Side Story: Hell on Earth
Chapter 127
Adjudicate
Following a week of continuous torrential rain, the howling storm winds blew down trees and overturned countless roofs. The militia members had to enter the shelters to escape the disaster.
Strangely...
At the very moment of Wan's public trial, the divine restored a cloudless sky without wind or sunlight... as if... creating the most convenient conditions for all leading officials, as well as the military and civilians, to come and witness this historical moment.
Today... the victims of crimes such as genocide, oppression, exploitation, and deception... as they had wished, welcomed the long-desired day to witness with their own eyes the trial of the most dangerous, cunning, and cruel hunting dog.
Those gray-haired elderly people, young men and women, and even those children who were no longer innocent and pure... everyone was eagerly looking forward to justice being upheld... so that... they could clear the names of the countless innocent people who had been framed and killed by Wan.
The strict laws would, on behalf of the hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of victims who had died at the hands of this blood-stained, human-skinned demon, pour down their hatred.
The monarch sat at the highest position in the "Hive" square, supervising the trial and ensuring fairness. He leaned back on the throne, solemnly observing the officials and generals sitting on the red-carpeted honorary seats one tier below him. The third position was a chair specially set for the Presiding Judge, with the pattern of the scales of justice carved on the back of the chair.
With his hands and feet locked, Wan stood in the dock, facing the Presiding Judge. On the left side of the court was Liberte, sitting on the plaintiff's stand, filing a lawsuit as the representative of all victims.
The most important thing was not the severity of the case, not the monarch personally managing it, and not the vast crowd behind Wan. Everyone was angrily and excitedly waiting for Wan to be convicted, and everyone would whip up an angry tsunami to submerge Wan...
It was...
An sat coldly and motionlessly in the witness stand, facing Wan with utter indifference. She did not hate Wan for brainwashing his daughter since childhood. She did not feel humiliated for being the daughter of a demon.
All emotions toward Wan were already dead... but... for a father who gave everything for his child, that walking-corpse-like expression was a punishment even more terrifying than a miserable death beneath the guillotine...
Although the "corpse" was silent... yet... for this sinner who was enduring a storm of criticism, curses, and insults... that... silence... was even more bone-deep than the mockery and contempt of any stranger.
The person who pushed him to the bottom of the abyss of shame happened to be his daughter—the one he had always deluded himself into believing was the person he cherished and loved the most, and this belief had stemmed from his misguided ideology from the very beginning.
But...
All of this was completely meaningless to the person struggling in the mire and frantically searching for a way out in the desperate darkness...
What he truly cared about at this moment and couldn't figure out no matter how hard he thought was that there was actually still an empty seat in the witness stand...
Who was that empty seat meant for?
This mysterious question occupied the entire mind of the person who refused to give up searching for a glimmer of life in the dead zone.
No longer agonizing over the daughter betraying her father, and no longer confused about finding the answer to why An stabbed her father in the back. The previous night, An and May came to see Wan for the last time. Wan sneered:
"You two mother and daughter came here to mock me, or to pity me in this miserable state?"
May continued earnestly trying every possible way to comfort Wan and stabilize his emotions. Every kind word, every word of comfort, was regarded by him as hypocrisy, as a cat mourning a mouse… constantly provoking, mocking, and ridiculing him, disrupting his mind and plunging this man into a state of fear of… the Grim Reaper… no longer the companion of this blood-draining demon…
But rather...
His most capable and most trusted accomplice had betrayed him… just like… the two foxes he had personally raised in his own home, who then went on to satisfy their own filthy, sinful desires… and then… turn around and bite the man who had doted on them, protected them, and made all their wishes come true.
The more Wan despised and resented her, the more deeply May played the role of a virtuous wife who loved him, sympathized with him, and felt sorry for the husband who had shared her bed for twenty years… only to… secretly humiliate, mock, and take pleasure in ridiculing the man who had fallen from grace… dying… because of his own deceitful nature, thinking himself clever, only to be ultimately destroyed by his own intelligence.
And…
Death…
Because… of the people closest to him.
May deliberately provoked him, while An did not utter a single word of provocation. The daughter did not even bother to ask about his physical condition, completely indifferent to the fact that her father was going mad with rage, contempt, hatred, and pent-up frustration because he could not accept that his own daughter had actually betrayed him.
The daughter he had doted on and cherished like a precious treasure, whom he had advised and educated to become a "model" person, following the "shining example" of a great father who had always given his children the very best things…
What a fucking dog…
That daughter in whom he had placed such high hopes, hoping that she would live by the belief of "If a person does not live for himself, Heaven and Earth will destroy him" until the day she died… yet… his own thinking had also tacitly assumed that children must fulfill their complete filial duty and moral obligations toward their father.
As a father, he felt deeply bitter, filled with countless suspicions and endless confusion, completely unable to imagine… that this man who worshipped extreme selfishness… would actually suffer such a tragedy… from childhood until then, he had continuously instilled poisonous ideas into his daughter's mind, solely to raise her into a capable companion and comrade for him to deal with all his enemies…
In the end…
His loved ones had been manipulated by their father like puppets… but… the father had always deceived his daughter and himself, believing that it was love and affection… only to have her sever all restraints, willingly turn herself into a weapon… and ultimately deliver a deadly returning strike.
That unfilial daughter who deserved to be struck by Heaven's thunder and punished by the gods still faced him with indifference, as though her father had never existed. She felt not the slightest remorse… because… betraying her father had only been a matter of time… and… she had absolutely no sense of guilt or remorse.
The daughter had… obeyed… was… obeying… and… would forever… obey her father's teachings... while at the same time… putting into practice the lessons she had memorized from her innocent childhood all the way to the present, and yet… she herself had long since ceased to be as pure and innocent as she once was.
His wife and daughter—the people dearest to him—were still right before his eyes… at the moment between life and death, at the most dangerous moment… yet… their familial affection… was as far away as the ends of the earth.
That feeling had already completely cooled toward this man who was both a husband and a father… but… what was utterly humiliating was that the feeling he had always fantasized into existence through the forceful mindset of making others live according to his will… had… on the bed of his mortal enemy… suddenly and violently come back to life.
What a disgrace…
His wife had framed her husband, his daughter had pushed her father toward death and was still not satisfied, and they had even done something with their mortal enemy that was worse than anything dogs and pigs could do…
Now…
Those beasts still had no shame, shamelessly reminding and warning him in secret that even if his wife and daughter wanted him dead so that they could freely have an affair with his enemy, no longer trembling in fear that he would discover them, he must not act on impulse and, in his anger, expose the incest they had committed… and let… him drag everyone into death together…
It was very simple…
"Hive" regulations required the records of family members to be clean; only then would the heir be qualified to inherit the career and official positions of their relatives and take up high-ranking official posts.
Once Liberte's incestuous conduct was exposed, the scandal would directly affect his maternal half-brother, and that child was the son of Wan and Maria. He was hiding behind the identity of "the Great General's son."
Wan could not destroy the child's future because of a moment of anger. He had to endure the humiliation and bear the burden, sacrificing his entire life to secure his son's future. His son had to inherit the position of Great General and that old bastard's enormous fortune with honor and legitimacy.
After An had expressed her intentions, she did not say another word or even bid him farewell, and silently left. May continued to play the role of a virtuous wife until Wan could no longer see her figure.
Now, in the courtroom, he hid his dejected appearance beneath a calm demeanor and listened attentively as the Presiding Judge announced the beginning of the trial.
The Presiding Judge picked up the wooden mallet and struck the table, ordering the military and civilians to maintain order and absolute silence. From the military and civilians to the monarch, everyone had to quietly listen to the Presiding Judge ask Wan:
"The defendant is required to truthfully state identity, occupation, and position."
Wan calmly answered:
"Respected Presiding Judge, the defendant's name is Wan. My occupation was a soldier, coordinator, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs member, having served as the chief representative for domestic and international purchases and trade transactions of the 'Hive'. The position was a Marine Corps legion colonel, and the military rank was a four-star colonel."
The Presiding Judge nodded and leafed through the case files. He began the interrogation:
"You were the representative responsible for procuring military rations, weapons, food and equipment, and medicine and medical devices for the 'Hive', right?"
Wan nodded in confirmation, and the Presiding Judge asked:
"How many years did you perform this task?"
Wan replied that he had been in the trading team for twenty years and served as the chief representative for ten years. The Presiding Judge held up 17 receipts and thirteen penalty slips for everyone to see. He struck the wooden mallet three times, demanding that the crowd stop making noise and stop discussing.
"Whoever makes unreasonable trouble again will be immediately expelled from the court!"
The Presiding Judge solemnly asked Wan:
"Were you the person who placed these orders and issued the penalty slips?"
The monarch slightly curled the corner of his lips and took a sip of tea when Wan did not hurry to protest his innocence:
"Precisely, Presiding Judge."
The Presiding Judge read out the penalty slips for thirteen of the 17 receipts, each item clear and distinct. He deliberately emphasized factors such as bad weather, natural disasters, and accidents, and then asked Wan:
"Why did the defendant record this issue so clearly, thoroughly, and meticulously?"
The defense lawyer immediately spoke up:
"I object, Presiding Judge, this question is unfair during the trial process."
The crowd whispered, and mocking laughter directed at the lawyer came from time to time, as the lawyer implied that the Presiding Judge was setting a trap for the defendant... through... a question that caught Wan's weak spot, forcing him to reveal his fox tail himself.
The Presiding Judge struck the wooden mallet loudly once again, ordering silence. The Presiding Judge calmly yet solemnly retorted:
"This question is directly related to the fraudulent behavior that the defendant committed in the past and is completely legal. If the defendant cannot give a satisfactory answer, it will become auxiliary evidence to assist in the investigation and trial. The objection is overruled."
The lawyer still tried to defend his objection:
"Presiding Judge, I still maintain my objection. This question does not directly prove the criminal behavior that my client committed and for which he is currently being prosecuted. It indirectly diverted the course of the case, and while the conclusion has not yet been confirmed, steered the case in an unfavorable direction that is unfair to my client. However, I respect the court's decision."
The Presiding Judge refuted the lawyer's various arguments one by one:
"Why is this question being raised? That was an unusual practice in transactions. Usually, people have only recorded the date and time of the punishment and the penalty amount. Yet the defendant wrote every single violation reason clearly and meticulously, just as if he were proving his own innocence. This is the most abnormal place in this case; it is a clue for investigating and interrogating the defendant. If there had been only a few penalty slips, it could still have been said to be a coincidence. But there were unexpectedly as many as thirteen penalty slips detailing the reasons for punishment, and every single one was identical. This is no longer a coincidence, but rather something deliberately done in order to prove his own innocence."
More than a month had passed since the day of the arrest, and 99% of the lawyers refused to defend Wan. Some did so out of conscience and principle, while others did so to maintain their personal reputations.
Everyone had their own reasons, but the common point was: they saw no chance of turning the case around, and would never crazily plunge headfirst into a case that did not even have a 1% chance of winning.
Only this lawyer went all out. He ignored countless accusations and agreed to save this demon who sucked blood and ate people without spitting out the bones.
He calculated that even if he lost, he would still get the employment fee. Once he successfully helped Wan achieve a major reversal, his reputation would resound throughout the globe and spread throughout the defense industry.
At the moment of finalizing the agreement with Wan, he determined that he must seize every opportunity, no matter how small. Ecstatic, the lawyer seized the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he had been waiting for from the very beginning, and immediately raised his hand and shouted loudly:
"I object, Presiding Judge. You say this is intentional, and you are arbitrarily slapping labels on my client. May I ask who can prove that my client did this intentionally?"
The monarch still calmly listened to the debate between the Presiding Judge and the lawyer:
"Then how do the lawyer and the defendant explain the fact that the defendant has never detailed the reasons for punishment in his own personal penalty slips?"
The lawyer still passionately defended the defendant:
"Because that is a personal transaction, there is no need to be as cautious and transparent as when acting as a representative to conduct transactions and issue penalty slips with the "Hive" partners."
The Presiding Judge sneered, turned around, and asked the monarch:
"Monarch, did the "Hive" ever require the defendant to write in such detail?"
The monarch chuckled inwardly and tacitly understood that the Presiding Judge was guiding the topic. He calmly replied:
"At that time, there was continuous war, and the "Hive" only cared about the goods, punishing sellers for inferior, counterfeit, and defective goods. There was simply neither the time nor any reason to investigate why partners were penalized."
The lawyer seized the opportunity again:
"I object, monarch and Presiding Judge. The "Hive" did not explicitly require the reasons for punishment to be recorded, which simply cannot prove that my client has any ulterior motives. I must emphasize that my client was simply more cautious than ordinary people, and just did not want any ambiguity or unclearness to appear during transactions."
The monarch rang the bell, requesting the Presiding Judge to allow him to ask questions. The Presiding Judge gently struck the wooden mallet on the desk, agreeing to let the monarch speak:
"In the years after you became a trading member, when the chief representative at the time was tied up with family affairs and handed the task over to you, when issuing penalty slips for some violations, you didn't record bad weather or accidents in detail on the penalty slips at all. You only recorded the penalty amount, the quantity of violating goods, and the inferior condition, just like when you conducted personal transactions, and just like any other ordinary person. All abnormal things started when you officially served as the chief representative. No, to speak bluntly, it was during the early stages of your official service as chief trade representative that you began to write bad weather, accidents that caused cargo damage, and quality-affecting factors into the penalty slips all at once."
The monarch felt pleased inwardly, but his expression remained calm and composed, pretending not to see that Wan and that lawyer were beginning to feel embarrassed, completely unable to explain why there was such a stark difference. The Presiding Judge urged once again:
"The defendant and the lawyer, answer the monarch's question: why was the behavior before and after so inconsistent?"
The lawyer could not defend the defendant against this kind of personal question. He handed the right to speak over to Wan, letting Wan plead for himself:
"Initially, the defendant did not record in detail because of a lack of experience, and had not yet realized the importance of writing every item and every reason clearly on the penalty slips. Later, after serving as the chief representative, the defendant realized that it was indeed necessary to record, so as to avoid the "Hive" being dragged into disputes with partners."
The lawyer smiled slightly, satisfied with this answer that was both shrewd and reasonable, raising the winning rate by 2 percentage points, but this probability was still too low to hold out hope.
He and the defendant had to stay clear-headed, guarding against all tricks by the monarch, the Presiding Judge, and the plaintiff Liberte who had been silently watching the development of the situation.
The lawyer glanced at the saturnine fellow; the other party showed no sign of joining the battle of wits. The lawyer and Wan must not lower their guard or look down upon the enemy.
Liberte had discovered the secret of the transaction and personally captured Wan alive. He surely held a trump card, but was still holding back his strength, waiting for the best moment to deliver a fatal blow.
And...
Especially, one had to watch out for An playing the role of a witness. The question now was no longer finding the answer to An betraying her father... but rather... what kind of powerful evidence did she actually have? Why hadn't any movement been seen until now? It was truly baffling. The more the lawyer and Wan tried to grope for answers, the more bewildered they felt, thereby generating a sense of unease.
The most dangerous thing was that the opponent possessed ironclad evidence, and the fatal part was that they simply didn't know when the opponent would pull it out?
Even after the Presiding Judge struck the wooden mallet to announce the end of the questioning session, and the court adjourned until the afternoon and transitioned into the debate phase, the defendant's side rejoiced inwardly at leading 1-to-0... but was not in a rush to celebrate yet. This battle of life and death had only just begun its curtain-raiser.
The soldiers escorted Wan back to the lounge. The lawyer closely followed behind his client. Wan and his daughter were like strangers. Wan simply disdained to pay attention to his daughter's attitude of treating her father like air. The daughter also did not care that her father was fully focused on the case.
Wan racked his brains to find ways to cope with the crisis of being penalized, his mind spinning rapidly as he thought about how to answer so as not to fall into the traps of language. He also unobtrusively observed that "son-in-law" who had sent his "father-in-law" to prison.
Liberte still wandered like a ghost, drifting unpredictably. He and Belief stepped forward to support the big-bellied Ji and Ange. An smiled at Liberte's family. She held an umbrella to shade her husband's sisters from the sun.
The person trying to curry favor took out a handkerchief and wiped the slight sweat from the foreheads of Ji and Ange. The sisters thanked her, and glanced at what reaction Wan would have. Wan sneered as he watched this family affection that he ridiculed as hypocritical.
This side and that side ignored each other, each returning to their designated places to rest, and continuing to analyze and discuss everything directly and indirectly related to the case. At 3:00 PM, after a two-hour recess, the Presiding Judge had the litigants called back to the courtroom.
The lawyer frowned as he looked at the apple and the box of cold medicine on the Presiding Judge's table. He could not fucking understand how Wan remained so calm and confident, but immediately afterward, his client's expression shifted through one emotion after another, from suspicion… to confusion… as he wondered why the Presiding Judge had brought two seemingly unrelated, even utterly useless objects into the courtroom.
But...
At the very moment he carefully examined the apple and the medicine box that still bore the product information label and batch number, Wan was suddenly scared into a cold sweat. That elusive suspicion turned into anxiety... yet... he still didn't understand why he would feel anxious just by seeing this familiar thing, so scared that he might reveal his fox tail...
Wan froze in place as if struck by lightning, his whole body unable to move, his feet trembling continuously, his hands shaking constantly, his spine turning cold... because... the monarch, the Presiding Judge, and Liberte were simultaneously curling one side of their mouths into a smile as they looked at him.
The eyes of the three people simultaneously lit up like demon-revealing mirrors, seeing straight through to the frozen state of mind locked in utter terror. Liberte never showed any emotion... yet... at this very moment, this saturnine fellow no longer drifted like a shadow.
The enemy...
Was about to...
Transform into a life-taking grim reaper in the eyes of a person with a guilty conscience.
The lawyer felt somewhat more reassured… when… his client swallowed his fear down into the depths of his miserable state of mind, struggling to reassure himself. The lawyer guessed that perhaps Wan thought he was jumping at shadows...
Yet...
In reality...
Wan was trying to deceive himself and blind his own eyes, telling himself that the medicine box and the apple were purely a coincidence.
The monarch wouldn't have nothing better to do than to keep a thing that had no value to him for many years after using it. An apple couldn't be kept for several years and still be edible.
The key was: why on earth would the monarch keep that completely inedible apple?
Wan insisted that this apple was not part of the batch involved in the violation that he... in the past... had offered to the monarch. What about that medicine box? He remembered that the shelf life of Class B cold medicine was only three years, and six years had already passed from that time to the present. The monarch simply didn't have the leisure of mind to keep expired medicine.
Wan was convinced that the monarch must be playing the trick of "beating the mountain to startle the tiger," using other drugs and apples to pretend to be those two things that Wan had offered back then, with the obvious purpose of setting a trap and making those people with a guilty conscience reveal their true colors by themselves. The Presiding Judge held up the medicine box and the apple, and asked:
"Does the defendant recognize these two things?"
Wan tried his best to cling to the belief that wasn't as solid as he had imagined, deceiving himself, and right at that moment, that belief was shaking violently. He tried his best to balance his emotions, adjusting his tone of voice when answering so as not to stutter:
"Your Honor, those are an apple and Class A fever and cold medicine."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Wan cursed himself inwardly because his excessive panic had led him to say too much and lose out. The monarch picked up his tea, took a sip, concealing a smug smile, and listened as the Presiding Judge seized upon Wan's slip and said:
"Oh, I didn't ask at all which class of medicine this is, the defendant completely didn't need to state which class the medicine belongs to. Could it be that the cautious habit of recording every matter in detail on the penalty slips has already infected your way of speaking?"
The lawyer hadn't figured out yet how things could have been fine like that, but the client had committed his old bad habit again and made a mistake, so he quickly interrupted him midway to help Wan regain his calm:
"I object, Your Honor, you are using psychologically manipulative language to control my client's emotions and mood. You are a person who knows and enforces the law, yet you have violated the rules of the court. I strongly object."
The Presiding Judge gave a faint smile, for a moment holding the apple to look at the label and batch number, and for a moment raising the medicine box to examine the batch number and label. He said unhurriedly:
"Oh my, I was just wondering: the distance between me and the defendant is certainly not close; logically speaking, it is very hard for the naked eye to clearly see the text information on these two products. What's strange is that upon seeing the medicine box and the apple, the defendant immediately recognized them as Class A rather than these two Class B products in my hand."
Fine beads of sweat trickled down Wan's temples, wandering across his paper-white face, as if mocking this man who had been clever for a lifetime... yet... had been foolish not just for a moment, and had once again committed a fatal mistake.
He lowered his head to conceal his fear, listening as the Presiding Judge used the megaphone to call the "Hive" medical team and the international quarantine team in to testify.
The two teams in turn used professional instruments and equipment to separate the components in the medicine on-site and inspect the apple.
The screen suspended in the air displayed the inspection process of the products to everyone present. After completing the task, the two team captains faced the audience in the gallery and spoke loudly into the megaphone:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we swear before the Goddess of Justice that our testimony is absolutely true. If there is any falsification, we will suffer divine punishment, legal sanctions, and be punished according to the law. These two products are truly and surely Class B, by no means Class A as the defendant claimed..."
The crowd instantly exploded as if on fire, heatedly discussing this suspicious question:
"Ha, then why would Wan say it's Class A?"
"He blurted out that it was Class A as soon as he saw it, it's very clear that he is extremely familiar with the products in his hands."
"That's right, the Presiding Judge didn't ask him to answer which class it was at all, yet he spoke as if he had long known that it was Class A rather than Class B, while in reality it precisely happened to be Class B. What on earth is going on here?"
"There is definitely some unspeakable shady business in this..."
"Guilty conscience."
"That's right, he would only blurt out words like that because he has something to hide in his heart, it's truly too suspicious."
Millions of mouths shouted out simultaneously, continuously raising doubts, causing the lawyer's protests to be drowned out amidst the countless whispers echoing everywhere in the courtroom.
The lawyer gritted his teeth in anger. Wan clenched his hands tightly, gripping the edge of the dock for dear life to maintain his composure, but inwardly he was panicked, having no idea how to respond to or handle the mess he had created himself.
The monarch bounced his leg, enjoying the thrill of the enemy losing ground. The Presiding Judge secretly laughed as the defendant began to run out of arguments.
Liberte remained calm and composed; his opponent hadn't been completely knocked down yet, so he was not in a hurry to celebrate. The Presiding Judge said:
"The matter that everyone is confused about is also what I want to ask: why did the defendant say it is Class A medicine, when in fact it is Class B medicine?"
The lawyer spoke for his client once again, but this time he did not loudly protest like before:
"I object, Presiding Judge, you are constantly raising questions that affect my client's mentality. This is against the rules."
The Presiding Judge forcefully struck the wooden gavel on the desk:
"Questions directly related to the case and used to analyze and clarify the truth are completely legal. Objection overruled."
The lawyer was unable to refute, forced to silently listen as the Presiding Judge repeated for a second time:
"Defendant, answer the question!"
Wan hesitated for quite a while before finding a reasonable way to respond:
"The defendant could not clearly see the characters on the label, but based on the appearance of the medicine box and the common labels circulating on the market, the defendant guessed that it was a Class A product."
The Presiding Judge looked at the medicine box and the apple, and asked:
"Oh, meaning the defendant completely did not know that these two products were Class B?"
Wan was caught in a dilemma, having no choice but to nod and say:
"The defendant completely does not know, Presiding Judge."
The monarch rang the bell, and the Presiding Judge immediately struck the wooden gavel on the table. The monarch smiled faintly, still wearing that familiar smile with half of his mouth upturned, but this time it made Wan feel chilled to the bone. He held his breath, listening anxiously as the other person said:
"You represented the "Hive", responsible for ordering Class A goods; the partner delivered Class B, yet you didn't know. How will you bear responsibility for this crime of dereliction of duty?"
Wan let out a long sigh of relief in his heart, secretly thanking the monarch for helping him ease his tense mentality:
"I plead guilty before you; failing to carefully inspect and evaluate the products was my fault, and I am willing to bear full responsibility for this dereliction of duty."
The monarch smiled:
"Up to the time of purchasing this batch of fruits and medical supplies, you had engaged in trading activities for nearly ten years, had served as the chief representative for over four years, totaling nearly thirteen years of experience. You are experienced, yet it is truly unbelievable that you still committed such a low-level error. One loss of trust, untrusted ten thousand times. It is hard to imagine that a person who was so cautious as to write things he deemed to need caution into penalty slips, could be careless in a matter even more important than things ordinary people considered redundant and unnecessary."
After waiting for the monarch to finish speaking, the Presiding Judge turned around to observe An, as he saw that she seemed to have something to say.
"Does witness An want to add to the monarch's words?"
An nodded and said yes, Presiding Judge. The Presiding Judge struck the wooden gavel to grant permission. Everyone's attention turned toward her. An looked straight at Wan; Wan was furious that his daughter dared to betray her father, but on the surface, this father displayed a bitter expression of pain and family misfortune. She coldly exposed her father:
"I do not believe that a person as sinister, cunning, and scheming as the defendant would have carelessly inspected the goods, simply listening to whatever the other party had said, accepting whatever goods were delivered, yet not carefully checking whether there were any abnormal signs?"
The daughter exposing her father—who was the defendant—was the most effective incitement. The military and civilians immediately created an uproar, once again chattering and making a noise:
"That's right, Wan recorded all unnecessary things on the penalty slips, even for things as small as an ant he was overly cautious, only a ghost would believe Wan completely didn't know those were Class B goods. Who believes it, I certainly don't."
"Be sensible and confess honestly, you bastard. Stop beating around the bush and quibbling."
"Who knows how ghosts eat at a banquet; the statements before and after are obviously inconsistent. Clearly he is prevaricating, using the lies spoken later to cover up the previous perjury. Truly hiding the head and exposing the tail. Hurry up and confess honestly, you simply cannot escape your guilt. Stop beating around the bush and continuing to stall for time."
The monarch cleared his throat, took a sip of tea, and forcefully held back the laughter in his throat. The Presiding Judge still sat serenely in his seat, organizing the case files, looking through every case material, temporarily ignoring the noise. Liberte and An showed no emotional fluctuations. The two still patiently waited for the best opportunity.
Wan cursed fiercely in his mind; his calm attitude simply could not hide his inner anger, causing the whites of his eyes to be bloodshot, with heavy dark circles under them.
The lawyer was annoyed that the Presiding Judge intentionally did not stop that wave of angry denunciation against Wan from spreading everywhere. After public opinion pressure subsided, that guy struck the wooden gavel to call for maintaining order:
"Everyone calm down, there is always a way to resolve matters. In the name of strict and impartial laws, I assure everyone that we will never wrong a good person, nor will we ever let a criminal slip through the net."
The public stirred up a commotion once again, and the Presiding Judge slammed the wooden gavel heavily onto the desk, shouting thunderously:
"Everyone be quiet, the court is not a chaotic market where you can make a ruckus at will. If you continue to make a huge noise and fuss, it will only lead to the stagnation of the case, disrupt the flow of information, and negatively affect the trial process."
Amidst the chaotic thoughts in his mind, Wan secretly dug up the graves of the old Presiding Judge's ancestors for one hundred and eighty generations and cursed them.
The lawyer was ten thousand times more irritated than his client, annoyed by this person who was repeatedly obstructing him from reaching the peak of his prestige. He calmed his irritation, forcing himself to remind the Presiding Judge in a gentle tone:
"I suggest that Presiding Judge must enforce the order issued at the beginning: anyone who instigates and disrupts order must be immediately expelled, so as to avoid disrupting the trial process, which requires fairness, quietness, and the avoidance of distractions for the parties involved."
The monarch almost laughed out loud because the Presiding Judge smacked his lips and sighed:
"Sigh, what I warned about just now is different from the law recorded in the "Hive"'s constitution: only people who make a ruckus without reason three times in court are expelled."
The Presiding Judge shrugged, with an expression that showed he could not make an exception:
"They have only violated discipline twice, and this latest incident was not an unprovoked ruckus, because the defendant is inconsistent, his testimony is hard to convince the public, which is why everyone reacts so strongly."
The lawyer immediately and fiercely retorted:
"Laws around the world follow a common rule: people who create a racket in court must be expelled; you cannot violate international law."
The monarch laughed. The Presiding Judge shook his head in exasperation. The ordinarily silent Liberte also smacked his lips and scratched his nose, sneering at this fellow who coveted fame and fortune yet plunged headfirst into the enemy's lair... yet... had no chance of winning at all.
The lawyer was disappointed that the preparation time for this lawsuit was too short; he had not managed to finish reading the various complex and tedious legal clauses of the "Hive".
Every time they contacted Wan and discussed response strategies, the client and the lawyer anticipated that this situation might happen, yet they did not expect it to actually happen, and these two cunning fellows simply could not argue against the established legal provisions on this home turf of the "Hive". The Presiding Judge took a sip of water to moisten his throat, reminding Wan to make an explanation:
"The defendant must give everyone a satisfactory reply; why is the testimony inconsistent?"
The monarch and the Presiding Judge carefully observed every move Wan made. He stood in place, holding his head high, trying to appear calm... but... to the monarch who understood Wan's nature and habits, and the Presiding Judge who had criminal psychology at his fingertips, Wan was not as normal as everyone imagined; he was feeling apprehensive, afraid that trouble would once again come from his mouth.
"The defendant is definitely not inconsistent; recording in detail on the penalty slips and not re-inspecting the goods are two problems on different levels. A person who is cautious in one matter is entirely likely to make a mistake in another matter."
The lawyer smiled and gave a thumbs up to praise this clever answer. Wan did not deny the mistake. He compared the severity of these two different matters, implying that the Presiding Judge or anyone must avoid confusing them together.
"The defendant has one more question..."
The Presiding Judge struck the wooden gavel on the table. Everyone's gaze focused on Wan, nervously waiting for what question he would ask when he first took the initiative to ask a question. Wan restrained himself from saying anything, and the lawyer also had one less worry that he would make another slip of the tongue.
"May I ask everyone, why do you ask the defendant about that medicine box and apple? The "Hive"'s warehouse stored medicines and food, and used up all the medicine and fruit from those two non-compliant receipts. What relationship do the medicine box and apple in court have with this case?"
The lawyer gave a soft laugh, which was only a fleeting smile, but secretly and smugly celebrated this sharp counterattack.
But...
The monarch and the Presiding Judge once again showed smug expressions, as if saying:
"Tsk, after waiting for so long, the fish has finally taken the bait."
The lawyer and Wan instantly felt guilty. This wrongdoer thoroughly exposed the nervous and apprehensive state of mind of someone with a guilty conscience. The monarch smacked his lips, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the teacup.
Wan had long been accustomed to this kind of psychological warfare by the monarch... but... the person with a guilty conscience was still startled, and fine beads of sweat oozed from both temples. The Presiding Judge allowed the monarch to continue questioning:
"Do you really not remember what you have done?"
Wan asked blankly:
"The defendant truly does not understand what you are talking about."
The monarch let out a long sigh of relief:
"Are you truly confused or are you playing dumb?"
The lawyer discovered that the monarch was once again employing unfavorable tricks and immediately stepped in as a shield for his client:
"I object, Presiding Judge. You gentlemen are deliberately beating around the bush, using questions that are imposing, accusatory, and personally attacking to disrupt my client's state of mind. This is illegal under any law."
The Presiding Judge raised the wooden gavel, struck it on the table, and ruled:
"The objection is half-effective. Indeed, the question raised by the monarch is deliberately unfavorable to the defendant... but... this still has not exceeded the limits permitted by the "Hive" Constitution, because the monarch is merely raising a question and is not affirming anything."
The Presiding Judge struck the wooden gavel heavily:
"Monarch, although you are the ruler of a nation, before the laws personally promulgated by you, all people are equal. Whether someone is right or wrong, everyone must strictly abide by the law, with no exceptions for anyone. As the monarch, you should all the more be cautious about your words and actions."
The monarch did not become angry or feel humiliated because the Presiding Judge made him lose face. He even clapped and praised the Presiding Judge for being upright, clean, and fair and strict toward everyone.
The Presiding Judge did not thank the monarch at all, nor did this law enforcer show pride when receiving the monarch's praise. A person who strictly respects the law performs his duty and fulfills his responsibilities:
"Have the defendant answer the monarch's words!"
Wan still did not understand the monarch's meaning, staring blankly. The Presiding Judge and the monarch frowned, confirming that he truly did not know what this question meant.
Liberte glanced over and saw the monarch tap the armrest of the chair, which was a secret signal indicating that the plaintiff and witness should speak. Thus he rang the bell. The Presiding Judge struck the wooden gavel to allow Liberte to speak:
"Back then, I saw the defendant holding a medicine box and a basket of fruit as he came to the palace."
The lawyer immediately seized this heaven-sent opportunity:
"I object, Presiding Judge, the plaintiff and my client have a long-standing feud, and their testimony cannot be regarded as evidence due to a lack of objectivity."
The Presiding Judge struck the wooden gavel to announce that the objection was valid. Just as the lawyer and Wan were smugly triumphant, An suddenly rang the bell again. The Presiding Judge permitted the witness to speak:
"Presiding Judge, I can testify that the plaintiff's words are completely true. At that time, I also saw the defendant holding a fruit basket and a medicine box entering the palace."
His biological daughter personally stepped forward to testify against what her father had done; no matter how furious Wan and the lawyer were, they were unable to refute it.
The Presiding Judge thereupon reminded Wan to answer the question. Wan pondered for a long time, carefully weighing every single sentence to see if the monarch was setting a trap for him again.
He weighed the pros and cons, guessing what would happen if he answered that he did not remember, and conversely, what would happen if he told the truth. After thinking deeply over and over again, he no longer dared to falsify, and decided to try being honest for once:
"Everyone, back then the monarch was sick, and I did not know at all that medicine and fruit were Category B goods, so I personally brought a box of medicine and a basket of fruit to the monarch to treat the illness and nourish the body."
Wan mustered up his courage, and loudly spoke out the words he thought were the truth:
"But the things I presented to the monarch, and the medicine and apples appearing in court, are two different matters and cannot be lumped together."
This time, not only the monarch and the Presiding Judge, but even Liberte slightly revealed a smile, that smile being just like that of someone watching prey step by step fall into a trap.
Wan felt flustered, and the lawyer also fell into a state of not knowing what to do... but... merely one second later, the two of them realized that something was not quite right, and that wrong feeling once again immediately teased this fellow who was already at a disadvantage:
"Oh, you mean that I forged false evidence to convict you?"
Realizing that the monarch confidently believed that he had victory securely in his grasp, Wan grew flustered once again, hesitatingly pondering whether he should temporarily change his statement and retract his words or bite the bullet and take a gamble. The lawyer helplessly shook his head. He had wagered his entire career and future life on this do-or-die lawsuit.
But...
The ancestor of this damned client. Wan was pushed almost to the point where he could not breathe, truly becoming foolish after being driven to a dead end, successively committing one foolish mistake after another, completely contradicting the image renowned for wisdom and cunning that the lawyer had investigated before accepting the mandate and deciding to help the other party... finally... influenced by that blind belief, he thought that he would create a miracle in the history of litigation... and again... blinded by ambition, he step by step pushed himself and Wan into the trap that had been laid from the very beginning.
"That is your conjecture; the defendant did not say that..."
The lawyer was still filled with disappointment; this sentence was merely to cope with the immediate situation, and was completely unable to stop a string of fatal errors. The monarch only needed to flick a finger lightly, and that pile of endgame consequences came crashing down upon his chaotic mind:
"Oh, then how do you explain the bloodstains that you left on the medicine box and apple? The labels on these two pieces of evidence still bear fingerprints. Although the fingerprints are no longer intact, they can still be confirmed to belong to you?"
Wan was shocked beyond measure, simply unable to believe the absurd fact before his eyes. At first he thought the monarch was playing some trap tricks again; it was simply impossible for a thing as absurd as his bloodstains adhering to the items to exist.
He clearly remembered that back then he himself had not been injured and bled at all; why would it have adhered to the evidence that he still firmly believed was fake?
The monarch snapped his fingers, ordering the technicians to play the surveillance footage. The screen hanging high in the air played scenes like this: before taking the medicine box and fruit out of the illegal batch, Wan's hand had been scratched. The wound was extremely small, oozing a tiny drop of blood; he himself did not know at all that he had been injured.
This cunning fellow did not realize at all that before entering the palace, the bloodstains had already adhered to the physical items. The video footage switched to the scene of Wan walking through the palace corridors holding the blood-stained items.
He requested the guards to let him pass so as to have an audience with the monarch, and presented the medicine box and fruit basket.
The lawyer slumped down into his chair, slapping his forehead and lamenting to heaven and cursing the earth, secretly cursing himself for acting foolishly for the sake of fame; truly, greed brings its own ruin.
As for Wan, his entire body stiffened, his gaze vacant, finding it hard to believe that he, merely to kiss the boots of the powerful and wealthy in pursuit of soaring success and prosperity... had actually committed such a low-level mistake.
The crowd in the spectator seats widened their eyes, staring fixedly at this scene; right from the very beginning Wan had walked right into the trap. One after another cast mocking gazes, ridiculing this deceitful fellow who had tried to be clever only to turn out foolish.
The crowd tried to suppress their laughter; the cheerful, smug laughter gradually increased in volume, ultimately bursting out and echoing across the square.
Having learned a lesson from last time, this time some people pinched each other's arms and gently squeezed each other's cheeks to restrain their excitement
They were afraid of making noise and being expelled, thereby losing the opportunity to witness with their own eyes their enemy receiving severe punishment.
The Presiding Judge cleared his throat, inviting that international forensic identification team known for fairness and justice and enjoying a world reputation to enter the arena to testify. The team leader raised their hand to take an oath before the statue of the Goddess of Justice behind the monarch:
"We swear and guarantee that the testimony is completely true; should there be any falsification, we shall suffer punishment from the gods and legal sanctions and criminal punishment."
Regardless of which race or country they belonged to, every single person in the world worshipped and believed in spiritual faiths.
No person dared to blaspheme or deceive the deities; those who swore an oath before the gods had to speak the complete truth, and never dared to be vague or falsify.
Everyone feared the punishment of the gods, let alone this forensic team of outstanding reputation and lifelong integrity, which had never made a mistake or been tainted by any scandal and was known for being upright and impartial. Wan and the lawyer were completely unable to accuse them of having accepted bribes and given false testimony to frame him:
"We have conducted a careful identification of every single detail and conclusively proved that the bloodstains and fingerprints on the evidence belong to the defendant Wan."
Wan stood rooted to the spot like a wooden chicken, and the lawyer completely lost all hope. These two cunning fellows were fundamentally unable to say:
"The blood is not Wan's."
At this very moment, the DNA testing results in court completely shattered the denial.
Wan was unable to deny:
"The fingerprints are not the defendant's."
The fingerprint identification results immediately shut down these sophistical words intended to evade guilt.
The lawyer was fundamentally unable to argue sophistically:
"My client did not take the fruit and medicine."
The surveillance camera was the most conclusive evidence.
Wan was unable to make unreasonable and chaotic sophistry:
"The surveillance footage was forged."
The storage and verification system, as well as the scene that Wan had filmed back then with his own smartphone of himself bringing the medicine and fruit into the palace as a keepsake, had now become evidence that fiercely slapped him in the face.
The lawyer no longer had any drive to carry out defense:
"The medicine and fruit were swapped."
The product batch numbers perfectly matched the information on the penalty slips, while the archives attached to the surveillance footage completely refuted this pale and powerless rhetoric.
Wan, who had tried to be clever only to turn out foolish, and the lawyer, who had been too greedy only to turn into an idiot, became even more timid, daring neither to accuse nor to doubt anymore:
"The identification team is lying."
If they wanted to overturn the identification team's testimony, Wan and the lawyer had to produce specific human witnesses and physical evidence to prove that the forensic team was lying... just like... the monarch and the Presiding Judge successively throwing evidence and witnesses onto the court to try him.
The lawyer lost all grounds for debate, and could no longer pick faults or find any loopholes to carve out a path of survival for his client. Wan had nowhere left to go, all paths of survival were sealed off, completely confirming his guilt on charges of corruption and fraud.
The Presiding Judge struck the wooden gavel on the table and pronounced sentence:
"Human witnesses, physical evidence, and the circumstances of the case have already proved that the defendant Wan committed commercial fraud, embezzling transaction funds by swapping products to seek personal gain from it. The defendant is sentenced to life imprisonment."
Deafening cheers resounded across the entire venue. Soldiers and civilians cheerfully sang and danced, just like celebrating a festival. From the elderly to children, everyone was jubilant, beaming with joy, and congratulating one another.
Everyone lowered their heads to thank the monarch and the Presiding Judge for seeking justice for them and for those unfortunate victims who had endured a long passage of years waiting bitterly.
While celebrating the new joy, everyone still did not forget the deep blood feud caused by having their relatives killed, their families destroyed, and being tortured until they wished they were dead rather than alive. Countless people amidst the vast sea of humanity shouted out in unison:
"Wan must be executed in order to atone for his crimes."
"That's right, Wan must die, to appease the wronged souls of the tens of thousands of people who died at his hands."
"Execute him, hang him on the guillotine."
"Lock that son of a bitch to the guillotine with iron chains."
"His crimes pile up like mountains, he must be subjected to lingchi."
"He is a demon, he must be cast into the eighteenth layer of hell, never to be reincarnated for all eternity, unable to be reborn as a human being."
"Kill that beast who is not even worthy of being a human being."
The chaotic shouts demanding beheading, killing, hanging, cutting flesh, burying alive, and executing Wan with the cruelest and most barbaric punishments created immense pressure. The furious gale surged to the peak of hatred... the agitation grew... everyone rushed toward Wan.
The Great General hurriedly ordered thousands of soldiers to fire warning shots into the sky. The warning gunshots exploded like thunder... echoing... accompanied by the Great General's majestic voice pacifying the out-of-control emotions of the masses:
"Folks, calm down, the trial is not yet over, Wan will face a second charge."
What a wretched fate for this doomed fellow...
All the terrible things were fundamentally not over yet...