Naia didn’t show her thoughts on her face. Rather, she was determined to use this to get more information!

She sniffled, demurely wiping away invisible tears. "I have been subservient because I didn’t know any better. Now I do, and I will definitely live well."

Her smile was dazzling, though none of this showed on Luke’s face.

It seemed like she had been hiding because she did not trust the law completely. That bastard of a father obviously had a backer—further confirmed by the weapons found—but seeing Luke, a standup guy, was the leading investigator (she just found out), she felt reassured.

Not to mention, they found the questionable base as well! If anyone dared to help her father this time, they’d only bring trouble to themselves!

"Please tell me as much as you (legally) can," she said. "I think I’m entitled to that."

The kind-hearted police officers gave her a proper seat, and then someone even gave her tea.

She smiled sweetly at them, making the old ones dotingly smile at her, and the younger ones blush.

Luke watched this with some thoughts before speaking. "We recently figured out why he was in such a rush to obtain the land."

Through some more investigation, they also found how it was connected to the brutally murdered old man.

They thought that an infrastructure project was about to happen nearby, and not owning the land could expose too many things. As for why that plot was chosen to build the hidden base, it was likely a confusion from the previous generation, though they couldn’t confirm because the members were dead, and Houser himself was only a lackey. Even the person who sold the property to the old man was unaware that something had been there at all.

The location was chosen because of its convenience, and that hidden warehouse was actually a little bunker during the war. They could surmise that the only person who knew was the father of the previous generation, who had already died before the land was lost as collateral due to a failed loan.

Apparently, the perverted old man once worked as a big-time loan shark.

The infrastructure project was indeed happening and a portion of it was passing through the area, so they thought that there was a small chance they’d find this base.

They had to have the right of refusal or at least have the right to determine which part of the land it would pass through, which was why he was in such a rush.

Because there were already surveying teams around, they did not dare make big moves either.

After hearing all this, Naia knew that there was no need to stay in this town anymore and she could resume her preparations. She had a booking in the inn, but she didn’t want to deal with law enforcement right now, considering how many illegal things she had done (and would do).

"Give me your number," Officer Luke said, looking at her with those deep eyes of his. His tone was a bit bossy, like he was always talking to a subordinate, but it was likely just his nature.

Naia knew this was related to the case, but she couldn’t help but want to tease this upright-but-bossy block of ice.

"Is this how you ask for a lady’s number, Captain?" she asked, looking straight at him with a sly glint in her eyes.

The man froze, and if one looked closer at his ears, it had a tint of red on them.

Fortunately for Luke, it was only a momentary thing, and no one saw the flash of embarrassment on his usually serious face.

"We will need a follow-up, and you might need to step forward as a witness in your father’s case," he said. "The investigation portion has been expedited, but we haven’t stopped gathering evidence."

He then looked at her. "We will put him behind bars." Even if there seemed to be someone trying to protect him, he had already used his own connections, so they didn’t interfere. Unfortunately, those behind the scenes covered their tracks well.

She looked at him and his sincere wish to put a bad man out of the streets.

"Thank you for your hard work, officer," she said with a genuine smile, and Luke couldn’t help but stare for a second longer than proper.

"However, I cannot appear in the trial," she said.

"What?"

First of all, the old Nadia was gone. Whether or not she was her reincarnation or not, Naia was a completely different person who had gone through different things. The Cerra family members were people she lived with and it’d be troublesome to explain so many changes.

Most importantly, it’d be difficult for her to move once she was monitored as a witness. She could not afford to waste anymore time.

"You could tell there are people behind right?" she asked. "What if they targeted me?"

"Our witness protection program is very good. We have not lost a witness—"

"To be honest, I don’t really care what happens to him," she said. "I just don’t want to have anything to do with him anymore. Starting now."

Luke wanted to tell her that putting the man behind bars would do that, but he saw she was very stubborn. In the end, he decided to respect her wishes and nodded, not pushing her despite her presence being very helpful in the case.

Naia nodded in approval. She decided to give him a few clues instead. "I don’t know much about the case of the old man’s murder as I had already ran away when it happened, however, I have heard a few things he had been dealing with.

"You mentioned that there had been traces of bullets and a few other things in the warehouse," she said. "It made me remember some things I accidentally overheard back when I lived with him.

"I heard him speak about a Mr. Smith, the Red Gang..., and selling weapons," she said, alluding to what she heard when she went on a murder spree a few hours ago.

This made Luke and his partners flinch and look at her with wide eyes.

She unflinchingly stared back at them, the sly glint on her eyes intensifying.

"I suspect that it was why he was so eager to get rid of me, suspecting that I might have heard something~"