Reborn: The Rookie Detective

The three took their positions. The three idiots in the living room were still arguing incessantly. One of them, curly-haired, was waving a pistol and yelling that they should kill the mother and daughter right now.

"LAPD, hands up!"

Jack and his team suddenly appeared, shouting angrily. The curly-haired man, the only one holding a gun, flinched, instinctively trying to resist, but his right hand, still holding the pistol, was only halfway down.

"Bang!"

The curly-haired man, with a hole in his forehead, fell backward onto the sofa. The other two screamed and crouched down, clutching their heads.

At the same time, the front door of the house was smashed open, and a tense Tim rushed in first, only relaxing when he saw that Jack had fired the shot.

....

It seems he accidentally resigned early. In the Wilshire Precinct, Jack looked at the Cooper family, who were crying with their heads in their hands, and scratched his head.

He swore that he hadn't fired the gun for administrative leave, but that was the situation.

Originally, he had two weeks left before his official departure, and he had saved up a week of vacation, plus an additional week of administrative leave. This meant he could now happily take leave until his official departure day.

Commander Grey was somewhat amused and exasperated. There had been too much personnel turnover recently; the new trainee officers hadn't even arrived yet, and now Jack was leaving early. He had to figure out how to coordinate with other precincts to have people work overtime.

Meanwhile, the handover between him and Captain Anderson was nearing completion. With his promotion imminent, he was incredibly busy, a bittersweet situation. Fortunately, Tim had taken over some of his work.

Jack, after a day at home, became restless. His original plan was to fly to Atlanta with Hannah in two weeks to meet the Wolff brothers, then head to that godforsaken town to take down a counterfeit money ring.

Now, with two weeks of nothing to do, he felt it necessary to change his plans.

Just yesterday, his half-finished system updated again, and this time it was quite a big deal. He couldn't access it in his mind for a whole day, a full 24 hours. Just when Jack thought his cheat system was about to fail, the update success notification finally came.

It was this system update that made Jack decide to go out for a drive.

No sooner said than done, after his routine visit to the Hunters the next day, Jack told Hannah his idea.

"I want to take a road trip along Interstate 10."

Hannah, enjoying someone's homemade luxury bathtub for the first time, leaned lazily against Jack, somewhat surprised by his suggestion.

"Interstate 10? You want to drive all the way from the West Coast to the East Coast?"

"Yeah, I've lived in LA for over 20 years, and apart from two trips to Chicago by plane, I've never driven out of state. It's rare to have such a long vacation, I want to go out and see the world."

Jack had done a lot of research during the day. Driving along Interstate 10, there were many interesting places along the way, such as the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River, Roswell (famous for its UFO sightings), and Tombstone (a town famous for a gunfight in Hollywood Westerns).

Hannah's eyes showed a conflicted look. "But I promised to help Angela with her wedding. This is her war with Wesley's mother, and I have to stand by her side."

Jack played with his fingers for a while before finally speaking.

"I'll contact you before I get to San Antonio, and then we'll meet at the airport."

Hannah rolled over, pinning Jack down, her eyes burning as she stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"You said your parents are buried on your family's farm. Why don't you take me to see it?"

Hannah excitedly threw her arms around his neck. "Are you serious?"

"Well, it's not like I'm going to propose. I'm definitely not proposing to you before I turn 30…"

Before he could finish, his chest was hit by an elbow.

....

Since receiving the IRS bonus, Jack's finances had become much more comfortable. Since he decided to travel alone, preparation was essential.

After a shopping spree, Jack's Firebird's already small trunk was packed full, and even the cramped back seat was piled high with supplies.

From small items like knives, compasses, fire starters, sewing kits, flashlights with solar charging, climbing ropes, and rigging, to larger items like tents, sleeping bags, plastic buckets, camping stoves, and small tool kits, he even bought a dozen of the largest size condoms.

It wasn't that he was expecting any romantic encounters, but this thing had quite a few additional uses, the most important being that it could be used to make temporary waterproof pouches.

Of course, since he was traveling in the Southern states, weapons were a must. Jack prepared three extra magazines and two boxes of ammunition for his FK 7.5mm.

Hannah also gave him a foldable Raven crossbow, which was surprisingly legal in the United States. Jack test-fired it in his backyard, and although he hadn't unlocked the skill yet, both the accuracy and power were quite satisfactory.

Finally, he spent half a day checking out his beloved Firebird sports car. With everything ready, he set off.

Jack chose Interstate 10 because it's the shortest east-west highway in North America, stretching just over 2,400 miles (less than 4,000 kilometers).

From Santa Monica, it passes through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and finally to Jacksonville, Florida.

The most notable feature of this road is its straightness, making it very easy to drive. Sitting in the driver's seat, Jack could see the road stretching almost in a straight line, eventually disappearing into the pale blue sky.

Jack had set off at ten in the morning, and at a normal speed, he would arrive in Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, by evening.

But he wasn't in a hurry; his first stop was Joshua Tree National Park, a natural park spanning two vast deserts.

As he drove east, the temperature gradually rose. A little over an hour after leaving the city, passing the famous resort of Palm Springs, the seemingly endless desert came into view.

After another half hour, he arrived at his destination: a natural park filled with boulders and Joshua trees.

The so-called Joshua tree is actually a type of yucca, which Jack had seen in his previous life. It looks somewhat like sisal, at most a person's height, but in its native North America, it can grow up to 15 meters tall — a truly terrifying size.

Unfortunately, it was already May, and the flowering season was over, so he couldn't see the beautiful blooms. However, he wasn't there to see the flowers; he was there for the various large and small boulders in the Mojave Desert.