Chapter 5

Bang.

The fat man swung the baseball bat down hard.

At first, he had aimed for Ethan’s head.

Ethan did not even flinch.

The fat man forced the bat to change direction at the last second, and it slammed into the ground instead. The recoil shot back up so hard that his hands went numb.

“Anything else?” Ethan flicked ash from his cigarette, looking relaxed and utterly dismissive. He did not take the fat man seriously at all. “If not, I’m going back upstairs. And don’t hit the ground. Concrete is pretty hard.”

The fat man was so angry he almost spat blood.

Rage rushed straight to his head. He lifted the baseball bat and, as if the car were Ethan’s skull, began smashing Ethan’s car with all his strength.

The hood caved in.

The body was dented.

The windows shattered.

The fat man was strong, and his temper was just as impressive. After smashing the car, he even kicked the side of it twice.

Only after venting did he finally calm down a little.

"You thought you could mess with me? This is what you get!"

The security guard stood there, completely stunned.

Ethan calmly dialed the police.

“Someone smashed my car. Hurry. Someone’s going to die here.”

This was when the benefits of being in the city center showed. The nearest police station was less than a mile away. Five minutes later, two patrol cars arrived.

Four officers got out after the cars parked.

Since someone had mentioned a possible death, more officers had come than usual.

When the fat man saw the police arrive, he still looked calm. He seemed to know them.

Ethan could tell right away that this fat man probably had some kind of backing. Otherwise, he would not be this arrogant.

But that backing probably was not too powerful.

People with real power did not come here to work in an office building.

The officers began taking photos from different angles, making notes, and documenting the scene. They looked professional and handled everything by the book.

Once they finished, they started asking what had happened.

The situation was very simple.

After asking the basic questions, one officer turned off his body camera.

Ethan knew the real handling was about to begin.

“This matter is a civil dispute,” the officer said. “According to Mr. Leed, he has parked in this spot for a long time, and no one has ever objected. That means the right to use this space belongs to Mr. Leed.”

“Mr. Chancer, it wasn’t right for you to occupy someone else’s parking space. You both work in the same building, and you’ll keep seeing each other around. There’s no need to make this ugly. I suggest you give Mr. Leed a small amount for emotional distress. Nothing much, just a few hundred dollars as a token, and we can settle this here.”

His voice was gentle.

“What do you think, Mr. Chancer? After all, you both seem like educated people. You’re not short of a few hundred dollars, and having a criminal record wouldn’t be good for you.”

So the fat man’s last name was Leed.

Ethan smiled.

“Thank you for being so generous, Mr. Leed. Officer, may I ask if you know the parking rules issued by the property management?”

“I’m not too clear on that. The parking spaces belong to the property management. As long as they’re not being used for anything illegal, the property management has the right to decide how the spaces are managed.”

The officer seemed to realize Ethan might not be easy to deal with, so his tone immediately shifted. He was already trying to push responsibility away.

“If you’re not clear on that, then how did this become me occupying Mr. Leed’s spot?” Ethan asked. “Also, who smashed the car? I stood here and did nothing. How would I end up with a criminal record?”

“Mr. Leed said you insulted his family.”

“So whatever Mr. Leed says counts as evidence? Did you ask me? Did you ask the security guard standing right there? Even if I did insult his family, that’s verbal abuse, not occupying his parking space. Which part of what I did would create a criminal record?”

“Mr. Chancer, please don’t get upset,” another officer quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “Officer Grant is new to our station. He hasn’t been out of school for long and still lacks experience. He meant well. He just hoped the two of you could settle this peacefully. Please don’t misunderstand.”

“You should turn your body camera back on,” Ethan said. “Let’s handle this properly. If I really committed a crime, I’ll admit it. If I should compensate someone, I’ll compensate them. If I should be sentenced, then sentence me.”

His face was calm and indifferent, which only made the officer trying to mediate even more uneasy.

After years of handling calls like this, he knew the calmer someone was, the harder they usually were to deal with.

The fat man, Mr. Leed, gave a disdainful laugh.

“Just wait. Once we get to the station, I’ll see if you’re still this stubborn.”

An officer opened the car door and told both Ethan and the fat man to get in.

Ethan took out his phone and began taking photos of his damaged car.

“No need to take photos. We already have records here,” an officer said, trying to reassure him.

“All right. Just give me a second. I’m waiting for the footage to finish uploading,” Ethan said.

“What footage?”

Both the officers and the fat man were startled. They had not seen Ethan recording with his phone.

“I turned on my dashcam. From the moment I started talking with Mr. Leed until now, it’s been recording the whole time. The footage should count as evidence, right?”

Ethan’s tone was perfectly calm.

The fat man’s expression changed instantly.

“I’m a programmer,” Ethan said. “I’m used to uploading files from my dashcam to the cloud. The upload just finished. I have seven email accounts, and each one has a copy saved. You can all relax now. The footage won’t get lost.”

He opened the police car door on his own and got in.

The officer who had tried to smooth things over got into the car and asked Ethan quietly, “I just checked. Your dashcam is still running. Do you want to turn it off?”

“Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t use much battery.”

“What brand is that dashcam? How good is the recording quality?”

“I also received a copy on my phone. You can take a look. The quality should be pretty good. It’s clear enough.”

Ethan opened the video and handed his phone to the officer.

The video was fifteen minutes long in total, split into four files. The dashcam had recorded everything from four different angles.

Before the officer finished watching, the patrol car had already arrived at the police station.

Once they got there, all four officers who had responded to the call, along with the fat man, watched the video.

"This would count as intentionally destroying someone else’s property, wouldn’t it?" Ethan asked the officers with the innocent seriousness of a student asking a teacher. “I looked it up online. Apparently, besides compensation, there could also be jail time. Not long, though. Less than three years.”

“We’re only responsible for recording the case,” one officer said, clearly uneasy. “Whether there will be jail time is not within our authority.”

The officers felt guilty too.

Their behavior earlier had been questionable. If that video ended up online, their police careers could be seriously affected.

The fat man had never expected one impulsive moment to cause such a huge problem.

"I got played." That was the only thought in his head.

“Can I call my family?” the fat man asked.

Since formal questioning had not yet begun, his request was allowed.

Ethan felt a little uncomfortable.

“Can I smoke?”

He looked at the large No Smoking sign on the wall as he asked.

“Use the smoking room,” an officer said, his attitude toward Ethan now extremely friendly.

After finishing his cigarette, Ethan returned to the interrogation room.

He waited another ten minutes before the fat man came back in.

All the arrogance had vanished from his face.

Clearly, if the video was posted online and people dug into him, it might expose whatever connections stood behind him.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Chancer,” the fat man said. “I was in a bad mood today. I’m willing to compensate you for the losses I caused. Would one million be enough?”

He seemed quite rich.

The moment he opened his mouth, it was one million.

Ethan almost laughed.

He was a programmer.

A programmer with a rigorous mind.

How could he possibly fall into such a low-level trap?

“Mr. Leed, paying the actual value is enough. I bought my car for one hundred seventy thousand. After depreciation, it should be worth around one hundred thirty-six thousand. The high-fidelity audio system inside was imported through a friend, so it was a little expensive. A bit over sixty thousand.

“There was also a portable drive in the car. It contains software I spent years designing. I formatted my computer two days ago, so that drive held the only backup.

“If the data on that drive is lost, Mr. Leed may need to compensate me for it. If it isn’t lost, then there’s no need.

“As for today, I can’t go to work anymore. My salary is ten thousand a month. Based on twenty-two workdays, that comes to about five hundred a day.”

Ethan asked humbly, “Do you need me to provide proof of income?”