Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

"You think I'm protecting Zhang Ziqian just to save face for that old bastard Zhang Zhaoqing?"

Wang Shijun shook his head, a fervent yet ruthless light flashing in his eyes.

"Zhang Ziqian himself is a rare 'key.' Under the influence of the tranquilizer type IV, there is a strong correlation between his physiological response patterns and extreme emotions. This is quite similar to Lin Zhenghua's conclusion about the extraordinary!"

As Wang Shijun took a step closer, an invisible sense of oppression spread out.

"The research value of such natural, highly active, and easily controlled living samples is beyond doubt! They are a shortcut for us to glimpse the rules of that new world, a living gold mine!"

"For this..." Wang Shiwei's voice trembled slightly, "it's acceptable to trample on the bottom line?"

"Bottom line?" Wang Shijun seemed to have heard a joke. "At the threshold of the new era, the only bottom line is 'mastering power.' In order to understand and ultimately master that power that transcends the rules, everything can be used, and every cost can be calculated."

He reached out and gently patted his sister's stiff shoulder, his movements tender, but his tone was utterly cruel.

"Zhang Ziqian was both a price to pay and a tool. As for Li Rui... he was just an unfortunate mantis that got stuck in front of the wheels."

"Shiwei, what you need to do is learn to observe, analyze, and control with the coldness of a scalpel, instead of getting caught up in those useless, cheap emotions."

"Remember your surname, remember your stance."

After saying this, Wang Shijun turned and walked into the inner room, no longer looking at her.

The room fell into a deathly silence, with only the faint buzzing of the city outside the window.

Wang Shiwei stood there, feeling as if all the blood in her body had turned cold.

Her brother's words were like a heavy hammer, shattering the last shred of hope in her heart.

She saw clearly how the gears meshed under that grand blueprint—it used the flesh and blood of the innocent as lubricant and evil as fuel.

And she herself is a cog in this machine.

She couldn't even refute her brother's talk of "the bigger picture," because she enjoyed all the glory and power that the family brought her.

She turned to look out the window.

The city was brightly lit, and the night view of Dawn City was breathtaking.

But beneath this beautiful scenery, in some corner of the city, what kind of heart-wrenching pain is Li Rui experiencing?

She remembered the young man who disarmed her with his bare hands, the fire in his eyes when he spoke of injustice, and his words in the coffee shop, "My battlefield is right here."

But Li Rui...

My battlefield is here too.

We were simply on opposite sides of the trenches.

As for me, I didn't even have the right to jump out of the trench.

In this vast and cold shadow, she felt an unprecedented loneliness.

Between her and Li Rui, there was not only the blood feud with Su Xiao, but also an entire dark world that she could neither betray nor escape.

------

On the fourth day after the incident, at 3 PM, in the sixth closed hearing room of the Chenxi Intermediate People's Court.

Li Rui sat in the stakeholder seat, dressed in dark casual clothes, with alarming dark circles under his eyes.

Those were the marks left by less than five hours of sleep accumulated over seventy-two hours.

His right hand was in his pocket, gripping the blood-stained flame brooch tightly.

The hard, sharp edges of the gemstone dug into his flesh, sending waves of pain through him; this was the only anchor that kept him conscious.

"Brother Rui..."

A soft murmur suddenly reached my ear, as if coming from the other side of the pillow, carrying the languor and longing of waking up in the morning.

Li Rui's pupils dilated slightly, and his breath caught in his throat for a moment.

"With such complete evidence this time, there's definitely no problem," the voice continued, gentle yet confident. "Look at Judge Zhou, he has a very upright appearance; he will uphold justice for us."

Li Rui did not turn around.

He knew it was an illusion, but he craved it.

He answered silently in his heart: Yes, Xiaoxiao.

The evidence is conclusive; there's no escaping it.

……

In the dock, Vice President Zhou Shouzhen sat in the center, his face solemn.

To his left was the “combative alliance” formed by Police Chief Zheng Guofeng and Prosecutor Lu Wenxuan;

On the right are Zhang Ziqian's lawyer and Sun Weimin, who has a professional fake smile on his face.

As for Zhang Ziqian...

He was wearing a large hospital gown, huddled in a chair, his expression docile and empty, his eyes fixed on a piece of wood grain on the table, and occasionally his body would twitch uncontrollably.

He looked like a pathetic wretch whose mind had been destroyed by psychiatric drugs.

"The applicant states his reasons." Zhou Shouzhen's voice echoed in the hall.

Lu Wenxuan stood up, his voice firm and resolute: "Your Honor, according to the latest evidence provided by the police, the respondent, Zhang Ziqian, clearly premeditated the crime before it occurred, including cutting off communications, falsifying his identity, and even carefully selecting the crime scene. All of this demonstrates that he had full capacity for recognition and control at the time of the crime. The factual basis upon which the original 'compulsory medical treatment' decision was based has been fundamentally changed!"

This strike went straight to the heart of the matter.

However, the lawyer opposite calmly adjusted his glasses: "Objection. Premeditated behavior is not the same as mental saneness. Schizophrenic patients, under the influence of delusions, can also exhibit meticulous logic. My client's 'intermittent mania' and 'persecution complex' have been confirmed by forensic psychiatry, and he is currently in a highly unstable recovery period."

The two sides exchanged barbs, engaging in a fierce verbal battle.

Time ticked by, and the situation reached a stalemate.

Li Rui noticed that Zhou Shouzhen, sitting in the middle, kept his eyes lowered, flipping through the files in his hands, rarely speaking, and refusing to make any contact with Zheng Guofeng's sharp gaze.

That evasive attitude was like a thorn piercing Li Rui's heart.

Why isn't he saying anything?

Xiaoxiao's voice came closer, "What is he looking at? Why is he afraid to look at you?"

Li Rui did not answer.

He stared intently at the open legal code on the judge's desk. Every word on it, which should have been a sword to slay demons and monsters, now seemed so pale and powerless.

The deadlock must be broken.

Zheng Guofeng and Lu Wenxuan exchanged a glance.

Lu Wenxuan took a deep breath, suddenly stood up again, and raised his voice eight octaves: "Your Honor! Given the significant discrepancy between the two parties regarding the respondent's current mental state, and considering the extremely negative social impact of this case, the prosecution and police jointly request—the immediate initiation of the provincial expert panel assessment procedure!"

Upon hearing this, the opposing lawyer's eyelids twitched violently.

"We have coordinated with Professor Chen Zupei, director of the Provincial Mental Health Center, and Professor He Qing, a leading authority in forensic medicine, who are currently on standby in the waiting room," Lu Wenxuan said, dropping his trump card. "If Zhang Ziqian is truly ill, what is there to fear from the on-site diagnosis of authoritative experts?"

This is a coup d'état.

This is also applying maximum pressure.

The opposing lawyer immediately protested: "This is a surprise attack! It doesn't follow procedure..."