Yes, Lady Funina!

For some reason, Lucas couldn't help but take a step, stepping on the broken glass on the ground, and joined in the zero-dollar shopping frenzy.

When the security team and autonomous mechanical guards arrived at the scene, most of the shops on the street were in a mess. Only a few shops were spared, not because the goods in these shops were not valuable.

In fact, anything that can be sold as a commodity has some value, even if it's not that high. But if it's free, most people probably wouldn't mind taking some along the way.

Not to mention that most of the goods in the stores that escaped the disaster were actually quite valuable. The reason they didn't experience the zero-yuan purchase was simply because the stores had separate security systems, or because the store owners themselves were holders of the Eye of God and full of martial virtue.

Most people know how to seek advantage and avoid harm. If they know you're not someone to mess with, they'll just go to another shop. Anyway, there's not much else on this commercial street, just lots of shops.

They'd grab food from one place after another, their main attraction being a buffet.

This horrific mass incident made headlines that evening, and the people of Fontainebleau who saw the news thought they were seeing fake news.

Good heavens, in broad daylight, under the clear sky, someone is robbing people in a country of justice, and there are so many people doing it together!

This is not a land of justice and law; it is a city of evil!

I heard that it was these criminals who were protesting the reform proposal put forward by Mo Mang Palace. Obviously, it must be because the proposal posed a great danger to these lawless people that they took to the streets to protest.

In the universal values ​​of Fontainebleau, these criminals are the natural enemies of every law-abiding citizen.

What the enemy opposes, we should support even more.

Driven by an invisible force, more and more residents of Fontainebleau are beginning to understand the recent reforms at Moman Palace, and the mainstream media in Fontainebleau are also starting to educate the public about the benefits of the reform plan.

Meanwhile, the report used ambiguous language to imply which individuals, organizations, and interest groups were unwilling to see the reforms at Momang Palace succeed, unwilling to see Fontaine become better, and unwilling to let the people of Fontaine live the life they aspire to.

Thus, the three-pronged strategy originally devised by the Noble Alliance has been fully implemented.

However, there was a small problem with the last item. In the original plan, the nobles wanted to transform the conflict between themselves and the Momang Palace into a conflict between the people of Fontaine and the Momang Palace.

However, due to an "accidental" zero-yuan purchase, the final plan was achieved before it even started. Well, it turned into a conflict between the people and the nobles. In addition, there were already conflicts between these two groups. Now, both old and new grudges are being settled at the same time.

This is a classic case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead.

What these nobles found most unacceptable was that they were the ones who suffered the greatest losses during that zero-dollar shopping event. Most of the shops that were robbed on the streets where the zero-dollar shopping took place that day were their properties. That was all their money, their money!

Troublemakers, a bunch of troublemakers!

Taking their money to parade in the streets, and then robbing their goods afterward—this blatant act of taking and eating made these nobles, who usually enjoyed 'eating people,' experience for the first time what it meant to be eaten.

Damn it, is there no justice? Is there no law?

Na Villette, shouldn't you stand up and do something about these behaviors?

Where is your justice?!

Seemingly having heard the nobles' cries, Navelette reacted quickly, but not by ordering the arrest of the criminals who had purchased items for free. The police had already begun dealing with these matters when the case occurred.

Now, what Navraett needs to do is hold those responsible for the march accountable.

After all, you were the one who solemnly promised that the march would not cause any problems. Now that such a big mess has occurred, tell me how you plan to take responsibility?

Resign? After causing such a huge incident, you think you can just resign and be done with it? You're dreaming.

At this moment, the aristocratic officials were completely dumbfounded. Take responsibility? How could their small shoulders bear such a huge responsibility?

Water God above, how on earth did that damned fellow manage to turn a parade into a mass robbery?

The officials looked at each other, and finally one of the lawyers, unable to withstand the pressure and with a low level of involvement, stepped forward and said:

"Lord Navelette, I have filed a complaint..."

With the first person stepping forward, things became much simpler. Embezzlement and bribery are considered serious crimes under Fontaine's laws, but self-reporting can lead to a lighter sentence. Now that the zero-dollar purchase incident has occurred, given Zhu Yingting's abilities, it's clear that he can't cover it up. In that case, it's better to turn himself in sooner rather than later, so that at least he can get a lighter sentence.

Thanks to the officials' self-reporting, Navelette quickly figured out the nobles' scheme, but he had no intention of giving up.

Just like when you find one cockroach in your home, there is a high chance that there are already countless cockroaches hiding in your home.

Similarly, if you discover that an official has been bribed, then he has certainly been bribed more than once, and his superiors and even his superiors' superiors may have been involved in this money-for-power transaction.

After all, if you don't take it and I don't take it, how are the people in higher positions supposed to take it? And how are we supposed to advance our careers?

As expected, under the professional interrogation of the Shadow Chaser, several long-buried chains of 'progress' were unearthed, with an astonishingly wide scope and amount of money involved.

Among them were even high-ranking officials at the level of the Executive Secretary-General. It should be noted that officials at this level are considered to be the core senior leaders of Fontaine. It is astonishing that such high-ranking officials were involved in this shady deal...

It seems Richard was right; the Mo Mang Palace really does need a thorough cleaning.

The only pity was that even at the very end, they were unable to find out who the high-ranking official was. Villette could only deduce his rank from some details.

After all, some things can only be done when things reach that level, so it's not hard to guess that what we can confirm at present is that the other party should still be in office, and at least at the level of executive secretary-general.

The other party handled things very cleanly, and the money didn't even pass through his hands. It didn't seem like he was simply after money; he must have some other purpose...

"I'll go back and ask Richard, see if he has any leads," Navelette thought.

Chapter 183 Hush Money

"What?! Such a thing actually happened? There's an official at the level of the Executive Secretary protecting the money-power transaction... Vilette, are you sure you're not joking with me?" Funina's beautiful eyes widened, her red lips parted slightly, her words filled with disbelief.

"Having reached this level, why would you still do this kind of thing?" Funina couldn't understand.

“Miss Funina, I would not joke about such a thing. According to the investigation report, the other party’s position is at least at the level of Executive Secretary, and possibly higher,” Navelette said calmly.

"There are many reasons for this situation. In the history of Fontaine, there are quite a few high-ranking officials who have fallen due to bribery. However, most of them did not handle the aftermath as cleanly as this person. Even if they knew that such a person existed, they had no evidence to directly confirm the other party's identity."

After hearing what Villette said, Furnessa instinctively turned to Richard for help, saying, "What should we do? Are we just going to let that despicable criminal get away with it?"

Richard didn't reply immediately, but Fucaros picked up the conversation instead: "Of course not, the Shadow Court will continue to investigate, but shouldn't we focus our main efforts on reform right now?"

No one present noticed that when Fukalos said this, she winked at Richard.

Richard's eye twitched, but he pretended not to notice. He took a sip of red tea and said, "Just as Ms. Fukalos said, the fact that so many officials were arrested this time, yet the other party was not found, proves that the other party is very cautious."

Finding this person in a short time is virtually impossible, so it's better to focus on handling the immediate situation well and make further plans once the situation stabilizes.

Navraett glanced at Richard, then lowered her head and pondered for a moment before finally nodding and saying, "You're right."

"But what if the other party suddenly interferes halfway through?" Funina couldn't help but ask.

Fukaros couldn't help but chuckle, immediately drawing everyone's attention. She waved her hand and said, "Sorry, sorry, Funina, if it were really as you say, that despicable corrupt official would jump out and cause trouble on his own, wouldn't that save us the trouble of searching for him?"

"Okay, that seems to be the case." After hearing what Fukalos said, Funina also felt that her worries seemed a bit unnecessary.

“Judging from the other party’s style of doing things, it’s unlikely that what Miss Funina described will happen.” Navelette paused and then said, “Of course, we can’t be complacent. In that case, could we ask you for help with this matter, Miss Funina?”

“Huh?...Me?” Furina looked at Navelette and pointed to herself.

Are you sure you're not joking?

“Yes, Ms. Fukaros needs to establish a parliament, and I also need to streamline the staff of the court. The independent city hall will be in charge of Mr. Richard. Therefore, the most suitable person among you here is you, Miss Funina.”

Furness felt that Navelette was insulting her, but she had no proof.

What does it mean to say that she is the most suitable candidate? Doesn't it just imply that she is the only one out of everyone who has nothing to do?

You could have explained it more clearly!

Of course, Funina only dared to mutter these words to herself, and besides, Vilette might not have meant it that way, right?

If she said that directly, wouldn't that be taking it personally?

However... if it's just about preventing the other party from causing trouble, rather than having to directly catch them, Funina felt she could handle that.

At least we won't mess it up.

“I understand. I will make time to look into this matter. You know there are a lot of things to do at the city hall, and Richard can’t handle it all by himself.” Funina was still trying to find a way to smooth things over.

Everyone present agreed, saying, "Yes, yes, you're absolutely right."

……

Although almost all obstacles on the road ahead have been cleared, a large number of corrupt officials have been unexpectedly removed, causing a huge social impact and indirectly confirming the correctness of this reform.

By now, almost everyone can see that the reform of Mo Mang Palace is basically complete. All that remains to be done is to set up the new departments and then continue as before.

After all, although it is called a reform, the actual things are still the same. It's just that the original unified management by one department has been changed to separate management by three departments, each responsible for its own affairs and checking and balancing each other.

While this might lead to a decline in administrative efficiency, it would also make the political system more stable. Besides... does the Mo Mang Palace really have room to decline further?

It's possible that having such a powerful department might actually improve efficiency.

"You've given me your secretary; will that affect your work?"

Inside the newly established office of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Fukaros was dressed in a white suit jacket with a dark blue undershirt. The overall style was similar to that of her divine form, except that she had changed from a skirt to long trousers.

Her originally bare feet were now adorned with mid-heeled leather boots, which, in Richard's words, was like putting the delicious food into an exquisitely packaged box.

Right now, the owner of these jade-like feet is teasing Richard with words that sound rather sarcastic and witty.

“If I said yes, would you be willing to return the person to me?” Richard countered.

"Of course... no."

Although it was only a few days, Fukaros could no longer live without her cat Lynette.

She's really useful, and she's also very cute!

In game terms, it has both strength and good looks; there's no issue of its appearance overshadowing the character.

It's safe to say that Lynette, personally trained by Richard, is absolutely outstanding in political affairs. Although there's still room for improvement in major decisions, even Richard can't do a better job in handling daily government affairs.

Moreover, with Fucarus around, Lynette doesn't need to make the final decisions on truly important matters.

As for Fukaros, who is capable of 'deceiving the heavens and evading prophecy', there is no need to worry about her vision in important matters. Linette can fill the gap in her lack of experience in handling daily government affairs.

In a sense, they are indeed a match made in heaven.

Therefore, even if Richard was joking, Fukaros would not agree to his attempt to take Lynette back. Even if he was being unreasonable, she would not allow Richard to take Lynette away from her.

I, Fukalos, am completely inseparable from my cat!

“Well, I didn’t take your man for nothing. You see, as a reward, didn’t I help you conceal your identity at today’s meeting? Mr. Richard, the big corrupt official.” Fukaros walked behind Richard, placed his hand on Richard’s shoulder, and leaned down slightly.

Richard's expression did not change significantly after hearing Fukaros's words. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Ms. Fukaros, I don't understand what you're talking about."

“Executive Secretary-General, extremely cautious, not after money… Don’t you think these keywords sound a lot like you?” Fukalos said.

"In fact, the qualities you mentioned are the basic requirements for becoming the Executive Secretary-General. It's just that you're new here and know too little about the officials of the Moman Palace."

Richard offered an explanation, but unfortunately, Fukalos didn't seem to buy it.

"On the contrary, it is precisely because I know too much that I believe that the unknown corrupt official is you," Fukaros said with certainty.

Before Richard could reply, Fukaros's hand, which had been resting on Richard, slowly moved down to cover his chest. Her head was also very close to Richard's. Although they couldn't see each other, they could feel each other's breathing and the rise and fall of their heartbeats.

If you listen carefully, you can hear that their heartbeats are gradually becoming more synchronized.

“We know each other much better than we think, don’t we?” Fukalos asked with a smile, as if to say, ‘Don’t pretend in front of me.’

"This is the side effect of soul contact," Richard said, neither confirming nor denying.

"Wrong!"

Richard sensed the dissatisfaction in Fukaros's words. Even though he wasn't looking at Fukaros now, Richard could still picture her pouting and angry. Well, actually, it was Funa who looked angry.

But they are completely cut from the same mold, so it's not wrong to think that way.

Fukaros didn't have mind-reading abilities and was unaware that Richard had automatically equated her anger with Funina's in his mind.

All she wanted to do now was correct Richard's mistake, when she heard the deity who had been inside the oracle for five hundred years speak to Richard in an extremely serious tone:

“I never considered it a side effect. If I had to say, I think ‘understanding you’ was the biggest gain from this trip.”

After saying this, Fucarus gracefully withdrew, like a light butterfly, circling around the chair where Richard was sitting, and returned to his sight.

She looked directly into Richard's eyes, and from the almost overflowing emotion in her exquisite heterochromatic pupils, it was clear that everything she said was true to her heart, without a trace of falsehood.

"Oh……"

"Oh?" Fukalos's eyes widened. After all she said, all she got in return was an "oh"?

Then Richard got his wish and saw the same expression as Funina when she was angry: Fukaros puffed out her cheeks as if she had two full pearls in her mouth.

"Is that all you have to say?" Fukaros's eyes were unfriendly, knowing that she had only just mustered the courage to say those words.

Did she not dare say these words to Richard's face before she saw him, but instead hid behind him before daring to speak them aloud?

It's like you've been preparing your confession for a month, only to have the person you're confessing to neither accept nor explicitly reject you, but instead just reply with an "oh".

Fukalos never imagined that one day she would be so easily swayed by a single word, "oh."

The girl puffed out her cheeks and gritted her teeth, giving off a "if you don't give me a reasonable explanation, I'll... I'll bite you to death" vibe.

“What kind of reaction does Ms. Fukaros expect from me?” Richard countered.