Light Barrier - Chapter 10: Chief Justice

Wei Shu had never expected the case involving that seemingly ordinary young man named Gu Shen… would attract so much attention.

The bright hospital lights were dazzling.

The long corridor was silent, echoing with the neat sound of iron boots.

Wei Shu, who was not tall, had more than ten burly men behind him. All of them had cold faces, and their temperaments were as sharp as knives and as cold as iron. Beside him was the ‘chief justice’ in charge of the Penitentiary Bureau in Azure River District. Compared to the muscular men behind him, the chief judge was not tall. On the contrary, he was somewhat thin and hunched. Under his wide black hat, his face was as rugged as a mountain, and there was a terrifying centipede-like meandering scar on the bridge of his nose.

The chief justice was reading Wei Shu’s handwritten dossier while walking slowly.

Therefore, the burly men behind them all slowed their pace, moving as quietly as needles, their footsteps soft and gentle.

Wei Shu was so nervous that he could hear his own heartbeat. These people were only here to accompany the ‘interrogation’, and the subject was only a seventeen-year-old youth. But now, this formidable momentum seemed like they were going to attack a fortress. He didn’t doubt that with an order from the chief justice, these men could even blast through a ten-centimeter-thick steel plate!

“Interesting…” the chief justice muttered softly. Wei Shu noticed that the chief justice’s eyes didn’t linger on A-009’s file for too long but were fixed on the second file.

It was about the major fire that had happened twenty-eight hours ago.

This fire incident had a significant negative impact on Oto City… There was immense pressure from public opinion, and the government had yet to find a suitable explanation for the sudden fire and the simultaneous power and network failures.

But what stood out the most in the case file was Gu Shen.

The explosion originated from Gu Shen’s residence. He had been found unconscious, and judging from the situation at the scene… he was incredibly lucky to survive because an unreasonable rainfall had extinguished the fire.

But everyone knew that this was nonsense.

Wei Shu knew very well that this was a transcendental incident. Someone had launched an assassination attempt against Gu Shen. But the perpetrators were both dead. Two corpses had been found near the roof. One had been gruesomely cut into pieces, and the other had been devoured by raging flames, reduced to charred remains.

Wei Shu couldn’t fathom how this fortunate young man who had survived A-009’s attack could awaken such terrifying transcendental power… With his authority, he had only found a couple of similar cases comparable to this in Deep Sea’s ‘Deep Waters’ in the past thirty years.

He was an extremely dangerous existence.

Now that even the chief justice had been alarmed and chose to take action personally, this young man named Gu Shen… would likely have a tragic ending.

Wei Shu sighed. He didn’t know whether they were going to control and observe Gu Shen or simply detain him outright.

“We’re here,” Wei Shu said softly, feeling sorry for the young man.

…

The door was gently pushed open.

Contrary to Wei Shu’s expectations, the young man in the hospital room had already woken up. He was sitting on the bed and reading a paper newspaper. The window was slightly ajar, letting in a gentle breeze that rustled the daffodils by the bed.

The chief justice slowly walked into the hospital room with his hands behind his back. The interrogation team blocked the door. Just the mere presence of these towering shadows alone was enough to make people suffocate. But the young man only looked up slightly before shifting his gaze back to the newspaper.

The unexpectedly tranquil and peaceful atmosphere in the room made it difficult for people to disturb it.

The chief justice glanced at the window, his expression calm.

“Gu Shen, on behalf of the Oto City Penitentiary Bureau, I would like to inform you…” Wei Shu came to the bed and habitually spoke. “You are involved in two transcendental incidents and will face a rigorous interrogation… The Constitution requires me to—”

“The Constitution requires me to inform you of the following rights. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to appoint one person to accompany you throughout the interrogation process before facing judgment.” The young man raised his head and smoothly answered for Wei Shu. His face was still sickly pale, but his eyes were as clear as a lake as he smiled politely. “Long time no see, Mr. Wei Shu.”

Wei Shu was stunned.

The phrase ‘long time no see’ sounded ironic.

But it did give Wei Shu the illusion of a ‘long-lost reunion’.

It had been about thirty hours since they last met, but Gu Shen’s temperament was completely different. Wei Shu found it difficult to believe that the calm young man sitting on the hospital bed had been the same person who had been in shock and acting like a clown during the last interrogation.

This kid… Was he acting before?

After sending Gu Shen away, Wei Shu had always felt that there was something off with the record. For instance, according to Gu Shen’s description, during the time frame when the surveillance cameras malfunctioned, there was a standoff between him and A-009.

This was an A-009, an extremely destructive out-of-control individual. They had been in a standoff for twenty minutes. The carriage had not been damaged, but the surveillance camera had happened to fail… This was too unreasonable.

The only explanation…

This cunning young man had seen through the deception of the carriage’s missing surveillance footage from the very beginning and chose to hide his true experience in the carriage.

So… the clown wasn’t Gu Shen but himself.

“The person from the Adjudication Bureau just left.” The chief justice, who had been silent all this while, finally spoke.

“That old fellow must have taught you how to deal with the following interrogation…” He suddenly laughed. His voice was as mellow as a jar of aged wine, sounding very magnetic, making people instinctively have a good impression of him and relax their guard. “Right?”

“What are you talking about?” Gu Shen looked totally confused. His acting was so convincing that it was worthy of an Oscar. “I don’t understand.”

The chief justice smiled.

He raised his hand, and a few burly men filed in. “… Take him away.”

…

“Name.”

“Gu Shen.”

“Age.”

“Seventeen, with one month and one day left until my birthday.”

“Gender.”

“???”

A familiar opening.

But this time, Wei Shu knocked heavily on the table and said impatiently, “Behave yourself and tell me quickly!”

“Female… Do you believe me?” Gu Shen pointed at the hospital gown he was wearing with a displeased expression. “I was just in the hospital and lying in bed, but then I was brought here… Can you be a little more humane?”

“Gu Shen… This interrogation is very serious. You’d better cooperate.” Wei Shu lowered his voice and leaned over fiercely. “Do you know who that sir outside is? He’s the chief justice responsible for the entire Azure River District!”

Chief justice? Gu Shen shrugged, indicating that he didn’t understand and wasn’t intimidated.

“Regarding the fire that occurred twenty-eight hours ago…” Wei Shu moved back and asked coldly, “The ignition point was in your bedroom. How did you survive? Why were you on the roof at that time?”

“Mr. Wei Shu, I’m a survivor and a victim. It’s very hurtful for you to say that.” Gu Shen looked up innocently at the surveillance camera and said calmly, “As for why I appeared there… It was going to rain, so I went to the roof to bring in my clothes. Isn’t this reasonable?”

It was very unreasonable!

Who would go to the roof to bring in clothes at three to four in the morning?!

But Wei Shu couldn’t find a rebuttal… because it had really rained.

Knock, knock, knock.

After three light knocks, the door of the interrogation room opened. Seeing the chief justice, Wei Shu immediately stood up. He was about to say something when the chief justice patted his shoulder gently. “Wei Shu, I’ve finished reading the files. You’ve done well. You’ve worked hard these past few days.”

Wei Shu finally sighed and tactfully stood up to leave.

Thus, only Gu Shen and the chief justice were left in the interrogation room.

“Gu Shen, I’ve just finished reading the case files.” The old man sat down casually and placed the files on the table. He raised his hand, signaling to turn off the surveillance camera. The light of the camera in the corner of the room dimmed.

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

He knew what this meant… No third person would know the content of the following interrogation.

“Now, it’s just the two of us here. Relax.

“Let’s take advantage of the time that some annoying old fellow hasn’t arrived yet.” The chief justice raised his hands, placed them under his chin, and smiled. “Let’s have an honest chat, shall we?”