Darkstone Code

Chapter 665 - 0662 Direction

"Hiss..."

"Phew..."

Michael took a deep breath, using his strong body to push himself up, supporting his body, and then let that breath out.

From the initial discomfort to now fully adapted to the seemingly dull and simple, yet actually simple and fulfilling life here, he no longer feels as confused and helpless as he did at the start.

Every day is filled with focused work, exercise, learning, and relaxation. Prison life makes every day regular for everyone.

What needs to be done at any given time each day is already arranged, with a balance between tension and relaxation, self-disciplined routine. Almost everyone gains weight after coming in, and Michael is no exception.

Without those bad habits from outside and with constant physical training, he has grown much stronger. Even those who knew him would hardly recognize him at first glance now.

Prison life isn’t really all that good. Various forms of bullying are very common here. The Federation’s public prison management system adopts a highly autonomous approach as its main structure, meaning prisoners manage prisoners.

Wardens generally do not interfere directly with conflicts between prisoners, as long as it does not result in fatalities. They tend to ignore ordinary fights.

Under such circumstances, whether wanting to enrich oneself or to protect oneself, being strong is a must.

Beads of sweat rolled down his skin, almost devoid of fat. With each push-up, the changes in the muscle fiber texture under his skin were visible to the naked eye. He kept persevering.

Next to him, Gap was also exercising.

Gap was purely attracted by Michael to exercise. Every man hopes to look more like a man rather than effeminate.

In this prison, no one dared to bully him because he is now the chief accountant in the prison, helping the Prison Director and wardens handle various accounting-related tasks. In the prison’s ruling class, he is a big deal. Anyone wanting to provoke or bully him is already stopped in the cells by the wardens.

Even Michael benefited from him. Now, the two of them make the most special pair in prison.

At this moment, a warden suddenly came outside the cell. He rested one hand on his waist, and with the other, he tapped the steel bars on the door with a baton, making a thudding sound.

"Michael, someone is here for visitation..."

Michael was taken aback. He used his arms forcefully as he contracted his abdomen and bent his legs to stand up directly. He took a towel from the edge of the bed to wipe the sweat off his body, changing clothes as he asked, "Can you tell me first who it is?"

According to Federation Prison regulations, to respect a prisoner’s basic rights, prisoners have the right to refuse visitation.

The warden tilted his head slightly, "Federal Tax Bureau."

His tone seemed a bit dismissive, but actually, it was more envy and jealousy, sour. Clearly, both are Federation Government workers, but those from the Federal Tax Bureau are just cooler than these wardens.

Having their license plates on display anywhere and saying "Federal Tax Bureau," ninety-nine percent of people must comply, but wardens?

When out of prison, they’re no different from ordinary people. Sometimes they even hesitate to reveal their work.

Michael glanced at Gap, nodded once, then followed the warden to the visitation room while dressing.

He and Gap had discussed before, regardless of who gets out first, they would find a way to help the other apply for a reduced sentence. This counted as a special friendship in this special place and special time.

When Michael entered the visitation room, he found the person in front of him wasn’t the Johnson Director he knew, but an unfamiliar middle-aged man who seemed younger than him.

"Are you Michael?" The guy in the room, still wearing sunglasses, couldn’t help but take them off, looking up and down at the muscular man whose forehead nearly had "I’m strong" written on it.

When he reviewed Michael’s file, Michael was just an averagely built, somewhat flabby middle-aged man. Most junior investigators are like that.

They don’t need much professional training, don’t have to maintain their physique, often skirting the boundary between compliance and non-compliance, having dinners with those under investigation, liking high-calorie junk food.

But the guy in front of him was completely different from the photo in the file. At first glance, the green-faced man didn’t recognize him.

Until he took out Michael’s file to compare the facial features of the two, finding more and more common points, he confirmed that the man in front of him was indeed Michael.

"You’ve changed a lot!"

Michael casually pulled out a chair and sat down, "If you stayed here for two years, you’d be like me too."

"Where’s Johnson?"

The man with the blue face didn’t sit down; he stood, arms crossed over his chest, looking down at Michael, "Johnson has already been elevated to the position of an honorary consultant researcher at the State Tax Bureau. The director of the Sabin City Tax Bureau is now someone else."

"I’m here this time because there are some things I need you to cooperate with."

Michael appeared somewhat dazed, "Did he retire?"

He spoke with a bitter smile, "Yeah, it’s been two years; it’s about time to make way for those coming after. Worked a lifetime, only to be kicked aside in the end..."

Such reflections had never crossed his mind before; back then, he was thinking of taking over the director role from Johnson, not considering whether he was the one who kicked Johnson aside.

Thinking about it now, he has many reflections, especially given that Director Johnson has semi-retired. This implies that the matters they agreed upon before now have no follow-ups—the special talent enactment.

This is actually bad news because Michael doesn’t know if the new director will help him out, as they barely have any relation, and he had embarrassed the Sabin City Tax Bureau.

Whenever he thought of this, it made him anxious.

Seemingly having noticed Michael’s concerns, the man with the blue face asked straight out, "You’re worried about whether you can get out earlier, aren’t you?"

As soon as Michael brought up Johnson, the blue-faced man knew his thoughts.

In fact, this thing called the special talent enactment is more often used by those in the FBI. To crack some cases, they sometimes lose reason and bottom line, which easily leads to situations that violate the law.

It’s also useful when dealing with those who are witnesses with stains or have a true skill. The former may not obtain the President’s pardon, but this enactment can resolve many of their worries.

Contrarily, those truly skilled and most suited for this enactment receive the least attention from it.

After all, who will bother to apply for an administrative order for a criminal without a benefit-driven motive?

Michael didn’t speak; the blue-faced man laughed as he knew he guessed right, "Let me introduce myself, I’m a special investigator at the State Tax Bureau. I can help you apply for the special talent enactment’s permission, and I can also plead with the judge to prove your key role in solving my cases, which will very likely earn you a decent sentence reduction."

"You need to seize the opportunity, Michael. Not everyone is as agreeable as I am."

Michael didn’t hesitate for long, "Besides trusting you, I have no other options. What do you want from me?"

The man with the blue face pursed his lips, "Do you remember a guy named Lynch?"

"Lynch?" Michael’s expression flashed a reminiscing look. If he had known Lynch would be so difficult to handle, he would rather have not known the guy.

Prisons aren’t completely isolated from the outside world; there is a TV in the common room, they can subscribe to newspapers, and communicate with the outside world.

Lynch’s rapid development subsequently and the peak he reached not long ago—dubbed "Mr. Billionaire"—all told Michael a reality that whether he wanted revenge against Lynch or not, there wasn’t much hope in this lifetime.

Moreover, as a tax worker, he clearly understands that at such a scale, unless someone of equal or higher status than Lynch steps forward to actively bring him down; relying solely on agencies under the Federation Government to topple Lynch is very difficult.

It’s only when other big figures of similar stature want to deal with him that the Tax Bureau or Investigation Bureau, or other agencies can play a role. The truly decisive person isn’t the enforcement agency itself but the person behind instructing them.

"Yes, I remember him. What’s happened to him?" Michael

"Someone reported him for tax evasion, and we’re conducting a full-scale investigation about him. When I was going through the files, I found that you once participated in the investigation of Lynch, and that was even before he gained any fame."

"It was a very special period, Lynch might not have been as tough to deal with as he is now. Maybe you can provide me with some unknown details, like evidence or something."

Michael didn’t ponder too long, "I don’t know much about Lynch. I just know he was laundering money together with a loan shark named ’Fox’ by helping Fox legitimize Fox’s income."

"There must be a beneficiary relationship between the two. Lynch accumulated his initial capital quickly with this method. But for some reason... I ended up in here, unable to continue with that case."

The man with the blue face frowned, "Fox is already in custody, but he only admitted to his own offenses, refusing to acknowledge any beneficiary relationship with Lynch, nor did he admit to laundering money through Lynch’s provided means. He’s taking all the blame on himself, and we can’t find a breakthrough through Fox."

"Think carefully; there’s crucial evidence, thoughts even."

Michael hadn’t anticipated Fox would be so... unsure of what to say. In prison, most serving their sentences think taking the blame is an admirable act. Everyone wants a buddy who can take charges for them.

But for the case investigators, this is what they detest the most, as it means someone is roaming free.

After nearly three minutes of contemplation, Michael provided a crucial clue, "In the beneficiary chain where Fox and Lynch partnered in money laundering, there’s another participant, and that’s the newspaper boys!"