Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“She really had help! I wasn’t the only one to see it. Everyone witnessed it, too! We also have a video!” The man stammered and wanted to send the video to her.
“Video? Fine, send it to me.” The woman suppressed her rage and began receiving the video from the other person. The footage was very blurry, and it was obviously a recording of a moving subject in the dark of night. However, she could still clearly make out two people on the motorcycle—a man and a woman. The woman wearing a helmet in the back was slim and should be Gu Nianzhi. The man driving the motorcycle never turned back, but his broad back and long legs were still visible. It wasn’t anyone she knew.
“There really was someone helping her?” The woman’s eyes narrowed instantly, unease in her heart. The man driving the motorcycle couldn’t be help left behind by that person? The woman with a round face and straight hair rubbed her temples in thought for a while, then finally shook her head and determined that couldn’t be it. With that person’s vigilance and ruthlessness, any help he left behind would have eliminated all her people a long time ago. There was no way the help would meet Gu Nianzhi in that desolate place.
She hung up the phone and sat contemplating for a long time. In Germany, York probably couldn’t help much anymore. In America, someone had already tied Huo Shaoheng’s hands, so he shouldn’t know that Gu Nianzhi had gotten into trouble yet. After much thought, she knew the only help she could use was still from within the Hua Xia Empire. That was almost her ace card. If she still couldn’t kill Gu Nianzhi with it, she could only think that she was completely evil and tough. Good people didn’t survive for long, while evil prevailed for thousands of years!
…
Since He Zhichu had returned, there was still no news of Gu Nianzhi, despite the fact that he hadn’t stopped searching for several days. It was like all the clues had been cut off when she went into the Alps. He decided to stop pursuing that angle and instead began to look directly for Seth and York. From the bloodstains they found in the car, it appeared Seth was severely injured and needed a place to recuperate. In his room in the Hilton Hotel, He Zhichu read the results of the investigation from the last few days and picked up the phone to command his subordinates.
“Remember that small clinic? Investigate the owner’s name and address. Find him, and we should be able to find out where Seth is.” Seth was a fugitive and also severely injured, so he certainly couldn’t go to a regular hospital for treatment. He may have gone to the small clinic, and the kidnappers had also abandoned the car in the clinic’s parking lot. That meant the clinic owner had a deeper connection with the people trying to hunt Gu Nianzhi. With this clue, it became easy to find them.
They assumed that swapping locations would be enough to cover their tracks, so when several masked, strapping men with semi-automatic submachine guns burst into the doctor’s hiding place and yanked him out of his bed, he still had no idea what was happening. He assumed it was a normal armed robbery or criminal demanding treatment from him and quickly said, “Gentleman, do you want money or medication? My clinic isn’t here, but everything is in there!”
The men remained silent and took out tape to seal his mouth before bringing him to He Zhichu’s location. He Zhichu didn’t reveal himself but sat behind a screen to listen to his subordinates interrogate the doctor. The doctor had never been subject to such abuse. It only took breaking the wrist of his scalpel wielding hand before he cried out and confessed everything. “Seth is already ruined! I surgically removed his penis and testicles! He’s recovering in a villa right now! …I don’t know anything! I don’t know anything at all! The female lawyer they were hunting ran off! They’re still looking for her! I don’t know where she is!” The doctor cradled his damaged hand and wailed pitifully, “It had nothing to do with me! I only helped with treatment! I never did anything bad!”
“Haha… The person helping abusers is saying he never did anything bad, so I’m merely doing charity work, too.” The mercenary who broke his hand made a rare joke but was truly disgusted by the hypocrisy. “You said you never did anything bad, but all these years you treated the injuries these people got, and what compensation did they give you under the table? As a doctor, you failed to report gunshot wounds or stab wounds, and you’re still saying you never did bad things? How many felons like murderers and smugglers did you protect? Don’t you know that is a collaborative crime?”
The doctor was stunned speechless, and his cries grew quieter. He Zhichu finally exhaled deeply when he heard this. He slowly supported himself on the chair to stand up. He could ease his mind somewhat knowing Nianzhi hadn’t fallen into the hands of these horrible people. She had been a smart young girl since she was little, so this time he hoped that she could stay strong. He would certainly find her and personally bring her home!
He Zhichu came out of the room where the doctor was locked up and ordered his subordinates, “Go find Seth.” According to the doctor’s confession, Seth was hiding in a villa that was actually one of York’s private properties. It was well concealed, so basically nobody knew it belonged to their family. There were no other homes within five miles, only theirs.
…
Seth lay on the bed in his family’s villa, desolate and unable to sleep at all. Every day, he laid there to recuperate, but as far as he was concerned, he was waiting to die. No other people came there, aside from his mother and stepfather, who brought food and a change of clothes every three days. He didn’t want to see anyone right now, anyway. His current state was not even human, so he might as well be dead! At the thought of the vicious female lawyer, he gritted his teeth and wanted nothing more but to rip her to shreds! He swore that as soon as he recovered, he would make her die a death more painful than what that female exchange student suffered!
Seth fell asleep enraged but was awakened by pain. Opening his eyes, he discovered he was no longer on the bed but in his basement! A group of large men wearing masks and black clothes surrounded him, and at their heels were several black wolf dogs barking at him. A man draped in a black cape with a low hood slowly walked over and stomped his foot on Seth’s face. His voice was old and indifferent. “Are you Seth?” It was an authentic Hannover accent and sounded somewhat familiar to Seth, but he couldn’t see the man’s face. “Are you?” the man repeated.
“Yes… Yes…” Seth stuttered and looked up to try to see the man’s face but couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried. The man’s face was hidden in the dark shadows of the hood, and he seemed to be wearing sunglasses, too. Sweat beaded on Seth’s forehead, and he suddenly felt fear. The man didn’t threaten him verbally, but merely standing there was enough to send fear to his bones. He looked up at the man’s cascading black hood, and it seemed to envelope him endlessly, completely enshrouding him like a great doom.
The man in the black cape was He Zhichu. He looked down at Seth shaking by his feet and removed his foot. He then wiped it on the carpet like Seth was something very dirty. He turned away and spat, “Kill him.”
Seth’s pupils dilated instantly as he watched the man’s cape flutter out the door like the arrival of the god of death. Rip! Seth’s clothing was torn off by a few bodyguards, and then the salivating wolf dogs eyed him eagerly. They lunged at him one by one…
…
He Zhichu stood at the basement door and heard the wolf dog’s excited barking as well as Seth’s despairing shrieks that were increasing in volume. The bodyguards watched expressionlessly until Seth was in his death throes, then plunged a knife into his chest. The person stabbing him wore a pair of thin plastic gloves that had clear fingerprints marked on them. However, the fingerprints left only faint traces on the knife.
“York has used this knife before?” one bodyguard asked quietly.
“Yeah, the fingerprints are all there. I found a thief and paid good money to get it.” One bodyguard chuckled as he positioned the knife. After everything was cleaned up, they then performed decomposition treatment to Seth’s body to backdate the time of death. Finally, they put Seth’s decomposed body in the freezer.
…
“Mr. He, it’s all done now,” the leader of the bodyguards informed He Zhichu.
“Ok, clean this place up and don’t leave any evidence.” He Zhichu turned to look back before walking away. They came prepared and wore thick plastic bags on their feet as well as thick plastic gloves. They were sure to not leave any footprints or fingerprints.
After leaving York’s villa, their two vehicles quickly sped into the mountains under the cloak of darkness. They then made a big loop before returning to the Hilton Hotel in Munich. It was already midnight, and He Zhichu wasn’t sleepy at all when he got back to his room. Turning on his laptop, he went online and found his target’s computer to hack into. From there, he obtained a variety of evidence and information. Then he used that person’s own email account to send a mass email to many individuals and organizations, including the most popular German social media as well as the three major television networks. The email He Zhichu sent through the target’s inbox was much too shocking.
Nearly all the German media including online, TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines reported the same breaking news. Andrea, the famous German councilor, who was also a top contender in the next chancellor elections, had an error in his email and accidentally sent out a mass message with private documents! The private documents were not of the normal variety, but described how his subordinates had bought support and committed bribery! Also, he had business dealings with the mafia and assassinated another councilor who had competed against him for a seat in the parliament! The evidence was so overwhelming, and the key was that he was the one who had sent it all out from his own email account!
The German national defense quickly followed up and requested a court order to search for evidence in the councilor’s home. The councilor’s computer, phone, tablet, and all smart electronic devices were confiscated for professionals to peruse. The evidence was so complete, no one could discreetly help him cover up. Everyone with ties to him wasted no time cutting their connection out of fear of being dragged into the mess. And within all the evidence, York, who was all powerful in Roslau, appeared multiple times—from helping the councilor pay for votes, to connecting him to the mafia to assassinate a political opponent, he was always present. When the incident leaked, York instantly holed up in Roslau. The mayor immediately removed him as Chief of Police and gave him the position of principal of the police academy to avoid public pressure.
Smith and his colleagues laughed bitterly when they heard this. “He was still able to become principal of the police academy, even after an incident like this. That position is no worse than chief of police.”
“Right, these Germans have no shame!”
He Zhichu stared coldly out the window and thought it was time to release the second wave. Less than two days later, the Munich District Court’s official social media account suddenly uploaded several screenshots that detailed the internal dealings between York and the second judge in charge of Li Haiqing’s case! York had asked the judge to acquit his stepson and promised to help the judge run for the next member of parliament!
The entire nation instantly distributed the screenshots as soon as they were posted. The judge had been delaying sentencing for the first days of Li Haing’s case, and everyone had really believed it was due to lack of evidence. As soon as the emails and screenshots were released, everyone knew it was far from the truth! The judge was colluding with York and attempting to muddy the truth! By the time the Munich District Court learned about the posts on their official social media account, it was already viral throughout the entire nation. Even the Congress and Ministry of Justice began the process of subpoena and scheduled hearings for the judge. Although the judge denied it vehemently and claimed that screenshots were fabricated with Photoshop, all the deleted emails on his phone were recovered by the German Ministry of Justice’s IT department. It proved the posts were not faked but were real.
As to why they were stupid enough to leave written evidence, it was because the two men didn’t trust each other and were afraid the other would go back on his word, so they had to use a method of recording their transaction so it could be used as mutual blackmail. If one dared to rat out the other or abandon the transaction, then the other would reveal everything. This mutually destructive method was the only way to guarantee the consistency of their interests. However, they never thought that there would be such skilled hackers in the world who could discreetly infiltrate their emails and extract all the screenshots of the emails!
Soon after, the second judge in charge of Li Haiqing’s case was suspended from his post and investigated, not to mention being removed from the case. Both cases were linked to York, and he had also been revealed to have assisted the first councilor in bribing people for votes, as well as colluding with the mafia. However, he had only been removed from his position as Chief of Police to be made principal of the police academy!
#suchacorruptedpersonwaspromotedtoprincipalofthepoliceacademy, you’re kidding me! The entire nation’s social media was posting the hashtag. The spotlight on York was second to none, and even the most popular net idol was no match for him. Under unanimous public condemnation, as well as the assistance of certain figures, York was removed from the post of principal of the police academy. Additionally, the balances of his German and Swiss bank accounts were revealed. All the people of Germany were truly angered when they saw the astronomical number of zeros in his bank account. With York’s position, there was no way he could earn that amount, even if he worked for 500 years as Chief of Police.
For many citizens, political corruption and bribery was what they hated the most. Although they pitied the foreign female student victim in the last case, they didn’t go through the same ordeal, so even when York wasn’t dealt with severely, most people didn’t really care and only joined the masses in following the case. But this was different. York was hitting the most sensitive nerve with the German people. Suddenly, all social media and traditional media were expressing condemnation towards York and also requested severe punishment. As soon as York’s bank information was revealed, he was suspended and investigated. All the officials on York’s side in Roslau were removed, and the region held their election early. Prosecutors and police removed boxes and boxes of evidence from York and Ramona’s residence. All his properties were investigated.
He Zhichu used the excuse of the civil litigation as reason to immediately freeze all of York and Ramona’s assets in his UBS Bank account. Most people knew that UBS Bank typically never got involved in things like this and rarely volunteered to surrender or freeze their client’s accounts. However, at He Zhichu’s request, UBS Bank immediately agreed. The German officials all worried when they saw that even UBS Bank had to bow down to He Zhichu. Now they wouldn’t dare to go against him again. Just as the investigation on York’s assets was heating up, the climax came.
The police unearthed Seth’s frozen body in one of York’s country villas! Everyone knew that Seth had absconded, but they didn’t expect that instead of leaving Germany, he had died a long time ago! As soon as the incident was revealed, York’s case was no longer a simple political one, as he now faced a criminal case! There were only fingerprints and footprints from York, Ramona, and Seth in the villa, and the autopsy revealed that he had died 20 days ago—the day he allegedly escaped from the hospital. He had died a terrible death, and not only was his corpse covered in wolf dogs’ saliva, but he was stabbed with a knife with his stepfather’s fingerprints! These results were “unintentionally” leaked by someone. Ramona, who claimed to be ill and kept silent all this time, instantly switched sides. Seeing her son’s corpse, she cried so hard she nearly passed out. Many believed York killed Seth because his stepson brought him too much trouble, so killing him off was characteristic for York.
Even Ramona believed, because when they had fought previously, York had mentioned more than once that her son was better off dead! Additionally, there was all sorts of direct and indirect evidence found on York. Because York had killed her beloved son, she no longer stayed quiet. She turned on him, and York’s case became hopeless. They had been married for a dozen years, so she knew everything about him. In the face of all the evidence, York knew his time was up. No one would be protecting him anymore. There would only be people pushing him down further.
He had been very violent in the detention center. After creating so many false cases and avoiding justice, the tide had changed, and it was his turn now.
