You're a US police officer, what are you thinking about going back to the East for?

"I didn't hand that fat guy called Fatty Z over to the police or the detention center."

"I had Jacob, along with two people from our ACU, lock him up in a safe house and keep an eye on him."

"I also backed up that recording."

"That was the right thing to do. If he had been handed over to the lower ranks, he wouldn't have lived to see court."

Sterling nodded and placed the recorder on the table.

After their conversation, surprisingly yet predictably, the two reached an astonishing consensus on the subsequent handling plan.

Handing the recording directly over to the Ministry of the Interior or the District Prosecutor's Office, thus exposing the corruption network within the branch office, is something only a fool would do.

A paralyzed police force benefits no one.

They unanimously decided to treat this statement and recording as a knife hanging over Williams and the old-school police officers behind him.

He forced them to cut off their financial ties with the 12th Street Boys, obediently follow Sterling's orders, and hand over partial control of the West Precinct.

With the business concluded, both men should have been happy to have acquired such a powerful trump card that could consolidate the branch's authority.

But the atmosphere in the office was unusually quiet.

Sterling sat behind her large mahogany desk, toying with an expensive pen in her hand. Her gaze swept over the mountain of files on the desk and landed on Lyon's face.

She keenly sensed the oppressive atmosphere emanating from Leon.

This is completely different from her previous profile of Leon.

In Sterling's original understanding, Leon Vance was an extreme pragmatist.

A greedy, intelligent, top-tier mercenary who would not hesitate to point his gun at anyone for promotion, privilege, and money.

She originally thought she had seen through this man.

But now, looking at Lyon's somewhat gloomy and tired face, Sterling suddenly had a change of heart.

All he had seen before were scenes of Leon dealing with gangsters, robbers, and the FBI, so he seemed completely at ease and unconcerned.

But last night's case was a little different.

That was about child trafficking and forced prostitution.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Leon react to cases that cross the line of humanity like this before.

"I'm a little curious, Vance."

Sterling stopped writing with his pen and, seemingly unintentionally, spoke, breaking the silence in the room:

"The 10-17 (kidnapping) incident that occurred on Fifth Avenue yesterday evening was, in principle, just a routine radio broadcast, which should have been handled by patrol officers."

"Your ACU team could have completely ignored this back then."

She tilted her head slightly, looking into Leon's eyes: "What were you thinking back then, deciding to personally lead a group to meddle in this mess?"

Upon hearing this question, Lyon paused for a moment, his hand holding the coffee cup still.

He looked up at Sterling's refined and inquisitive face, and his lips moved slightly.

His first reaction was to say: "That's a child who was only a few years old and was abducted on the street. Any normal person would have intervened if they heard that, right?"

But when the words were about to come out, he hesitated for a moment.

Is it really a good idea to show your kind and impulsive side in front of Sterling, a boss who is used to power struggles and exchanges of interests?

Should we rephrase this?

For example, you could tell her that you thought the case was lucrative, or that you could catch a big fish to boost your performance, which is why you followed the clues all the way to the nightclub on 12th Street.

Lyon ran the excuse through his mind.

That's disgusting.

He found himself unable to bring himself to conflate the investigation of human traffickers and the rescue of children with a scheme to gain political capital and achievements.

"Because he's a human trafficker."

Lyon finally gave up on fabricating those high-sounding reasons and, following his own heart, said in a calm tone:

"The child was four or five years old, about as tall as my thigh, and was just shoved into a car on the street."

"I'm not a saint, I've done a lot of dirty work for money."

"But if I were wearing this suit, carrying a gun, and could sit comfortably on the roadside eating my burrito after hearing something like this..."

He shook his head:

"Then there's no point in me wearing this uniform."

Sterling's fingers tightened slightly as he listened.

She looked at Lyon's expressionless face, feeling somewhat surprised, but she didn't show it on her face.

I originally thought Leon would give a reasoned explanation of how he could so keenly sense that there was a big fish behind the case.

As it turned out, his reason was so simple, even somewhat ordinary.

Sterling looked at him and suddenly felt that the man sitting opposite him seemed more vivid than before.

She didn't think about how to use Leon's kindness or bottom line to control him, at least not now. Their relationship wasn't that bad yet.

Her relationship with Leon is currently in a very delicate stage.