CHAPTER 392: EMOTIONAL DISTRESS.

Officer Pedro Nara had no intention of making it an official questioning. How else would he be able to manipulate the naive young man into saying things that would get him arrested? With that being the case, Dante prepared himself for the questions curated to annoy and provoke him.

"So, Mr. Sokolov." The Portly man opened the folder in front of him. "I did some research and found a few interesting things about you."

"Don’t see why you felt the need," Dante said.

"To get a proper evaluation of your character, of course. And it seems I was correct to do so." Nara tapped the papers in front of him. "Turns out you have a history of getting arrested. And not just once or twice."

"And?"

"Don’t you see how this fact might influence our investigation?"

"It’s not relevant, right?" Dante said. "You already got the perpetrators, and you have video evidence of what happened. I’m only here to give my statement on the matter."

"That is correct." The portly man nodded. "The case is pretty cut and dry. We can close it as soon as we’re done here." Once again, he gave the same smirk that pulled on the flaps of his face. "I’m simply trying to see the whole picture. We have to understand the incident so we can ensure it doesn’t happen again."

As his annoyance gauge continued to fill, Dante almost snapped at the portly officer. That fancy word salad meant nothing to the average person, let alone someone like him. No one believed that the police would be able to stop anything from happening. Their job mostly involved arresting people and cleaning up after the fact, and in a place like Hollowgrid, they mostly did the latter.

Most cops were corrupt, and good ones like Jonah were few and far between. Even if they wanted to make a positive change, there was very little they could do, especially when their own colleagues are bought left and right. Nara was clearly one of those who had been bought, and Dante could already guess who the client was.

"This was the first incident that involved Enhanced Individuals in over a year. As one of the involved parties, we would like to know what led to you being involved in it."

"Again," Dante sighed. "I don’t see the relevance."

The way the portly officer referred to the incident didn’t escape Dante’s notice, and it brought his attention to something he hadn’t paid any mind to. With the addition of his new MLP and SRE, his Threat Index had climbed up to Level 2, making it much easier to distinguish him as an Enhanced Individual.

Jacob Cohan, being a Level 2 Cyborg, was enough for that fight to qualify as an EI incident, and Dante being involved only elevated it further.

When talking about EI incidents, the average person would imagine a disaster that results in the destruction of buildings and vehicles, one that would require the involvement of superheroes. The truth was a little different, however.

With Jacob Cohan being a Level 2 Cyborg, the fight in that side alley already met the minimum requirements to be categorized as an EI incident. Dante’s involvement made it official, which meant the BEO was likely to hear about it soon, if they hadn’t already.

"Do you decline to answer the question?" Nara said.

"What question?" Dante replied.

"What caused your involvement in yesterday’s incident?"

"Oh, that." Dante scoffed. "Who knows? Maybe the bastard just wanted to pick a fight?"

"That much is clear." Said the portly officer. "Still, I find it hard to believe anyone would try to shoot someone in the face for no reason."

"Go ahead and ask him, then. He’s already in your custody, right?"

"Oh, I already did."

As his grin widened, Nara flipped the papers in his folder, stopping at one in particular.

"Jacob Cohan used to be a member of Black Cross, and according to him, you were a member of the Blood Hounds. It was only a year ago when fights between the two gangs were common. I’m guessing this one-"

"Nara. You’re pushing it too far." At long last, Jonah decided to speak up.

"Hm? Whatever do you mean?" Nara replied, his grin widening as he continued to look at Dante. "All I want is to confirm whether this young man was involved with one of the most despicable gangs in our district. We have worked so hard to maintain the peace this last year, and I’m concerned that those mutts were back to causing more trouble."

Dante had both of his hands in the pockets of his jacket, and for some time now, his fingers were moving, opening and closing as if he was practicing how to grip something. A single thought would be enough to equip his pistol. He was making a conscious effort not to slip, but if things kept going the same direction, he wasn’t sure he would be able to hold back.

"If the hounds wanted to return, they could’ve done it anytime last year." Said Jonah. "Same for Black Cross. Both gangs are dead. We got all their leaders."

"But not all their members." Said Nara. "Can you say for sure that those who remained won’t come back to cause trouble?"

"That’s-"

"Say," Before John could retort, Dante cut in. "Who was it again that told you all that stuff?"

The smirk slowly disappeared from the portly officer’s face.

"Are you going to feign ignorance now?"

"Not really. It’s just... You brought up some nonsense the guy who tried to kill me told you, and you’re running with it as if it’s all true." Dante said. "Did you even check if he was lying?"

"That’s-"

"So you just took his words? And you’re causing me all this trouble because of that?"

"That’s-"

"And let’s say it’s true. So what?"

By now, the portly officer’s expression was warped with anger. Seeing the smugness vanish from his face, Dante went on.

"Last I checked, being in a gang wasn’t a crime. Pretty sure that’s the reason you can’t just round up everyone you think is a gangster."

Nara was lost for words, and so was Jonah. The old officer was looking at Dante with wide-open eyes, his skin a few shades lighter.

"Maybe I should call my lawyer after all," Dante said. Now, it was his turn to smirk. "Emotional distress is what they call it, right? This was an attempted murder, and you treated me like this despite me being the victim? Man, I wonder how much I can get from suing you."