Han Meng gazed at that unfamiliar young face, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.
"Reporter..." Han Meng withdrew his gaze, speaking indifferently, "I don't remember agreeing to accept an interview. Moreover, this is the Black Prison holding Aurora City's felons, how did you get in?"
Chen Ling unhurriedly moved a chair out and sat down. He took out a fountain pen from his embrace,
"I have absolute Investigative Power. Although it's not as majestic as your absolute Enforcement Power, sometimes it's still very useful to use."
Han Meng was startled for a moment. "Do we know each other?"
"Just as said just now, we are meeting for the first time." Chen Ling glanced at him. "We only have five minutes. If you still want to wash away the framing on your body, please cooperate with my interview, and answer the questions truthfully."
"How do you know I was framed?" Han Meng asked in return.
Chen Ling's brow raised, chuckling lightly,
"A reporter's intuition?"
"Then, let's start from the first accusation." The tip of Chen Ling's fountain pen tapped on the yellowing paper pages, the black ink stain gradually smudging open. "During your tenure as the Commander-in-Chief of the Enforcers in District Three, did behaviors of collecting protection fees, and conducting illegal trades such as organs, drugs, and so on appear?"
"No." Han Meng rejected without the slightest hesitation.
"Okay, next question..."
Han Meng was startled for a moment. "Wait, the first accusation is finished being asked just like this? Doesn't it need more details to prove?"
"Before coming, I had already interviewed the District Three Survivors, so I have already understood the basic situation."
Hearing this, a wipe of complexity flashed in Han Meng's expression, and he nodded slightly.
"The second accusation, during your tenure in District Three, did you have contact with members of the Dusk Society?" Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly.
Han Meng was silent for a long time. "...Yes."
"When?"
"Before the aurora disappeared, District Three had experienced a Gray Realm Convergence. After I pursued and killed Calamities into the Gray World, I encountered a... Dusk Society member." Han Meng paused for a moment. "He invited me to enter the Dusk Society, but I refused."
"Was that Dusk Society member the [Six of Hearts] who drove the train intruding into Aurora City that day?"
"...Yes."
"Between the two of you, there was only this one intersection?"
"..." Han Meng slowly closed his eyes. "More than that. He was once my subordinate, and was also one of the three Enforcers of District Three... You should have seen his name in the newspapers."
"Heretic Chen Ling."
Hearing these four words, Han Meng opened his mouth wanting to say something, but in the end still didn't speak.
"What do you think was his purpose in mixing into the Enforcement System?"
"I don't know." Han Meng shook his head. "During his tenure in District Three, he didn't do anything detrimental to District Three. He even saved my life and the life of another Enforcer Xi Renjie, saving the entire District Three from the hands of the Calamities... except..."
"Except what?"
"Except, his public evaluation in the mouths of District Three residents didn't seem to be too good." Han Meng spoke with a strange expression. "They said, he was a demon who liked to eat human hearts."
"Loves to eat human hearts? This actually matches the Card Face of [Six of Hearts] very well."
"But he hasn't actually eaten human hearts, it was all Pig Hearts and Chicken Hearts... Because I felt that eating these would cause internal heat, I even gifted him a little jasmine tea."
"..."
"Listening to your meaning, this [Six of Hearts] seems very normal." Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly, his tone suddenly becoming stern. "Then can I understand it as, you are deliberately defending him?"
As soon as this sentence came out, the temperature of the prison cell instantly dropped, the atmosphere nearly congealing.
Han Meng's expression didn't have the slightest change, calmly speaking, "I am merely stating facts."
"There are no good people among Dusk Society members. This is the unified view of the many Realms towards it. Only you have constantly been defending [Six of Hearts]. If this isn't deliberate defending and whitewashing, what is it?" Chen Ling's gaze was sharp as a sword, seemingly wanting to thoroughly pierce through Han Meng.
Han Meng with a sunken face looked at him, not saying a word.
A moment later, Chen Ling's expression finally eased up a little,
"Mr. Han Meng, you should rejoice that the one who came to interview you today is me... Before coming, through the statements of the District Three Survivors, I already had a pretty good impression of you.
But if it was changed to any other reporter, hearing your words just now, they would without a doubt group you together with the thugs of the Dusk Society... By that time, even if what you said were facts, it would only push you into the abyss...
In this world order, honesty is not a good moral character. If someone asks in the courtroom, only by clearing your relations with Dusk Society members is it the most beneficial for you.
You should understand my meaning."
This paragraph of words was one of the important reasons why Chen Ling came to interview Han Meng... If he wanted to help Han Meng turn the tables against the wind, first he must thoroughly draw a clear boundary with himself. Otherwise, once public opinion fermented, even if the crimes on his body were washed clean, he would still bear the public's accusations and questionings.
"Many thanks for the concern." Han Meng answered neither salty nor bland.
"Next accusation..."
Chen Ling subsequently asked two or three more questions, all regarding the prosecutor's accusations against him that day. But before he could complete the recording, a creaking sound rang out from behind.
The prison cell was opened by Enforcers draped in black windbreakers. They pointed at the time, coldly speaking:
"The interview time is over... Reporter Lin, please?"
Seeing this, Chen Ling could only put away the Notebook, slowly standing up from the chair, turning around and walking outwards.
"Mr. Lin Yan." Han Meng suddenly spoke.
Chen Ling's figure paused, looking back amidst the radiance of the purple torches.
"The time for the court opening is about to arrive." Han Meng gazed at him. "Your article, will you make it in time to finish writing and publish it?"
Chen Ling raised his fingertips and pushed the half-frame glasses, faintly answering:
"I'll make it in time."
Finishing speaking, he turned around and disappeared at the end of the corridor...
Within the dim prison cell, Han Meng watched that gradually departing back. His eyes narrowed slightly, not knowing what he was thinking about.
Under the guidance of numerous Enforcers, Chen Ling passed through security checks all the way, finally retreating completely unscathed from the Black Prison, standing under the sunlight once again.
Aurora City's cold wind brushed past the hem of the brown overcoat. Chen Ling stood alone by the street side, taking off the half-frame glasses and putting them away... Subsequently, he took out a stack of news drafts from his embrace. Casually sweeping a glance over them, he walked straight towards the direction of the newspaper office.
From the opening of Han Meng's final verdict court session, there were only a scant few hours left. But he could nevertheless be certain that everything would make it in time...
Because before conducting this interview,
the article, was already written well.