Hearing He Ao's words, everyone sitting around the desk stiffened.
"I would very much like to tell you all that we are living in a glorious age, an age where people lived and worked in peace and contentment, where society flourished and advanced.
"In such an age, all the Federal Bureau of Investigation needed to do was arrest a few criminals born utterly evil and receive our medals of honor amid the people's cheers."
He Ao's gaze swept across their faces one by one as the smell of blood spreading through the conference room filled everyone's nostrils.
"But regrettably, I believe you all know what kind of age we are living in.
"Quake's corpse is right beneath our feet. Once, he too was a passionate Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, full of hope for the future.
"And now, for his own interests, he could cooperate with believers of the Evil God and sell out the honor he once took pride in.
"Some of you may think that was his personal problem, but—"
He Ao paused slightly, lowering his gaze. "From Dawn City to Vetland, from the East Coast to the West Coast, people like him are everywhere. One person, and we can say that the Federal Bureau of Investigation accidentally let a bad apple slip in. But what about ten? A hundred?
"Artificially cultivated honeydew melons grow large, delicious, sweet, and juicy in the sunny southeastern Federation. But at the edge of the northern ice fields, they become small and hard, sometimes not bearing fruit at all.
"We all know that under abundant sunlight, fruits and melons more easily produce sugar and become sweeter. Their leaves also grow fuller and broader. In cold regions blanketed by dark clouds, they struggle to grow.
"A person may possess fine character, but if