Chapter 61 – The System Wants Me to Be a Bomb Maker
The distant police sirens sliced right through their kiss.
"It's the cops!"
Amanda panicked — but there was excitement in her eyes too.
Breaking the law did something very specific to this girl.
"Well, get in the car. My guess is the gunfire was too frequent. A patrol must've heard it."
There was no way someone had called 911 — not here, not in the South Side.
The only real danger was dumb luck — running into patrol officers by coincidence.
William scooped up the M4, tossed it into the trunk, and — while Amanda was distracted — quietly sent every illegal weapon into the system's storage space.
Just in case.
If the cops actually found him with this amount of full-auto firepower, without an FFL license?
He would be going to prison for a very long time.
The trunk slammed shut.
Amanda was already in the passenger seat.
William climbed into the driver's seat, started the engine.
Time for WRC World Champion–level driving to shine.
"Ready for a chase?" he asked, glancing sideways.
Foot on the gas.
RPM climbing into the max power band.
Amanda barely managed to fasten her seat belt before nodding nervously.
That single nod was enough.
The black BMW launched forward like a fired arrow, shooting out of the abandoned underpass and onto the road.
---
Michigan Lake – Parking Lot Near the Shore
Still within the South Side, but right by Lake Michigan.
"Are they going to catch us?" Amanda asked, watching the fading red-and-blue lights with tight fists.
"Relax. South Side cops aren't bored enough to hunt us forever. We didn't damage anything. They chased us because they're bored, not because they care."
And right on cue, the flashing lights grew smaller…
smaller…
gone.
Ten minutes later, with no backup in sight, the parking lot fell silent.
Amanda finally let out the breath she'd been holding and turned toward William— only to catch him staring at her with that amused, lingering look.
Heat rushed to her cheeks.
"W–What are you looking at?" she muttered, swatting his arm in embarrassment.
And just like every American TV drama goes…
Amanda climbed straight over the center console, straddling him.
---
System Notification
A familiar chime sounded in William's head.
[Ding! Mission complete: Sabotage Lip & Amanda's romantic encounter.
Reward obtained: Demolition Mastery.]
Demolition Mastery:
You know the periodic table by heart. In your hands, anything can become an explosive.
Your calculation of blast power and yield is exact to within one meter.
William paused.
Not because of how illegal that reward sounded —
but because something didn't add up.
Amanda's pained expression… the way she moved…
"You're a virgin?"
His head instantly started hurting.
Amanda was nothing like Mandy.
Mandy loved fiercely because she hated herself — a girl who would do anything for love if someone just treated her nicely.
Amanda was different.
A middle-class girl.
A girl with a fragile, obsessive attachment style.
If she fell for someone, she didn't just love them —
she claimed them.
In the original show, she ruined her own life just to expose Lip's relationship with a professor — costing the professor her job, and getting herself bullied out of school.
She was the kind who would bleed a thousand to hurt the enemy eight hundred.
"Mm," she nodded shyly, smiling through the pain.
"I wanted to save my first time for my future husband…
but now I know I don't need to."
That content, glowing smile stabbed William straight in the brain.
This… was going to be trouble.
Of course, he wasn't dumb enough to push her away right now —
you don't refuse a meal that's already in your mouth.
But Amanda was going to require careful handling.
If she got possessive at the wrong time, missions could become… complicated.
Right now he had no other girlfriends on campus, so as long as she never found out about Bianca, things would be fine.
He needed to set expectations early — before this became a disaster.
"Amanda, don't you want to ask me something?" he said casually.
"About the stuff in the trunk."
But she was too into it to focus on the words.
"What stuff? Don't talk— concentrate!"
Amanda grabbed William by the back of the head and pushed him down against her chest with surprising force.
But William didn't give up.
She was strong for a girl — but nowhere near strong enough to stop him if he resisted.
He pried himself free and met her eyes.
"I'm serious."
For a second, Amanda froze — forced to split her attention between desire and thought.
Then, through ragged breathing:
"I don't care!"
She wasn't in a state where conversation was possible anymore.
William clicked his tongue.
"Fuck."
Communication ended there.
The car windows fogged white with steam…
A wet palm slapped the driver-side window and left a spreading, delicate handprint—
—
Two hours later
William sat slumped in the seat, a cigarette between his lips.
Amanda sat beside him, fixing her clothes, cheeks glowing in the dark interior of the BMW.
"Are you sure, Amanda?" William asked, rubbing at his temple.
Because he really had a headache now.
Amanda was not Fiona — a girl whose self-esteem was on life support and could be shaped like wet clay.
And she wasn't Karen — manipulative trash who stepped on everyone around her.
Amanda was… frustrating, yes.
Controlling? Absolutely.
Love-brained? 100%.
But she wasn't a bad person.
She had a future.
And she had just given her first time to him.
He had zero interest in breaking her psychologically the way he'd conditioned Fiona.
This one actually deserved better.
"Sure about what?" Amanda asked, confused.
William exhaled smoke, watching it curl against the windshield.
"I mean… the husband thing."
The moment she understood, all color vanished from her face.
Then her voice trembled.
"You think it's too much… right?
If you don't want a relationship, I won't force you."
To her, this wasn't about morality.
It wasn't about sex.
It was about belonging.
She thought William was rejecting her — that he only wanted a hookup.
She yanked the door open.
Tears were already in her eyes.
"Amanda—" William tried, but she was already outside.
"Damn it."
He jumped out after her, jogging to catch up.
But he only got halfway.
Because someone else reached Amanda first.
A black man stood in front of her, and there was a gun in his hand.
Pointed right at her.
William didn't even have time to curse.
A voice shouted from behind the armed man:
"Franklin! We've got a situation! Get over here — now!"
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