The villain daughter did all kinds of things

“I am Amelie’s friend, and I have something to discuss with your chief.”

At the police station entrance, Yulia hesitated for a moment before finally showing her business card to the officer guarding the door.

"Okay, please come in, I'll take you upstairs."

The police officer at the gate glanced at the business card, then ushered Yulia inside and led her respectfully toward the chief's office.

"...Aren't you afraid I'm an imposter?"

When Yulia was halfway there, she couldn't help but ask.

She had indeed heard that federal police, like gangs, were mostly lackeys of capitalists. But the idea that one could casually meet the police chief simply by presenting a capitalist's business card was still somewhat unimaginable to her.

"No one can, and no one dares to."

The policeman who led the way simply smiled, showing no disdain for Yulia whatsoever, and remaining consistently respectful towards her.

"The business card in your hand is actually a magical artifact, developed by the Melson family, and used as a token of authority for various powerful and influential figures. Not only is this type of business card difficult to counterfeit, but it can also be sensed by the owner at any time, making it easy to collect or destroy remotely."

"In other words, if you're not the young lady's friend, even if you get this business card, it's completely useless. In fact, if someone finds the business card and tries to use it for malicious purposes, they could very well be killed by having their throat slit by the card."

"The fact that you brought this business card to the bureau is proof of your distinguished status... The bureau chief is free right now, please come in, I won't disturb you any longer."

After leading Yulia to the door of Viktor's office, the policeman left without giving Yulia a chance to ask any more questions.

Julia stood at the office door for another half a minute with a complicated expression before taking a deep breath, clutching Emerald's business card, and going inside.

Fatty Wei received Yulia with great enthusiasm, showering her with concern and offering her tea and water. Yulia was momentarily confused, unsure of who the real director was and who was just a commoner seeking his help.

"It's like this, Director..."

You can't hit someone who's smiling, and even though she knew that Fatty Wei was probably no good, Julia was still quite polite to him.

"I have a friend who owns a restaurant..."

"Your friend is my friend, and also a friend of Locke City."

Before Yulia could finish speaking, Fatty Wei patted his belly and took full responsibility:

"No matter what trouble he's in, you can trust the federal police!"

"...He has no chance anymore."

Yulia was silent for a few seconds before she smiled bitterly and told him about the fire, hoping that Fatty Wei could mobilize the police to investigate the truth as soon as possible, and that she would follow up on the whole process herself.

Of course, Fatty Wei wouldn't refuse. He immediately issued a summons and led more than 20 police officers and Yulia back to the fire scene.

The ethical standards of federal police officers remain debatable, but the professional competence of many officers is certainly not in question.

The investigation conducted by Fat Vieira and his men was far more efficient than Yulia's own investigation.

Within hours, everything about the fire was investigated and the perpetrators were arrested.

Contrary to Yulia's expectations, this was not a conspiracy; it was a complete accident, a tragedy born of impulsive crime.

The prisoner was originally just an ordinary person, working as a boiler operator in a small workshop. Apart from liking to drink, he had no other problems.

The day before yesterday, while he was eating at that restaurant, he had a few words with the restaurant owner because of the high price of a certain dish, and he was quite angry.

Later, he became angrier and angrier. After drinking a few glasses of wine, he became even angrier and impulsively made a few simple Molotov cocktails and set the restaurant on fire.

There were traces of Molotov cocktail manufacturing in the prisoner's home that had not yet been cleaned up, and there were also eyewitnesses who saw him throwing Molotov cocktails into the restaurant before the fire. The evidence was irrefutable.

Unwilling to give up, Yulia urged the police to continue their investigation, hoping to uncover any deeper conspiracy behind the perpetrator, but to no avail.

The criminal had a clean record before, and this crime was committed on a whim after drinking. He himself admitted to it and seemed very remorseful.

"how so……"

This result was hard for Yulia to believe, and she felt deeply guilty.

If this incident was the product of a conspiracy, Yulia could comfort herself by saying that she had been careless and that she could thwart the conspiracy and avenge the victims of the fire.

But this was just an accident, without any conspiracy, which left Yulia very disappointed.

If she can't even protect an ordinary restaurant, how can she protect more people?

What should we do if something similar happens again? Should we just stay near the restaurant indefinitely? But what about the pregnant woman who needs immediate medical attention?

Yulia was very conflicted.

Then, during the interrogation of the prisoner, one of the prisoner's remarks dealt Yulia a fatal blow.

That was just a simple question asking about the motive for the crime:

"You must have had arguments with others while eating at restaurants before, right? Why didn't you think of attacking the restaurant with a Molotov cocktail then?"

"I wouldn't dare, and I probably couldn't do it."

The prisoner answered very frankly:

"Those kinds of restaurants almost always have gang members in charge of security. Someone like me, who's been drinking and planning to cause trouble, would probably be spotted as soon as I get close. It'd be hard for me to succeed; I'd just end up getting beaten up by those thugs for nothing."

"And that restaurant... I heard about it a few days ago when I was drinking at the tavern. The restaurant owner stopped paying protection money to the Baihe Gang, so there are no thugs guarding the place anymore."

"There's no need to be afraid if there are no thugs guarding the place. I had drunk a lot of alcohol to vent my anger at the time, and in a moment of impulsiveness, I ended up... sigh."

Yulia didn't listen in on the rest of the interrogation; she couldn't hold back anymore and went back to the magic workshop, where she hugged her pillow and cried her heart out.

Chapter 43 Emerald's Series of Schemes (XIV)

To become the heroine of a story, a tenacious character is essential, and Yulia in the original game possesses just that. She cries when she's sad or upset, and screams when she's defeated or bullied, but she always recovers after crying and screaming, facing everything with a cheerful smile.

It's hard to say whether Yulia is still the protagonist of the world, but her personality remains resilient. After crying her eyes out all night in the magic workshop, she managed to adjust her mindset to a fairly good degree.

Yulia felt largely responsible for the tragedy at that restaurant.

If she hadn't been so protective of her reputation and unwilling to get too involved with the gang, letting others know that the restaurant was protected, perhaps the arsonist wouldn't have dared to launch the attack while drunk.

Or perhaps, if Yulia hadn't interfered in the first place, the restaurant owner might have been troubled by protection money, but with the Shirakawa gang's thugs guarding the place, such impulsive crimes would have been much less likely to succeed. Those gang thugs might not be good at other things, but they're very professional and effective at intimidating ordinary people.

But does this mean it's perfectly justified for gangs to collect protection money from street-side shops? Those shops clearly pay taxes to the federal government, so why don't the police protect them? Wouldn't it be more effective to have more police patrolling at night than having gang thugs guard the premises?

Yulia couldn't quite understand this question.

She plans to ask someone who should know the answer.

After taking a shower and changing into a new, odorless outfit, making sure that yesterday's embarrassment and frustration had gone down the drain with the hot water, Julia left the magic workshop and went to visit Emeryte at her home, carrying her business card.

Amérite could actually receive Julia at any time, but in order not to let Julia mistakenly think that she valued her, Amérite deliberately left Julia waiting in the living room for most of the day before meeting her, using the excuse that she was busy with work.

During the wait, Yulia did not show any impatience. Her attitude remained serious and sincere. She did not seem like a young woman visiting a friend, but rather a student who had encountered difficulties and came to her teacher for guidance.

"Weren't you always busy being a hero in the city? What brings you here to see me today?"

With the clatter of high heels on the floor, Emerald finally appeared in Julia's sight with Maxie, her smile casual:

"Or do you want to see Marcy hatch chicks with her bare hands again?"

"It's certainly interesting how the maid hatched the chicks with her bare hands, but I'm here today to discuss some issues with you, Miss President..."

Julia first echoed her words, then stood up and looked earnestly at Emerald, hoping she would nod in agreement.

To her surprise, she saw a hint of annoyance in Emerald's eyes.

"Miss President?"

Emery snorted coldly:

"Miss President has already left work. Please come back tomorrow if you need anything... However, it's highly unlikely that you'll have time tomorrow either, as my schedule is already booked for a month from now. Marcy, please see her out."

"Yes, Miss!"

Marcy obediently responded, then gave Julia a gloating smile before gesturing for her to leave.

"Let's go, Julia, I'll see you to the door."

"sorry!"

Julia bowed deeply to Emerald without hesitation, and even seemed to have figured out that an apology required showing some cleavage to appear sincere:

"I don't know what I did to upset you, but I'm willing to apologize. Please make sure you have time to talk to me. I have a very important question that needs to be answered; it's a major life event!"

"……snort."

Emerald carefully considered Julia's sincerity for a few seconds before pursing her lips:

"I thought we were already friends... and my friends all call me Emerald. Now, Emerald only accepts visits and heart-to-heart talks from friends. The CEO has already left work."

"Uh……"

Julia was somewhat surprised that Emerald was angry over such a trivial matter. While both amused and relieved, she quickly bowed her head again sincerely.

“I have a question I’d like to ask you, Emerald… This is a question that only a great person could answer for me, and you are the greatest person among my friends.”

"That's right."

Emery smiled with satisfaction, then waved to Marcy, who was pouting slightly:

"Go get Sisi, bring her some snacks and drinks, and then let's listen to what troubles our heroine of Locke City has to offer."

"How could I be considered a hero..."

Julia smiled wryly and accepted Emerald's arrangement.

Soon, the two sat facing each other at a tea table in the villa. After bringing over snacks and milk tea, Marcy stood behind Emerald.

"Here's what happened... Ahm ahm!"

Yulia, who hadn't eaten for almost a day because she was in a bad mood, didn't hold back. She grabbed a piece of soft cake and stuffed it into her mouth while recounting what had happened.

After explaining everything about the restaurant, the fire, and her thoughts on the gang, Yulia stretched while sipping her milk tea.

“Was I wrong this time, Emerald? If I hadn’t gotten involved in the protection money issue in the first place, would those victims of the fire have survived? But why should legitimate businessmen who have already paid taxes to the federal government have to pay protection money to gangs? It’s not fair!”

"Hmm, I think I understand what you mean, Julia."

Emerald listened patiently to Julia's story, then gracefully held her teacup, her legs, encased in black stockings, crossed over each other, and smiled.

"Simply put, Yulia, you acknowledge the role of gang thugs in protecting property, but you also feel that the existence of gangs is inherently unjust or immoral, which is why you're confused, right?"

"Um...more or less."

Julia frowned slightly, but still agreed with Emeryte's summary.

"This problem... is actually quite simple."

Amelie smiled and took a few more sips of her milk tea.

“Yulia, you’ve been overthinking a lot of things, but you’ve overlooked the most crucial point.”

"Which point?"

Yulia asked hurriedly, staring at Ameliete eagerly, wanting to find an answer, but her gaze kept falling involuntarily on Ameliete's crossed black stockings, and she subconsciously swallowed.

"money."

Emery shrugged, and her crossed legs in black stockings shifted position:

“Yulia, you just said that we can completely replace gang thugs by increasing police patrols at night, right? But do you know that according to federal law, police officers are paid three times more for night patrols than for day patrols? Who will pay for that?”

Chapter 44 Emerald's Series of Schemes (Fifteen)

"Huh? Money?"

Yulia was dumbfounded.

She hadn't really thought about this before, but now she quickly seemed to have a sudden realization:

"So, the gang thugs guarding the premises at night are essentially the same as police patrols, except they don't have to pay triple wages? If the federal police really increase their presence and patrol 24 hours a day, the taxes that businesses have to pay could very well be higher than the protection money?"

“You understood it very quickly, didn’t you, Julia?”

Emery smiled and nodded, then continued:

"If you, Yulia, had observed carefully, you would have noticed that most of the shops that require protection money operate at night. Shops that only operate during the day generally do not require protection money, unless the shop's business is quite unique."

"Furthermore, Julia, who do you think is most likely to pose a danger to those street-side shops? Is it gang thugs? Actually, no."

“Gangs are indeed criminal groups that breed in the dark, but even darkness and evil have their order. Gangs generally pursue long-term income and they won’t do things that kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. So they will not only not affect the business of those shops, but will even provide help and protection when necessary.”

"The real threat to those stores is actually like this arsonist. Maybe they're short of money and want to rob the store, maybe they're attracted to the female clerks and want to force themselves on them, or maybe, like what happened to you, someone just got into a verbal altercation with a clerk and then, emboldened by alcohol, launched an arson attack."

"These crimes committed in the heat of the moment without regard for the consequences are the biggest threat to the property and safety of those street shops. And gang thugs are often more effective and deterrent than federal police in dealing with these criminals."

"Most ordinary people are terrified of gang members. Even lone thieves often prefer to be chased by the police rather than offend the local gang. Because what bad guys fear most is never good people or the police, but bad guys who are stronger than them."

"..."