31 The Beginning of Police-Civilian Cooperation

Although she was eager to learn Wing Chun, there wasn't enough time today. Even though Thea now had her own independent office, being excessively late was still not good.

"Master Shiva... Can I call you sister instead? Calling you 'master' makes you sound old." After their sparring session, their relationship had become closer. Now, with a moment to spare, Thea admired Lady Shiva's graceful lines and perfect body proportions, which were different from the muscular bodies of men, and something Thea envied.

Lady Shiva was aware of Thea's deliberate attempt to get closer, but she didn't mind. "Sure, call me whatever you like."

"Sister, can I develop abs like yours?" Thea lightly ran her fingers over Lady Shiva's smooth abdomen, firm, soft, yet powerful. "They're so beautiful!"

Lady Shiva felt a slight strange sensation from Thea's touch but quickly brushed it off. "Practice slowly, young girl."

After putting on their outerwear, the two of them walked out of the valley at a leisurely pace, making plans to continue their training the next day.

Thea turned sixteen last month and had successfully obtained her driver's license, but she hadn't decided what car to buy yet. She simply picked a Ford from the company as her daily commuter.

On the way back to the base, Thea felt surrounded by various noises and distractions. No wonder Lady Shiva preferred to retreat into the mountains and forests. The chaotic hustle and bustle of the city indeed interfered with perception, especially for those with heightened senses like herself. Would she need to develop a decibel-filtering earpiece in the future?

Driving slowly back to the former factory, now the software department, Thea spotted a red figure waving at her from afar. "Hey, Thea, come over here!"

"What's up, Felicity?"

"Good news! The facial recognition software is finally done!" The past few days had been frustrating for Felicity, as while software development upgrades were thrilling, rewriting from a higher version to a lower version was incredibly dull. So, completing this software meant that Felicity could continue writing brain-computer interface (BCI) programs in the future, which was indeed good news for her.

"It's good news for you, not for me. And right now, I'm tired and hungry. Get me a Big Belly Burger, and we'll talk about the rest later when I wake up!" After completing the software, there were still tasks to coordinate with the police, contact the media, and arrange the venue. Thea had a lot on her plate.

Feeling a bit light-headed, Thea brushed off Felicity with a few casual words and fell asleep on the couch in the office as soon as the door was closed.

After a refreshing nap, she woke up feeling completely rested. Sleeping so peacefully, with the sun shining outside, while others were busy with their tasks, she could relax and sleep peacefully on the side. It was truly a delightful kind of happiness. Glancing at the time, it was already noon. She took a few bites of the burger with plain water, avoiding cola for now in pursuit of those perfect abs.

Pulling Felicity along, Thea headed straight to the police station. Why go to the police station at lunchtime? Thea knew it was the perfect time to catch them during their meal break, so she could corrupt them a bit and also bond with them. These were all advanced experiences brought from her past life.

Upon arrival at the police station, they found Detective Lance waiting with his lunch box. No need to wait any longer, as one after another, they were all lured out by Thea to enjoy a bit of indulgence. Whether it was eating to their heart's content or drinking to their fill, it didn't matter, as it would all be reimbursed by Queen Industries. As for whether drinking would affect the afternoon's police work, Thea didn't care.

During the meal, Thea proposed establishing a special welfare fund for serving police officers. Each officer could receive a monthly subsidy from the fund based on their length of service.

It's a fact that while American police have many flaws, such as collusion with gangs and racial discrimination, the prevalence of firearms adds significant stress to their work. They went to work happily in the morning and returned home in a box at night, which was not an isolated phenomenon.

Many police officers who managed to persevere were filled with a sense of justice, especially in this world where villains roamed freely, making policing the world's most dangerous job.

Engaging in such perilous work is something many citizens don't understand, as they all too often believe the police are incompetent, leading to the chaos in the city. Some citizens decide to take matters into their own hands to combat the ugliness, but during the process of physical enhancement and modification, some undergo a drastic change in character, forgetting their original intentions and transitioning from one extreme to another. Under this vicious cycle, the city naturally becomes darker.

With twenty years in the force, Detective Lance has seen many young individuals who were once determined to fight crime eventually become involved in criminal activities for various reasons, but he never had a good solution. Regardless of Thea's motives, her ability to genuinely change the current state of police officers deeply moved him.

Both parties were satisfied, although not to the extent of kowtowing and bowing, but Thea reckoned that no one would bother to catch her for speeding through Starling City.

Back at the police station, with the collaboration of Felicity and the technical department, they installed facial recognition software. Utilizing cross-comparison algorithms, they were able to identify two long-time fugitives within less than ten minutes. Despite the fugitives having changed their appearances, their facial contours and body movements were still detected by the computer.

The swift capture of the two criminals caused a significant stir throughout the entire police station. Typically, it would have taken at least ten days to a month of investigation to capture such fugitives.

The elusive Lieutenant, who was seldom seen, appeared seemingly out of nowhere to express great appreciation for Queen Industries' actions. He believed it was yet another powerful demonstration of police-civilian cooperation. He also mentioned that he would notify the higher-ups in the police force to attend the signing ceremony, leaving it to Queen Industries to inform the media.

After leaving the police station, Thea asked Felicity if she knew anyone in the media. Felicity, being a hacker, admitted to having hacked the computers of several media personnel. She had done everything from altering speech drafts to causing live broadcasts to go black. However, she confessed that she had never met any of them in person.

Upon hearing that Thea intended to meet with several media personnel, despite not knowing her, Felicity hesitated but ultimately urged Thea to go alone before swiftly disappearing.

Abandoned by her unscrupulous comrade, Thea had no choice but to figure things out on her own. Although it would be convenient to seek help from Moira or Malcolm, she felt that this matter wasn't significant enough to warrant using their connections.

After flipping through her phone book, Thea couldn't help but sigh. She realized she knew too few people, and she only had a handful of contacts. Despite her reluctance, she could only turn to Tommy for help.

She wondered whether Malcolm had told Tommy the truth. She had yet to determine the nature of her relationship with Tommy—whether to maintain their original friendship or establish a sibling relationship. Moreover, the impact of her status as an illegitimate child on Tommy, the legitimate heir, was still unknown.

In the past, whenever Thea called Tommy, he would immediately rush over. However, this time, she waited for a full hour. Just when she started to wonder if he had learned the truth and decided to distance himself from her, Tommy arrived, sporting sunglasses and leaning on a cane, resembling a certain vigilante as he approached her.