Jimmy was brought to a lakeside by Tom; it was an artificial lake in a nearby park. Jimmy seldom came here, mainly because he didn't have the time.

Tom looked at the lake water; it appeared dark due to the night, its surface slightly rippled as if something had dropped into the lake, causing ripples to spread.

After a while, Tom said, "Jimmy, I don't know about your past experiences, even though I've made some inquiries, but I really didn't know you were so capable."

Jimmy opened his mouth to speak, but Tom shook his finger, "You don't need to say anything, just listen to me."

"Your past has nothing to do with me, and I can't reveal too much about your current identity, but I did have my own reasons for wanting you to inherit this identity.

Your ID belongs to a predecessor's descendant who also sacrificed himself in a previous operation. For certain reasons, I couldn't let news of his death get out, so I needed someone to take over—one person, you understand?

All I need is for you to stay alive. You can leave the police force, stay away from danger, do any job you want; focus on running your company, that's fine too, hmm, I know you own a company, and it's not bad.

You're really capable, taking down four out of five attackers all by yourself and coming out unscathed, but that's not what I want to see, and you can't always be this lucky. I don't ask for much, just that you stay alive, the longer the better."

Tom sighed, "You should thank James, he turned you from a nobody, a drifter, into the cop you are now. Cherish everything you have."

Tom turned and walked towards the car, and Jimmy followed him. Tom drove Jimmy home, and neither of them spoke a word on the way back.

Once home, Jimmy turned on the TV, opened a beer, and drank while lost in thought.

Tom's words had cleared up some of his previous questions, but there were still many things left unexplained.

Firstly, this identity must have belonged to someone inside a secret agency, Tom mentioned dying on an operation, so the predecessor must have been known or seen by someone; the fact that the changeover happened without any issues likely meant that the original acquaintances had been silenced, or even more drastically, they were dead.

Then, this identity was that of a predecessor's descendant, and the death could not be made public, so this predecessor must have been a significant figure, and there would be people who would occasionally check on the status of his descendant.

Last, their interest was in the survival of the identity, not the individual, allowing for replacement without detection. Thus, it's safe to surmise that those interested in the descendant are high-level figures who only check through the system, not with a complete dossier.

This is just an inference about the identity, the rest is still a mystery.

If he knew someone from a secret agency, perhaps they could help him out of his current predicament. The IRS was like a mountain weighing on him, preventing him from turning over. The company's income taxes were manageable with the help of a previously hired accountant, but personal tax issues remained a challenge.

It wasn't that he couldn't pay the sum; the problem was that he couldn't fabricate earlier income proof. The IRS, being the strongest law enforcement institution in the US, wouldn't be fooled by just any falsified financial records; they would surely find something if they looked.

There was also another piece of information, not sure if it counted as a gain, that his police identity was sorted out by Chief James. Tom's words were probably correct, suggesting that Tom provided the ID and the capability to modify records, while Chief James figured out how to find a person to take over.

Why himself, though? Surely, in the US, there were many young people willing to take on a brand-new identity because there were too many young people saddled with minor or major convictions from youthful indiscretions, who would jump at the chance to start afresh. Opportunities like this were not just sought after without cost; people would be willing to pay a large sum of money for them.

As a chief, Jimmy didn't believe that James didn't have or know someone who would fit the bill.

Jimmy had agreed to become a cop following the chief's suggestion because he had his own agenda. A stable job appealed to him, and he wasn't averse to donning a uniform again, even if it was different from the one he wore in the past.

He went to meet Tom as arranged, followed by immediate adjustments to his records, a complete identity overhaul, and before he knew it, his old driver's license had already ended up in Amy's hands.

Having a new identity wasn't something Jimmy thought much about; after all, he had appeared here all of a sudden, and to someone who had transmigrated like him, his original identity and the new one made no difference. In fact, the new one might even be better.

So back to the original question: why him?

Jimmy's head hurt from thinking; he felt he had cleared part of the fog, yet substantial clumps of mist still obstructed the path. This mystery, he surmised, wouldn't be unraveled for a long time.

Jimmy drank and watched TV, not realizing when he had fallen asleep on the couch.

The next day, Jimmy was woken by the ring of his cellphone. He answered the call, and Cage's voice came through.

"Jimmy, come to the station today; we've found information on the people who attacked you."

"OK," Jimmy immediately perked up upon hearing that there was information on his attackers. He got up and headed to the bathroom; having slept on the couch last night, he felt sore all over, his neck, shoulders, and back aching.

After freshening up, Jimmy called for a taxi. He had done a self-check in the bathroom mirror, and it seemed that he had drunk quite a bit of beer the night before and still felt a bit woozy after waking up.

For safety reasons, Jimmy gave up the idea of driving himself to the station and opted for a taxi ride instead. He was still technically on administrative leave, so this visit was merely for information gathering.

The drunk driver Jimmy had caught had confessed, and Cage had checked his home, discovering a cache of weapons.

The drunk driver was a local without a steady job, making a living from odd jobs. Recently, someone had contracted his truck for a week, and the several men he had picked up were involved in this deal.

Since he was just a contracted driver, he didn't know the origins of these men. However, he had picked up a few names from snippets of conversation; Frog, Thomas, Pat.

The name Frog was most familiar to Cage. Combining previous information, the purpose of these men carrying weapons was almost certainly related to Frog. Since there were no survivors, all the gunmen had been taken out by Jimmy, and it wasn't possible to trace their superiors from them.

The driver offered another clue: according to plan, they were supposed to stop at a donut shop. Cage had already investigated, and it turned out to be a newly opened donut shop owned by two brothers, Tim and Thomas, which coincidentally matched one of the names the driver had provided.