I was acting crazy in North America, and all the crazy people there took it seriously.

Chapter 68 For the Dark World, Please Debut
In fact, Edgar Hoover had a bit too high an opinion about Logan's "textbook".

—Those two sons of bitches, Donald and Richard, actually made him compile the textbooks for Arkham Academy!

Logan had no idea what kind of misunderstanding these two had about American universities, actually believing that this knowledge was taught in universities.

Great! If you dare to learn, I dare to teach!

The problem is, Logan has never actually robbed a bank.

He only knew how crude the techniques of American robbers were these days, thanks to some hamster Khan.

Then, I brought out all the knowledge about robbery from the police and gangster movies and spy movies I had watched.

Isn't that how movies always portray things?

Beforehand, it's necessary to scout the location, posing as a customer to observe the bank's security system, calculate the patterns of armored trucks, and so on. Then, a team is needed, with details such as who is responsible for technical lock picking or explosives, and who is responsible for disrupting communications. The escape route must be planned with backups, pre-set rendezvous points and safe houses, and even consider how to use urban traffic patterns to create congestion to hinder pursuers... For example, the robbers in a certain racing movie particularly like to speed on the streets.

These things seem impressive at first glance in this day and age, but to experts, while they are theoretically sound, many details are simply impractical.

Edgar Hoover suffered from a lack of practical experience.

However, it cannot be said that Logan's "theory" was completely useless.

At least in terms of concept, it is more than one version ahead of current robbery technology.

Logan wasn't afraid of making mistakes or omissions. Whether it was useful or not would be clear after practical application. In any case, there were experts who combined practical experience to modify and organize it.

For example, a certain "Tom" in Arkham Arknights.

The training cycle at Arkham Academy is not calculated in academic years.

One phase is considered one term. When all the knowledge to be taught has been taught and all the experiences to be shared have been shared, then the course is considered complete.

There is an assessment for graduation, but it is not mandatory. The college only clearly stated that those who pass the assessment will be "given greater responsibilities" by the organization.

After the first term ended, Edgar Hoover stayed on, hoping to find an opportunity to reach higher levels after passing the assessment.

Tom stayed behind, and he even invited Edgar Hoover to team up with him. "Mickey (pseudonym), I can tell you're not a desperado, you have brains. I need a reliable partner, let's do it together, we can do it perfectly."

Edgar Hoover was also curious about Tom, so naturally he didn't refuse.

After the teams are formed, a lottery is held.

Hoover and his team were tasked with carrying out a strategic asset transfer to a bank in Montreal, Canada.

Information provided by the academy indicates that this is an underground bank disguised as a bank. The gang behind it collaborated with the Irish gang to run gambling operations but then reneged on the deal, swallowing the Irish gang's share, which was all deposited in this bank. Hoover and his team's mission is to retrieve this money.

Hoover sneered inwardly: Here it comes, the fox's tail is finally about to be revealed.

No matter how nicely they put it, isn't it still robbing a bank?

What "heroes" and "academies"? In the end, aren't they just trying to get us to do the dirty work for the gang?

In fact, at this point, Hoover was also thinking: as the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Investigation of the United States of America, was he really going to take a gun and rob a foreign bank?
Should we create an accident during the operation, or tip off the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in advance to capture this group of "criminal elites" in one fell swoop?
Just as he was struggling with his inner conflict, Tom came over again. He didn't say much, but directly handed over a piece of intelligence that he needed Hoover to analyze.

Hoover's most outstanding performance during the training was in intelligence analysis.

Hoover was once again stunned after taking a glance!
"The intelligence they're analyzing is way too detailed!"

Tom smiled faintly, "Mickey, you don't actually think you can get the hang of it just by learning some theory, do you?"

"You surely know you should scout ahead, but I bet you'll just pretend to be a customer, go back a few times, see how many people are behind the counter, and where the money is. Hmm, I think you're quite meticulous; maybe you'll also check if the manager is male or female, what their temperament is like, and whether they'll resist..."

"But if you only know this much, you're doomed. What if you encounter a bank employee who's only interested in getting a permanent position and won't give you the money? What if you encounter a safe that's suddenly reinforced?"

"In this line of work, many times you think you've made enough preparations, but in reality you're far from adequate."

Tom's tone was full of vicissitudes, making people curious about the story behind him.

Hoover's mind settled down. Nothing ventured, nothing gained; it was all for the undercover mission!
Over the next few days, Tom, Hoover, and several other "elite cadets" he had selected formed an action team.

Tom was extremely satisfied with Hoover's intelligence analysis, saying that Hoover was the highest-quality teammate he had ever met, and he really hoped that they could work together for a long time if possible.

Hoover: ...

Then, based on intelligence, Tom personally verified and revised every detail of the plan. He even rented an abandoned warehouse and drew a simplified structural diagram of the bank's interior with chalk, allowing the team to conduct several simulations, down to the precise positioning and timing of each person's movements.

"...There is only one decisive factor for success, not violence, but time—how to effectively deter the other party in the shortest amount of time, how to get more money in the shortest amount of time, and how to escape in the shortest amount of time..."

"We are a team. Each of you must remember your role in order to compress time as much as possible." Tom's instructions were concise and clear, making Hoover deeply understand the meaning of "knowledge gained from books is ultimately superficial."

On the day of the operation, everything was ready.

Dressed in smart suits, they mingled with the flow of office workers, appearing like ordinary business people, as they approached their target bank.

As Tom planned, there were no extra gunshots, no hysterical screams.

The spotter team kept watch from a high vantage point; Tom and Hoover, hooded, quickly took control of the lobby with another man, pointing pistols at a few early shift staff and security guards, calmly ordering them to lie down, giving them no chance to trigger the alarm.

The whole process is fast, quiet, and accurate.

Then, they headed straight for the target vault.

The locksmiths displayed their amazing skills, turning complex warehouse doors into toys in their hands.

The room was indeed filled with cash. They only used the special bags they brought to carry away the most valuable and hard-to-trace bearer bonds and a portion of the cash, without taking anything more than necessary.

The retreat route had been planned in advance.

Tom made the most thorough preparations during this stage:
He conducted prior reconnaissance and even calculated the evacuation routes and times under different weather conditions to deduct the corresponding robbery time.

The driver who was there to pick them up parked the car at the designated intersection. They got in, changed their coats, and blended into the traffic. Before the Canadian police patrol cars arrived at the scene, they had disappeared without a trace, like drops of water flowing into the ocean.

The entire operation took less than fifteen minutes, was clean and efficient, and was as perfect as a textbook example.

No, even textbook examples can't be this perfect.

Hoover's feelings were extremely complicated.

He knew that if all robbers were this bad, 99.9% of law enforcement officers across the United States would need to be sent back to school.

Although, 99.9% of robbers are not as skilled as Tom.

The college gave their group a very high rating, and Hoover and Tom were hailed as the best of the "First Arkham Class".

Then, Arkham College hired them as mentors to help compile teaching materials—the college stated that theory only holds true through practice, and their practical performance was enough to make them "masters of strategic asset transfer in banking"!
What the hell is this "mastermind behind strategic asset transfer in banking"?
Hoover was completely respectful of this title and thanked him without a second thought!

But Tom was really into it and happily shared his experience in the textbook without reservation.

As a result, Arkham obtained a truly meaningful textbook, "Strategic Asset Transfer in Banking: From Beginner to Expert".

After Hoover finished reading it, only countless alpacas galloped by.

This isn't a crime guide; it's a fucking military operations manual! Its rigor, meticulousness, and technicality completely overturned his understanding of the word "crime"!

This must be used as training material for the Bureau of Investigation to train its agents!
This is not over yet.

Not long after, Donald, the leader of the Irish gang, personally received them.

The burly gangster spoke to them in an almost reverent tone: "Your outstanding performance proves that Arkham's philosophy is correct! Exchange training can quickly elevate true heroes!"

“Now, I have an even more important task for you. It concerns the future of Arkham, and the very structure of the underworld!”

Hoover's heart tightened instantly. An even bigger job? An even bigger job than robbing a bank? Was it going to be robbing the national treasury?
Donald took a deep breath and solemnly announced, "In order to spread the glory of Arkham to a wider world, and to attract more lost heroes to find their way, I have decided to invite you two—to debut!"

"……ah!?"

Debut? Debut in what way? Which way? Did they hear me wrong?
Donald, seemingly pleased with their bewildered expressions, added with a smile, "That's right! Debut! For the sake of Arkham's image, you'll all become ambassadors! You'll become stars of the underworld!"

"You can split half of the money earned from this assessment; the other half will be used as your charitable donation to help you gain fame!"

"Just imagine, one day, your infamy, cough, your reputation, will be known to everyone from the East Coast to the West Coast. What a magnificent life that would be!"

Donald used the persuasive skills he learned from Logan to get Tom all excited and eager to make his debut!

Hoover stood there, feeling as if his mind had been blown blank.

An assistant director of the investigation bureau goes undercover in a gang, diligently studies criminal techniques, successfully commits a robbery, and in the end... is he going to be promoted to a crime star?!

Could this world get any more outrageous?!
……

　Even if I, Hoover, starve to death today, even if I jump off this cliff, I will not leave!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)