"How did you find out about this?" asked his sergeant as everyone stood in front of the tunnel.
"Experience," Akashi replied casually.
"You started working as a detective recently. I've been one for ten years, and a sergeant for five years, and I didn't find it," she replied.
'Wow. Her career is older than mine,' he thought.
"I guess it has something to do in my previous life," he replied. In this world, they believed in reincarnation. Just that you would lose your memory, that is.
"Stop with the bullshit. The police chief's mother was the one to create the police, and her generation isn't that old."
"I'm just natural," he replied. "There's no other explanation."
"And how the hell did you know that spray could help you trace the blood easier?"
"I read in chemistry that if this matter was mixed with iron, it could glow. I thought that if some traces of blood were left, it could help me trace it. You should try to reach science magazines. They can be helpful," Akashi shrugged. "Anyways, I'm stepping aside on this one. You get in. I believe this will lead to where they hide the humans."
"Why don't you get inside as well?"
"I could get stuck, and I'm not an earthbender."
"Argh… I'll call for backup."
Very soon, a large airship arrived, with squads donned in metal armor descending.
A squad entered the tunnel, going inside.
As for Akashi, he left the warehouse and walked around it, following the direction of the building.
If his gut was correct, then the moment this building had been reported, the human traffickers moved the others through the tunnel to a nearby building. They were probably a triad of earthbenders since they could hide the tunnel easily without leaving a trace of a secret door. Luckily, the blood had led him there. He wasn't really that good at tracing blood, but in his previous life, he had worked with others and had learned a thing or two from them. One got to keep an open mind.
Akashi leaned on a wall and squatted near a door.
Sounds of fighting, done by earthbenders, echoed here and there. Screams could be heard as well.
The door soon opened, and someone started running out of it.
Akashi extended his foot, making the man trip, before kicking him on the head and knocking him unconscious.
[Defeating a non-bender thug]
[You leveled up —> Level 4]
[+2 Attribute Points]
Akashi clapped his hands and smiled.
He should get inside and help his fellow policemen.
Though he knew he'd get yelled at for trying to help, there was nothing he could do to stop himself from doing so.
As he remembered, there was no other choice unless he wanted to get taunted by Tenzin's children.
He entered, and man, he had to admit, there was flying earth everywhere and flying metal wire.
Around the corner, one could see people cuffed, hiding in cages. Most of them were young teenagers, waiting to be harvested.
'These motherfuckers are highly into human organ dealing,' he thought. 'Such an organization isn't simply a triad business, but one hiring this triad. It has doctors behind it, and wealthy men to run such a thing. And even if we save these people, as long as the head of the serpent isn't cut off, they will start over again under another criminal association. Fuck, how much do I hate organized crime. I should have stuck to homicides. Easier to solve.'
Akashi opened his system, and he quickly put two points into agility, increasing it.
[Agility 7 —> 9] Thɪs chapter is updated by NoveI★Fire.net
As for airbending, he planned not to increase it until it was necessary. After all, it would only get harder to increase the levels through training, and pushing through the first levels with Skill Points seemed like a waste.
But on the other hand, if he found himself in an urgent situation, he would never hesitate.
After all, what's the use of skill points if you're about to lose your life?
He then went in to help his fellow metalbenders.
He examined the situation and decided to do the thing he knew would help him best.
kill still, the best and most mean strategy in all of the games.
However, since people in this world don't simply level up, the strategy didn't sound very mean.
He got in, finding someone hiding behind a box, watching out for two metal wires flying after him, sent by a metalbender.
Akashi flew after him, boosting himself with airbending before finding himself behind his target. In no time, he hit him so hard on the back of the head. The speed of the punch was way higher than he would usually punch, thanks to the increased agility points. And when it came to physics, what mattered was the speed and the weight of the punch.
As for strength, it mattered greatly.
Because the moment he knocked out the guy, he felt his fist on the verge of breaking.
That was one strong foe for him to give him 250 experience points despite having a cop aiding him.
Akashi stood above the box and gave the metalbender a thumbs-up, inviting him to get in.
"Look at you," the metalbender smirked as he bent metal from his armor to cuff the unconscious man.
"Why do you look so proud?"
"Not so long ago, you were screaming for help against Zazu. Now, you're helping with the bust."
"What can I say? I'm a tough guy." Akashi crossed his arms as he turned his head. "Find someone else to help."
"We seem to be overwhelming them."
"Hey, never underestimate what a little help can do," Akashi said, turning and running after someone who started running.
Gaining experience points, losing health points, and most importantly, punching people unconscious. There was something interesting. If he put his hand in front of his mouth and tried to pull the air back, they would faint or lurch. Most of the time, they could fall unconscious.
And by the end of the day, Akashi could gain another level.
[+2 Attribute Points]
That's not a bad deal compared to the effort he had spent.
By the end of the day, they arrested most of the human traffickers while a couple managed to escape. All of the kidnapped people were saved and freed.
Akashi didn't know why the atmosphere suddenly got silent when he entered his shared office. Most of his colleagues were looking at him, silent. His sergeant's desk had a pile of Science magazines, seeming to have bought his bullshit already.
Akashi, feeling awkward, walked to his desk.
He didn't want to work in interrogation now, but he didn't want people staring at him either.
"How did you do that?" someone asked.
"Find the tunnel," he said. "You found someone by a drop of coke, and even managed to tell that he was one of them by the smell of the cigarette and the name of the brand."
"The law of cause and effect," Akashi shrugged.
You know, that law was universal.
You can trace the beginning of the universe to the Big Bang, but you can't find anything beyond it, because at that point it didn't exist.
"Did you find it in a science magazine?" someone else asked.
Akashi suddenly felt nausea from such a question. He deadpanned. "Yeah."
The lieutenant, Boba, entered and walked to Akashi. "Congratulations on solving your first case."
"Just got lucky," Akashi replied, fully acting humble. But inside, he was boiling, 'Praise me, mortals.'
It always felt good to take someone down, especially if they deserved it.
"So, how's the investigation going?" asked Akashi.
"They are working in selling human organs. We've yet to find the suppliers and the receivers. The people behind it seem to be from outside the Nation."
"Since most of them are earthbenders, we should try to link it to one of the Earth Kingdoms."
"Unfortunately, that's beyond our power. Only the Earth queen has the authority to start that."
"That's very unfortunate."
"We've passed the case to the chief's and National Affairs department."
"Glad you guys did." Akashi stretched his arms up.
He had solved a case, and now, he could rest for a while because, let's face it, people like him weren't expected to have a very high success rate. In his department, they were expected to solve a case in three months, given that it was about organized crime. Most of their work during the months would be following leads, and most of the time the cases get closed because of lack of evidence.
"Anyways, you should celebrate your first case. Take the night off, and drink with the boys…" Boba said.
"I prefer not to." Akashi shook his head.
"It's an order." Boba insisted.
"Come on, man. If you want to reward me, give me a bonus," Akashi said.
"You know, that's something the chief can do. And she's already pissed off because one of the council members is after her because of the budget. So, don't even try it."
"Let me guess. Tarrlok."
"How did you know?" asked Boba.
Akashi grumbled. "He's the only asshole that doesn't care about the city and only cares about gaining personal gains for himself. All he cares about is political power and boosting his ego."
"You know, for every council member, you'd find someone to say the exact same words. Don't follow what everyone else says."
"But he's trying to cut our budget. Does he think that we're working for free?"
"What can I say? We should wait for the mayor to come back and file a complaint. Anyways, they can't do a thing to the police department because it'd only backfire against the City."
"Whatever," Akashi sighed angrily.
What's the point of doing a good job if you wouldn't get bonuses?
"Anyways, good job. Come in after tomorrow to pick another case. I think you'd one."
"Anyways, I'm leaving you."
Akashi completed his work for the day. He interrogated some of those who got arrested, trying to milk some information from them. But it was difficult to get them to talk.
The only good thing about this world is that it didn't have lawyers.
But it's bad at the same time, as it could hurt the innocents.
But in this case, there was no one who was innocent.
After the end of the day's work, Akashi got to leave early, ahead of the normal schedule.
He went with the boys to have some drinks, celebrating his first case being solved.
[Poison Resistance Up to level 2]
Despite how much he drank, he didn't get as much pleasure as he would. So, after a few shots, he ended up ordering some soda, as it was better for his taste buds. And thanks to his poison resistance skill, the alcohol was getting metabolized faster than usual, and he was slowly sobering up.
After that, he got a shared taxi with the rest of them.
But suddenly, there was a bang on the road.
The driver excused himself, telling them that he would change the tire and get back in quickly.
But then, there was something in the air, a weird alcoholic smell.
"Why is there gas here?" asked Akashi.
He turned his head to see his colleagues falling asleep.
Suddenly, he felt nausea, his vision twitched and everything turned into two.
The others went unconscious, but he did not, thanks to his body being resistant.
His brain suddenly linked some strings.
'Am I being kidnapped? Shit! Fuck! I didn't want to do this! But I'm left with no choice.'