CHAPTER 808: CHAPTER 810: FEDERAL RESERVE

Standing in the hallway, the door gave the impression that the room inside wouldn’t be big, but as Luo An stepped in, he found it was quite spacious.

The room was rectangular, with large globes and antique bookshelves placed around the floor, and numerous European paintings of unknown periods hung on the walls.

In the center of the room, a large square dark brown wooden table was surrounded by eight high-backed wooden chairs, two on each side. The tabletop was empty, with nothing on it.

Continuing inward, at the far end of the room, there was a fireplace. The temperature at the time was pleasant, so there was no need to light a fire.

Positioned between the fireplace and the wooden table, four dark red sofas, two long and two short, formed a circle. Mr. Clement and Trick Kennedy were seated on two of them.

The room was large, yet there wasn’t a single window.

Luo An’s eyes flickered slightly, but his expression remained unchanged as he walked to the front of the sofas. Apart from Mr. Clement and Trick Kennedy, two strangers sat on the sofas.

One was an elderly white man, around sixty or seventy, wearing reading glasses and with a face full of wrinkles.

The other was a slightly plump white woman in her fifties, with red curly hair, wearing glasses, and smiling as she sized up Luo An.

"Luo An, have a seat."

Mr. Clement smiled at Luo An, gesturing for him to sit down on the sofa, and then introduced the identities of the two strangers:

"This is Mr. Maximilian from the White House and Ms. Ingeborg from the Federal Reserve."

Luo An had already guessed the identity of the elderly man before Mr. Clement introduced him, so he wasn’t too surprised.

However, Ms. Ingeborg’s identity genuinely shocked Luo An.

The Federal Reserve, formally known as the Federal Reserve System, abbreviated as FRS, also known as the Federal Reserve System, or simply the Fed, or M Fed.

The latter name needs no introduction, it’s known worldwide. Luo An has been in the FBI for so long and has never seen anyone from that department. Unexpectedly, he would meet someone here today.

As for the positions of the two at the White House and the Federal Reserve, Mr. Clement did not mention it, and Luo An did not intend to ask, although he had already formed some speculations in his mind.

Suppressing his surprise, Luo An’s facial expression still did not change much. He smiled and greeted the two, finally saying:

"Just call me Luo An."

"I’ve heard of the name Luo An Greenwood for quite some time."

Mr. Maximilian, with a slight smile, squinted his eyes at Luo An and said:

"Initially, it was from some news reports in New York, then it was in the case files, followed by Washington’s crime-solving rate documents, and finally from the President’s mouth."

Mr. Maximilian paused at this point, then turned to smile at the other three people and said:

"Do you know what the President said? He said Luo An’s appearance is almost identical to how he looked in his youth!"

After saying this, Mr. Maximilian burst into laughter, and Mr. Clement, Trick Kennedy, and Ms. Ingeborg laughed as well.

The President of the Federation in 2007 was well-known for having ascended to the position thanks to 4 points of relentless determination, 3 points of diligent effort, and 93 points of his presidential father.

Judgments on appearance are subjective, as everyone has different aesthetics.

However, when a TV station asked a passerby why she voted for the President, her response was straightforward—this person looked silly and naive, incapable of doing anything bad.

"I like this joke."

Clapping her hands, Ms. Ingeborg laughed heartily, then turned to Luo An and asked:

"I heard that, Luo An, you used to work on Wall Street and only later joined the FBI.

Can you tell us why you made such a choice? The salary at the FBI surely isn’t as much as what you could earn on Wall Street."

"The speed of making money on Wall Street is indeed fast, but disappearing is even faster."

Spreading his hands, Luo An replied calmly:

"Besides, one can never earn all the money in the world, and people always need to find some goals of interest to strive for, right?"

Ms. Ingeborg followed up with a question:

"So you like solving cases?"

"Not only do I like solving cases,"

Luo An chuckled and said:

"I also like the bonuses received after cracking a case."

Ms. Ingeborg blinked, not fully understanding what that meant. Seeing this, Mr. Clement chuckled and said:

"Ms. Ingeborg, don’t underestimate the bonuses Luo An mentioned.

He used those bonuses to buy a villa and a luxury car, making money as fast as one would on Wall Street!"

Ms. Ingeborg raised an eyebrow in surprise, while Trick Kennedy smiled at Luo An, adding:

"For instance, that villa Luo An bought in Washington D.C., I saw it on a real estate website before. Luo An bought it outright. I could never do that!"

Trick Kennedy was rich, but most of his wealth was in fixed assets and various investments, making it impossible to pull out several million dollars in cash in a short time.

Ms. Ingeborg’s eyes widened in disbelief:

"FBI solving cases is this profitable?"

"No, only Luo An can make this much money."

Trick Kennedy looked at Luo An with both envy and jealousy, shaking his head and laughing:

"His 100% case-solving rate isn’t something an average person could achieve."

Ms. Ingeborg stared at Luo An for a few seconds, then turned to Mr. Clement and said with a smile:

"You’re really lucky."

Mr. Clement laughed heartily. After a few casual conversations, he directed the discussion towards the main topic, asking Luo An to recount the investigation process of the case.

Luo An briefly described the investigation process and the story involving the Archbishop and two nuns of the Judgment Process Church, then solemnly said:

"There are over twenty videotapes, two hard drives, four notebooks, and a thick ledger in that safe.

Nobody has seen what’s inside; they are all in the backpack I brought."

After Luo An finished speaking, the room fell silent. Trick Kennedy poured him a glass of water, while Mr. Clement, Mr. Maximilian, and Ms. Ingeborg remained silent.

After a moment of silence, Mr. Clement, Mr. Maximilian, and Ms. Ingeborg exchanged a few glances, then Mr. Clement looked at Luo An and said solemnly:

"Luo An, the follow-up work for this case will be handled by the Department of Justice. Prepare a summary of the related case files for me to have someone retrieve."

"Yes, sir."

Luo An nodded in agreement. The items in the safe were like hot potatoes, and it was just as well that Mr. Clement was handing them off to someone else to avoid potential issues the special investigation team might face later.

After a brief explanation, Mr. Clement, Mr. Maximilian, and Ms. Ingeborg shifted the conversation to other topics. The small talk didn’t last long before Mr. Maximilian got up to end the meeting and prepared to leave the room.

"Oh, there’s one more thing."

As Mr. Maximilian stood up, Ms. Ingeborg glanced sideways at Trick Kennedy and said:

"There are some shadows of other people behind this case that you probably haven’t noticed, Luo An. Let Trick help you handle it later."

Luo An turned to look at Trick Kennedy, who displayed an awkward smile, wanting to explain but eventually closing his mouth, intimidated by the look from Ms. Ingeborg.

Luo An’s eyes flickered, quickly realizing something, and he smiled:

"I understand what Ms. Ingeborg is referring to. The related personnel have already been caught and are available for interrogation at any time."

"?!" x4