Chapter 50: System court.

Liwu smiled at Manman. It was a gentle smile, like that of an angel and yet deep beneath, there were hints of a devil. “Miss Manman, I hope that you are happy with the help we are giving you.”

Manman looked at Weijun.

Liwu stood up and stretched. “I will be leaving now. Doctors, I expect to receive updates on every test that you do. Remember, keep testing until you receive an order from me to stop.” She picked up her bag and walked out of the room.

The sound of eager doctors started immediately after. It was not just eagerness to conduct tests but Liwu had promised a donation of one hundred million to the branch of the hospital that found the illness. It was money they all wanted.

“Liwu wait.” Weijun scrambled after her, yelling her name loudly.

She did not stop, not until she reached the elevator. Without turning to look at him, she asked coldly, “What do you want?”

Weijun clenched his fists. “Must you take things this far?”

The elevator doors opened and she stepped inside, joining a nurse and a patient whose eyes were red and swollen. He was a young man in his early twenties, holding some papers tightly, They looked like bills.

“Hi,” Liwu smiled at him. “You are probably here because you are ill. I don’t know what ails you but my husband would love to pay your hospital bills. Is that okay?”

The young man gasped.

Liwu pulled the bills from him and slapped them on her husband’s chest as if she wished to glue them there forever. They went straight to the accounting department and settled a bill of 760,000.

Weijun was hoping that this would be the end but when he saw Liwu looking around for more people in need of a financial savior, he knew it was not over by a long short. She would bleed his accounts dry if that was what it took to make him suffer for meddling in her case.

So, he made another decision after smiling at the young man that was sobbing and thanking them for the ninth time.

He threw Liwu over his shoulder and carried her out of the hospital like a sack of rice. Only when they reached his car did her stop. And still, it was only after ensuring that she was inside the car and the doors were closed.

“You need to quit this madness.” He snapped at her.

Liwu scoffed. “You snapped at me! You dare to snap at me!” She looked around, huffing angrily. “Hey, donkey’s ass, I am the only one here with a right to snap at anyone. You visited your mistress in the middle of the night and you messed up my case. I can ignore the first one but the second!!! Do you know how much of my credibility this is going to kill at the precinct? Nobody will want me on a case with you around because they will be around about it being screwed up.” Her voice kept climbing higher and higher.

Suddenly, a bolt of light appeared in the car and a man smiled at them through that light. Then, they vanished from the car and reappeared in a vast courtroom that shimmered with holographic light.

Liwu started adjusting her hair like it was any other day and this was normal.

Weijun on the other hand looked around nervously, “What—where are we?”

Liwu, already scanning the room for familiar faces muttered, “System court. This is where criminals that happen to be system hosts are tried and sentenced.”

Weijun’s jaw dropped. “There is such a thing! Wait, how do I not know this? Are system hosts aware?” He looked around in wonder. On one hand it looked like an ordinary courtroom but on the other, there were changes.

Six judges sat on an elevated dais, each cloaked in robes that were black, red and white. Their eyes were covered with glasses that glowed faintly with circuitry. Above them, on the wall, words were imprinted that read: “Judgement Systems: Trial in Session.”

People were walking into the courtroom and others were appearing out of similar bolts of light like the one that had delivered them.

Weijun blinked. “Judgement Systems? I have heard of these things but people say its all rumors. It is real….holy shit!”

Judgement systems eliminated most emotional pleas and strictly evaluated the crime basing on logic. Such systems chose hosts in a similar line of work, but they had to be cold by nature, not easily swayed.

“Why are we here?” Weijun whispered to Liwu as a bailiff ordered for everyone to sit down.

“I am testifying.” Liwu smirked. “I am a cop with the SOB. Have you forgotten?”

The courtroom settled down and the accused appeared in the center in a bolt of light. He was dressed in prison yellow, his hands and feet chained. Around his neck was another device that looked like a shock collar. He was a wiry man with grin too wide and eyes too small.

The lead judge’s voice boomed. “Lin Tian you stand here accused of six counts of murder. You invented devices that turned your escape room into death traps. Six people have died under this ’fear simulator,’ their bodies mutilated almost beyond recognition.”

The judge’s voice was metallic yet oddly theatrical.

Weijun blinked. What case was this? This was the kind of story that made national news and he had not seen or heard about it. Six people murdered by a system host!!! “The Bureau really knows how to bury things.” he muttered.

“Detective Tai Liwu, you are the last witness called to testify.”

Liwu stepped forward, her boots echoing on the polished floor. She sat down in the assigned box just below the judges and faced the crowd.

“Is it true that you survived Lin Tian’s death trap?”

“Yes,” Liwu leaned forward. “Barely.”

Weijun was astounded. By barely, did she mean that she had almost died? Why hadn’t she mentioned this to him?

“We were investigating a case and I went undercover into the escape room personally. I was there with a couple, the last two victims of Lin Tian. I tried to save them but unfortunately, I failed. The devices restrained us and forced us to relive our worst memories and fears, plunging us into nightmares. We were bombarded with questions and puzzles that were impossible to answer. The only way to be released was to allow a puppet that Lin Tian created stab us. After being stabbed, we would be moved to another device and the experience was the same.

As everyone knows, I have bad luck and on that day, it worked in opposite. After killing off the couple, it was my turn but the puppet glitched and the devices were overloaded so I was set free. But of course, I did not get away unharmed. Lin Tian was determined to kill everyone in the escape room so he personally entered the room and stabbed me.”

The judges leaned forward. “Is there proof?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep