North American riot police: Start by arresting P. Diddy!

Chapter 219 The Trap of a Shoddy Cabinet Meeting
First, an explosion occurred at the country's largest private prison, resulting in more than two thousand casualties.

Subsequently, the crimes that had been hidden on Little St. James Island for many years were exposed through live streaming, sparking massive protests across the United States.

Leftists, rightists, and liberals alike took to the streets with banners, pressuring the federal government to release the list of guests visiting the island.

Just as public opinion was boiling over, before the children on the island could be taken away by the federal government, all the top law firms in the United States had already mobilized.

These hyenas, with their keen sense of smell, seized upon the surge of public outrage and vied to act as proxies for these poor children.

But they were also very shrewd and cunning, remaining silent about the guest list that had not yet been revealed, and targeting only the island owner Stan and the families behind the wealthy businessmen and politicians who had already been exposed in the live broadcast and were now dead.

Meanwhile, major child welfare agencies across the United States are also embroiled in controversy.

The American public now suspects that these organizations, ostensibly charitable, are secretly colluding with powerful politicians to engage in dirty deals involving children.

The legal community generally believes this is almost a guaranteed win in a class-action lawsuit.

Not only will Stan, who is already imprisoned, be bankrupted, but the wealthy families who died on the island will also face exorbitant compensation payments.

As for the federal government, the amount of compensation is self-evident.

It's worth noting that even in cases where several female gymnasts were sexually assaulted by their coach, the federal government paid out over $100 million in compensation.

The amount the Federation will have to pay in compensation for this Sin Island incident that shocked the world will only be more staggering!

Experts predict that each of the hundreds of children rescued on the island could become a multi-millionaire in the future.

But no one thinks they are lucky, because anyone who watched that late-night live stream knows the hellish torment these children went through.

For them, monetary compensation is just the most basic and cheapest form of redress!
No one dared to play tricks on this matter, and even the major law firms demanded the lowest litigation fees in the industry, some even representing the children in litigation for free.

As mentioned before, in this country, no matter how dirty and bloody the deals may be behind the scenes, the most untouchable red line is child safety.

At this moment, the anger in the hearts of people across the United States has been ignited, and rednecks in the southern states are spraying trucks full of cow and sheep manure on the gates of state governments.

The northern states have once again seen a wave of zero-dollar purchases.

The undocumented immigrants and working-class Black people in California appear to be the biggest beneficiaries of this upheaval.
For the people, the crimes revealed on the island were the most shocking. For a time, even the incident of Old Joe being beheaded in public was not mentioned by many people. The citizens' attention was focused on the children.

However, at the highest levels of government in this country, many political figures are paying attention to the exact opposite directions.

Early the next morning after the live broadcast ended, the White House Situation Room held an emergency meeting.

Almost all cabinet members in Washington were present, and those who were not present participated remotely via video call.

"We just received a message from Southern Command that they have not found any trace of Rorschach and his associates on the island." Defense Secretary Hudson put down the phone and said the news that no one present wanted to hear, his face expressionless.

Although they were already mentally prepared, everyone's faces darkened upon hearing the specific news.

At this moment, more than a dozen screens on the wall simultaneously displayed images of protests in different cities:
Crowds in front of the Capitol building held signs that read "Children are not toys".

Clips of Rorschach's live stream were playing on a loop on the giant screen in Times Square.

University students on the West Coast are burning scarecrows that symbolize cabinet members.

After watching in silence for a long time, the Black president raised his hand to signal his advisors to turn off the screen.

He glanced around at the cabinet ministers at the long table; everyone's expression was equally grim.

After all, it is unprecedented in history for the third most powerful person in a country to be executed live and die in front of a global audience.

"The whole country is burning because of Little St. James Island, Frank, can Congress keep it under control?" the President asked Underwood first.

Underwood, who usually wears a smile, now had a furrowed brow. "My members of Congress are not the problem. The problem is the mob in the streets holding up signs with blood-stained slogans. If we don't handle it properly, there could be an attack on Capitol Hill."

The defense minister solemnly proposed, "Then send the 82nd Airborne Division to the major cities and impose curfews. My men can control all the streets within three hours."

"Stop it, Hudson," the Treasury Secretary immediately objected. "Doing this will only cause the Dow Jones to fall another 3000 points! What the market needs now is a signal of stability, not martial law!"

"The key is the compensation for those children. This is something we must carefully manage. It's okay to pay more money, but we must satisfy public opinion. Holder, please keep an eye on this." The Black President looked at the Attorney General.

However, Holder, who had a close relationship with him in the past, merely nodded slightly upon hearing this, showing no desire to speak.

Seeing this, the President didn't have time to think too much and continued to instruct the Minister of Defense: "Using the regular army is a bit too serious. This time, the people's demonstrations and riots are all due to anger over the events on the island, which is understandable. Just use the National Guard to guard the surrounding area."

Just then, Holder suddenly spoke up.

“I recommend the establishment of a special prosecutor’s office, under which I will personally oversee the investigation into Little St. James’ Island. This is the only way to restore public trust.”

The air in the conference room suddenly froze.

The gazes of everyone around the long table toward Holder became strange and complicated.

"Holder, now is not the time to act impulsively."

The Defense Minister narrowed his eyes as he looked at the other man and said in a deep voice, "What's the difference between your actions and political suicide? Or do you think America isn't chaotic enough already, and you want to add fuel to the fire?"

It should be noted that almost every one of these cabinet leaders present had been invited to the island before. Even if Holder was willing to focus on the minor issues and let the major ones go, none of them wanted to put their reputation and future in the hands of someone else's whim.

Underwood suddenly laughed: "I think Secretary Holder's suggestion is quite constructive, as long as the special prosecutor is one of our people."

Holder frowned slightly, but before he could speak, his colleagues around him began to chime in, and they started to plan how to select a suitable puppet to investigate themselves.

The Minister of Justice, who had spent most of his life dealing with the law, sighed helplessly. At this moment, he was the only outsider in the conference room.

But Holder didn't feel lonely. On the contrary, at this moment he was extremely glad that he had refused their invitation to come to the island. At least compared to these guys, he could still be considered a person.

After finalizing the plan to deal with the protests and public opinion, the president asked again, "And the most important question is, how should we resolve Joe's situation?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

If it were any other time, and the Secretary of State were murdered, the entire country would declare a state of emergency, martial law would be imposed on the whole of Florida, and Rorschach, this terrorist, would be brought to justice as a warning to others.

But now.
Look at the protesters gathered outside; almost every one of them thinks Old Joe deserved to die, and many more think he died too easily and should have been torn to pieces.

This matter was far too complicated, and no matter how it was handled, one party would be dissatisfied. Therefore, for a time, everyone was at a loss and could only turn to the Minister of Justice, who was in charge of this matter.

Seeing everyone's attention on him, Holder pondered for a moment and offered a simple solution: "Let's let it cool down for now. After all, Rorschach had evidence during the live stream."

"That's not evidence!"

Defense Secretary Hudson jumped to his feet. "That's edited slander! Little St. James Island is a legitimate private resort, and those so-called children are all adult volunteers!"

"Ha ha."

Upon hearing this, Holder couldn't help but sneer, "Hudson, do you even believe that yourself? If you really think that way, why don't you go out there and repeat what you just said in front of the media cameras! I'm afraid you'll be ousted from the stage by the public's anger before Rorschach even has a chance to lift a finger!"

The Defense Minister glared angrily: "You..."

"Alright, gentlemen, what we need are solutions, not finger-pointing!"

The president took a breath and loosened his tie: "How to deal with Old Joe is the most important thing right now!"

Everyone fell into deep thought, and finally Underwood spoke first: "Now the whole world has seen what Old Joe did to the Children. Rorschach did have a legitimate reason for killing Old Joe, so we can't simply say to the public 'he killed a bad guy'."

The Defense Secretary retorted angrily, "A legitimate reason? He beheaded the Secretary of State live on air! That's an act of war!"

The group ignored what the guy said and continued their discussion.

Treasury Secretary Davis: "The market needs a stabilizing signal. I suggest the following statements: 1. Joe's personal actions are unrelated to the government; 2. The Department of Justice will thoroughly investigate all those involved on the island; 3. Rorschach is a cold-blooded killer, and incidentally link him to far-left organizations."

Holder couldn't help but say, "Releasing some of the investigation materials could alleviate the situation."

The president immediately interrupted, saying, "Frank, go and prepare a letter of condolence for Old Joe's family. Write it nicely."

He then turned to the crowd: "Listen, we're going to nail old Joe to the pillar of shame, but we must emphasize—only the law can judge him!"

Holder glanced at the president and said meaningfully, "The problem is that the law never tried him until Rorschach came along."

"Holder! This is not the time to discuss this!" the President shouted sternly, his dissatisfaction with the Attorney General now extremely intense. He himself had promoted the man to the ministerial position, yet the man had been constantly opposing him, his words and actions clearly indicating a lack of commitment.

Seeing this, Underwood raised an eyebrow without batting an eye. He coughed lightly and then said, "We need a way to divert attention now, such as—announcing new sanctions against the East?"

The female vice president, who had been completely invisible throughout the event, finally found an opportunity to speak: "Or we could first arrange for the president to meet with the victims' families to show that we are on the moral side."

Homeland Security Secretary Alexander added, "I suggest creating a more urgent threat, such as intelligence that 'Russian agents are funding Rorschach.'"

“There’s one more thing,” Underwood specifically suggested, “The council needs to strengthen security until Rorschach is captured.”

"No, we all need it. The Secret Service has partnered with the Department of Homeland Security, and tonight a team of highly trained agents will be providing close protection for everyone present."

The President then stood up and concluded the meeting with his final remarks: “Hudson, prepare the National Guard contingency plan. Alexander, continue tracking Rorschach. Underwood, prepare a statement condemning the violence but not making any specific accusations. Harry, contact media allies. Holder.”

He paused, then said, "Prepare a list of candidates for special prosecutor and submit it to me for review tomorrow."

The meeting, which took place in the White House Situation Room, finally ended. Apart from the President and Underwood, who still had matters to discuss, everyone else withdrew.

Outside the White House.

Jack, who had been waiting, saw Holder emerge with a gloomy expression and couldn't help but ask softly, "Did you two have a fight?"

"I'd rather argue with them!"

Holder shook his head. After getting into the car, he looked at Jack sitting in the passenger seat and lowered his voice, "Are you still in contact with Rorschach?"

“No, I haven’t seen him since we met at the Continental Hotel in New York,” Jack replied truthfully.

Holder sighed softly, "Although this kid is extreme and lawless, it seems that he has actually killed a good person."

Jack smiled and said, "That's a bit of a biased view. It's true that he was aiming his gun at criminals, but he also accidentally killed a lot of innocent people during the firefight. So, ultimately, it's not wrong to call him a criminal."

Holder didn't speak; his gaze was fixed on the brightly lit white house outside the window.

He thought to himself: Compared to real criminals, Rorschach seems more like a vigilante.

----------

Streets of New York.

Wearing an ordinary baseball cap and sunglasses, and holding a newspaper, Rorschach turned into a fast-food restaurant he frequented.

The newspapers these past two days have been filled with the same content, a deluge of reports about Little St. James Island.

Guest list, Children trafficking channels, Stan's situation in prison, the conspiracy behind Old Joe's death.
The only thing that worried him was the situation regarding the placement of those children.

Fortunately, just as he expected, after being "rescued" by the authorities, these children have become the focus of attention across the United States, and their safety is naturally not a problem.

The newspaper also featured a reward notice for him in the margins—three hundred million US dollars!
This number is simply appalling.

Luo Xia smiled slightly, folded the newspaper, snapped his fingers at the bar, and ordered an extra-large steak set meal.

There were only a dozen or so customers in the restaurant.

Sitting next to Rorschach was a dejected middle-aged man and an office worker in a suit reading a newspaper.

As the waiter approached with the tray, Luo Xia suddenly smiled thoughtfully.

He picked up his coffee cup and noticed that the emergency number 911 was scribbled on the coaster in black ink.

"boom!"

Gunshots rang out suddenly, and the entire restaurant was thrown into chaos instantly.

The middle-aged man next to him suddenly sprang to his feet, pulled a pistol from his pocket, and fired into the air: "Robbery! Don't move!"

The man in the suit on the other side also brandished a shotgun, roaring menacingly:
"Any of you who dares to mess with me will be fucking killed! I'll execute every motherf**king you last one!"

Luo Xia calmly took a sip of his coffee, then frowned.

too bitter.

It's not the full sugar I wanted.

But it doesn't matter, he has other seasonings.

"Crack!"

He acted with lightning speed, grabbing the man's wrist and twisting it. With a crisp cracking sound, the weapon fell to the ground.

Just as the shotgun-wielding man was about to turn his gun around, he was hit in the face by a flying pistol.

Rorschach stepped forward and snatched the shotgun with one hand, the whole movement flowing smoothly.

But after dealing with the two robbers, Rorschach's attention turned to the corner.

There, a long-haired man was watching him with great interest.

"Boring."

Luo Xia coldly sized up the other person and shook his head expressionlessly.

"The High Table? Or rather, some other low-level, shady organization?"

The long-haired man was visibly taken aback, then exaggeratedly spread his hands: "Don't you suspect we're from the Counterterrorism Bureau or the Department of Homeland Security?"

"Hahaha"

Rorschach couldn't help but laugh.

He casually pointed: "At budget fast food restaurants in Brooklyn, servers would never wear Jimmy Choo heels to work."

Pointing to the man in the suit, she said, "The stock market is closed on Sunday, but this gentleman is studying the stock price trend of the Commercial Times."

Finally, pointing to the "robber" groaning while clutching his wrist: "Not to mention amateur actors who use US military standard equipment like the M9A3 to commit robbery."

"Trust me, buddy."

Rorschach leaned forward. "If it were the Counterterrorism Bureau, three streets nearby would be blocked off by now, and armed helicopters would be flying overhead. Jack isn't as petty as you."

The long-haired man remained silent for a moment, then suddenly began to clap his hands nervously.

"clap clap"

He exclaimed, "No wonder he's a legendary criminal worth three hundred million dollars; he saw through our disguise in just one glance."

The long-haired man stood up, bowed slightly, and extended his hand in a gesture of goodwill, saying, "Gabriel Hill. We have a plan that requires someone of your caliber."

Rorschach sized up the pretentious fellow and suddenly chuckled.

"Now even stray dogs on the street think they're qualified to come and talk to me about cooperation?"

He turned and left, but Hill remained calm and composed, watching the departing figure with an air of confidence.

Just as Luo Xia was about to push open the door and leave, the crisp sound of high heels came from the kitchen.

A woman, whose hot and sexy figure couldn't be hidden even though she was wearing a coat, walked out gracefully: "Luo Xia, are you really not going to listen to what the plan is?"

Upon hearing this familiar voice, which hadn't been heard for many years, Luo Xia paused involuntarily as he pushed the door open.

He slowly turned around, and when he saw the woman not far away, biting her lip with captivating allure, he couldn't help but click his tongue:

"F*ck Me (Damn it)"

(End of this chapter)