America: The Gear-Up Detective

Pulling his grandfather away from the bucket, Rod immediately dialed 911, acting out of a sense of duty as an LAPD member.

"This is Detective Sir Rod, badge number 95270825, specializing in murder and robbery cases."

A body has been found at Pyramid Lake, off Interstate 5 in Los Angeles. It is suspected to be a murder. Detectives are requested to be dispatched to the scene as soon as possible.

After hanging up the phone, Rod first said to Edgar, who was still shaken, "Grandpa, you go back to the car first. I'll stay here, don't worry... But wait, stay here with me for now. Did you bring the gun?"

Pyramid Lake is very remote, and it was early morning; there were no signs of human activity for several kilometers around.

The two of them had been fishing in different places, moving around a bit before finally finding this spot.

The body sank to the bottom at some point, and if Edgar were to go back the way he came, he might run into the killer. For safety's sake, it's better to stay where he is.

"This is...so exciting!!"

Edgar, who had just been startled, now looked excited.

Fearing the killer might still be nearby, Rhodes pulled Edgar away, who was itching to take one last look.

"This bucket sank at some point, and the murderer might still be nearby. Grandpa, please be careful."

Rod drew his FN-509 pistol from his waist, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings.

In the month since he transmigrated, Rhodes has spent a lot of time practicing shooting at the shooting range. He is quite confident in his marksmanship, especially since the system shows that his pistol shooting level has reached lv3.

This is already very high. You should know that even after speaking Chinese for thirty years in my previous life, my rating in the system was only lv3.

Of course, Chinese culture is profound and extensive, and the Chinese language is even more complex, so it cannot be generalized.

However, the system can also gain experience points, which can be used to upgrade skills, but Rhode hasn't figured out how to gain experience points yet.

......

Five or six minutes later.

"Fifth, fifth..."

Only after seeing two patrol cars arrive at the scene did Rod feel completely relieved.

As a detective, Rhodes arranged for the arriving patrol officers to initially cordon off the scene and assigned someone to escort Edgar back.

Ten minutes later, another dark black Toyota Camry stopped outside the cordon.

The car door opened, and a bald man in his forties stepped out. He was about 1.7 meters tall, with a somewhat fierce-looking face, but a kind of honest smile. His build was somewhere between obese and strong.

"Hey, Rod, I heard you started working before you even started your job?"

"Hank, there's a proverb in the far East: the early bird catches the worm."

Hank Schrader, Rod's partner.

He had only been in the Murder and Robbery Division for a year, but his resume was quite impressive—he had worked in the DEA (Denis Agency for Drug Enforcement) for ten years, and then spent six or seven years in the Detective Agency's Anti-Organized Crime Division.

Although Rhodes didn't know why this ruthless person was transferred to the homicide department, there was no doubt that having him around in this situation made Rhodes feel much more at ease.

"What about the early-rising insects? Did you find any dead ones?"

Hank chuckled, then shrugged. "What's the situation on the ground?"

Rod briefly explained how the body was discovered, and then said, "I haven't had time to check the condition of the body yet, but there are no obvious drag marks around here. Logically speaking, such a heavy bucket should have very obvious marks, so it should have been disposed of by the murderer."

When will the forensic doctor arrive?

Hank whistled, then raised an eyebrow. "Sure enough, a fisherman can catch anything but fish."

Rod smirked and gave Hank the middle finger.

The two put on gloves and waved their hands in front of their noses to disperse some of the pungent smell, which thankfully had mostly dissipated.

The two men stepped forward to examine the body.

Most of the deceased was buried in cement, with only the area above the chin exposed.

There were only two obvious wounds on the surface of the head. The face was relatively clear, with an Asian appearance and medium-length hair, so it was most likely male.

Hank pressed on the deceased's face. "The purplish-red lividity didn't change color after being pressed, which means the time of death was about 24 hours ago."

Rod looked at the half-full bucket of cement and frowned.

"However, cement, as a heat-conducting medium, may accelerate the initial heat loss, and once cooled, it will maintain a low-temperature environment for a relatively long time, delaying decay."

Hank nodded. "That makes sense. Then the time needs to be extended a bit more."

"And what was the cause of death?"

"There are signs of injury on the forehead and back of the head. The condition of the body under the cement is still unknown. The cause of death is uncertain; we'll have to wait for the forensic doctor to arrive."

The two analyzed the situation briefly.

Rhodes nodded, took out his phone, took a picture of the deceased's face, sent it to the Sixth Team's work group, and tagged Captain Connor Dalton, "This is what the deceased looks like."

Captain Connor then tagged the others, "Check the identity of the deceased and get ready to work."

Shortly thereafter, the forensic team and other supporting police officers arrived at the scene.

Rod and Hank exchanged a few words, took photos as evidence, and then left the scene.

......

Inside the police station.

As soon as Rod walked into the office of the Sixth Murder and Robbery Division, he attracted the attention of his colleagues.

"Hey, I went fishing early in the morning, and I actually caught a big fish!"

A Black man in his thirties leaned against the coffee machine and said with a smile.

Others chimed in with laughter, saying things like "Where are the fish?" and "The fisherman is truly amazing."

Rod replied irritably, "I have nothing to say to people like you who've never seen Los Angeles at 4 a.m.

As everyone was chatting and laughing, the door to the captain's office, located further inside, opened.

A middle-aged white man in a suit, with brown hair and a serious demeanor, walked in.

"Everyone, now that you're here, let's head to the conference room and begin the meeting."

Captain Connor Dalton, though he appears serious and acts with integrity, is relatively easy to talk to as long as there is a valid reason.

The meeting room is next door, about ten square meters, and should be able to seat about ten people without any problem. There is a long table in the room, a projector in the center of the table, and a very large screen on the inner wall.

The group entered the conference room, and Rod sat down next to Connor.

Connor placed the pre-prepared documents on the table and gestured for Rhodes to distribute them to everyone.

"Take a look, everyone. This is the victim's identity information."

Rod picked up the circulated documents but accidentally bumped into Connor's sunglasses, which were lying next to him.

Another light screen unfolds.

【Glasses full of love: A daughter's concern for her father's eyes is all contained in these sunglasses.】

After equipping, it can provide 50% immunity to strong light stimulation, improve dynamic vision by 20%, strengthen eye muscles, improve eyesight, and increase mental alertness by 1.

Active Skill: 1. Scan: After activating the skill, you will have a photographic memory, and during skill release, you will observe subtle details that are invisible to ordinary people.

2. Special Skill: Unlocked after equipping.

(Note: The duration of active skill activation is determined by the Spirit attribute.)

"This is... yet another piece of equipment!"

Rhodes has been traveling around a lot over the past month, hoping to find a piece of equipment, since he still has an empty slot in his system.

I didn't expect to run into it here, but it's already taken.

Suppressing his thoughts, Rod turned his attention to the case itself.

"We can only plan for this later."