Being a senior agent in the Federation Investigation Bureau wasn't a job that everyone envied because it was too dangerous.
The Bailey Federation wasn't a country that strictly controlled firearms. This new country was built by a group of pirates and fallen nobles. When it was first established, everyone had a sense of plunder and vigilance in their bones. The legal possession of firearms and the use of weapons to protect themselves and their property was written into the constitution at the very beginning.
Since the founding of the Federation, there had been several large debates about the issue of firearms. But in the end, the gun-owning party won the final victory. Many people actually knew that the gun-banning party wouldn't succeed.
Because behind these discussions, there were more than ten chemical companies and military enterprises supporting the gun-owning party.
The proliferation of weapons in society made every mission more terrifying. Every mission had to be faced with a choice of fate.
Because no one knew whether they were going to face those cowards who didn't even dare to look you in the eye when they spoke, or those thugs who would suddenly pull out a gun and pull the trigger without hesitation.
From the cause of these cases, from the appearance of these people, no one could accurately tell!
So every agent had a lot of pressure. If they didn't want to become crazy, they had to find some way to vent these negative emotions.
But whether it was drinking, indulging, or going through psychological counseling, it all required a lot of money.
No matter how high their income was, they had ways to spend all their money. And they didn't think it was a big deal. It was all for a better life.
The hedonism of carpe diem was the first to spread among these high-pressure people. They enjoyed some special rights through their jobs and salaries.
Loans with lower interest rates, bills with longer installments. This kind of life made them sink into it and unable to extricate themselves.
In order to gain more profits from these people, many financial companies, including banks, used various methods to trap their current and future income. They were happy to do so.
But they had to wake up from the dream. When the economy was good, there were no problems. Various companies wouldn't force a senior agent to pay back the money. They would only let the senior agent not feel the huge financial pressure and let them live in the beautiful dream that society weaved for them.
Until the financial tsunami came, many companies suffered huge losses. These losses couldn't be solved by the board of directors who only knew how to eat, drink, and play.
The only effective way was to shift the losses to others.
The senior agent sitting in front of Lynch was being chased by at least three financial institutions and a bank. His monthly salary was divided among these people before he could even see it.
There were also some goods suppliers who couldn't get the installments. They had already sent a notice that if he couldn't pay the installments before January 1st, these people would take back some of the goods and even apply to the court to auction off his goods.
Everything took a turn for the worse overnight. What made him even more exhausted was that all the money in his account at the Exchange had evaporated. That was all his savings over the past ten years, although it wasn't a lot.
The two looked at each other for a moment, and the agent nodded slightly. "I can't guarantee what I'll provide …" He meant that if he were to provide any information to Lynch, he would have the upper hand.
He would have the final say on what he wanted to say, not Lynch. He didn't want to be led by the nose by this young man. This might be his last, insignificant pride.
Lin Qi smiled. His smile always made people let down their guard. "Of course. As I said, there are no restrictions or contracts between us. In fact, our relationship is more like a cooperation between two parties. We trade things that we are interested in."
The agent nodded. That was what he wanted to say.
The two were silent for a few seconds, and then Lynch asked the first question. "What's the real purpose of your complaint against Mr. Gap?"
The agent was silent for a moment before giving a very official answer. "He's suspected of a sexual assault and abuse case. There's no other purpose."
Perhaps it was the first time he was working with a businessman, so the agent's reaction wasn't direct enough.
Actually, it was obvious that a normal sexual assault case wouldn't alert the Federation Bureau of Investigation unless it caused a huge social impact or someone was killed.
Otherwise, it would be the work of the police. However, this time, not only did the police come, the Bureau of Investigation came as well. This was not a small case. The agent was not telling the truth.
Lynch didn't show any displeasure or displeasure from the perspective of the dominant party just because the agent didn't say anything. He only took out a fifty-cent coin from his pocket, placed it on the table, and pushed it over.
The sound of the coin rubbing against the hardened surface of the table attracted the agent's attention. Even though the lighting was not bright enough, his eyes were glued to the coin.
However, he didn't move. After he observed for a while and confirmed that there was no other meaning, he looked at Lynch curiously. His eyes were filled with confusion like he was asking, "What's the meaning of this?"
Lin Qi explained his confusion. "Your answer is only worth 50 points. The newspaper will give a more detailed account of what happened."
This sentence angered the agent immediately. He frowned and glared at Lynch. Lynch didn't show any fear or anything like that. He still maintained his smile.
"This is a deal. You give and receive."
"You give me what I want, then I'll give you what you want. If that's all you can give me, then you're only worth fifty points. Do you understand what I mean?"
There were different ways to treat different people. For someone like Feral, his request was simple, and he was willing to put down his pride. As long as Lynch became an important person, Feral would surround him and contribute his own strength.
This agent still hadn't figured out his own value. He was still thinking that his skin was actually worthless and didn't have much power, but it made him feel superior.
Lin Qi had exposed his true colors. There was nothing special about him!
After the anger, the agent slowly calmed down. Sometimes, one had to lower one's head for something else.
He lowered his eyes, and the anger was gone. "We don't want Christopher to leave so easily. We've been looking for loopholes. Mr. Gap has been working for Christopher. We believe he has some important information.
"If he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison, the only way is to cooperate with us!"
Lynch was very satisfied with the agent's answer. He took out a cash check and quickly signed the amount of two hundred RMB. He also signed his own name and pushed it over. "It's worth this price."
Two hundred RMB. In the past, the agent wouldn't have cared about this amount of money, but now, even fifty RMB would be considered good, much less two hundred.
He was silent for a moment, then he picked up the check and stuffed it into his pocket. Then he asked in a slightly sarcastic and provocative tone, "Should I say 'thank you very much for your generosity'?"
Lynch laughed out loud. "If you want to say it, I won't object. But don't expect me to pay more just because you put me in a good mood."
He paused and then asked, "If Mr. Gap cooperates with you, will he go to jail?"
The agent nodded without hesitation. "That's obvious. He won't be pardoned just because he cooperated with us. The authority of this case isn't enough to alert the higher-ups to use the Special Clause to pardon his crimes.
"However, if he can cooperate with us more actively, his positive performance will make the judge stand on his side. He might be sentenced to less than ten years."
In the Federation, the prison term was divided by ten years. Those who were sentenced to more than ten years were felons. These people were going to a felon's prison, and it was not a fun place.
Those who were sentenced to less than ten years would be in a normal regional prison. Although they had to work every day and were squeezed until they had no extra energy, at least it was not too bad.
According to the information they had so far, if Gap did not cooperate with their work, they could easily send him to a felon's prison.
In that kind of place, with the crime of violating, abusing, and enslaving women, he might not be able to leave the prison alive.
Every year, the Federation government allowed a certain number of deaths in the prison. However, most of the time, these people died of various diseases. These diseases made them look like they had suffered inhumane abuse, but in fact, it was just an external manifestation of the disease.
This society was sometimes very funny. In a place full of crime, there was a group of people who had lost their freedom because of crime. Most of them strictly followed some kind of universal values. It was funny, but not funny at the same time!
Lynch wrote another check for two hundred dollars. When he was writing, the agent's eyes were fixed on the checkbook in Lynch's hand.
Suddenly, he realized what kind of emotion the robbers had when they robbed. It was a kind of temptation, a kind of greed, and an uncontrollable urge.
As long as he had this checkbook and imitated Lynch's handwriting, he could easily get a few thousand dollars or more in cash.
He took a big gulp from the beer bottle to quench the urge. Then he looked at the two hundred dollars that Lynch pushed over.
Suddenly, he did not feel like this was an unbearable process anymore.
He thought of many things at that moment. He thought of the rumors that had been circulating among his colleagues about who was taking dirty money.
He thought of the villa that the director had just bought. With the director's salary, he could not afford this kind of expense. Even though he said he bought it in installments and even used a loan, the agent knew that things were not that simple.
He found many excuses for himself, but at that moment, his guilt was not as great as before.
The sense of guilt was not as strong, and it even made him feel more at ease when he accepted the money.