"Looks like I wasted quite a few of these precious tea leaves," Maureen chuckled, a hint of self-deprecation in her voice.
"My father is half Japanese, I only learned a little from him when I was a kid," Jack explained, knowing his body no longer showed many Japanese features.
Unexpectedly, Maureen didn't inquire about the details of yesterday's case, nor did she press Jack about his background. The two chatted like friends about their hobbies, rendering Jack's prepared explanation useless.
Leaving the EAP counseling center, Jack was completely bewildered. How did he suddenly gain a psychologist as a friend, and how did he end up inviting her to his ho tomorrow? This psychologist seed rather eerie.
Driving ho, Jack wondered if he should read so psychology books to hone his skills. Opening the door, he saw Hannah playing video gas in front of the TV.
Seeing Jack enter, Hannah turned off the ga console. Instead of hanging on him like a koala as usual, she ran up to him, hugged his arm, and looked up at him silently, her big eyes blinking with worry.
Jack patted her head, smiled, and comforted her, "I'm fine. I'll be much better than you in the future. You've been a patrol officer for three years and haven't fired a single shot."
Hannah made a face: "You should finish your first year as a rookie first. My rank will be sergeant soon."
"Wow, that's impressive! Has your application to the FBI been answered yet?"
"No, I heard it might take a year." Hannah's face imdiately fell.
"Let's cheer each other on. I'm planning to enroll in community college again in a couple of days to finish the remaining two years. I heard that with a bachelor's degree, you can earn close to $100,000 a year."
"Oh, by the way, we're going to the Japanese supermarket in Little Tokyo to buy groceries later. We'll have a guest tomorrow — the psychologist we t today."
"Hmph! She must be another pretty older sister, right?"
"Ah, she's just average, nowhere near as good as you."
That evening, Jack and Hannah went to the Central Hospital to visit Tim Bradford and t Dr. Grey.
Grey seed to have an exceptionally good mory for handso n, recognizing Jack at a glance. Hearing that he was now an LAPD officer and Tim's colleague, she enthusiastically explained the surgery.
Tim's luck was hard to describe. He tried to block an escape route but ran into Selby, was shot, and fell to the ground imdiately. Lucy left her cover to rescue him, but fortunately, Nolan and his companion arrived in ti and shot at the suspects from behind, forcing Selby to give up killing them.
Tim was later taken to the central hospital for a checkup. The bullet had penetrated his soft body armor without tumbling, lodging directly between his heart and lungs, avoiding all major blood vessels and vital organs. Aside from so blood loss, he was expected to be discharged in three days.
Jack and Hannah entered the ward. Tim was energetically bickering with a nurse, while Hannah grinned and snapped a selfie with her phone.
Tim, looking older than Nolan despite his weathered appearance, was actually under 40. This seemingly serious and rigid veteran was actually a warm-hearted guy beneath his cold exterior. Jack sensed that Tim's current haggardness wasn't due to the gunshot wound, but rather to his small, newly ford but already falling apart family. Anyone would have a troubled life with a drug addict wife who had run away from ho.
After saying goodbye to Tim, Jack secretly kept an eye on him, thinking he'd find an opportunity to help him later. Building good relationships with colleagues was essential, especially in a profession like the police that required teamwork.
Unlike Hannah, who was determined to join the FBI, he didn't have a clear goal yet. His skill levels on the system panel were too low; he'd spend two years developing his skills in the LAPD and getting his university degree along the way.
Dr. Maureen's visit the next day was quite unexpected. She ca with Zoe; the two were best friends and university classmates. Watching the two beauties chatting animatedly in the living room, Jack in the kitchen felt a bit overwheld. Luckily, Hannah wasn't on leave today; otherwise, with three won, who knew what kind of drama would unfold?
Lunch was a simple four-dish al with soup: goma-ae (sesa spinach), scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stuffed green peppers, miso broth with waka, and kinoko mushroom soup. The staple food was, as always, rice. Maureen, who loved Japanese culture, was less adept with chopsticks than Zoe, who had been eating Japanese food with Jack for two years. However, she highly praised Jack's cooking, proving that not all Aricans appreciate overly sweet, modified Japanese dishes like chicken teriyaki.
"So, is our monthly agreent off?" Jack asked after lunch, taking advantage of their ti alone together.
Zoe looked stunning today. Whether it was the healing spell or Jack's previous pampering, she cupped Jack's face and gave him a gentle, wet kiss.
"It's not void, the agreent continues. But you little rascal, you broke it once before, so I get one too. That's fair."
"Don't worry, Maureen is my best friend. I've talked to her about you before, so she called after eting you yesterday. I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence, like it was arranged by God."
After seeing off the two beauties, Jack sat on the sofa, deep in thought. Since Zoe said Maureen was trustworthy, could he consider talking to her about the condition of this body? He couldn't figure out if the persistent state of excitent after the adrenaline rush was a problem with the original body, a hidden personality from his past life, or even a side effect of transmigration.
This problem had to be solved. The LAPD profession could be dangerous at any ti, and he didn't want to one day, with Zoe not around, find that he couldn't hold back and turned into a murderous maniac, ravaging the streets of Los Angeles.
Maybe he could ask Hannah? Thinking of Hannah made his head spin even more. This girl was always throwing herself at him, leaving Jack unsure whether to accept or not. In his past life, he wasn't without romantic experience, but his proud principles were never to sleep with soone he didn't care about, never to hurt their feelings, and never to cheat.
Feeling he was close to becoming a universally despised scumbag, Jack sighed, trying to clear his mind of these worries. He opened the system in his mind; there was still a choice to make.
After killing Selby two days ago, he gained 50 experience points. Adding the one experience point from each traffic ticket he received during his two days of duty, and the 5 experience points from arresting a pair of lesbians, his experience bar had exceeded 100 again, currently at 6 experience points and 2 system coins.
So, should he break through his ntal strength to 20 first, or his physical constitution to 20? Jack hesitated for a long ti, considering the bonus ntal strength gave to daily skill learning, and then clicked "confirm."
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