"Hello, this is Hawke." Standing beneath the towering high wall, He Ao quietly spoke into his wristband.
Upon hearing He Ao’s voice, a voice even older than his ca from the other end of the line, "I saw the wanted notice. I couldn’t reach you on your old number. How are you doing now?"
"I’m okay, no problems," He Ao calmly replied, "The nshu Group won’t really co after . The conglorates are not united, and for now, I am not their target."
"You’ve always been sharp about the situation," the raspy voice on the phone remarked, "So what do you need to do?"
"The current director of the Intelligence Bureau," He Ao asked softly, "Do you know him?"
"Yes, but not very well," the raspy voice replied, "Although I conducted a large-scale purge of the Intelligence Bureau under the pretense of assassinating the President, I actually never gained control of the bureau. You know, my roots weren’t deep, and I needed support back then."
"So who did you ’sell’ the Intelligence Bureau to?" He Ao asked in a low voice.
"Rockville Energy Group, with a link through Nord Finance. They have placed a lot of their people in the Intelligence Bureau," the voice on the other side said slowly, "I appointed an Intelligence Bureau director, but he was quickly marginalized by them. I didn’t manage them afterward; you know, I only worked there for a few months."
"Who does the current Intelligence Bureau director belong to?" He Ao quickly asked.
"Kemingda appointed an Intelligence Bureau director, but he didn’t focus on the bureau and had ideas of sidelining it. The director he appointed was capable," the voice had a tinge of regret, "but Kemingda didn’t last long. When Skewis took office, he fired that director and appointed a newcor from the old Intelligence Bureau team."
"The old Intelligence Bureau team?" He Ao slightly raised his eyebrows, "People from Rockville Energy Group or Nord Finance?"
"I don’t know," the raspy voice hesitated, "I’ve already left Ains and distanced myself from the center of power. They wouldn’t let soone already retired access core secrets."
Hearing this, He Ao was silent for a mont, "Then who knows the whereabouts of the current Intelligence Bureau director?"
The phone was silent for a mont, and then the raspy voice slowly erged, "I don’t suggest you get involved in this right now. That place is the eye of the storm. It’s extrely dangerous, and you could easily die there."
Upon hearing these words, He Ao paused, then rasped, "Ed, Erian is dead. The Intelligence Bureau arranged for gang mbers to ambush their residence, killed him, and took his body away."
A brief silence fell over the other end of the line.
He Ao’s words did not pause; his voice hoarse, he continued, "He was my only child."
The world inside and outside the phone seed to quiet down at that mont.
"I don’t know what happened after this new director took office. I only know that his na is ’Wild,’" finally, the old voice on the other end said softly, "Before he took office, there seed to be so conflict with the Ellison family. After taking office, he also seed to retaliate against them. These ancient families have intricate networks; perhaps they know sothing."
"Got it." He Ao nodded slightly, preparing to hang up.
Just then, the old voice on the other end spoke again, "Brother, be careful."
He Ao paused slightly, then nodded and said, "Okay."
He raised his hand to hang up the phone, then quickly opened the cloud contact list and dialed another number.
This wristband was one he had bought to activate a new Eve, replacing Hawke’s original wristband, which was damaged in battle. The phone card was also a newly purchased anonymous one.
Beep—
The call went through but was imdiately hung up.
He Ao did not stop and imdiately dialed the number again.
Being hung up on with an unknown number is quite normal.
This ti, the call connected, and a gentle yet slightly enchanting voice answered, "Let guess who’s calling ? Old handso?"
"It seems you haven’t given this number to many people," He Ao said calmly.
"That’s right. You don’t know how important you are to . You have always been on my mind," the voice on the other end laughed, "You don’t know how much I miss your presence. The board mbers are like fish who just learned to walk—a bit clueless, and sotis they are so stupid it makes want to laugh."
Then, changing her tone suddenly, she laughed and asked, "Old handso, why did you suddenly want to call ? Aren’t you afraid I’d report you?"
"dala, I have sothing to ask you," He Ao asked directly, "Do you know where Wild is right now?"
"Wild? Which Wild?" the enchanting voice puzzled, "Are you talking about one of our friends?"
"Not my friend," He Ao said calmly, "Wild, the current director of the Federation Intelligence Bureau, do you know where he is right now?"
"Why are you looking for him?" dala’s voice carried so confusion.
"Don’t pretend," He Ao said directly, "The Priest from the Church of the Grim Reaper who ca to kill , did they have anything to do with the Intelligence Bureau? You knew from the start that the Intelligence Bureau wanted to deal with , right."
"Hey, hey, hey, old handso, why are you being so fierce," dala laughed, "Bullying girls is not gentlemanly behavior."
"Yes or no." He Ao asked softly.
"Actually, I’m not that clear. It’s just speculation after the fact," dala laughed, "After all, you know, the people from the Intelligence Bureau have been very close to Rockville Energy Group lately, and dealing with you seems to be what Rockville Energy Group demanded. Of course, it might also be what the Church of the Grim Reaper demanded. According to the ancient adage, a friend’s enemy is an enemy,"
She said softly, "I suppose the Intelligence Bureau harboring animosity towards you is quite normal."
Then, after a brief pause, she continued, "Are your injuries healed now? It might be dangerous to go looking for the Intelligence Bureau’s director; that guy seems to be B-level as well."
"My son is dead," He Ao stated directly, "The work of the Intelligence Bureau people."
The other end of the phone was silent for a mont, seemingly shocked by the fact He Ao disclosed.
After a brief silence, the other side slowly spoke again, "But revenge is not urgent for now. You need to know that Wild now represents more than just the Intelligence Bureau."
"My son’s body is with him." He Ao calmly stated again.
This ti, it was the phone’s turn to fall completely silent.
After an unknown period, dala sighed softly, "Old handso, the positions we are in now are different. If I give you information on Wild and it turns out, it would be very dangerous. I will help you by covering up your target, and that’s about it."
With that, she directly hung up the phone.
He Ao looked down at the wristband screen, his expression calm.
After a brief pause, a new email arrived.
He opened the email, and the sender was anonymous with an untraceable network address.
A single address was in the email: [Vicat City, Stia Hotel, Presidential Suite, the target may leave at any ti.]
Beneath was a signature marked with a fiery red lip print.
As He Ao opened the email, after a brief pause, it automatically deleted itself, and a popup saying ’the email you are reading does not exist’ appeared.
Clearly, in a sense, dala’s communications were under surveillance, hence the reluctance to speak openly over the phone.
She must have been secretly arranging people to track the Intelligence Bureau Director, or else she wouldn’t be able to report the location so quickly.
Of course, it might be that her paternal family, the Ellison family, had always been monitoring the Intelligence Bureau Director, and she was simply using borrowed ans for her ends.
He Ao understood very well that dala could never truly abandon this opportunity.
Her current power all derives from her father; however, her father is just a branch within the Ellison family. To gain more family resources, she needs to further prove herself.
Eliminating the family’s enemy is one way to achieve this.
Ayd wouldn’t deceive his brother; when he pointed He Ao toward the Ellison family, he knew ’Hawke’ had a good relationship with dala. It was actually a hint for He Ao to seek dala.
As for dala, she must have been watching since the night of ’Hawke’s’ pursuit, when she showed goodwill to He Ao.
However, from this perspective, she and He Ao share the sa interests.
This, in turn, made He Ao sowhat trust her.
If there’s no interest relationship, dala can betray her teammates at any ti, but binding through interest, dala is quite reliable.
Clearing his thoughts, He Ao looked towards the city gate not far ahead.
Vicat City is relatively far from here, even Hades would take a long run.
——
Ains Gray Stone Palace
A man with fluffy golden curls and handso features was sitting by the window in the sunset, flipping through a book.
"Mr. President," a young woman walked in with a thick stack of docunts, handing them to the handso man, "Today, five more cities saw conflicts between the corporation and the protest groups, resulting in casualties."
"How’s the situation?" The handso man put down the book, raising his head to look at the woman.
"Three people died, and over a dozen were injured," the woman said hoarsely, "These conflicts have intensified the confrontations, and so protest groups have even started attacking the corporation’s branches and industries."
"Can’t these corporations hold back a bit?" The handso man frowned slightly, rubbed his brow and sighed, "I’ve warned them many tis."
"We also routinely inquire with the corporations," the young woman said softly with her head down, "They claim the decisions were made privately by rcenaries, and these protest groups have infringed on their private territories. They also have the right to ’counterattack’ the invaders."
Upon hearing this, the handso man paused for a mont and said quietly, "Alright, let them handle the aftermath themselves. We just need to deal with Christos and prevent these foolish scoundrels accustod to acting high and mighty from attracting more enemies for us."
He raised his hand, rubbed his brow, and continued to ask, "What about the marches? Which cities are still having marches now?"
"The protest groups have never stopped," the woman said cautiously, "And the marches continue to expand. Now almost a hundred cities are experiencing marches, predominantly in big cities. The more prosperous the city, the more likely marches are to occur."
She paused for a mont before continuing, "Moreover, due to the bloodshed between corporations and protest groups, many places are seeing further escalation in the marches, and..."
"And what?" The handso man raised his head, looking at the woman.
"And," the woman hesitated, "One main demand of the marches is to urge the local Senators and Congressn to impeach you."
"Fools," the handso man pressed his hand onto the book, the veins on his hand slightly bulging, "For a Mayor of Dawn City, whom they may have never t, and that Evil God ’K’, they are willing to risk their lives against the corporations; truly stupid to the extre."
The young woman cautiously kept her head down, not daring to respond.
"Any other matters?" The handso man took a deep breath, seemingly calming himself, and raised his head to look at the woman.
"Also," the woman glanced at the handso man, "The Intelligence Bureau has sent word that the previous President Kemingda’s body still hasn’t been found."
"Then let them keep searching," the handso man said with a slightly dark expression, "No matter the cost, it must be found."
"Understood." The woman nodded slightly.
"Also," the handso man lifted his head, "Where’s that Old Geezer from the Federal Bureau of Investigation? He hasn’t returned to Ains? He should have co to see by now!"
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation says the old director is still out investigating the whereabouts of Angel Tier exotic beasts, and they haven’t been able to contact him," the woman said softly, "If they manage to reach him, they will inform him of the situation imdiately."
"They can’t contact the director; are the rest just useless?" The handso man said coldly, "None of my instructions have been followed, not a single clue about the protest groups has been relayed."
With her head down and body tense, the woman cautiously said, "I’ll go urge them again..."
"Don’t be nervous, it’s not your problem." The handso man shook his head and raised his head, looking through the old-style glazed window and the crossed protective bars outside, at the sunset.
Finally, he sighed, "It’s alright, you go ahead and be busy."
"Okay." The young woman nodded slightly.
"Oh, by the way," right then, the handso man suddenly raised his head and called the young woman, "Kemingda, the forr president, has already been interred."
Upon hearing this statent, the woman paused slightly, then nodded lightly, "Yes, I’ll keep that in mind."
Subsequently, the woman slowly retreated and exited the room.
Click—
Once the door was tightly shut, the veins on the handso man’s hand that pressed against the book cover bulged prominently.
Rustle—
His fingers curled, tearing the book cover along with the upper half of the inner pages into a wad of crumpled paper.
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