Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 421 - 417: Counter-revealing Big News, Again Zhang San?

Chapter 421: Chapter 417: Counter-revealing Big News, Again Zhang San?

"In order to fully present the new evidence, we want to summon Mr. Zhang from the CSB Department to testify in court again!"

This statement had a familiar ring to it for many people.

In the audience, Xiao Baihe and Xia Qianyue exchanged glances.

Guo Wufeng and Zhao Chunming looked at each other and then felt a "thump" in their hearts.

This kid’s going to start again, isn’t he?

This time, it seems it’s your turn, Zhang Lang!

But that’s fine. You were never one of us to begin with,

After all, it’s not the Dongfang Capital Procuratorate Headquarters getting hit this time; it’s the higher-ups’ special department, and the prosecutors from Longdu we’re not familiar with!

It’s all the same to me as long as it’s not my downfall!

In the courtroom.

Zhao Xiaoxiao stood up and after giving up the witness stand, she made a playful face at Zhang Lang.

Heh, you’re in for it now!

"Mr. Zhang, what are you dazing for, come on up!"

Zhang Wei pointed to the witness stand, then glanced at Zhang Lang.

It’s your turn to sit there next.

Zhang Lang looked displeased.

He had already given his testimony, answered all questions, and now he had to stand in court again?

"Mr. Zhang, please cooperate, the court believes it won’t hurt for you to accommodate the defense."

Old Li urged him politely, but in his heart, he sneered.

I’ve been waiting for you to get up there. The moment you do, that kid will probably start firing away.

I must say, I’m looking forward to it...

As one of those who had experienced Zhang Wei’s firepower, Old Li felt he had some great drama to witness today.

Qin Yang didn’t object either. He calmly walked to the prosecutor’s seat and glanced at the computer screen in front of Tan Yingying.

Too bad, the USB drive hadn’t been connected to the computer yet; Tan Yingying was still waiting for Zhang Wei’s signal.

Zhang Lang, resigned, could only walk to the witness stand with a sullen face and take his seat.

With that, preparations were complete.

"Hello there, Mr. Zhang!"

Zhang Wei smiled broadly as he approached the witness stand and greeted Zhang Lang.

"Hmph, ask your questions!"

The latter clearly wasn’t happy, his brows filled with displeasure.

"Mr. Zhang, no need to rush, we have plenty of time to verify."

As Zhang Wei spoke, he gestured to Tan Yingying, who immediately understood and plugged the black USB drive into her laptop.

The data inside the USB drive seemed substantial and took time to load.

Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Wei began his questioning:

"Mr. Zhang, may I ask, what department did you work in before you joined the CSB Department as the head of operations?"

"What do you want to know that for?"

Zhang Lang was on guard against Zhang Wei’s questioning.

"Nothing much, just curious,"

Zhang Wei spread his hands, his face full of curiosity, "With the CSB Department having so much power, daring to arrest anyone, and even commanding the major case squad, I’m just wondering, did Mr. Zhang drop into this department out of nowhere?"

"Hmph, I’ve always been with the CSB Department!" Zhang Lang responded with a disdainful smile, his tone proud: "I started as an analyst in the Network Analysis Division of the department, then was promoted to team leader for my performance, then exceptionally transferred to the headquarters, taking over the action team leader, then the commanding team leader, and finally becoming the head of operations!"

"Impressive!" Zhang Wei applauded, but then asked, "Generally speaking, how many people can climb the ranks as quickly as you did?"

"Why are you asking about this?"

"Nothing in particular, just curious, Mr. Zhang. I remember you have experience studying abroad, right?"

"Correct, I have studied abroad for further education. Anyone who has seen my resume would know."

"Indeed, let me also be frank with you. I’ve looked at your resume and found that if you remove the overseas study experience, along with the time you’ve spent working in CSB Department and its subsidiaries, it all totals only 15 years."

Zhang Wei said, then gave an example, "Just like other comparable departments in the special operations, the heads and deputies all have nearly 30 years of work experience, while you have ascended to their ranks in half the time. That was quick."

"Heh..." Zhang Lang couldn’t even be bothered to respond.

What does the speed of my promotion have to do with you, Zhang Wei?

Just then, the USB drive’s data finally finished loading.

Tan Yingying raised her hand and gave Zhang Wei an "OK" gesture.

"Great, Xiao Tan, please open one of the files in the first row, the file name I remember contains a ’Zhang’ character."

"Zhang?" Zhang Lang’s eyes flickered.

Why were there items related to himself among the evidence?

Tan Yingying began to operate, and a folder appeared on the projection screen. Upon opening it, there were many photographs.

Then she clicked on one to enlarge it, and it turned out to be a photo of Zhang Lang and an unfamiliar man sitting on a park bench, each looking into the distance without interacting.

The next photo showed the two sitting in a café, again sitting at adjacent tables but without exchanging words.

There was also on a ferry, where the two sat in seats one behind the other, back to back.

In a breakfast diner, the two sat in adjacent seats, one eating breakfast, the other not.

"Mr. Zhang, let me ask you, who is this man, do you know him?"

"But it’s quite a coincidence, isn’t it? You’ve bumped into this gentleman almost every week for the past two months, the same time but different places, on buses, subways, and even any form of transportation. Isn’t that a bit too convenient?"

Zhang Lang also looked at these photos, frowning, "How is this possible, how could someone have photographed me?"

"Mr. Zhang, you haven’t forgotten that Dongfang Capital is full of surveillance cameras, have you? The whole city is equipped with the ’Skynet System.’ If the investigation department really wants to find someone, this is the power of the Skynet System."

As Zhang Wei explained, he pressed further, "Mr. Zhang, you surely wouldn’t hide from everyone here your relationship with this man? Oh, by the way, you just mentioned that you worked in the network analysis section under the CSB Department, and this man also had a long stint in the same department, didn’t he~"

By saying this, Zhang Wei was telling Zhang Lang, I have already found out the identity of this man.

If you don’t speak up, I will.

"Hmph, there’s nothing to hide. He was a capable subordinate when I was in the analysis group!"

"So, how come your capable subordinate didn’t rise through the ranks with you but instead resigned 11 years ago and started a small company?"

"To each their own, I can’t control what he wants to do."

"Then why, after 11 years of separation, have you been in frequent contact with him over these past few months?"

Zhang Wei pointed to the photos that showed coincidental but very regular meetings between the two, "I really can’t imagine why the second-in-command of a special department would need to meet with a representative of a small company every week."

"Oh, that’s right, Mr. Zhang, do you know what exactly your subordinate’s company does?"

"I don’t know!" Zhang Lang’s expression turned cold as he denied outrightly.

"Is that so, you don’t know?"

Zhang Wei said with a slight smile, "Then what if I told you that, although his company’s operations seem legitimate, he has actually rented a large number of network servers overseas and even set up many foreign community websites and internet chat rooms, enabling users from inside and outside the country to initiate one-on-one or group chats? Would you believe that?"

As these words were spoken, many people in the courtroom showed a look of astonishment.

What kind of company is this?

To allow people inside and outside the country to chat and socialize?

From the prosecutor’s side, Qin Yang was momentarily stunned, then turned to look at Cui Yibin on the witness stand.

The two began to exchange glances across the air.

"Is this chat room and overseas network organization mentioned by this fellow what I think it is?"

"I have no idea!"

"Are you sure you don’t know?"

"I really don’t know!"

Seeing Cui Yibin shake his head repeatedly, Qin Yang’s face started to look ugly.

Please, no!

He hoped it wasn’t what he thought; otherwise, it would be a disaster!

Similarly, Qin Yang wasn’t the only one who sensed something was amiss.

Even those in the listening seats, on the defense side, some knowledgeable people also felt that something was off.

Why would Zhang Lang, the second-in-command of the network security department, have a subordinate renting servers abroad and setting up various chat rooms and websites?

And with the two contacting each other so frequently over the recent months, what was the secret behind it all?

For a moment, countless gazes were fixed on the two in the center of the courtroom.

"Mr. Zhang, you haven’t answered my question yet. What’s the reason for you and your subordinate’s weekly meetings in the past two months?"

"Oh, right, let’s take the breakfast shop incident, for example. I’ll show you the surveillance video."

Zhang Wei gestured to Tan Yingying, and the projection screen immediately switched to a video.

Zhang Lang’s subordinate was the first to enter the breakfast shop, carrying a bag. Then Zhang Lang arrived, ate a bowl for breakfast, and left empty-handed.

The bag was left on the seat, and after sitting for a while, Zhang Lang picked up the bag and also left the breakfast shop.

Upon seeing this scene, Zhang Lang looked utterly astonished.

Impossible!

The places they chose for their transactions were all without nearby surveillance; they had checked.

What was going on? From what angle was this surveillance taken, and how could it capture their actions so clearly?

"Mr. Zhang, can you tell me what’s in the bag? Why are you so secretive about your transactions?" Zhang Wei immediately followed up with his question.

"How could I possibly tell you? The contents involve the secrets of our CSB Department!"

"Secrets, huh? I’m afraid they are things that should not see the light of day, right?"

"Hmph!"

Facing Zhang Wei’s questioning, Zhang Lang adopted a defiant attitude of non-cooperation.

Zhang Wei was not annoyed, instead, he signaled Tan Yingying once more.

The images on the projection screen were gone, replaced by many chat records.

"Mr. Zhang, have you seen these chat records? Many of them are from different online chat rooms. Since there are so many records, I asked our technicians to select a few important chat rooms."

"Please look at this one, it’s a chat room for some overseas organization discussing various illegal activities such as theft, larceny, smuggling, and the organization is named ’Shepherd’."

"And this one, it’s a chat room for some maritime smuggling group. They discuss customs smuggling, even piracy, and their organization is also called ’Pirate’."

"And this one..."

After showing several chat room records, Zhang Wei asked, "Mr. Zhang, you’re surely more than familiar with these organizations, aren’t you?"

Zhang Lang’s expression turned sour.

"Mr. Zhang, I recall that these organizations were all taken down by you, and you even arrested many of their illegal operatives within Dragon Country’s borders, which helped you establish quite a credit back then. I believe, with these achievements, you won over your superiors’ favor and it paved the way for your rapid promotion, didn’t it?"

"So what if it is?"

"But why were the chat room records of these organizations found on the overseas servers of your subordinate’s internet company?"

As Zhang Wei changed the tone of his questioning, the atmosphere in the courtroom turned eerie.

"This..." Zhang Lang’s gaze flickered.

There was a catch!

There was definitely a catch!

Anyone present who wasn’t a fool could sense that there was a definite problem with this case.

"Mr. Zhang, what if I told you that my clients, who had formed a temporary hacker alliance, also set up a chat room on an overseas server under the name of your subordinate’s company, would you be surprised?"

"This..." Zhang Lang didn’t know what to say; the question was difficult to answer.

"I asked my clients Zhu Erdan and Liu Dashun. They told me this chat room had some notoriety overseas—obviously not for anything reputable. It provided a secret community for illegal and shady dealings to be discussed online."

"But what they didn’t know is that the admin’s IP address for such a place was always within the country, even always in the outskirts of Dongfang Capital."

This time, Zhang Wei didn’t even need to speak; the photo on the projection screen automatically switched to an old residential building that was four or five stories high in the suburbs.

Not only that, there were several photos. Aside from the first one showing the full view of the residential building, the subsequent photos all depicted people coming and going at the entrance of the house.

"Look at this photo, Mr. Zhang, this person is your subordinate, right?"

Zhang Lang’s expression darkened; the person was indeed his subordinate and had been caught on camera.

"If I say that the administrator of the illegal overseas chat room is inside this building, or even that it’s your subordinate himself, would you be surprised?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lang’s expression changed.

Similarly, a variety of surprised murmurs arose from the audience.

"It’s actually him!"

On the prosecution’s side, Qin Yang, who had managed to maintain a composed expression, finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.

His fingers clenched tightly, his eyes widened, staring intently at Zhang Wei and Zhang Lang.

He had never imagined that Zhang Wei would be in possession of such explosive information.

Here I was, having identified a "fatal" key witness, yet you’ve completely blown his cover.

In terms of tactics, you’re indeed crueler than me.

No, damn it, you’re much crueler than me!

Yet Zhang Wei, who had just dropped such a bombshell, appeared very calm at that moment.

"Mr. Zhang, why don’t you speak? Why aren’t you answering my question?"

Could Zhang Lang answer?

Of course he couldn’t!

But Zhang Wei had anticipated this reaction; he smiled faintly, "Mr. Zhang, since you’re not answering, then I guess I’ll start telling the story~"

After brewing his emotions for a moment, Zhang Wei finally began his tale.

"Cough cough, once there was a rich young man named Zhang San. His family was influential and wealthy, capable of providing for his every need, enabling him to study abroad. And when he returned, they even secured him an opportunity to work in a special department."

"Zhang San joined the special department and initially performed well. Unfortunately, his overseas studies and family background didn’t help him much. He felt his promotion was too slow. To become the office boss or to be promoted as a department leader, it might take thirty or forty years, by which time he’d be close to retirement before he could sit at the helm of the department."

"Zhang San thought this was unacceptable and needed to speed up his ascent. For that, he came up with a strategy—meritorious service! Achieving merit was a sure-fire way to impress his superiors and to catch the attention of the higher-ups, aiding in his quick advancement."

"However, earning merit was too difficult because the special department he was in carried out challenging routine tasks, not to mention significant cases. The chances of catching utterly villainous criminals and achieving merit were slim indeed."

"But Zhang San had an idea. If catching bad guys was as hard as finding a needle in a haystack, what if he could gather them all in one place? Wouldn’t that mean he could cast a net in a focused area and catch a big fish more easily?"

"For this purpose, Zhang San conceived a plan. It’s the age of information technology now. Even illegal organizations or bad guys need to communicate with like-minded individuals, right? What if I could get my hands on the content of these people’s conversations? Wouldn’t that mean having all their criminal information and being able to catch everyone?"

"As soon as the idea came to him, Zhang San tasked his trusted subordinate Li Si with a mission to establish a dedicated overseas networking service community, providing information exchange services for those shady dealings."

"Li Si accepted the task and did just that. He provided chat rooms for foreign forces and offered network security for illegal transactions. Initially, the chat room ran very well, and its reputation grew."

"Zhang San and Li Si knew that to catch big fish, they needed to cast a long line. At first, they didn’t think about catching anyone immediately, but to use the chat room to attract more and more bad guys. Unexpectedly, their plan succeeded."

"Pirates, Shepherds, and even some more formidable illegal organizations ended up using their servers for communication, exchanges of confidential files, and information transactions. And all these files were monitored by Li Si, the architect of the site. He copied every bit of crucial information and stored it in a box, which he would hand over to his boss, Zhang San, at specific times."

"Armed with valuable data and information, Zhang San would lead his squad to catch these criminals as they entered Dragon Country or committed crimes in its vicinity. Each time, they would catch them red-handed."

"Thanks to this clever trick, Zhang San caught many people and made significant achievements. These feats allowed him to transfer out of his original department, rise to a larger one, and climb his way up to become the second in command of the department."

At this point, everyone instinctively looked toward Zhang Lang in the witness stand.

Are you the person Zhang Wei is talking about?

Is the Zhang San he refers to you?

Is Li Si your subordinate?

If so, then everything matches up!

Indifferent to what others thought, Zhang Wei continued in his ethereal voice, "However, there was a downside to this clever idea!"

"That is, they couldn’t catch too many people; otherwise, everyone would start suspecting the chat room, and then no one would use their service. Hence, the rhythm of the arrests had to be controlled."

"Similarly, when Zhang San wanted to earn merit, he needed to ensure there were people to catch, which posed another problem."

Having said that, Zhang Wei looked around, "Guess, what method did Zhang San come up with to solve these problems?"