Enforcer Manual
Chapter 255: Exile_1

Chapter 255: Chapter 255: Exile_1

"Welcome to Channel 54 News, I’m your host John William. This afternoon, a cyber madman attacked a prison far out in District Seventeen, resulting in a total of 17 inmates dead. Law Enforcers have identified the cyber madman as Sammuen, from the East District..."

"Damn it!"

In a cold coffee shop, Lador cursed beneath his sunglasses.

It turned out working with big corporations never ended well. If he had been a step slower, Law Enforcers would probably be collecting his minced remains from his apartment by now.

By this time, he should have already reached the interior of Twelfth Nation and been living a worry-free life with the savings he had accumulated over the years. To his knowledge, the corporation’s influence couldn’t reach Twelfth Nation, which had recently announced its withdrawal from the alliance. But on the very day he realized something was awry, Lador found his accounts had been frozen.

The bank’s reason was suspicion of money laundering and they needed to conduct a 30-working-day investigation.

Thirty days were more than enough for him to die several times over.

The coffee shop was located near a border checkpoint, and from his seat, he could just see the vehicles entering and leaving the checkpoint.

In recent days, the checkpoint had increased its security several levels, causing many independent smugglers to fall into dire straits, with a batch of them being caught every day.

Lador knew that this wasn’t targeting smugglers, but because there were corporate people in the checkpoint. They were searching everywhere for him.

Although the corporation couldn’t control the Law Enforcers yet, bribing the border checkpoint staff was a piece of cake for them.

Now, border checkpoints, airports, and train platforms were almost entirely staffed by people bought by the corporation. Just set foot on a platform, and before he could even board a vehicle, he would fall into the corporation’s hands.

Perhaps it was because they had been spooked by the Law Enforcers recently, but the corporation had really gone all out this time. Lador could guess the real reason behind this afternoon’s prison attack: they wanted to silence "Hyena."

Hyena and his men had taken on an assignment half a year ago. Due to a "Confidentiality Agreement," the corporation naturally wouldn’t keep them around if something happened.

Watching the news on TV, Lador couldn’t help feeling a sense of bitter empathy.

Just as he was considering seeking protection from the Law Enforcers, the roar of a hovercar engine came from above his head. He looked up to see a hovercar gently pulling up outside the coffee shop.

It was Lu Xiang’s car.

As a professional middleman, Lador couldn’t possibly misidentify the car’s owner.

He tensed up because, right after getting out, Lu Xiang headed straight for the coffee shop.

It would obviously be irrational to bolt out since Channel 54 had just reported that the cyber madman who caused trouble at the remote prison was single-handedly subdued by Lu Xiang. With his small stature, a few more like him would hardly suffice as a warm-up for Lu Xiang.

All he could do was put on a baseball cap and lower his head as much as possible.

Regrettably, this was of little use. After chatting briefly with the staff, Lu Xiang made his way straight to his table and sat across from him.

"Lador."

"Who’s Lador? I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else..."

"You made a transaction at Gold Diggers’ Bar with a private card, and just now, that card was used here in this coffee shop to spend 105 watts."

"That damn Ophir!"

As a long-time middleman, Lador immediately knew who had betrayed him. It was an emergency card; the registered owner was a carefully forged identity, intended to keep the corporation at bay.

He had seen too many mercenaries who completed assignments for the corporation only to be immediately disposed of by them.

To these inhuman devils, once a person lost their value, silencing them was as simple as moving an object.

And Ophir was one of the very few who knew of the card’s existence.

"She was rescuing you."

Lu Xiang said, "By the time we arrived at the remote prison, ’Hyena’ had already been sliced to ribbons by a cyber lunatic, unable to be put back together."

This threat had an exceptional effect on Lador, who covered his head with his hands and said, "Enough, don’t say any more!"

He had to admit that Lu Xiang’s description was vividly imagistic, enabling him to envisage the gruesome scene at the remote prison.

For the mental and physical health of the general public, Channel 54 had not broadcast any direct footage, sparing Lador from making the immediate connection to ’Hyena’s’ manner of death upon seeing the news.

But really, what dignified way to die could there be when one encounters a cyber lunatic with a heat-cutting blade in a confined space?

"Listen, I know you’re investigating that little girl’s case, but this matter is far from as simple as you imagine. Knowing too much detail is not good for you!"

No one understood the depths of this matter better than Lador. Before Lu Xiang was transferred to District Seventeen, whoever touched this case died. In the case of the missing persons, several operation team leaders of the Law Enforcers had been cycled through. These people either vanished without a trace or were found shot multiple times in a garbage pile in some part of District Seventeen a few days later.

Due to the presence of ’concerned citizens,’ the company dare not directly target the Law Enforcers’ department and instead shifted their focus to silencing mouths.

"The deeper you probe, the more people die."

"You can start with the incident where Anfiya’s parents were killed."

Seeing that Lu Xiang was unmoved, Lador could only let out a long sigh. He had long been prepared, after all, if the current chief of the Law Enforcers was someone smart enough to know when to advance or retreat, there wouldn’t have been such a commotion recently.

"Indeed, that gang fight was a murder, but the main reason was that the couple was too stupid, so stupid that even I could hardly bear to watch."

Lador downed a bottle of cold coffee, which helped him regain his spirits.

"They actually dared to threaten the company."

"Why did they threaten the company?"

"It was all because of their daughter, that girl called Anfiya. You should already know, she was an extraordinary talent, showing great tolerance for cybernetics from a young age. The company wanted to enroll her into some secret project, but they found out and threatened to expose the company’s practices over the years if they did."

"They thought they were being smart by storing the incriminating evidence with a trustworthy journalist, claiming that if anything happened to them, the company’s dirt would be published."

"So what happened? They hadn’t even met with an accident yet when that journalist turned around and betrayed them. Not only did they die in a car accident, their daughter couldn’t escape either."

In the company’s view, the couple and their child were all to be regarded as the company’s property.

But this was just the tragic fate of one foolish couple in District Seventeen; it was nothing compared to the real incriminating evidence.

"Do you have any way to prove this?"

"Evidence? Do you think I’m keen on living long enough to keep hold of the company’s incriminating evidence?"

Lador laughed self-deprecatingly, "On the surface, I may seem like a middleman, but in reality, I’m just passing messages for them in Gold Diggers’ Bar. I convey things the company doesn’t want to handle directly, how could someone with a minor role like me possibly..."

"Boom—"

An explosion nearby drowned out Lador’s voice,

while the accompanying screams and the heat wave with its shockwave threw both individuals out.

There was a cyber lunatic.

Lu Xiang, who had been flung to the ground, propped herself up amidst the chaos and heard someone exclaim.

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