"Thud... Thud..."
"Locke, are you up? Marianne asked me to call you down for breakfast..."
"Uh, just a moment..."
Locke had already gotten up, sitting at the edge of his bed lost in thought. Every morning for a while now, he would sit like this for a bit, tensing up at the crisp sounds from outside the door.
After hesitating for a moment, he added, "Thanks, Hannah..."
"..."
Outside the door fell silent for a moment, then light footsteps could be heard, accompanied by a faint grumble from the girl.
"Thanking someone, huh? That's not like you at all!"
Locke smiled wryly. Even 14-year-old Hannah could sense something different about him, let alone everyone else. It was embarrassing for him as a professional.
Yes, Locke was a traveler. In his past life, he was Chinese, also named Locke. When he was six, his parents died in a major car accident, leaving him orphaned. After relatives took care of his parents' affairs, they kindly sent him to an orphanage.
Because of his intelligence, he didn't stay at the orphanage for long. He was soon adopted by a kind couple with blonde hair and blue eyes.
However, after being taken away from China, the couple immediately sold him off, and he was sent to a closed boarding school where hundreds of orphans from different countries, races, and ethnicities like him resided.
The school was affiliated with a mysterious organization. Under the organization's training, Locke acquired many skills, passed through various selections, and eventually graduated successfully.
According to the evaluation, Locke was assigned to the logistics team, becoming a janitor who could only exist in the gray world.
In the last cleanup task, unexpectedly, the villa was rigged with a time bomb. He and the villa were blown to pieces together.
Recalling his own death, Locke remained calm. After more than ten years of being a janitor, he had long been accustomed to life and death, and tired of being controlled, living in darkness.
Death, to him, was more like a relief.
He even knew that the explosion in the villa was no accident.
Because he knew too much.
In front of the mirror, Locke brushed his teeth while staring at his face. It had been over ten days, and he still hadn't fully adapted.
Compared to his previous gloomy and pale face, this face was too handsome.
Black, slightly curly hair, deep blue eyes, delicate and three-dimensional facial features, handsome yet sunny, fitting the description of a heartthrob.
Having fully accessed the memories of the original host, Locke naturally understood that the original host was not a heartthrob.
On the contrary, the original host was a downright scoundrel and jerk, with a quick temper, often cursing, and adept at fighting, advocating for settling matters with fists.
That's why his family felt he had changed so much, because he was more of a reserved introvert, completely different from the original host's character. It was too difficult to play the role, so he opted to remain silent.
Fortunately, the original host, just having experienced the first gunfight of his police career, used a complete set of American-style swordsmanship to kill two drug dealers and was currently on forced administrative leave.
His abnormal behavior was naturally interpreted by his family as psychological trauma after killing, and they considered his changed personality as the sequelae of psychological trauma.
In fact, crossing over didn't take Locke this long to adapt. What really made it difficult for him to accept was this.
Locke sighed lightly at his reflection in the mirror, and his mind suddenly brought up a simple panel.
[Light of Justice - Brave Police System 2.0]
Host: Locke Lee / rocklee
Strength: 9 (Human Peak 20)
Speed: 9 (Human Peak 20)
Endurance: 9 (Human Peak 20)
Spirit: 7 (Human Peak 20)
Mastered Skills: Pistol (l0 Entry), Rifle (l0 Entry), Comprehensive Combat (l1 Proficient), Car Driving (l1 Proficient), Mandarin Chinese (l1 Proficient), Football (l2 Mastery), Mating (l2 Mastery), Swimming (l1 Proficient)
Justice Value: 500
Attribute Points: 1
Holding Cards:
Experience Card: Car Driving (5 years of experience), Pistol Usage (5 years of experience)
Function Card: Dodge Card
Skill Card: Spanish (5 years of experience)
After killing two drug dealers, the original host was also hit by an out-of-control vehicle and fell into a coma, but thanks to his excellent physical condition, he only suffered a minor concussion and soon woke up in the hospital.
Uh, of course, when he woke up, it was Locke.
Just as Locke was feeling bewildered, not knowing how to deal with his family surrounding him, this panel appeared before his eyes, and he promptly passed out again.
At first, Locke even suspected that he was being experimented on by aliens.
After repeated probing and research, he found that only he could see this panel, and it seemed to have no intelligence and couldn't answer his questions.
Through this period of trial and error and his understanding of the original host, Locke finally figured out the function of this panel.
The four major attributes referred to his physical qualities. Summarizing this data in eight words: well-built body, simple mind.
The mastered skills were more straightforward, indicating what he knew, albeit at low levels. He was definitely a poor learner, except for football, where he reached level 2.
Uh, by reading the memories, Locke knew how this level 2 was achieved by the original host, who worked hard day and night to achieve it since high school.
The ancestors were right, indeed diligence can compensate for lack of talent!
As for other things like justice value, attribute points, and cards, they were probably rewards from killing the drug dealers before.
Locke speculated that he could use these rewards, but he didn't dare to try easily.
Through this panel, Locke gained a more intuitive understanding of his physical qualities.
For example, the four attributes should refer to comprehensive physiological indicators of humans.
Strength: bone strength, muscle strength, blood flow rate, heart strength, lung capacity...
Speed: body agility, nerve reaction, muscle elasticity, coordination...
Endurance: heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidney strength, bone strength, muscle strength, recovery ability...
Spirit: IQ, memory, observation, analysis, logical reasoning...
Referring to the panel data, Locke finally understood why the original host, after entering college, could only be a substitute in the football team.
His African-American teammates, who were as strong and tall as gorillas, far surpassed him in strength, speed, and endurance, with attribute data definitely exceeding 10.
There was no way around it; black people's physique had always been the best among races. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been used as the main labor force at certain times.
In terms of mental attributes, the original host should be slightly better than those teammates, but probably not by much.
The core of mental attributes was IQ, and Locke felt somewhat embarrassed for the original host. After all, he was of Chinese descent, yet he hadn't inherited the best genes of Chinese people.
Locke Lee, the original host, was of Chinese and German descent. His father, Lee Bo, was a Chinese student studying abroad, while his mother, Marianne Locke, was a German-American, a blonde and blue-eyed German. Both were Yale alumni.
From the looks of it, Locke had clearly inherited more of his maternal genes.
Locke had a robust frame, standing at a towering height of 1.92 meters and weighing 102 kilograms. His physique leaned more towards Westerners, but he didn't have the rough pores or strong body odor typical of Westerners.
This saved him money and made him more popular, earning him the nickname of human aphrodisiac.
During high school, Locke was selected for the school football team due to his towering stature different from his peers. Because of his exhibited football talent, he was admitted to CSU (California State University).
However, after entering college, his physical talents were overshadowed by his black teammates on the same team, and he eventually became a substitute. He completely withdrew from the team in his junior year, starting to lose weight and barely graduating from college by majoring in Chinese language and culture.
After graduating from college, Locke successfully entered the Los Angeles Police Department, having the advantage of a CSU diploma.
California State University was undoubtedly a prestigious school in Los Angeles, and LAPD only required a high school diploma.
After 12 weeks of training, Locke successfully passed the assessment and became an intern patrol officer at the Wilshire District of the Western Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, a first-class officer, commonly known as a rookie cop.
The probationary period for rookie cops is usually 18 months, and once they pass the probationary period, they are promoted to second-class officers.
Strictly speaking, second-class officers are the real LAPD officers, possessing independent law enforcement powers and protected by the police union.
Locke had considered not becoming a policeman. After all, in the land of freedom and opportunity, America, living each day in gunfights had made him accustomed to licking blood from the blade.
The unexpected gunfight two weeks ago demonstrated how high the risk factor of being a police officer was.
With his current looks and physique, he could easily make it big in Hollywood. Or he could retreat to the San Fernando Valley; after all, that was his only other level 2 skill. He believed he could make a mark there.
But every time he thought of the name of the panel, he had to dispel such thoughts.
He had to be a cop."