Shadow Empire

Chapter 513 Who is the most suspicious?
Panda staggered to his feet and fell several times. He felt that there was something wrong with his balance system.

He was clearly standing, but his feeling told him that the world was spinning!
He instinctively tried to adjust his balance, but ended up falling to the ground.

He looked back at the house that had become ruins, and saw his colleagues who were trapped under the rubble, opening and closing their mouths with painful expressions on their faces, but he could not hear a single sound.

Wang Defa, what happened?
His mind was confused and the huge explosion put him in a trance.

Even the picture in front of me has some double images.

He suddenly felt a force from behind pushing him forward, and he almost fell to the ground. When he looked back, he saw many of his fellow agents rushing over from other places towards the ruins, using their hands to move some things out and throw them away.

He stood in the crowd, his eyes sometimes confused, sometimes clear.

After a while, maybe a few minutes, he gradually woke up and the lost sounds returned to his ears.

"Hurry and save people..."

"Help……"

"Someone help me!"

"Did anyone bring a tourniquet?"

Four people dug out a bloody corpse from the ruins at the same time, put it aside, and continued digging.

No one knew how many people were in the house at the time, and no one knew how many were still alive. They only knew that they had to get these people out from under the rubble as quickly as possible.

Ponda also joined the rescue team. He now understood what Lance meant by "don't get too forward."

At the same time, from the bottom of my heart, from the depths of my soul, there was a heart-pounding tremor!
If he... came closer, would it mean that he would also be buried under the rubble?
"I found Weber!"

Ponda stood up, immediately put down the work in his hands and walked towards the voice. There were already quite a few people gathered there. He pushed through the crowd and walked to the innermost part of the crowd. He indeed saw Weber.

But it was not the complete Weber, only his upper body, and it was a mutilated upper body at that.

Pangda's head was buzzing. Although he knew the answer before he came, he was still shocked.

He turned his head to look at the dark wilderness around him, and an unsettling chill rose from the soles of his feet.

In the city, Dale is talking on the phone with his friend, a capable friend.

"…It's not that I don't want to help you, Dale. We've known each other for many years, and you know exactly what kind of person I am."

"As long as I can help you, I will definitely help you."

"You have performed very badly several times in a row and everyone is disappointed in you. It is our best effort not to transfer you to another place."

Dale felt a pain in his head when he heard these words. "I know, so I don't ask you to do anything for me now. As long as I can be safe, that's enough."

"I don't plan to go back to Golden State anymore. I want to buy a house here and bring my family over..."

When he said these words, Director Dell's mood became obviously depressed. If possible, he did not want to accept his fate.

But he didn't do it well.

He has been considering some things during this period. When he does not plan to return to Golden State, it means that his bottom line is in jeopardy.

Making a fortune and then retiring has become his subconscious thought. He knows that he has this idea, but he is trying his best to deny his idea or ignore it as much as possible.

At the same time, he was also very clear that one day he would clearly realize this problem and take that step.

Many people have committed occupational crimes, and it’s actually no big deal.

The friend on the other end of the line coughed, and Director Dell sensed something was wrong. "You called me, not just to say a few insignificant words to me, do you have anything to say?"

"tell me!"

He emphasized his tone. After a few seconds of silence, his friend said, "Golden Harbor City is a fast-growing and important city, both in terms of its international role and its geographical location in the Federation, so someone is very interested in your location."

Director Dell didn't think there was anything wrong with the first half of the sentence, so he almost couldn't react to the final turn.

"You said, someone is interested in my position, who?"

"We're good friends, so I'm willing to be honest with you... several."

"Egg!"

"You called me at night to tell me that someone was going to kick me out of this position?"

"Fuck, Fuck brother!"

Chief Dale let out a sharp pop in his office.

The friend on the other end of the phone waited for a while, and when his emotions had calmed down a little, he continued, "The Prohibition Committee recently received a report that talked about the problem of smuggled liquor in Likalai State."

“Twenty-three percent of the Federation’s smuggled liquor enters the Federation from Likalai State, and the long coastline has become a favorite place for smugglers.”

"And it was too close to Alan."

"You know what I mean."

Commissioner Dale had spent considerable time in the Golden State, and he certainly understood the meaning behind these words.

It is not that a great deal of smuggled liquor came in through this channel, making Prohibition very embarrassing.

Rather, it means that there are huge interests behind this!
Interests are the truth that makes the world go round. Where there are interests, there are desires and needs.

Someone has set his sights on the interests here, but he is unable to maintain his power, so someone wants to move him away.

Just move him away like a chess piece on a chessboard, grab his head, and throw him aside.

If he can cooperate, there is a high probability that he can continue to stay on the chessboard, but if he does not cooperate, he will be thrown into the chess box.

"One of them is from your local state prohibition committee. Don't tell anyone I said that."

"That... Weber, his uncle is doing public relations."

Director Dale cursed again, and after cursing for a while, he became very depressed because he had no ability to resist in this matter.

From its inception, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Hazardous Substances was a vertical agency that reported directly to the members of the Congressional Prohibition Committee.

The purpose of doing this is to prevent the Hazardous Materials Management Bureau from being suppressed by local governments. After all, local economic policies and protection strategies may conflict with some law enforcement content.

This means that the top leaders of the Hazardous Materials Administration have absolute control over them. Weber's uncle doesn't even need to deal with the bigwigs in Congress. He just needs to propose that "the director of the Jingang City Hazardous Materials Administration must be replaced", and if no one objects, he can start taking action.

Chief Dale grabbed his collar and tore at it. He felt an invisible noose around his neck, gradually tightening.

"Is there any way to prevent this from happening?"

There was no sound in the receiver, and it was obvious that his departure seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

He cursed a few more times, and suddenly footsteps were heard outside, and then the office door was knocked open.

His face was full of anger, not because someone broke down his office door, but because someone was coveting his position and power.

Now he needs a way to vent.

He glared at the man and said into the phone, "I'll call you back later."

Then he hung up the phone, and then looked fiercely at the agent who knocked on the door, "You are so old now, hasn't your mother taught you how to knock on the door?"

This is actually a very ugly expression, which is equivalent to greeting one's mother.

Fortunately, this man didn't care about these things at the moment. He was breathing heavily, with a terrified expression on his face. "Something big has happened, Chief Dale!"

Director Dale looked at his face for two or three seconds, and his expression gradually became serious. "You'd better tell me something that I think is really a big deal!"

"Senior Agent Weber is dead..."

"A total of eleven people died, and more than a dozen were seriously injured. Many people were slightly injured. I don't know..." Director Dale's head now seemed to have been blown up by a bomb. At this moment, there was only one voice left in the world.

The sound of "嘤嘤嘤" remained constant at a high frequency, and the whole world began to spin. He held on to the edge of the table with both hands, forcing himself not to fall down.

About ten seconds later, he came back to his senses. His stiff eyeballs moved and his look became a little more lively.

"what happened?"

The men told the whole story, including how they didn't find anyone when they arrived at the farm, but did find whiskey worth four or five hundred thousand dollars.

Then they searched the entire farm and found some account books and a locked iron box in a room.

Senior member of Weber opened the iron box in front of everyone. Who could have imagined that there was a bundle of bombs inside.

The bomb's pull cord was stuck to the top of the iron box.

He was killed instantly!

There are still several pieces missing.

Everyone around him and the people around the iron box were killed in the explosion. In addition to the bomb, there was also a triangular iron material in the iron box. Any bones in front of it would be pierced and shattered.

Director Dale leaned heavily on his chair, his face full of fatigue. "Call all the off-duty agents back and have them participate in the rescue work, and then..."

He hesitated for a few seconds and said, "Call the police."

What he is thinking about now is how to get himself out of this matter. Calling the police is a very appropriate move. It can also be seen from here that Director Dell is indeed not a mediocrity in politics.

Using a third-party law enforcement agency to collect evidence and conduct investigations can avoid possible suspicion and responsibility on his part in this matter to the greatest extent possible, but it will also make the Hazardous Materials Management Bureau once again the focus of public opinion, and a negative focus at that!

He could already imagine that the gentlemen in Congress would have strange expressions on their faces after seeing this news.

That Dell that they gave up on made big news again?

He is a little desperate now and even feels that he can't even retire safely!

The news spread quickly in Jingang City. After all, it was rare to see so many police cars and ambulances rushing out of the city.

Whether it was the hospital or the police station, they were all like a sieve with big holes and small holes, and soon a series of phone calls brought the news to the ears of the upper class.

The Hazardous Materials Administration encountered a trap/ambush while investigating the case, and dozens of people died.

Charlie also confirmed this situation from the side, and Hunter also went to the scene to handle the case personally, which was Charlie's request.

Although he was just a tool of the lower level and a politician, his contacts with the Bay Area over the years made him vaguely understand what Director Dell meant. He wanted to be independent, so this was an opportunity to win over both parties.

Never mind whether Director Dale can keep his position in the Hazardous Materials Administration after this incident. Even if he can't, he is not completely worthless.

His connections and the phone numbers he knows might come in handy at some point.

The scene was already very lively at this time, with headlights pulled out everywhere, illuminating the farm buildings as if it were daytime.

The police also formed a "search team" to look for people hiding in the weeds. From time to time, a flare flying into the sky made the wilderness briefly as bright as day.

Hunter took a screwdriver and pried a triangular piece of debris from the wall. He just held it lightly in his hand, and felt a slight tingling sensation when the tip touched his skin. It was very sharp!
There are quite a few such fragments on the wall. No matter whether they are made of wood, concrete, or other materials, they will be pierced and embedded in the wall.

"The idea behind making this bomb is very professional." Hunter put the fragment in a matchbox and put it in his pocket.

Such professional fragments were definitely not made casually. He needed to investigate to see who made it or if anyone knew some information about it.

The tragic scene made him break out in a cold sweat, especially when he heard that this abandoned farm might be related to the Lance family, he felt even more uneasy.

There were many traces and indirect evidence at the scene, but no direct evidence at all.

It is absolutely not enough to have only indirect evidence against Lance. There must be heavy and strong evidence to send him to prison.

As for killing him?
Hunter considered it but gave it up because it was unrealistic.

If he couldn't mobilize a large number of law enforcement officers or gunmen, he wouldn't be able to do it. If he wanted to deal with Lance, he could only take legal action.

At the same time, he, Director Dale and Charlie all realized one thing, that is, there was an undercover agent of Lance in the Hazardous Materials Administration.

Moreover, this undercover agent is qualified to know this matter. It is even possible that this is a trap, a scheme set around Weber!

At night, all the Hazardous Materials Administration agents who participated in the operation did not go home. They all went to the police station, including Ponda.

He is still a little frightened and keeps smoking, but this is in line with his mental state.

"...Do you have anything else to add?" A police officer stopped writing and looked at Ponda. There were more than a dozen cigarette butts at Ponda's feet.

He doesn't necessarily take every puff of every cigarette. Sometimes he only takes the first and last puffs, and sometimes he takes more than that.

The existence of cigarettes has become a kind of psychological dependence for him, and people who have suffered severe injuries do have such a need.

Ponda shook his head, "No more."

He had just recounted what had happened that evening in great detail, without hiding anything because he was sure that others would also describe it in great detail.

The officer nodded, turned the page over, and prepared to write. "Can we talk about Weber?"

Ponda looked up at him, "About what?"

"Does he have any particularly bad connections in the Hazmat Bureau?"

Pang Da's pupils shrank slightly. He lowered his head and avoided the other person's sight by smoking. "I don't quite understand what you mean."

The police officer didn't mind making it clear, which was also a method of observation and interrogation. "We suspect someone set this trap for Weber."

“So we want to ask, is there anyone who has a bad relationship with him?”

Ponda could feel his scalp and skin starting to itch, and then he began to sweat.

He could clearly feel the sweat secreting from his pores. His mind was working frantically. He needed to protect himself!
He had never been so focused as he was now. His thoughts were spinning in his head like crazy, making his brain spin at supersonic speed.

If there wasn't a layer of membrane covering his brain, his brains might have been thrown out!
He licked his lips, "I don't know... maybe I'm one?"

"You?" The police officer's expression changed slightly and he stared at Ponda.

Ponda did not avoid it and met his gaze.

He had also interrogated others, and he was well aware that some subtle differences and changes in facial expressions during interrogation would lead to speculation and questioning.

He spoke so frankly about the problem just now. If he were to hide it now and even dare not look at the police officer, he would be extremely suspicious.

At the same time, he did not avoid the fact that he and Weber did not get along, because everyone knew that if he avoided this issue, it would show that he was guilty.

So he was very candid.

He nodded and said, "Yes, originally... the Hazardous Materials Administration was going to promote me to a higher position, but Weber was parachuted in from the State Prohibition Committee and took my place in the promotion quota."

The police officer showed an expression of "I see", with some sympathy in his eyes. A guy who took a backdoor, of course, did not take a backdoor in the physical sense.

"So you don't like him?", the officer asked.

Ponda shook his head and said, "Maybe he doesn't like me. He always embarrasses me. I'm considering a job transfer."

"After all, he is my immediate superior, and he also has people on the State Prohibition Committee. I am no match for him."

"But he suddenly called me to his office this afternoon and tried to reconcile with me. He also said that he would promote me to a senior agent."

"He wanted me to be more supportive of his work, and then this happened in the evening."

The police officer recorded this truthfully. He circled Ponda's name several times and asked, "You mean, he told you in a veiled way that he might be promoted to director?"

(End of this chapter)