Your Brother is a Senior Lawyer

At a breakfast shop, Gu Ding had just taken his first bite of a freshly bought pan-fried bun when he heard Sea Emperor's voice.

"I just intercepted some information from the prison. That guy named Prisson claims to have evidence that you helped Interstellar Pirate Cain escape from Hai Lan Star Prison. He just got an arrest warrant approved from the Federal Court, and the police are already on their way."

"Are you sure all the evidence has been destroyed?" Gu Ding raised an eyebrow, showing no signs of panic as he stuffed the remaining half of the bun into his mouth.

"Destroyed cleanly, you can rest assured on that," Sea Emperor replied with certainty. "My guess is that the 'evidence' they're talking about is likely the two escapees you saw when Cain left. According to the prison's database, there are three criminals currently at large, but those two aren't among them—they've probably been caught and brought back. They'd count as witnesses. However, under federal law, witnesses alone aren't enough. There's a ninety-three percent chance that guy is trying to bluff you into confessing. After all, ordinary people get hauled straight to the Federal Court and told there's proof of their crime. To reduce their sentence, plenty of people voluntarily confess—it's a common trick in their line of work."

"I understand," Gu Ding said unhurriedly, picking up a second bun with his chopsticks.

After a few minutes, he finished off the remaining buns on the plate and went to the counter to pay, silently grumbling to himself that today's buns were a bit overdone, harder than usual.

The apartment Gu Ding lived in was left to him by Old Dad, the man who had adopted him, and it sat right across the street from the breakfast shop. There was nothing special about the place—just an ordinary residence. Back in his room, he turned on the TV and waited patiently. Before long, the wail of police sirens drew near.

Several police cars sped into the neighborhood and stopped outside Gu Ding's apartment. A group of well-trained, fully armed officers got out, their target clearly Gu Ding's building.

"They're here," Sea Emperor warned.

"I know." Gu Ding heard the urgent knocking at the door at the same time.

Opening the door, Gu Ding's gaze fell on the lead officer. "Who are you looking for?"

"Are you Gu Ding?" The lead officer seemed surprised by how young Gu Ding was, but he'd seen juvenile offenders before, so his brief doubt quickly faded.

"That's right, I'm Gu Ding." Gu Ding naturally knew why these police had come.

"Come with us!" The lead officer waved his hand, and the armed officers behind him immediately surrounded Gu Ding, training their guns on him as if expecting him to make a move.

Gu Ding spread his hands to show he posed no threat. "I'd like to see the arrest warrant."

The lead officer frowned slightly. Gu Ding's reaction was completely unexpected. He lowered his head and sent an electronic copy of the warrant to Gu Ding's public email via his wristwatch.

The so-called arrest warrant was essentially an electronic document stamped with the Federal Court's seal, detailing the suspect's relevant information and usually listing the evidence of the crime.

Gu Ding wanted to see it to find out exactly what the Federal Court knew. Scanning it, the evidence column read "Not Yet Submitted," and the applicant column showed a name Gu Ding recognized—Prisson.

"So that guy really did come to Hai Lan Star." Gu Ding raised an eyebrow slightly and held out his hands with complete ease. "Alright, I'll go with you."

By standard procedure, to prevent a suspect from escaping, Magnetic Cuffs were used to restrain them. Seeing Gu Ding so cooperative, the officers were a bit taken aback.

The lead officer didn't make things difficult for Gu Ding. Usually, hands were cuffed behind the back to limit the suspect's range of motion and provide better restraint. But this officer only cuffed Gu Ding's hands in front, letting him keep them there. Maybe it was because he was young and didn't seem like a major threat, or maybe it was because he was being cooperative.

Gu Ding was guided by the head into the lead officer's car.

Inside, there was a faint woody spice scent. Gu Ding didn't know the brand of perfume, but it probably wasn't cheap. The car was spotless, even the windows wiped clean without a speck of dust—clearly, the owner cared about quality of life. The only decoration was a three-dimensional photo frame showing a man holding a little girl's hand.

Seeing this, Gu Ding raised an eyebrow and made a preliminary judgment about the police chief's personal life. "Divorced? Widowed? Or is the kid adopted?"

Having known Reed for so many years, Gu Ding had picked up some of his bad reasoning habits, making him more observant of details than the average person and able to form his own conclusions.

About twenty minutes later, the car escorting Gu Ding arrived at the Federal Court.

Gu Ding was treated like a major criminal, escorted into the court by a group of fully armed officers.

There weren't many people in the audience. The jury had only eight members, all looking half-asleep, as if they were just filling seats.

The plaintiff's lawyer was a stern-faced middle-aged man in a black suit with a plain blue tie. When he saw Gu Ding arrive, he only lifted his head slightly before looking back down at his documents, his expression seeming tense.

As for Prisson, he hadn't shown up yet. Gu Ding guessed he was deliberately keeping them waiting, planning to arrive last.

But Gu Ding also noticed that, as the defendant, he hadn't been assigned a defense lawyer for this hearing. He immediately spoke up. "Your Honor, can I hire a defense lawyer for myself?"

The opposing lawyer quickly interjected, "Court is about to begin. If your lawyer can arrive before the verdict, we have no objection."

The judge glanced at the lawyer, a flicker of displeasure in his eyes, before explaining slowly, "You may. Normally, we would assign you a public defender, but we contacted over a dozen lawyers, and they're all busy with other cases recently."

"I just found out that Prisson sent a threatening letter to this judge twenty minutes ago, forbidding him from notifying any public defenders, or else his son would get an extra twenty years in prison," Sea Emperor's voice suddenly chimed in.

"It's fine. I know a lawyer. We can proceed with the trial, and I'll have him get here as soon as possible." Gu Ding nodded at the judge.

"Then contact him yourself. Court hasn't started yet anyway," the judge suggested.

Gu Ding found Reed's name on his communicator and dialed.

"Hey, what's up so early?" Reed's voice was clearly still groggy, dripping with laziness. "Don't tell me you're standing at my door with a box of pan-fried buns..."

"I remember you took the bar exam a few times—did you ever get your license?" Gu Ding's question made the judge pause, and a clear look of disdain flashed across Prisson's lawyer's face.

"'A few times'? Do you even know how many levels the bar exam has?" Reed immediately retorted, sounding offended that Gu Ding made it seem like he'd failed multiple times. He launched into his usual rambling explanation. "The bar license goes from low to high: trainee lawyer, junior lawyer, intermediate lawyer, senior lawyer..."

"Hey, I just asked if you had a license. Do you have to be so long-winded?" Gu Ding cut Reed off, knowing that if he didn't stop him, Reed would talk until court started.

"Why are you asking?" Reed couldn't help but inquire.

"I'm at the Federal Court right now, accused of releasing a wanted criminal."

"Isn't it April Fools' Day?" Reed turned to glance at the calendar.

"If you have a license, get over here. If not, find a lawyer you know and come. Court starts at nine sharp." Gu Ding figured Reed must have his license by now.

"Oh, I'll be right there. Let me grab breakfast first. Don't worry—I'm the only senior lawyer on Hai Lan Star. I've got you covered." Reed hung up after saying that.

(Suddenly realized today is April 1st—Happy April Fools' Day, everyone~~)