Chapter 925: Chapter 925

"Boss, I’m telling you, the photos I took this time are really especially good."

In the corner of the street, squeezed under a narrow eave, a young woman with her hair in a bun, wearing round glasses and a red short-sleeved shirt, was talking on the phone while looking at the camera in her hand.

The pitter-patter of rain slid down in front of her, forming a curtain-like cascade of droplets, spreading across the already rain-drenched and now dim street.

Neon lights intermittently lined the street, reflecting off the clear umbrellas of passersby in a hurry, as well as on the slightly naive profile of the young woman.

"We’re definitely going to make the front page this time,"

She flipped through the photos in the camera one by one, chatting rapidly with the person on the other end of the phone, "What? Got the assassination scene? Where am I supposed to find an assassination scene!!! But I did catch the mayor returning to the Mayor’s Mansion... What? Everyone got that shot? But mine is particularly good-looking, you have to believe me... What? Good-looking doesn’t matter..."

The woman looked up at the people passing by, and her previously slightly raised shoulders slowly relaxed. "I don’t know who leaked the news, now everyone knows that the mayor has been assassinated, we completely missed out on the initial news from the scene."

Then it seemed she remembered something, and she perked up again, eyebrows raised, speaking swiftly,

"I even called the Mayor’s Mansion for an update, they said the mayor will give a live speech tomorrow morning, could that count as a headline? What? Other newspapers have already posted it?"

The woman’s eyebrows once again drooped, "Then I really have no news... If all else fails, how about we do a special on the mayor? Mayor Lin En seems to have made a lot of reforms, and it seems many people oppose him, we could get an expert to analyze these reforms, the context behind them, and why they are opposed, maybe that would be useful?

"...No explosive element? It needs a hook? The mayor being alive isn’t news? The mayor’s death is the news? This is the same for every city hall? But I feel like Mayor Lin En might be different..."

The woman’s voice gradually grew softer, and at that point, the person on the other end of the phone seemed to say something.

Her drooping eyebrows lifted once again, forming a frown.

She puffed out her chest and cleared her throat, seeming ready to retort, but after a brief hesitation, her raised eyebrows drooped again and the tone of her voice softened, "Alright, alright, I’ll go look for some new news, see if I can find out where the assassination took place, yes, yes, Boss, goodbye."

Finally hanging up, the woman let out a long sigh and slumped weakly under the eave. She glanced at her wristband and saw the contact labeled ’Stingy debt-dodger’, her lips curled into a sneer, and she fiercely clenched her teeth.

"I mean, what can I do? The major newspapers, when they hear the news, they just drive straight to the Mayor’s Mansion. I have to take a cab, and I even have to front the cab fare myself. The fact that I managed to get there on time and caught the mayor’s return is already pretty good, right? What can I do?"

She jabbed an accusing finger at the contact’s photo on the screen, "The taxi fares I fronted last month, and the month before that, haven’t been reimbursed yet."

The furiously tapped contact icon began to flash, and a new message came through,

[Your internship ends this month, and in these three months, you’ve had no impressive achievements. If you don’t produce any significant results...]

Looking at the lit-up message, the woman’s hand trembled. She bit her lip, and after a brief pause, swiftly composed a message,

[Okay, Boss, I’ll work hard.]

Eventually, she let out a long breath, gazed at the curtain of rain in front of her, and leaned back against the wall behind the eave, feeling utterly exhausted, "There should be a limit to exploitation. Why do they think a newly graduated worthless intern like me could break any major news? If I had that capability, would I be here working on an internship with a weekly salary of just over a hundred? Don’t they know you get what you pay for?"

At this moment, another new message came in.

Evis Apartments: [Your rent bill for the next week has been issued, totaling 130 federal coins, with a management fee of 15 federal coins. Please pay on time, thank you for your support. There’s rain expected in the coming days, please remember to bring an umbrella when you go out.]

As the woman looked at the message in front of her, she slowly stood up, raised her hand, took a screenshot of the billing interface, and sent it to a friend tagged as ’Liz’.

She and her friend Liz rented this single-room apartment located in the northern Wick District together. The rent plus the management fee was 145 federal coins, 72.5 federal coins each.

The apartment lease was only signed in her name for single occupancy.

Because they had an extra person living there, the apartment would charge an additional 10 federal coins per week for a bed fee and 5 federal coins for a management fee.

But the rental company wouldn’t really put another bed in that tiny single-room apartment that could barely fit one, and the almost non-existent management service wouldn’t improve just because they added 5 federal coins a week.

And these extra 20 federal coins would indeed affect the lives of the two people.

The roommate didn’t reply to the message right away, but the woman knew she had seen it; she was very familiar with her roommate’s habits.

The reason for no reply was simple, because salary hadn’t been paid.

Liz worked as a text editor at a small online media company, where her salary was held back for a week, only to be paid on the weekend, and sometimes even delayed until the next week.

Setting aside her worries, the woman exited the chat interface.

She lifted the camera in her hand and looked at the photo inside.

The drifting misty rain and the dark night sky formed the backdrop of the photo, with the palatial buildings in shades of white dominating the foreground.

In front of this sublime palace, an elderly man with a brass cane was walking through a pure white sea of jasmine flowers. He held a black umbrella, stepping towards the openly welcoming doors of the palace.

Spewing flames, gigantic mechs stood like towering mechanical giants on both sides of the elderly man, forging the path ahead of him.

The tall figure of the elderly man, walking through the swaying jasmine flowers, seemed to be progressing step by step toward the grand palace – or perhaps toward the night sky that formed the backdrop behind the palace.

The lone figure was the smallest object in the photo, yet it was like a towering giant, commanding all attention.

Gazing at the photo, the woman’s lips gradually curved into a smile.

Beautiful things always bring pleasure to the heart.

When she took this photo, she was standing quite far back, without any high-end assistants like drones – just holding her hand up high and shooting by instinct.

She took many pictures, but ultimately kept only this one.

She took a deep breath and imported the photo to her wristband, then opened the boss’s chat box.

But she hesitated for a moment and did not send out the photo. Instead, she put a watermark on it and casually posted it to an online forum she frequented.

Then she took out a somewhat outdated and cheap little bag, put the camera in it, and hugged it to her chest.

Although this camera was not professional, and in fact, it was a used one that had changed hands several times, it was the most expensive possession she had.

She glanced at the scattered curtain of rain ahead, hunched her body, and dashed into it.

Bright neon lights flickered, reflecting in the calm puddles on the street. A woman in a red dress sped past beside the puddles, her figure passing between the neon reflected on the water and the neon beneath it, while sparse raindrops rippled on the surface of the neon-lit water.

An elegantly designed antique luxury car sped down the street, driving over the tranquil puddles.

A middle-aged man seated in an old, small tent at the corner of the street, hastily turned to protect the bread he was eating when he saw this scene, and quickly pulled the tent flap closed.

Splashing droplets blossomed like flowers under the neon lights, scattering a dense array of sparkles.

A floor lamp, several meters in diameter, shone brightly over the wide and vast villa hall.

A refined man sat on the sofa, watching the projection of the man in overalls in front of him, seeming to contemplate the words of the man in overalls just spoken.

Seeing the expression on the refined man’s face, the man in overalls continued, admiringly,

"The Deputy Mayor is a spokesperson for the centrists, his actions and thoughts are a bit more conservative than Linen’s. If the assassination succeeds and he becomes the Mayor, he will naturally be more amenable to the Consortium, there’s space for cooperation, not like the current Linen, who is tough and unyielding, out of touch with reality.

"If the assassination doesn’t succeed, being the one who stands to benefit the most from behind the scenes, the Deputy Mayor will almost certainly come under suspicion and be given the cold shoulder by the Mayor’s Mansion. We can then openly pull the Deputy Mayor to our side. Mr. Levis, your strategy is truly brilliant."

"That’s enough, stop flattery."

The one referred to as Mr. Levis chuckled and shook his head. He reached out, opened a bottle of red wine on the table, and poured some into a glass beside it.

"I genuinely admire the wisdom of Lord Levis,"

The man in overalls said with a fawning tone, lowering his head. But then his voice faltered slightly, and he added in a low whisper, "However, I do have one question. The Deputy Mayor knows he is innocent. If we proceed with this, he will surely suspect us of framing him for the attempted assassination of the Mayor and might become so angry he refuses to cooperate with us?"

"Whether he cooperates with us or not isn’t really that crucial."

Levis picked up the wine glass and gently swirled it. He then looked at the surprised expression on the face of the man in overalls and said softly with a smile,

"People always look for evidence to prove they are right. Once the seeds of doubt are sown and cracks appear, they will only grow larger.

"Even if the Deputy Mayor knows it is us framing him and refuses to work with us, the rift between him and Linen, and within Linen’s Ruling Alliance between the conservatives and the radicals, have already formed.

"In time, we just need to exert a little effort, fracture Linen’s Ruling Alliance, and make him constrained by his own camp, so that he can’t achieve anything. It will become quite simple.

"This is an overt plot; unless our Mayor Linen can see through everything with a clear vision and actively appease Lante, who has shown opposition to him, while also having the courage to suppress any internal doubts, then this plan cannot fail."

He glanced at the man in overalls, slowly brought the red wine to his lips,

"Clearly, based on the current outcomes, our Mayor does not possess such foresight nor such resolute determination.

"He has always been indecisive.

"I haven’t received any news from the Guard Captain Fren. He might have already taken action or even be dead by now.

"That our Mr. Mayor survived potentially indicates he withstood an ambush from his own Guard Captain.

"He may also realize that Lante might not be involved in this affair, but when his most trusted Guard Captain has betrayed him, can he really have no doubts about Lante?

"By not answering Lante’s calls and not making any statement, he has shown hesitation in his mind. He might have made the correct judgment, but he lacks the courage to act on it."

He slowly put down the wine glass and looked at the man in overalls, asking with a smile, "If you were Deputy Mayor Lante, and you called the Mayor’s Mansion now and the Mayor didn’t answer, what would you think?"

"The Mayor really suspects me?"

The man in overalls slowly said. He had felt since hearing the news that the Mayor’s Mansion already mistrusted the Deputy Mayor.

"The initial response is the most important because it often reflects one’s true thoughts. After that, whatever you say about believing, it doesn’t matter."

Levis looked at the wine in his glass, rippling like fresh blood, "As for Deputy Mayor Lante, what needs to be clear is that our goal is to get Linen out of office, to prevent him from being Mayor. Who becomes Mayor doesn’t really matter to our employer.

"If Deputy Mayor Lante doesn’t want to be Mayor, someone else will."

He smiled, watching the man in overalls, "What’s most plentiful in this world are people who want to be Mayor."

"Mr. Levis is farsighted!"

The man in overalls immediately nodded, raising his voice slightly.

Levis brought the swirling red wine to his lips, "However, if Lante could align with Linen, there must be a basis for accepting Linen’s ideas. Fundamentally, he is unreliable, so even if he defects to our side, we cannot grant him real power."

The man in overalls nodded vigorously, then hesitantly began, "The Mayor announced he will make a live speech tomorrow morning. Do you have any orders..."

"Don’t worry and don’t let his actions set the pace,"

Levis said with a smile, "Business as usual. Whatever he says in his speech won’t stray from the usual rhetoric. He wants to prove his reforms are effective, so let’s make ’everyone know’ that his reforms are ineffective. Spend a bit of money, find some people, I’ve already made arrangements."

"Yes, Mr. Levis is wise!"

The man in overalls reinforced his nod, then carefully looked up to Levis, "But if Fren is dead or caught, won’t he possibly betray you?"

"It won’t happen. Fren is quite tight-lipped, plus I have signed a contract with him using Extraordinary Items; he can’t divulge my..."

Levis shook his head.

His words were still hanging in the air when a sudden, intense knocking erupted,

"Open up, Federal Bureau of Investigation!"