Poaching

A stack of case files was pushed in front of Gu Shen by the Tribunal Head.

There was no need to look to know that the file bag contained the official records of the A-009 and Great Fire incidents.

"If you want to ask about the details in the case files..." Gu Shen shook his head. "I can only tell you that I'm innocent. The truth is exactly as recorded in these files."

The old man smiled.

"Who cares about the truth?"

This unexpected response made Gu Shen look up in surprise.

Beneath the peaked cap were pupils as deep as the Black Sea.

"Files are written by people, and so is truth." The Tribunal Head said expressionlessly, "The Prison Institute has always maintained the same attitude toward high-risk individuals: better to kill ten thousand by mistake than let one slip through. Last night's Great Fire caused dozens of casualties... Coupled with the two Transcendents who died miserably on the rooftop, all those lives can be pinned on you. To cause such enormous damage upon your first awakening... what awaits you is either supervision or imprisonment."

The pressure in the room froze solid.

Gu Shen wanted to tear his gaze away from beneath that peaked cap... but it was as if some invisible force had fixed him in place. He could only meet the Tribunal Head's eyes, every second stretching as long as a century.

Before leaving, Nan Jin had told him that Mr. Shu would arrive soon.

If he could not handle the interrogation ahead, all he needed to do was remain silent.

But clearly... she had not anticipated that this incident would draw a figure of the Tribunal Head's stature here in person.

The situation was no longer anywhere near as easy as they had expected.

This Tribunal Head held enormous power in his hands.

Just as he had said, truth was written by people. Given the Tribunal Head's status, a single order was all it would take for the truth of the Great Fire case to be written according to his will.

He needed to hold out until Mr. Shu arrived... Gu Shen took a deep breath and told himself to relax.

Things were bad right now, but panic would only make them worse.

"Gu Shen, you're only seventeen. You still have a long life ahead of you... You don't want to spend it like this, do you?"

The Tribunal Head stared at the tense young man, then suddenly frowned.

In the nearly frozen interrogation room, an extremely soft laugh suddenly rang out...

"You didn't come here for the truth..."

After taking two deep breaths, Gu Shen smiled, revealing his white teeth. "So... these two case files aren't actually important, are they?"

The Tribunal Head remained silent.

"You just said that I'm a high-risk individual, that I might lose control."

Gu Shen stared into the eyes beneath the peaked cap, watching for every change in the other man's expression after each word he spoke. "But you came to interrogate me personally, and you even felt safe enough to turn off the surveillance... This doesn't seem like the environment for interrogating a high-risk individual. Is it because you're too powerful, or because I'm too weak... Or do you also believe that I'm merely an innocent victim?"

The eyes beneath the peaked cap remained calm, signaling for him to continue.

So Gu Shen did.

"You didn't come all the way to Da Teng for this interrogation, did you?"

"When we first met in the hospital room, you were already carrying this file bag... And when you entered the interrogation room, you said you had just finished reading the case files. If you had left in such a hurry, you could have finished reading them on the way. That proves this interrogation was never important. So... why did you come to Da Teng?"

"There is only one explanation: Tribunal Head, you didn't come for these two cases at all."

A brief pause.

In an instant, Gu Shen connected several unbelievable things... the phone number Mr. Shu had tossed him, the contract that had forced his hand... Everything had happened too quickly and too abruptly.

Only now did he realize that this might very well have been a "scheme" by that Old Fellow to set him up.

"Could it be..."

Gu Shen asked tentatively, "You came to Da Teng... for me?"

Gu Shen knew it sounded narcissistic and made no sense... but he truly could not think of any other explanation.

The terrifying thing was that the interrogation room fell silent for a moment.

Then the old man in the overcoat began to clap, approval gleaming in his eyes beneath the peaked cap.

"Young man... you're even sharper than I imagined."

The applause gave Gu Shen nothing but dread... He had really guessed correctly, but he could not understand why someone of the Qinghe Tribunal Head's rank would come for him.

"This interrogation was merely a pretext. I only needed an environment where I could be alone with you."

The Tribunal Head said, "Since you've already guessed it, there's no need for me to hide it... Gu Shen, I came for you! Since a certain shameless Old Fellow has personally stepped in to recruit a newcomer, I have no choice but to act as well!"

Gu Shen felt utterly lost.

If he had understood correctly... what this Tribunal Head was doing now was poaching him, and his reason for coming was incredibly simple.

Nan Jin's teacher had made a move, so he had made one too.

The Tribunal Head patted the documents and coaxed him earnestly. "Look at this case file. What a beautiful job you did on that rooftop. You awakened your powers for the first time and still counter-killed two Transcendents. One was sliced into chunks of meat, the other burned into charcoal. Clean, decisive, precise, elegant. You're a genius! Join the Prison Institute. Those fools at the Adjudication Court only know how to fight and kill... It's not the place for you!"

No one could have imagined that after the surveillance was turned off, the interrogation room, once filled with murderous tension, would become like this—

The Tribunal Head pressed both hands against the table, brimming with passion as he gestured grandly. "I bet they told you that Tribunal Envoys are the embodiment of justice, the crowned wielders of sword and blade... Bullshit! Of the East Continent Council's twenty seats, they only have three! But we... have the greatest voice! The most abundant funding! The most advanced equipment!"

Gu Shen swallowed.

Just then, the Tribunal Head frowned and turned back coldly—

Bang!

The interrogation room door was kicked open.

Smoke and dust billowed.

An old man in a Zhongshan suit emerged slowly, leaning on a Dragon Head Cane. His hair was combed with meticulous precision, and a creamy-white ancient tree brooch was pinned to the lapel of his dark blue Zhongshan suit.

Wei Shu and the giant-man jury stood at the doorway as well, giving the Tribunal Head apologetic looks... They truly could not stop someone with this old man's status.

"Hmph."

The Tribunal Head snorted. The fervor on his face vanished as he impatiently raised a hand, signaling for the jury to close the interrogation room door.

That Old Fellow had arrived at just the right time...

Mr. Shu pulled over a chair and sat down beside Gu Shen.

"The surveillance is already off... so there are no outsiders here now."

The old man in the Zhongshan suit glanced toward the corner, then drew a signed and sealed contract from his chest and held it up triumphantly before the Tribunal Head.

At the sight of that contract... the Tribunal Head froze, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Mr. Shu got straight to the point and killed the interrogation. "Since we're both here to poach someone, I'll be blunt—he's already mine."

Undercurrents surged through the interrogation room.

Caught between the terrifying auras of two powerful figures, Gu Shen felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles. When he saw that contract, his feelings became even more complicated.

It was obvious that a certain despicable, shameless Old Fellow was in an excellent mood.

The signed and sealed contract fluttered slowly in the air, declaring the Adjudication Court's complete victory in this battle for talent.

"Old Yan, you can get lost now."