Charles Bennett broke out in goosebumps, his mind involuntarily conjuring up images of perverted interrogators from anime, evil executioners, and dark gay SWAT officers... Charles Bennett instinctively shrank his neck. Ever since Ethan Brooks left, he felt as if he had fallen from heaven straight into hell.

"Niu Cha Dada?" Frank King called out softly, his face instantly breaking into a wide smile.

How does this kid know my pen name? Charles Bennett was taken aback, but then remembered that this was literally the guy’s job—if he didn’t know, that would be strange. Charles Bennett tentatively asked, "And you are?"

"Dada, I’m Storm Detective, your die-hard fan! Don’t you remember me?" The smile on Frank King’s face was almost fawning, and the way he looked at Charles Bennett was burning with excitement.

"It’s you, kid?" Charles Bennett exclaimed in surprise. He was all too familiar with the online name Storm Detective. This kid was always hanging around his book review section, had joined his reader group, and almost every day sent Charles Bennett Dada some rather lewd and perverted suggestions on QQ.

Charles Bennett didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Now he could only marvel at the tricks of fate—he’d never imagined that his first meeting with a fan would happen in such a bizarre time, place, and situation.

Chapter 003: Girl, Apologize

A trace of guilt appeared on Frank King’s face as he said apologetically, "Niu Dada, I’m sorry, it’s my fault you got into trouble. I was sneaking a look at your latest chapter at work this afternoon, and Miss Ethan caught me red-handed. Then she... Well, I think you can guess what happened next."

Right now, Charles Bennett just wanted to give this kid a good beating. Knowing Storm Detective as he did, this guy had probably righteously found some excuse like "investigating a case" to distance himself from Charles Bennett, and had probably badmouthed him pretty hard!

Thinking about being sold out by his die-hard fan, Charles Bennett really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. And remembering that he’d been locked up for over an hour and this kid hadn’t come to the rescue, Charles Bennett was grinding his teeth in anger. With a half-smile, he said, "This is a real mess now. If I remember right, you were the one who posted that Fairy Forest link in the group, weren’t you? How about this: you go get Officer Officer Brooks and tell her I confess, I’ll confess everything!"

"Come on, Dada, could you really bear to hurt your loyal reader like that?" Frank King completely forgot he was a cop, acting entirely like a die-hard fan, his face full of flattery as he pleaded, "According to police rules, I really shouldn’t be meeting you right now. But didn’t I just stick my neck out for you? Can’t you forgive me for that…?"

"Fine, just let me out now."

"I’m working on it, aren’t I? I’ll go talk to Miss Ethan in a bit. Once she cools off, this whole thing will blow over." Frank King tried hard not to laugh as he looked at Charles Bennett. He hadn’t expected things to turn out like this either. He continued, "Don’t worry, Dada, I won’t breathe a word of this to any other fans. Today’s events will stay buried in my stomach—I’d never ruin your cool image in the eyes of your readers, like Brother Fat’s. Hey, to be honest, Niu Dada, you’re actually kind of handsome in person—almost as good-looking as me."

Charles Bennett gave a wry smile. "Cut the crap, Officer, just hurry up and get me out of here. Whatever you want to say, save it for later. After this blow, I doubt I’ll be in the mood to write for a long time. Damn it, is it easy for me? What kind of world is this—since when is writing a wish-fulfillment novel a crime?"

"No, don’t say that, Dada! You have to stay strong, don’t lose hope. If you end up in jail, how are all your fellow pervs supposed to get by?" Frank King said anxiously, afraid Charles Bennett would get so mad he’d end up serving the Empress Dowager.

With that, Frank King hurried out to find Ethan Brooks.

As soon as he stepped out of the interrogation room, Frank King saw Ethan Brooks, her face dark as iron. Next to Ethan Brooks stood their boss, Captain Harris, and a young man in white with a bit of a playboy air.

"Attorney Clark, I’m really sorry to trouble you to come in person this time. Rest assured, I’ll deal seriously with Officer Brooks’s negligence." Captain Harris said to Ryan Clark beside him, his attitude extremely polite.

"Captain Harris, don’t mention it. As long as my friend is okay, everything’s fine."

Ryan Clark spoke politely, but Captain Harris felt a jolt in his heart. Read the other way, that meant if anything happened to Charles Bennett, things would be very much not fine.

At this point, Ryan Clark asked, "Captain Harris, do you mind if I go check on my friend first?"

"Of course, please go ahead." Captain Harris replied quickly, as if he was afraid to offend Attorney Clark.

After Ryan Clark entered the interrogation room alone, Ethan Brooks curled her lip and said disdainfully, "Boss, since when have we in the Iron-Blood Squad ever been afraid of anyone? Why are you being so polite to this Lin guy?"

"That’s right, we don’t need to be polite to criminals. But don’t think that just because you have a bit of power you’re above everyone else. To ordinary people, we’re public servants—do you get that? Besides, we were in the wrong to begin with. If we don’t speak politely, do you want Attorney Clark to make a big deal out of this?"

Captain Harris huffed and glared as he lectured Ethan Brooks, though what he really wanted to say was: "You silly girl, you have no idea what’s going on. Do you know what kind of relationship this Lin guy has with Deputy Director Zhang? If this blows up, it won’t just be you in trouble—even I won’t be able to get out of it."