Seeing how tense the situation had become, Steven adopted an official tone. "Sir, please calm down. If you have suffered any injustice or are facing any difficulties, tell me. On behalf of the Federation, I assure you that we can resolve your problems!"
Sister Lan leaned close behind Jiang Nan and whispered, "That's him!"
Looking at Steven now, Jiang Nan could hardly connect him with the beast who had tortured Lin Jiajia to death. Steven certainly knew how to keep up appearances!
"Chief Steven, is it? As it happens, I do have an injustice to report!" Jiang Nan said slowly.
Steven had already spotted Sister Lan behind Jiang Nan, and an ominous suspicion had formed in his mind. "Sir, why don't you come to my office so we can discuss this?"
"No, I'm going to say it right here," Jiang Nan rejected Steven's suggestion. "Or are you afraid something unsavory might get out?"
Without waiting for Steven to reply, Jiang Nan continued, "I know of a demon whose hobby is brutalizing girls. I know of a girl barely into her teens whom this demon tortured to death. She died horribly. The demon bit her all over, then strangled her to death with his own hands!"
Jiang Nan's voice was icy. "How much pain must she have suffered!"
So what happened last night really has come to light, Steven thought. Damn it, I already paid! What the hell were those people from Black Tiger Hall doing? Weren't they supposed to be one of White Cloud City's top powers?
Outwardly, Steven continued to feign ignorance. "Sir, if a serious crime has occurred, please leave it to our department. We in the Federal Police will solve the case as quickly as possible and bring justice to the victim!"
Jiang Nan sneered. "You must be very busy with official duties, Chief Steven. Have you forgotten the crime you committed with your own hands at the Nine Heavens Club last night?"
An uproar rippled through the Federal Police officers present. They exchanged looks, but none dared discuss it aloud. After all, this was an accusation without evidence. If Chief Steven overheard them talking, they would probably have to pack their things and leave.
Steven's expression did not change. "Sir, you can't make reckless accusations. All my colleagues here know we had a dinner gathering last night. I wasn't misusing public resources. Everyone knew it was my birthday yesterday and organized the celebration of their own accord."
"And after the celebration ended?" Jiang Nan asked.
"Afterward, my driver took me home. He can testify to that."
Steven's driver was a trusted aide he had brought from Central City and would naturally give false testimony for him. Even if these people took the victim for forensic testing, what laboratory would be foolish enough to step forward and identify him?
At that thought, Steven could not help feeling smug. This was what power gave him. Right and wrong, truth and falsehood-he decided them all!
Steven said sternly, "Sir, you should know that you need evidence before you smear someone's name! Under the Federation's constitution, slandering a police chief like me can land you in prison!"
Steven's self-righteous argument nearly drew Jiang Nan into his line of reasoning. Then Jiang Nan suddenly caught himself and laughed. "I think you've misunderstood. I didn't come here today to reason with you, and I don't have time to discuss evidence!"
"I came to kill you!"
In a flash, Jiang Nan appeared before Steven. Before anyone could react, he seized Steven by the collar and moved again, dragging the imposing police chief over to the coffin.
Jiang Nan gently pushed the coffin lid aside, revealing Lin Jiajia's pitiful face.
Jiang Nan forced Steven down over the open coffin and said heatedly, "Take a good look at that face. She was just a child! How could you do that to her?"
Steven was utterly bewildered. Wait, why isn't this man following the script? Aren't we supposed to trade arguments and rebuttals in a situation like this? How could he just start attacking?
Jiang Nan hurled Steven against a pillar in the lobby. Though Steven had served in the military in his younger days and was in good physical shape, the violent impact nearly shattered every bone in his body.
How could the watching Federal Police officers dare help? Jiang Nan had crumpled their guns into balls and kicked them around. Who would dare provoke a monster like that?
Jiang Nan walked over to Steven again, grabbed the front of his clothes, and hauled him up. With another vicious throw, he sent Steven flying toward a different pillar, blood spilling from his mouth and nose.
Seeing that Steven could no longer move, Jiang Nan approached him again. Terror filled Steven's eyes. What little awareness he had left told him that he was going to die here today!
The anger in Jiang Nan's chest had not subsided. He crushed Steven's crotch beneath his foot. Steven's eyes turned bloodshot, and all he wanted was for the agony to end.
Jiang Nan would never let Steven die so easily. Starting at Steven's feet, he flattened his legs stomp by stomp, then crushed his arms the same way. The excruciating pain kept Steven fully conscious, yet he no longer even had the strength to glare at Jiang Nan.
When Steven had only his last breath left, Jiang Nan pointed a finger at him, his voice tinged with despondency. "If you have another life, spend it atoning for your sins!"
A silvery-white light flared, and a searing shock wave punched through Steven's head, leaving a gruesome mess across the floor.
This was the first time Jiang Nan had killed anyone. His finger trembled slightly, but looking at the mangled flesh and blood strewn across the floor, he felt no physical discomfort at all.
Perhaps it was because someone like Steven could not really be called human.
Silence filled the police station's lobby. Everyone found it hard to believe that Steven had died so easily. He had been a powerful, high-ranking police chief in the Earth Federation, a man even a local power like Black Tiger Hall had to steer clear of. Yet this young man had slaughtered him as though it were nothing!
Some of those present were delighted, while others were worried. The deputy chief secretly gloated. This chance at promotion would probably fall to him!
Sister Lan, however, trembled with fear. Now that Jiang Nan had finished with Steven, she had no idea whether she would be next.
Fortunately, Jiang Nan had already decided to stop. The chief culprit was dead, and Pei Hu and his son had paid a price as well. As for Sister Lan, Jiang Nan was too emotionally exhausted to pursue the matter any further.
Next, he still had to give poor Lin Jiajia a proper burial.
Under the eyes of the assembled Federal Police officers, the group strode out of the city police station and returned to the Nine Heavens Club.
Pei Hu and his son were having their injuries treated in the club's medical room. According to Black Tiger Hall's skilled private doctor, Pei Hu's leg was only fractured and could recover with a few months of proper rest. Pei Zheng's leg, however, had suffered permanent damage. Even with an artificial bone implant, he would never move as freely as before and would probably be left with a limp.
"If I don't avenge this, I swear I'm not a man!" Pei Zheng said through gritted teeth.
Before you continue