Fang Lichang frowned and squatted down, picking up the newspaper. The string of conspicuous and massive headlines on the front page was instantly imprinted into his eyes:
— "The Black Industry Chain Under the Stars: 'In-Depth Investigation File on Organ Trading'"
Beneath the headline, the three large words "Wen Shilin" awakened some not-so-good memories of Fang Lichang.
"In this article, an organ trading record of the Stars Chamber of Commerce is similarly provided, and a massive amount of data files during the trading process is listed. It even includes actual photos of the individuals deprived of organs at the surgery scene... Following the names on the list, this author found several families of victims within Aurora City overnight, conducting in-depth exclusive interviews and case restorations with them, thoroughly digging out all the secrets of the organ trading."
The defense lawyer's voice rang out once again, "Yesterday afternoon, the author Wen Shilin already handed over all the gathered evidence to the Court of Judgment. After our careful verification, the authenticity of this list can be confirmed... On that list, there aren't any transaction records of the [Defendant]."
"Since this list on the article is the genuine one, then this so-called list in the hands of the accusing party, is naturally fabricated out of thin air for the sake of framing the [Defendant]."
Fang Lichang's hands holding the newspaper trembled slightly. His gaze swept over this article; there were indeed a massive amount of snippets of transaction records on it, though not completely. A portion was not displayed... But with the endorsement of the entire Court of Judgment, then the authenticity of this transaction record was already a nail in the board.
Fang Lichang naturally knew that this transaction record in his hands was fake, but he absolutely didn't expect that the real transaction record actually fell into the hands of a reporter. Moreover, the time this transaction record was exposed exactly jammed right before the court opened!
This timing was truly too much of a coincidence!
"A report? Whose report? Forging evidence to frame an Enforcer is a felony. The accusing party has the obligation to notify the provider of this evidence to conduct subsequent investigations." The defense lawyer closely pursued with questions.
Fang Lichang was left speechless.
This continuous string of interrogations and rhetorical questions made the minds and hearts of the District Three crowd at the side greatly delighted.
"That's right... this is what a proper defense lawyer looks like!" Xu Chongguo slapped his thigh, his expression extremely agitated. "I just said, fake things can't be real!"
"That defense lawyer from last time was too disgusting, don't know where the person went either... Fortunately it's not him this time."
"However this news author Wen Shilin, it sounds somewhat familiar..."
"Is it that reporter who sat here that day?"
"Seems to be, I have some impression!"
This sudden reversal caused bursts of whispering sounds to transmit from the spectator seats. Judge Gu Yuan glanced over here, knocking the gavel to signal Silence.
Chen Ling sat quietly in his seat, looking at Fang Lichang's expression like he had eaten a weight, smiling without speaking.
It seems, Wen Shilin's side still made it in time...
"Even if there are some errors in the accusation of organ trading, the other crimes still hold true!" Fang Lichang gritted his teeth and spoke. "The [Defendant]'s behavior of collecting protection fees in District Three is sufficient to prove that problems exist with his personal moral conduct. Otherwise, how could he join the Dusk Society and coordinate with [Six of Hearts] to trigger a virus attack in the city? Just these few points alone can firmly establish the [Defendant]'s crimes!"
"The witness Old Man Ding is also here, let him appear in court! He can prove it!"
Gu Yuan's brows furrowed slightly. But after a brief hesitation, he still chose to let Old Man Ding take the stage... After all, Fang Lichang as the accusing party took the initiative to propose letting the witness appear in court; this point he had no way of refusing.
"Bring him up."
[Audience Expectation Value +5]
Once this sentence came out, Chen Ling sitting in the spectator seats silently adjusted his sitting posture, looking below the judgment platform with full interest.
Under the gazes of the crowd, two Law Enforcers supported Old Man Ding, slowly moving in from outside the door. Old Man Ding's eyes were hollow, his face deadly pale. His two feet were like cotton without strength, and could only rely on the support of the Law Enforcers to barely advance.
Seeing this scene, Gu Yuan spoke in astonishment, "What is going on with the witness?"
"This..." Fang Lichang was also somewhat puzzled, and could only casually find a reason, "Perhaps he recalled the [Defendant]'s vile actions in District Three, and couldn't sleep all night these two days, so his body is somewhat weak..."
The defense lawyer silently rolled his eyes.
At the same time, fury also emerged on the faces of the District Three crowd in the spectator seats. They stared deadly at Old Man Ding being carried up, getting angry out of nowhere... Zhao Yi's hands placed on his knees even tightly clenched into fists, his knuckles pale due to excessive force.
"This dog thing, coming to make a fool of himself again..." Xu Chongguo cursed in a low voice.
Old Man Ding was carried to his own seat. His eyes were still listless. He stiffly and numbly looked around, as if he hadn't woken up from a dream.
"Witness Old Man Ding." Gu Yuan spoke in a deep voice. "Are you certain that during the [Defendant] Han Meng's tenure in District Three, he forcibly collected protection fees from residents, and had illicit relations with the Dusk Society using the identity of [Six of Spades]? Are you certain you want to bear the corresponding legal responsibilities for your testimony?"
This paragraph of Gu Yuan's words directly tied Old Man Ding's original testimony with baseless speculation, simultaneously encompassing the three important factors of "protection fees", "[Six of Spades]", and "Dusk Society". This was also the trap he set for Old Man Ding.
Once Old Man Ding ignorantly agreed, Gu Yuan would continue to interrogate him on how he knew all this, whether he had seen the scene of him having illicit relations with the Dusk Society, and throw out a large pile of detailed questions. As long as a mistake appeared in Old Man Ding's answers, the entire segment of testimony could be vetoed... And if Old Man Ding denied it, Gu Yuan could also use this to deny Fang Lichang's accusation, forcibly rejecting the accusation regarding Han Meng being a Dusk Society member with the reason of "insufficient evidence".
Fang Lichang was also an old slicker. He heard the danger within Gu Yuan's sentence, and his heart instantly became somewhat anxious. He looked at Old Man Ding's back, secretly praying in his heart that the answers wouldn't make mistakes...
Old Man Ding stood blankly there, acting as if he hadn't heard Gu Yuan's words, until he heard the three words [Six of Spades]. His body trembled slightly, his eyes starting to contract.
At the same time, Chen Ling in the spectator seats hooked his index finger. The massive [Spirit Serpent] entrenched on top of Old Man Ding's head instantly opened its giant mouth, entirely pouring back all the "terror" it had swallowed during this period back into Old Man Ding's body!
Whoosh——!!
The extreme terror Old Man Ding had accumulated for an entire night, at this moment was like a surging flood, sweeping everything away and shattering his state of mind.
He stood blankly there, his body trembling like being electrocuted. A surge of hot current flowed between his legs once again. His whole person collapsed onto the ground. In his peripheral vision he saw Fang Lichang with a confused expression behind him. Like seeing a ghost, he crazily crawled towards a direction far away from him!
"[Six of Spades]... [Six of Spades]!!!"
Under the confused gazes of the court crowd, Old Man Ding extended his trembling hand, pointing at that face of Fang Lichang that was feared until it was carved into his bone marrow, shouting in terror:
"Save me... Lord Judge save me!! This Fang Lichang... he is [Six of Spades]!! He is a monster!! A monster!!!!"
[Audience Expectation Value +3]
Fang Lichang's expression suddenly stiffened!!