American variety show: The Godfather, the Peace Ambassador, what the heck?

Chapter 221 Shock Education
The entrance of the villa.

Jack Hoyt looked at the luxurious estate and beautiful surroundings before him, a hint of envy flashing in his eyes.

I've heard that houses in Beverly Hills start at the million-dollar level, and some high-end houses are worth tens of millions. I could never afford a house like that even if I worked as a patrolman my whole life.

It's so nice to be rich.
But Jack only felt envious; he didn't dare to harbor too many extravagant hopes, much less harbor resentment or hostility towards the wealthy people living there. His biggest dream right now was to get a promotion and a raise, and become a detective.

“Mr. Greco”

When Luca came out, Jack took out his police badge and greeted him. Luca opened the door to the detached garage and gestured for him to move all the scrap metal there.

Throughout the process, Luca observed the young patrolman. He appeared to be in his early twenties and, in the original storyline, already had a baby and a relatively happy family.

He embodies the essence of most American low-level police officers—an ordinary, unassuming man living within the system.

Perhaps the only difference is that this kid has too strong a sense of justice and is too steadfast in his bottom line and principles.

"Officer Hoyt, are you one of Vincent's men? Did he send you?"

Inspector Vincent? Jack thought to himself that he would be happy to be promoted by the inspector. He shook his head. "I just followed orders from my superiors. Isn't this what patrol officers do? Okay, the car is all parked for you. That Mitsubishi was too badly damaged. The GTR only had its outer shell damaged. Many of the internal parts are still intact. It can be repaired and used again."

He kindly reminded Luca that it was a real shame to just wreck the GTR like that.

"Goodbye, Mr. Greco. Please call the police if you have any further questions."

"etc."

Luca took out his phone and asked directly, "What's your phone number? Leave me your contact information. Since you're in charge of this, I can contact you directly if there are any problems later."

Jack was a little surprised, but after thinking about it, he realized there was nothing wrong with it. It didn't violate his job responsibilities, and getting a wealthy man's contact information might actually be a good thing.

Luca handed him his union business card as well. "Officer Hoyt, you've heard about the union case lately, haven't you? Thanks to all you patrol officers on the front lines. If you find any leads, please be sure to contact me."

That's just an excuse; a lowly patrolman like Jack wouldn't encounter cases like that.

Looking at the business card Luca handed him, Jack hesitated for a moment, but still accepted it.

[Bond: Follow]

[Jack: B]

[Principle of Justice: Upholding police duty increases police trust by 10%; refusing to collude with corrupt officers reduces trust by 30%]

[Learning Requirements: Affinity level of Friends or higher; Requires 60 Skill Fragments]

Luca hasn't encountered a skill related to trust for a long time, and this skill can be learned with just the friendship bond, so 10% trust is not a small amount;
Refusing to conform reduces trust? This side effect doesn't exist for Luca.

The Mafia needs to deal with a lot of corrupt police officers.

"Is this guy still just a patrolman? Hasn't he fallen under that corrupt cop's command yet?"

That corrupt cop was a Black narcotics officer living in a gang-ridden area. Although he wore a badge, his style of doing things was no different from that of a gangster: extortion, blackmail, and robbery. The only difference was that he specifically targeted gangsters. Because of his status as a police officer, the ordinary small gangs dared not fight back, and he robbed their property with impunity.

Luca has always welcomed corrupt cops who "know the rules," but this guy has clearly gone too far, claiming that this is the true way to survive, when in reality he is just bullying the weak and fearing the strong, living a life of cowardice.

Now, facing even more powerful Russian gangs, they have no choice but to obediently hand over money. Otherwise, the Russians might just kill the police.

Luca said quietly, "So I actually helped this guy that night?"

This surprised Luca somewhat. That night, he was thinking of doing a small part to defend peace, but he ended up helping a notorious corrupt cop.

In the original storyline, Jack joined the most dangerous narcotics police department in order to get a promotion, but unfortunately became the subordinate of the black police officer and was given a good "lesson".

That's how the so-called training day came about. In just one day, Jack witnessed the dirty and sordid side of the police station, experienced the ups and downs of life, and was even almost killed by his colleagues.
With that in mind, Luka made a phone call to the Russians: "What time limit have you given that narcotics officer?"

Russian: "He has two days left to raise a million. Why are you asking this? Did that cop offend you too? Do you want me to take him out for you?"

Get rid of it?

This is necessary. Luca doesn't like this kind of slippery, unruly corrupt cop. According to the original plot, this guy was eventually killed by the Russians because Jack took his ransom, which prevented him from paying the money, and he was shot dead in the street by the Russians.

After thinking for a moment, Luca said, "He did offend me. I'll take care of this."

The Russian said no problem, he was just a narcotics officer.

They had already gathered a lot of information: this policeman was involved in both the legal and illegal worlds, condoning drug trafficking, taking kickbacks, robbing drug dealers, and sting operations, among other things. This made many gangs very dissatisfied with him, and even the black gangs did not support their fellow countrymen.

This shows how many things this guy has done that have angered both heaven and man.

Luca knew what was going on. He figured he could take advantage of this opportunity to see if he could turn Jack into a friend within a day and learn that little skill.

Training day? Let's see who trains whom.

Meanwhile, after returning to the police station, Jack reported the matter to his superior and then asked, "Boss, was my application approved?"

Looking at the young face, the superior said, "Have you really thought this through? You want to join the narcotics squad? Narcotics officers work much more dangerously than patrol officers. They deal with the most dangerous drug dealers, while you just need to drive around the streets in a police car and intimidate those thugs. These are two completely different jobs."

“I need this opportunity,” Jack said solemnly.

"If you want a promotion, becoming a patrol officer is fine, but it'll be slower; you'll have to wait a few more years." His superior was still trying to persuade him. He didn't want to be too blunt; he knew this kid's personality perfectly well—he took his responsibilities too seriously, lacked tact and flexibility, and was too sharp-edged. Jack didn't get along with many of the underhanded cops.

Everyone else is taking advantage of their positions to make some extra money, but if you don't, who the hell would want to hang out with you?
The anti-drug squad is undoubtedly a hotbed for making extra money, and since it's related to drugs, Jack, being so reckless, is bound to get hurt if he rushes in headfirst.

Want to make a name for yourself?

The credit isn't earned by catching drug dealers, but by getting them to "cooperate" with you.
Does Jack know anything about these things?
"Jack, I still hope you'll think this through."

My boss leaned back in his office chair, with a huge police badge on the wall behind him. "Your daughter is only a few months old. What you need is a more stable and suitable job, and more time to spend with your family. Of course, I'm not saying you're incompetent; everyone has seen your performance. It's just... you can take some time to reflect."

If you want to climb the ranks, you need to think beyond just how to catch criminals; you need to learn the rules of the police station.

“I know all the rules,” Jack laughed. “I got a perfect score on the written test back then.”

boss:"."

Am I talking about that rule?
Fine, fine. If this brat wants to go and try, then let him go. Those thugs in the anti-drug squad will teach him a lesson.

"Okay, the day after tomorrow morning, go and report to Alonzo Harris. He will take you through the onboarding assessment. If you can get his approval, congratulations, you will be a narcotics officer from now on."

"Thank you, sir."

Jack's eyes gleamed with excitement; he had taken another step forward within the police force!

First become a narcotics officer, and then use that as a stepping stone to become a detective, climbing the ranks step by step.

Maybe if I become a bureau chief someday, I'll have the chance to live in a mansion like Beverly Hills.

The young man left the office with his dreams, leaving behind only his boss with a sigh.

"They're still too young."

Two days later, Jack began his career as a narcotics police officer as promised.

The first day is called training day.

His superior, Harris, arranged to meet him at a coffee shop instead of at the police station. In Harris's words, the police station was a place for patrol officers to report to; narcotics officers were out on the streets arresting drug dealers.

However, after meeting Harris, Jack did not have a particularly good impression of him. This black officer was foul-mouthed and liked to make vulgar jokes, even dragging Jack's wife into it, which made Jack very resistant. He did not like anyone joking about his family.

Afterwards, Harris took him to cause trouble for some young drug dealers on the street, but to Jack's surprise, Harris did not arrest them, but only confiscated their marijuana, that was all, it was more like a violent threat from the police to the drug dealers.

What Jack didn't know was that the area they had just been on was gang territory. Those young marijuana dealers trespassing on someone else's land to do business was clearly "not allowed."

What surprised Jack even more was that Harris actually wanted him to smoke marijuana.

"As anti-drug police officers, we must understand and love drugs. The best anti-drug police officers must taste drugs themselves!"

The two were driving down the street when Harris, with a strange smile on his face, handed over a pipe containing cheap marijuana. "Have a puff, Jack. This is your first lesson today."

"I don't do drugs."

"This isn't cocaine, want a shot?"

"I became a narcotics officer to stop others from using drugs!" Jack refused righteously.

Harris's smile became even more intriguing. "If you don't do drugs, how am I supposed to control you? And how can you prove you can be 'one of us' in the group?"
And this is also related to another of his plans.

Harris is short of money right now, he needs to give a full 100 million to the Russians, otherwise those bearded men will kill him.

This terrified Harris; he had to get his hands on the money today.

He had already planned it all out: secretly eliminate one of his informants and rob him of his ill-gotten gains—the informant was a drug lord and also his partner. He was helping the informant crack down on some competitors in the underground drug market, and in return, the informant would give him some benefits.

But since the other party obviously couldn't give him 100 million directly, he had no choice but to become the other party's mistress, a desperate measure.

Murder requires someone to cooperate, to become a target, a shield.
This is why he decided to bring in a new person at this time.

This is a trap.

Let's give Jack a shock lesson.

Seeing that Jack was still rambling on about not doing drugs, Harris finally lost his patience. He slammed on the brakes and stopped the car in the middle of the intersection. Then he pulled out a pistol and pointed it menacingly at Jack's head.

“If I were a drug dealer, you’d be dead by now if you kept refusing!” Harris threatened. “Go back to being a patrolman, I don’t want you in my narcotics squad! Coward!”

This undoubtedly hit Jack where it hurt. He wasn't afraid of Harris shooting in the street, but he was afraid of losing this opportunity for promotion.

He wants a promotion and a raise! He wants a higher status and a better life.

Especially after seeing Luca's grand mansion.
With a sigh, Jack finally reached out and took the pipe. Suddenly, a car stopped next door, and the window rolled down, revealing Luca's handsome face.

"Officer Hoyt, I didn't know you had a marijuana habit?"

(End of this chapter)