Inside the hall, the people were waiting impatiently for the debate to start. When either side came inside, the roomâs temperature seemed to drop by dozens of degrees. The two young men were looking at one another like they were ready to murder the other party.
Mind you, they were trained in martial arts ever since they were young. Because both of them had participated in numerous killings, their gaze was filled with bloodlust and killing intent. Those who sat on the front row gritted their teeth in fear. These two were not ordinary men.
When the three judges came inside, all of them stood up. The three judges were extremely famous judges in this city as they were the one who usually handled high level cases. Two of them were men and the other one was a woman. From their appearance, it was clear that they were already above 50 in age, yet their steps were still very firm.
"You may sit down," one of the judges said calmly.
The audience quickly sat down on their seats. Some of them were sweating as they watched the court unfolded in front of their eyes.
"The grand debate may begin. We will start from Ivan Wells."
"Thank you," Ivan stood up from his chair. His gaze was sharp as he stared at Jason. Traces of mocking appeared from deep within his eyes. "Jason Wells, do you know that based on the law, Iâm the legal successor of Wells Family? Iâm older than you and I have worked far harder than you."
He tapped the laptop in front of him. It showed the record of the case that he did in Wells Family.
"As you can see, I have done much more than most young masters in this city. If itâs not me as the family head, who will be suitable?"
They had one minute to talk about their statement, but Ivan didnât bother using his time to the fullest. After all, this was only the opening and they merely stated their stances.
Jason watched as Ivan returned back to their seat.
"My dear cousin, it feels as if youâre telling me that youâre the successor because youâre older than me. I believe that the successor shouldnât be selected based on age alone, but more to capabilities. If you think that I have not worked enough, you should see my cases so far."
Just like Ivan, Jason had collected them all and showed them to the screen. When the crowds saw how many works this young man had, they gasped in surprise. The number was truly overwhelming.
"The Wells Family never made their legal statement that Iâm the successor. I wonder why youâre accusing me of taking the seat when thereâs no guarantee about them at all."
As soon as Jason sat down, Ivan stood up. "Have you seen the newspaper and news report every single day? The media have been showing you all of your glory. It makes people think that you, Jason Wells, are the true successor of Wells Family.
Because of the misconception, people have been slandering me regarding this matter. Itâs all because youâre slandering me that people are thinking that Iâm not the rightful successor. "
Jason arched his eyebrows. "Are you blaming me for the reporters who have been following me and letting out the news? Should I sue them for doing their work? The people must be thinking that Iâm already crazy."
Several people snickered when they heard what Jason said. It was true that many reporters only did their work. As for how the news turned out, there were times when people wouldnât know about that.
"Also, why are you saying that Iâm slandering you? Shouldnât you give proof that Iâm the one slandering you?" Jason asked back, his tone as composed as possible.
Ivan snickered. If the other party thought that he hadnât been prepared, he was terribly wrong.
"The information base in my place has been sabotaged by someone not long after I reveal the fact that youâre part of the underworld, Jason. The only one who will do that is you because you will be having a lot of benefit from that. Now, am I wrong?"
Jason shook his head. "Can you tell me when your information base or whatever has been sabotaged?"
"Itâs the next day at XX/XX/XXX around 2 PM."
"Unfortunately, Iâm with Laura Nali at that time. Weâre having lunch in her favorite restaurant. You may check the security camera for more information," Jason replied placidly.
"You can ask for someone to search it for you!"
Clara raised her hand. "May I interrupt? This is the grand debate, so please provide the proof of what you say before youâre accusing someone. Itâs unwise to blabber nonsense like that."
"Ivan, this is the first warning," one of the judges reminded.
Ivan grunted. He noticed that his lawyer has been giving him signal to calm down. He took a deep breath as he scowled silently. Facing his annoying cousin, he couldnât control himself too well.
"Youâre part of the underworld, so it should be easy for you to ask for their help to search for something that you want. As far as I know, youâre Oro of Fiore Group, am I right?"
Gasping sound reverberated in the hall. The reportersâ eyes glimmered in happiness. They had never expected to hear something like this from them. Now, this would be very interesting. They were already impatient to go back home and wrote numerous pieces of report regarding Fiore Group. It would surely shake the entire city so badly.
As Jason didnât answer, Ivan continued his words. "In Fiore Group, there are four core members. One of them has the ability to hack into the cameras, not letting their pictures be captured. Wouldnât it be easy for him to hack into mine too?"
Beside Jason, Laura couldnât hold her laugh as she cackled quietly. Ivan saw that and his expression turned ugly. Why would this woman laugh during his speech? Didnât she worry about her boyfriend?
"Laura?" the female judge asked.
"My apologize Your Highness* itâs just I have the feeling that Ivan is not ready for this debate at all," Laura replied. She stood up nonchalantly. "Fiore Group has four members in total. Rei and Tom hold the front, Oro switched between front and back, while Shin protects from the back. Thereâs one more thing that they never realize, the one who hack the cameras is Oro."
Laura had done her homework by asking Jason about their work. Seeing the report that they made and compiled made her understood their work division. She had to say that she was amazed by how her sister managed to become the leader.
âAs expected of my sis.â
That was her thoughts when she finished reading Jasonâs report that he compiled for her.
The crowds were stunned by her words. It could be true since Jason was the young master of Wells Family. He had learned how to hack computers ever since he was young, so it would be a piece of cake for him. It was the same with Ivan because the two of them needed to have some capabilities in order to handle the hackers.
Ivan glared at Laura. "Donât spout lies, Miss Nali. How do you know that itâs not that shadow member, Shin?"
Laura pointed to Jason. "Itâs better for him to explain by himself, right?"
Jason placed his hand on top of Lauraâs shoulder. He sighed as he watched Ivan. "I know that being part of a group is not something glorious, but itâs true. Iâm the one who hacks the cameras because the other three are too busy. Shin is a sniper. He has no time watching the camera as you may see from our record.
I already collected information regarding Fiore Group," Jason moved his finger and showed the documents on the screen. "If you pay close attention, youâll see the pattern that Iâm the one who hacked. As for what I have done so far, Iâm not regretting it. A group is not criminal. Weâre made to do mission that many people donât want to do.
Fiore Group always limits our activity in the area within Black Street. In this part of the city, you canât charge us unless weâre offending a high level ranking person. Iâm proud to be part of this group as it shows me a lot of things that I can never see as the young master."
Jason paused for a few seconds. He saw that he still had a couple more seconds as he looked at Ivan. "What about you? Do you feel proud for sacrificing the life of numerous innocent people to become the lab experiment rat? Youâre taking their life without their consent."
Ivanâs face turned blue. "Thereâs nothing we can gain without sacrifice. They are all necessary sacrifices. As for their consent, is there any need for that? Theyâre already at the end of their life and they didnât have any good life either. Itâs better that they become of good use for us."
"For us?" Jason asked with a sarcastic tone. "Donât lump me together with you. I donât care about the research result at all. You should not decide whatâs good about those people because you donât know them."
"Also, whoâs the one doing the dirty trick?" Jason forcefully pulled himself to calm down. He knew that he had blurted out something outrageous, so he tried to change the topic. "I have called someone today to present proof of your doing."
"What are you talking about?" Ivan yelled. He was about to lash out again when he saw Alan walk in. He recognized Alan as the son of a newspaper firmâs owner. He bribed them to share good news about him. But they didnât do that.
Alan walked stiffly. Compared to the calm Laura, he looked far more nervous. As he sat down on the chair, he looked at Clara.
"Your name is Alan Mirro?"
"Yes."
"Did your newspaper firm receive order from Ivan?"
"Yes."
"Whatâs the order?" Clara asked.
"He asks us to share good things about Ivan and the fact that heâs the legal successor of Wells Family," Alan replied.
The crowd was stunned to hear Alanâs proclamation. All eyes landed upon Ivan, whose face had turned red as a tomato. He opened his mouth, trying to refute, but the crowds were looking at him with an unbelieving gaze. Unfortunately, the debate has not been over. There were still a lot of questions and revelations they needed to do.