The shop didn't change much since Tristan had last opened it.
[===Shop===]
['Heat Vision' talent: 3000 Criminal Points]
['Explosive Awareness' talent: 4000 Criminal Points]
['Combat Acupuncture' talent: 4000 Criminal Points]
[A skill refund: 100 points]
[A driving license: 1000 points (tap to choose identity)]
[An exceptional quality instrument: 3000 Pop-star Points (tap to choose type)]
[Glock 19: 1000 Criminal Points]
[1 ammo magazine for Glock 19: 300 Criminal Points]
[Barrett MRAD sniper rifle with an optic scope: 5000 Criminal Points]
[1 ammo magazine for Barrett MRAD: 500 Criminal Points]
[A combat knife: 500 Criminal Points]
[Hard armor level IV bulletproof vest: 4000 Criminal Points]
[A foreign bank deposit card: 3000 Criminal Points]
[A dose of truth serum: 1500 Criminal Points]
[A burner phone: 500 Criminal Points]
[A set of clothing (random): 300 points]
[A disguise set (random): 500 points]
[A dose of poison (random): 1000 Criminal Points]
[A set of lockpicks: 3000 Criminal Points]
[======]
The two new talents were silently inviting Tristan to check them out. Which he did, of course.
[Explosive Awareness: you can sense explosives, armed and unarmed, while within 5 meters or fewer of their blast area.]
[Combat Acupuncture: you can debilitate people for prolonged periods of time with no long-term damage by precisely attacking certain points on their body.]
The first one was straightforward and straightforwardly good. Tristan bought it without even thinking. Yes, until now no one tried to mail him a bomb, but it was only a matter of time.
Combat Acupuncture was a more complicated choice because Tristan had a hard time understanding what it did.
'It will allow me to knock out people like in the movies? Where you hit them at the back of the neck and they sleep peacefully for an hour—not how in real life, when you hit them at the back of the neck, and they either fall down for 10-15 seconds or fall down and don't wake up, or wake up stupider than they were. In real life, where knocks on the head usually mean concussions and brain bleeding. Actually... This seems like a convenient talent.'
There were a few people Tristan would've been glad to take in alive for interrogation if he had the means to knock them out like that.
"It might re-ignite the scandals if she speaks about it online. And from what I can tell about her, she definitely will," Derek finally said.
Tristan's grin stayed wide and predatory. He had a perfect excuse already, even if his actual motives were far less pure.
"I know. But imagine she did that shit with someone more vulnerable and fucked up their career? I want to bring that woman to justice. I can bear some backlash at this point. It's why I waited."
Derek shook his head in exasperation, but now he was smiling, too.
"If you say the same things to your fans later, with the same convictions, I think there might be almost no backlash at all. Those are wonderful words, Mr. Gemello. Alright, I will find the lawyers and arrange everything for the court. Be prepared to give your statements."
"I will. Thanks, Derek."
***
Another week later, George Fovesco, LAPD Chief of Police, tragically died from a heart attack at the age of 55.
From the article written in the news, his family and friends were mournful, but the city's safety was not under any risk—the Assistant Chief was ready to step in and take George's position. There wasn't a single word about signs of foul play or anything like that.
Tristan had no idea what methods exactly Someone You Knew used, but they were sure effective.
The assassin wrote to him as soon as the article was published—with the link to it, which was how Tristan first found out.
[My part is done, Tristan Hayes. Now is your turn. Send money to this account...]
There was a cryptocurrency wallet ID attached to the message, but Tristan barely paid attention after 'Tristan Hayes'.
[Task failed: avoid being discovered by Someone You Knew.]
[Task complete: teach or convince LAPD to stay away from King Lion Gang's activities. Reward: your PP increased by 10000.]
'He did call me by name, after all! But... I didn't spend even a minute in that identity over the last month. Wherever he found this information, it wasn't by watching me, at least.'
It didn't help. This meant that Someone You Knew dug deep while also poisoning the Chief of Police. Those abilities...
Tristan shuddered.
His only small mercy was the fact that through a computer screen, Someone You Knew won't see how rattled he was even without him needing to put on the act. That, and not being discovered in both identities—then Tristan would've had huge problems.
He sent the assassin the money.
[The full sum, as promised.]
[A pleasure to work with you. Use this contact again if you have other interesting contracts like that.]
Tristan really didn't want to, so he didn't reply to the message.
Instead, he wiped the secondary laptop from which he wrote it clean, deleting even that insubstantial evidence, and continued to lie low.
After a day passed and Someone You Knew still didn't attack him, Tristan began finalizing his last remaining criminal task.
The police really had bigger problems now. Tristan wasn't the only person who thought that with the Chief of Police dead, they could get off with crime. Former Assistant Chief had his hands full, and things were slipping through his fingers.
With the constant threat of raids over, Tristan picked himself a palace fit for the new King Lion—a moderate in size, but luxurious mansion in the richer part of Los Angeles.
It was one of the streets where you could meet celebrities just walking past even more often than anywhere else.
'Yeah, I will fit in perfectly here. In both identities. Where else but Los Angeles?'