Chapter 1162 Another Side of the World, and Plan Accomplished

Supervisor Ike looked at Director Roland , his expression exceptionally calm. He didn't seem to feel any guilt at all for defecting to Lance .

People always want to live. And ever since defecting to Lance , Supervisor Ike had begun to see some issues from a different angle.

Once the "filter" he had for Roland was gone, once it stopped working, he could see a Roland he had never seen before.

He had all kinds of faults. Although his mouth was full of ideals, the future, and grand principles, it always felt like he was missing something.

People are always like this. Only from a more objective angle can they see what they want to see.

Once that halo fades, all that remains is a mess on the ground.

Director Roland frowned slightly as he looked at him. "What else are they dissatisfied with?"

"Do they think the money is too little?"

"You should have told them, the Federal government's compensation standard is only $22,000 or $23,000, which is what they'd get. But I gave them $30,000. They shouldn't be thinking about asking for more."

"Otherwise, they'll only get the Federal standard, if everything goes by legal procedure."

The extra part given couldn't be called a violation, but it definitely wasn't quite appropriate.

Compensation comes from the Federal Treasury. The approval process is rather troublesome, but the end result is the Federal Treasury allocates the funds and pays the money.

A little more, a little less... the people managing the Federation's wealth don't really care. They only care if the documents are in order, if they have the valid signatures, and about that number.

But if someone now says this number isn't right, they will also be unhappy.

Although the money isn't theirs, they treat it as if it is.

Moreover, randomly giving money in violation of the standard will bring many bad influences. If everyone pays disability compensation above the standard according to their own ideas, then many people will start to self-harm.

If these people really just want more money, Director Roland will just go by the book with them, which guarantees they not only won't get more, but will get much less.

Supervisor Ike just watched as this FBI Director, who once held such a high place in his mind, said these words. He suddenly had a feeling of absurdity. He didn't know why his former self couldn't see this.

Couldn't see the not-so-glorious character beneath the glorious image.

In a way, being forced by Lance to join his camp wasn't necessarily a bad thing. At least he saw the real Director Roland .

As Director Roland grew impatient, he finally explained, "They want to see their family members' bodies."

This sentence stunned Director Roland . His brows furrowed even tighter.

No one knew where those bodies went—of course, perhaps Supervisor Ike standing opposite him knew, but he wouldn't say, because in his "script," he didn't know either.

If he wanted to retrieve those bodies, there was one person he couldn't avoid: Lance .

He really didn't want to deal with Lance right now. It wasn't that he was afraid of him; he just didn't want to see this person who disgusted him so much.

Before, he saw Lance as an opponent, a target. Now, in his eyes, Lance was a pile of shit, and particularly foul-smelling, shit.

Getting stained by it is bad for everyone. So, if he could avoid touching this pile of shit, he would try his best not to.

"Bodies..." He pushed his hair back. "You explain to them, we will do our best to find the bodies, to ensure their souls can rest in peace."

He paused, lowering his voice slightly. "Go to a slaughterhouse and get some animal bones. Find a place to burn them into ash, put them in urns, and give them to them. Just say the bodies couldn't be recovered intact, that they were all cremated on-site."

If it were the past, Supervisor Ike would have thought this was a good idea. First, it was practical.

To find those bodies... after so much time, even if they still existed, they would be rotted beyond recognition. They certainly couldn't be given to their families like that.

A pile of bones and some rotten meat—that's too indecent.

So in the end, they would be cremated first, and the ashes given.

Since it's all ashes, why not just find some animal ashes to placate them? This way, they don't have to face Lance or negotiate with him, and it also soothes the emotions of the families. It's a very good solution.

But with the filter gone, Supervisor Ike only felt that Director Roland was... a beast.

These men died for him, but now he wasn't even willing to go through the process of communicating with Lance to get their bodies back.

If he had tried, and Lance made it difficult for him, preventing him, then he would have no problem with this outcome.

But he just brushed it off without even trying. It could only be said that those men truly died in vain.

However, he wouldn't show it. He nodded grimly. "I know what to do."

Director Roland made a point to add, "Be sure to appease their emotions. Make them believe we will get justice for their family members and send the criminals who murdered them to the court's judgment!"

"Any other problems?"

Supervisor Ike shook his head. "No, this is the main problem."

Director Roland breathed a sigh of relief. As long as there was no other trouble, this small matter didn't count as trouble at all. "Then go do it. I'll wait for your good news."

"Try to suppress the impact of this matter as much as possible. Don't let them talk nonsense to reporters. Just say we are making urgent arrangements. If they leak the news, or alert Lance , it might cause our subsequent plans to fail."

Supervisor Ike quickly ended the conversation. He felt Director Roland was disgusting. Of course, he himself was also a disgusting person. Perhaps people are always like this.

Always standing in a position that benefits them to express various opinions. They never consider their own rights, wrongs, or faults. Everything is someone else's.

As he was leaving Director Roland's office, he happened to see Supervisor Ford walking over from the other end of the hall. They were both Senior Agent Supervisors, and their relationship was decent.

It's just that now, his position had changed. His gaze and attitude when looking at these colleagues had undergone a subtle change.

Before, they were colleagues, friends, comrades-in-arms.

But from the moment he took the weapon Lance handed him in order to live, he was completely cut off from these people. They were now opponents, enemies.

The two nodded to each other from a few meters away. "Your injuries look serious."

When they got closer, Supervisor Ford initiated some small talk. They were the high-level officials of the FBI, aside from Director Roland . When they met face-to-face, they couldn't just nod and be done. They had to maintain "high-level decency."

Supervisor Ford's words were very "official," but Supervisor Ike still took the initiative to stop and chat with him by the side of the corridor. "It just looks serious. In fact, the doctor said I'm recovering well."

Supervisor Ford sighed. "I heard some things. They threw grenades at you?"

"These people are really too arrogant. I hope we can resolve this trouble soon."

Looking at the grave expression on Supervisor Ford's face, Supervisor Ike wanted to laugh, but he nodded in agreement. "Yes, if we can't eradicate them soon, the Lance Family will cause immeasurable and severe consequences for the entire Federation!"

Having said this, there seemed to be no need to continue. The two nodded to each other again, and Supervisor Ford pointed to the room at the end of the hall. "I have to go to the Director's office."

Supervisor Ike also took the initiative to bid him farewell. "Just right, I still have work to do."

"Well then, see you later?"

"See you later!"

The two, each with their own ulterior motives, walked away from each other, back-to-back, getting further and further apart.

After a few steps, Supervisor Ike paused. He looked back at his old colleague who was walking toward the office. He didn't know why, but he had a very strange feeling that he couldn't put his finger on.

He stared at the man's back for two or three seconds, then shook his head, turned, and continued on his way. Perhaps he was just a bit sensitive right now.

After all, he had been bought by Lance ; he was Lance's man. So when he saw these old colleagues, a filter was naturally removed, allowing him to see the truer, and more hypocritical, people.

Just as Supervisor Ford was about to knock on the office door, he also seemed to feel something strange. He, too, looked back at Ike . In that simple and brief conversation, he seemed to have detected a very unfamiliar feeling from the other man.

Not at all like the colleague and comrade-in-arms he had been, fighting for the same ideal for several years.

Between the two, it was as if there was an invisible barrier separating them.

And the hypocrisy emanating from the other party made him feel very strange. He didn't understand why such a sincere person would become like this.

Perhaps it was because of the injury?

Recently, many psychological illnesses related to trauma were beginning to be disclosed by medical groups. The crime rate among soldiers returning from the battlefield was rising.

Especially soldiers from some front-line units. Some of them had already gone on rampages in their familiar environments after being discharged.

The most vicious one killed half a neighborhood. When he was pinned to the ground, he still insisted that those people were gathered in the community church to murder him.

Everything he did was for self-preservation.

This was a typical psychological illness, a very troublesome one.

However, he also heard that the Department of Defense (DoD) and some companies seemed to be accelerating communication. He even heard Lance's name in this news.

It was precisely sparked by the case of Lance being attacked. Lance had discussed a contract with the DoD. He would set up a company to hire these potentially problematic veterans and send them back to Tanfite to carry out missions.

This plan originally met with some resistance. Liberal Party congressmen believed that letting capitalists—it's worth noting here that because no one could catch Lance's leverage or evidence, his public identity was now a capitalist—control these veterans with actual combat capabilities was a huge challenge to the Federation's social stability, security, and order.

Once these capitalists decided to use this force to do something, they would definitely bring huge destruction to Federal society.

However, these problems were all dismantled by the recent string of battlefield trauma psychological issues. The Federal government didn't want to talk about things that hadn't happened yet; they just wanted to solve the current trouble.

Whether it was sending these potentially problematic people away, or locking them up, it was fine. In short, don't let them run wild on the streets!

So this plan was pushed forward very quickly. It was said to be nearing the implementation stage.

Supervisor Ford's wandering mind instantly refocused. He turned back and knocked on the office door. What he didn't know was that, at the moment he turned, Supervisor Ike , who had almost left the corridor, looked back at him again.

Because he felt someone was watching him from behind. But when he saw Supervisor Ford knocking on the door, he could only attribute it all to the discomfort and sensitivity of being a gang mole in the FBI for the first time.

"Come in."

"The door's unlocked."

Supervisor Ford pushed open the office door and walked in, closing it behind him.

"You were looking for me?"

Director Roland gestured for him to sit down, then began to talk about why he had called him. "Lately, you've been watching the movement of Lance's group. Any special findings?"

Every once in a while, Director Roland would call Supervisor Ford over, because Ford's main job now was to arrange for people to watch Lance and the core members of the Lance Family, to note their whereabouts and itineraries, and see if they could find anything that could become evidence.

Supervisor Ford shook his head. "Although I've had people watching them, I haven't gotten any good results. You know, they're very careful."

"When they might be actually committing a crime, our people can't get close. We can't just have our men kick down their door in front of them and ask what they're doing."

These words left Director Roland a bit speechless, but there really wasn't a good solution.

If surveillance was omnipotent, what was the need for any other work?

You could solve all problems just by arranging for people to watch.

He sighed. "It's a bit tough for us right now. We're going to temporarily stop the siege on the Lance Family . We have to wait until the President takes office."

"So right now, only your part of the work in the bureau can proceed normally. This requires you to be more attentive than usual."

"Once Mr. Potter takes the oath of office and becomes president, we can use a special executive order signed by the president to solve some of the judicial issues that can't support us."

As an elite in law enforcement, Supervisor Ford was highly educated. He certainly knew what "support" Director Roland was talking about.

Search warrants!

Places that Lance operates definitely have a lot of problems. But because the judicial process isn't cooperating, and the intelligence obtained isn't enough to become valid legal evidence, the Justice Department always has them by the throat.

But with a special order signed by the president, he could even take people directly to Lance Manor to conduct a large-scale, meticulous search.

He refused to believe that there wasn't a single shred of crime-related evidence in Lance Manor. As long as he could get that evidence, and it complied with judicial evidence-gathering procedures, then it would be a sharp blade in his hand, capable of piercing Lance's defenses!

Supervisor Ford's heart stirred, but his face showed some delight. "In that case, we are not far from victory."

"We'll get results before the Holy Agriculture Festival."

Director Roland gave him a new timeline. "But to sign a presidential special order and have it take effect, we have to wait until after January next year."

"So we still have two or three months to wait. During this time, your work is very important."

"I need you to watch every move Lance makes, don't miss a minute. And his family cadres. Can you do that?"

Supervisor Ford immediately patted his chest and guaranteed, "You can rest assured when I do things. I guarantee there will be no mistakes."

Director Roland was very satisfied with his declaration. As a superior, he liked this kind of definite answer. "Very good. You keep a close eye on this. If you need anything, just tell me. As long as it's not too outrageous, I will do my best to satisfy you."

After chatting a bit more, he had Supervisor Ford leave. When the door closed again, he slumped in his chair, as if he was about to slide off, and let out a long sigh.

This damned Lance ... for the first time in his life, he was this pathetic!

He swore, once "Mr. Potter " became "President Potter ," he would make Lance pay a heavy price!

As for now, he'd let him be smug for a while.

Lance was indeed very smug right now.

Major General Bruni had called him to tell him that the plan he proposed earlier had been approved. The Department of Defense was planning to issue special licenses, referencing the specifications for special materials like liquor.

Because the Liberal Party congressmen had some objections to the DoD implementing this plan. Although they were suppressed by current social events, they still objected.

To reduce conflict or even confrontation between the DoD and the soon-to-be-ruling Liberal Party , the DoD internally decided not to fully publicize this qualification to society. Not just anyone could set up such a company to recruit these veterans.

Only after the DoD issued a license could they recruit veterans for work through the DoD's special office.

Lance , as the originator of the entire plan, naturally received a license, and his authorized upper limit was 5,000 people!