If they really got serious about investigating corruption, the West District Police Station would probably have to empty most of its office building, and even the patrol cars would be unmanned.

As a woman from a politically influential family, Sterling certainly understood the principle that "too much purity leaves no room for fish" better than he did.

Flipping the table and bringing the police station to a standstill will do her no good at all, hindering her ambitions to run for commissioner or mayor.

"The deterrent effect of nuclear weapons only exists on the launch pad."

Lyon came to a conclusion in his mind.

The best use for this evidence is to hold it against the corrupt cops in the Western District Police Station.

He could use Sterling's influence to exert pressure.

For him, this would allow him to gain greater law enforcement privileges, so that no other police officer would dare to trip him up from behind if he wanted to investigate or take action against any gang.

For Sterling, this also gave her the opportunity to exploit someone's weaknesses.

She doesn't need to bring these people to court; she only needs to use this to coerce them into immediately cutting off their financial ties with the local gangs, forcing them to turn their guns on her, and forcibly accelerating her efforts to clean up her jurisdiction and consolidate the power of the West District Police Station, turning the West District Police Station into her personal fiefdom.

No one will turn against each other, but everyone must follow the new rules.

Having figured this out, Leon's brows didn't relax; instead, they furrowed even deeper.

The corrupt cop who accepted bribes is easy to deal with, but what about the source of this crime that led him all the way here tonight—the abducted little girl, and the human trafficking network behind her?

This is the truly suffocating abyss.

"Why are you, a beautiful policewoman, always thinking about going back to the East?" is sparking a reading frenzy. Haven't you read it yet?

Fat Z only knows that his cousin Kendrick Barnes is in charge of this line, but what about Kendrick's upstream supplier? And the upstream supplier's upstream supplier?

Whose bedroom and basement did these custom-made items end up in?

Or whose dining table?

Lyon knew very well that the underlying deals and dark secrets involved were absolutely unfathomable.

The 12th Street Boys, a local scourge, are nothing more than small fry running errands in the eyes of real buyers.

A sense of desolation welled up from the depths of Lyon's heart.

He was a time traveler, carrying memories of his previous life. He already knew that this country, which prided itself on being a beacon of freedom, was rotten inside and out.

But when such a bloody thing is laid bare before you, you still feel a tightness in your chest.

Black gangs and the Child Protective Service (CPS).

One black and one white.

Ultimately, they probably all serve the same group of important figures.

With his current status as a second-level patrol officer and ACU team leader, let alone uprooting this network, he probably wouldn't even be able to get into the security booth of the manor where those behind the scenes are located.

Moreover, once he touches this chain of interests, Sterling will definitely be the first to jump out and stop him from continuing the investigation.

It can't be said that it's solely Sterling's fault; if this matter continues to be investigated, both she and she will get into trouble.