Chapter 209: Questioning Zhang Yu, Orthodox God Clears the Area

Chapter 209: Questioning Zhang Yu, Orthodoxy Sweeps the Field

Watching Yue Jincheng depart, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were left in a state of utter bewilderment. Just then, the office door swung open, and Gong Zhe stepped inside, accompanied by another member of the patrol team.

The faint smile that had previously graced Gong Zhe’s face was entirely gone, replaced by a cold detachment. "Regarding today's mutual assault case, I am here to take your statements."

"Mutual assault?" Zhang Yu countered upon hearing the term. "How can it be mutual assault? I told you, he was trying to steal my phone."

Gong Zhe replied flatly, "Is your phone not in your own hands? I watched you use it to pay."

Zhang Yu said, "That is because I stopped him. That is the only reason he failed to steal it."

Gong Zhe asked coldly, "Then how do you prove he intended to steal your phone?"

"According to the testimony of another bystander at the scene, you were the one who initiated the attack, and he was merely forced to defend himself."

Zhang Yu froze for a moment. "I attacked him?"

"Then look at the surveillance footage. He was the one who reached into my pocket from behind."

Gong Zhe flipped through the documents in his hands, speaking with an airy indifference. "The surveillance cameras at the scene are broken. They did not capture that moment."

Looking at the silent Zhang Yu, Gong Zhe pressed on, "So, you have no evidence to prove the other party intended to steal your belongings?"

"Have you been short on money lately?"

"Have your monthly exam scores at school been declining?"

"Do you feel that your mental state has been somewhat unstable recently?"

Listening to Gong Zhe’s highly suggestive string of questions, Bai Zhenzhen could not contain herself. "What do you mean by this? Are you trying to imply that Zhang Yu started the fight?"

Gong Zhe furrowed his brows and said, "This is all standard, routine questioning."

"As for who actually started it, your word does not count, and his word does not count either. Everything relies on evidence and the results of the investigation."

Bai Zhenzhen said angrily, "Then why was he allowed to leave, while we are forced to stay here?"

Gong Zhe spoke as if it were a matter of course. "He could afford the bail and applied for a deferred review. Everything is perfectly legal and proper, so naturally, he could leave first. Once we finish the questioning, you can leave just the same after you pay the bail."

Hearing this, Bai Zhenzhen grew even more furious. "We are the ones who reported the crime. Now we have to pay bail just to leave?"

Gong Zhe replied indifferently, "Reporting a crime does not mean you have not broken the law."

Looking at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen before him, Gong Zhe knew in his heart that this matter was far more complicated than a mere bail payment.

For shortly after they had interrogated Yue Jincheng, the might of the Wanxing Group had been mobilized.

As a wealthy and powerful corporation that maintained an entire legal services team, its influence far exceeded what ordinary people could fathom.

And when this massive power was directed against two poor students, though Gong Zhe did not know why the company was doing this, he could already foresee the conclusion.

Particularly when he sensed that his own superior had subtly hinted at a leaning toward the Wanxing Group, it caused Gong Zhe to alter his demeanor entirely, utterly forgetting the warm and gentle tone he had used with Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen just moments ago.

After completing their statements, Gong Zhe departed, leaving Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen alone in the office.

Bai Zhenzhen clutched her stomach, her anger mounting. She pounded on the door and shouted, "I need to use the restroom!"

Yet, no one answered.

Just then, Zhang Yu’s phone vibrated. It was a message from Zhou Chechen.

Zhou Chechen: The school is highly displeased with your involvement in a street brawl outside of campus. It has been decided to issue a disciplinary sanction to both you and Bai Zhenzhen.

Zhou Chechen: Remember to properly apologize to the other party afterward. Do not disgrace Songyang High School.

Zhang Yu stared at the message from Zhou Chechen, his eyes narrowing. He thought to himself, "What is the meaning of this?"

"A provocation?"

A moment later, Yun Ni sent another message: What happened? The higher-ups are saying you were involved in a brawl, and they want to revoke your status as Divine Assistants.

Watching the messages flood Zhang Yu’s phone screen, Bai Zhenzhen felt an overwhelming weight pressing down upon them, like an invisible, giant hand slowly squeezing them tighter and tighter.

Witnessing all of this, Fu Ji burst into laughter. "It seems the Zhou family has made its move. This is a splendid turn of events."

"They have twisted this into a mutual assault and are exerting pressure everywhere. They clearly want to use this opportunity to ruin you. Either they want to extort a sum of money from you, or they want you detained so you cannot attend school."

"Heheh, but no matter what, they have no idea that you added Deng Bincheng as a friend, let alone that Deng Bincheng has already begun investigating the Zhou family."

"The deeper the Zhou family entangles themselves in this matter right now, the higher the price they will have to pay when they try to extricate themselves later."

***

While Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen waited patiently inside the patrol bureau office, Yue Jincheng had already returned to the security department of the Wanxing Group.

Stepping into the director’s office, Yue Jincheng saw that besides the director, Si Zhouyu and another lawyer were also present.

The security director stared at him, asking coldly, "Who gave you permission to act on your own?"

Yue Jincheng stammered, "I..."

Smack!

The security director delivered a sharp slap across Yue Jincheng’s face, growling, "If the company did not still have a use for you right now, you would have been fired long ago."

A stinging heat radiated from the palm print on Yue Jincheng’s face, but he dared not touch it. He could only bow his head and say, "I am sorry, Director. It was entirely my fault."

The security director demanded, "Hand over your phone."

Hearing this, Yue Jincheng’s face twitched, a flash of dread appearing in his eyes, but ultimately, he surrendered his phone.

The security director expertly opened the company’s employee financial platform and said, "The company advanced the bail money for you this time. Use your own reserve funds to reimburse the company immediately."

"Move quickly."

Yue Jincheng gritted his teeth. Under the menacing gaze of the security director, he could only obediently comply with the commands.

The security director continued, "From now on, you will stick strictly to the story that Zhang Yu attacked you first, and that the two of you engaged in a mutual assault."

"The company lawyer will instruct you on the exact details."

"Bear this in mind: if you act recklessly on your own authority again, do not expect to find any employment in Songyang City."

The lawyer beside him added, "The specific procedure is quite simple. When the time comes, this is what you will say at the patrol bureau..."

Listening to the instructions, Yue Jincheng frowned and said, "Just continuously mediate with him like this? Constantly entangle and harass him?"

Filled with incomprehension, he asked, "This is clearly a perfect opportunity to break him, isn't it? With the company's power, making it impossible for him to attend school would be effortless."

"We could entirely threaten him to obtain the information the leadership desires..."

Before Yue Jincheng could finish his sentence, the security director planted a fierce kick into his stomach. With a muffled groan, Yue Jincheng doubled over like a boiled shrimp.

The security director said coldly, "Did I not just tell you? Do not make assumptions on your own authority. Do exactly what the leadership commands. If you understand, execute it; if you do not understand, execute it all the more."

"The company has no need for tools at the execution level to possess their own thoughts."

"Do you understand?"

Yue Jincheng forced himself to stand up straight, nodding as he replied, "I understand."

Yet, a deep confusion still lingered within Yue Jincheng’s heart. He could not comprehend why, when dealing with impoverished high school students like Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen—whom the company could easily crush beneath its heel—they always chose to spare them.

***

"Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen are nothing more than two ants."

"To crush them to death would, of course, be effortless."

"But wanting to step on them while grinding back and forth, yet not crushing them to death, forcing them to seek help from the ant nest... that truly tests one's skill and timing."

Inside the hospital room on the 333rd floor of Central Tower, Zhou Yang gazed at the cityscape outside the window and sighed inwardly: "New employees these days are getting more and more restless."

But Zhou Yang was not panicked; after all, having weathered many storms over the years, he had encountered far too many instances of subordinates making mistakes and errors.

He would not wallow in self-pity over this mistake, only strive to adjust after the error, seeking new opportunities within the given circumstances.

So upon learning that Yue Jincheng had attacked Zhang Yu and been caught red-handed by the patrol team, Zhou Yang immediately acted, leveraging his influence to take control of the situation.

"We can't pretend nothing happened—that would surely alert the evil god behind the scenes."

"But we can't kill Zhang Yu outright and cut off the trail to the evil god."

Zhou Yang thought to himself: "I still need to use Zhou Chechen's name to get things done."

"Disguise the whole affair as Zhou Chechen hiring someone to set a trap for Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen in revenge..."

"At least on the level of Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, in their eyes, the entire incident must be controlled to seem like nothing more than Zhou Chechen's bullying."

As he pondered, he made phone calls, and relying on the Zhou family's foundation and the influence of the Wanxing Group, he quickly achieved his goal.

After doing all this, Zhou Yang let out a soft breath and thought to himself: "Next, I'll increase the manpower and continue monitoring Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen through multiple channels."

"Whether they seek help from the evil god or sense something amiss and try to flee, we should be able to gain something."

"But before that..."

Zhou Yang mused: "Since I've already done it, why not have them detained for a few days and arrange for someone inside to teach them a lesson? Maybe that will make them reveal more weaknesses?"

"Even if they are students taking the foundation-building exam, everything is reasonable—surely they can't blame me for that?"

Just as Zhou Yang was weighing the nuances of timing, his phone suddenly vibrated.

Then came wave after wave of frantic vibrations, as message after message flooded the screen in a frenzy.

"The Divine Department has arrived! They're searching the corporate building!"

"Chairman Zhou! The security department has been sealed off by the orthodox gods—everyone has lost contact!"

"Zhou Yang, what the hell is going on? Why is a sixth-rank orthodox god coming to investigate you?"

"Uncle, an orthodox god has descended on the mansion..."

"Chairman Zhou, our funds have been frozen?"

Staring at these messages one after another, Zhou Yang was initially bewildered: "Sixth-rank... orthodox god? Coming to investigate me?"

But soon, as more and more messages surfaced, he felt as if layers of heavenly nets were closing in around him, tightening, suffocating him.

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(End of this chapter)