Chapter 505: I Speak for Justice

After some idle chatter, the press conference on the "Dead Zone riot" at the Second Prison began.

First, the Prison Warden gave a speech, mourning and paying tribute to the fallen prison guards.

Warden Qian Huan stood at the podium, his voice low and heavy:

"In this Dead Zone riot incident, we lost many excellent prison guard colleagues."

His speech had been carefully polished, every pause full of emotion.

On the projector screen pulled open beside him, life photos of the fallen prison guards scrolled, accompanied by mournful music.

Below, Deng Jia Jia directed the camera, close-ups sweeping over the family members seated in the back row.

These screened family members either bowed their heads to wipe away tears or clutched portrait photos tightly, keeping their grief within proper bounds—no wailing, much less hysterics.

There was no tear-jerking segment the audience loved to see, not very friendly to ratings, but very friendly to the Second Prison.

To put it plainly, everyone present today was "reasonable," and those who weren't reasonable need not be sad; they might already be having reunion dinners downstairs by now.

After the mourning came the investigation report on the day's riot.

This time it was Feng Mu's turn to speak.

As Director of the Internal Investigation Department, delivering the final verdict on the prison riot was his inescapable duty.

Before the camera, Feng Mu looked harmless and scholarly, his tone equally grief-stricken:

"……After thorough investigation by the Internal Investigation Department, this riot in the Dead Zone was actually a carefully planned, long-concocted power struggle.

Former Dead Zone Warden Zhao Xing and Light Zone Warden Zhou Hu colluded together to jointly stage this shocking incident.

Their intentions were so vicious, their methods so cruel, it simply made one's blood run cold.

Their true aim was to attempt, through this riot, to force the Prison Warden to resign in disgrace, thereby seeking higher power and status for themselves……"

The reporters below instantly exploded into an uproar, a clamor, some genuinely clamoring, some feigning clamor.

Next, the reporters eagerly asked questions one after another.

"I am a reporter from xxx station. May I ask, regarding these investigation results, are you just talking nonsense? Please present solid evidence!"

"I am a reporter from xxx station. Where is the involved Warden now?"

"I am a reporter from xxx station. The prison conducted an internal self-examination; surely such results will be hard for the public to believe, right? How will the Second Prison guarantee the fairness of the investigation?"

The questions thrown by the reporters seemed extremely sharp, every sentence hitting the crux, but were actually all playing along, feeding answers, helping the Prison Warden whitewash himself.

Feng Mu listened to each reporter's question, then opened the folder in his hand and shook the thick stack of evidence inside before the reporters on the spot—evidence the Internal Investigation Department had worked through consecutive nights, exhausting themselves to interrogate out.

He pressed his hands down in the air to signal quiet, then pretended to be angry as he slapped the documents on the table:

"Evidence, these are all evidence. Inside are recorded the testimonies of many prison guards, including the ironclad proof that Zhao Xing and Zhou Hu colluded with each other, carefully planned, and bribed every link……"

At the same time, the projector simultaneously magnified the details of the documents; on the screen appeared frequent communication records and email records, where phrases like "use the riot to apply pressure" were specially circled in red.

Then Feng Mu nodded toward Liu Yi.

The latter hurriedly tapped the keyboard twice, and the projector played footage of prison guard Gong Lao sneaking in and out of various cells before the riot.

Feng Mu stared intently at the footage while explaining; his voice suddenly rose an octave, filled with strong anger:

"……After the incident, Gong Lao fled the Second Prison, returned home, and sent a suicide note email to high-ranking officials of the Prison System, in which he fiercely accused the Prison Warden of so-called 'tyranny.'

But in fact, this was all conspiracy and calculation behind the scenes! He was merely made a scapegoat by Zhao Xing and Zhou Hu.

However, Gong Lao never expected that Zhao Xing had never truly trusted him.

Afterwards, Zhao Xing actually sent someone to silence him by murder, and staged the scene as self-immolation; unfortunately, one careless mistake among a hundred careful plans led to the farce of two suicide notes."

Feng Mu suppressed his anger and added coldly:

"Zhao Xing and Zhou Hu, these two people, undoubtedly played a good hand.

Afterwards, they maliciously stirred up public opinion, not only pressuring the Prison System frantically, but also bribed Constable Chen Yang of the Patrol Bureau, attempting to interfere with the Internal Investigation Department's investigation progress, and continued to pour dirty water on the Second Prison……"

On the projector, the images switched one after another, showing large transfer records between Ma Xuan and Chen Yang, as well as the case closure report presented by the Patrol Bureau regarding Chen Yang accepting bribes, being suspended for investigation, and finally committing suicide out of fear of guilt.

At this moment, Forensic Doctor Bai Ye of the Patrol Bureau slowly stood up from his seat at the scene.

He kept his head down, walked heavily to the front of the stage, and took the microphone from Feng Mu's hand.

"That's right, Chen Yang indeed accepted bribes."

Bai Ye shed tears of repentance toward the camera,

"He also persuaded me to help him forge Gong Lao's autopsy report, and hold a press conference on the case details, maliciously pressuring the Second Prison……"

Bai Ye grew more ashamed as he spoke, wishing he could bury his head into his chest:

"I was blinded by profit, my heart muddled by pig oil.

I must confess the crimes I committed in this matter. After the press conference ends, I will immediately go to the Patrol Bureau to surrender myself!"

Bai Ye cried until he could not make a sound, as if wanting to cry clean all the fear and regret accumulated in his heart during this period.

He even left in a hurry before the press conference ended, to go to the Patrol Bureau to surrender himself, followed behind by a string of flashbulb photographs.

Presumably when he returns again, he will join the big family of the Second Prison with a brand-new identity.

After Bai Ye left, the next to appear was Ma Xuan, his whole person seeming to have aged ten years, his uniform wrinkled and hanging on his emaciated body, his eye sockets sunken.

"I am Ma Xuan, District Chief of C Ward of the Light Zone. Every penny transferred to Chen Yang was handled by me."

Ma Xuan's voice was hoarse, as if he had not drunk water for several days:

"I did all this at Zhou Hu's instigation. He promised me that after toppling the Prison Warden, he would let me be the Warden of the Light Zone. I was unwilling in my heart.

It's true I wanted to get ahead, but stepping on so many colleagues' corpses, even if I sat in that position, I would be afraid to sleep at night.

But I never expected that Zhou Hu would actually be so heartless as to send someone to my home and kidnap my child who had just been born……"

He suddenly lunged at the nearest camera lens; his ferocious face and bloodshot eyes were magnified on the camera to a terrifying degree:

"Zhou Hu, for over ten years I have served you faithfully and uncomplainingly, and you damn well kidnapped my child—he's only three months old, aaaah—

You stepping-horse are just an animal, Grass Mud Horse, I don't know where you escaped to, but I curse you to die a bad death, leave no intact corpse, after death……"

Ma Xuan cursed too filthily, polluting the camera, and was forcibly supported and taken away by two prison guards.

Feng Mu took the microphone back and, following the opening Ma Xuan had left, explained:

"Light Zone Chief Zhou Hu has already fled in fear of his crimes; his whereabouts are unknown."

Feng Mu suddenly stepped forward two steps, his leather shoes striking a sonorous sound on the floor.

He stared straight into the camera lens, his eyes full of righteousness; the camera also captured his meticulously groomed image into the live broadcast reaching thousands of households.

In a cold voice, with righteous dignity, he delivered the final statement of the case report:

"Zhou Hu, you should be hiding in some dark corner watching the live broadcast right now, right?

I advise you not to harbor illusions; go to the Patrol Bureau and surrender as soon as possible, to accept the trial and sanction of justice.

You can't escape; lower your head and look — the Second Prison colleagues and brothers are all down there, staring at you every moment!"

(End of Chapter)