Chapter 1160: Bigger Trouble

When Devon looked at the two photos of Director Roland from different periods, he knew he had found the right direction.

He directly placed the rest of the money in his hand on the table. "Only you and God know about this matter."

The priest glanced covetously at the stack of money. Including what Devon had put on the table earlier, it should be seven or eight hundred dollars.

He nodded, his face full of a compassionate smile, "Yes, only He and I know!" He pointed upwards. Devon looked up and saw the crucifix , which was looking down at them with the same compassionate face. A faint smile gradually appeared on Devon's face.

He didn't know what "irony" was, but now, he had that feeling.

After leaving the church, he gave Lance a call. "That woman is Roland's former wife, and that children might be his sons."

"I learned from the relationships around that woman that she is not married and is not cohabiting with anyone right now."

Lance was a bit surprised, but also felt... it was to be expected.

The Federation doesn't have marriage certificates or things like that. It still uses the "common-law marriage system." To put it more simply, you don't need to register with a government department.

You only need the witness and blessing of family, community neighbors, or friends, and to complete a wedding ceremony in a church, to be recognized as married.

And you have certain inheritance rights to each other's property.

Although Director Roland's marriage didn't have the witness and blessing of family and neighbors, they did complete the ceremony in a church , and both sides acknowledged the marital relationship, so they are husband and wife.

“I understand. You don't need to come back for now. There should be a place for you soon.”

“Watch their movements. Keep a close eye on them.”

After hanging up, Lance dialed the phone number of a star reporter in New Golden City , a star reporter for the Federal Post.

The Post, like the Federal Daily, holds an extraordinary and important position in the Federation. Content published in this paper is not only seen by readers across the Federation but can also easily become the focus of public opinion.

This is the significant influence of national print media.

This reporter was introduced by Tom . After Lance got to know him, he became his friend. After all, Lance is a man who is good at making friends.

"I hope I'm not disturbing your rest." After the call was picked up, Lance first said some pleasantries with a laugh.

This was a buffer to lead into the main topic, creating an emotional progression.

Directly discussing business during private time isn't great. It's emotionally blunt. The correct way is to chat about other things first.

The reporter on the other end couldn't help but laugh. "The fact I picked up your call so quickly means I definitely wasn't resting."

"Alright, Mr. Lance , we both know you're not calling to ask how I've been, or to ask me out to gather news."

"Let me be direct: what can I do for you?"

Lance couldn't help but laugh out loud. "You're too direct! It makes my opening feel a bit awkward!"

The reporter friend was very sincere. "That's just a waste of time. Our time is very precious!"

As a star reporter, maintaining his influence at the paper is very important.

The Federation is a highly commercialized country. In other words, every column in every newspaper has its own advertising window. This is why some more famous newspapers have three to five small ads on almost every page, rather than having all the ads concentrated together like some papers.

This is because advertisers value the influence of the columnist. For example, a famous film critic for The Film Daily has a column. He basically doesn't run ads, but he writes film reviews. Production companies will spend thousands to invite him to an internal screening and ask him to write a biased review.

If this kind of deal is placed in those well-known columns, a small, palm-sized space will appear at the end of the article with highly targeted ads. Ten to thirty percent of the income from these ads goes to the newspaper, and the rest belongs to the columnist.

So for these star reporters with their own columns, how to find news that constantly increases their influence, write sensational articles, and win the Golden Paper Award is their entire life.

Rest? There's nothing to rest for. When they've earned enough money, there will be plenty of time to rest. Working desperately while you can is the current state of the Federal elite. Those who just lie on the sofa when they get home will forever be at the bottom of society.

So the reporter friend didn't mind Lance calling him in his private time at all. He knew if Lance couldn't provide him with an explosive story, he would definitely bring him a large sum of money.

Whether it's placing ads or writing a "gun article" (PR piece), it costs money!

As long as he's spending, he's God. Who could hate God?

After they both laughed, Lance explained his reason for calling. "I have a very interesting piece of news here. I'd like it published in the paper, but I don't know if it's suitable."

"Let's hear it?" The sound of a lighter and an inhale came through the receiver. Clearly, the reporter friend was already in work mode.

Lance could even imagine him holding a pen, ready to scribble on a piece of paper.

"It's like this... do you know a guy named Roland?"

"The FBI Director."

The reporter friend said in a slightly raised tone, "Of course! I'm not sure about other places, but in New Golden City , in Gold State , no one doesn't know him!"

"He's been the focus of public opinion recently. And that thing you mentioned last time..."

He stopped abruptly, as if stuck in an infinite loop of memory, completely stalled.

Lance reminded him, "A 'carnival'?"

"Ah, yes, yes! The carnival of public opinion. Everyone is participating, digging up his past. Your method, you could say, has opened up a whole new track."

"No one has done this before. Almost everyone got involved, leaving him completely exposed."

"If you've read the papers recently, you'd know they even dug up the story about his wife's abortion. Some people even attacked his residence."

These things were indeed quite "hot" over in Gold State. There had never been such a public focus that everyone could participate in. Some bored people spontaneously joined in. They looked for any trace of information about Director Roland , then published it to attract attention and gain influence.

This made some people addicted. Because of this feast of public opinion, many ordinary people had changed their lives. They transformed from ordinary workers and office staff into social activists. They didn't need to go to the factory or office to work. They just had to dress themselves up like a person, then go to the street or a place where they had influence, and express their views.

Someone would give them money, especially now during the election. Campaign teams were willing to spend a little money to strengthen their campaign's publicity, having them trumpet the candidate's importance and value to the Federation on the streets.

Some of them might become truly influential. Plus, with TV media constantly pushing for popularization, this might really be a track to survive on and become a celebrity.

But Lance didn't know much about this. He just pulled the curtain on the "Age of Discovery." He wasn't paying attention to the rest.

So he didn't continue on this topic, but instead asked a very interesting question: "Which wife are you talking about?"

The reporter friend almost instinctively replied, "Of course, the one..." He stopped again, as if trying to figure out what the hell he was answering.

After a few seconds, when he understood what he was answering, he immediately realized this was definitely a sensational story.

It might not have huge influence or important political value, but it could re-ignite public participation. And he, by uncovering a deeper mystery, would become the key man leading a new round of public focus!

What was this?

This was another form of influence. As long as the story itself was true, it would become another badge of honor on the reporter's chest.

He was very interested now!

"He has other wives?"

Lance laughed again. "Not just a wife, but two children."

"You just said he made his current wife have an abortion?"

"Do you think there might be a connection? For example... the purpose of the abortion was to protect the two children from his other wife. After all, if the current wife had a child, it would obviously have a more 'reasonable' claim to inheritance than the other two."

"What the fuck!" the reporter friend exclaimed. "This is definitely a serious moral lapse, Mr. Lance . This news... is very interesting. And it concerns a high-level Federal employee. Can you give me more details?"

"I think my readers will love this story!"

"Of course. That's why I called you!"

As Lance spoke, the reporter friend took notes. He was very excited. Because Director Roland had always been a positive figure.

Although there were some accusations against him now, and even hearings demanding he explain why he chose to let Federal police sit by and watch while knowing a gang was going to attack an innocent Federal citizen, rather than stopping it.

He had a very uncomfortable month. Trouble kept finding him, and there were no good solutions, so he could only bite the bullet and deal with it.

Fortunately, his responses were able to resolve these problems. They were troublesome, but not fatal.

The abortion issue?

He found an excuse, saying his wife was injured during an examination and took some hormonal drugs. The doctor advised them to give up the child, otherwise, there was a high probability of it being born with deformities.

This was a period of rapid development for radioactive materials. Although people hadn't fully understood the link between radiation and deformities, there were indeed many deformed children in society, and disabled people who had mutated from radiation exposure.

Giving birth to a deformed child was indeed unacceptable for a mother. He had managed to bullshit his way past the abortion issue.

As for why he sat and watched Lance be attacked?

He also found a reason for his actions: he couldn't be sure it was a crime before it happened. Maybe those people just wanted to talk to Lance ?

He couldn't just arrest them before they committed a crime, otherwise, that would be another mistake.

There were other issues, ambiguous problems dug up by people in society. Some were clearly nonsense, like people saying he was gay.

Although everyone knew it was unlikely to be true, he still had to explain it clearly. Sometimes, things like hearings aren't about letting a person explain their innocence, but about embarrassing them.

At past seven in the evening, Director Roland dragged his weary body back to the FBI. He had been very tired recently.

A dual exhaustion, mental and physical. This was different from before.

He was tired before, but only physically. Mentally, he felt a sense of pleasure, because he was constantly moving toward his goal. Even if he hadn't touched his goal yet, the act of moving forward was, in itself, satisfying.

But it was different now. He was treading water, and endless trouble was finding its way to him.

Lance was harder to deal with than imagined.

Mr. Potter had already called him, telling him to cool it for a while. It was a critical moment in the election. The results would be out soon, the week before the Holy Agriculture Festival.

In other words, in half a month, the election results would be out. The states were already setting up polling stations and getting ready to enter the voting phase.

Back in his office, Director Roland summoned Supervisor Ike into his office. After he entered, Roland closed the door and had Ike sit down. "I've been busy this whole time, I didn't get to visit you in the hospital."

According to the medical records, Supervisor Ike was seriously injured and had only recovered somewhat after treatment.

Even now, you could see stitching marks on Ike's face, head, and neck. The doctor said they were lacerations from the grenade explosion.

He was lucky. The shrapnel didn't hit his head, so he survived. But the situation for many other agents was not so good.

Director Roland had arranged for people to go to the scene, but it had been cleaned up.

Not only could they not find any witnesses at the motel, but the owner and employees all insisted that no explosion or firefight had occurred. Nothing happened.

As for why they had to redecorate two rooms, it was purely because a guest had caused a fire by smoking in the room. They had to redecorate for aesthetic reasons.

Director Roland's men even got a fire incident report from the fire department. The related firefighters also unanimously stated they had indeed gone to the scene to put out a fire that day. The fire was large, but luckily they had plenty of water and extinguished it in time.

As for a gunfight, explosion, or anything... they didn't see a thing, let alone any bodies.

In other words, those FBI agents who died at the scene had vanished into thin air. He couldn't even find any evidence to prove they were dead, let alone that it was related to Lance !

Coupled with the hearings, he couldn't deal with these things, so it dragged on until now.

Today, the hearings officially ended. They told him he had barely passed, but to be careful not to let something similar happen again.

That's why he finally had time to talk to Supervisor Ike.

"I feel I've let you and our brothers down. Because I misjudged the viciousness of Lance's group, you suffered, and some of our brothers... I still don't know where they are."

Supervisor Ike sighed. "We all made the same mistake on this. We underestimated them, and overestimated ourselves."

This was from his heart. At first, he didn't think Lance and the Lance Family would be impossible to fight. He thought it would be, at most, a little difficult, but they could handle it.

In the end, they didn't handle Lance . Instead, he was handled by Lance .

Even more fatal were the tapes Lance had, the tapes of him personally killing a large number of FBI agents. This was all stuff that could cost him his life.

He had already bowed his head completely. It was highly likely he would never be able to raise it again in this life.

Director Roland also sighed. "Have their families been taken care of?"

Supervisor Ike nodded. "Compensation above the standard rate. I also promised them that if they run into trouble, we will do everything to help them."

"Is anyone making trouble?" Director Roland asked again. What he feared most right now was someone making trouble. It was best if everything waited until after Mr. Potter became president and smoothly transitioned to the "Potter government."

At that time, the presidential privileges in Potter's hands could solve many of his problems, and dealing with people like Lance would be a bit easier.

So his requirement was that they could give more money, more promises, but they absolutely could not let them make trouble.

Normally, the FBI's death benefit was twenty-two thousand dollars. He had Ike give thirty thousand per person, and gave many other promises, even that if their family members wanted to take their place and work at the FBI, they would be accepted.

The goal was to stabilize them first, until the new government was fully operational early next year.

Ike hesitated, but finally nodded. "Basically, it's all handled."

"Basically?" Director Roland caught the keyword.