239: Chapter 239: Murderer (Please Favorite, Subscribe, and Vote for Monthly Tickets) 239: Chapter 239: Murderer (Please Favorite, Subscribe, and Vote for Monthly Tickets) Lina lifted her head, astounded to find He Ao seated on the sofa in front of her.
She was walking and pondering, nearly bumping into He Ao.
“Hmm,”
She nodded lightly, wanting to share sothing with He Ao, but then rembered the aged look of the book, how many tis it must have been thumbed through, and cautiously closed her mouth, simply nodding again.
“Take a seat,”
He Ao gestured to the sofa next to him.
Lina sat down carefully, and only then did she notice that the projection screen in front of her was lit up, with a man in a silver suit delivering a speech in a booming voice.
The living room’s speakers seed to be specially designed so that the sound coming from behind the sofa was clear only when sitting down; when standing, the sound was much weaker, which was why Lina had not noticed it upon entering.
“Christos,” He Ao said softly as Lina watched the figure on the screen, “a strong candidate for Mayor of Dawn City, the author of the book you’re holding, Joseph Saul, is his campaign partner.”
“Ah?”
Lina was startled, “I had thought the author was an academic.”
“He is an academic,” He Ao calmly replied,
“Joseph Saul is an economics professor at Dawn University, who earned his doctorate from the Federal Business School in Ains, the Federation’s capital.
After his doctorate, he spent three years on a lecture tour across the Federation, and the book in your hands was published during that ti.”
“Wasn’t this book published ten years ago?” Lina said with so surprise, “He beca a professor in just over a decade after getting his doctorate?”
In the Federation, professor is a lofty title that generally denotes respect and prestige, with most professors also serving as departnt heads.
Many people retire with white hair still not having attained the rank of professor.
Lina, who had attended university, understood well how difficult it was to beco a professor, and here was Joseph Saul, barely ten years after earning his doctorate, in his late forties or just under fifty, and already a professor, which could only be described as remarkably gifted.
But considering the book in her own hands, Lina felt it made sense.
However, there was one question she had wanted to ask from the beginning, and now that the topic had co up, she asked softly, “Has there been any follow-up research published for this book?
After all, it’s been out for ten years…”
“There has been no follow-up to this book,”
He Ao, watching the screen, shook his head gently, “its author is still furthering his investigation.”
—-
“Several months ago, when I decided to run for Mayor, my campaign partner Serle asked , ‘What if we fail?’ Yes, what if we fail?”
The lights in the square illuminated Christos’s cheeks as he stood tall, gazing at the sea of spectators below.
“Since announcing my candidacy, I have been the target of seventy-three assassination attempts.
They planted explosives under my car, added lethal toxins to my coffee—they have gone to extre lengths to ‘eliminate’ a candidate who threatens them through ans outside of the election.”
“I’m sure you’ve all seen those strange little ads, painting as having ‘indecent’ relationships with thirty-two married won, as having ‘seduced’ twenty-seven married n.”
“When they want to sar soone, they don’t need any evidence.
They just concoct a disgusting ‘story,’ then spend money to bombard the public with ads, so everyone sees these ‘stories’ and grows tired of that person, and so they achieve their aim.”
“But why now, why this ti, have their dirty tricks failed?
Why can I still stand here and deliver this speech?
Is it because they’ve spent less money?
Because fewer people have seen those ads?”
“No, it’s because all of you standing here are no longer deceived by them!”
“Among those standing here, there may be survivors from the aerial theater incident at the Nord building a few months ago.
You should rember Roy, the hero who saved the lives of thousands with his own.”
“Before the aerial theater incident, he once asked a question, ‘Who can represent the Federation?'”
“Initially, I couldn’t give him an answer, but now, I want to tell all of you standing here.”
“Who can represent the Federation?
Is it the consortiums that control the dia, leaving all workers unable to feed or clothe themselves properly, who assassinate their political adversaries with impunity and maliciously slander their enemies?”
“No!”
“Is it the politicians who take money from these consortiums, indulging in extravagance, failing to fulfill their campaign promises, and even helping these consortiums enact laws to oppress the workers?”
“No!”
“The Federation was never the property of a select few, it belongs to all the people of the Federation, and you standing here are the true masters of the Federation!”
“The Federation belongs to you, Dawn City belongs to you!”
“I stand here today to make known to the world this truth, Dawn is the people’s Dawn, the Federation is the people’s Federation.”
“Even if I fail, even if I die before daybreak, there will always be others who will step over my corpse and continue forward.
No one can stop the arrival of Daybreak, no one can stop us.
The light of Dawn will disperse all the darkness of this world.”
He raised his hands high, waving his arms as he shouted,
“Long live the Dawn!
Long live the people!”
“Long live the Dawn!
Long live the people!”
A thunderous response erupted from the square.
It seed like a single voice echoing back, yet also as if all voices had rged into one.
——
He Ao shifted his gaze away from the television and sunk back into the soft couch.
Lina’s cheeks were unusually flushed; she was moved by the emotion in Christos’s speech, and felt a surge of excitent.
He Ao felt his wristband vibrate.
He lifted his arm, looked at his wristband, and a new ssage popped up.
It was a ssage from Director Jelang,
[Mr.
Vian, according to Philip’s confession, the person who planted the bomb under your car is soone from Dawn City nad Yalid.
Philip provided assistance for his actions, and it is highly likely that he is still in Kaye City.]
[Okay, thank you.]
He Ao replied to the ssage, his gaze returning to the screen, which was now showing Christos’s campaign advertisent, his eyes deep with thought.
——
“Sir, we’ve arrived.”
The young driver slowed the car down and spoke softly.
Sitting in the back of the limousine was an elderly man dressed in a heavy overcoat.
He slowly took his hat from the hook next to him and placed it on his head, “Wait here for a mont.”
As he said this, he opened the car door and stepped onto the street.
The cold breeze of the silent night blew against his coat.
By the side of the street was an old tavern with a slightly swaying sign, possibly untouched by repair for a very long ti.
The elderly man walked slowly to the tavern’s entrance and gently pushed open the door.
A waiter imdiately greeted him and led him to a small wooden door at the very back of the tavern.
He slowly opened the wooden door, a hint of annoyance as he hung his coat and hat on the rack by the door,
“What’s so important that you drag here at this hour?
My son is still being interrogated at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and I need to figure out how to bail him out, that wastrel.
What craziness has gotten into Danny Lowe today?”
The fire in the fireplace along the wall burned warmly, casting a cozy glow on the elderly man’s aged profile.
Not many people use fireplaces as a source of heat these days, especially since wood is a precious commodity in Barrier City.
To use a fireplace often implies the owner’s esteed status.
After speaking, the elderly man realized the unusual silence in the room.
He turned his head in confusion and saw that most of the directors with a substantial share of the group were sitting there, and in the place of honor, where Philip normally sat, there was a blond middle-aged man.
As the elderly man noticed the younger man, he too smiled and walked over to the elderly man, shaking his hand warmly.
“Are you Jamie’s father, Mr.
Hanna?
I’m a good friend of Jamie’s from the Nord Group, here to assist everyone with the listing.
You can call ,
Yalid.”
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