America, starting as a trainee police officer

Chapter 146, Midnight Revelation

At the end of the corridor, a door was half-open, and the alarm control panel was on the wall next to the door, with a flashing red light displaying "DOOR-FRONT-OPEN".

The voices came from inside the door. There was a man's voice inside, muttering something, but it was hard to make out. There was also another voice, very low, trying to persuade him.

Lopez approached the door and knocked on the doorframe.

Li Wei stood to her side and slightly behind, his gun pointed at the crack in the door. With the enhancement of [Perception 88], he could hear two distinct breathing sounds inside the door: one rapid and disordered, the other suppressed and tense.

"LAPD! People inside, place your hands where we can see them and slowly come out!"

The sound from inside the door paused for a second, then the muttering suddenly rose in pitch.

"I knew it! I knew they'd come! They were wearing police uniforms!"

Then came a series of chaotic noises, with someone shouting "No, no, no!" followed by the sound of something heavy falling to the ground.

Lopez didn't wait any longer; he kicked the door open and pointed his gun inside.

The room was a mess. The curtains were drawn tightly, and a floor lamp lay on the floor with one side of its shade broken.

A middle-aged white man in a rumpled silk bathrobe stood in the center of the room, holding a shotgun with the muzzle pointed towards the door. His hair was a mess, his eyes were red-rimmed, and he looked as if he had been in some kind of state of excitement all day.

[Target detected: Tommy Lamont]

[Criminal conduct: Illegal possession of firearms, threatening law enforcement officers]

[Arrest Reward: 1 Small Blue Bottles]

At his feet, a young man in a plaid shirt lay prone on the ground, his hands covering his head, muttering, "Boss, don't shoot—they're police—real police—"

Lopez locked his gun on the man with the shotgun.

"LAPD! Put the gun down! Now!"

The man didn't let go; instead, he gripped the gun even tighter. He glanced at Lopez, then at Levi, his eyes darting back and forth between the two, before finally giving him an expression that seemed to say he knew everything.

"No. You're not police. You're looters! I saw that movie! 'Midnight Apocalypse'! That's what they do, stealing police uniforms to trick survivors into opening doors! I won't fall for it!"

Li Wei looked at him without saying a word.

A wealthy man, who had been on drugs for three days straight, watched a disaster movie like a documentary and is now defending his survival fortress with a shotgun. Rick Grimes would have to say: Dude, put down the gun, you're wearing a bathrobe, not a combat uniform.

He'd seen this before. Either he was drunk, or he'd taken a hit. Judging from his mental state, it was probably the latter. And it wasn't a small dose.

Lopez kept the gun pointed, his voice lowered by half an octave: "Sir, I'll repeat myself, put down your gun. This is the last warning."

The man's hands were trembling, his lips were quivering, and his eyes were darting back and forth between fear and madness.

The standoff lasted for about four or five seconds.

The muzzle of the shotgun slowly drooped down.

"----All right."

Lopez didn't give him a second chance. She strode forward, pressed down on the gun with her left hand, and swiftly pulled the shotgun from his hand with her right. She unloaded and checked the gun—two bullets, one already chambered—then removed the magazine and placed the gun on the ground behind her.

Then she pinned him against the wall and searched him from head to toe. He wasn't there on his sides, ankles, or lower back.

After confirming that there were no other weapons, she took a step back and pulled out handcuffs.

"You are under arrest. Illegal possession of a firearm and threatening law enforcement officers with a deadly weapon."

"I didn't fire!"

"You're pointing a gun at the police; that's enough in America."

Mission Completed: Arrest Tommy Lamont. Reward: 1 Small Blue Bottle.

The man fell silent after being handcuffed. He slumped onto the edge of the bed, head bowed, muttering under his breath, "I knew it—the end of the world was coming—I told you so—"

Li Wei put away his gun and glanced at the young man still lying on the ground.

"You can get up now."

The young man cautiously raised his head, and only got up from the ground after confirming it was safe. He was wearing a plaid shirt, and there were several red marks on his face and arms, as if he had been hit by something.

"And who are you?" Li Wei asked.

“I’m his assistant, Jonah.” He pointed to the handcuffed man in the bathrobe. “He—uh, his name is Tommy Lamont.”

"What's wrong with him?"

Jonah gave a wry smile: "He had been partying for three days straight before the earthquake. When the earthquake struck, he thought it was the end of the world, so he locked himself in his study and watched disaster movies all night, and even dug out his collection of guns."

He pointed to an open cabinet in the corner, which originally contained a row of hunting rifles and rifles, but now one was missing.

Li Wei glanced at the cabinet. This man's gun cabinet had more stock than some gun shops he'd seen. The wealthy people of Beverly Hills were even better equipped for the apocalypse than others.

"Then he had me and a few other assistants shoot each other with BB guns in the room. He said we had to be vigilant and deal with looters who could appear at any time after the apocalypse."

Lopez, who was taking notes, looked up when he heard this: "A BB gun?"

Jonah rolled up his sleeve, revealing several red bullet marks on his arm.

"—That's it. His exact words were to always be vigilant in the face of the apocalypse."

Lopez glanced at the marks, then at Lamont, who was slumped on the edge of the bed. He remained silent for two seconds before lowering his head to continue writing his report.

Li Wei stood to the side, thinking that if this guy had been born a few years earlier, he would probably have been building a bunker in his backyard when COVID-19 hit.

He had only ever seen this kind of doomsday delusion among the wealthy in the news before. He never imagined that reality would be even more outrageous than what was depicted in the news.

Li Wei looked around the bedroom, which was larger than the entire living room of an average family.

An abstract painting by an unknown artist hung on the wall, and on the bedside table sat a half-empty bottle of whiskey and an open laptop. Outside the window, one could see the dried-up swimming pool in the yard, its bottom covered in a layer of dust.

In places like this, even if something happens, the homeowner would probably just call a lawyer to handle it.

But now, it's probably impossible to get through to the lawyer by phone.

"Let's go, take it back."

He went over and pulled Lamont up from the bed. As he stood, Lamont muttered, "That swimming pool—I spent 120,000 to build it—"

Li Wei did not respond.

Having been a police officer for so long, I've arrested all sorts of criminals.

But the experience of arresting a wealthy man in Beverly Hills wearing a silk bathrobe, taking drugs for three days, and waiting for the end of the world is truly a first.