As soon as the Human Emperor Banner came out, I became the Lord of the Old Ones

Chapter 290 Behind the Local Tyrant
"That's enough. I don't have time to listen to your baseless and meaningless nonsense."

Snake Queen suddenly became impatient and said directly, "Tell me a few names. Who is the highest-ranking person in the Dawn City Security Bureau who has been bribed by Dawn Heavy Industries?"

"Then do you still need to ask?"

Jean-Jacques replied matter-of-factly, “Of course it’s their chief, Hawke Wood!”

"...Director Hawke?"

Snake Princess took a deep breath and murmured, "This guy is not easy to deal with. He has killed many people in our Black Dream Organization. Even Dr. Hyde, the previous head of the Dawn City branch of the Black Dream Organization, was defeated by him."

"In my memory, he was an iron man who was willing to sacrifice himself for Dawn City. Even if we were on opposing sides, I greatly admired his character and considered him the biggest obstacle in this operation."

"It's hard to imagine that such a seemingly righteous and tough guy would actually become a lackey of the Belad family, helping them to destroy Dawn Heavy Industries and even Dawn City!"

"I know, you mean you're asking me if I have any evidence."

Jean-Jacques said, "I don't have any real evidence, but just a few days ago, I saw Director Hawke and Hess Belad conspiring at the Golden Iris Entertainment Center. Judging from the beaming look on Director Hawke's face when he left, they must have reached a very good agreement."

"..."

Snake Princess paused for a moment, then said, "However, just recently, Director Hawke destroyed an illegal data center that was said to be related to Dawn Heavy Industries, which made some people in the Belad family very unhappy."

"It's just an act, a deliberate performance for outsiders to show his incorruptibility."

Jean-Jacques said, "Of course, Hess Belad has many enemies within the family, as well as some old and useless guys who are bound to be scapegoats to take responsibility for the Belad family's numerous crimes over the past few decades. Wouldn't it be perfect to use Director Hawke's hand to deal with these guys?"

This time, Snake Princess had no more problems.

She remained silent for a long time, and finally took out a black hood and put it on Jean-Jacques' head.

"You are welcome to investigate. I am absolutely not lying; it is all true!"

Jean-Jacques struggled again, shouting hoarsely, "Spare my life! I can do so much for the Black Dream organization! Who else you want to drag down with you, I can help you, I—"

The Snake Princess's heavy footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

The lock was turned, the door creaked open, then slammed shut again, leaving Jean-Jacques once more in the cold, damp, and cramped darkness.

……

Beyond the bloody space that resembled a slaughterhouse lay a warehouse that, while messy, was relatively clean.

Bypassing the so-called "corpses" and "pools of blood" arranged with syrup and props, the woman who called herself Snake Princess breathed a sigh of relief, took off her headgear, tore off the human skin mask that was as thin as a cicada's wing, and then used a special solvent to clean off the cosmetic liquid that had been applied to her hands to lower her body temperature and change her skin color.

Finally, she buried her head deep in the sink, turned the cold water to the maximum, and frantically washed her face with both hands, letting the icy water flow like a winding little snake, crawling down her neck and into her body.

Half a minute later, she transformed from an extremely dangerous beautiful snake into a golden lioness, equally dangerous but a hundred times more fiery.

Including Xu Yan, who had just returned, all the members of Long Jianhuan's team gathered around, their faces showing excitement.

"Xu Yan's plan succeeded, and the effect was even better than expected. He extracted a lot of information from this guy without lifting a finger!"

When they first met, Gao Ce was like a cold-blooded killer, unapproachable to strangers. But now he admires Xu Yan to the point of prostration. "If I were to use conventional methods to interrogate him, even if I subjected him to torture for three days and three nights, I might not be able to extract this much information!"

"Moreover, this intelligence is highly reliable."

War correspondent Kelly Gracey remained focused on the spherical screen connecting the camera to the sealed room.

Seven cameras set up in different locations not only captured Jean-Jacques' every move while he wore a black hood, but also provided a clear view from all angles.

It can even detect his body temperature, heart rate, breathing rate, and the speed at which he sweats, thereby determining his psychological state.

"This guy's breathing, heartbeat, and sweating have all increased, probably because he's afraid we'll kill him to cover our tracks after we've extracted all the information."

Kelly Gracey pointed to a line graph of data on another transistor computer and explained to everyone, "However, the data fluctuations are all within the normal range, which means that he is simply afraid of dying, and he is not anxious about being found out after lying."

"Based on my investigation a few days ago, what he said is most likely true."

"At that time, I was a little puzzled. Liming Heavy Industry had been deeply rooted in this city for half a century and was practically a local tyrant. How could such a life-or-death information as 'resource depletion' spread so easily and cause such a stir in the city?"
"And the clue that initially attracted me to Dawn City, now that I think about it, was deliberately placed under my nose by someone with ulterior motives."

"It seems that I was indeed used and sent here as a pawn to detonate this landmine."

"I never expected this—"

Han Zhong, an old patrolman who had lived his entire life in a satellite town of Dawn City, had a somewhat cloudy gaze, his eyes unreadable, as if he were filled with either sadness or anger. "The Dawn Heavy Industry that I built in Dawn City with my own hands has turned out like this!"

“Ms. Kelly, now that we know the deeper truth, could we use your connections in the Inner District to bring this matter to the public’s attention?”

Li Xinglan asked with a mixture of worry and hope.

Kelly Gracey pondered for a moment, then slowly shook her head.

“I do know a lot of important people in the core area, and to some extent I can ‘reach the ears of the heavens,’ but this matter is not as simple as you think.”

She sighed and said, "Whether it's the Belad family or any other powerful force that wields influence in the border region, the so-called 'far from the emperor's reach' local tyrants, they can't possibly be completely without roots in the core area."

"If the Belad family hadn't received support from those unspeakable powerful forces and figures in the core area from the very beginning, it would have been impossible for them to integrate all the mining teams in this area and establish the 'Dawn Mining Group'."

"Even now, they want to slip away and start anew. This is a major issue involving the livelihoods and even the lives of hundreds of thousands, even millions of people. How could it be planned and decided by this small local bully?"

(End of this chapter)