Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 418 - 414: Zhu Erdan Testifies, You Scheme For Money and Commit Murder!

Chapter 418: Chapter 414: Zhu Erdan Testifies, You Scheme For Money and Commit Murder!

On the witness stand, Zhu Erdan prepared to answer questions.

"Hello, witness."

"Hello, Lawyer Zhang."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Zhang Wei began to ask questions.

"Witness, I heard you’re a hacker, nicknamed PigMan, code-named ’Zhuzhu Xia,’ is that correct?"

Zhu Erdan’s eyes darted around as he looked left and right, then he nodded solemnly: "Yes."

"Hmm, then, are you familiar with another hacker, TheGhost, also known as Ghost?"

"Not familiar, in fact, we always communicated in chat rooms, we’ve never met offline."

Zhu Erdan hastily denied, then glanced at Zhao Xiaoxiao, who was seated in the defense area.

This was indeed the truth; before that night, they had all interacted online only.

He didn’t even know whether Ghost was male or female.

"You’ve never met in person?"

Knowing the answer already, Zhang Wei asked, "So you’re saying that you really have no idea if Ghost is male or female, young or old, from Dragon Country or a foreigner?"

"Yes."

"That night, when Zhao Xiaoxiao appeared, did she admit in person that she was Ghost?"

Zhu Erdan feigned an effort to recall, and then hesitantly shook his head: "Seems like, no..."

"So, was it the case that you all assumed she was Ghost throughout the entire event?"

"Seems like, indeed..." Zhu Erdan appeared to remember something and nodded.

"How did you all come to that guess?"

"It was Liu Xiaotao who started guessing!"

Zhu Erdan glanced at the prosecution area, recalling, "At that time, they first guessed that I was Zhuzhu Xia, then guessed that Liu Dashun’s identity was Keyboard. After that, they used the process of elimination to guess other people’s identities, we even initially thought Lawyer Zhang was Ghost..."

"Thinking I was Ghost likely means you truly didn’t know Ghost, right?"

"Yes."

"Witness, let me ask you a simple question, how old do you think Zhao Xiaoxiao is?"

"Probably around 20 years old, if I didn’t already have someone I liked, maybe I could have fallen for such a cute girl..."

Hearing Zhu Erdan’s response, Zhang Wei nodded with satisfaction.

However, Zhao Xiaoxiao on the defense bench showed a face full of disdain, looking at Zhu Erdan with contempt.

You have someone you like, what kind of person is that?

It’s clearly just an anime character!

Four steamed goose hearts~

"Then let me ask, do you think a girl of this age could have some vanity?"

"Vanity?"

Zhu Erdan was momentarily surprised, then guessed, "She probably does..."

Zhang Wei was very pleased with the answer and smiled slightly, "Then, isn’t there a possibility that Zhao Xiaoxiao isn’t actually Ghost, but she got wind of the planned gathering from somewhere."

"Or perhaps, Ghost informed her through some channel to attend the hacker gathering in her place, allowing her to be mistaken for Ghost by others."

"You could also imagine, an initially somewhat rebellious young girl, suddenly able to become a big figure in the hacker world – such a transformation isn’t common. How could a young girl resist such a temptation?"

Having said this, Zhang Wei turned his head to look at Zhao Xiaoxiao, then continued, "In fact, what she didn’t know was, people can be sinister. Ghost having her attend the gathering wasn’t well-intentioned, but rather to use her as a stand-in for herself!"

"Even, Ghost knew she might be targeted by the CSB Department, so she deliberately found someone to distract the CSB Department, letting them think they had caught Ghost, while the real Ghost remained at large, and whether she is even in Dragon Country at all is a question!"

"Objection!"

Zhang Wei’s defense finally made Qin Yang unbearably interrupt by standing up.

Yet, Zhang Wei just sneered and loudly retorted, "Objection overruled because the digital forensics conducted by the CSB Department over the weekend is evidence!"

"Digital forensics can prove that my client Zhao Xiaoxiao’s computer was indeed hacked, and the hacker could very likely be the real Ghost, which proves that she was impersonating Ghost."

"And a young girl, suddenly one day becoming the infamous Ghost in the hacker community, couldn’t resist the temptation and chose to go to the meeting in place of Ghost – that’s not impossible, is it?"

Zhang Wei’s words were continuously refuted.

Judge Li..." Qin Yang had no choice but to look towards the bench.

But after deliberation, Old Li shook his head at the two, "Objection overruled, the defense attorney is correct, this is indeed a reasonable doubt."

"However, whether an objection is valid is for this court to announce, and I will not accept any speaking out of turn!"

"Sorry, Judge Li, I got too carried away."

Zhang Wei hurriedly apologized, but once he finished, he approached the witness stand again.

"Witness, although I got quite agitated just now, don’t you also think that there’s this possibility?"

"TheGhost should be a prominent figure amongst hackers, a naive little girl suddenly gets the chance to become TheGhost, is it possible for her vanity to make her unable to resist the real Ghost’s temptation and choose to become an impostor for TheGhost?"

Zhu Erdan thought for a moment and nodded seriously, "I think that’s highly likely!"

On hearing this, many people in the jury box and the audience nodded in agreement.

A little girl, driven by her vanity, indeed could claim that she is TheGhost.

The critical part is, the real TheGhost probably enjoys having someone be their stand-in.

The courtroom’s sentiment began to change...

"Good grief, actually using this kind of tactic. And the jury is really being swayed by such a simplistic reason..."

From the prosecution’s bench, although Qin Yang was refuted by Zhang Wei, there was not a trace of irritation on his face; he could still analyze Zhang Wei’s strategy.

Even now, as the courtroom’s sentiment shifted away from the prosecution, he didn’t show any concern.

However, Zhang Lang next to him was not so composed.

"Senior Procuratorate Qin, think of something quickly. If things continue this way, TheGhost might be acquitted!"

"Mr. Zhang, keep cool, it’s not that we have no chance. Right now, it’s the turn for the defense witness to speak, my cross-examination hasn’t started yet."

Zhang Lang, upon hearing Qin Yang’s response, looked annoyed, but didn’t lash out.

"Then I hope, Senior Procuratorate Qin, that you can help us regain the disadvantage during cross-examination later, otherwise, if you fail, you would shame your nickname ’Baisheng General’!"

Discontent, venting, and even the tone of his voice carried a hint of sarcasm and threat!

Zhang Lang was clearly displeased with Qin Yang’s composure and even thought the latter wasn’t taking the trial seriously enough.

Qin Yang just snorted softly, thinking to himself, "Hmph, I’m not your subordinate, to have to put up with your sarcasm?"

Qin Yang and Zhang Lang, they seemed to have mutual disdain for each other.

And in the courtroom, Zhang Wei caught a glimpse of this discord from the corner of his eye.

"Oh, infighting?"

He glanced at the two and realized that although they were in a state of ’mutual disdain’, it hadn’t escalated to actual infighting yet.

After taking note of this, he looked towards Zhu Erdan.

"Thank you for your testimony. The defense has no further questions for this witness."

Zhang Wei concluded his questioning and Judge Li timely looked towards the prosecution bench.

The prosecution and defense switched places.

Qin Yang stood up and walked step by step to the witness stand.

Zhu Erdan, seeing Qin Yang approach, subconsciously swallowed his saliva, feeling somewhat nervous inside.

"Witness, since you’ve admitted to being the hacker PigMan, do you also admit that you’ve been carrying out hacker activities in secret since last March, attacking Yuanfeng’s corporate security networks and stealing core data?"

Zhu Erdan looked at Zhang Wei, who nodded and then shook his head.

"I admit that I am PigMan and that I carried out the attacks on Yuanfeng Series, but I have never seen those network security data, nor have I seen any core customer information, order information, and so on."

"Oh, is this an admission, or is it not?"

"I admit to my identity, but I deny having committed treason!"

Zhu Erdan said, and glanced at Zhang Wei again, then added after seeing the latter nod, "I believe the crime I committed is a general cybersecurity offense, certainly not rising to the level of espionage."

"The CSB Department claims we stole confidential information and then sold it to foreign forces, but we never handled this information, and that alleged deal is completely unfounded."

Seeing Zhu Erdan answer this way, Qin Yang’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

This timid fat man could actually speak so much in court, even when facing him.

Moreover, his answers were coherent, he acknowledged committing cybersecurity crimes but refused to admit to espionage and similarly denied with determination the sale of confidential information.

This is definitely not something a coward could do; this whole line of argument is clearly taught by someone else.

"Zhang Wei!"

Qin Yang’s mind flashed with this name, and he had to admit that Zhang Wei’s abilities were indeed higher than he had expected.

However...

"A coward, no matter how calm he pretends to be, doesn’t suddenly grow a spine!"

Qin Yang looked at Zhu Erdan, sneering inwardly.

"Witness, let’s not talk about TheGhost for now. Let’s focus on you, shall we?"

"Me?" Zhu Erdan pointed at himself, what’s there to talk about me?

"Yes, you!"

Qin Yang said, his expression becoming stern, "You just said that the worst crime you committed was a general cybersecurity offence, but I beg to differ."

"I think, apart from invading others’ network information, you also assisted others in threatening, intimidating, and even harming innocent people, and in the worst case, it even includes plotting for wealth and causing death, leading to someone’s demise!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole court was astounded.

Plotting for wealth and causing death, leading to someone’s demise—what kind of crimes are these?

Qin Yang turned around and gestured to Tan Yingying.

She immediately switched the content displayed on the projection screen.

The original evidence about Zhao Xiaoxiao and the current case disappeared, replaced by some news reports and several photos of female internet celebrities.

"Witness, you admit that you are the hacker Zhuzhu Xia, do you also acknowledge that you’ve illegally collected these girls’ identity addresses and even their family’s private information?"

Zhu Erdan, looking at the familiar photos on the screen, his face showed a shock.

He looked towards the defense counsel’s table and saw Zhang Wei nodding seriously.

"I, I have seen..."

"What’s wrong, why don’t you admit it loudly? Are you feeling guilty as a thief?"

Qin Yang scoffed, raising his hand to point at one of the photos.

"This female internet celebrity is known as ’Fairy QiQi,’ a beauty streamer on a certain live streaming platform, boasting over 500,000 followers. You stealthily stole her live streaming IP address and even located her rental apartment, which led to her being harassed by fans during the subsequent months of streaming. She developed depression due to this, living under mental stress, nearly had a mental breakdown, let alone continuing her livelihood through streaming, she almost took her own life!"

"Then there’s ’Milk Tea Sister,’ another internet celebrity who’s an explore store streamer. She accidentally became famous during a live stream in a milk tea shop, hence the ’nickname,’ and her fans across the internet add up to 2 million. Again, it was you, Zhu Erdan. Using your hacking skills, you not only stole her personal information but also hacked her phone, exposing a large amount of her private photos, which led to her being unable to continue live streaming and frequently harassed by offensive messages and calls. To this day, ’Milk Tea Sister’ dares not go to crowded places. Diagnosed by a doctor with acute stress disorder, and all this happened because of you!"

"Next, there’s the internet celebrity ’Xue Li,’ who once got a lot of attention because of her relationship with a known wealthy second-generation. After breaking up, she began her career in live streaming. But again, you, Zhu Erdan, hacked her phone and computer, disclosing all her personal and company information publicly, and even exposed her compromising private photos with other men all over the internet, leading to an unscrupulous torrent of verbal abuse from the netizens, causing her mental instability, and eventually leading her to jump from a building, self-mutilating."

As he spoke, Qin Yang’s face grew dark, "Unfortunately, earlier this year, this internet celebrity Xue Li didn’t survive a new wave of cyberbullying and chose to end her life."

The projection screen displayed pages of related news reports.

"Ex-wife of xx, unable to bear the humiliation, chooses to leap to her death"

"Shocking, the last straw that led to someone’s death was actually just a word from a netizen"

"Zhu Erdan, if it weren’t for you, I believe she wouldn’t have died, right?"

Qin Yang spoke, looking towards the witness stand.

"This..."

At this point, Zhu Erdan no longer dared to lift his head.

As Zhu Erdan was caught in the questioning and dared not refute, the gazes from around the room looking at him also turned particularly hostile.

On the projection screen, how many girls had been victims of his cruelty?

Although Zhu Erdan did not do anything to these girls himself, he indeed played a pivotal role in exacerbating the situation with his assistance, and he was the key player.

If it weren’t for his hacking skills stealing the information of these girls, would they have needed to suffer from fan harassment, or bear the curses of haters?

No!

The internet provided security, yet this sense of security was shattered by Zhu Erdan.

Even worse, one of these girls lost her life because of it.

Guilty!

You, young man, are guilty!

At this moment, not only the 12 jurors but also many people in the audience looked at Zhu Erdan with hostility.

The most crucial thing was that the hostility was bare and undisguised!

Clearly, they all loathed what Zhu Erdan had done to the extreme.

And Qin Yang, he naturally noticed the jury’s disdain and decided to exploit it.

"Zhu Erdan, you yourself are a person guilty of heinous crimes, and now you testify that the defendant Zhao Xiaoxiao is not TheGhost, do you think we can believe you?"

"There were a total of five people at the party, you, Zhao Xiaoxiao and Lawyer Zhang, Liu Xiaotao and Liu Dashun. Excluding Lawyer Zhang, both of your side deny that Zhao Xiaoxiao is TheGhost, but both people on our side point out that TheGhost is Zhao Xiaoxiao."

"50% chance, TheGhost is Zhao Xiaoxiao, and Zhao Xiaoxiao is TheGhost?"

As Qin Yang spoke, he looked towards the jury, "But I believe that Zhu Erdan’s testimony is completely untrustworthy; he stubbornly denies it, naturally because the defense lawyer has promised him benefits to stick to his denial."

"Please think carefully, members of the jury, why would a witness for the defense turn against them if not because Liu Dashun saw through the true face of the defense and chose to abandon the darkness for the light?"

"Objection!"

As Qin Yang continued to speak despite Zhang Wei’s objection, he quickly stood up to interrupt.

A cold smile appeared on Qin Yang’s lips, but his tone suddenly grew heavier: "Zhu Erdan’s crimes are already tremendously vile, but compared to him, TheGhost possesses even more formidable skills. Wouldn’t TheGhost pose an even greater destructive force?"

"Moreover, our prosecution’s tainted witnesses have already proven that the defendant Zhao Xiaoxiao is TheGhost, yet they continue to vehemently deny it. They think their false testimonies can deceive the members of the jury. Please, you must open your eyes and not let the real culprit get away scot-free..."

"Senior Procuratorate Qin!"

Just as Qin Yang dismissed Zhang Wei’s objection and continued speaking, Old Li finally couldn’t take it anymore.

"Senior Procuratorate Qin, aren’t you being too presumptuous!" Old Li banged the gavel in court and sternly inquired: "Are you trying to use your baseless conjectures to influence the fairness and impartiality of the jury?"

"This court announces the revocation of your cross-examination rights regarding this witness. Now sit back down and reflect on your behavior!"

"Sorry, Judge Li, because of the witness’s crimes, I got a bit carried away. I apologize." Qin Yang said, admitting his fault with a smile.

"Hmm!"

But his words made Old Li’s expression turn cold once again.

You just don’t know when to stop, do you!

Qin Yang, however, knew when to fold and immediately returned to the prosecutor’s seat.

His final statement just now had a significant effect.

The jury, originally leaning towards the defense, now all leaned towards the prosecution because of their hostility towards Zhu Erdan.

If the verdict were to be given now, he could guarantee that about 11 out of 12 people would vote guilty.

The advantage is now mine!

Qin Yang quickly made his judgment.

"Next, you only have one chance left!"

Qin Yang looked at Zhang Wei and Zhao Xiaoxiao, "And I have prepared the final trump card!"

Elsewhere.

Zhu Erdan also left the witness stand.

But his complexion was terrible, and Zhao Xiaoxiao looked at him with full disdain.

"Useless fellow!"

She couldn’t help but mutter quietly while sitting down.

"Xiao Xiao, the jury is extremely unfavorable to us now, it looks like we have to let you testify in court yourself. Are you confident?"

After glancing at the jury, Zhang Wei leaned in and whispered to his protege.

"Don’t worry, leave it to me!"

Seeing his protege pat her chest confidently, Zhang Wei felt somewhat uneasy inside because patting doesn’t make it sound.

At this point, Zhu Erdan had been discredited, eliciting hostility from the jury.

Although he had anticipated this, he did not expect the backlash to be this strong.

Thus, they had to let Zhao Xiaoxiao take the stand.

And Zhang Wei, in fact, did not want Zhao Xiaoxiao to take the witness stand at all, for it was far too dangerous.

Zhao Xiaoxiao would definitely not withstand the grilling of an experienced prosecutor like Qin Yang.

This gamble was looking a bit risky!