Chapter 944: Chapter 944

"Mom, it looks like the rain has stopped."

The boy curled up in the bedding, barely lifting his head to look at the poster plastered over the window, spared by the howling winds.

The sound of the dense raindrops seemed to have slowed down and vanished outside the window.

The mother sitting on the bed glanced at the window and nodded slightly, then she turned her head to look at her son’s somewhat haggard cheeks, "You worked all night yesterday, get some sleep earlier."

The boy nodded lightly, then hesitated before picking up the bracelet and playing the speech video again.

The mother watched the boy’s actions and said nothing more; she silently observed the heavy bags under his eyes and the bloodshot eyes.

After a long time, she slowly said, "Jerin, don’t do the night shift anymore, your health is getting worse."

The boy shook his head while looking at the bracelet, "The night shift pays one federal coin more. With that extra money, I can buy better medicine for you, Mom. Didn’t we agree not to talk about this?"

The woman sitting on the bed parted her dry, cracked lips.

In the end, she couldn’t utter any more words.

The boy exited the speech interface, put down the bracelet, then lifted his head to look at the bread and hot water already prepared on the bedside table, "Remember to eat."

He retreated under the covers, turned his back to his mother, and whispered, "Goodnight."

Zhao Jia’s gaze lowered to the boy lying on his side and quietly responded.

She lifted her head, her gaze moving to the window sealed by the poster, with the bright daylight scarcely penetrating through the faded poster.

There was a slight rustling sound next to her.

The boy, turned away from her, turned over to face her, hanging his head, curled up and whispered softly in the cup, "Mom, will life get better?"

"It will get better."

The frail woman reached out, gently wrapped the boy in her arms, and held him close.

The bright sunlight now shone through a narrow gap at the edge of the poster, casting a long ray of light into the damp and gloomy cabin, on the old bedding.

The blazing sun gradually covered the earth with light, while in the northern direction of the low-rise district, a black car slowly stopped at a decrepit corner in the center of the Nevus District.

"Mr. Levis, we’ve arrived."

As the lawyer in the front seat turned his head back to alert him, Levis turned to look out of the side window.

An old fast-food restaurant came into his field of view.

He lifted his head to look at the neon sign above the door of the fast-food restaurant, where several letters had fallen off.

’Old Vick’s Fast Food’

He looked at the name of the shop, his gaze slightly fixed.

He lowered his head to glance at the bracelet, even to this moment, the messages he had sent to several of his confidants had not been answered.

If Lin En could catch him, he might also have some clues about his confidants; now, he could only hope that those guys were lucky enough.

Ever since he had been released on bail, a vague sense of unease had been haunting him, leaving his mind restless, unsure whether it stemmed from Lin En or something else.

He thought of this, gripped the bracelet, and his gaze lowered slightly.

The humiliation and intimidation Lin En had subjected him to the night before, he would repay in due time.

That guy was acting like a madman now, foolish enough to wage direct war with the major consortiums; he would probably lose everything soon.

He estimated that soon he would personally witness that fellow being stabbed to death in front of a grand audience.

It was also in that instant that the cold gaze from the enclosed carriage that morning uncontrollably surfaced in his mind.

He involuntarily recoiled, tensing his muscles,

"The gentleman is waiting for you at Table 5."

The lawyer sitting in front seemed to notice the abnormality of Levis at the back and spoke slowly as a reminder.

Levis came back to his senses, eased his tensed muscles slightly, and then nodded gently, pushed open the car door, and stepped out.

Only when he saw the bright sunlight outside did he breathe a sigh of relief.

It had to be said, though the Old Geezer was far from matching a consortium, he indeed possessed substantial strength and means.

Just that he was insane and foolish enough to dare wage war against the consortiums without gauging his own strength.

He took a deep breath, raised his head to look at the restaurant basked in sunlight ahead, and quickened his pace.

Accompanied by the sound of his new and clean leather boots hitting the edge of an old pond, stirring a slight splash, Levis quickly arrived at the entrance of Old Vick’s Fast Food.

At that moment, the light on the ankle monitor he was wearing switched from green to red.

He paid no attention to these details, but instead lowered his head to glance at the greasy yellow door handle of the fast-food restaurant and at the dried-up, seemingly washed but incompletely cleaned blood stain on the glass door, grabbed the handle, and pushed the door open, stepping inside.

A rather noisy sound and a somewhat stuffy smell hit him as he entered; the fast-food restaurant seemed to be doing well with seventy percent of the seats filled, even though there was still a while before lunchtime.

Levis’s gaze swept across the entire restaurant, and amidst the pile of broken or missing number plates, he found table number 5.

It was a small table near the restaurant window, currently empty of any ’guests.’

After a brief hesitation, Levis still walked over and took a seat in front of Table 5.

He raised his hand to look at the bracelet, tightened the strap around his wrist, then raised his head again to take in the view of the entire restaurant.

At that moment, a freckled-faced waitress brought over a hamburger and fries combo meal, placing it in front of Levis,

"Hello, the guest seated at this table ordered this for you. He said he’ll be right over."

Levis glanced at the combo meal that came with cola, hamburger, fried chicken wings, and fries, nodded slightly, and watched the waitress leave.

Then his gaze passed directly over the meal before him, not touching any of the food brought to him but instead scrutinizing the surrounding crowd more intently.

That unease in his heart seemed to intensify.

"It seems that the esteemed and wise Mister Levis seldom comes to Nevus District,"

A light laugh rang at his ear, "This is what it’s like here, chaotic, dirty, mad."

Levis was momentarily startled and turned his head.

As the somewhat worn dungarees entered his field of view, he didn’t hesitate and instantly turned and bolted away.

But halfway through, he felt his legs weaken, and he stumbled forward to his knees.

A sharp, narrow knife pierced through his chest from behind, splattering blood that glowed with a yellow hue all over the nearby dining table.

"Mr. Levis, you are indeed very cautious, but do you think that by not touching the food, you’ll be safe? The food is not poisonous, the toxin is in the smell, yes, the myriad of scents you questioned upon entering,"

The figure behind him abruptly pulled out the narrow knife, "Do you know, today Lin En almost disbanded the entire Cabinet, firing most of the Cabinet members,

"Nearly all paths for you gentlemen within the City Government have been cut off, along with your partners, but most annoyingly, those two Cabinet officials who refused to cooperate weren’t fired.

"And last night, it seems that the Mayor had a private conversation with you?"

"I haven’t... I want to see..."

Mr. Levis, with a hoarse voice, his trembling body struggling to move forward, trying to flee from this place, while around him, each ’guest’ who had originally been sitting and eating now stood up, looking towards him.

The sharp, narrow knife once again pierced through his body, nailing him to the floor. The man behind him spoke again with a somewhat mocking tone,

"The upper echelons are very disappointed in you, with your intelligence, could you have predicted today’s outcome?"

The man in overalls walked over to Levis, squatting down, smiling as he watched him, "My esteemed Mr. Levis, how does the taste of power feel? You know so much, yet it’s always best to keep your mouth shut."

Looking at the man in overalls before him, Levis finally understood something.

He tugged at the corners of his mouth, letting out a light chuckle, "Heh—heh," coughing up two mouthfuls of fresh blood, "If a crime is desired upon me, I should have listened to him. Killing me, you all had better be prepared to pay the price."

The slender, narrow knife was pulled out again, then thrust into his body.

The man in overalls spat in disgust and stabbed several more times until Levis’s body was mutilated beyond recognition, and the owner of the body completely lost any signs of life before slowly getting up.

Blood filled the old, grease-stained floor, seeping down between the gaps in the tiles.

And on the wristband of the horribly mutilated body, a brief flash of light passed.

[System Resetting...]

He Ao sat on the sofa of another small office, sorting through the collected files one by one.

These included investigation and interview reports of Levis’s subordinates and those connected to him, along with information about the gaunt man who attempted to assassinate him, which he had gathered on his own.

Combining these pieces of information and the intel gathered from interrogating Levis and the gaunt man, it was almost certain that the Consortiums in Yilan City with special interests had already formed a ’community of shared interests.’

Each might have their own strong competition and confrontation, but in terms of opposing the reforms of the White Jasmine Palace and the assassination of the Mayor, they showed a high degree of tacit understanding and agreement.

For instance, Levis, one of the planners of last night’s assassination, was from the Nord Consortium and acted mainly on Nord Consortium’s orders, taking the route of lobbying groups and the upper echelons of Yilan City, mainly mixing in the Saint Yilan District.

As for the gaunt man who just attempted the assassination, he was from Yiwis Space System, taking the route of the underground gangs, one of the ’controllers’ of the entire underworld in Yilan City, mainly operating in the Nevus District.

These two people, who would not ordinarily intersect in their daily lives, had, however, reached a high level of agreement on the Mayor’s assassination, both making their moves within a span of a single day.

Their intelligence and informants also seemed to have a certain degree of overlap.

Perhaps those Consortiums lurking outside the White Jasmine Palace, staring greedily at this palace, have already formed some ’Yilan Alliance’ on a deeper level or have even achieved some form of ’shared’ intelligence and planning to some extent.

Although these Consortiums may struggle to truly unite, they would likely first try to utilize the power of this ’alliance’ to the fullest to eliminate He Ao and any force within Yilan City that opposed them.

Yilan City was strong, but against these combined forces that had been operating within Yilan City for many years, each with their own Mercenary Corps, it was far from sufficient.

The two assassins had merely lifted the curtain on this confrontation; more intense attacks and resistance could arrive at any moment.

He Ao leaned back on the couch, rubbing his brow lightly.

Then his gaze shifted downward, falling onto a document in his hands.

A name caught his attention, ’Prisoners’ Gang’.

When he had inquired about the underground world from the gaunt man, the name ’Prisoners’ Gang’ had flickered through the man’s mind.

As one of the ’controllers’ of the entire Yilan underground world, the gaunt man seemed to be quite wary of this Prisoners’ Gang.

The thoughts that trickled from his chaotic mind suggested that he had once attempted to deal with the Prisoners’ Gang but was warned off by the Evis Space System Consortium, ultimately having to drop the issue.

The documents in He Ao’s hands, which he had collected through Eve and the Chief of Staff, were related to the Prisoners’ Gang.

The Prisoners’ Gang appeared to be mainly active in the southern part of Nevus District, controlling many abandoned buildings. The entire southern Nevus District was their territory, and they had now become the largest gang in the district.

And they had risen from an unknown small fry to the number-one gang in the Nevus District in just a few short years.

Most of the time, the sudden rise of such a gang was backed by a powerful force, generally a large power newly entering the area.

But there had been no new large powers entering Yilan City in recent years, and from the gaunt man’s thoughts, it seemed the entire Yilan underground world had been stable.

In such a stable situation, the emergence of a new power was another possibility: a force had offended the supporting Consortium and was abandoned, with a new force taking the stage as a new glove.

The major Consortia divided their own territories, there were some frictions and minor conflicts, but overall, they were controllable, and no power was abandoned by the Consortia.

Looking at it this way, the rise of the Prisoners’ Gang seemed unrelated to the two aforementioned scenarios—there was neither the entry of an external large Consortium nor the end of any old power.

Instead, the documents suggested that it seemed like all the major Consortia had somewhat retracted their forces, leaving ’space’ for this Prisoners’ Gang.

The last time He Ao felt such unanimity among the Consortia was when he had just remarked on how well they cooperated in planning the Mayor’s assassination.

There was only one thing that could unite the Consortia: interests.

Linen was targeted because he might damage their interests, causing them to unite.

So, what had the Prisoners’ Gang done that made the major Consortia willing to shrink their influence somewhat?

He Ao slowly put away the documents in his hand and placed them on the coffee table in front of him.

The southern part of Nevus District was the poorest area of Yilan City, where the power of the Mayor’s Mansion and the Federal Bureau of Investigation was very weak. Gathering this much intelligence was already the limit.

Perhaps, it was time to see for himself.

He faintly felt that the Prisoners’ Gang might be linked to some crucial clue.

With those Consortia, and with the main quest of this Copy World as well.

He Ao glanced at the dense pile of documents on the coffee table.

The Angelic Tier Honorary Speaker of Yilan City was still unreachable, and those Consortia seemed to have anticipated the disappearance of this Angel, thus brazenly launching the attack on Linen.

It seemed that the city’s secrets were as numerous as its dangers.

Just then, a crisp and urgent ringing sounded in his ear.

He Ao reached out, picked up the handset of the old-fashioned telephone next to him, and spoke quickly, "This is Lin En."

a somewhat strange voice came from the phone, "The Minister of Internal Affairs is back, he’s arrived at the airport."