Flame of the Idealist

"Ah?"

Hearing He Ao's question, Vili was briefly stunned.

Then she understood the heart of his question:

How could a mayor who had endured countless brushes with death and overcome untold hardships to build the colossal United Industries out of chaos be so easily crushed by the death of a close friend?

Unless he had seen what lay behind the incident—at least some things that had not been laid out in the open.

"He may have had his suspicions, but he never told me,"

After a brief pause for thought, Vili gently shook her head. "Back then, everyone believed that Vincent, the current Chairman of the Board of United Industries, was the most likely person to have ordered the assassination of my parents.

"United Industries even immediately convened a shareholders meeting to question Vincent.

"In the end, United Industries, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Winter City Municipal Government jointly formed an Investigation Team."

Vili looked at the images on the television. "The Investigation Team examined every lead and ultimately identified the Eternal Sect as the culprits behind the attack. They found no evidence that Vincent or the United Industries Board of Directors had colluded with the Eternal Sect."

She paused, then continued, "At least, they found nothing back then. No one knew why the Eternal Sect had attacked my parents. United Industries, the Municipal Government, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation formed an alliance and launched several major purges against the Eternal Sect.

"But the Eternal Sect always recovered quickly after suffering heavy blows. And because of their unique parish system, no one knew how their decisions had been made back then unless they found the core of their church—the Holy See they spoke of."

"So that was the fundamental reason you supported the Twilight Society and kept