Why is his holy light red?

Upon hearing the content about child marriage, the audience erupted in an uncontrollable uproar, and several jurors even showed extremely obvious expressions of disgust.

Sitting in the dock, Mercury watched John's composed figure from behind, and was truly shocked.

He had never understood why John was so confident in guaranteeing a 100% win rate, but now he completely understood. This wasn't just winning; it was a complete and utter victory.

But what Mercury couldn't understand even more was—how exactly did John do that?

The moment the opposing side presented an argument, John was not only able to immediately devise an impeccable rebuttal, but he also had all the written evidence, recordings, and Internal Affairs files readily available. The timeline simply didn't add up; John had only been handling the case for a few days at most, making it impossible for him to have investigated this deeply.

Unless... it's related to his superpowers.

Mercury's mind flashed back to John's words, "Time is plentiful for me," and his bizarre "victory ritual." Who was the first to knock on the door? Was the flow of time completely different outside?

However, these issues are no longer important. The outcome of this lawsuit seems to be a foregone conclusion.

Mercury turned his head and glanced at the audience. His parents and sister sat side by side on a wooden bench, their tense shoulders visibly relaxing, their eyes filled with undisguised joy.

In fact, Mercury did not want his family to attend the trial.

He worried that things might get out of control today, but no matter how much he tried to dissuade them, his parents insisted on being there. John had also professionally suggested that having family members present would greatly enhance the jury's empathy.

In the Federation, family is a very important thing. In most people's minds, if a person comes from a loving family, it means that she has a stable personality and relatively high moral character.

If even his family doesn't value him, then this suspect is very likely to have some problems.

This is a stereotype, but it's also a significant plus.

A few meters apart, the father and son's eyes briefly met in the air.

Their eyes were filled with complex emotions, but mostly with joy. Whatever their conflicts might be, at least they could talk about them at home.

The court proceedings were nearing their end. The judge straightened his robes, picked up the gavel, and struck the base heavily. His solemn voice, amplified through the microphone, resonated throughout the courtroom: "Now, the jury representative will read the verdict. Is the defendant found guilty of assaulting law enforcement officers?"

The entire courtroom fell silent, everyone assuming the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

However, the jury representative, who stood up, stared straight ahead and spoke in a monotone, mechanical voice: "The jury unanimously finds the defendant guilty."

The air seemed to have been sucked out in an instant.

There was an eerie silence in the courtroom for a full two seconds, followed by a tremendous uproar from the gallery and the press section.

Even the judge sitting on the high platform was stunned, as if he doubted his hearing.

He had to pound the gavel repeatedly to suppress the boiling noise, and frowned as he asked again, "Wait! Please repeat yourself, is the charge established or not?"

The juror representative, like a pre-programmed machine, moved his lips, repeating the same sentence: "The jury unanimously finds the defendant guilty of..."

Just as the last word was about to be uttered, an extremely untimely cell phone ringtone sounded from a corner of the audience.

That was Flora's singing.

The clear, penetrating voice cut through all the noise, calming everyone who was still shocked by the verdict.

The ringtone was very short, stopping automatically after only a few seconds, as if someone had deliberately hung up on it, but a few seconds was enough.

The juror representative who was speaking seemed to have been hit over the head, and his whole body swayed violently, almost falling against the railing.

After a moment of stunned silence, the juror representative gasped for breath as if waking from a dream.

He clutched his temples tightly, looking down at the voting document he had just signed.

"No... Damn it! Why... Our vote clearly showed not guilty, so why is the signature on the paper saying guilty?!" His voice was full of terror and confusion.

This statement completely threw the court into chaos.

The media's cameras flashed wildly, and a group of reporters disregarded court rules, loudly questioning the judge and jurors.

Mercury, who was prepared, ignored the uproar. His gaze swept across the chaotic crowd and he quickly found his target.

Amid the shoving and pushing of the crowd, a man wearing a black baseball cap was looking down and desperately pushing his way through the crowd to squeeze out of the door.

Everyone else was crowding towards the judge and jurors, but he was squeezing towards the door.

He covered his nose tightly with his right hand, but blood was still dripping from between his fingers.

Mercury felt his luck had turned around. What he feared most was that the mind-controlling superhuman could use his powers from a great distance, perhaps hiding several kilometers away, in which case he would truly be impossible to find.

Unexpectedly, this person was not only in the crowd, but also exposed himself in the chaos.

Mercury was glowing with a red holy light, preparing to break free of his handcuffs and capture the mastermind behind it all.

But he hadn't had a chance to exert his strength yet.

A figure in a trench coat suddenly lunged out from the side and crashed heavily into the man in the baseball cap.

The force of the impact sent the two crashing into each other, rolling haphazardly on the floor.

The baseball cap flew off with the friction, revealing the person's true face.

"A messenger of light?!"

Mercury's facial muscles twitched; he was utterly shocked.

Isn't he a neighborhood hero who can manipulate auras to transform into animals? When did he develop mind control abilities?

No wonder he was the first to arrive; it turns out they were in cahoots all along.

But what made Mercury's heart pound even harder was the person who rushed towards him—his father.

At this moment, he was just an ordinary reporter, not the invincible angel of holy light. So he could only awkwardly hold onto the angel of light's waist, trying his best to prevent him from escaping.

As the psychic saw that his plan was about to fail, the instinct to escape completely replaced his rationality. Being persistently pursued by an "ordinary person" made him lose all patience.

He gritted his teeth and suddenly raised his right fist.

High-frequency purple energy rapidly condensed between his finger bones, as if it were about to transform into a horned animal, which would then smash directly into El's head.

"boom!"

A blinding red holy light exploded in the center of the courtroom.

The steel handcuffs snapped in an instant, like plastic toys, and the surrounding wooden railings shattered. Mercury covered several meters in a flash, arriving directly beside the Radiant One.

The fist, imbued with deadly purple energy, was held firmly by a red-glowing hand like an iron clamp, less than five centimeters from the back of El's head, and could not advance even an inch further.

Mercury stared down at him, the red light in his eyes so intense it seemed to drip blood, his voice cold and devoid of any human warmth:

"You dare touch my father! I'll send you to hell!"

"Click—"

The sound of bones shattering came from the Radiant Messenger's wrist, but it didn't travel far amidst the deafening screams and chaos of the courtroom.

The chaotic trial was finally adjourned temporarily when the angel's wails drew everyone's attention.

…………

Back in that brightly lit waiting room, but this time, it wasn't John sitting opposite Mercury. He was busy kicking a man when he was down, trying to discuss with the judge how to classify the case.

At this moment, Mercury is with his family.

The mother's eyes were red and swollen. She leaned closer to the chair, her hands trembling slightly as she pulled open Mercury's collar, then rolled up his sleeves, her gaze carefully scanning every inch of his exposed skin, as if afraid that he might have left some hidden injuries at the Black Olive Containment Center.

The younger sister clung tightly to Mercury's arm, repeatedly muttering childish words about missing her brother.

Meanwhile, Mercury's father stood a few steps away by the wall, his hands in his trench coat pockets.

As he watched this heartwarming scene unfold before him, his mind kept replaying the moment Mercury shielded him.

No matter how hard he tried to control his facial muscles, he just couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth.

Even if the Radiant One's punch landed on his head, it probably wouldn't even leave a red mark; even if Mercury's act of crushing someone's wrist on the spot was too impulsive and could easily leave the jury with a bad impression of violent tendencies... Regardless of how many objective "even ifs" exist, at this moment, Al felt nothing but uncontrollable pride and delight.

It was as if the argument between the father and son had completely disappeared.

Faced with his father's barely suppressed laughter, Mercury could only stare back at him with dead fish-like eyes.

He now felt like a complete idiot.

He knew better than anyone that his own father was the Holy Light Angel, so why did he impulsively rush out to save people? This behavior is just like Ace in a certain comic book who blocked the lava fist for the sun god.

There's probably no more foolish behavior in the world than this.

But... never mind.

Looking at his family, all together and seemingly in perfect harmony, Mercury felt that some things were better left unsaid.

He held his little sister in his arms, lowered his voice, and began to tell the bedtime story he had been owing her for the past few days. Before he had even finished half of the story, the little girl actually fell asleep in his arms.

The mother stepped forward, carefully supported Sylvia's back, and took her in.

"She hasn't been sleeping well these past few nights." The mother lowered her voice, afraid of waking her daughter in her arms.

Mercury noticed the weariness in his mother's eyes and said softly, "I'm sorry to have worried you."

Even though he won the lawsuit brilliantly, he was ultimately caught red-handed by the Angels of Light for trading contraband. No matter how compelling his reasons were back then, Mercury couldn't utter a single word in front of his mother at this moment.

But the expected reprimands did not come. The mother simply shook her head slightly: "It's your father's and my fault for not taking good care of you. But don't do those things again."

Mercury met his mother's gaze, his expression unwavering, and nodded with utmost seriousness: "Don't worry, Mother. From today onward, I will not make any more mistakes."

His tone was incredibly sincere.

Yes, everything will become legal and compliant. From today onward, he will learn from those people to apply the rules to the extreme, leaving no room for any wrongdoing and ensuring that no one throws him back into prison.

But this matter is not over yet.

Federal agents kidnapped a minor, framed Mercury, used mind control to obstruct justice, and possessed illegal immortality technology drugs, as well as evidence of the Beast Gang's crimes obtained from the Black Olive Center.

All of this costs money.

Only with enough funds can you accomplish great things.

If you want to change this hellish world, you have to start by getting rich.

Mercury was pondering whether to extract his first fortune from immortality technology or the federal authorities when the door to the waiting room was pushed open. John strode in, his expression unusually grave, his brows almost knotted together.

"Good news, you're not guilty and can go home today." John stopped in front of Mercury, his voice low.

Mercury stared at his face, which seemed to be under immense pressure, and instinctively felt that things weren't so simple. He asked warily, "And the bad news?"

"Did you take in two henchmen at the Black Olive Internment Center?" John didn't answer directly, but asked in return.

Mercury nodded, his previously calm mood instantly sinking. Even at this point, were those desperate bureaucrats still trying to use his inner circle to blackmail him?

John continued, "They offered a deal. They could get your two henchmen out immediately and pay a hefty sum in compensation. The condition is that you accept an out-of-court settlement regarding the previous illegal detention and improper interrogation, and completely waive any further claims."

Mercury was stunned.

He carefully processed what he'd just said, then looked at John with a puzzled expression: "Wait, what kind of bad news is this?"

Regardless of whether there's a reconciliation or not, at least the other side couldn't withstand the pressure and backed down. The initiative is now in Mercury's hands, which is definitely good news.

John took a deep breath and sighed, "This is definitely bad news for me! I was hoping they'd be stubborn and fight me to the death, appealing the case all the way to the Supreme Court. Now they're going straight to an out-of-court settlement, which means I'll lose two court fees!"

Mercury: ...

I'd always heard of shrewd lawyers, but today I've truly witnessed one.