Darkstone Code

From the moment the incident occurred to the time when the entire state division knew the cause and details, it took only about fifteen minutes, and then the state division provided some relevant handling advice.

First, they required the bank manager to comfort the injured Jogriman and persuade him to give up calling the police.

Reportedly, during the briefing, Jogriman's head was bleeding nonstop, and he supposedly fell into a coma while being sent to the hospital.

If the police get involved, this could become a bothersome and embarrassing scandal—for many complex reasons, internal power struggles in these institutions that grasp both wealth and power never cease.

If the police pursue Bennett's responsibility and analyze the reasons behind the conflicts and the escalation, it might expose some things the bank's insiders prefer to keep from the public.

Such things are quite disgusting, and the public can roughly guess some of it. But guessing and being certain are entirely different states, like when some people suddenly become wealthy, someone might guess their wealth comes from criminal activities.

This baseless malicious speculation might be very close to reality, but as long as there is no evidence or actual exposure, it doesn't affect certain people's image in the eyes of the public.

To sum it up, Bennett was transferred from the division to a small bank under Sabin City out of jealousy, with someone trying hard to create trouble for Jogriman and embarrass him.

If these matters are pursued and exposed, it would be a devastating blow to certain people, so they firmly request the bank manager to comfort Jogriman and persuade him to drop the issue.

Fortunately, the bank manager handled the matter decisively and forcefully; it took less than half an hour for him to report to the state division that he successfully persuaded Jogriman, who agreed to drop the matter and not call the police.

As the cause of the incident, the division decided to suspend Bennett's work and investigate certain issues.

At that moment, in the hospital's bank lounge, the manager was casually chatting with Jogriman.

There was a cut of less than half an inch on Jogriman's forehead, and this wound was not caused by the Crystal nameplate.

When these triangular Crystal nameplates used to denote the room owner's identity were made, care was taken about the potential harm they could cause.

Thus, all the corners of these triangular Crystal nameplates are smoothly polished.

The actual object that created this wound was Jogriman's ring's gem surface; when Bennett smashed something onto his forehead, he immediately turned the gem surface and ruthlessly scratched it.

The gem's angular surface easily tore the skin and flesh, leaving a cut from which blood immediately flowed through the gaps in his palm, scaring Bennett at that time.

"The headquarters is also very angry about today's incident, Bennett basically has no chance of recovery," the manager casually mentioned, depicting the sudden plunge into darkness of a middle-aged, once promising bank employee.

Actually, the bank manager also did not like Bennett very much, but he never showed it. He just kept observing, gathering strength, and waiting for the right moment to strike.

The division interfering with personnel transfers there is not a good sign, they could sideline Jogriman today, and they might as well sideline him tomorrow!

Nothing is beyond human reach; as long as there's enough interest, sidelining the manager of a second-tier city's branch is just a matter of several documents.

By then, they'd appoint him an assistant, and everything would be doomed.

Though it seemed as if he had done nothing during this period, he actually maintained active contact with some friends in the divisional and head offices who had close relationships with him. After today's sudden incident, he immediately mobilized these forces, and after applying pressure from multiple angles, the division quickly gave a handling result that satisfied everyone—conducting an internal investigation on Bennett and halting his work.

Most people who have worked in banking institutions understand that once someone is investigated internally, even if there are no issues, his career advancement ends at the moment of investigation.

In the power struggles within banks, even someone as clean as a blank sheet of paper might not have the chance to rise, not to mention those with 'bad records'.

Humans are naturally complex, and they become even more complicated within societies, even if the internal investigation team finds nothing substantial about Bennett, it doesn't mean he doesn't have any fault. It's more along the lines of "having faults, but they haven't been discovered."

What Bennett would face next would be being continuously transferred to unimportant, peripheral positions, ultimately ending up in some small city's archives or warehouse as an ordinary employee, earning the least, living a numb life!

Lying in the hospital bed, Jogriman smirked, "Thank you for speaking on my behalf…"

Before the manager arrived, Jogriman had already contacted some friends in the hospital, and some had informed him that besides him and his friends, others were taking action.

Almost without guessing, he knew who exerted force and understood the reasons, but he still had to thank the manager.

The manager waved his hand, "No need to thank me, I am also maintaining myself." If someone sent from above sidelines his subordinate, he would quickly lose his authority if he truly did nothing.

But there's one thing he couldn't quite understand, "What exactly did you say to Bennett that made him disregard everything and treat you this way?"

Jogriman's smile was somewhat intriguing, "You'll find out in a few days!"

If the matter just ended here, it wouldn't align with Jogriman's recent patience and concession; he wanted not just to topple Bennett, but to crush him, ensuring he'd never recover.

Shifting the topic, Jogriman apologetically said, "After returning, I might propose termination for some employees, I hope you can support me!"

His concessions during this period also caused some to side with Bennett, now was the time to clean these people out.

Cruel?

No, this is reality. If they could unwaveringly stand with Jogriman, they might be facing a brighter future, but betting on the wrong person inevitably leads to a painful outcome.

The manager gave Jogriman full support, and he showed no sympathy for these bank employees who quickly sided with the parachuted officials.

After saying these things, the manager stood ready to leave, "When can you return to work, or should I give you a few more days off?"

Jogriman confidently replied, "Whenever, I'm ready to start work again!"

On the same day the incident occurred, some informant letters appeared in the divisional and even headquarters management desks.

These letters detailed with photos stories of a person in power abusively manipulating their authority, mostly concerning gender relations, and these were the same people who had just expressed unfavorable opinions about Bennett.

Now these photos provided them with more reasons and excuses to demand increased penalties on Bennett, not just from the bank's side, Bennett's family also received such letters, with his wife and family on their way to Sabin City.

Meanwhile, Bennett, returning to his rented place, had no idea what he was about to face, he was sitting on the side of the bed, head in hands, in extreme agony.

He knew he had committed a huge mistake; he shouldn't have treated Jogriman that way. If he could have tolerated it and actively apologized to Jogriman, maybe the situation would have changed….

No, there wouldn't be much change, he thought about Annie….

Suddenly remembering something, Bennett abruptly stood up and quickly went toward the next room; his loss of reason was because Jogriman had mentioned Annie, and he finally realized one fact—Jogriman knew Annie, knew her identity and their current situation.

A suffocating and hopeless guess rapidly spread when he opened the room door; Annie was sitting on the chair watching TV.

She was hugging her legs with a calmness on her face that was difficult to understand.

"What's wrong?" Annie looked at him, the two faced each other.

One filled with doubt and anger, the other calmly unperturbed.

After a few minutes of staring, Bennett suddenly said, "You have a purpose, coming to my side was purposeful!"

The more he spoke, the more he felt his guess was correct; this woman is in league with Jogriman and them, a profound feeling of being deceived begun overpowering his reason, causing both pain!

"I've been so good to you, and you're hurting me with others!" His voice filled with a certain deep despair, thinking all this was the start of his beautiful life, he was almost foolish to the point of ridiculousness!

This was never the beginning of a beautiful life, right from the start, it was a trap, a snare he foolishly stepped into like a fool!

Facing the angry Bennett, the girl didn't argue; she simply asked, "Will you hit me?"

Bennett initially intended to do that, not just hitting her, since the two cohabited for so long, Bennett had always "respected" the girl's unwillingness to engage in further relationships.

Even when they were naked together, the girl always maintained the final line and never breached it, making Bennett feel appreciative, and even admiring the girl, considering it a form of strength, a refusal to compromise with harsh reality, just like him?

So he never forced anything on the girl, planning to wait, to break through these barriers with the new beginning and celebrate their rebirth.

Unexpectedly, since the start, this was a mere lie!