๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต?
After getting to the secret room, an array of monitors were efficiently arranged around the room, where one could keep an eye on the entire property. Yijun used them to watch the remaining of what was happening to his father. Unfortunately, by coming into the room, he completely locked off all sound from the outside, unless it was from a hidden microphone. They had those around the house, but none any further than the front door.
The entourage had already left the door so anything caught on the microphone was but a blurry of sounds. From his father's body language, he understood that his father was saying something to the blonde young man, but he couldn't figure out what it was due to only seeing him from the back. However, he also saw how the young man smiled and responded as if it didn't matter.
Whatever he said, it definitely caused his father to cease struggling.
What could it be?
To make someone as ambitious as his father become so rigid.
He clenched his fists.
No. He won't let the same happen to him. He had just gotten an amazing windfall! No way was he going to let the police and some unknown guy take his hard-earned cash away from him.
He knew what he had to do.
.....
๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ.
These past weeks felt like a complete blur to him. The original reluctance he felt once before had notably diminished and he already finished packing most of his essentials. He was still annoyed at his mother for sending him on this so-called assignment, but it was good for him to expand his horizons, increase his influence as a singer and take his mind off things.
It wasn't too obvious, but Li Tian was a slightly changed man. The change didn't reflect his personality much but more so his resolve. He had regained a portion of his passion for singing and being the best, as well as a big desire to protect. Never again would he let anyone ever take advantage of him or those he cared about.
The problem was, he didn't have a person he felt that extreme desire to protect anyway.
So all he was left with was revenge for being wronged in the past and a more nonchalant attitude. He wasn't as talkative and chose the things to say more carefully. Moreover, he knew better now about judging food, and people of course, by its cover.
Li Tian picked up a frozen packet of steamed buns and stared at it. He asked the undercover personnel to bring every single steamed bun back for him but he hadn't been home in a while since then. Thankfully Meilin knew what to do with them while he was gone or he would have been left with even more regrets.
He was going to be in the North for quite a long time. So after staring at the steamed bun packet, he decided to bring all of them with him. He'll have the clan send it to him there.
Riiiiiiing.
His cellphone rang in his pocket. He really needed to change the ringtone.
He put the packet of steamed buns down and took his phone out. Seeing the called ID, he walked to a recliner in the room and sat down comfortably. He knew it would be a worthwhile conversation.
"You got good news?" he answered the call and got straight to the point.
"Tsk tsk. So impatient now aren't we, Little Sky," the caller chided. "Where's my greeting?"
Li Tian scrunched his face but held back his temper. It would be of no use against the opponent anyway. Thus he gave his 'greetings'. "Hello, how are you? Great, I'm fine. Any news?"
Practically hearing the frown on the other side, he smirked to himself in pleasure.
"Well, I guess it was right for me to let the younger one go," the caller confessed in pleasure.
Li Tian almost jumped from the words and demanded, "What do you ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ let go, Levi?"
"Forgive me, you must be dying to hear a little bit of good news," Levi teased. "I'm currently at Solar City's police headquarters having a ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ time with a man named Luo Wanhui, previously known as ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ Wanhui. Say hello and introduce yourself, Mr. Wanhui."
"He-hello?" a timid middle-aged man's voice sounded from the other side.
The grip on Li Tian's cellphone tightened considerably. That was the voice of the man who caused Grandmama's suffering. Levi was right in not letting him come in contact with the man, or he wouldn't know what he would have done.
"๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ, Mr. Wanhui. There must be more you could offer than just a simple hello. As I've mentioned beforehand, the man on the other side is the decider of your fate. Prove us wrong or admit we're right in convicting you. Regardless, choose your words wisely."
Wanhui wasn't the only one Levi was messing with. The half Huaxian and Vestren was a firm believer in using words instead of violence. By insinuating such words, he was also provoking certain reactions out of Li Tian, be it anger or acceptance. After all, he was the only one who could meddle with such things.
Li Tian knew what Levi was trying to achieve too but there was nothing he could do about it either. The man knew him too well to know that he wouldn't stop him. Li Tian wanted to ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐บ Wanhui but he also was curious to know what the guy had to say.
He couldn't see the other side, but he could tell Levi had unsurprisingly done something to spook the guy already. And if he didn't, well, his full name was enough to crush your soul.
"I-I'm..."
.....
"I-I'm..." Wanhui hesitated. Trying to get some sort of clue from the smiling young man's face seemed impossible. All he did was stare down at him with that seemingly ominous smile, blocking his throat from speaking. But even if the young man ๐ธ๐ข๐ด from Ivon Communications and Technology, it wasn't a Huaxian company. Surely the Luo name had a little bit of influence right?
The only problem was, was it worth it to test the theory?
"I'm Luo Cheng's son in law. You must know of him, the Vice President of-"
"Tsk. Tsk. Allow me to stop you right there. I'm afraid your identity has no weight in our discussion, Mr. Wanhui," Levi chuckled. "Neither does it prove your innocence. Try a little harder, shall we? Or do we need a little incentive? The other man has quite the temper, you see."
The color drained from his face.
Although Wanhui was an ambitious man, he was the lay low type, which meant he was patient in his actions. That was what managed to get him thus far, despite its seemingly stagnant pace. He tried mentioning the Luo Clan once but was immediately shot down by the Ivon company's representative.
There was no use in pushing it.
He was unsure of the voice from the other side, but anyone influential enough to bicker with someone representing the Ivon name was most likely not within his means to trick.
He hung his head down, humbling himself down in defeat. He was a smart man, and smart men knew when to admit defeat. But they ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ knew how to appeal to a person's conscience.
"I admit my mistake... My true name is Kong Wanhui and I was nothing but a street hawker's son. So I worked hard and climbed my way up through blood, sweat, and tears to get where I am now. I may have done a few things against the law, but I understood my limits and never meant to go too far with anything." He looked up to the young man holding the cellphone in hand, in hopes of a reaction. "May I know the details for my accusations so that I may address them?"
He heard a low and subtle growl from the phone but it lasted for only a second before disappearing. Could it have been a mistake?
Levi also heard the growl but knew it was real. Wanhui's words clearly were not satisfactory for the man on the other side. As the third party between the two, he smirked in amusement, causing a slight shudder in the middle-aged man.
"Alright. Allow me to fill you in on the details," Levi took a seat in front of the man being questioned and settled the cellphone down onto the metal table on speaker mode. He lifted his hand, with one finger pointed up, and made a 'come here' gesture with it towards the blank wall. It was without a doubt a one-way mirror.
Not even a minute later, a female officer came in with a stack of documents and a tablet. She placed them on the table in front of Levi, taking a sneak peek at the handsome young man, before leaving the two in the room.
"Let's see here, where shall I start," the strawberry blonde man pulled out a pair of reading glasses and started to sort the papers into different stacks according to their charges.
The convicted Wanhui couldn't help acknowledge how good the pair of glasses looked on the young man, but it also made him break into a cold sweat.
"Oh! We mustn't leave the decider of your fate hanging now, should we?"
Levi picked up the tablet, his fingers flying across the screen, then meticulously put it back down on the table. "Little Sky, if you would access the red GenW laptop located on the desk beside you, I have connected a live broadcast directly to my and Mr. Wanhui's discussion room. Also, do inform your family that your system firewall needs a minor update."
Wanhui's eyes widened in shock as his fists clenched in desperation.
๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ.
That explained where all the accusations had come from. You couldn't hide when an Ivon company's hacker targeted you.
The 'Little Sky' grunted from the speaker and a few undecipherable words were thrown out as well.
As if there was nothing wrong, Levi continued his smile and picked up a single document out of one of the stacks. The accused couldn't see it but it was one of the many categorized in 'Forgery of Documents'. "Let's start here, then. Mr. Wanhui, amongst your many achievements, your first great achievement was graduating at the top of your class from one of South Huaxia's most prestigious universities, correct?"
"Yes. It was TT University," Mr. Wanhui replied.
There was a barely noticeable pause in Levi's movements as he looked through a few other documents within the same category. He of course still had his smile on. "I see. Then you went on to win a few scholastic awards, and entered an internship program to help the poor in the country Arela."
"Y-yes..."
"After soul searching in Arela, you managed to acquire a position of standing in one of the Luo Clan's charitable organizations. With your direct experience in the country in question, you created a new section focused solely on the welfare of starving families in Arela. Within this section of the company, you slowly made your way to the position of supervisor where you gained absolute control of the movement of funds." Supposedly amused by what he read, Levi raised an eyebrow while letting out a low chuckle. "Giving me an inkling on the source of all your money laundering allegations."
"Excuse me?" Wanhui jumped.
"Ah, my apologies. That was unethical of me," Levi smiled apologetically. "We haven't gotten to your money laundering crimes yet have we. We still have to get through your forgeries." He patted the stack of unfinished papers.
Wanhui's face turned as white as a sheet of paper when he realized what the young man was reading. The comprehension of what the many documents were also dawned upon him.
He felt like he had lost his soul.
"I must say," Levi continued looking through the forged background. "You have created quite the exquisite life for yourself. Lying must come second nature to you."
The way the handsome young man said it was as if he were making small talk, but the words he said were like knives in his back.
"But of course, I had already realized your quick-witted tongue the moment we first met. After all, you ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ about the whereabouts of your son who was in the house with you."
Wanhui's heart stopped.
The young man had paused his reading and leaned back into his seat. His disposition radiated power, while his smile crept up like a demon prying all of his dirty secrets. "No worries, I didn't mind the lie," Levi humored the broken man. "Let your son prepare. Ultimately... a hunt is no fun one-sided."
"P-please... don't hurt my son," the father begged. "He's innocent!"
The devil's smile widened. "Is he though?"
Another knife in the back.
Suddenly, the voice on the other side cut down the deathly suspense. "Levi, where is he? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ is Yijun?"
"Ruining the fun already, are we?"
"๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ!?"
"Always so hasty." Levi picked up the tablet and ran his fingers across the screen once again. Not even a few seconds later he let out a surprised but entertained chuckle, "Well. Well. Well..."
"What?" the voice asked in anticipation.
Wanhui was also on his toes in dread. Could this Ivon hacker really find his son at a moment's notice? The 'Little Sky' character obviously sounded like he had some sort of vendetta with his son too.
"It seems like your son is quite the decisive man, Mr. Wanhui." He zoomed in on a certain live video playing on the screen and showed it to the father. The same video was being shown directly to Little Sky's laptop.
On the video was Yijun, pulling two large bags with him, as he headed towards a flight gate.
"What an interstellar coincidence isn't it, Little Sky. He appears to be heading North."
.....