I'm a Senior Lawyer

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

"I just intercepted information from the prison. That guy named Prisson claims he has evidence that you helped Interstellar Pirate Cain escape Hai Lan Star Prison. He just obtained an arrest warrant 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 sign of panic as he stuffed the remaining half of the bun into his mouth.

"It was destroyed completely. You can rest assured about that," Sea Emperor replied with certainty. "I suspect the evidence they mentioned is most likely those two fugitives you saw when Kane left. According to the prison database, there are currently three criminals at large, and those two are not among them. They must have been caught and brought back, so they should count as eyewitnesses. But under federal law, eyewitness testimony alone is not enough. There's a ninety-three percent chance that guy is trying to bluff you into confessing voluntarily. After all, ordinary people would be escorted straight to the Federal Court and told that there was evidence proving their crimes. Quite a few people confessed voluntarily to lessen their punishment. It's also a common tactic in their line of work."

"I understand." Gu Ding calmly picked up a second pan-fried bun.

After spending several minutes stuffing all the remaining buns on the plate into his stomach, Gu Ding went to the counter to pay. Inwardly, he complained that today's buns had been fried a little too long and were harder than usual.

The apartment where Gu Ding lived had been left to him by Old Dad, who had adopted him. It was directly across the street from the breakfast shop. There was nothing special about the place; it was just an ordinary residence. After returning to his room and turning on the television, Gu Ding waited patiently. Before long, the wail of approaching sirens filled the air.

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

"They're here," Sea Emperor reminded him.

"I know." Gu Ding had also heard the urgent knocking at his door.

He opened the door and looked at the lead officer. "Who are you looking for?"

"Are you Gu Ding?" The lead officer had apparently not expected Gu Ding to be so young. Still, it was not as if he had never seen juvenile offenders before, and the trace of doubt in his heart quickly faded.

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

"Come with us!" The lead officer waved a hand, and the armed officers behind him immediately surrounded Gu Ding, aiming their guns at him as though afraid he might make a move.

Gu Ding spread his hands to show that he posed no threat. "I demand to see the arrest warrant."

The lead officer frowned slightly. Gu Ding's reaction was completely beyond his expectations. Lowering his head, he sent the electronic version of the arrest warrant from his wristwatch to Gu Ding's public mailbox.

An arrest warrant was essentially an electronic document stamped with the seal of the Federal Court. It detailed the relevant information about the criminal suspect and normally listed the evidence of the crime as well.

Gu Ding wanted to see it because he wanted to know exactly what information the Federal Court currently possessed. With a single glance, he saw that the evidence section read "Not yet submitted," while the applicant listed on the warrant was a familiar name—Prisson.

"So that guy really came to Deep Sea Star." Gu Ding raised an eyebrow slightly, then casually held out his hands. "Fine. I'll go with you."

By convention, Magnetic Cuffs were used to restrain suspects and prevent them from escaping. Seeing Gu Ding cooperate so readily, the officers were somewhat surprised.

The lead officer did not make things difficult for Gu Ding. Normally, a suspect's hands would be cuffed behind his back, since that limited their range of motion and restrained them more effectively. But the officer merely cuffed Gu Ding's hands and allowed him to keep them in front of him. Perhaps it was because of his young age and low threat level, or perhaps because he was being so cooperative.

Gu Ding was then pushed into the lead officer's car with his head pressed down.

The car carried a faint woody fragrance. Gu Ding did not know what brand of perfume it was, but it was probably not cheap. The interior was spotless, even the windows polished until they were free of dust. Clearly, the owner was someone who cared about quality of life. The only decoration in the car was a three-dimensional photo frame, showing a man holding the hand of a little girl.

Seeing that, Gu Ding raised an eyebrow and made a preliminary judgment about the police chief's private life. Divorced? Widowed? Or was the child adopted?

After knowing Reed for so many years, Gu Ding had been influenced to some extent by Reed's bad habit of deduction. It made him better than most people at noticing details and drawing his own conclusions.

About twenty minutes later, the vehicle transporting Gu Ding arrived at the Federal Court.

Like a major criminal, Gu Ding was escorted into the Federal Court by a group of fully armed officers.

There were not many people present to observe the hearing. There were only eight people on the jury, all looking as though they had not woken up yet, as if they were merely there to make up the numbers.

The plaintiff's lawyer was a stern-looking middle-aged man in a black suit and solid blue tie. When he saw Gu Ding arrive, he merely lifted his head slightly before lowering it again to look at the documents in his hands. His expression did not seem relaxed.

As for Prisson, he had not arrived yet. Gu Ding guessed that he was deliberately putting on airs and intended to show up last.

However, Gu Ding also noticed that, as the defendant, he had not even been assigned a legal aid defense lawyer for this hearing. He immediately asked, "Your Honor, I should be allowed to hire my own defense lawyer, right?"

The opposing lawyer immediately spoke up. "The trial is about to begin. If his lawyer can arrive before the case is concluded, we have no objection."

The judge glanced at the lawyer, displeasure flashing through his eyes, before slowly explaining, "You may. We were originally going to assign you a legal aid lawyer, but after asking more than a dozen lawyers, we found that they were all busy with other cases recently."

"I just found out that twenty minutes ago, Prisson sent this judge a threatening letter, forbidding him from notifying any legal aid lawyers. Otherwise, he would have the judge's son's prison sentence increased by twenty years." Sea Emperor's voice suddenly came through.

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

"Then contact him yourself. The trial hasn't started yet, anyway." The judge could only offer that suggestion.

Gu Ding found Reed's name in his communicator and called him.

"Hello? What is it so early in the morning?" Reed was clearly still half-asleep, and his voice carried a lazy drawl. "Don't tell me you're standing outside my house right now with a box of pan-fried buns in your hand..."

"I remember you took the lawyer qualification exam several times. Did you get certified?" Gu Ding's question left the judge stunned, while a look of obvious disdain flashed across Prisson's lawyer's face.

"What do you mean, took it several times? Do you even know how many levels there are in the lawyer qualification certificate?" Reed immediately retorted. From Gu Ding's wording, it sounded as though he had taken the exam multiple times and failed every time. Once again displaying his talent for rambling, he began explaining, "Lawyer qualification certificates are ranked from lowest to highest as trainee lawyer, junior lawyer, intermediate lawyer, senior lawyer..."

"Hey, I only asked whether you had a certificate. Do you really need to talk so much?" Gu Ding cut Reed off. He knew that if he did not stop him, Reed might keep talking until the trial began.

"Why are you asking that?" Reed could not help asking.

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

"Today isn't April Fools' Day, is it?" Reed turned to glance at the calendar.

"If you have a certificate, get over here right away. If not, find a lawyer you know and get them here immediately. The trial starts at nine sharp." Gu Ding guessed that Reed probably did have a lawyer qualification certificate.

"Oh, I'll be right there. Let me eat breakfast first. Don't be scared. I'm the only Senior Lawyer on Deep Sea Star. I guarantee you'll be fine." Reed hung up after saying that.

(I suddenly realized today is April 1st. Happy April Fools' Day, everyone~~)

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