Canghai City was placed under martial law.
That sports car—where it had been manufactured, where it had been used, which highway it had taken, where it had come from, and whose car it was—
Everything was investigated thoroughly.
Then—
It was not just Canghai City.
The provincial authorities, the central government, and every relevant department were all brightly lit.
They worked tirelessly to investigate the full sequence of events.
But!
What was surprising was...
It was completely different from the organized, premeditated attack they had expected.
That sports car had actually been driven by the attacker himself. He had not even switched cars before getting in and driving it himself.
It was utterly absurd.
What was even more absurd was that he was the grandson of some former big shot. Logically, even if he wanted someone killed, he should have hired someone. Who the hell did it personally? Not only had he done it himself, but he had also been perfectly clear-headed. He just had not expected Kiana to stop his car directly, and the backlash killed him on the spot.
Well.
Among rich young masters like that, some were smart, and some had holes in their brains. Every family had a few disappointing descendants.
That much was understandable.
But!
Did he think this was still the era where he could run someone over, pull a few strings, and settle it with money?
What age did he think this was?
Or did he simply not intend to come back at all?
Did he really plan to do something?
Then could he at least not be such a pain in the ass?
"This..."
After seeing the information from the investigation, the higher-ups looked like elderly people staring at a phone on the subway.
Their brows furrowed deeply.
Then they passed it around for the others to see.
Everyone reacted the same way.
"What do you think we should do about this?"
"Punish the whole family. Don't say we didn't warn them. It had already been emphasized so many times. If he couldn't control his own grandson, what else could we do?"
"..."
They were all old comrades.
Even if they were political rivals and had fought for so many years, there was bound to be some sentiment between them.
The problem was that he had been made an example of.
The gun shot the bird that stuck its head out. If they did not target him, who would they target?
Meanwhile—
Over at Kiana's place.
Ever since she had returned that day, she had not said anything. Her mother had only learned that her daughter had been attacked after seeing the news online.
But fortunately—
Elysia was by her side.
So she did not need to worry too much about her daughter's mental state.
And from what she could observe, her daughter was indeed fine. She ate and drank as usual, and everything tasted delicious to her.
Finally—
Today, someone from the authorities arrived.
They had come specifically to inform Kiana about the progress of the investigation into the attack against her.
Kiana's Mother invited the official into the living room.
Kiana came downstairs slowly, with Elysia following behind her.
When he saw them coming down, the official became somewhat excited. After all, Finality and Origin were now as famous as celebrities.
Where there were people who disliked them, there would naturally be people who liked them.
Where there were people with opinions about them, there would also be people who admired them.
The official was only in his thirties and still young. He had been sent because he looked honest and simple.
It was fine to be foolish.
The real problem was being clever without realizing it.
He was only there to deliver a message, anyway.
How difficult could that be?
"Go ahead. What happened?" Kiana sat down. Although she had roughly guessed what it would be, she still wanted to hear the official explanation.
She did not actually care about the outcome, nor did she care about the truth.
But they had to give her an explanation, did they not?
"Miss Kiana, this was indeed a failure on our part."
Right from the start—
The young official apologized first.
Even Elysia froze.
Kiana, however, remained calm. "And then?"
"According to the results of our investigation—"
"The attacker was nineteen years old, male, and the grandson of a former high-ranking official."
"..."
The official took out the documents he had brought, speaking as he handed them to Elysia and Kiana for them to read.
"This attack was entirely his own decision. From the decision itself, to the execution, to the final outcome, he acted alone."
"No one else knew about this."
PS1: Here is the second update. More tomorrow—keep it up~~
The Mastermind Behind the Scenes: Damn, I Have a Cheat!
Kiana held the documents and read them silently.
Elysia leaned slightly closer beside her and read along with her.
The official continued.
"The cause was that this high-ranking official proposed imprisoning you rather than placing you under short-term house arrest. He wanted to take advantage of your young age to brainwash you into becoming the person he wanted you to be."
"Because, compared to allowing you to move freely and possibly become emotionally unstable, it would be far better to train you mechanically, hypnotize you, and manipulate you as a tool."
"..."
He spoke carefully.
When he had first seen this, he had been shocked as well.
Was this not a little too extreme?
Besides...
Could hypnosis really do everything?!
"And then?" Kiana showed no reaction.
She looked dazed and adorable.
Elysia was worried about her, but Kiana truly did not care.
Why should she waste her mood arguing with people like them? It was simply pointless.
"Then, naturally, that radical high-ranking official was removed from office."
"..."
"Because he had merely made a proposal and talked about it without actually doing anything, he was only placed under supervision and was not punished too severely."
"..."
The official said.
"But this young man, well, was a spoiled second-generation heir... You can imagine the kinds of things he had done; he had done all of them. Their family depended entirely on that official, and after he fell from power, the whole family began to decline somewhat..."
"His allowance was reduced."
"Because of the changes in his family, the people around him no longer fawned over him as they had before."
"..."
"He happened to hear that his grandfather had fallen from power because of you, and that you were in Canghai City."
"So, encouraged by his drinking buddies, he drank seven or eight bottles of alcohol and drove straight into you. As for the outcome, it was what you see now."
"..."
"So he was actually pretty decent, then? After drinking that much, he still remembered not to hit anyone else and came straight for my Kiana, right?" Elysia could not help complaining, sounding indignant.
The official gave an apologetic smile.
"According to our assessment, the contrast between his circumstances before and after deeply affected him. Since he had rarely experienced setbacks growing up, he developed self-destructive tendencies in an instant and wanted revenge."
He spoke seriously.
"We conducted a thorough investigation. No one else had contacted him. Even the information that you were here was inadvertently leaked by his grandfather. The old man now regrets it deeply. If you are willing, he is prepared to come and apologize in person, asking only that you not be angry."
"There is no need." Kiana shook her head slightly.
She suddenly looked up at the official. "Tell the grandfathers that they do not need to be so wary of me."
"Also."
She suddenly spoke.
"Have you forgotten something? Even if he knew I was in Canghai City, how did he know my itinerary at that time? Even my decision to go see a movie with Elysia and pass through that intersection was a spur-of-the-moment choice."
"A brat like him could not have done that, could he?"
"..."
The official from the authorities nodded and gave a bitter smile.
"You still asked about that."
He said.
"As you suspected, foreign forces were involved after all. A highly skilled hacker infiltrated Canghai City's surveillance network and tracked your movements."
"In fact, they had already prepared this attack when you were shopping."
"..."
When the official had first explained matters to Kiana and Elysia, he had characterized the incident as an accident.
That had been the intention of those above.
If Kiana did not pursue the matter, then it would end there.
The domestic side was easy to handle.
The foreign side was not impossible to handle.
Before you continue