Chapter 928: Chapter 928

"Ini, what’s going on?"

Liz, lying in bed, vaguely opened her eyes and looked at Ini hurriedly getting dressed.

"There’s a bit of work to do,"

Ini glanced around, picked up the small bag that was on the old iron table beside her, felt the camera inside the bag, and quickly slung the bag over her shoulder.

"Why are you going out so late?"

Liz closed her eyes slightly, hugging the quilt. "Your boss is really pushing it, isn’t he?"

"News, news, reporting first and acquiring details later—that’s how it is,"

Ini said with a smile as she put on a thin coat. "In our line of work, time is very important. You keep resting, okay? Don’t you have a part-time job tomorrow?"

"Then... good luck... remember to take an umbrella..."

Liz’s voice gradually weakened. "It’s not certain whether that part-time job is still on, the group chat just mentioned it, but there’s been no detailed news..."

By the end, her voice had completely fallen silent, leaving only the faint sound of her breathing.

Ini glanced at the curtain of rain outside the balcony, responded softly, picked up the still damp transparent umbrella by the door, carefully opened the door, and then snuck out quietly.

The corridor window was open, letting in a slight cool breeze mixed with fine rain from outside.

Ini turned her head, headed towards the elevator, took out a hair tie from her coat pocket and put it in her mouth, gathered her hair with one hand, while quickly typing a reply to that forum account with her gesture keyboard in mid-air,

’Wait for me, I’m coming right over.’

After that, she raised her bracelet, checked the credit card deduction record from the cab-hailing software in her email, and took a deep breath.

At a little past five in the morning, dawn seemed to be on its verge, but the drops of rain outside the hospital room continued to fall unabated.

He Ao stood by the bedside, straightened out his slightly wrinkled shirt, touched his freshly washed and dried hair, and took a glance at the pile of blood-stained bandages on the bed before inhaling softly.

His injuries had mostly healed, and it was about time.

He lifted his arm, checked the time on his bracelet, picked up the brass cane and suit jacket from the bedside, and opened the door to the hospital room.

A medical student dressed as a nurse was dozing off in a chair. She looked up to see He Ao coming out, first startled, then she immediately sprang up and said, "Mr. Lin En, you need to rest..."

He Ao smiled and nodded at her, then without any further delay, passed by the nurse and entered the corridor on the other side.

There was a small elevator here, and just before He Ao reached it, with a ’ding,’ the elevator doors slowly opened.

Tucker, the deputy captain of the Mayor’s Guard, still in his blood-stained combat suit and yawning, looked up to see He Ao standing at the elevator entrance, stupefied for a moment. "Mr. Lin En?"

Standing in front of a large, classical, colored glass window, amidst the pattering and urgent rain, the robust elderly man with silvery hair smiled at the man in the elevator as his deep voice joined the sound of the rain.

While talking, He Ao took his suit jacket and quickly slipped it on as he walked towards the elevator.

Tucker moved aside, somewhat bewildered, watching He Ao’s figure. He couldn’t help but ask subconsciously, "Your injuries..."

He Ao straightened his jacket, "You all had a tough time last night."

He then took out a folded tie from his jacket and tied it around his neck.

"You flatter us, our injuries were not severe."

Tucker immediately responded.

His own injuries were mostly superficial, and thanks to the hemostatic agents and some medication provided by Dr. Des, he was already beginning to recover.

While talking, Tucker’s gaze returned to He Ao’s face. Although ’Mayor Lin En’ indeed looked much better, he still seemed concerned, "But are you..."

"It won’t affect anything,"

He Ao shook his head, pressed the button for the first floor in the elevator, and then looked at Tucker, "Did you bring those things over?"

Tucker immediately nodded and took out a small bottle of blood-stained hair wax and a bloodstained comb from his pocket, handing them to He Ao.

This was the comb and hair wax He Ao had used before in the floating warplane.

At the same time, Tucker paused and gently said, "I could have bought you a new set."

"These are still useful, aren’t they?"

He Ao looked at him, took the hair wax and comb, and said with a smile.

He quickly wiped off the dried blood from the comb and then combed and reset his hair.

Tucker promptly took out a small mirror from his pocket and handed it to He Ao.

He Ao glanced at him, took the mirror, and then used it to make sure there were no issues with his hairstyle or attire.

There were a few more white hairs, and the hair dye showed some signs of fading.

At this moment, the elevator had reached the first floor.

"Has everyone arrived?"

He Ao handed the mirror, hair wax, and comb back to Tucker, his gaze looking forward as the elevator doors slowly opened, he asked in a calm voice.

He Ao stepped straight out of the elevator and turned left towards the exit.

"They’ve been brought over,"

Tucker nodded gently, following He Ao’s pace and quickly said as they walked.

He Ao nodded lightly and continued down the hallway at a brisk pace.

They hadn’t gone far when a young man standing on the edge of the corridor saw them and hurried over.

Sena quickly approached He Ao, giving him a slight bow, "The car is parked up front."

"Thank you for the hard work."

He Ao nodded with a smile and continued forward.

Sena followed He Ao to his deputy, Tucker, and stood alongside him.

Then he hesitated for a moment, glanced at the back of He Ao and said to Tucker, "That guy is definitely related to the assassination case, but he’s too cunning. We’ve searched his entire house and haven’t found any useful information; he didn’t leave any records behind.

"The only thing is a call record on his holographic communicator that he hadn’t had time to delete, but the other party used an anonymous number. By the time we called it, the number had already been abandoned."

As he said this, Sena gritted his teeth somewhat, "This guy is as slippery as an eel, and no matter how the interrogators asked, he wouldn’t speak up, just admitting to a tax issue."

"This guy knows the Federation and Yilan City’s laws really well,"

Continuing to walk with He Ao, Tucker glanced at the young man beside him and took over the conversation, speaking slowly,

"Although tax crimes are serious, they’re still eligible for release on bail.

"He himself is from the Consortium Lobbying Group. He knows the Consortium will protect him, and by now Ains might already be working overnight on this matter, so he’s fearless."

"Bail? Can’t we lock this guy up?"

Upon hearing Tucker’s words, Sena was taken aback.

Tucker shook his head, "From my previous experience, I estimate by dawn the bail approval will come through. Following normal procedures, we’ll have no choice but to release him."

"By dawn tomorrow? Does that mean we only have tonight to interrogate him?"

Sena subconsciously raised his tone slightly, then glanced at He Ao beside him and lowered it a bit, "Can’t we interfere with the process? Like, find a way to detain him for a couple more days?"

"That would be difficult, at most we could delay it by a day or two,"

Tucker shook his head and, looking at Sena, spoke softly, "Even if we manage to delay it and get those extra days, are you confident you could get anything out of the interrogation?

"Besides, under normal circumstances, he would be detained in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s prison and interrogated by both the FBI and the Federal Tax Bureau. These two departments are only in temporary cooperation with us. They’ve shown great sincerity by supporting our actions tonight, it’s unlikely they will let us lead the interrogation completely."

Sena scratched his head and finally sighed, "Even the experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation haven’t gotten anything out of him, so I definitely won’t be able to."

That guy’s mental fortitude was just too strong.

He turned to look at Tucker, feeling deflated, "So, was our capture tonight all for nothing?"

Tucker patted his shoulder, "For instance, we can use the bail conditions to restrict his area of movement, preventing him from leaving Yilan City for the time being, buying us time to look for evidence,"

"Is that all we can do?"

Sena opened his mouth slightly, feeling discouraged and grinding his teeth, "With him being so cautious and having such a strong counter-surveillance awareness, if we can’t find his evidence, aren’t we just going to charge him with a tax crime? And if he hires a good lawyer, couldn’t he get a light sentence?"

Hearing him say this, Tucker just shook his head slightly, looking towards the back of the elderly man up ahead. The three had now reached the end of the corridor. A small door opened amidst the wind and rain.

Beyond the small door was a police transport vehicle, painted with official markings.

A young man in a Federal Bureau of Investigation uniform stood in front of the small corridor door, next to the transport vehicle. He looked at He Ao approaching and nodded slightly in greeting, then picked up the black-cranked umbrella in his hand, stepping into the rain and opening it.

The sliding door of the transport vehicle slowly opened, revealing the simple white interior and an alloy barrier net.

This vehicle had no visible driving system; inside, there were only two white bench sofas placed back to back.

At this moment, a man with electromagnetic restraint rings on his hands and feet, and a genteel appearance, was sitting on the sofa at the back, intently staring at He Ao. To his left and right were seated Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, donning light Exoskeleton Armor.

He Ao nodded slightly to the Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and then walked out through the small door, passing beneath the black umbrella and into the interior of the van.

A few dozen seconds ago

"Why have you brought me here? At this time, we haven’t arrived at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, have we? What place is this?"

Sensing that the vehicle had been stationary for a while, Levis looked at the Federal Bureau of Investigation Investigator beside him. His gaze attempted to peer outside but could only see the completely blackout-treated windows. He sneered, "Only temporary detention facilities and prisons recognized by the Federation have the authority to detain me. Are you trying to illegally imprison a citizen’s personal freedom?"

"Someone wants to meet you?"

The Investigator sitting beside him, with a calm expression, spoke calmly.

"Someone wants to meet me?"

Levis was startled, "Who? Is this the procedure for a tax crime? We have already admitted to the tax issues, do you still want to interrogate me through someone not part of the federal judicial system? Or are you planning to use some other channels?"

He frowned slightly, "I warn you, a lot of people in Ains are watching my situation now. If you try to execute some ’special’ operations that are not in accordance with procedures and rules, it will backfire on you. Don’t do anything unnecessary."

As he was speaking, a faint electronic prompt sounded, followed by the slow opening of the closed vehicle’s sliding door.

The first thing that came into sight through the opening gap was the silhouette of a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent holding a black umbrella.

He recognized this agent; he was one of those escorting him and had just been sitting opposite him.

As the vehicle door fully opened, the figure of an elderly man appeared in his field of view. The man was wearing a gray suit, holding a brass cane, was tall and straight, and appeared kind and gentle, exuding energy.

Looking at the elderly man in front of him, Levis’s eyes widened slightly, his light blue pupils contracting gradually.

Under his gaze, the elderly man stepped over the puddles formed by raindrops, placed his foot on the vehicle’s edge, and sat down on the sofa opposite him.

Levis blurted out subconsciously as he looked at the elderly man.

But he quickly realized something, took a deep breath, forcefully suppressed the various emotions swirling in his heart, lowered his head, bent forward slightly, and watched the elderly man, drawing out a smile,

"I was wondering which big shot wanted to see me. Turns out it’s Mr. Lin En... oh, now it should be Mayor Lin En."

He glanced at the elderly man’s neat suit, his voice slightly lower, and laughed, "You seem to be in good health?"

This question would usually seem innocuous, but now, everyone knew that the Mayor had been the target of an assassination, especially since Levis himself had brought up the incident. His asking of this question, coupled with the tone of laughter, was somewhat provocative.

Both Tucker and Sena, who had just arrived beside the vehicle door, frowned simultaneously.

Even the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents seated next to him paused, subconsciously leaning a bit closer to him.

"Why such a big reaction?"

Levis took in everyone’s movements, glanced at the old man in front of him, and said with a smile, "Mr. Lin En and I are ’old friends’ after all; a normal inquiry about one’s health, is there a problem with that?"

His tone paused slightly, his gaze turned towards He Ao’s collar, as if attempting to see the hidden wound beneath the neat outer coat. "Or is it that Mayor Lin En’s health is, in fact, ’not that good’?"

"For now, it’s fine."

He Ao placed the brass cane on the sofa next to him, lowered his head, and looked at Levis.

Like a tiger crouched in the darkness opening its eyes, it watched the humble prey before it.

At that moment, Levis’s speech abruptly halted, and the entire person seemed as if choked, the words that had yet to be uttered stuck in his throat, nearly suffocated.