This trip barely qualified as getting to know Langley's location and taking a cursory look at the exterior and some offices inside; there wasn't much gain. I thought Frank would have had a serious clash with the CIA, but in the end, it escalated to the Vice President, and from the CIA, it turned to the Special Service Bureau. That wasn't fun, so Jimmy wisely extricated himself to avoid getting mired in it.

After resting for two days, Jimmy finally returned to work. Although he was already a full-fledged agent, he spent surprisingly little time at the office. Not long after his confirmation, he was dispatched on a month-long business trip. In the seven months he'd been at the Manhattan office, he had spent over two months outside, on top of several administrative leaves stemming from various cases. Jimmy was in the office for less than half the time.

"Oh, Jimmy, how was the trip to Dallas?" As Jimmy entered the office, Chris was already there, surprisingly. Normally, Chris would arrive just in time or even be late.

"It went okay, Chris, have there been any new cases lately?" Jimmy started tidying his desk, which merely entailed a quick wipe down. It was just the two of them in the office, and no one else had tampered with his things; everything was as he had left it.

As Jimmy busied himself, Chris mentioned casually, "There's been a spate of homicide cases, but the NYPD has almost wrapped them up."

Hearing Chris's words, Jimmy was somewhat skeptical. When had FBI cases ever diminished? It was certain that Chris had just delegated them to others.

The Manhattan office wasn't just a handful of people; it was a large division with thousands of full-time agents. Most of them were involved in counterespionage and counterterrorism, not criminal cases. Others were in charge of intelligence, some stationed at various offices and field sites, while others were covert agents or spies embedded in different organizations or industries.

Those genuinely responsible for criminal cases comprised about 30 percent of the agent population. Moreover, their duties primarily involved federal cases such as white-collar crimes, financial offenses, organized crime, bank robberies, interstate crimes, and high-profile serial murders.

Of course, here one refers to official agents; various contracted positions do not count. Every division has many contracted personnel who work for federal agencies but are not law enforcement agents.

Chris and Jimmy's small team was responsible for homicide cases, which ordinary murder cases were typically handled by local police departments, like the NYPD in New York. As the largest police force in the country, NYPD had a vast number of detectives and case handlers that could manage most cases on their own. Only complex cases would be passed on to the FBI, which explains why the Manhattan FBI office's Homicide Team had fewer cases on hand.'

After tidying his desk, Jimmy turned to Chris, "Let's see if there are any cases available. I've been idle for too long and need to warm up."

Chris responded, "Youth is wonderful, full of energy. I'll check." Chris clearly wasn't expecting Jimmy to start handling cases right after his return; he hadn't preselected any.

Jimmy could only continue reviewing files, which was the only thing available to him as selecting cases was not yet his responsibility.

"Knock, knock" Jimmy looked up to see Ruiz motioning him with a hooked finger at the door, then turning to leave. Jimmy gave Chris a nod and got up to follow.

In Ruiz's office, they sat facing each other. Ruiz had already poured a cup of coffee for Jimmy, which sat on the table. Jimmy picked up the coffee, waiting for Ruiz to speak. Jokingly thinking to himself, given this treatment, Ruiz definitely had something significant in mind for him. Although they had only interacted for a month or two, Ruiz definitely didn't seem the type to prepare coffee ahead of time without reason.

Ruiz made some small talk with Jimmy before diving into the main topic. "Jimmy, have you been to the firing range recently?"

Jimmy raised an eyebrow: "No, I've been in Dallas for the last two weeks on a business trip, as you probably know."

Ruiz clasped his hands together on the desk, "So, are there any cases you're working on now?"

Jimmy replied, "No, I just got back today. As you know, the NYPD is too competent, and Chris's desk is already empty."

Ruiz: "Recently I've been thinking about personally investigating the T14's stronghold and warehouse. Are you interested in coming with me?"

Jimmy was shocked. At this point, how could he not understand what Ruiz was up to?! Damn, how big of a psychological shadow did getting set up last time cast on you? That's a bit petty.

Jimmy leaned forward slightly, looking into Ruiz's eyes, "Are you serious?"

Ruiz didn't speak, just stared back at Jimmy. After a moment of eye contact, Jimmy could see the determination in Ruiz's eyes. He picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, then put the coffee cup back on the table and whispered to Ruiz, "Ruiz, are you really sure you want to do this?"

Ruiz nodded. "These days I've been arranging people to investigate them, but it's too hard to catch them red-handed. I know this isn't your responsibility, but I can't think of anyone else who could help me."

Jimmy: "Have you thought of a valid reason for me to get involved? I'm now in the Homicide Team, and that's Chris's jurisdiction."

Ruiz, gritting his teeth, slowly leaned back in his chair and then closed his eyes in pain. After a moment, he didn't open his eyes but said to Jimmy, "Sorry, I've oversimplified things. Never mind, you go back first."

Jimmy looked at Ruiz, his face twisted in agony, and felt uneasy. After being played by T14 Scar last time, he hadn't expected it to have struck such a blow to Ruiz.

"Ruiz, is it just because of Scar?"

Ruiz opened his eyes and looked at Jimmy, then shook his head, "We've had two informants go missing, because of our last operation. They conducted a big sweep, one of the informants was mine, the other was arranged by our undercover agent. Whether there are others missing, we aren't clear yet."

Ruiz stood up and walked over to the window, looking outside, "Scar is too arrogant. This is a challenge to me; I must catch him."

Jimmy stood up, walked to Ruiz's side, first looked at the scenery outside the window, then turned his head toward Ruiz, "Ruiz, do you trust me?"

Ruiz nodded, and Jimmy said, "Just calm down for now. Let me think of a solution. Give me some time."

Jimmy didn't wait for Ruiz to respond and turned to leave his office.

Entering the FBI, Jimmy had met some really nice people, whether it was Peter or Ruiz, and even the nonchalant Chris. Jimmy was more than happy to be their friend rather than just colleagues, always ready to help if he could. But Ruiz's current state wasn't quite right. Jimmy had initially thought it was just anger at being outplayed by Scar, but now it seemed the two missing informants were the real trigger.

Jimmy felt impulsive; he had only thought about getting Ruiz to cool down and not act rashly, and in the process, he himself had ended up babbling somewhat. What could he do in this situation? Surely he couldn't just sneak around with a gun and shoot everyone inside.

While walking back to his office, Jimmy grimaced, regretting his impulsiveness. Seated at his desk, he wasn't in the mood to look at files and started pondering how to advance the situation.

Chris, cunning and shrewd, had noticed something was amiss when Jimmy had left before, as it was Ruiz who had knocked on the door. Now, seeing Jimmy's troubled expression upon returning, he didn't ask. They were merely colleagues, at most showing some concern; he wasn't about to meddle in Jimmy's personal affairs. It just seemed like the timing was also off. Chris looked at the list of cases on his computer, thought for a moment, then shut down the system, deciding not to let Jimmy handle these cases for now.

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