Many eyes fell on Heero as soon as the question was asked. Suddenly, all the noise disappeared and everyone focused on Heero.
Of course, Heero kept his composure as he scanned the conference room, scanning the eager reporters waiting for his answer.
"Of course, I did not kill them. There is no reason for me to do that" he answered the question with a slight smile on his face.
But his answer disappointed the reporters. Heero claimed to be innocent, but he did not explain why he was innocent.
There was nothing they could release to the public with that kind of answer.
Even though they were disappointed with Heero's first answer, the reporters did not give up trying to dig up something spicier. That was what they were reporters for, persistence.
"What about the accusations in the forum? Many posts say that you are the murderer!" A male reporter in his thirties asked again.
"Mnnn... You are not telling the truth, Mr. Reporter. I have read some of those posts and it's not an accusation.
"It's a speculation, they are speculating that I am the killer because of the conflict between me and Ryan White."
"You are a reporter and I think you can distinguish between accusation and speculation! So please don't twist other people's contributions for your own selfish purposes."
Heero's words stunned the reporter. Exactly as Heero said, all the posts that were spreading around the forum were just speculation.
Another reporter was about to ask another question, but Heero spoke first.
"Besides, do any of these posts have proof that I am the murderer?"
This question silenced the entire room. There was no proof whatsoever that Heero was the murderer.
It was just speculation based on the conflict between Heero and Ryan White.
"Are you finished with your question?"
The reporters closed their mouths immediately, feeling that they would be in trouble if they tried to corner Heero.
"Good, I will speak now. I am not the murderer and I have some suspicions and we are working on it."
"You may have a question: why am I free of suspicion? It's because Ryan White is with me, why would I spare his life and kill his family?"
"Ryan White is still unconscious, and I believe the murderer is someone close to Ryan White," Heero took something from under the table while speaking.
He showed the dead Abyss Parasite to the reporters, "I found this in Ryan White's head!"
As soon as he said that, the cameras flashed. All the cameramen tried to get a picture of the hairy Abyss Parasite in his hand.
"This is the Abyss Parasite, and it can affect one person's mind. This parasite was found in Ryan White's head, etched into his brain!"
"Do you remember Ryan White's condition in yesterday's battle against me?
He was in a state of madness, trying to kill me by any means possible, regardless of the safety of the spectators.
I think it is all because of that parasite! Since everyone knows that Ryan White we know is not someone like that, he will not put the audience in danger, right?"
The conference room fell silent. Except for the sound of the camera's flash, Heero's voice filled the room with his statement.
"And so, we are currently investigating the case and have some suspicions that the murderer is someone with a close relationship to the White House."
"I'm holding this conference to assure people that I'm not the killer, and also to ask people on the forum, please don't spread your baseless speculations wildly on the forum."
After that, some reporters asked Heero more questions. All these questions were about the Abyss Parasite in his hand. They shifted their focus to the new and unknown creature, the Abyss Parasite.
*** ***
Meanwhile, outside of Star City, west of Star City to be exact.
The same old man and the middle-aged man who secretly watched the battle yesterday were watching their respective smartwatches.
"Huh, he handled it better than I thought, and he suspected the right person, right Butler Rodin?" The middle-aged man smiled at the old man beside him.
Butler Rodin, an old butler of the White Household, and also the culprit behind the mass slaughter of the White Household.
"Stop calling me that filthy name! I am not that old man anymore!" As he said this, "Butler Rodin" tore his face to reveal a younger face. The old "Butler Rodin" turned into a man in his thirties.
"Tsk, I wasted a few years just for that?"
"It was your idea to use your beloved pawn to test him, Roman!" The middle-aged man shrugged lightly.
"I know, but who expected this guy to be so damn strong. I thought someone with Divine Crow's bloodline would be enough to measure his power," Roman cursed in frustration.
He had raised Ryan White and even given him a Divine Crow bloodline while secretly planting the Abyss Parasite. The cost he spent on Ryan White was too much, but he got nothing in return.
"The Abyss Parasite and the Divine Crow's bloodline, hmmm... You have indeed suffered a great loss here," the middle-aged man grinned, teasing Roman.
"Hump, let's go. Who knows, he might snoop around and find us here if we stay longer," Roman began to worry. He feared the unknown and Heero was the unknown for him.
"No, this is all your idea! You are the one who set the stage and you are the one who asked me to watch," the middle-aged man shrugged and closed his smartwatch.
Despite his words, he agreed with Roman to leave this city as soon as possible.
Roman did the same. He closed his smartwatch and turned around, "He sure is unusual, he knows about the Abyss Parasite! We should be more careful with him."
"You're right. That's why I told you to leave no trace, and you did a good job!" The middle-aged man nodded as he pulled up the black cloak and covered his face.
Just like that, the two men left, heading west.
*** ***
Thanks to the sudden conference, Heero was able to calm the masses. All speculations also disappeared after the conference.
While the accusations and speculations about Heero slaughtering the White Household disappeared, a new topic appeared.
Abyss Parasite, the forum went into a frenzy because of this disgusting creature. And because of this creature, Bai Xian Ming, Kim Jung-Mun, and Wu Shitian called an executive meeting.
Heero was called to explain about the Abyss Parasite.
"So what is this meeting for?" He had no idea why they had called the meeting at this time.
"Aren't you supposed to explain about the Abyss Parasite?" Wu Shitian was the first to fire the bullet.
"Explain what? I already explained everything at the conference. What explanation do you want?" Heero frowned in return.
The work was piling up, with this morning's case to investigate the murderer who might be connected to the underlings of God Horas. His work was far from done.
He also had to check out the Heero instructors. He had to inspect them before he let them learn the Ki Comprehension to qualify them to be a real instructor.
There was so much work to be done, but he was called for something they could look up themselves online. He was certainly a little unhappy.
"Shouldn't you give us priority before releasing highly classified information like the Abyss Parasite to the public?" Hanzo Sojuro questioned Heero's decision.
Heero narrowed his eyes at the white-haired old man. The Hanzo clan held a grudge against him because of the incident with Hanzo Keiji.
It was only natural that this old man would try to corner him at a time like this.
"Top secret information? Who decided that, and why do I have to give you priority?
What's the difference between telling you first and telling the public directly? It's not like I'm hiding it from you."
Heero raised his voice slightly and his tone was mixed with frustration. He could not believe that they called him for this.
Just as Hanzo Sojuro was about to retort, Kim Jung-Mun spoke first: "Stop it! We are not calling you here for that, but we want to know more about the Abyss Parasite. Like its habitat and more."
Hanzo Sojuro immediately closed his mouth when Kim Jung-Mun started to speak.
"I told you everything about the Abyss Parasite at the conference. This is what I know about the Abyss Parasite..." Before Heero could finish, his smartwatch vibrated.
He paused and looked down, it was Sun Zhou Yi calling him.
He gestured to Kim Jung-Mun to wait, indicating that the call was important and he needed to answer it now. The old man nodded his head and Heero took the call.
"Ryan White has regained consciousness and Old Man Niadin is taking care of him right now!" Sun Zhou Yi's voice came over the smartwatch.
Everyone in the meeting room could hear Sun Zhou Yi's voice as Heero did not attempt to hide his conversation with his student.
"Alright, I will come to you right away!" After a quick reply, he ended the call and stood up.
Pointing his finger at his smartwatch, he excused himself from the meeting, "I have to go now!"
He turned around but stopped immediately. Heero turned back and his eyes met Kim Jung-Mun's.
"If you want to know more about the Abyss Parasite, you can ask Old Man Dazekh. The Purple Mountain Tribe is an old tribe, they might have some records about the Abyss Parasite."
Kim Jung-Mun nodded. Then Heero turned his gaze to Bai Xian Ming and called out, "Grandfather!"
Bai Xian Ming felt something bad. Heero only called him Grandpa when he wanted something.
"If you want to meet Old Man Dazekh, can you please bring King William with you? I promised him."
"Don't act cute in front of me, get lost!" Bai Xian Ming waved his hand in annoyance and blurted out something unusual.
"Thank you, Grandpa, ~" After receiving the confirmation, Heero left the meeting room directly.