"Goodbye, Paul! Thank you so much for today."

"You're exaggerating, Group Leader Luo An, it was no big deal, I should be thanking you instead. Let's go out for a drink sometime!"

"..."

Looking at Luo An and Paul laughing together in the hallway outside the office area, Reesi, with a strange expression, moved her chair over to Winslow and whispered:

"Have you heard about their relationship being this close?"

Winslow looked at Reesi in surprise:

"As long as there's no big conflict between men, a few words can lead to a good chat, so grabbing a drink together is no issue, right?"

Reesi rolled her eyes at Winslow, not willing to argue with him. She grabbed the snacks from Winslow's desk, moved her chair closer to Mona, and asked:

"Mona, you..."

"Let's deal with this case first."

Before Reesi could finish her sentence, Mona turned around, grabbed the back of Reesi's chair, and pushed her back to her workstation, saying:

"If I'm not mistaken, Youn in the interrogation room has confessed everything, so we'll have our hands full next."

Reesi mumbled a few words, stopped prying, and started seriously working on processing the case information in front of her.

Outside in the hallway, Paul took the elevator and left shortly after, while Luo An turned back to the office area, clapping his hands loudly as he pushed the door open and said:

"Everyone, eyes on me, I have an announcement."

Mona, Winslow, Reesi, Chenier, and Michelle all looked up at Luo An, who turned around, closed the door, and prepared to speak.

Ring ring—

The sudden ring of a phone interrupted Luo An's movement. He glanced apologetically at everyone and picked up the phone to answer.

"It's me, Michael."

On the other end, Michael Brey's voice came through, extremely anxious, as he spoke rapidly in a low tone:

"Luo An, are you free now? If you are, get to Wall Street immediately, something's happened here!"

Luo An narrowed his eyes and asked:

"What kind of situation? Is it about people, or about money?"

"Both!"

Michael Brey responded, very agitated:

"It's not convenient to talk about it on the phone. If you have time, it's better to come over here soon."

"OK, I got it."

With a nod, Luo An casually replied and hung up the phone.

After a moment's consideration, Luo An walked straight to the front of the office area under the puzzled gaze of Winslow, Mona, and others, and turned on the small TV hanging on the wall.

With the TV on, Luo An grabbed the remote and switched channels, quickly tuning into the economic news channel. The blonde female host inside was reporting a piece of news:

"...Three minutes ago, at 10:44 a.m. today, New Century Finance, the second largest subprime mortgage company on Wall Street, officially declared bankruptcy..."

"What?"

"W-T-F?!"

"New Century Finance went bankrupt?!"

Before Luo An could speak, Winslow, Chenier, and Reesi stood up from their chairs in the office area, exclaiming in shock and disbelief.

Even Michelle, usually very composed, widened her eyes in surprise, covering her mouth tightly with one hand.

"How is this possible?"

The Federation New Century Financial Investment Company was very famous throughout the federation because many people could buy villas with zero down payment, waiting for the property value to appreciate, thanks to loans from this company.

This company was established in 1995 and, in just 10 years, became one of the largest issuers of subprime loans in the federation. Its stock price also reached an all-time high, making it a shining star among the federation's enterprises.

While Winslow, Chenier, and others hadn't taken out loans for homes through New Century Financial Company, many of their friends did, so they had heard of the company's reputation.

With the second-largest subprime mortgage company announcing bankruptcy, the news instantly overwhelmed their minds, prompting them to subconsciously suspect it might be fake news.

Compared to Winslow and others' faces full of shock, Luo An merely squinted at the news on TV, showing little change in expression.

After a few seconds of silence, he turned off the TV, turned to everyone, and said seriously:

"Does anyone here have loans with this company?"

"No."

"No."

Chenier and others exchanged glances and shook their heads.

Ever since joining the special investigation team, the agents' economic status had risen significantly, with few financial shortages.

Even in situations of financial need, they had accumulated enough funds by solving several cases with Luo An, so they hadn't taken out loans since.

Luo An nodded slightly and continued:

"In that case, let's set aside the Wall Street news for now and focus on tackling this case first."

"OK."

"No problem."

Everyone nodded in unison, suppressing the shock in their hearts and starting to listen seriously to Luo An's arrangements for the current case.

"Folks, this is the interrogation record of Youn by Deputy Group Leader Paul."

Luo An opened the folder and said:

"Youn mentioned that his boss is named Omalian, also known on the streets as the 'White Cobra.'

This guy sells both flour and crystal sugar, being ruthless and cunning, and has several bases, randomly choosing different places to stay.

Our next goal is to find a way to catch this guy."

Winslow gave it a thought and asked:

"Since Omalian has several bases, should we try to scout them out? Or perhaps carry out arrests at all bases simultaneously?"

"No need, we'll wait for updates and get ready to act."

Luo An waved his hand, indicating that Deputy Group Leader Paul would find a way to investigate and determine Omalian's whereabouts, then report to the special investigation team for capture.

Winslow, Chenier, and others exchanged silent looks, with Reesi cautiously asking:

"Is Deputy Group Leader Paul really that helpful?"

Helping Luo An interrogate Youn was a small task, but helping to track Omalian's movements was definitely hard work. Paul's relationship with Luo An, no matter how good, couldn't be enough for such selfless efforts.

"Paul and I have already discussed the follow-up to this matter. You'll understand once this case is over."

Luo An implied that some details couldn't be discussed now and asked everyone to prepare, waiting for updates in the coming days.

Although Winslow and others had their doubts, they had always trusted Luo An, so they didn't ask further questions and hurriedly organized the case files.

Omalian was extremely cautious, so tracking his whereabouts wasn't easy. Over the next few days, the special investigation team waited quietly for news, with Luo An taking the time to drive to Wall Street.

In an office within a building on Wall Street, Michael Brey was furiously shouting into his phone.

Seeing Luo An enter the room, he awkwardly shook his phone, and Luo An smiled, waved a hand to show he wasn't in a hurry, and walked aside to make a cup of coffee.

A few minutes later, Michael Brey put down his phone, and Luo An handed him a cup of coffee, smiling as he said:

"New Century Financial Company went bankrupt, and now the federal housing prices are starting to drop. Those investment companies will have to pay for their CDS."

"Damn bastards, they're just **scum raised by bitches!"

Michael Brey downed the coffee in one go, cursing:

"Goldman Sachs told me the system malfunctioned, losing quite a few documents;

Morgan Stanley said the crash was sudden and that server rebooting takes time;

The Federal Bank even more ridiculously claimed that they had a power outage! So now they can't process the payment!"