The real life of an American police officer: Winning over others with virtue

Chapter 167 Happy to be a father

Their expressions, combined with the environment, the current situation, and their age, seemed particularly out of place.

Because this is definitely not the expression a normal child should have.

"Let's leave it to the guys in the back," Ray said.

"They will handle things here properly."

Eric thought about it and agreed, noting that their primary objective was to find Mia.
"Ok."

Ray, holding a gun in one hand and carrying Mia, walked towards the exit.

Eric glanced at the four Asian boys and said.

"The police will come to rescue you in a little while, understand?"

However, the four boys just stared at him silently, without responding or whether they understood him. Eric sighed softly, shook his head to himself, and turned to follow Ray.

Just then, he heard footsteps behind him and instinctively turned around. He saw the four boys silently following behind, their faces still expressionless.

"Uh..." Eric felt a strong sense of unease, as if he had discovered some blind spot.

"Don't you speak the local language?"

Before she could finish speaking, Lei, who was walking ahead, stopped and looked over. At this moment, Mia, whose emotions had calmed down a bit, suddenly spoke up.

"It seems they can only understand a little bit."

Mia continued, pleadingly, "Ray, Eric, could you take them with you? They protected me! And they got beaten up by those bad guys."

Eric paused for a moment, then crouched down and reached out to tug at the sleeve of the slightly taller boy in the lead.

The boy seemed to instinctively want to dodge, but seeing Eric's expression, he froze and let Eric roll up his shirt sleeve.

Clearly visible purplish-blue bruises, old and new scars, and whip marks that have not yet scabbed over come into view.

Eric fell silent, then looked at the boy who was just staring at him blankly and said:
"Does it hurt?"

The boy shook his head.

An indescribable emotion surged within Eric.

“They might be illegal immigrants or refugees,” Ray said from behind.

Eric nodded. Judging from their condition, they had most likely been abducted from their hometown and sold to the 187 gang.

Moreover, judging from their appearance, it's clear they've been under the control of the 187 gang for quite some time.

Undocumented children like these will only be transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) under the Department of Health (HHS).

Looking at the boy who was just staring blankly at him, Eric had a vague feeling that these boys were already orphans.

Children without legal status or relatives will either end up in government-contracted nonprofit organizations, foster families, or remain in the country as "shadow immigrants" (without legal status but not deported).

In short, the result was definitely not good.

“What are you going to do, Eric?” Ray asked.

“I don’t know either,” Eric replied with a wry smile, but before he could finish speaking, he suddenly froze.

Because the tallest boy in the group reached out and touched himself, then pointed at him.

The meaning couldn't be clearer: We want to go with you.

Goodness, they really know how to give me a tough challenge. Eric chuckled and immediately switched to Filipino.

"Do you understand?"

Seeing that the other party did not respond, Eric switched to Korean, then Hindi, Vietnamese... Finally, he tried to ask in Chinese.

To his disbelief, the boys finally responded when they heard Chinese; they nodded.

Eric was completely stunned. The boy in charge spoke to him in broken Chinese.

"You're a good person! We want to go with you!" Although the words were spoken haltingly, they were spoken in perfect punctuation.

Eric's pupils contracted slightly as he asked, "Are you Chinese?"

"No, we're from Myanmar!"

Eric let out a soft breath. Myanmar? Looking at the group of boys before him, whose eyes remained calm and unperturbed despite being in hell, a word suddenly popped into his mind: child soldiers. Because according to reports from the United Nations and several international human rights organizations, Myanmar is one of the countries in the world with the most serious problems of continuous recruitment and use of child soldiers.

Eric looked serious, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the four boys one by one, before turning back to look at Ray.

"How to do?"

Lei understood what he meant and shook his head, saying, "My place is too small, and there are too many people around, so it's inconvenient."

Eric's lips twitched. Indeed, Ray lived with his parents, and his sister's family was his neighbor. There were many people in his family, so it was a lot of trouble.

“Alright.” Eric took a deep breath, met the boys’ slightly apprehensive gazes, and instantly switched to Burmese.

"You can come with me, but you must listen to me."

Upon hearing this, the boys' eyes lit up, and for the first time, their previously expressionless faces showed the excitement of children.

Eric carefully observed their reactions and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Judging from their expressions, they did not seem to be using drugs.

"Let's go."

Eric nodded, stood up, and turned to Ray.

The group began to walk out, leaving the pungent smell of the drug-making room.

-

"Have you really decided?"

Ray, holding Mia who was making eye contact with the boys, asked Eric in a low voice.

"What else do you suggest we do?" Eric said helplessly.

"I can only say that they are destined to be with me."

Lei glanced back instinctively, then his expression changed and he exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey! Put it down! You can't take the gun!"

Eric turned around and was instantly stunned.

The four boys following behind each had somehow acquired a sawed-off shotgun, and their grip on the guns appeared quite practiced.

Eric had to admit that the scene was truly...
The boys ignored Ray's warnings and just stared at Eric.

Eric shook his head and said in Burmese, "Don't take anything."

Before the words were even finished, the boys dropped their sawed-off shotguns with unusual decisiveness.

Eric and Ray exchanged a glance, and he saw that Ray's usually expressionless face had become stiff.

"Eric, I feel like you've taken on a hot potato."

"Let's take it one step at a time," Eric said helplessly. He was also having a headache; most of the boys were former Boy Scouts.

"Let's go back first!"

Lei nodded: "Okay!"

-

So, after calling the police, the two adults and five children squeezed into a car and sped away.

Then they returned to the police car that Eric had parked.

Upon arriving here, it was time to part ways, mainly because of the addition of those four boys.

“I’ll take Mia to her grandmother’s house to settle her in first,” Ray said to Eric from the driver’s seat, his gaze sweeping over Eric’s back where four boys stood like shadows.

"it is good!"

Eric nodded in agreement, glancing at Mia, who was waving goodbye to the boys behind her.

She subconsciously turned around and saw that the four boys also had a slight smile on their faces and were waving at Mia.

"After all, he still has human emotions," Eric muttered to himself, watching Ray drive away.

(End of this chapter)