CHAPTER 1386: CHAPTER 1386: OTHER ASSASSINS (SUPER LONG CHAPTER, ASKING FOR MONTHLY TICKETS)

"At that time, the President’s vehicle passed through here and entered the street where the assassination took place."

Standing by the slightly worn-out window, Vigina raised her hand, pointing towards the street ahead, and spoke softly.

He Ao leaned against the window, looked at the street Vigina pointed to, and then shifted his gaze to the other side of the ’assassination area’.

At this moment, that area was divided by several isolation lines, surrounded by patrolling drones and black-clad patrolmen.

This entire street roughly forms an ’L’ shape, and currently, He Ao and Vigina are at the lower middle position of the ’I’, while the President’s assassination area is the lower ’_’ of the ’L’.

"Have they completely locked down that area?" He Ao looked into the distance, his gaze cutting through the shadows cast by buildings under the sunlight, glimpsing the densely grouped patrolmen and surveillance drones deep in the street.

"Yes," Vigina nodded slightly, "Initially, the Secret Service Bureau locked down the whole area, and then those people from the Ains came in. By the time I got the news and rushed over, the whole area was already sealed off by them. I only managed to grab this location close to the core area."

In fact, this entire ’L’-shaped block has been locked down.

The central lower position of the ’I’, where they are now, is the ’station’ of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in this block, with the outer perimeter handled by the City Police Bureau’s area, and below there are staff from both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and City Police Bureau patrolling.

And He Ao entered here following Vigina’s lead.

At this time, Vigina also turned her head to look at He Ao, "They’re not allowing the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police to be part of the core investigation, none of the clues are shared with us."

"No news from the Ains Federal Bureau of Investigation?" He Ao frowned slightly, puzzled.

Given ’Suote’s’ years of experience in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau is typically very domineering in operations. When local cases involve other cities or the Federal Central, it’s common for local police to be pushed out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

At times, the Federal Bureau of Investigation even issues commands to local police stations.

But seeing the Federal Bureau of Investigation being pushed out is something He Ao hasn’t seen before.

Especially in a case as significant as the President’s assassination.

This situation is actually a rather poor ’signal’ politically.

It indicates that the old President, or perhaps the person leading the assassination investigation in Ains, ’doesn’t trust’ the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"There’s been no reply from headquarters," Vigina shook her head, "I inquired about it; they didn’t specify that we should lead the investigation nor withdraw. Just instructed us to ’actively participate’."

"Any additional support?" He Ao pondered.

"A targeted fund was approved, but it’s very limited," Vigina glanced at He Ao. The ’Paxiu’ before her seemed to understand the internal workings of the Federal Bureau quite well, capturing the point with just one question, "I thought they were going to block this budget, but it was still approved."

She thought for a moment, continuing, "However, people around me have been reassigned for various reasons."

"Ambiguity is a statement in itself." He Ao mused.

This matter itself is within the Federal Bureau’s jurisdiction, but the operations from their headquarters seem like ’acting out of obligation’.

As if the Director of Headquarters is not genuinely interested in getting involved, just idling on the sidelines.

This is an assassination case involving the President, perhaps even listed in federation history.

This kind of ’idling’ does not appear to be that Director’s ’style’, and based on ’Suote’s’ experience, the old President and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were not ’estranged’.

Is there another kind of ’murky business’ here? Making even Ains’ Federal Bureau Director reluctant to get involved?

But does he really not want to get involved?

He Ao turned his head, looking at Vigina beside him.

At that moment, Vigina also looked towards him.

"Seems like you have questions to ask?" He Ao smiled.

"So," Vigina didn’t hold back, she looked at He Ao, obviously having wanted to ask this question for a long time, "Why did you want to assassinate the President?"

"Firstly, strictly speaking, I didn’t assassinate the President."

He Ao shook his head.

Then he briefly recounted the information about the Dark Lizard incident investigated by Paxiu to Vigina.

With his recounting, Vigina’s face grew increasingly grim.

After He Ao finished speaking, she fell into dead silence.

After a while, she raised her head, looked at He Ao, breaking the silence, "Are you saying that the Dark Lizard event, is essentially the old President deliberately indulging for his election prospects and the interests of the Kewort Group?"

"At least, the ’evidence’ I obtained suggests so." He Ao replied calmly.

"What about my brother?" Vigina was somewhat dazed, "Was he silenced because of his involvement in this?"

"I am unclear about your brother’s cause of death at the moment," He Ao shook his head, "In the ’evidence’ I obtained, there was no mentioning of your brother, although he was an executive in the mining department of the Kewort Group, he seemingly wasn’t involved in this matter,"

At this point, he hinted, "He might know something, but perhaps not the same things I know now."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Vigina asked instinctively, clearly struggling to control her emotions, her voice showing discernible fluctuations.

However, upon observing He Ao’s calm demeanor, she gradually calmed down, began reviewing all the information, and He Ao quietly watched her, waiting for her emotions to settle completely.

After a brief review, she raised her head towards He Ao, "Do you think there’s something else hidden beneath this matter?"

"Have you heard the story of the blind men touching an elephant? Those who touched the trunk thought the elephant was like a snake, those who touched the leg thought it was like a pillar." He Ao looked at Vigina, and said quietly.

"The truth we see may not be the whole truth." Vigina took over his words, muttering to herself, "Those people want to make you assassinate the President, so they arranged for you to see things unfavorable to the President, but the real truth might not be entirely like that."

She raised her head, looking at He Ao, connecting all his actions and words, "So you really didn’t assassinate the President?"

"I mentioned before, I didn’t fire the shot," He Ao glanced at the heavily locked-down street’s depths, "But not firing a shot doesn’t mean there was no assassination."

"You mean there was another ’assassin’?" Vigina responded immediately, "The person who truly attempted to assassinate the President isn’t you, but someone else?"

"Look at this street," He Ao leaned on the windowsill, drawing an ’L’ shape on it, and pointed at the top of the ’L’. "The President came down from above. If it was just me attempting the assassination, where do you think the best position would be?"

"At the bottom corner of the vertical line," Vigina glanced out the window, though her line of sight was partially blocked by adjacent billboards, she focused on the corner of the street, seemingly constructing a 3D model in her mind.

Then she turned back to He Ao, continuing, "The President descended from above, giving you numerous opportunities to shoot, and this spot isn’t blocked by billboards, providing the best field of view. If it was only you attempting the assassination, then this would be the ideal spot."

"But actually, the position chosen for me was here, also near the corner, but a little further out." He Ao pointed his finger at the ’L’ shaped street, slightly past the corner.

Vigina looked out the window, just able to see at the visual dead zone, the damaged windowed room, now surrounded by the most surveillance drones.

"That location isn’t good," Only now did Vigina have time to carefully observe the terrain here, she pointed at the billboards beside the room, "This place is surrounded on all sides by many billboards, offering sufficient cover, but the view is very narrow with fewer opportunities to shoot."

"Indeed, you are very familiar with such tactics," He Ao nodded gently, observing Vigina, "Did you serve in the army before?"

"When my brother passed away, I was serving in the Central Army," Vigina said softly, "I left the service and joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation afterwards, the Bureau has a fondness for hiring retired military personnel from the Central Army, if one has the education, climbing the ranks internally is very rapid."

"Right." He Ao nodded gently.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s large-scale hiring of outstanding retired soldiers from the Central Army was initiated by Suote.

These soldiers mostly have clear backgrounds without corporate influence, and they possess high combat expertise, resistant to breakdown under cult pressures, encouraged by the Ains Director.

The only issue being their generally low educational level, making management roles challenging, therefore soldiers who are both excellent and highly educated ascend quickly.

Vigina evidently ascended through this channel, but prior to the last copy world, ’Suote’ had already heard about corporations ’targetedly supporting’ such ’excellent soldiers’.

"What do you think," He Ao gathered his thoughts, looked at Vigina in front of him, and asked slowly, "What is the reason behind such arrangements by the shadowy forces?"

"If there is more than one assassin," Vigina stared at the ’L’-shaped street drawn by He Ao on the windowsill and pondered, "it’s creating an ’opportunity’ for cooperation among other shooters."

She looked up at He Ao, "But how many assassins were there at that time? Information released by those from Ains mentioned only you?"

"Besides me, at least two," He Ao said calmly, "I didn’t fire, but I heard three gunshots. The first one quickly hit the President, followed closely by two shots after the President was hit."

"Whether it’s a transcendent firearm or a Gauss Rifle, it requires reloading or charging time. Such powerful weapons make rapid fire difficult," Vigina continued He Ao’s words.

"So there have to be at least two people; the first person shot the President first, and then the second person also fired.

"And at that moment, the first person was ready again and fired the second shot, which was almost simultaneous with the first person’s initiation.

"That’s why the second gunshot you heard was right after; it wasn’t one person who fired twice but two people who fired simultaneously."

Vigina thought aloud, looking at He Ao, "So including you, there are at least ’three assassins’."

"Yes," He Ao pressed his hand on the ’_’ of the ’L’ street, "At the end of this street, if I remember correctly, there is a low wall where a direct shooting point can be set up, and then another shooting point can be arranged on the lower floors of the red building across from my location."

"Three shooting points can spatially form a triangular crossfire net." Vigina understood He Ao’s words. She looked up, her gaze directed at the street corner outside the window, "Once the President’s convoy enters the fire coverage area, he can be riddled instantly."

She withdrew her gaze, paused for a moment, and then said softly, "Very professional."

This was both a remark on He Ao’s professionalism and the professionalism of those who orchestrated the assassination.

Even if ’Paxiu’ ultimately didn’t fire, the ’assassination’ was unaffected.

Vigina looked up at He Ao, "The shooting points you mentioned are all within the blocked areas of those from Ains, but they claimed to have found only you as the assassin."

"Indeed," He Ao looked out the window and sighed lightly, "So we need to take a field look, to see if those assassins really left no trace or if someone is lying."

"Is there anything you need me to do?" Vigina vaguely understood He Ao’s intent and asked slowly.

"I need you to ’cooperate a bit.’" He Ao nodded gently, without any formality, and turned directly towards the door.

"Okay." Vigina followed behind him.

—Minutes later—

Outside the blocked area, behind the old red building’s door.

The middle-aged man guarding the door lowered his head and stared at the brown-golden curly-haired woman in front of him and the group of Federal Bureau of Investigation staff behind her, puzzled and asked, "Director Vigina, what brings you here?"

"I’m here to investigate the President assassination case, to collect evidence on-site," Vigina looked at the figure in front of her and said quickly, "Step aside."

"Director Vigina," the middle-aged man’s face instantly turned cold, "Your Federal Bureau of Investigation doesn’t have the authority to investigate the President assassination case, please leave."

"You say there’s no authority? Who are you? The President’s advisor?" Upon hearing his words, Vigina’s face darkened, "For any case involving the Federation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has the right to investigate, step aside!"

She took a step forward, and the staff behind her followed suit.

"Director Vigina, our duty is to safeguard the scene, prevent anyone from damaging it. Protecting here means protecting the President. If you force your way in, you’re going against the Federation and the President," the middle-aged man directly lowered the rifle in his hand, "Don’t blame me if I shoot."

"You claim going against the Federation means facing it? Can you represent the Federation?" Vigina’s voice turned completely cold.

She didn’t hesitate and moved forward directly.

Yet, the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents behind her hesitated visibly.

Witnessing this scene, Vigina sighed internally.

She hadn’t been here long enough to establish her own base.

She glanced at the raised rifle of the figure, and without hesitation, said, "Draw your guns."

The agents behind her simultaneously drew their Gauss Pistols, aiming at the guarded figure ahead.

"Director Vigina, what are you doing?" Seeing this, the figure’s complexion changed, quickly pressing the walkie-talkie on his chest.

One by one, figures rapidly emerged from the buildings behind him, pulling out weapons to stand off against the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Figures also protruded from the windows next to the buildings, pulling out weapons, aiming at Vigina below.

Faced with these Gauss Rifles, the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents behind Vigina glanced sideways at each other, showing visible hesitation.

"I told you to move!"

Vigina seemed not to notice the small gestures of the people behind her and coldly spoke again.

"Director Vigina, I warn you again," the figure on duty, watching Vigina, quickly said, "You are challenging the Federation Central, and taking one more step means we will open fire immediately."

"Do you really dare to shoot?" Vigina calmly looked at him, "Do you want to challenge the Federal Bureau of Investigation? To publicly assassinate a branch director? Can your boss handle it, can you handle it?"

Confronted with Vigina’s question, the duty figure hesitated visibly.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation hadn’t acted very ’strong’ in this event, but that didn’t mean the transcendent violent department spanning the Federation had really put away its monster.

Upon hearing Vigina’s words, the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents visibly became quieter, no longer hesitating, and stood off against those figures guarding the buildings.

However, Vigina, at this moment, standing before the mass of Gauss Rifles, didn’t really take another step forward, but calmly stood there.

The duty figure glanced at Vigina, hesitated slightly, and picked up the walkie-talkie on his chest again.

······

He Ao slipped in through the stairway window, glanced at the empty stairway. Outside, the shimmering lights from surveillance drones flickered faintly, rapidly approaching.

But He Ao’s footsteps didn’t pause, he quickly walked forward.

Most of the patrol personnel in this building had been attracted by Vigina, but the period Vigina could create opportunities for him was limited, so he needed to quickly find the target location.

"Infiltrating the local network..."

Eve’s voice echoed in his ears.

Soon, He Ao traversed the stairway, arrived at the stairwell entrance, and was about to enter the corridor.

Meanwhile, the light of the surveillance drone arrived at the stairwell entrance.

The air faintly buzzed with the sounds of the surveillance drone’s operation, increasingly close.

He Ao moved forward.

"Infiltration successful..."

"Decrypting the third-floor corridor surveillance drone..."

Just as He Ao stepped out of the stairway, Eve’s voice echoed in his ear,

"Decryption succeeded."

The floating drone appeared at the stairwell entrance, materializing before He Ao.

The drone was less than thirty centimeters away from He Ao, but the camera pivoted sideways, positioning He Ao in a blind spot, directly flying past him.

He Ao turned around, heading deep into the corridor.