Chapter 24: Acquaintances

Upon hearing a knock at the door, Michael immediately paused what he was doing, before heading to the door to see who it was. Most probably, it was the police.

By now, the guy in the kitchen had already stopped shouting. After all, shouting for quite a long while had led to his entire throat going dry, not allowing him to continue.

Now, he was only waiting for his fate, which was to be apprehended by the police.

When Michael got to the door, as usual, he made sure to look outside through the peephole. He had to make sure that the person outside was someone he knew or was expecting before opening.

It was just that, when he looked outside through the peephole, he was momentarily stunned by the familiar figure standing outside.

Michael was puzzled by the appearance of the person outside the door. Was she not supposed to be in the other district where the slums were located? How come she was here?

At the moment, just outside the door was none other than Kate. She was not alone, as she was together with the baldy that Michael had seen before, who he thought was her partner.

It seemed that today, they were on the night shift patrol. Or maybe, they were at the station, before they came over.

It was just that, to Michael, it was kind of unexpected to meet these familiar figures.

Despite his surprise, understanding that he had not committed any crime, thus no need to be wary of the police, he opened the door.

Outside the door, both Kate and Collins were talking to each other about what happened them over here.

When Michael made a call, obviously, they were not the ones that he contacted. Instead, he directly contacted the control center of the police.

And with that, the information was passed down, and the two of them being near, were assigned to come over and pick the criminal.

It was just that, they felt, this was quite something new. In this city, it was not that easy to be able to find a person catching a thief.

An ordinary thief might be connected to a gangster from a gang. And if the thief was caught, the gangster might bring his fellow gangsters to cause trouble for the person who had caught the thief.

It was for this reason that most of the time, in case of theft, the owner of the place where the person was trying to steal from, would usually just chase away the thief.

Still, they were quite surprised when they arrived. This apartment block did not seem like somewhere where some small time thieves would get in.

After all, there were CCTV cameras available in this building, monitoring the entire building 24/7.

So, it was unusual to find that an ordinary thief would come to this place to steal.

And if that thief was not ordinary, it implied that they had connections and weapons. Facing such a thief, most of the ordinary people would not be able to handle them.

Just as the two of them were waiting, they heard the sound of approaching footsteps. And a few seconds later, the door was opened.

“We are from the… ” Collins had only just begun speaking when suddenly, he was forced to stop as he looked at the person who had opened the door in shock.

He could clearly recognize Michael. While it was true that Michael seemed to have changed, the changes that he had undergone within just a week were not enough to be able to make him look like a completely different person.

Collins had an impression of Michael. After all, the raid that they had carried out about a week ago, it was only Michael who was seemingly looking out of place.

Comparing him to the other gangsters, who had tattoos, dyed their hair and so on, Michael was pretty decently dressed, even though his clothes were cheap.

And at the station, when he was giving a statement, he had claimed that he was an accountant. Additionally, it seemed that he had somehow irritated Kate, which was something that made Collins gain an impression of him.

It was just that, right now, it was unexpected to find him here. Many questions popped up in Collins’ mind, as he failed to understand how Michael was here.

It was the same situation with Kate. Just like Collins, she had not anticipated to meet with Michael here.

Previously, during the raid that had occurred 2 days ago, things got out of hand. And at that time, there were even casualties within the police force.

They lost two police officers, which led to the OIC, Edward, asking them to retreat. If they had received reinforcements from the other police posts, they would have been able to handle the situation.

But unfortunately, while the other police posts claimed that they were sending reinforcements, the reinforcements never arrived.

Due to this incident, Kate’s family was alarmed. They wanted her to return home, but she was insistent, she did not want to return.

In the end, they decided to transfer her from the previous police post, to another one. The police post that she was transferred to was located in a way better area, with less criminal activities as compared to the previous one.

During the transfer, since Collins was already in charge of her, he was also transferred with her.

And today, they had only began officially working after joining the new police post, when they received a call, informing them to come over here and catch a thief.

Now, looking at Michael, Kate was surprised. It was not just about finding Michael here, it was also because he was the one who seemingly had caught the thief.

To say the least, while Michael had proved himself to be innocent and not involved in criminal activities, her impression of him was still quite negative.

So, it was quite a shock to her that Michael was not the thief, but instead, the person who had caught the thief.

“You… What are you doing here?” Kate suddenly asked as soon as she regained her composure.

“I live here now.” Michael responded calmly.

While this lady had targeted him continuously previously when he had been arrested, but at least, when it was cleared that he was just an accountant, she did not make things difficult for him.

And, after he had written the statement, while he was not immediately released until the following day, she had not pestered him or uttered some sarcastic words.

When Michael responded, both Kate and Collins blinked their eyes, as they looked at Michael with disbelief clear on their faces.

Michael on the other hand did not say anything to elaborate further on this matter. After all, it was quite difficult to be able to explain this, without revealing the existence of the system.

So, it was better not to try explaining or create an excuse. If he lied to cover up this issue, he might end up needing to create even more stories, which might leave some loopholes.

In that case, it was better not to explain anything, at least, it was not as if he had committed any crime.

“I have tied up the thief in the kitchen.” Michael spoke once again when he realized that the two of them did not have the intention of speaking anytime soon.

It was only after Michael had said those words that the two of them reacted. Despite the many questions that they had, they still had to find the thief first.

“Lead the way.” Collins said, and Michael nodded before allowing the two of them into the house.

He led them to the kitchen, where they found the guy that was tied on the chair. For a moment, the two of them gazed at the guy that was tied up, before gazing at Michael.

It was as if they were trying to believe that Michael, who was extremely young, was the one who had tied up this guy who had a better physique as compared to himself.

The tied up guy on the other hand paled upon seeing the two police officers. He had hoped that Michael was just joking around, but now, he realized, it was serious.

Collins approached the guy, before observing him closely. He could see that there was a bruise on one of his cheeks, which implied that he had been hit there.

Judging by the way that the bruise looked like, from his experience, Collins could tell that this was probably from a fist strike.

Looking at it, Collins could not help but look at Michael once again. Instinctively, he asked, “Are you sure that you are not a gangster?”

When Collins asked that question, everyone looked at him with a puzzled expression. And upon seeing them looking at him like that, Collins seemed to have realized what he had just insinuated by asking that question.

So, after clearing his throat, he corrected himself, “What I am trying to ask is that, are you sure that a week ago, you were not a gangster?”

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