"There's more," Jason Jing continued, glancing at his tablet, a few holographic screens blinking about him. "Apparently, somebody is trying to shift the blame to you. We had a few reports where the crew of the warship responsible for the attack claimed that you hired them. Unfortunately for them, we ran a few investigations and saw that you hadn't actually done any large-scale transactions with any mercenary group."
How did they even get access to my transaction history? Oh…never mind. I forgot who I was working for here. The military monitored me to the point where I didn't have much privacy, but in exchange I received quite a lot of protection.
Otherwise I would end up like Ye Wu Tian and get arrested and imprisoned under false charges. Good thing the military was on hand to offer evidence of my innocence.
"Why would they even try to pin this on me?" I asked, confused. "They tried to kill me. With a bloody cruise missile! If I didn't install a shield generator in my Toyota, I would have died along with Riley Rong and his fangirls! No disrespect meant to the dead, of course."
"I honestly don't know. But it's well known that Riley Rong was publicly trying to steal your wife, pressuring her to divorce you so that she will marry him instead. To the point where he would set his fangirls on you."
"But that's the thing. I didn't even know he would pull that stunt and that his fangirls will swarm my car and trap me in place today. How the hell would I have planned this whole cruise missile thing and get a warship in place in the first place?!"
"Yeah, that's another evidence in your favor. The timeline and everything don't add up. The confessions from the culprits are too inconsistent and feel fake. They are clearly trying to make you the scapegoat. It's clear that the hit on Riley Rong has been planned for a long time now, but he has only recently started pursuing Lily Ling. So…yeah. It makes no sense."
So that was why they were letting me go, despite all these suspicions. They had more evidence that these were false charges than they had evidence of me actually being behind the attack. If anything, they seemed more curious about the real culprit.
"We don't believe that whoever is behind this actually has a vendetta against you. You just conveniently happen to be there to serve as a scapegoat. Don't worry, the military is working actively to investigate the truth of this matter."
"The military?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Not the police?"
Jason Jing looked a little sheepish. "This case is outside our jurisdiction, unfortunately. The military is taking over. We can't fight against a paramilitary organization like those mercenaries. The military is better equipped to deal with this."
That made sense. The police was woefully underequipped and not appropriately armed to deal with a bunch of mercenaries who had access to a bloody warship and cruise missiles. They would be blown to bits.
I was pretty sure the government wouldn't let this go. A foreign ship had actually snuck past our defenses and stealthily made its way toward our shore, got within our territory, and blew up a square in one of our cities. This was outrageous. They would definitely want to retaliate.
As for me, I decided to start drawing up plans to build city-sized void shield generators that would be capable of withstanding even an orbital bombardment. I was probably getting too ahead of myself, but if I could get it to work, all cities would be protected from cruise missiles. The staggering costs and material needed to build all these shield generators over every city would make it highly impractical, though. Most likely this wasn't going to happen. At least not in the near future…or even within my lifetime.
While I was lost in thought, Jason Jing mistook my silence for my waiting for more details, so he hurriedly elaborated.
"Oh, uh, from what we can find, this enemy has a grudge against Riley Rong. Immediately after his death, there was a rush from many companies to buy out the Rong Group shares. Their stocks plunged heavily after the debacle. The investors are circling the dwindling Rong Group like sharks in the water now, having scented blood. It won't be long before the Rong Group collapses. Apparently Riley Rong had been running a one-man show. Without him…"
Without him, the company would fall. I understood and sympathized slightly. Not a lot, but ever so slightly. He deserved it, if you asked me. Also, how typical that the Rong Group was a one-man show. Of course the CEO male lead had to be the most perfect individual and the only one capable of running a company. The board existed only to act shocked and surprised whenever he answered a phone call in the middle of a meeting. The male lead wouldn't be a proper CEO unless nobody dared to defy him.
"We also found out that Riley Rong has many, many enemies. Far more than any of us previously imagined. Former CEOs of companies that he acquired through hostile takeovers, people he hired thugs to beat up or ordered his subordinates to beat up just because they approached Lily Ling – you are lucky you had special forces bodyguards or you would have been a victim too – there is evidence that he tried to do that to you, but Alan Shou and Brad Biao were able to prevent that. There are entire families he bankrupted on a whim just because they offended him or the female lead…ahem, I mean Lily Ling. Staff he fired because they were simply being rude to Lily Ling. And the list goes on and on. But the thing is that…there are so many more people who have a reason to kill Riley Rong than you…people who have a better reason than you for having a grudge."
In other words, the idiot had been going around making enemies and carelessly spending his company's money. Hostile takeovers my foot. What sort of fucking CEO bought out entire companies just to please the girl he was chasing? Anyone who did that was on the road of bankrupting himself eventually. I was aware that many female authors and readers were in love with this romantic idea of a perfect, rich and powerful CEO male lead who was willing to make the whole world his enemy just to protect the female lead, but realistically…that never happened. There was a limit to a person's power, even an individual. Even the president of a country couldn't get away with some of the nonsense that fictional CEOs pulled. I mean, mobilizing the entire military and going to war just to rescue the female lead from the local mafia? Really?
Yeah, well…in reality, this was the consequence of "making the whole world" his enemy and being ruthless to everyone who wasn't the female lead (so that she could feel oh-so-special because she was the only one who can melt the CEO male lead's otherwise icy heart). Congratulations, simp. You just played yourself.
"There is reason to believe that there are actually many people and organizations working together to bring him down, that there isn't a single mastermind like how those culprits claimed when pinning the blame on you. It becomes evident from their inconsistencies, how their stories don't match each other and contradict each other outright. Clearly they have been receiving orders from many different people and various employers."
Not only was I unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire because those bearing a grudge against Riley Rong wanted to kill him and involved me in the colossal explosion, but they also thought I would make for a convenient scapegoat. Hell, no. I wasn't that easy to bully. Just because I was nice and didn't get myself involved in all these stupid business politics, they took it for granted that I was an easy target and walked all over my head.
Fuck them.
"Thanks for telling me everything. I'll talk to the military and a few of my contacts and see what I can do about this. We aren't going to allow these idiots to roam free. Think about it…they were willing enough to fire a cruise missile into a densely populated city just to indulge in their grudge against Riley Rong. There's no telling what other extreme terrorist actions they will undertake just to satisfy their egos."
"Very true." Jason Jing nodded and accompanied me to the entrance of the police station. "Well, I apologize for all the trouble, sir. Have a nice night, and stay safe."
I found Alan Shou and Brad Biao waiting for me, along with a worried Lily Ling. She rushed toward me.
"Are you all right? I heard they detained you because they believe you are a prime suspect in this case."
"The military should have resolved that," Alan Shou said. I nodded.
"Yeah. But the situation itself is far from resolved. I'm not letting these bastards get away with this."
We returned to my Toyota. I took the wheel, but even as I drove home, with the passengers settled inside, I made a phone call. Of course I used hands free. Ladies and gentlemen, if you needed to make a phone call while driving, make sure you use hands free or earphones. Never keep your hands off the wheel. Maintain eyes on the road. Safe driving is the only way to drive. Stay safe and don't get into accidents, people! As for those of you who aren't old enough to drive, keep this in mind when getting your license!
With a thought-click, I dialed a familiar number. It didn't take more than a few rings before the other party answered.
"Bu Fan? Are you there?"
"Oh! It's Trevor!" Bu Fan's voice unmistakably echoed from the speakers of my phone. "I'm so glad to hear you! I thought you were in trouble, but it seems that the police let you go after all. That's great."
I wasn't surprised that he knew I had been apprehended by the police and was detained under suspicion of planning the murder or whatever. Bu Fan had a lot of sources and connections.
"I was planning on bailing you out, but seems like I didn't need to. Right, you have the military covering you. They can't afford to leave you locked up and have all those army tech you're developing stalled."
"Yeah. But we could still use your help." I smiled coldly. "I'll pay you, of course. Name your price. I know you don't come cheap, but your services are the best and I need them right now. Those bastards not only dared to attack me, but they also tried to make me the scapegoat and pin the whole thing on me. I'm going to make them pay."
"Revenge?" Bu Fan laughed. "I'm definitely in. Nobody fires a missile into my city and gets away with it. Nobody messes with my friends. I've already sent out agents…hopefully they'll find something. But yeah, we'll pay them back double for what they tried to do."
"Amen to that." I tightened my grip on my steering wheel as my smile widened. "We'll show them the price of screwing with the wrong people…and when we're done with them, they'll regret ever thinking that they can involve me in this and get away with it."