The bailiff escorting Horace Lee stopped him and took away the folded antibacterial paper napkin. The thick ss booth isted their movements, so not many people noticed this even though he was in the defendants dock.
Meanwhile, the jurors were lining up to take their seats. Everyone was looking that way, and the judge already had his gavel raised high.
Dong.
Under the undivided attention of countless people across the alliance, the Elderly Bobblehead case officially kicked off in the Supreme Court of De Carma.
And outside of the courtroom, there were some waiting for this moment.
In Honeb Media, Bens and Hersey, who was almostte for the trial, were sitting in front of the photonputer, gaping nkly at the visitor in a suit in front of them.
The visitor was assistant to the man at the top of Spring Ivy Group, Devore Yves.
A few days before, he had received a mission from his own boss and the twowyers.
Now, it was time for him to get the ball rolling.
Bens read the information packet the other had passed over.
It was actually an assortment of news story abstracts. On its own, each wasnt enough to paint the full picture, but they sufficed to outline the funny business that the Manson brothers were up to over the years.
The more Bens read, the more rmed he got. Are these real? The people who had passed away back in the day, and the Sweeper, the gic virus, the infection oh god, theyre all linked?
The two of you are reporters, are you not? I believe that you are much more discerning than most, said the assistant.
For some reason, it chastened Bens to hear this.
The scale was too big for him to fully digest it for a while, but then at the thought of the countless photos that he had taken over the years, he suddenly saw rity.
Bens pointed at a few of the pages and asked the assistant, Did Dean Yan agree for these to be published? Truth be told, he and Lawyer Gu are my greatest fears at the moment. If I were to get on their bad side, Ill
Dont worry. More than agree to it, the assistant said, they chose to publish these at this time. They were the ones who put forward the idea.
Hersey looked even more confounded.
He nced at his own smart device, then at the pieces in the information packet pertaining to the Sweeper. I just emailed Lawyer Gu did they already know who the Sweeper was? Then why did they have to bother finding out?
The assistant pursed his lips. Neitherwyer is fond of making spections. I guess gut feeling will neverpare to incriminating links and evidence for them.
Also, can these even be sessfully published? Bens was slightly worried. After reading these, anyone with a brain will know what the Manson family has done. How can the Manson brothers sit back and watch us post these?
The assistant chuckled. They wont be able to see it.
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Will this be exclusively published by our outlet? Bens said, To be honest, our reputation and credibility is far from enough. If we post this, wouldnt everyone just blow it off as the figment of a rich imagination?
Dont worry, youre certainly not the only ones. The assistantughed, Its just that your outlet has been the first to all the big storiestely, so why not keep it going? As for whether people will take it as fiction or fact you dont have to worry about that. Its long been projected.
Bens asked, astonished, Even this can be projected?
Im afraid, when ites to predicting the resultant response and guiding the emotional impact, there are none more proficient thanw practitioners.
Bens, Christ,wyers are terrifying.
The assistant corrected, Not allwyers are so difficult.
Bens, First-ss Lawyers areterrifying.
The assistant said objectively, One of them is not yet.
Bens, Hell be one sooner orter. Badpany corrupts good morals.
The assistant loudly cleared his throat.
So, are you joining the gang? Mr Assistant cracked a rare joke.
Exhration zipped through Bens. He took a deep inhale and then nodded. Of course.
The reason that he had taken so many photos covering the past, above all, was due to the niggling suspicion he had about them.
Only, the pursuit of truth was a treacherous road that he wasnt able to brave.
Thankfully, there was more than one who had persisted through it all. They took years to get to today, but get here they did, so when they could finally expose the truth to the world, he, as a reporter, had no reason not to join.
At 10:02 a.m., on the alliance-wide courtroom livestream, the jurors were taking their oath, swearing to uphold justice.
An expos with the headline Uncovering the truth behind the explosion was published out of the blue. As it was posted on Honeb Media by reporters Bens and Hersey, it immediately gained as much attention as it had four days ago when it was announced that Yan Suizhi was still alive.
Easing them into the full story through Yan Suizhis death was the angle that would catch the most traction from the public.
First, let them understand that the explosion that Yan Suizhi was involved in was more than an ident, but a covert murder attempt. Then, link this murder to the many idents across the years, like the medical capsule manufacturer who overdosed on painkillers, Ms Lucy whomitted suicide in prison, Professor Zhou, the medical school professor, and so on, so forth.
Bens and Herseys extensive photo gallery came into y here.
Eventually, people would work out that this was all part of a connected whole.
While this assistant was pulling strings in the media industry, Devore Yves other assistant didnt stay idle. He contacted the police force.
After learning that Jack White had been found, the fake nurse Amy Borro abruptly stopped resisting.
While she wasnt particrly cooperative, she did divulge some information, the majority rted to Jack White, but also some about other parties. She was one of the Manson Groups major breaches.
The police chief didnt even put on a stink face anymore. He was in a chirpier mood, and was especially amenable to anything.
Devore Yves assistant provided him some information, which naturally also included the photographs of the Sweeper that Hersey had found. So, the police chief took a break from watching the courtroom livestream to bring Amy Borro up for questioning again.
The police chief didnt waste a single word, directly pushing the photos in front of her.
Amy Borros eyes narrowed into slits as she nced down at them. She snorted. After so many days of dutifully watching him at the hospital, have your colleagues finally thought to question his identity?
The police chief was filled with anger. Even if wed asked on the first day, would you have answered?
Amy Borro snorted again.
So, he is indeed the Sweeper?
The Sweeper? Amy Borro echoed. Is that what you call him? That works, its quite fitting. This Sweeper is quite something to reckon with. His death count is innumerable.
For example?
For example? Dont kid around, how would I know. Amy Borro whispered, I was still studying when he first started working for the big bosses. Thats almost thirty years back.
Tell me the recent ones, then. Or whatever you know. Like why youve drugged him several times.
You tell me. Amy Borro arched a slender eyebrow. Havent you heard that you should stew your hounds after the prey is caught?
Who cant make guesses? But will good guesses help to close a case? The police chief swore vehemently in his head but he still had to coax thisdy into revealing more.
He used to be the go-to guy whenever anyone needed to be cleaned up. Hes experienced, he has all sorts of ways to escape arrest after all the training he has had under the big bosses wing since reaching adulthood.
Amy Borro said, But hes been fading out over thest two years. It could have started because he wanted out, after seeing the world maybe he suddenly wanted to pass life more peacefully? He was slick in his crimes, very skilled at deceiving people. But he also had an achilles heel; he liked to show off from time to time. The bosses picked up on his flighty mood and then the missions assigned to him started to decrease. I can give you some examples for this, actually.
Oh?
For example, the explosion case that has been in the spotlight again, and the Elderly Bobblehead case thats on trial. Amy Borro said, The recent stuff doesnt involve him. You know what that means? It means hes useless now.
He realised, too. Theres no peace for the wicked. If he really wanted a break, then he wouldnt be far from death. He tried to fight for it a few times to no avail. Amy Borro recalled. There were rumours going around that hed go check around the crime scenes to see who it was that had taken his ce.
Who was it?
Theres nowho. Amy Borro said, The big bosses stopped using a fixed guy, even if using a fixed guy allowed him to umte experience.
After the explosion case, the Sweeper watched with his own two eyes as the insane suspect got apprehended, and he promptly abandoned all thoughts of making himself a pawn again. He started running.
You know how it goes. Running the normal way would never work. Youll get dug up no matter where you hide. That is the experience that almost thirty years of evading authorities had taught him, and he relied on gic modification surgery to escape every time. In the past, the big bosses would arrange it for him, but not this time. He likely went to the ck market.
Amy Borro scorned. If he can think of this, so can others. The big bosses stationed men in the ck market to mess around with the Sweepers gic modification surgery. Have this surgery be his death, fake it so that he had a run in with an underground clinic and died from surgical infection.
The policemen suddenly stood straight. Clinic? Infection?
Sounds familiar, does it not? Amy Borro continued. The Sweeper is a very paranoid man, so when he discovered something afoot, he passed the danger on to someone else to wriggle out of it. After the incubation period, there was a sudden outbreak. Word spread, and it became the most talked about viral infection a while back.
Fuck!
The interrogation room was filled with cussing.
Two evils were at outs, yet innocent civilians got caught in the crossfire.
But he wasnt able topletely get away. He still got infected all the same. Amy Borro said, He got cocky. He thought that he had resolved it perfectly so there was no way that he could get infected, which was why he looked so incredulous to be hospitalised.
Likewise for the Elderly Bobblehead case. He was probably forced into a corner by the big bosses and thought that the only way to save his life was to put himself in in sight, with a million eyes on him. Then, the odds of there being attempts on his life would be lower. So, he pretended to be involved in the Elderly Bobblehead case and left traces of himself everywhere. With that, he would be put under the nose of the police and the big bosses would naturally not dare to act out. As it turned out, the big bosses simply spun it to their advantage by shifting the whole focus of the case onto him, pushing the other suspect out of y, then influencing public opinion to sentence him to a death that he never sawing.
Amy Borros eyes snapped towards the door of the interrogation room. She said, Are you watching the courtroom livestream out there? Lets put it this way: If the Sweeper is found guilty in this case, then he has indeed been wronged, and the big bosses will be ted to see that be reality. But if hes found not guilty, then, with his experience, it will be a lot harder to nap him again after that.
For those of you sticklers to justice, the trial today is a dead end.
As the interrogation room fell silent, at the Supreme Court of De Carma, the judge nodded at the prosecutor, saying solemnly, You may begin your opening statement.