The Supreme Soldier in the City
Chapter 104: Greedy for a Bit of Money

Chapter 104: Chapter 104: Greedy for a Bit of Money

Although James Brown’s leg was somewhat sore, the pain was nowhere near that level. By exaggerating it, firstly, he was teasing Joan with the ulterior motive of taking advantage of her. Unlike with a girl like Sarah Utah, James Brown wouldn’t dare fool around, but with someone like Joan, although he didn’t want to start anything serious, taking a small advantage didn’t weigh on his conscience at all.

Additionally, James Brown acted this way to prevent Joan from ever noticing from his physique and gaze that he was the same person as the Mysterious Figure. By letting her think he was weak, even if she noticed something off, she wouldn’t connect him with the Mysterious Figure.

Thirdly, since those guys had hired people to take care of him, it was inconvenient for him to strike back directly at that moment. Naturally, he had to pretend to be injured, letting the other party break the bank a bit. Now that he had the police backing him up, it would be a waste not to trick them.

With these three benefits in one go, James Brown was, of course, not going to pass up the opportunity. He leaned his arm on Joan’s shoulder, his head close to her face. Looking at Joan’s beautiful face and smelling the faint scent of her body was a pleasure beyond words.

"What are you looking at?" snapped Joan, turning her head and glaring fiercely at James Brown.

James immediately let out a dry laugh and said, "Officer Monaghan, you are really beautiful."

Joan’s face reddened with even more anger and she snapped, "Are you trying to make me throw you over?"

"Don’t, don’t! If you throw me over, how would I get home?"

"Then just behave yourself," Joan glared at James once more and continued supporting him as they walked forward.

Anyone else might have been ignored by Joan, but the night before, she had drunk too much and James hadn’t tried anything with her, which made her somewhat trust him. She knew this guy was all talk and not terribly bad; otherwise, her virtue could have been compromised the previous night.

The two rode in the police car to the hospital, where Joan still supported James. The examination showed nothing serious, just a ligament bruise on his knee, a condition that could be minor or severe. If one was in poor health, such an injury could require months of recovery. For a very healthy person, it would only take a few days to heal.

Initially, the doctor suggested James be hospitalized, but he refused. For someone like him, staying in a hospital was worse than death.

With persistence from James, Joan personally took him back home.

"Thanks, Officer Monaghan," James ingratiatingly poured Joan a glass of water, not forgetting to limp as he walked.

"Stop moving around, and just rest for now. Now let me talk about something serious," Joan said, accepting the water with a stern face.

James nodded and sat beside her.

Joan stared into James’s eyes and said, "We’ve already investigated. The person who hired these people goes by the name of Douglas Smith. You should know him, right?"

James had already guessed a few possible suspects, and Douglas Smith was definitely the most likely. He quickly replied, "Of course, I know him. He was the deputy head of logistics at our company. He once tried to molest a girl from logistics, and I stopped him. Since then, he’s held a grudge against me. Last time, when I was working in the warehouse for a week, he deliberately had someone steal from the warehouse to frame me, leading to our boss firing me."

Joan nodded and said, "Then his motive is quite clear. However, because the injury you suffered isn’t severe, at most, this would be handled as a public security issue. Given that he probably has some connections, even if jailed, he wouldn’t be held for long. What do you think?"

James shrugged helplessly and replied, "I don’t know. Officer Monaghan, you decide what seems best."

Joan suggested, "Then I recommend you ask for compensation. He probably won’t want to make a big deal out of this either. For someone like him, even a few days in detention would be tough. I can step in and ask him to compensate you some money. How does that sound?"

James frowned slightly and said, "Getting compensated is fine, but what if he causes me trouble again later?"

"I can warn him about that. If he troubles you again, we will punish him severely."

James nodded and said, "Alright then, if Officer Monaghan says so, I’ll go with your suggestion."

"How much compensation do you want?" Joan asked.

"Well... it should be at least eighty to a hundred thousand dollars," James said in a very casual tone.

Joan felt a headache coming on and said irritably, "Do you really think you can get that much?"

James, full of confidence, replied, "Why not, since you’ve got my back? If you say the word, and he doesn’t pay up, lock him up for three to five years."

Joan glared at James and retorted, "Get out! Why should I support you? I handle things by the book. Don’t be a lion with a big mouth."

James’s confident demeanor instantly fell, and he said with a bitter smile, "Look, Officer Monaghan, you asked me to make a demand, and then you scold me when I do. Isn’t this just messing with me? Who wouldn’t want to ask for more money?"

"Nonsense, you need to know when to stop. I’ll handle this matter for you, and whatever I get for you is what you’ll have. How about that?" Joan Monaghan stared into James Brown’s eyes.

"Alright then, I’ll listen to Officer Monaghan," James Brown said, somewhat reluctantly.

Joan Monaghan was both annoyed and amused as she said, "You’re a grown man, why be so greedy? Can’t you earn money on your own merit?"

"Ah, the competition in society is so fierce nowadays, I’m lucky to even have a job. I can only earn two to three thousand dollars a month, just enough to cover expenses. Who wouldn’t want a little extra?"

"I’m telling you, if you dare to make money by illegal means, I’ll definitely catch you, and I won’t show any mercy," Joan said sharply, then snorted coldly, her gaze intense and warning.

After discussing the matter, Joan stood up. James immediately grinned and said, "Officer Monaghan, it’s so late, why don’t you stay here tonight?"

Joan instantly grabbed James by the collar, saying fiercely, "What did you say?"

James quickly grabbed Joan’s wrist and hurriedly said, "Officer Monaghan, you’ve misunderstood! I’m completely well-intentioned, nothing more. You stayed at my place last night, and I even washed your clothes."

Joan’s grip loosened considerably as she knew what James was saying was the truth, but having it brought up in such a manner was incredibly embarrassing. She glared at him and said, "Just remember this, don’t mention it to anyone else, or you’ll regret it."

"I haven’t said anything!" James protested. "Really now, one tries to be nice but it’s so hard to be a good person."

Joan, feeling somewhat guilty, released James’ collar and said, "Then would it be alright if I apologized to you?"

"Sure!" James quickly replied, then chuckled, "Officer Monaghan, they say it takes a hundred years to share a boat, and a thousand years to share a pillow. We’ve shared a pillow, that must be a thousand-year bond..."

Seeing Joan’s expression darken again, James hastily changed his words, "Officer Monaghan, look, you’ve misunderstood again. I mean, we are acquainted, right? Surely our relationship is better than with others?"

Joan’s expression softened slightly but she remained silent, just staring at James.

"Cough cough, I mean, if I need help in the future, can I ask for your assistance? You know, I don’t really have any friends here, and people do bully me. Nowadays, one can’t survive without some connections and background, could you help me, please?"

"You can ask for my help, but only if you’re being bullied," Joan said dryly.

"Deal, I definitely won’t misuse your name for ill deeds."

Joan’s expression finally eased, "Alright, then I’m leaving."

James escorted Joan to the door, but she wouldn’t let him walk her further, shutting the door herself. However, while waiting for the elevator, Joan glanced towards Lucy Campbell’s door. There was something suspicious about James’ neighbor; it wasn’t strange for a woman to live here, but people who moved in upstairs and downstairs seemed to be protecting Lucy.

Joan, the local police officer even though she was now a deputy chief, still hadn’t transferred her duties, so she was well aware of the area. She wanted to investigate Lucy, but someone influential had expressly forbidden it, sparking even more suspicion.

Lucy was known as the number one beauty of SSUP Country, a title prevalent in high society, yet inaccessible to ordinary people; not to mention knowing Lucy, they hadn’t even heard of her.

Such circumstances were like those of officials in the Capital of SSUP; many wielded significant power, and provincial and municipal-level officials should be aware, but district or county-level officials probably wouldn’t know these Capital officials, let alone ordinary people.

Because of Lucy’s mysterious background, Joan, as a police officer, was even more vigilant. She didn’t want any rich second generations or official second generations bullying people by leveraging their power in her jurisdiction.

Still, she knew the background behind Lucy was significant, beyond what a small-time deputy chief like her could handle. She just hoped the person wouldn’t cause trouble; that would be fortunate enough.

...

Douglas Smith was very frustrated. Originally, he had found a few people to give James Brown a thorough beating to vent his frustrations. But before they could get to him, one of them was arrested. Early the next morning, right when Douglas went to work, he received a call from the police station asking him to come in and explain things.

Douglas hurriedly called a few friends to speak on his behalf, but they weren’t very accommodating. Eventually, they agreed to let him compensate the victim. The sum wasn’t large, just five thousand dollars.

Though Douglas was not very wealthy, five thousand dollars wasn’t much to fret over. However, acquiring it was frustrating; he had wanted to deal with James, and instead, he was paying James – how ridiculous!

But he had no choice but to pay. The new deputy chief at the station was now a model figure in the YODC City Bureau. Even if he were unwilling, ordinary people couldn’t challenge the way they handled cases. He just had to pay the money obediently. Not only did he not get his revenge, but he also ended up giving James an unwarranted five thousand dollars.