Chapter 85 - What a Shame

Zhong Yan did not continue on with the topic. Instead, the smile at his lips lightened a little. It looked as if he could not keep up his smile any longer. This pleased Pearson very much. He went on obnoxiously, “Why don’t you guess what he was seeing me for? I had only learned yesterday myself that this Yate family brat really has quite the fancy for you. He actually tried to threaten me with a photo of Qu Yongyi’s body, telling me that I’ll end up just like him if I ever dared to touch you. Hahahaha, I won’t lie, I actually laughed right then and there.”

The surveillance system of the Supreme Council communicates directly to the ninth floor and currently, “Butterfly” who resided there was dormant so the surveillance system was completely nonfunctional. The more he spoke, the more unrestrained Pearson became. “Why do you think they say that soldiers are all a brainless lot? He broke into my home and said that Qu Yongyi passed him evidence before he died, and he would show that to the whole world if I tried to do anything to you. Hahaha, could the both of you really have endured so long if you actually had the evidence? Sure enough, I was able to figure out that he was just talking smack after trying to probe him. Councilor Zhong Yan, you said that it was a lucky day just now, but if I had to say it, then yesterday was also my lucky day. If your good husband hadn’t come to threaten me then I really couldn’t have been sure whether you had the evidence or not. But since you don’t have it, what should I be afraid of? You can’t get anywhere without taking risks, right?”

Much to Pearson’s pleasure, a frown gradually emerged in Zhong Yan’s brows as he listened to him speak. He was just about to take another jab at him, but Zhong Yan suddenly sighed and lamented, “What a pity. It would’ve been nice if I was present.”

Pearson laughed agreeingly. “Isn’t that right? Councilor Zhong. I really am thankful that it was him, though. If you came, then I really wouldn’t have the confidence to tell whether you were lying or not. After all, as men of our careers, we’re really not that far off from a professional actor.”

“I wasn’t talking about that,” Zhong Yan denied it, but he did not explain either. “What did he say exactly when he threatened you not to touch me?”

There were so many important things he could have asked, and yet he asked something that was completely irrelevant. Pearson was stunned, and also extremely displeased like he had just been punching at a sack of air.

Pearson said, “Who would remember? That was just about what he said anyway.”

“Well, if only I was there.” Zhong Yan sighed again. “He must have been very handsome when he said that. It’s such a pity that I never got to see it.”

Intron could not hold himself back and let out a snicker from behind Zhong Yan.

Only now did Pearson realize that Zhong Yan was playing him, and his face turned green in an instant. He took another glance at these two juniors. Though each was younger than the other, these ignorant juniors held no trace of fear or respect. Now that the artificial intelligence has stepped off the stage, he was the strongest candidate to become the president. He will soon obtain power even greater than what he had before, so how dare this brat treat him this way! In an instant, the flames of anger raged up within him and he raised his right palm up high, swatting it down towards Zhong Yan’s face.

Who could’ve ever expected that after the monitoring system was disabled, someone like Pearson who maintained an image of decency in daily life would raise his hands against another person. Intron was so shocked that the blood drained from his face and he was just about to go forward to stop him. But, a strong hand had caught Pearson’s wrist in a death grip even quicker than he could move.

“Ah!” Pearson let out a cry. His assistant was completely dumbfounded by the man who had suddenly rushed over. He stood in place, not daring to go forward. Only after Pearson had screamed for quite a few seconds did he finally wake up as if he had been in a dream and followed on with a shout, “What are you doing?! Let go of Sir Pearson!”

They were making a lot of ruckus and the entire floor consisted of offices. One after another, all the councilors came out to see what was going on. Zhong Yan tugged at the clothes of the man who stood on guard in front of him, giving him a soft reminder, “Ade, people are coming.”

Only then did Adrian shove the man off with disdain. Pearson was pushed back two steps and it was only with the help of his assistant holding him up that he did not fall to his butt on the ground. He gripped his right wrist with his other hand, unsure whether his bones had been crushed or not. He was completely pissed. “Very well! Just you wait, Adrian Yate! I will sue you until you go bankrupt!”

Adrian had been in the army for so many years so his habits were completely different from these councilors who always had to bend around the bushes when they spoke. He straight out yelled at the man. “Lay off, you old bugger! Does my warning from yesterday mean nothing to you? If you’re so anxious to see your ancestors, I can send you off right now!”

And who had ever dared to point their fingers at his nose and yell at him in such a rude way in Pearson’s whole life? All his blood gushed to his head in an instant and he was so angry that he had gone speechless.

Zhong Yan reached over to pat Adrian’s chest to calm him down while he tugged at his arm. “Don’t be angry, just ignore him. Let’s go back to my office.”

Adrian took his hand but did not leave with him. Instead, he stood in place and said, “Didn’t you already know what I said? Why ask him?”

Clearly, Zhong Yan could tell that he was still grumpy with his words. He smiled helplessly at him and asked, “How should I know what you said to him?”

“I followed your script down to the very last syllable!” Adrian enunciated his words very clearly. He did not speak very loudly, but it was enough for Pearson to hear. While speaking, he glanced over at Pearson while a provoking smile curved his lips. “I was even worrying that it might not work, but I didn’t expect this guy to take a U-turn immediately that afternoon! Everything went just as you said.”

Script?

Pearson’s heart sank, but he quickly calmed himself down. They were speaking right in front of Zhong Yan’s office and Adrian had come out from there earlier. It was likely he must have heard him through the door and this could even be a ploy he thought up on the go to trick him. He swept a cold glance at the councilors around them, and being glared in such a way, none of those councilors dared to step forward. Only then did Pearson step forward. Forebodingly, he muttered under his breath, “Just cut the act. If you really had the evidence that I’d hired hitmen, then why didn’t you release the evidence earlier?”

Zhong Yan chuckled. “Perhaps we were just looking for a good opportunity, like…right now.”

“If I were you I’d pack up my things right now and get out of here,” Adrian said with a dangerous silver glint in his eyes. “And you better run far. Don’t let me catch you too quickly.”

“What are you say…” Before Pearson could finish, his assistant had looked up from checking the news on his terminal and tugged at his arm in panic. “Sir! It’s bad, the police headquarters just issued an arrest warrant for you for…for…”

But he could not say it. Pearson had already seen the contents of what was written on his screen and his eyes had gone so wide that they had nearly popped out of their sockets. He couldn’t even bother about bickering with those two and quickly led his assistant away from the crowd.”

“I really hope he does manage to escape,” Adrian said as he stared at their backs. He had done Zhong Yan so much wrong, and in his opinion, he should be paying him back, a tooth for a tooth…

Zhong Yan glanced at the people littered around the place and said to them, “Go back to your work.”

He had just decided the future of humanity with one vote, nobody dared to talk back to him right now, much less Navi Military Command’s God of Death standing next to him that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. In no time, all the onlookers scattered and Intron had also proclaimed, “I shall get busy with my work then, Sir Zhong.”

“Watch the door. I’m not seeing anyone today, tell them to go to you if they need anything,” Zhong Yan ordered him. Intron gave his acknowledgement and headed for his own desk.

“We might be here for a long time today.” Zhong Yan took Adrian’s arm and entered the office with him. “With the impeachment bill passed, I’m sure you have many things you have to deal with on your side as well. It must be inconvenient for you to work here, so why don’t you head back for now? I told you nothing would happen but you just had to follow me. Now look, it hasn’t even been a few minutes and the entire world knows you’re in the Capital.”

Adrian had been smuggled in by him after he disguised himself as one of his bodyguards. With Pearson bringing his bodyguards to work as a precedent, and “Butterfly” already entering a dormant state this morning, it wasn’t too hard getting him in.

Adrian had originally persuaded Zhong Yan to bring him just in case the impeachment bill fails. He would knock Zhong Yan out before bringing him away, but now that the bill was passed, that plan was now useless. Moreover, there was no need for Zhong Yan to know that. Adrian spoke to him tenderly, “Alright. I’ll call a guard to come. I’ll return after he arrives to replace me.”

Zhong Yan never got to go home for that entire day. He had been busying about in the council house until morning the next day and he was unable to even find any time to contact Adrian in between. On one hand, it was due to what a sensitive moment it was currently. Both of them had thousands of things that required their attention. On another hand, all the news reported throughout the entire day were follow-ups on the actions of the council houses, the military, and other parties. All they needed to do was look at the news to know what the other was busy with.

Before the impeachment vote, poll results showed that more than 80% of the population believed that the impeachment case would not pass. If the scope of the survey was narrowed down to members on the hull of various important social institutions such as police stations, schools, research institutes, and etc., the numbers would probably rise significantly. But despite the fact that they all believed that “Butterfly” would be woken up from its slumber, who could have guessed that it would end up sleeping forever? Whether these people were happy about it or dissatisfied, they all had the same response: nobody knew what to do.

Fortunately, Zhong Yan and Vahl had long prepared a detailed and comprehensive plan for the transition. As soon as the meeting ended, both of their teams began the transitional work and only then was order maintained, and society remained functional.

News after news had overrun everyone’s minds. First there was news that Adrian Yate had appeared in the Capital’s Supreme Council and had a public dispute with Bard Pearson. The news of the assassination case came soon after that which included Qu Yongyi’s evidence and testimony taken before his death which pointed to Pearson as the instigator. Some had also speculated that “Butterfly” would be abolished in the morning and that Pearson was the most likely person to become president. But who could have even imagined that the Capital Police Force would inform everyone just this afternoon that the most promising candidate for president had been arrested for a trial?

It was now past midnight and the most urgent matters they had on hand had been resolved. When Intron saw Zhong Yan packing up and getting ready to leave, he quickly stopped him. “Sir Zhong, why don’t you wait for a while before you leave? The door…”

“What’s wrong with the door?” Zhong Yan asked.

“It’s Sir Yate, Sir Stalvern Yate, I mean. He came over again and says he wants to see you no matter what,” Intron informed him helplessly. “Commander Yate’s guards are trying to stop him, and you’ll definitely see him if you went out now.”

Zhong Yan broke out in laughter. “I’ll see him if I see him then, what kind of position do you think we’re in today? Do I have any need to be afraid of him?”

While speaking, he continued towards the door and headed out of his office, only to see Stalvern blocking the entrance to his office area immediately after. He was pointing at a young guard and yelling, “Who do you think you are? Telling me I can’t insult your boss. Well, I will insult him! I raised him with my own hands! He is my grandson! And you’re telling me I can’t do that?! Is he in there? Is Zhong Yan inside of that room? Go in and call him out right now. I want to see him!”

The young guard who had exchanged ages with Intron yesterday was so pissed that his face was beet red. His eyes were so filled with anger that you could almost see the flames, and he looked like he was on the cusp of exploding. Zhong Yan quickly headed over with Intron.