Life Game In Other World
Chapter 472: ’Visiting’ the Senator (Long - for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 472: Chapter 472: ’Visiting’ the Senator (Long Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

1:32 PM.

Nock put down his wristband, stepped out of the small coffee shop, and looked up at the shop’s sign.

The dilapidated sign was on the verge of collapsing.

He activated his wristband and glanced at his location on the map.

Although the coffee shop was old and run-down, it could still be found on the mapping software.

He breathed a sigh of relief and looked around.

The coffee shop was located on an old and broken-down street, surrounded by hustle and bustle of pedestrians.

The houses here had far exceeded their design life, but most of the residents were tenants who didn’t have the money to hire a construction company to renovate their homes, so they had to make do.

The houses, although broken, were still better than being homeless on the streets.

Exposed electrical wires, mottled walls, muddy children weaving through the crowd, residents in old clothes jostling their way on the street, shops and stalls crowded along the sidewalk, and only one neon light still shining with its single bulb.

This was the typical appearance of most places in the North District.

The people living here had a better life than those living in tents, commuting one or two hours each day on public transportation to work in the most magnificent office buildings on Nuclear Street and then returning to these old, broken-down buildings in the North District after nightfall.

The only difference between those living in old buildings and those living in tents might just be that their meager wages could afford the cheap rent of the old buildings, and their scant savings could barely cover a month’s deposit on the housing.

Of course, they only ’rented’ here; the houses did not belong to them.

The ownership of most of these old houses belonged to some large conglomerates or some local ’bosses.’ The owners of the old buildings did not reside in these structures that could collapse at any moment.

He Ao looked up at Nock, who was looking around at the door, and pressed down on his bowler hat.

The streets between the old buildings were old and filthy, crammed with all sorts of people—an ideal place for ’contacts’ and ’meetings.’

Choosing this place, Nock did show a certain level of professionalism.

However, his careless behavior of looking around diminished his professionalism.

He Ao moved through the crowd like a fish swimming through the sea, quickly reaching the front of the coffee shop.

By this time, Nock seemed to have finished observing and was preparing to return to the coffee shop.

He Ao reached out and grabbed his shoulder, "Long time no see."

Nock was startled, his hand subconsciously reaching for his waist, but he quickly came to his senses and echoed with a forced smile, "Yeah, long time no see. What have you been up to lately?"

"Jobless, looking for work everywhere."

He Ao sighed, released Nock’s shoulder, and slightly lifted his gaze forward.

"Things are tough everywhere..."

Nock understood what He Ao meant; as they talked, they walked side by side toward the end of the street.

...

"You aren’t ’Zadi’?"

Inside the dark alley, Nock looked up at He Ao. The lawyer’s materials naturally included a photo of Zadi.

"These times are uncertain; an extra layer of security is an extra layer of peace," He Ao replied.

This is the explanation for why a ’fictitious name’ was used.

Nock nodded slightly, agreeing that it was reasonable to use a pseudonym instead of a real name.

This actually also aligned with his own expectations. After reviewing Zadi’s profile, he was well aware that Zadi couldn’t by any means be considered a ’good person’.

Although everyone in this world is complex, and it’s normal for a bad person to report another bad person, he still hoped that the person who courageously stepped forward to unveil the mask of Stars Pharma was not that bad.

So when He Ao appeared before him, he even felt a faint sense of relief in his heart.

He Ao lit a cigarette, holding it in his mouth, the sporadic glow of the flame flickering in the moist and shadowy alley, "I originally thought you’d bring a bunch of ’friends’ to surround the area."

"But you came anyway."

Nock watched He Ao with a smile.

Knowing there was danger, but still coming, that was the kind of trust he was willing to believe in.

He Ao looked up at the young man. He did not respond to the comment, but instead removed the cigarette from his mouth, "You’re an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, can you do me a favor?"

——

Number 16 Anuer Street

Nock stared dumbfounded at the iron gate before him, his gaze traveling through the lush garden behind it, barely making out the six-story standalone villa nestled within.

He had imagined what life might be like for those with power, dreaming that they lived in beautiful penthouses in the city center, overlooking the entire city.

But he had never imagined that, while in the North District, a dozen residents were crammed into a bird-cage-sized two-bedroom, in this city where every square inch was worth its weight in gold, someone had built a palatial standalone villa surrounded by a seemingly boundless garden.

This was beyond his imagination.

"Hello, may I ask who you are?"

At that moment, an elderly man, who looked like a butler in his neat suit, slowly approached them on a self-balancing scooter and stopped behind the iron gate, facing them.

"Hello, Federal Bureau of Investigation," Nock took a deep breath, suppressing the surprise in his heart, and showed his credentials, "We have some questions regarding a recent case we’re investigating, and would like to speak to Mr. Janos."

"Please wait."

The elderly butler took out a walkie-talkie, turned around, seemingly communicating with someone inside the villa.

After a short while, he turned back and said softly, "Alright, the master will see you now."

He stepped back, and the intricately carved iron gate slowly opened.

The grass on either side of the path stretched into the depths of the garden, leading to the villa that now lay fully in view at the far end.

He Ao, standing behind Nock, looked up at the standalone villa that leaned against the Steel Jungle.

The blazing sun was masked by towering buildings, and clouds spread from behind the opulent villa, slowly encroaching upon the land illuminated by the light.

"It’s getting cloudy, looks like rain."

Nock glanced up at the sky and then turned back to He Ao, "It seems we did not bring umbrellas."

"There’s always a time when the rain stops and the sky clears."

He Ao smiled and adjusted the hat on his head.

The butler smiled and waved his hand; two self-balancing scooters approached and stopped in front of He Ao and Nock.

He Ao and Nock stepped onto the scooters, following the elderly butler into the depths.

Throughout the entire process, Nock tried his best to remain calm, but he couldn’t help glancing around at the exotic flowers and plants.

He Ao followed his gaze, taking in the surroundings.

Many of the flora in this garden were clearly taken from the wilderness, some of which were low-tier transcendent plants in their own right.

Simply the exotic flowers and plants they could see in this area of the North District could be traded for more than one old building.

Above the lawn, there were professional gardener robots tending to these flowers, and He Ao also saw people who seemed to be scholars, wearing glasses and work clothes, studying the plants.

As Nock looked left and right at these beautiful plants, he didn’t recognize these expensive species, but he could vaguely guess that they weren’t cheap, based on the delicacy and rarity of the plants.

The automatic balancing vehicles moved fast, and the three of them quickly passed over man-made rolling hills, following a beautifully winding path to the villa entrance.

Upon reaching the villa entrance, the elderly butler bowed and bade He Ao and his companion farewell, as a young and handsome envoy emerged from behind the villa to continue guiding them inside.

"You are really lucky. The master is rarely home, usually in Ains or giving lectures somewhere. Today just happens to be his day off,"

the young servant spoke with an unmatched pride, "You may not know, but the senators of the Federal Assembly must stay in Ains City for at least three days each week, generally from Tuesday to Thursday. Besides those days, there are various affairs to attend to, so our master only has the third Saturday of the month to rest."

He came to a stop in front of an office door embellished with a lavish coat of arms, lowering his voice, "Today is just that third Saturday, though even on this day, the master will take some time to work."

Then he straightened up, took a deep breath, and knocked on the office door softly.

"Come in."

A short, powerful voice came from behind the door.

The envoy slowly opened the door and gestured for He Ao and his companion to enter.

The two nodded their thanks to him, then walked into the office.

Contrary to the ornate decorations at the entrance, the interior decor of the office was relatively simple.

A wool carpet that seemed to come directly from the western part of the Federation, handwoven and sprawling across most of the office.

Several sofas upholstered in soft leather and bearing the luxury brand ’Danilos’ insignia were arranged around the carpet.

Behind the sofas, the office cleverly carved out another space, furnished with a minimalist solid wood desk, and behind the desk was an entire wall of books.

The office’s lighting was provided by two different windows, one next to the sofa and the other next to the desk.

At the moment, a tall man with an elegant demeanor was standing in front of the window by the desk, quietly observing the scenery outside.

"As I’ve grown older, my energy isn’t what it used to be. After working for a while, I need to rest and enjoy the view outside the window,"

the man turned around, smiling at He Ao and his companion. He stood tall, wearing thick glasses, and looked more like a scholar than a politician.

"Mr. Janos, you..."

Seeing the man’s appearance, Nock was somewhat surprised.

"Doesn’t seem fitting, does it?" Janos said with a smile, "I’m severely nearsighted and usually wear contact lenses on shows. The makeup, too, is crafted by a specialist designer to make me appear more energetic."

He walked straight over and sat down on the sofa, gesturing for He Ao and his companion to sit as well, "I can’t think of any case that would involve me."

Since entering the office, He Ao’s gaze had not left Janos’s figure.

He activated both Super Memory and Divine Sense, monitoring Janos’s movements.

But the feedback from both told him that Janos was just an ordinary person; even Divine Sense didn’t detect any noticeable energy fluctuations on Janos, making him appear like an ordinary person.

Even someone like Reid, who had concealed his energy core, would at least have a trace of energy leakage.

It seemed that this "Senator" was, after all, just an ordinary person.

"It’s like this, last night a research institute under Stars Pharma caught fire, and we are tracking a person named ’Zadi,’ who is highly relevant to the case. At present, we have some information showing that you have had contact with this Zadi..."

Nock sat on the sofa, not realizing that the control of the conversation had already shifted to Janos; he, as an inquirer, was instead being questioned.

"I don’t remember."

Janos slightly furrowed his brows, as if searching his memory for someone related to the name ’Zadi,’ but eventually, he shook his head, indicating that he truly didn’t recognize the person Zadi.

"Ah, that’s okay," Nock quickly said, "we just have a few questions, it won’t take long."

"Please go ahead."

Janos spread his hands with a smile.

In fact, the reason for this inquiry was nothing more than a pretext.

Based on the data He Ao had collected so far, there had been no contact between Zadi and Janos.

However, this kind of tactic of using false reasons to extract true intelligence was permissible under the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s code of conduct, though using such methods had a high probability of provoking complaints and punishment.

"Can you tell me where you were from 1 to 3 p.m. on September 15th... please rest assured, our inquiry is strictly confidential."

Nock asked softly.

At the same time, he activated his bracelet, opening a recording software exclusive to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and spent some time setting the parameters before raising his head to look at Janos.

"There’s nothing to keep secret, I was in Ains City that day, discussing a bill in the assembly. All the senators present can testify for me."

Janos didn’t answer right away but waited with a smile for Nock to finish setting up before he slowly responded.

"Alright, may I ask..."

Nock asked two more simple questions, then he turned his head to look at He Ao.

Following the plan agreed upon with He Ao beforehand, he was responsible for bringing He Ao in under the guise of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and would ask some simple questions to start the dialogue. It was then He Ao’s turn to ask questions.

Although he didn’t know why He Ao wanted to see the senator, he had still promised He Ao.

But at that moment, it suddenly occurred to him that He Ao might lack experience in questioning people, and since He Ao didn’t have the FBI’s proprietary note-taking software, he might blow their cover.

It was then that he realized they appeared entirely unprepared, having come here so rashly, which seemed a bit too reckless.

He wanted to warn He Ao, but this wasn’t the right place to speak.

A surge of nervousness quickly overtook him, and he watched He Ao, trying to alert him with his eyes.

Then he saw He Ao raise his bracelet, naturally opening a software that looked extremely similar to the FBI’s recording software, and quickly set all the parameters.

At that moment, Nock suddenly felt that He Ao seemed more like an FBI agent than he did, and he even thought that He Ao must have worked at the FBI for a long time.

For a brief moment, he even began to wonder if He Ao was a bigwig from ’upstairs’ sent to ’fish’ for information.

He Ao was unaware of the myriad thoughts running through Nock’s mind. He looked at the mock recording software made by Eve, and memories of Ande slowly began to surface.

Ande had actually taken part in many FBI operations during his internship, performing quite well and was very proficient with these routine softwares.

Clearing his thoughts, He Ao looked up, his gaze calmly settling on Janos, and asked softly, "Mr. Janos, evidence suggests that ’Zadi’s’ father had interactions with your father when they were young. They had a dispute over a piece of land in an abandoned park. Are you aware of this?"

Janos’s expression subtly shifted.