Book 4, Chapter 103: Target
Book 4, Chapter 103: Target
Han Fu was in the Resolution Department’s interrogation room. He was bound to a soft, dark-gray wall made of biomaterials. It could effectively prevent martial artists from generating power.
He was restrained with special shackles, while his organs were injected with medicine to make sure he didn’t die, but his mutated tissue wouldn’t repair itself.
At that moment, he was still, like a shriveled up corpse.
When he heard movement, he moved his eyes a bit and opened them. The thick door of the interrogation room opened, and the person in charge of the division unit walked in before standing aside with a stern expression.
Steady, powerful footsteps followed him. Chen Chuan came in and cast a glance at Han Fu before sitting down in the interrogator’s chair across from him. “You wanted to see me? Whatever you want to say, say it.”
With a voice as hoarse as sandpaper, Han Fu said, “I want to talk to you alone.”
Chen Chuan dismissed the person in charge with a wave of his hand, and the man saluted him before leaving and shutting the door behind him.
“What is it?”
“I’m from the refined training faction,” Han Fu said as he stared at Chen Chuan.
“Okay. And?” Chen Chuan asked blandly.
Thinking that Chen Chuan didn’t understand, Han Fu repeated himself, and he spoke louder this time. “I’m from the refined training faction.”
Chen Chuan’s expression remained the same. He just stared at Han Fu. “So? Ah. Are you saying that some refined training faction members are part of this?”
He nodded. “Tell me the names, then. I’ll record them.”
It seemed like Han Fu hadn’t expected this answer. “I know that you’re part of the purity faction, Lead Investigator Chen. You might think that you acted according to the rules of the Resolution Department and the laws of Central City when you arrested me, but considering our statuses, this is bound to not just be an internal conflict within the Resolution Department. Your actions will lead to a fight between factions.”
Chen Chuan remained unmoved. In a completely flat voice, he said, “This is what you think will save you? I don’t care what your status is. Regardless of whether you’re part of the refined training faction or the fusion faction, if you’re still thinking about using connections to escape punishment, then you’re a joke.
“Based on what I’ve seen of the refined training faction, you’re no longer of any value to them. I’m pretty sure that they’re thinking about how to cut ties with you right now.
“If your faction is actually thinking about using this to stir up a war between factions, then I will happily fight them.”
If the refined training faction actually challenged the purity faction over this, it would only be because their core interests had been infringed upon. It would never be because of Han Fu.
Chen Chuan said calmly, “If you want to give a statement, then make it plain and clear. If you don’t want to... Well, you’ve been a lead investigator for a while. You know that the department has ways to make you talk.”
With no further interest in continuing the conversation, Chen Chuan stood up and walked out.
The interrogation division continued the interrogation after he left.
Han Fu spilled the beans unexpectedly quickly. A mere three hours after Chen Chuan left, the person in charge came to his office carrying a written confession. With a hint of excitement, he said, “Lead Investigator Chen, Han Fu confessed.”
“What methods did you use on him?” Chen Chuan asked.
“None. He was very cooperative,” the person in charge answered.
Chen Chuan didn’t ask why Han Fu was suddenly cooperative. He took the written confession and read it.
According to Han Fu, Senator Zeng from the municipal government was the main instigator. He was the one who issued orders and provided support.
His primary goal was to get some of the Union and the Linacrox Union’s martial artists not registered as part of their entourage into the merged space.
Han Fu never stated the reason behind it, but Chen Chuan could figure it out easily enough that this was clearly the extension of the fight between the municipal government and the Department of Administrative Affairs.
Through an exchange of benefits and external support, the municipal government wanted to weaken the Department of Administrative Affairs’ ever growing influence after Ferris Wheel’s collapse.
By killing Lead Investigator Wen, Han Fu got rid of the obstacle blocking their way to the ocean tunnel that led to the merged space. At the same time, if Lead Investigator Wen was no longer around and Chen Chuan was also killed, Han Fu would gain control of the Resolution Department, since Wu Quan was being interrogated and unable to command.
Han Fu could then loosen up the monitoring over the entrances to the merged space for a short period of time and could later even position himself as the most qualified candidate to take over the Resolution Department’s command.
Then, the municipal government would have great influence in the Resolution Department, and Han Fu would also gain plenty of benefits. Aside from power, he would also get a lot of training resources.
As for Martial Valor University’s attack on Chen Chuan, Han Fu knew nothing about it, because he wasn’t the one who contacted Ling Jianxing. Gray Shell Office was the one that got things arranged.
After reading through the confession, Chen Chuan asked the person in charge, “What do you think?”
“I believe he’s being honest. I could see from his eyes that he really wants to live. If he didn’t say anything, we would have plenty of ways to make him talk, but such methods don’t guarantee whether the prisoner remains sane. Since he was willing to cooperate with us, we didn’t have to go that far.
“If we go through the normal procedure for this and more people are involved, the timeline for the investigation will increase. As one of the key witnesses, Han Fu will be kept alive, and as long as he lives, he has a chance to make a comeback. He doesn’t want to die just yet.”
Chen Chuan nodded. When he was talking to Han Fu, he could also sense that the man really wanted to live, not just survive.
As a martial artist, he could understand Han Fu better than the person in charge. Han Fu didn’t want to lose like this. He desired to win.
He was betting that the municipal government would have the last laugh. Then, he’d get freed, and the tide would turn in his favor.
The first thing he needed to do to see that ending was to ensure his own survival.
Among the people Han Fu outed, Senator Zeng was a clear target, but he was a politician, so a testimony alone wasn’t going to be enough to arrest him. Chen Chuan would need more concrete and damning evidence.
Besides, even if he could attack Senator Zeng, he needed to be prepared to go up against the whole municipal government. It was the type of organization to go all out against anyone who targeted one of them. This was probably another reason why Han Fu had confessed so readily.
He was most likely hoping that Chen Chuan would challenge the municipal government.
As for Gray Shell Office, this organization was the spokesperson for the refined training faction, and it was in charge of coordinating it.
The three people who came to recruit Chen Chuan into the refined training faction had been from this organization as well. If not for the fact that the purity faction had sent two martial arts masters over to intimidate them into standing down, things would have gotten a lot uglier.
Could this be revenge for what had happened last time?
He couldn’t deny the possibility.
The refined training faction definitely did not want the purity faction to regain its footing in Central City. Besides, Chen Chuan was at the center of this entire thing. If they could get rid of him, they would be killing two birds with one stone.
They weren’t even the ones who attacked him, so they didn’t need to worry about the purity faction investigating them if Chen Chuan had really died.
Chen Chuan had to go up against a huge interest group led by the municipal government, so getting rid of one or two members wasn’t going to work. It wouldn’t shake their foundation.
If he got rid of one person, they could just bring another one into power. Only by uprooting the entire interest group could the problem be solved.
But this wasn’t something Chen Chuan or even the Resolution Department could do. Besides, this wasn’t a good time to get rid of those people.
The most important thing was still the merged space.
Regardless of what sort of deal the Union and the Linacrox Union had struck with the municipal government, it had to be formed based on obtaining the artifact. This was the crux of the entire situation.
Hence, no matter what their goal was, he couldn’t let them achieve it.
Chen Chuan had read the records made accessible to him via the temporary highest authority and learned that Xu Chan had sent several telegrams on regular intervals after entering the merged space, but the further he ventured into the merged space, the harder it became to report back, and since the day before yesterday, he had stopped sending telegrams.
With Xu Chan and his unit’s strength, they should be fine as long as they weren’t surrounded by enemies several times their strength.
However, once Xu Chan found the artifact, he was going to become the main target of the Union, the Linacrox Union, and the former royal family. Things would get much more dangerous then.
There were only two things Chen Chuan could do. One, send reinforcements. Two, strictly control and limit the number of people who could enter the merged space. This would prevent more enemies from joining the fray.
He considered things and said to Safe Shield, “Please contact Special Officer Liang of the World Ring Defense System.”
“Alright. Please wait a moment.”
Soon, the screen in front of his desk lit up, and Liang Guanghai showed up. “You asked for me, Lead Investigator Chen?”
Chen Chuan nodded before saying, “Special Officer Liang, I’m sure that you’ve learned about what happened in the Resolution Department. I had the interrogators rush it, and I’ve gotten the general gist of the situation. I think you should take a look.”
He tapped on his Realm Pass and sent a revised testimony.
Liang Guanghai took a good while reading and rereading the report while his expression grew progressively more stern. “You’re in charge of the Resolution Department right now. What are your thoughts?”
“I think we can set aside targeting the municipal government for now. We need to restrict the Union and the Linacrox Union’s forces first. I would suggest locking down all tunnels leading to the merged space and not letting anyone connected to the companies go to the merged space for the time being,” Chen Chuan said.
“I’d love to do that too, but we can’t. Letting the companies enter the merged space to defend it is an agreement signed during the era of the mega alliance. Every country in the world has to obey it. Many of the companies are staying in Central City not just for business purposes. They’re here because of the tunnels to the merged space.
“They’re not only our competitors, but also our main force in the fight against the other world. We can’t just ostracize them.
“Besides, they’ve built their hubs, branches, and cities in the merged space. If we lock down the tunnels, it’s going to cause a lot of displeasure. If the municipal government fans the flames, I can’t imagine how bad it will get, considering how things are right now.”
Chen Chuan nodded. He seemed to have predicted this, since he looked up and said, “Alright. Then, we can only use Plan B.”