Darkstone Code

When the Henghui Group's scandal broke out, there were rumors involving legislators from the State Legislature, and some said it reached even higher levels.

Later, as Henghui collapsed, these issues gradually faded from people's sight; after all, Henghui was finished, and no one would continue to pursue the matter.

In some documents Mr. Truman reviewed, he sensitively noticed a clear thread running through it — whether it was the Henghui Group or the later problematic Ristone Group, they were essentially channeling benefits in the same direction.

Of course, this is actually quite normal in the Federation; a large enterprise without a strong political spokesperson is easily targeted in various ways.

For example, investigations by the Environmental Protection Agency, investigations by the Tax Bureau — such investigations may not shake the foundation of a company, but are enough to unsettle the corporate staff.

The most successful capital is bustling through publicly traded companies; subjected to various negative influences, stock prices plummet, achieving others' objectives — whether it's to oppress the stock price and evaporate market value or to facilitate acquisitions.

The problems of the Henghui Group were exposed, but some evidence and clues were clearly erased in a deliberate way, which is definitely no coincidence.

Those initially involved in the Henghui Group scandal, those who could access the core content, were mostly foreigners and either expelled or left voluntarily.

Make them return to the Federation to continue the investigation?

You know with even a little imagination they definitely won't come back.

After spending two days and a considerable amount of effort, Mr. Truman discovered a key figure under limited conditions — Gap.

Before Henghui Group collapsed, the Ristone Group and Henghui had very close business and financial dealings, involving a person unavoidable — Gap, the audit accountant of Ristone Group.

Gap was then the deputy team leader of the audit group; his superior held the position concurrently but was not responsible for the specific work.

In this way, Gap essentially grasped important information about Ristone Group's capital flow; he certainly knew some insider stories unknown to others.

Thus, Mr. Truman entrusted someone early in the morning to investigate the problem of Ristone Group's scandal; with no one tampering with Ristone's case, it was easy to ascertain Gap's current situation. Moreover, making Mr. Truman feel somewhat amused, or perturbed by fate, was seeing Lynch's name in these files.

From his initial start in Sabin City, Lynch offended the Federal Tax Bureau and the FBI; of course, such slight offenses were later reconciled, but his attention level was never reduced.

In the files, it mentioned Gap entrusting his wife to hide important evidence; the state prosecutor initially intended to prosecute Vera alongside him but due to Lynch's intervention, the state's lawsuit against Vera was dismissed for insufficient evidence to prove Vera's guilt.

Sometimes fate is indeed a curious thing, going full circle only to return to the same spot.

"Wales, that bastard I mentioned might have been receiving benefit transfers from Henghui Group and Ristone Group for a while, but later stopped for some reasons."

"I can't find anything worth excavating from Henghui Group, but I've found someone potentially very useful to us — Mr. Gap."

"During his tenure as Ristone Group's audit accountant, he must be very clear about the company's flow; maybe we can extract something from him, you know what I mean."

Lynch chuckled lightly, "Framing, setting up, shifting blame, what else?"

Mr. Truman promptly countered him, "I'm not joking with you; I don't care how you do it, find a way to get something we're interested in."

"I can't move from Bupen now; Wales is like a mad dog, but luckily you're in York State; I'll arrange someone for you, you have to help me."

Lynch did not immediately agree; instead, he asked a question, "How should I help you?"

"Make the key figures tell the truth!"

After the call hung up, Lynch looked at the receiver in his hand; he somehow felt both incredulous and yet unsurprised.

Actually, when the governor was targeting Ristone Group, Ristone Group had no ability to resist, making him feel... something was not quite right.

In the Federation, any group enterprise, a pillar enterprise in the locality, cannot lack any upper-level relations, especially in the Federation.

Yet Ristone Group collapsed so easily; initially Lynch thought it was their bad luck or the governor of York State had significant upper-level strength, but now it seems that wasn't the case.

Their patron and Henghui Group's patron were actually the same person, but due to the Henghui Group scandal, they had to sever this reliable connection, leading to the governor's effortless downfall of Ristone Group without a splash.

If not implicated by Henghui, perhaps the governor wouldn't find it so easy to topple Ristone Group.

Thinking this, Lynch couldn't help but reflect on how fate indeed is an interesting thing; when a family should stick together, they should stick together.

Even if they've run off ahead, eventually they still have to come back!

About twenty minutes later, the villa's door was knocked, and the new security director of Darkstone Security Company was the one to open it.

The door was swiftly opened, and the visitor was invited into the living room; however, whether Lynch's people or the two individuals from the Security Committee, seemed somewhat tense.

Lynch knew what they were tense about but didn't interrupt.

"Mr. Lynch, according to orders from above, before the task is complete, we will follow your commands, and also…", one of them touched their pocket as Lynch's two security guards' hands went to their gun handles.

After a brief, suffocatingly frozen moment, the individual from the Security Committee slowly took out an ID from their pocket and placed it on the table, "Until this mission is done, you will be a specially appointed consultant for the National Security Committee; here are your documents, the head office has already registered you..."

Seeing that small booklet, the room's tension eased somewhat; Lynch picked it up and glanced at it.

There was a photo, though he didn't know when it was taken, perhaps from certain newspapers gathering it, as they always have various angled photos of news figures.

The ID also had a series of numbers and some position descriptions.

Lynch handed the ID to the security director beside him, "Call to verify..."

Two minutes later, the security director returned the ID, "Confirmed with Bupen's Security Committee."

Lynch nodded slightly; he pocketed the ID and, lifting himself off the sofa, headed to the bar, "Want some?"

He casually took out a bottle of wine, "A toast to our collaboration?"

Meanwhile, in a prison somewhere, Gap was serving his sentence.

Due to his involvement in the Ristone fraud case and hiding evidence, he faced an eight-year prison term.

Of course, the case is still under trial; the public just can't focus on this development. If new charges are laid against him, his sentence could extend further.

To prevent any contact from others, he's not serving in Sabin City but in a different prison.

Although he is already imprisoned, his luck isn't bad; his cellmate is not vicious and hasn't beaten or assaulted him, allowing peaceful interaction. He's hit the jackpot.

Gap is reading some legal books, determined to accomplish something during his sentence period; obtaining a lawyer's qualification is his first step, perhaps achieving something else as well.

The prison allows the application for various nationally certified qualification exams — whether a lawyer or an accountant, all can be pursued.

Lawyers are more sought after; some inmates feel they've been framed and need lawyer assistance but can't afford expensive fees. However, if the lawyer is also an inmate, they can offer "safety" for help.

This is also Gap's plan; to ensure a flourishing life in the days ahead, he must demonstrate his value.

At this time, his cellmate returned.

Seeing the grim expression on his cellmate's face, Gap put down his book, concernedly asking, "What's wrong?"

He knew his cellmate had just seen his family but seemed rather unhappy.

This five-foot-eight-inch man was filled with despair as he returned to his bed silently, turning away from Gap, resembling a beast licking wounds back in its den.

"Maybe I can help you; you know, you've been helping me a lot, and I'd like to assist you," Gap marked his book and closed it.

When he first came in, his cellmate had helped him avoid the "routine" and he was thankful, offering some help.

"You know, I was an accountant in a big company before coming in; I can't offer direct help now but I can provide some advice."

After a period of silence, Gap's cellmate turned, sitting up, clutching his head in agony, "My wife is pregnant..."

A single sentence plunged the entire room into a deathly silence.

According to the information Gap had obtained, the man before him... entered earlier than he did; if his wife had been pregnant before he came in, the child should be born by now, and he shouldn't be so pained.

Unquestionably, the child in his wife's belly isn't his, making it a truly sad tale!

"Michael, we must all face some tough challenges..." Gap moved to his cellmate's bedside, seating himself and patting his shoulder, comforting, "I believe we can pass through these challenges!"