Darkstone Code

When Gap's eyes gradually adjusted to the intense sunlight streaming in from the huge floor-to-ceiling window, the world in his eyes began to appear normal.

The person standing by the window, turned sideways to look at him, finally matched successfully with someone in his memory.

"Mr. Lynch...", as the door behind him closed, Gap glanced back, the prison guard stood outside the room.

The frosted glass on the door still showed his dutiful back. Besides Lynch, there was another person inside the room who seemed to have the identity of an investigator.

Lynch walked over to the chair that had always belonged to the prison director and sat down, simultaneously inviting Gap to sit opposite him.

Gap had seen the prison director here more than once; he was a somewhat grim person, the king of this small kingdom.

The situation in the maximum-security prison is different from other places; those who can be imprisoned here are either sentenced to more than ten years or involve important cases, such as political incidents.

This also determines the prison's closed nature; events happening here take a long time before the outside gets to know, or might never be known.

Here, the prison director is akin to heaven; his rules are what the prisoners must abide by. He can even make regulations violating the Federation Charter and Federation Basic Law, and nobody here would denounce him as inappropriate, only follow.

But today, the throne of this king is occupied by someone else, which causes some confusion in Gap's already outdated understanding of Lynch.

His gaze slightly scattered across Lynch, through the enormous window behind him, overlooking the entire prison.

The whole prison can be seen through this window; the expansive view allows anyone to encompass the entire prison within their gaze.

Meanwhile, anyone sitting before the prison director would notice a very special scene, with the prison becoming the backdrop of the chair behind the desk.

When he first saw the scene here, he found it somewhat amusing; society always spoke of various things inside the prison, how it seemed they were arrogant to such an extent. But after spending some time in the prison, he understood that this was truly a prison, a real prison.

"You might be puzzled about my purpose here...", Lynch's words brought Gap's attention back from the scenery behind him, focusing on Lynch's face as his eyes regained focus. Lynch nodded slightly and continued, "This time, I'm representing the Bail Federation National Security Committee as a special consultant to ask you some questions."

Upon hearing this, Gap understood why Lynch could sit here.

The Security Committee is a department with tremendous authority; simply put, any issue that might endanger national security, whether domestic or foreign, the Security Committee holds the power to intervene.

Their authority is vast, and their privileges are numerous, reaching a point where even the prison director has to bow to this young man.

However, Gap was very curious about how Lynch became a special consultant of the Security Committee,

"You're not one of those insignificant people below; you should understand the uniqueness of the Security Committee."

Gap nodded slightly.

"Looks like our communication will go smoothly...", Gap's sensible behavior was within Lynch's expectations. He paused slightly, giving both parties a buffer time, a preparation period, then asked, "According to our investigation, did the Ristone Group and the previous Henghui Group both transport interests to Bupen?"

Originally, Gap thought Lynch's questions shouldn't be this complex. Lynch would ask simple questions, such as the situation of President Neo, and then he would answer with some inconsequential responses, ending there.

Because of Lynch's visit, he could display his acquaintance with Lynch, having a friend as a special consultant of the Security Committee, which would make his situation in prison more comfortable. But to his surprise, Lynch's first question was so difficult to answer.

After about a minute of thought, he shook his head, "I was only responsible for some fund verification within the group company; as for where this money went, and to whom it was given, I am unaware."

Lynch looked at him, the two locked in a gaze, neither retreating, watching each other's eyes. Lynch slowly shook his head, "You're lying, you know."

There are many ways to transport interests in the Federation; currently, the most common is the foundation transport method. Many see this method as foolish, but it's the method that other countries envy the most.

Those legislators in Congress, each has their own business; almost everyone secretly holds shares in various foundations.

Since private equity funds do not have to disclose information to the public, even if Members of Parliament hold significant shares and interests in them, they're extremely safe unless a bomb explodes, alerting enforcement agencies for investigation.

To transport interests to them, simply transfer money to the foundations they hold stakes in. Any excuse would do, such as donating a million to a bird-watching foundation to ensure they have sufficient equipment to observe birds closely in the wild.

Never mind why bird-watching or whether it brings economic value; this donation is perfectly legal—ultimately, this money is not criminal proceeds, nor is it donated to a criminal organization for crime use, hence it's legitimate.

Then the money will be divided among each shareholder following private equity fund profit distribution standards.

Being a private equity fund, it doesn't accept public and institutional oversight and management, nor does it need to disclose accounts and information publicly. They might even use other methods to layer and hide who the ultimate beneficiaries were.

If any company donates to a foundation remarkably novel, don't be surprised; that's a normal phenomenon of interest transportation.

As an audit accountant, every income and expenditure has to be audited by Gap, so he cannot not know where some of this money went, all these are public accounts.

As for why it's capital transfers between public accounts, this issue is really low-level. It's like asking why some criminals leave notes that become evidence to implicate themselves; it's foolish.

Everyone knows it's foolish, but it must exist because it's a line of evidence and can also spur beneficiaries to quickly accomplish their tasks.

Gap remained silent, just as Lynch said, he actually knew.

He even possessed another set of accounts, but he didn't intend to disclose them, as they involved the Federation's true top rulers. Once he confessed and this critical evidence was revealed, he might mysteriously disappear.

Those big figures could easily kill someone like him, a prisoner under the Federation Government's monitoring, simpler than swatting a mosquito.

Just a phone call, or even a message passed, and he might accidentally die anywhere in the prison.

Without anyone knowing.

The prolonged silence made Lynch certain that Gap definitely knew something. He looked sideways at the Security Committee Special Agent beside him, "Go to the door, I want to talk to Mr. Gap alone."

The Security Committee Special Agent hesitated for a moment but finally decided to follow Lynch's arrangement. Lynch's connections with the upper-levels of the Security Committee is unquestionable; they need not get involved in this level of dispute.

Soon the special agent left, leaving only Lynch and Gap in the room.

"You're not outside, unaware of recent events; if you knew, you wouldn't think as you do now."

"I didn't go looking for others, didn't find Neo; coming directly to you explains everything."

"I know your concerns, but you needn't worry; as long as you cooperate with us, I can ensure you complete your sentence safely here."

"Actually, perhaps we change our thinking; you're worried that person will use their power to make you disappear, but aren't you concerned about me or those behind me?"

Lynch's face bore a playful smile; he shook his head lightly, slightly turned, his gaze bypassing Gap to look at the office door behind him, "The world experiences many accidents every day; for instance, later today on your way back to your cell, you might seize a guard's weapon trying to escape, ignoring prison warnings, and ultimately get shot dead..."

"Maybe your death could make the next person knowing the details smarter, knowing how to cooperate correctly."

Unrestrained threats directly told Gap how he might leave this world, increasing his psychological pressure suddenly. He was just an accountant, not wanting to be caught in political whirlpools.

"To die immediately or we defeat the opponent, and you won't die; this is not a difficult question, is it?"

Lynch took out a cigarette box, lit one, leisurely watching Gap. Anyone knows how to choose; his current hesitation is merely to find an optimal strategy.

But in such tilt-driven battles, there's never an optimal choice.

After about two minutes, Gap suddenly asked, "If I speak, what can I get?"

Lynch nodded satisfactorily, "Have you heard of the 'Special Talent Induction Act'?"

According to Federation law, some enforcement agencies can directly requisition inmates serving sentences not exceeding five years to work for the Federation Government under this act.

As sometimes, some enforcement tasks require a nail, of course, those driving the legislation won't tell the public that doing so is for one day...

However, overall, this act is enticing for those serving sentences.

After Lynch mentioned it, he could clearly see the change in Gap's eyes.

So Lynch further raised the stakes, "If we can...", he smiled, "You know, then I can show the judge your value in this case, apply for a sentence reduction, and suggest transferring you to a private prison..."