Chapter 259: The Ambush Incident

Chapter 259: The Ambush Incident

Initially, Lu Heng intended to send someone to pick up Yuan Hecheng and then head to the Iron Blood Coastal Headquarters together.

Yuan Hecheng immediately informed Lu Heng that he was already inside the Iron Blood Coastal Headquarters building, where he was being attended to, but Yuan Yaoyao had been taken to a separate room for questioning.

When Lu Heng arrived, Yuan Hecheng was arguing with an Iron Blood investigator.

He insisted that his daughter was a minor and that even if she was being questioned, it should be done in his presence.

However, the case handled by Iron Blood was rather special, and Yuan Yaoyao possessed astonishing superhuman powers, making her an extremely dangerous metahuman.

For Iron Blood, dealing with a minor who possessed such formidable powers was the most challenging situation.

Due to her age, handling the matter was extremely tricky.

Taking a harsh approach was out of the question.

On the other hand, not taking any action would be ineffective.

Moreover, minors often had immature thoughts, and if they lost control, the consequences could be severe.

Upon seeing Lu Heng enter from outside, Yuan Hecheng immediately rushed over and grabbed his arm, pleading, "Boss, please help me talk to them. Yaoyao is a good kid. This incident must not have been intentional."

In Yuan Hecheng's eyes, Yuan Yaoyao was still his well-behaved and sensible daughter.

He had no idea what his daughter had experienced on the Abyssal Battlefield.

Lu Heng comforted him briefly before turning to the investigator and asking, "Where's your Inspector Chen?"

"Inspector Chen is questioning her in the interrogation room. Don't worry, it's just a routine interrogation," the investigator continued to reassure the family.

While he said this, the situation was not as simple as it seemed.

A life had been lost.

Yuan Yaoyao had killed a metahuman, and the surveillance footage clearly captured the incident.

All the surveillance footage along the route had been retrieved, and it was evident that Yuan Yaoyao had taken action.

Therefore, the facts were established, and the only thing left to investigate was the motive and reason behind her actions.

After calming Yuan Hecheng down, Lu Heng turned to the investigator and said, "Tell your Inspector Chen that I'll be waiting for him in his office."

Having said that, Lu Heng strode towards the office, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Upon hearing his subordinate's report that Lu Heng had arrived, Chen Lianian emerged from the interrogation room and entered the office, closing the door behind him. He said, "Lu Heng, this situation is a bit tricky. I know that this father and daughter are your people, but let me be clear: I can only follow the procedure. If you're here to plead for them, there's no need to say anything."

If pleading was necessary, it had to be done.

However, the first step was to understand the process and reason behind the incident to determine its nature.

"Don't rush to defend them. Let's get the facts straight first."

"The situation is quite serious, and the surveillance footage clearly shows what happened. There's no possibility of accidental death due to negligence. Take a look at the video; even if you want to argue that it wasn't intentional, it won't hold up." As Chen Lianian spoke, he turned the computer monitor towards Lu Heng, allowing him to watch the surveillance footage.

The surveillance footage was captured from a distance of over ten meters, showing Yuan Hecheng and his daughter walking on the street when they encountered a metahuman walking towards them.

This metahuman held something in his right hand, keeping it hidden behind his back.

Although the camera angle didn't reveal what he was holding, Iron Blood had already inspected the scene and confirmed that it was a pistol.

As they approached each other, when the distance between them was about seven or eight meters, Yuan Yaoyao suddenly raised her right hand, drew a mechanical lightsaber, and slashed with a plasma blade.

The metahuman was instantly killed, and the entire process was swift and efficient.

The metahuman didn't even have time to react before he died.

Because the killing was so swift, it was even difficult to discern from the video what the metahuman intended to do with the gun. It appeared as if Yuan Yaoyao had encountered someone on the street and directly attacked them.

It was no wonder Iron Blood wanted to bring her back. If a similar situation occurred on the street later, and she attacked someone, it would indeed be a severe matter.

However, Lu Heng and Yuan Yaoyao had executed missions together in the Sexes Civilization, and he was well aware that she wouldn't harm anyone without reason.

But this was a subjective perception and couldn't be used as evidence.

Lu Heng considered the situation for a moment before asking about the worst-case scenario, "What would happen if she's convicted of intentional murder?"

Chen Lianian sighed and replied, "She would have to be imprisoned, and regular injections of Source Energy Suppressant would be necessary to prevent her from using Source Energy to harm others."

This was indeed the worst-case scenario.

If she were locked up in a metahuman prison, Yuan Yaoyao's life would essentially be over.

Of course, if she wanted to escape, she undoubtedly could.

With the combat power of the Black Feather Spirit, not many in Binhai could stop her.

She would only need to wait for the Source Energy Suppressant to wear off, and she could break out of prison.

There were also many ways to wait for the Source Energy Suppressant to wear off, including directly teleporting to the Sexes Civilization and seeking Xavier Matrix's help.

Therefore, imprisoning this young girl was impossible.

However, if she chose to flee, it would mean she couldn't establish herself in Daxia, and her father would have to escape with her.

They would have to live as fugitives for the rest of their lives.

This wasn't a pleasant prospect for a ten-year-old girl.

Lu Heng watched the surveillance footage twice, he couldn't find any evidence to help Yuan Yaoyao. After a moment of thought, he said, "Let me see Yuan Yaoyao first."

Chen Lianian hesitated slightly, "That's against the rules."

Lu Heng's face turned serious, "If you want to resolve this smoothly, follow my instructions. I guarantee I won't do anything inappropriate. I just want to ask her about her reasons for taking action."

Chen Lianian paused for a moment before saying, "This young lady is quite agitated right now. I'm worried she might tear down our building. Can you calm her down?"

Lu Heng was confident he could do that and nodded, "I should be able to."

"Alright. Follow me, but only you can see him," Chen Lianian said, leading Lu Heng to the interrogation room.

As they passed by the office area, Yuan Hecheng tensed up.

Lu Heng patted his hand, reassuring him not to worry, and then followed Chen Lianian into the interrogation room.

Even from the doorway, they could hear Yuan Yaoyao's loud screams, "Let me out immediately! If something happens to my dad, I'll chop you all up!"

The interrogation room had excellent soundproofing, and her voice could be heard clearly from outside, indicating that the young lady was shouting at the top of her lungs.

It was no wonder Chen Lianian said she wanted to tear down the building; with her current attitude, if she were kept in there a little longer, she might actually do it.

Moreover, she had the ability to do so; all she needed were a few miniature missiles from the Sexes Civilization.

Chen Lianian opened the door and quickly tried to calm her down, "Don't be nervous. Look who I brought."

When Yuan Yaoyao saw Lu Heng enter, she finally calmed down a bit and pleaded, stomping her feet, "Brother Lu, please let them release me."

Lu Heng patted her hand, gesturing for her to sit down, and said soothingly, "Your dad is outside, so don't worry. But you can't see him right now. Let's figure out what happened first, and then we'll decide how to handle it."

In front of Lu Heng, Yuan Yaoyao was very obedient and sat back down in her chair, pouting, "That person had a gun, that's why I acted."

After the Abyssal Descent, firearms had become the self-defense weapon of choice for most ordinary people and metahumans.

Currently, all that was required was to register with the authorities and have no criminal record to legally possess a handgun.

With the current situation in the Abyss, even if the authorities wanted to ban firearms, they couldn't. After metahumans assimilated the basic rules of firearms, they could put them in their item slots, making them impossible to detect.

Therefore, seeing someone carrying a handgun on the street was not a valid reason to take action.

Of course, it was still necessary to be vigilant when seeing others with handguns.

However, Yuan Yaoyao's actions were clearly excessive if there was no other reason for them.

Chen Lianian emphasized, "The fact that the other person had a gun doesn't justify you killing them. Do you understand?"

Yuan Yaoyao's emotions became agitated again, and she stood up, saying angrily, "He was going to shoot my dad! Am I supposed to just watch him do it?"

Chen Lianian turned the monitor on the desk to face him and played the surveillance video, "The surveillance footage is very clear. This person didn't show any signs of shooting, and the handgun was kept at his back."

Yuan Yaoyao had already explained this matter many times, so when she heard this question again, she became annoyed, "He really was going to shoot my dad. I'm not lying, can't you understand what I'm saying?"

"How can you be sure he was going to shoot your dad? I don't see any signs of him wanting to shoot in the surveillance footage," Chen Lianian emphasized again, pointing at the screen with his pen.

"Why don't you believe me? Brother Lu, please help me," Yuan Yaoyao pleaded, stomping her feet anxiously. She looked harmless and just a little impatient, and it was hard to imagine that she had just chopped someone up not long ago.

Lu Heng kept staring at Yuan Yaoyao's expression, and it was clear that she had something to say but was holding back, probably because it involved a secret she didn't want to reveal.

"Inspector Chen, let me talk to her alone for a moment."

Chen Lianian frowned and asked, "What do you want to say to her? This isn't appropriate."

Lu Heng glanced at him and said coldly, "If I want to take her away, can you stop me? My willingness to cooperate with your work is my greatest tolerance. Don't make things more difficult, understand?"

Things were different from a year ago.

A year ago, when Lu Heng was investigated by the Ironblood, he had no choice but to cooperate.

Now, Lu Heng's position was different. He was willing to cooperate with the Ironblood's investigation, but he didn't want to disrupt social order. However, this wasn't a reason for the Ironblood to take advantage of the situation.

As Lu Heng said, if he wanted to take Yuan Yaoyao away, no one could stop him.

Even if Yuan Yaoyao wanted to leave, there were only a few people in the Ironblood who could stop her.

However, the Ironblood was still unaware of this young lady's true combat power.

After all, Yuan Yaoyao had never shown her strength in Bluesphere to take on thousands of cyber drones single-handedly, so even her father didn't know her true abilities.

After a moment of consideration, Chen Lianian agreed to the request and asked his subordinates to leave the interrogation room and wait outside.

"Turn off the surveillance too," Lu Heng pointed to the surveillance camera in the interrogation room.

"It's fine if you don't, I can block it," Yuan Yaoyao said. When she saw that the Ironblood agents had left the room, leaving only Lu Heng and herself, her emotions quickly calmed down.

With the capabilities of the Black Feather Spirit, blocking the surveillance equipment in the human world was simple.

Lu Heng walked over and squatted in front of her, asking, "Alright, talk. What happened?"

Yuan Yaoyao replied seriously, "That person was going to shoot my dad, that's why I took action. Otherwise, I wouldn't have shown this in front of my dad. You know I don't want him to know about the Sexes Civilization."

Lu Heng frowned and asked, "But in the surveillance video, there was indeed no sign of this metahuman making any aggressive moves."

Yuan Yaoyao pointed to the back of her head and explained, "It's true. The light brain's calculation was based on this person's facial expressions, eyes, and body muscle movements, and the result was that he was going to shoot my dad."

If it was the light brain's calculation, there should be no error.

However, the conclusions given by the computer usually had data.

Lu Heng asked further, "What's the probability?"

Yuan Yaoyao replied, "When he was about ten meters away, the probability was only around ten percent, but as he got closer, the probability kept increasing, especially when he got within eight meters. The probability started to soar from twenty percent to over sixty percent."

Lu Heng continued, "What was the probability of him shooting when you took action?"

"An exact percentage."

"68.13%. I have the data records here, but I can't show them. Even if I did, they probably wouldn't believe it," Yuan Yaoyao stated, providing a precise figure.

68.13%—a not-insignificant probability, but not a certainty, making the situation a bit delicate.

"It's a high probability, but not high enough," Lu Heng said, deep in thought.

Yuan Yaoyao countered, "What about you? If you saw a 68% chance of an individual with abilities aiming a gun at your family, would you hesitate?"

This was indeed a tough question.

If Lu Heng were in this situation, knowing there was a 68.13% chance of an individual with abilities aiming a gun at his family, he wouldn't hesitate to take action first.

Would he wait for the other party to shoot first?

Therefore, if faced with a similar situation, Lu Heng would react the same way Yuan Yaoyao did.

"I understand the situation. I believe you, and your reaction was justified. However, next time you take action, ensure you stay within your ability's limits and avoid being investigated. After all, the world we live in isn't an abyssal battlefield, and we must still adhere to the necessary order." Lu Heng took the opportunity to educate the young girl.

"I understand. Next time, I'll definitely disable the surveillance network first," Yuan Yaoyao pouted.

She continued, "What now? Will I be sent to prison?"

"Don't worry. I'll handle this. Before I resolve the issue, you mustn't lose your temper, harm anyone else, or, even more so, dismantle this building," Lu Heng pointed upwards.

Yuan Yaoyao giggled, "I was just scaring them."

She had intended to scare the Iron Blood personnel, but it seemed she hadn't succeeded.

The Iron Blood personnel weren't entirely sure if Yuan Yaoyao could actually dismantle the building.

"Wait here patiently for a while. I'll go out first, but remember, no trouble," Lu Heng instructed.

"Okay," Yuan Yaoyao reluctantly agreed, but her body language was honest as she quietly sat back down, no longer causing a fuss.

Lu Heng stepped out of the interrogation room and pulled Chen Lianian aside to discuss how to handle the situation.

"First, I can confirm that Yuan Yaoyao wasn't lying. This individual with abilities did intend to shoot her father."

Chen Lianian frowned, "But it's not evident from the surveillance footage."

If the individual with abilities had indeed aimed the gun, the Light Brain's calculated probability of firing wouldn't be 68.13%; it would be 100%.

The Light Brain system on the Black Feather Spirit made its judgment based on the individual's gaze, expression, and muscle reactions—factors that wouldn't be visible in the surveillance footage.

This was why the current situation had arisen.

Lu Heng didn't explain the Light Brain system's judgment criteria, as it would be challenging to use as evidence.

To resolve the issue, they needed to approach it from a different angle.

"This young lady has a unique ability to predict her target's actions in advance, which is why the surveillance footage didn't capture anything. In any case, if you want to resolve the problem, follow my advice and investigate this deceased individual with abilities..."

Lu Heng had his suspicions when he arrived, and after talking with Yuan Yaoyao, he became even more certain of the nature of the incident:

"I suspect this individual with abilities was hired by certain forces to assassinate a Tempering Master. Therefore, you should investigate this individual's information and see if they had accepted any assassination missions targeting Tempering Masters.

"Additionally, I'm concerned that more assassination attempts on Tempering Masters might occur.

"Instead of making things difficult for a young girl, focus your efforts on preventing these assassination attempts."

After hearing this, Chen Lianian's eyes widened in surprise.

If there was indeed an organized assassination plot targeting Tempering Masters, the nature of the incident would be far more serious.

"Is your intelligence accurate?" Chen Lianian pressed.

"I suggest you contact your superiors immediately and check if any Tempering Masters have been attacked recently."

In truth, Lu Heng wasn't entirely sure if this incident was specifically an assassination targeting Tempering Masters.

In the previous life, there had been instances of Western financial groups hiring assassins to attack Tempering Masters.

The intent wasn't always to kill; sometimes, it was just to intimidate and pressure Tempering Masters into serving the Lionheart Empire's Tempering Companies.

In the previous life, a year after the Abyssal Descent, numerous Tempering Masters had left the country to join the Lionheart Empire's Tempering Companies.

It seemed that in this life, the Lionheart Empire's Tempering market had been squeezed to the point of helplessness, prompting them to resort to such underhanded tactics again.

Yuan Hecheng was one of the first batch of Tempering Masters recruited by Forge Castle, and as Lu Heng's Tempering Assistant, he naturally became a target.

After hearing Lu Heng's warning, Chen Lianian hurried back to his office to report the situation to his superiors and investigate recent assault incidents nationwide.

It didn't take long for him to obtain the data.

Within two days, three Tempering Masters had been involved in assault and murder cases nationwide.

Although the number wasn't high, the fact that these incidents occurred within two days made the situation more complex.

Chen Lianian immediately filed a report, concluding that certain forces were attacking, intimidating, and murdering Tempering Masters.

After this report, the authorities reacted swiftly, initiating a thorough investigation into related incidents, tracking down the perpetrators, and placing suspicious individuals under surveillance to prevent further incidents.

Subsequently, Chen Lianian led a team to reinvestigate the identity of the deceased individual with abilities, examining interpersonal relationships and financial circumstances.

The results matched Lu Heng's expectations: the deceased individual with abilities did have a possible connection to foreign forces.

After confirming the identity of the assassin, Yuan Yaoyao was finally released after signing a supervision document,

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end