"You damn punks, wait till I become a cop and I'll be chasing you around every day!"
In a shabby bathroom, Kenji Tanaka grimaced as he examined the wounds on his face in front of the mirror.
His current name is Jack Tavelor, a 21-year-old mixed-race man born in California.
Three years ago, in 2015, an apartment fire orphaned Jack, and he suffered brain death from inhaling excessive amounts of toxic fumes. If it weren't for a soul from another world transmigrating and entering his body, this body would probably be a vegetable for life.
The mirror reflected a young, handsome face. If you ignored his current bruised and swollen appearance, he possessed a handsome face comparable to a movie star in his prime, and he was comparable to Keanu Reeves.
All of this was because his grandfather was Japanese, his grandmother was a Hawaiian-born Jew, and his maternal grandfather was an Englishman who married an Italian woman.
Kenji Tanaka, who transmigrated, didn't inherit any of the original owner's memories, not even the language. His poor English, barely passing the CET-4 (College English Test Band 4) in his previous life, turned this high school graduate with excellent grades into a hopeless illiterate.
And that wasn't all. His attending physician, a tall, thin old man with a perpetually sour face and a British accent, seemed familiar — but he was far too familiar with the beautiful female intern next to him, who was being berated by the old man. He hadn't watched many episodes of the American TV series *Grey's Anatomy*, but Grey's delicate features were unmistakably recognizable.
And the squinty-eyed man who claimed to be his uncle, but looked nothing like him, called himself Danny, a policeman who had come all the way from Hawaii to take care of him after learning of his family's troubles — that was definitely from *Hawaii Five-0*.
Therefore, this seemingly unpleasant tall, thin old man was Dr. House.
In his previous life, Kenji Tanaka often watched American TV series to pass the time, only to suddenly realize that this was actually a Frankenstein's monster of a world of American TV shows.
However, thanks to Dr. House, Kenji Tanaka, who had no memories of his original self and couldn't even speak English, was diagnosed with amnesia due to prolonged oxygen deprivation in his brain. After a series of professional medical tests, he was allowed to be discharged.
It's hard to say how to evaluate America's respect for individual rights, because Jack was already 18 years old. As an adult, Kenji Tanaka, not wanting to reveal his transmigrator identity, successfully refused the requests from both sides of his original parents' families to take him to live with them.
Of course, this might also be related to the fact that his parents eloped to Los Angeles to get married, and his grandparents and maternal grandparents didn't particularly insist due to strained family relations.
From that day on, a middle-aged man from another world, a Japanese man, abandoned his original identity and lived in this strange world under the name Jack Tavelor.
....
Three years passed quickly. With the help of a small general store left by his original parents, the soul of this middle-aged Japanese man successfully integrated into Los Angeles, the metropolis known as the City of Angels.
"Jack, open the door, are you alright?"
A hurried knock and a question came from the doorway. Jack quickly came out of the bathroom and opened the door.
Two beautiful women stood there, one mature and stunningly beautiful, the other sweet and approachable like a girl next door were at his door step.
"Captain Anderson, Officer Hannah, welcome."
Jack, holding the door open, smiled and bowed, gesturing for them to come in.
"Did those street thugs cause you trouble again? Poor Jack, let me see your face."
Hannah, looking annoyed, pushed Jack onto the living room sofa, straddled him without a word, and leaned in to examine his face closely to see if the wound would disfigure him.
Jack quickly made a pained expression on his face while raising his hands to Captain Anderson, who was chuckling, to indicate that he was being taken advantage of.
Poor Jack, a weak man with no strength to even lift a package, was helpless against this overly enthusiastic Texas girl.
"Hannah, he's suffocating."
Captain Anderson, seeing Jack nearly suffocating in her chest while her hands roamed across his face, patted Hannah's shoulder helplessly, reminding her.
Jack was 185 centimeters tall but weighed less than 70 kilograms, considered weak by European and American standards.
Hannah, with her impressive figure, was a head shorter than him but weighed nearly 65 kilograms. Having grown up on a farm and working out daily in the police station gym, her core strength easily overwhelmed him.
"Hannah, I swear, once I pass my police training, I'll give you a good spanking." Jack threatened, desperately trying to distract himself and conceal his arousal.
Hannah also sensed something amiss. The usually carefree Hannah suddenly remembered her superior was standing beside her, quickly stood up, and familiarly opened the refrigerator to search for something to drink.
Captain Anderson sat down next to Jack with a smile, her gaze seemingly casually sweeping over a certain part of his body.
"You're going to the police academy for training tomorrow. Is everything settled?"
Jack nodded. He still couldn't help admiring this beautiful, mature woman; after all, he and Hannah were completely innocent, and there was nothing to hide, at least for now. But it was not like that with her.
"The transfer of the small grocery store downstairs is complete, and the apartment is being handled by an agency. It should be sold soon."
"Some things I need to pack are here. I'll need to borrow your garage for a while." He pointed to a cardboard box on the table, containing some of his parents' belongings and photos. Due to the fire, not much was left.
For the past three years, besides running the small grocery store, he had spent most of his time studying English and other subjects. He was short on money and hadn't bought much besides a few clothes.
"Aren't you going to take all the kitchen utensils? What will I do if I want your Japanese food?" Finding the refrigerator empty except for two bottles of yogurt, Hannah disappointedly opened one and drank it.
"As long as I pass the training, we'll see which precinct I'm assigned to. We can buy a new place later; these are all too old and incomplete."
Jack shrugged. At least his current habits were very localized; no one would doubt that a genuine Japanese soul resided in this body.
"Don't worry about job assignments after graduation. I've already made arrangements; I've reserved a spot for you at the Wilshire County Police Department."
Captain Anderson looked at Jack, still smiling, but her eyes flickered inexplicably.
Jack was quite surprised. Given their unusual relationship, Captain Anderson's arrangement was rather unusual for a typical American. Was she really not being discreet at all?
"What's wrong? You regained literacy in a year and obtained an associate's degree from a community college within two years. Isn't it only natural that I have high hopes for you?"
He didn't reply, instead complimented her.
"I just think you don't have to keep that long face after work. Your smile is so sweet, you should smile more."
Looking at the beautiful, mature woman's flushed cheeks, Jack felt a secret thrill. This was what it felt like to flirt with his future boss.
Sensing the ambiguous atmosphere between the two, Hannah, who was chewing on a yogurt straw, looked around suspiciously.
"Hannah, help me take Jack's things to my car. Wait for five." Captain Anderson quickly changed the subject, sending her away.
Hannah couldn't disobey her superior's orders, so she tossed her ponytail, picked up the suitcase, and went out the door.
Seeing the door close, Captain Anderson rolled over and straddled Jack's lap, tenderly stroking the wound on his face and giving him a passionate, wet kiss.
"Captain Anderson, you really don't have to..." Jack murmured.
"Shut up, Jack. Call me Zoe. Don't you want to help me? The Los Angeles Police Department has been short-staffed for years; we desperately need high-quality new recruits. Besides, I promised your Uncle Danny I'd take good care of you."
"I don't know why you insist on becoming a policeman. With your academic abilities, you could easily get into Caltech. You're only 21."
Jack lightly patted her shapely buttocks, stopping her from continuing. "Alright, Zoe, we've already discussed this. I have my reasons. It's almost time. If you don't go down soon, Hannah will really get suspicious."
The mature Zoe mischievously twisted her waist, taking in the full force of his burning dick from every angle, before reluctantly getting up.
"Then I won't bother you any longer. I'll pick you up first thing tomorrow morning. I'll have someone take care of those street thugs from today."
Too lazy to stand up and hide his embarrassment, Jack simply waved goodbye from the sofa. "How about I deal with them myself after I graduate from police academy in six months? Remember to lock the door for me."
"Still too young, unable to resist temptation." Jack slumped on the sofa for a long time before letting out a sigh. The pretty young lady waved goodbye and left, leaving only the man and, stimulating the young man's desires.
After finally calming down, Jack got up from the sofa, locked the door from the inside, and went back into the bathroom.
Facing the mirror on the wall, he carefully touched the wound on his face with his fingers. As his fingers moved, the bruised area was left with only an inconspicuous red mark, indicating that he had been injured there before.
He was being careful to leave these traces so that Zoe wouldn't notice anything amiss when she came to pick him up tomorrow.
This miraculous healing skill came from his transmigration cheat, a cheat called the Detective Development System.
Since transmigrating to this world, the system had been locked, only displaying two basic attribute information: Mental Strength 15 and Constitution 8.
There were also three skill trees: Professional Skills, Life Skills, and Language Skills, each displaying a bunch of grayed-out skill icons.
The Professional Skills tree only had two: Healing and Driving. The Life Skills tree had a plethora of skills: Cooking, Gardening, Repair, and even Poker. The Language Skills tree was the most pitiful, containing only Japanese.
All these listed skills were those Jack possessed before his transmigration.
In the second year after his transmigration, as Jack diligently improved his meager English from his previous life, a grayed-out icon finally appeared on the Language Skills tree: English.
Having finally found the right direction, Jack sought help from his uncle Danny in Hawaii, wanting to know how to become an LAPD officer. Danny introduced him to his comrade, Captain Zoe Anderson, who had just become the chief of the Wilshire County Sheriff's Office in Los Angeles.
Zoe had just turned 32 and had recently been transferred to Los Angeles from the DCIS (Criminal Investigations Bureau). After receiving Danny's call, she immediately invited Jack to visit the Wilshire County Sheriff's Office.
She initially thought it was just a typical American teenager's whim, perhaps still going through a rebellious phase, and planned to just get it over with.
Unexpectedly, at the appointed time the next day, a handsome young man with a neat buzz cut, and a slightly shy (pretended) expression appeared before her.
He wore a slightly worn but clean jacket, jeans without any deliberately ripped holes, and faded canvas shoes. His exposed skin showed no tattoos, making it hard for Zoe to believe that this was a 19-year-old who had been living independently in Midtown Los Angeles for a whole year.
When Jack pulled out a notebook and earnestly explained his plans to become a police officer, Zoe had a feeling that this young man might occupy a very important place in her future life.
Over the next two years, this young man named Jack gradually revealed his true potential to her.
He carefully navigated the treacherous waters of the community, striving to keep his resume clean and free of any criminal record.
While effortlessly completing his two-year community college degree, earning an associate's degree, he also trained in martial arts at a gym in Little Tokyo, working hard to gain weight and build up his physical fitness for the police academy entrance exams.
Zoe also did everything she could to help him. She introduced him to her subordinate, Officer Hannah, a Texas sweetheart with exceptional marksmanship, who trained Jack in shooting and went to great lengths to get her colleagues at the Midtown Police Department to keep an eye on Jack's shop during patrols.
In the days that followed, Zoe would often drive half an hour to Jack's shop after a long day at work, sharing dinner with him and teaching him basic LAPD skills. Gradually, a mature, single woman and an older man disguised as a younger man naturally began to develop certain intimate relationship.
After two more years of effort, Jack added two gray icons for pistol shooting and hand-to-hand combat to his system panel, along with two basic attributes: mental strength increased to 18 and physique broke through to 12.
In the third year after his transmigration, last Thursday, Zoe handed Jack an acceptance letter to the police academy. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, the system in his mind finally reacted.
[Several notifications flooded Jack's screen:
1. Congratulations, host, on obtaining LAPD police academy training qualification. A reward of 150 experience points is given. Every 100 experience points will automatically be converted into 1 system coin. Current remaining experience points: 50; current system coin: 1.
2. The Detective Development System is officially activated. All skills are automatically effective. The host can use system coins to purchase personal attributes and skills. Please explore the usage rules yourself.
3. Please continue your efforts. If you fail the police academy training exam, this system will be closed again.]
Ignoring these somewhat frustrating system prompts, Jack couldn't resist clicking on the skill tree to check each item. He found that, apart from the two language skills and cooking skill being at the proficient level, all other skills were marked as beginner level.
After much deliberation, to avoid accidental injury during training that could lead to failing the exam and shutting down the system, he chose to use his only system coin on his healing skill, upgrading Healing (Beginner) to Healing (Proficient).
This skill was undeniably amazing. Through testing from last Thursday to today, whether it was a finger accidentally cut while chopping vegetables or a bruise on his face from being punched, he could heal instantly with a thought. He could even perform subtle manipulations through contact, restoring the skill to any desired degree.
However, each use of the skill temporarily consumed mental energy, requiring sleep to recover. After a quick wash, Jack lay down on his single bed and fell into a deep sleep. Since the system was activated, he had slept exceptionally well these past few nights.
....
At 7 a.m., Jack was woken by his phone alarm. He called Zoe and unlocked the door.
Timing it perfectly, he used the last ingredients in the refrigerator to fry four eggs, boiled two bowls of clear noodle soup, and added a small spoonful of lard, just as Zoe walked in.
The aroma made Zoe's eyes light up. "It's been so long since I've had your breakfast! What did you put in it? It smells so tempting!"
Adhering to the principle of never explaining the ingredients in a food to Americans, Jack smiled slightly and decided to change the subject. "If you woke up in my bed every day, I guarantee you'd always have my breakfast."
Zoe playfully pushed him away, picked up her chopsticks, and expertly began eating noodles.
Half an hour later, carrying their already packed bags, Jack and Zoe left the apartment and got into their car. As Zoe started the engine, he glanced back. There was an elderly couple busy at their small grocery store downstairs.
"Were you thinking of your parents?" Zoe, in the driver's seat, misunderstood his meaning and affectionately stroked his cheek.
"No, just saying goodbye to my past."