Capítulo 1651: Chapter 1651: Presidential Election
“Uh, only been here for less than two months,” the man said slowly.
“Did you hear of any strange tales or urban legends about this apartnt building? Or have your long-term neighbors ntioned anything? Any frequent disappearance cases?” He Ao continued to ask.
“No,” the man shook his head, “this building is quite nice, no legends, just too expensive. Oh, there have been disappearances though,”
He paused, glanced in the direction the gang mbers left, and said fearfully, “but most of them are related to those gangsters lending money.”
“Alright, I understand.” He Ao nodded in gratitude.
He also raised his gaze, looking towards the direction the young n left.
——Ten minutes later——
Light snowflakes drifted in the sky, and within the narrow alley, He Ao’s figure moved slowly forward, heading towards the street on the other side.
“Big guy, do you think when our parents ca to Vilensis, they were bullied like that uncle?” Sui lowered her head, sitting on He Ao’s shoulder, speaking softly.
Hearing this, He Ao was silent for a mont. “I never heard them say so.”
“Neither have I.” Sui lowered her head.
They didn’t bring up the topic again.
He Ao walked out of the alley, looking towards the street ahead.
The early morning street was sowhat lonely, the sky turning a faint fish belly white.
Not far from here was the New Future Building, seemingly an entertainnt comrcial district.
Dazzling neon signs flashed bright in the snowy night, and so drunken patrons staggered out of bars and KTVs.
He Ao stood at the alley’s entrance, quietly watching the people passing by.
In his line of sight, a black luxury car slowly drove out, stopping in front of the largest and brightest bar sign on the street.
A brawny figure disembarked from the luxury car, and under the greeting of a group inside the bar, walked into it.
Standing from He Ao’s position, he could just see the side profile of that man.
“Who is that? Looks like a bigshot.” Sui slightly leaned her head out, looking at the figure entering the bar.
“The gang leader in this area,” He Ao said casually.
He had chased those small hoodlums over, and clearly sensed from their thoughts the information that a ‘bigshot’ would be coming around here this morning.
“Let’s go.” He Ao lowered his head, stepping out of the alley.
“Where to?” Sui slightly paused.
He Ao looked at the information from his smart glasses.
[Keno]
[C-level criminal]
[Bounty amount: 1,970,000 federal coin]
[Bounty requirent: Execution, violence permitted]
[Cri record: Contract killing, forming illegal violent associations, attacking company fleets, assassinating city councilors, assassinating Cabinet mbers, organizing high-interest loans, robbery, organized murder, human trafficking, organizing illegal flesh trade, stealing organs, organizing underground trade gatherings]
[Ability: Suspected C-level Transcendent]
“To gather so information,” He Ao quietly withdrew his gaze from the glasses and walked towards the most bustling bar, “and maybe earn so money.”
——
Inside the bar
A limping gang youth stood amidst the bustling crowd, in front of a burly bald man, sobbing while speaking, “Boss, you have to help . That guy ca out of nowhere. If everyone starts doing this, it’ll be hard to collect loans in the future.”
“That guy sounds like he’s from the underground world. Why would he suddenly bother you?” The bald man frowns, “Did you provoke him? Otherwise, why would he suddenly jump out to beco a vigilante?”
“How could I, I wouldn’t dare!” The limping youth quickly replied, “That guy, I really can’t figure out where he ca from.”
He turned around, displaying his leg, “Look, he directly broke my leg like this.”
But before he finished speaking, the bald man had already turned and ran in another direction, “We’ll discuss your matter later. Mr. Keno is here now.”
The youth wanted to say more, but the bald man completely ignored him, scurrying away.
He followed the bald man’s gaze forward and saw a large figure in black clothes entering through the entrance, surrounded by a group of sexy won.
In the midst of laughter and conversation, one of the won accidentally knocked over a glass, spilling the drink on the floor in front of the black-clothed man.
His bald boss, quick as lightning, imdiately took off his coat and threw it on the ground, covering the drink so that the black-clothed man could pass without his steps touching the liquid, his face completely flattering.
The limping youth stared wide-eyed at this scene.
Although he knew a bigshot was coming today, he never thought it would be soone of this level.
He shrank his neck, trying to hug the wall to clear the path, afraid of blocking the way of the bigshot.
The bald boss would really kill him.
The crowd quickly passed in front of him, holding delicious drinks, the air filled with the scent of high-end perfus he had never slled.
But he could only tremble and huddle against the wall, not daring to approach.
Soon, the man in black was escorted to a private room on the second floor.
The hall quieted down again.
Seeing the crowd disperse, the limping youth hobbled over to the spot where the bald man had taken his coat, picking up the jacket from the ground.
“Hey, now the boss should praise .” He looked at the coat in his hand, hobbling towards the nearby elevator.
——
On the second floor
Outside the bustling and noisy private room, the man in black separated from the crowd, smiling as he headed towards a nearby restroom.
A few burly bodyguards, along with the bald man, followed him, stopping outside the restroom. A few bodyguards tried to follow him inside, but the man in black turned around to look at them.
Instantly, they stood still, guarding outside the private room.
The man in black walked into the restroom, just as he pushed open a stall, a voice suddenly sounded in his ear, “Mr. Keno personally ca to use the bathroom?”
Keno abruptly raised his head, looking to his side.
A fur-clad youth was sohow standing beside him, smiling as he looked at him.
Without hesitation, Keno raised his hand, punching towards the youth.
But in the next instant, his hand was caught by the youth, and then violently twisted.
Snap—
Along with a crisp sound, his hand was directly broken.
“I ask, you answer,” He Ao looked at him, calmly said.
But Keno didn’t pause at all, imdiately sweeping his leg towards He Ao’s lower body.
He Ao lifted his foot, stomping down hard, directly snapping the leg he had swept out.
With a crisp sound, He Ao lowered his head, continuing to ask, “In the New Future Building and the surrounding area, have there been any abnormal situations or disappearance cases in recent years?”
Keno raised his other hand, brushing close to He Ao, delivering an uppercut to He Ao’s face.
He Ao released the hand he was holding, reached out to grab this one, flipped it over and twisted, directly breaking this hand as well.
He lowered his gaze, focusing on Keno, and slightly furrowed his brow, “No?”
Keno looked at He Ao, opened his mouth, and was about to shout loudly.
He Ao swiftly reached out, grasped his throat, and then gently twisted it.
Crack—
With a crisp sound, the entire restroom fell into silence.
All of this happened in a very short ti, with only a few consecutive snapping sounds.
······
“Mr. Keno is truly sothing,” the bald man standing outside the door looked at the two bodyguards outside and laughed, “Even going to the bathroom is such a big event.”
As he spoke, the smile on his face froze instantly.
Exchanging glances with the security guards on either side, he suddenly pushed the door open and looked into the restroom.
He only saw that the restroom window was open, with a cold wind carrying snowflakes blowing in, bringing a slight chill.
——
He Ao, carrying Keno’s body, stood on the neon light fra outside the wall, letting the body lean against the windows of the stairs below. He reached out and lifted Sui, who was about to peek from outside the restroom window, onto his shoulder, “Don’t peek into n’s restrooms.”
“Oh…”
Sui sighed with so regret.
“You actually feel regretful.” He Ao raised an eyebrow and laughed.
“I’ve seen it all online, just a few stalls,” Sui said with her small hands crossed, “It’s not a big deal.”
He Ao chuckled, then, carrying Keno’s body, jumped down from the edge of the fra.
······
The limping young man limped forward along the stairs, holding his coat, humming a little tune, step by step upward.
Then he saw a figure hanging outside the window.
It was a large man in black, his eyes wide open, staring inside, all expressions frozen in that mont of shock.
He was already dead, life long gone, just hanging there by so force outside the window.
The limping young man stared wide-eyed at it all, his mind a blank.
The next mont, this man in black was lifted upward by so force, and then a phantom flashed past the window.
The limping young man, unable to see clearly, noticed that the figure had vanished.
“Mr. Keno is missing!” “Mr. Keno is missing!”
At this mont, noises of commotion ca from upstairs.
The limping young man lowered his head, looking at the clothes he had picked up in his hand, sowhat dazed.
Slap—
Just then, a slap landed on his face.
He looked up to see the angry bald boss.
“Why are you just standing there in a daze? Go find Mr. Keno.” Speaking, the bald boss snatched the clothes from his hand, carelessly tossed them into a nearby trash can, and headed towards the first floor.
The limping young man turned his head to look at the chaotic first floor.
Inexplicably, he had a feeling that no one was concerned with his matters anymore.
Perhaps, for a long ti, no one would care about those ‘loans’ either.
——
Abnormal Association Headquarters Building.
Bright lights illuminated the office, and a dia television hung on the wall was broadcasting last night’s rerun program.
Two n were standing on the platform, debating with each other.
On the left was a handso man in his forties or fifties, dressed in a dark blue silk suit with slicked-back hair. Standing in front of the microphone, he spoke slowly, “Indeed, the Federation is currently in trouble, but the Federation’s years of experience tell us that markets can always effectively solve crises. As long as we further deregulate markets, encourage conglorate investnt, and create more jobs, the current difficulties will beco trivial.”
“No, the problem has never been investnt, but the conglorates,” argued the man on the right, appearing to be only around forty, dressed in a white suit. His voice was youthful and powerful, as he looked at the man opposite him, “Mr. Swinno, do you know how high the unemploynt rate in the Federation is right now? Do you know where all these unemployed people are living?”
He raised his hand, looking at the audience below the platform, “Their houses are repossessed by banks, their cars auctioned, all their valuable possessions used to offset debts, yet they still cannot clear their compounding debts.
“A cold, a pneumonia, could bankrupt anyone.
“The streets are lined with tents put up by the unemployed, the lack of permanent residence making it even harder for them to find stable work, yet conglorates continually lay off employees and reduce labor incos.
“Those burdened with debt can’t afford anything, so the conglorates’ products go unsold, further decreasing their revenue, yet they won’t consider the cause.
“With dwindling sales, they cut wages, lay off workers, close factories, doing whatever necessary to maintain profit margins.
“Greedy financial conglorates take advantage by issuing high-interest loans, making consur spending challenging.
“Most market participants can’t afford basic goods, hence more items go unsold.”
His gaze turned to the cara, “The Federation’s current crisis isn’t about investnt, but safeguarding. We should safeguard every Federation citizen’s health, allowing them to afford cheap and accessible dical services,
“we should lower maximum interest rates, launch more low-interest loans guaranteed by the Federation to free people from crippling loan interest, and strictly investigate underground loans to eliminate usurious interest.
“We should enhance employee protections…”
Ringringring—
The piercing phone ring echoed in the office, and Denon lowered his gaze, glanced at the ‘Presidential Candidate TV Debate’ title displayed on the television program, then pressed the mute button on the remote.
He raised his hand and answered the phone.
The other side rapidly explained sothing, and he nodded slightly, “Okay, I got it. The eting is scheduled for this afternoon, make sure everyone is notified.”
After speaking, he sighed lightly and put down the phone.
His gaze remained downward, fixed on the phone, seemingly uninterested in watching the TV program anymore.
After a brief pause, his hand returned to the phone.
It’s about ti; he wondered how the kid’s experint was going. The Sky City trigger probability was too low, and if it failed, it might be ti to give up now.
He lightly grasped the phone.
Perhaps it’s ti to arrange a plane for him.
First, he’d call to confirm.
He picked up the phone.
Just at this mont, he suddenly turned his gaze outward, “Who?”
His body instantly tensed, hand moving to his waist.
With his voice, a tall shadow appeared outside the window, followed by the sound of the window being pulled open.
A figure clad in a tiger skin coat appeared at his window.
Seeing this figure, there was a vague sense of familiarity, and after a mont’s pause, he lowered his voice, tentatively asking, “Loren?! On the nineteenth floor, how did you get up here?”
“Climbed from the outside,” He Ao casually replied while squeezing into the room through the open window, “It’s faster this way, no need for the security checks downstairs.”
Denon’s strength was higher than he had imagined, able to detect his movents outside the building rely by perception. Perhaps a bona fide B-level.
“You climbed up from the outside?” He Ao’s reply left Denon montarily confused, then suddenly realizing sothing, eyes widening slightly, “You entered Sky City and ca out again?”
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