Chapter 8: Beetle

Meanwhile, on a roof a block away from Benjamin’s apartment.

A woman dressed in black and purple crouched stealthily while looking at the window of Benjamin’s apartment.

She was none other than the Beetle!

“That bitch sure is hard to track, I almost lost her just now. Who knew the great Black Widow is keeping a man on the side?”

Beetle clicked her tongue as she watched Benjamin and Natasha eat and laugh together.

Soon, the two moved into the bedroom and the lights were turned off. She was no longer able to see whatever was going on inside.

She didn’t dare to put a tracker or a bug on Natasha as she knew it would be seen through so she only followed her back from the skies.

Natasha was well aware that she might be followed so she went through a lot of twists and turns before heading to their apartment.

Beetle followed her and nearly lost her but still managed to follow her in the end.

“Hmph! That bitch has been a pain in the ass. Now I know your weakness, let’s see if you still dare catch me.”

Beetle grinned and left as she started to make plans for Benjamin.

The next day.

Benjamin woke up next to a naked redhead and got up.

He cooked for breakfast and started to wear a formal uniform and his badge as he got out to head for work.

On the way, he heard a loud scream.

“Help! Thief!”

He turned to see a man holding a bag as he ran in panic. Behind him was a woman with a panicked look as she screamed and pointed at the man.

Benjamin frowned and saw that the thief was headed his way while swinging a knife in his hand wildly to scare everyone.

Benjamin sighed and thought this thief was pitiful.

He just had to pick this time to steal and instead of running away from him, he was already running toward him instead.

How pitiful indeed.

Seeing the thief get close to him, Benjamin easily sidesteps, grabs the arm holding the knife, then throws the thief onto the ground in a matter of seconds.

“Argh!?”

“Bro, you could’ve run into anyone but you ran into me, a police officer. You're really unlucky.”

“...”

The thief was speechless when he saw Benjamin pull out a cuff and directly cuff him!

Benjamin stood up while picking up the bag and handed it to the woman.

The woman was quite a beauty with long black hair and a slim figure.

She had an entranced look on her face as she looked at Benjamin.

“Thank you!”

“It’s alright ma’am. Just doing my job.”

Benjamin smiled and nodded at her.

“Still, I wonder if I can repay you? Do you mind if I buy you coffee?”

Coffee?

Benjamin was confused.

I just helped return your bag, what is this girl up to?

Then, he checked her again with his HUD Contacts.

[Janice Lincoln - Beetle. Affiliated with Tombstone, Magia, and HYDRA]

Seeing the description, Benjamin nearly choked on his spit.

He was speechless!

They were just talking about her last night and bam! She’s here!

Benjamin looked at the thief he just captured and sighed in his mind.

He was just wondering why he didn’t get any quest from the system for catching this thief. Usually, he would get emergency missions when stopping crimes like this which happened suddenly near him.

But since the system didn’t give him one...means that this isn’t a crime...it was simply staged acting!

He looked at Janice again.

Was Natasha followed last night? She found out that Natasha and I are related to each other so now she’s trying to use me to restrain Natasha?

Anyway, I was just about to start investigating her. Since she diligently delivered herself to me, then don’t blame me for taking advantage of you instead!

...Wait, that sounded wrong.

Benjamin shook his head.

“I still need to bring this guy in and I also have work to do. Maybe another time.”

For now, let’s play hard to get.

...This is kinda fun.

Benjamin mused to himself as he walked away.

“Umm, how about tonight?”

“Uhh.”

“It’s just coffee.”

What do you mean by just coffee? It’s coffee with poison, isn’t it!?

Benjamin smiled on the surface.

“Alright. Later then.”

“Good!”

Then, Janice told him an address to meet up later to which Benjamin nodded.

Once Benjamin left, Janice’s smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown.

“This guy is a bit strong. But that doesn’t matter. Once he drinks the coffee, the Black Widow is done for!”

With a cold snort, Janice left and got ready.

In the Nine-Nine Precinct.

After Benjamin handed the thief to the other cops to deal with, he sat down on his desk and greeted Jake.

“Morning.”

“Yo! Morning Ben!”

“Any case today?”

“We usually get assigned new cases every two or three days. Since we managed to finish the case yesterday, there isn’t any new case for us.”

Jake sighed happily and relaxed on his chair.

“Any old case then?”

“...”

Jake’s expression froze.

He suddenly remembered he still hadn't finished some of the other cases before Benjamin had arrived.

Then, he remembered Benjamin, the new guy who doesn't have any cases.

“You know what, here. You get one half, I get the other half. Let’s see who solves the most by the end of the day!”

And just like that, he handed half of his old cases to Benjamin!

Benjamin didn’t complain and started to read through them.

In order to prepare for what happens later, he needed a lot of MPs just in case.

As expected, new quests popped up as he started to read the old case files.

The cases weren’t too difficult. It seems that Jake simply had too much on his plate that he isn’t able to solve them all immediately.

Some of them were also time-consuming and needed to speak to a lot of people.

There are also some that are still waiting on the result of the M.E.’s report.

With this little competition between them, they began to work immediately!

Benjamin set aside those that he can’t finish today and did everything that he could deal with today.

Time passed and soon, the day ended.

“Ugh!”

Jake collapsed on his desk and turned to ask Benjamin.

“So...how much did you solve?”

“Five.”

“Fi-!?...Seriously!?”

Jake slipped and collapsed to the floor in shock.

Benjamin raised an eyebrow and asked him.

“How many did you solve?”

“...Three.”

Seeing his look of despair, Benjamin grinned.

“I win.”

“Beginner’s luck!”

“I don’t think that applies here.”

The two of them joked around and started to pack up.

“Right. Aren’t we celebrating today for yesterday?”

“Uhh. Sorry. I’m meeting someone today.”

“What!? Come on man!”

Benjamin sighed and patted Jake on his shoulder.

“Jake, if I have to choose between you, and a pretty lady...I wouldn't choose you.”

“...”

Charles, who saw this from the side, came up to Jake and patted his shoulder too.

“Jake, just so you know. If I have to choose between you, and a hot, sexy, single lady...I would still choose you.”

Jake shivered and quickly ran away.

Charles sighed and shook his head.

“Sigh, what a shy guy.”

“...”

Benjamin was speechless.

Soon, he left as well and looked at his MP.

With the five old cases that he solved, he had gained 800 MP, and two free Gacha Draws.

He went to the restroom first and rolled for Gacha twice.

The first roll...white!

Benjamin sighed but still went to look what he got.

[Congratulations to host for getting Shuriken Stars x5!]

“...”

Forget it, this was useless.

He then rolled another.

Hm? Green!

From what he can see, it seems that Green colored capsules are less than the Blue ones so this must be a higher grade!

The Electric Skin ability was from a Blue capsule.

Now that he got a Green capsule…

Benjamin was excited.

[Congratulations to host for getting Sling Ring!]

“...”

Benjamin took it out of the Inventory space and saw a golden metal with two finger holes.

He didn’t know whether to be excited or sad about this.

This was indeed an awesome item that can let him teleport but...he doesn’t know magic! How can he even use it then!?

Nevertheless, he still took a look at its description.

[Sling Ring: As long as you imagine a destination, you can open a portal to that place! This ring has been further optimized by the system so even ordinary people can use it!]

Holy shit!

System is amazing!

[Hmph! Of course the System is amazing!]

Benjamin ignored the system and opened up the Store to browse for some items.

After buying everything that he may need, Benjamin left the restroom and left the precinct to meet with Janice.

It’s time to see what this girl is up to.