Chapter 30

"What's the matter, looking for me at this time to ask about their situation?"

Randy continued to ask, "Did those three kill someone and run away? I say, you police should have arrested them, or sooner or later, they'll come after me too!"

As he spoke, Randy's emotions were quite agitated, pointing with his hand.

The two policemen were silent for a moment, then Mike spoke up: "Don't worry, they probably won't be able to trouble you for a while. Karl and the other two have gone missing."

Randy's face first showed surprise, then a relieved smile.

"Yes, that's right. These guys will eventually get their comeuppance. I bet their bodies are already starting to rot, just waiting for you to find them."

Actually, their bodies were long gone!

Randy chuckled inwardly but kept his expression serious. He never denied his tendency to lie.

The two policemen exchanged glances, and Mike finally said something to advise Randy.

"This kind of thinking… is not right, Randy."

Randy feigned emotional distress.

"Then tell me what's right? This is good news for me! On Thursday afternoon, I even thought about seeking help from a teacher at school, but what good would that have done? No! It would have only brought more brutal beatings. Moreover, on my way back, I ran into a police officer with a classmate; he was on duty with a colleague."

"Me?"

Jackson pointed to himself in confusion.

"Yes, that's right. I was covered in bruises, and that female classmate was also bruised. But just because she's a local and I'm Asian, you only asked her if she needed help, and never even looked at me, even though I rang the bell once while passing by you and looked back!"

"Oh, dear, I'm really sorry."

Officer Jackson immediately recalled, no wonder he seemed familiar. He had seen Randy before.

He had focused all his attention on Chris, mainly because their eyes met, and her clothes looked wrinkled, and her hair was messy.

He had indeed neglected the other person, even though he had noticed something odd at the time.

Shame followed.

Unless one is a racist, such accusations would bring genuine guilt.

"I'm really sorry, kid. I should have helped you back then."

Jackson wanted to say more but realized that Randy had already been bullied, and Karl and the others were now missing. His involvement would be pointless.

In the end, Mike stepped in: "Randy, I was also bullied as a kid. I understand that feeling. I'm sorry to bring up your painful experience. We also have some responsibility…"

Then followed a long list of advice, mainly about not losing confidence when being bullied, making more friends, or uniting with other bullied classmates to resist the bullies.

Things like "strength in numbers" and "unity is power" were mentioned.

Randy listened more and more intently, thinking that Mike must have been part of the loser's alliance back in the day.

While giving advice, Mike noticed the wounds on Randy's wrist.

"Randy, what happened here?"

Randy pulled back his hand.

This was his signature blood-and-flesh breeding technique, rivaling the advanced techniques of Europe, America, Japan, and Korea.

Perhaps it was because Randy's performance was too convincing of a bullied victim, Mike seemed overly concerned.

"Kid, it's not right to do this. No matter what, you shouldn't hurt yourself."

"I understand. It's just a scratch. It has nothing to do with being bullied."

Mike continued, "How about this, I'll contact your teacher and have him…"

Randy quickly waved his hand: "No need, Mr. Mike, I've already managed to pull through."

Mike seriously said, "No, I understand. I've had my dark periods too. It's not something you can get through on your own."

He even deliberately made a deep, rumbling voice, almost like imitating Morgan Freeman.

Randy was momentarily speechless.

"Kid, should I arrange for a psychologist for you?"

"No need, I don't have the money."

"It's okay, the town has a youth assistance fund; the psychologist's fee won't be on you."

"Officer Mike, I really don't need it. I'm fine now."

Randy showed impatience. The key was not to mention his parents, or Mike would realize that he still had no guardian.

"Then how about this, I'll get a pastor to come and pray for you."

Randy was speechless but feared that saying too much might cause an unexpected turn of events, so he could only nod.

"Okay, but hopefully it won't take too much of my time. I still want to go fishing."

"It won't take too long."

Mike felt relieved upon hearing this. As long as there were interests like fishing, it was fine. Plus, fishing was a test of patience.

So he smiled and asked, "How was the catch today?"

"Not bad, but I don't fish for food, so I released everything back into the sea."

The fish in that area had long been hunted by underwater lotuses. Randy seemed to have fished all morning, but in reality, he was just waiting by the shore.

"Oh, that's impressive."

Mike only smiled, thinking this must be an exaggeration. He probably didn't catch anything but didn't want to admit it.

As everyone knows, fishermen's attitudes are the most persistent, even if they fish every day with no luck, they remain undeterred.

So, Mike thought he might have been overly concerned.

"I'll head back then."

"Wait a minute, Randy."

Mike stopped him, exchanged a glance with his colleague Jackson, and then explained the situation of their investigation.

Currently, they mostly believed Randy was not involved in the case. They had never considered him a suspect from the beginning. Randy was merely the last person to have interacted with Karl and the other two, so they were following up as usual.

"We reviewed the surveillance footage. If what you said is true, and Karl was indeed drunk, then the three of them must have had a car accident due to drunk driving. The surveillance that night showed the three of them leaving town at high speed toward the seaside. We found damaged signs and wooden bridges at the beach this morning, and eventually, officers diving into the sea found their car, as well as alcohol cans and pipes in the car. We'll continue with the recovery work."

As he spoke, his expression was complex: "Karl wasn't like this before. His mother, Beverly, was also frequently bullied when she was young, just like me. How did Karl become an abuser?"

It sounded like he was quite familiar with Karl's family.

"But don't worry, Randy, I'm on your side. We won't disclose anything about your involvement in this case. You can try to start a new life."

Randy smiled.

"Yes, I can start a new life now."