Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Professor He taught us that civil lawsuit compensation must be enforced according to the financial ability of the other party, so we must find a target to maximize the profit. According to this case, suing the local German police and that high-ranking police officer is the most direct and effective way of demanding compensation. Also, the defendant’s parents will be among the defendants in the civil case.” Gu Nianzhi calmly took out another case analysis. “If I can’t sue and bankrupt the parents, who abused power to cover for their son’s crime of torturing and abusing an innocent person, I will leave the realm of the legal profession.”

“Nianzhi, I do admire your determination, but must you make such an oath?” He Zhichu laughed. She was still too young and unbridled… But he happened to love how unbridled she was. If she wanted to make the world hers, then he would support her until the very end.

“You also said to express determination…” Gu Nianzhi smiled with a cock of her head. “I need to let them know that I can get so vicious, I even scare myself!”

“Fine, but be more serious.” He Zhichu glared at her, his shimmering, sultry eyes flashing so quickly, Gu Nianzhi felt dizzy. He Zhichu was even more pleased, although he didn’t betray it in his expression at all. He rubbed his forehead. “This case isn’t too complicated, but because the defendant’s parents were high-ranking police officials involved in the investigation, a lot of the direct evidence can no longer be found.”

“I hate that the most. When the criminal proceedings occur, there is a high possibility of the defendant of escaping punishment due to the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and the circumstances of missing direct evidence.” Gu Nianzhi balled her tiny fists and hit the desk. “So I will not let them off! Even if they escape criminal punishment, the civil compensation will be enough to drag them from heaven right to hell!”

“What results do you want to achieve?” He Zhichu clasped his hands and leaned back against the high-backed chair. He squinted to watch Gu Nianzhi intently.

“I want the murderer’s parents to lose their jobs and be expelled from the police force. I want them to bear the responsibility of the massive civil compensation. If they cannot pay it even by going bankrupt, then they can only go to jail.” Gu Nianzhi spread her hands, her expression firm yet sly.

“Very well. That’s vicious.” He Zhichu nodded with approval. “Then you should prepare from that angle. Right, what about your passport? Give it to me, and I’ll have someone apply for a German visa for you.”

Gu Nianzhi had already switched to a new passport because she couldn’t use her old identity anymore. Although she was using her true identity now, she was still a bit unaccustomed to it. Standing up to pick up her backpack, she said, “I’ll go back to get my passport and give it to you in the afternoon.”

“I’m free, anyway. I’ll take you there and pick up the passport on the way.” He Zhichu stood up as well. Gu Nianzhi wanted to refuse, but she became mute at the sight of He Zhichu’s half smile. Hugging her backpack, she followed him outside and went directly back to her dorm to give her passport to him. He Zhichu left without saying anything else, and Gu Nianzhi sighed with relief. She was finally going to Germany. Would she have a chance of seeing Huo Shao?

…

As Gu Nianzhi busied herself with preparing to go abroad, Huo Shaoheng had arrived at a critical moment in the US. He needed to convince James to be a high-ranking informant within the CIA for him, so he had to do something to earn his trust. Huo Shaoheng already had a goal: the rising star of the CIA, Sean. This man was too cunning and had discreetly amassed a large amount of information and intelligence about Huo Shaoheng. Huo Shaoheng disliked being studied by another like that, and although he couldn’t remove photos and videos of himself from the past, he could at least remove the people watching him with ulterior motives.

For the next two weeks after that, Huo Shaoheng did nothing but change disguises daily and scope out the areas near the CIA’s New York offices. He gradually familiarized himself with Sean’s daily patterns. He would drive there to work at 8am every morning and go out for lunch at noon. He left work on time at 5pm every day. Because Sean was a high-ranking officer, secret agents from the US Department of Defense protected him both obviously and discreetly. There were at least four hidden snipers clearing paths for him. This man feared death more than even James and was even more powerful.

With Huo Shaoheng’s understanding of the CIA, the security level surrounding Sean was approaching that of important figures like the head of the CIA. In other words, this man had a very powerful background, so he couldn’t have been simply promoted. The person supporting him in behind the scenes was actually helping him become the head of the CIA. This was also even more reason that this man could no longer be allowed to live.

Huo Shaoheng completed his observations and created a plan of operation alone in his apartment. Under the sole light in the dining room, he laid several large sheets of blank paper on the wooden dining table and used charcoal to draw many swirling lines. Upon careful inspection, these nearly formed a complete map of New York City. He didn’t use a computer or an online search but had only bought several maps of New York to copy. He had always done such work and knew that the internet was not secure. Now that he was in foreign territory, it was an even stronger reason not to use the internet or a computer to create his plan of operation. It would be more secure to use a traditional method.

After repeatedly studying the entire operation several times, he finally threw the large sheets covering the table into the bathtub and burned them to ash. He then flushed the ashes down the toilet. Returning to his bedroom, Huo Shaoheng sat before his large desk and began arranging the weapons he needed. This time, in order to eliminate Sean, he had no way of using a sniper. Because he was alone and had no way of successfully escaping from four sniper teams and a dozen secret police officers, he had to think of another way.

Huo Shaoheng had carefully analyzed Sean as a person. Although he was very capable and had a strong background, it was apparent from his methods that he was very confident, almost to the point of conceit. Also, because he was rather young, and young people were often audacious and had yet to experience many hardships, they had difficulty controlling their emotions. Sean was one year older than Huo Shaoheng, but his endurance and control were no comparison. That could only be accumulated from learning and experience. The only way to deal with someone like this was goading them into action.

…

It was August and the hottest point of the summer. Sean entered the office, and the sudden burst of air conditioning instantly refreshed him. Taking strides with his long legs, he walked to his office and sat down at the desk. Just as he was about to turn on the computer, he suddenly noticed a white envelope on his desk. A flowery script unfurled on it with a single line, “Dear Sean, from an old friend.” There was no postmark, stamp, address, or even return address. There was only a simple greeting and an even more simple signature, “from an old friend.” This was certainly provocation! Sean slammed the desk angrily, and before his logic completely left him, he remembered to put on a pair of plastic gloves before opening the envelope. There was a single sheet of paper inside. Pulling it out to read, he was instantly livid. Two sentences were printed on it. “Do your parents know that you took other people’s credit to make yourself look good? Coward, you will lose everything when they find out you are just an incompetent bastard.”

“Coward! Coward! Coward! You’re the real coward!” Sean kicked the desk over, and the computer on it crashed to the ground. The letter fluttered up. The door was pushed open at once, and his subordinates rushed inside. The Deputy Director, James, stood at the front, and the letter happened to fly towards him. James instinctively grabbed it, and he stiffened when he glanced over the letter. His colleagues standing behind him also read it, and they all had difficulty restraining the smiles growing on their faces.

Sean looked up to see the gloating faces that his subordinates failed to conceal and was so angry he jumped up. “Get out! Get out! Get the hell out of here!” Sean huffed as he supported himself on the back of the chair. “Who told you all to come in?!”

James rubbed his nose and passed the letter back to Sean. “We were just about to tell you that we’ve discovered the ‘kidnapper’ has appeared in the Upper East Side.”

“Kidnapper?!” Sean jerked his head up and squinted. “Tell me his address! I’ll take men to investigate right away!”

“Haha, he really does like using other people’s work to get all the credit…” One of the colleagues muttered quietly. “It was clearly James who had found him, but it somehow became Sean’s credit…”

“Of course, just who are we talking about here? He has someone backing him from above…” Although they spoke quietly, they didn’t attempt to suppress their voices, so everyone heard it while pretending not to.

Sean took a deep breath and knew he still had to demonstrate some ability in order to truly become these people’s boss. Otherwise, they would never truly accept him with merely a promotion from the higher ups. They would deliberately be lazy with work and disobey him, so he wouldn’t last long as Director, anyway. The point was, as a boss and leader, this proved that his leadership was insufficient to earn the respect of subordinates. If he couldn’t even succeed as merely the Director of the Asian Intelligence Branch, then how could he ever have a chance or possibility of pursuing even higher positions?!

Sean squinted. “Get out! Didn’t you hear me?!” James was the first to leave, and the colleagues following him all suddenly dispersed as well. It was obvious that James was the true leader of the department, because everyone obeyed him. Sean balled his hands into fists and stood expressionless in the office for a while before suddenly walking out. This time, he decided to personally go out and get rid of the mysterious Hua Xia Imperial Major General.