Chapter 825: A True Trial

He was certainly annoyed. Mayor Wei De held the phone, and beyond his annoyance, there was a trace of embarrassment.

It was as if he were some kind of evil villain!

"Governor, I don't know what your..."

Before he could finish, the Governor interrupted him, "No, you do!"

"I don't care how you and the Deputy Governor plan to handle things. Whether you want him dead or he wants you dead, that is your business."

"But, Wei De, before my ass has moved from this damn chair, you—all of you—must maintain your respect for me!"

"I actually don't want to say this; it makes it seem like I'm powerless against you."

"But Wei De, you know, I'm not powerless against you; I just don't want to intervene. Don't force me, okay?"

"At least on this matter, let it end here."

The hypocritical smile on Mayor Wei De's face gradually faded. This was not the result he wanted, but he knew that no matter what he said, as long as he didn't stop, he would certainly be standing on the opposite side of the Governor.

His expression became very unpleasant. Although from the beginning he hadn't truly believed this matter could make the Deputy Governor directly withdraw from the election, at the very least, he should have achieved more results!

His army had already reached the top of the Deputy Governor's city walls, and the next step was to enjoy the fruits of victory, yet everything had been pressed with a stop button.

Where did the problem lie?

Now was not the time for him to ponder these questions; he could only agree for now.

Even if he had more opportunities to run for Governor later, and no matter how high his win rate was.

At this moment, he was not yet that candidate, and the Governor was still the Governor.

As long as the Governor was still the Governor, he was just a mayor!

"I understand, Governor."

The Governor let out a sigh of relief, "That's for the best!"

With that, he hung up the phone directly. It was clear his mood was very bad.

After hanging up, Mayor Wei De sat there with a gloomy face. He rested his forehead in his hands and thought for a long while, feeling that he might have missed something.

That evening, a spokesperson for the Indeno State Prosecutor's Office stated that they would investigate the circulating facts regarding some police officers in the State Police Department suspected of corruption and crime.

The situation was quite... unsightly. Law enforcers becoming criminal forces was hard for the citizens to accept.

The next morning, there were spontaneous protests in Red Rock City, with people holding signs in front of the State Police Department, written with various demands.

Slogans like "Severely Punish Corrupt Cops" and "Drive the Rats Out of the Cat's Ranks" were displayed. Whenever someone passed by, especially those wearing police uniforms, the crowd would react.

The volume of their voices would grow much louder, and they would wave their signs very excitedly.

In the morning, the Chief drove past here. He saw the protesters and even more so the reporters interviewing them.

Throughout the process, his emotions were stable. After he finished talking with the Deputy Governor yesterday, the tone of this matter was basically set.

The evil corrupt cops would receive a severe trial by law, the Governor, representing light and righteousness, would be praised by the people, and he himself would be investigated, locked up for a period of time for using the wrong people and dereliction of duty.

Today was no different from any other day; the sun rose from the east, and sunlight bathed the world.

But today was different from the past, because his fate, at this moment, deviated from the righteous path he once thought he was on, arriving at a fork in the road.

He had resisted, but he had failed.

Since he couldn't change it, he would silently accept it.

After parking the car, he didn't immediately enter the police department's office building, but stood in the parking lot smoking a cigarette. Looking at the building that was ordinary yet represented a kind of power, he had many thoughts for a moment.

A cigarette didn't take much time. After finishing it, he threw the butt on the ground and strode toward the first-floor lobby.

The moment he entered the lobby, many police officers' gazes turned toward him.

Some were puzzled, some were waiting for a response, and some had meanings that were hard to describe.

With an expressionless face, he strode toward the elevator. After he entered, the order in the lobby returned to normal.

Just as he sat down in his office, and the secretary was reporting whose calls had come in that morning, the phone on his desk rang.

He picked it up casually; it was a call from a precinct captain.

The Chief let the secretary leave first. He explained to the person on the phone for a while, ensuring that this matter wouldn't implicate this captain who was still working hard for the people's safety while occasionally earning a little extra money for himself. The other party hung up with a laugh.

Then the phone rang again. It was very lively. If they weren't asking whether they would be implicated, but were instead concerned about him, the Chief would be happier.

He spent the whole morning dealing with these issues. By two or three in the afternoon, he had pacified most of the captains, making them believe this was just an isolated incident.

No matter who the new Chief was, there wouldn't be any other accidents, and everything would be as usual.

In the afternoon, Captain Ma Xiu's officers arrived in Red Rock City. As soon as they parked at the police department, some prosecutors who had been waiting there for a long time showed their credentials and arrested them on the spot.

They actually already knew this would be the result, so they didn't resist.

The most important thing now was to accelerate the "demise" of this matter!

Yes, this was what the Governor wanted: a swift trial, a swift judgment, and a swift conclusion to this case.

Only in this way could the public's attention be diverted from the corrupt cop problem, and the impact of this matter be minimized.

After these corrupt cops reached the prosecutors, they began to confess. They chose some things they could confess, for example, how they would use extortion to demand money and goods from passing trucks.

But regarding the matter of them murdering drivers, they said nothing. This was the bottom line that could not be mentioned.

The prosecutors here had received instructions from the State Attorney General and didn't press them on these related matters. Since the Governor had spoken, the Attorney General certainly had to obey the arrangements.

The interrogation speed was very fast. The Prosecutor's Office split into several groups, interrogating these officers on one hand, collecting "legal evidence" on the other, and simultaneously calling on the media for Captain Ma Xiu, who was "on the run," to surrender as soon as possible.

Such explosive news indeed attracted the focus of the entire state's public opinion, but because it just stopped there, it didn't stir up any greater waves.

The next morning, major media outlets began reporting on the content. Among them, some media clearly possessed more shocking information but released nothing.

Behind this, there was actually a deeper political game and interest collusion. The news group had received some benefits from the Governor.

The editor-in-chief handed the materials he personally kept to the people sent by the Governor. These cases would completely disappear into the long river of history.

Everything was just as the Governor needed. This was just a case of corrupt cops. Although it made people look bad, it was only looking bad.

With so many police officers in the Federation and so many corrupt cops, it was normal for police in the State Police Department to be corrupted!

Some time ago, Jizhou held several congressional meetings and a congressional hearing surrounding the issue of police corruption. The federal ruling group also discovered the problems within, which showed that this was not a problem unique to one place, but a universal problem!

It was just that some places hid it well, while some places, like Indeno State, had it exposed.

The public's discussion heat was high, but it was all within the range the Governor needed.

On the third day of the incident, Captain Ma Xiu also took the initiative to appear outside the State Prosecutor's Office and surrendered.

With this, the corrupt cop ringleader had surrendered, and some rumors and guesses in society lost their market.

With the Governor's special permission, the media reported on this case with "high transparency" throughout. Every step of the case, evidence, testimony, and witnesses all fully matched, ensuring the possibility of unjust, false, or wrong cases didn't exist, while also exposing the corrupt cop interest group headed by Captain Ma Xiu.

Because the case proceeded very smoothly and no one obstructed or sabotaged the investigation and trial work, on December 5th, half a month later, the case was sent to the State Court for final judgment.

Captain Ma Xiu and his group stood in the defendant's seat. After the defense of their appointed lawyer and intense courtroom debate, their sentences ranged from ten years to three years.

The person with the ten-year sentence went without saying: it was Captain Ma Xiu. Some might feel this sentence was too short, but what they had found and confirmed so far were just some extortion cases.

These extortions were hard to sentence very highly. Considering public opinion, social concern, and social participation, Captain Ma Xiu's ten-year sentence was a ten-year sentence with restricted sentence reduction and restricted parole.

In other words, others with a twenty-year sentence might be able to get out in eleven or twelve years, but his ten years were a solid ten years.

After the two-day trial ended, all defendants stated they accepted the court's handling result and would not appeal.

After the media reported this result, the public concerned about this matter expressed their appreciation and support for the state government one after another.

Many people expressed that they believed the Governor was a qualified government official who could handle these problems decisively and in a timely manner, without trying to shield anyone, even if these people were law enforcement officers...

In the morning, the sound of bailiffs' footsteps woke Captain Ma Xiu in the room. He stood up and watched several prison guards walk to the front of the cell. One of them held shackles in his hand; the handcuffs and leg irons were connected together by a chain.

This measure was usually used for serious criminals. Ma Xiu shook his head, "Do you really have to use this?"

He was no longer a captain now, and these bailiffs wouldn't care about his emotions. Since the trial result came out, he was just a criminal.

However, considering that they were colleagues in the same system but different work units in the past, they nodded and explained.

"Your sentence is ten years. According to the standard, you have to use this."

Ma Xiu laughed twice, "I've put this on others before, but I've never worn it myself. Is it comfortable to wear this thing?"

The bailiff was asked by him and laughed, "I haven't worn it, but it's definitely not that comfortable!"

Then they came in and put these things on Ma Xiu, but it was clear they didn't really treat Ma Xiu as an ordinary prisoner, at least not that tightly.

He could feel these differences, said thank you twice, and then followed behind them, slowly leaving the cell.

Outside the courtroom, he saw his brothers.

At this moment, it was somewhat awkward. He took a deep breath and waved his hands, which he couldn't lift, "Did you sleep well last night?"

Some smiles appeared on the faces of his subordinates. In fact, they had talked about this when they were together yesterday.

They didn't blame Ma Xiu too much. After all, following Ma Xiu all these years, they had eaten, drunk, and played, and they had all saved quite a bit of money.

Ma Xiu had mentioned to them before that they should consider an exit strategy, so each of them had opened anonymous accounts.

These accounts also had quite a bit of money saved in them.

Some saved ten or twenty thousand, some saved thirty or fifty thousand, and some even saved all the money from illegal gains!

These anonymous accounts wouldn't be liquidated. In other words, after they got out in two or three, or three or five years, they would still be rich people.

The wealth they possessed was still something ordinary families couldn't obtain in one, two, or three lifetimes!

Although there was a high probability that there wouldn't be such money-making opportunities in the future, at least they wouldn't lose out.

The group got on the transport vehicle. Ma Xiu sighed, "This is the first time I've sat in here as a prisoner."

Other subordinates laughed. He wanted to create a relaxed atmosphere.

Because he knew this wasn't the hardest part; the hardest part was still to come—

Prisons were very cruel to police prisoners. Those inmates would find trouble for them for no reason. Regardless of whether the prisoners they sent in were in the same cell block as them, as long as those people knew they were police, their trouble would be big.

Undoubtedly, with such concentrated reports in society, there would definitely be people in prison who knew about this, and those people who might have been extorted by him would also find ways to send messages inside.

The most dangerous part of their prison trip was this initial stage: how to gain a foothold in prison and survive.

On the transport vehicle, he talked to these subordinates about what to do after going in.

"Prison guards are not in the same system as us, so they might not give us any help just because we were police before. Instead, they might make things extra difficult for us."

"So remember, after going in, no matter what we encounter, don't resist. Cooperate with them, even if they want to stab your ass!"

Although prison guards were also "prison police" and had the title of "police," in reality, prison guards belonged to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, while state police and local police belonged to local governments. They were all police, but definitely not in the same system.

The prison system was a very independent and closed environment. It was very difficult to rely on the identity of having been a police officer to get some help from them.

Ma Xiu wasn't blindly optimistic; on this issue, he was very vigilant.

Others didn't know as much about prison as Ma Xiu, and they listened very carefully because they would spend the next period of time in prison.

"... We must unite. Don't shrink back when encountering trouble. Even if you know you'll be beaten, you must show a fierce side."

"Prison is a very primitive social environment. If you act like a girl, everyone will visit your ass!"

"But even if you are weak, as long as you are fierce enough, crazy enough, and can leave scars on them."

"When they want to provoke you, they have to consider whether it's worth it!"

Ma Xiu's words made everyone's mood very heavy.

Ma Xiu also realized this. He quickly clapped his hands, attracting their attention, "What I said are all the worst things that could happen. Conversely, let's think about it: we have so many people going in at once, which counts as a not-so-small force in prison."

"Whether we join a gang or keep ourselves neutral, we have a lot of weight."

"So you don't have to worry too much. As long as we can unite, even in prison, we can live very well!"

Everyone quickly regained their confidence!

Next was everyone's chatting time. They talked about some recent situations. Ma Xiu had already seen his wife and children yesterday.

Although he wasn't very clear why his eldest son didn't appear, he would find a way to figure this out.

Although he already had some guesses in his heart, as long as his wife and the other two children were still there, he wouldn't act recklessly.

From Red Rock City to the Indeno State Prison was about three hundred kilometers. The state prison was built on the Gobi desert in the wilderness, surrounded by hundreds of kilometers of no-man's-land.

It was full of danger, in any season.

Although sometimes prisoners escaped from here, most of them fell on the road of escape. Since its establishment, fewer than five people had truly escaped.

This was actually considered a fairly qualified prison in the Federation. There were some worse prisons where more than a dozen people escaped every year, known as the "shame of federal prisons."

As for whether they really escaped or were released in another form, no one knew.

After a morning of driving, the people in the carriage were already a bit sleepy.

The swaying vehicle was somehow always the best hypnotic tool, like a cradle, making people's energy disappear especially fast.

On the entire highway, there was only this one vehicle.

At first, there were many cars coming and going on the interstate highway, but when they got on the road to the prison, there was no one, and the environment became quiet, with only the swaying vehicle driving slowly.

They didn't urge the driver; instead, they hoped to stay in the last free environment for a while longer.

Ma Xiu also couldn't hold on, tilting his head and closing his eyes in his seat. The mental fatigue and anxiety of these past few days made him not rest well.

The bumpy seat was like the cradle pushed by his mother when he was a child. Without knowing it, he actually fell asleep.

He didn't know how long he slept; he seemed to be awakened by some sound.

He subconsciously looked around. This transport vehicle had suddenly stopped in place.

He looked fiercely toward the driver's cab. In the iron-cage-like cab, there was no driver, and even the bailiffs who were escorting them were gone.

When he turned his head again, he saw more than a dozen cars surrounding the entire transport vehicle...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 826 =====