Asked you to write a book, not to confess your criminal record!

She continued to ask, "What happened, was there an immediate judgement, did Lin Chuan appeal for a second trial?"

Suddenly!

Yu Qin's smile froze on her face, her brows furrowed, and she slowly turned her head to look at Lucas.

Lucas was smiling, but when he met Yu Qin's gaze, he sensed something was amiss, his expression changed, and he asked, "Yu, what's happened?"

"We lost."

Yu Qin's mouth slightly agape, she incredulously uttered these four words.

"Ah?"

Lucas's eyes widened, he felt a buzzing in his ears as if he hadn't heard clearly, and he quickly confirmed again, "We lost?"

Yu Qin did not answer, her face filled with confusion.

"How could we lose?" Lucas repeatedly asked, "Could the Anling Court dare disregard international public opinion and blatantly favor, oh no, protect Lin Chuan? This is a grave taboo!"

Initially, they had invested a significant amount of money and hired countless paid commentators to ensure the topic 'Web Novel Writer Lin Chuan Infringes Sania Weapons Company Rights' had a very high level of discussion.

It was all to exert pressure on the court with international public opinion.

But now?

They received news that they lost?

Lucas could hardly believe it!

Thump thump thump!

Just as the two in the office had fallen silent and hadn't yet managed to contemplate further, the sound of knocking rushed into their ears, very urgent.

Outside, stood his secretary, dressed in a fetching OL outfit that emphasized her curvy frame, with long legs in black stockings, especially pleasing to the eye yet equally draining.

However,

Lucas saw her but felt inexplicably irritable and snapped, "Don't you see I'm busy?"

"General manager! Urgent!!!"

The secretary did not back down from Lucas's imminent outburst, instead, she continued reporting.

She knew if she didn't report this matter timely, her job would pretty much be over, and she might also suffer torment from Lucas.

"What is it, quickly!" Lucas waved his hand impatiently.

"It's... it's about Steve." The secretary, looking at Lucas who was on the brink of exploding, said nervously, "After the court session ended, Steve was taken away."

"What?!"

Both Yu Qin and Lucas almost simultaneously turned, their piercing gazes shooting towards the secretary as if to devour her.

The secretary immediately shrank back, her throat dry, "Steve was taken away by special police!"

Yu Qin stood up immediately and walked quickly to the secretary, knocking over the champagne on the desk in the process, shattering the glass all over the floor.

She asked directly, "Where did you get this information?"

Lucas followed immediately, leaping over the couch, demanding from the secretary, "You better clarify immediately, your source of information, and the full details of the incident!"

The secretary, intimidated by their presence, stiffly handed over the tablet she had been holding all along, "Here... it's here."

Lucas snatched the tablet.

The tablet wasn't turned off, a video was playing on it.

Yu Qin ignored the secretary, her eyes fixed intensely on the video.

In the video, large yellow letters on the screen — Plaintiff in Web Writer Copyright Infringement Case Suspected of Stealing Tech Results from the National Weapons Research Institute, Its Representative Taken Away on the Spot!

In between was the visual footage.

A spirited middle-aged man stood to the right in front of a special police van, holding a microphone with 'Anling Daily' written on it.

A young girl's voice came through, "I am An Yang from Anling Daily, I would like to interview you about Steve's arrest, may I?"

"Yes," the middle-aged man answered.

"Leader, thank you for accepting the interview during your busy schedule. Steve, as the plaintiff in the 'Web Writer Copyright Infringement Case', does he have criminal behavior?" the young girl's voice came again.

The leader, smiling, said, "Sania Weapons Research Company, suspected of collaborating with hacker organization AW, broke into the National Weapons Research Institute's internal network, carrying out a six-year theft of technological research achievements, so, we will have Steve come with us to assist in the investigation."

The video ended there.

Yu Qin's eyes looked vacantly at Lucas.

Lucas, almost as if in sync, stared blankly back at Yu Qin.

Their minds both blanked for a moment.

Sania had broken into the National Weapons Research Institute's internal network, committing a six-year theft of technological research achievements?

This!

What on earth was this about?

Yu Qin grabbed the tablet, watching it over and over again, watched it no fewer than ten times, still feeling as though it was all a dream.

The plot had shifted too quickly for her.

Just two minutes before, she had been lamenting that Lin Chuan could not become their ally, that Lin Chuan was doomed to be her enemy, that Lin Chuan had lost the court case and was headed for irrecoverable ruin.

But then!

A phone call, a video.

Simple text and sound had yanked her from her cushy clouds, straight onto the ground, smashing her into the scorching interior of a volcano, burning her body.

And even then, a meteor had struck from the sky, hitting her right in the chest, making it impossible to catch a breath.

For a moment.

Yu Qin felt her heart had stopped.

She numbly held the tablet, moving past the tea table like a zombie, just as Steve had been taken away, and returned to the sofa.

Lucas too was in a complicated mental state, his thoughts a tangled mess of yarn, completely clogging his mind, leaving no room for clear thinking.

Suddenly!

It seemed he had stepped on something; his foot slipped and he lunged forward heavily.

Thud!

He dropped to his knees.

Fortunately, his hands caught the tea table, preventing his head from smashing down.

If it had, he might have turned into an idiot.

Or at the very least, suffered a concussion.

His head was saved, but his knee was in a terrible state!

"Ah!"

Lucas's scream echoed in the office, half-opened champagne, due to the sudden mishap caused by Yu Qin's hurried actions, now had him slipping, kneeling on the ground, a shard of glass the size of a thumb tip half-buried in his knee.

He held his knee, gritting his teeth.

The pain was nearly enough to make him pass out.

The secretary quickly called someone to help treat Lucas's wound.

The office was in complete disarray.

The clamorous noise was driving Yu Qin insane.

She plunged her hands into her hair, ferociously scratching a few times, and due to continuous overnight work, some hairs wound around her fingers and came loose.

"How could Karl not contact me about such a big matter?" Yu Qin muttered in a daze.

In their trio.

Lucas had injured his knee, and only Karl, who was under cover at Han River in Anling as '720', remained. Logically, he should have contacted her.

Yu Qin's frown deepened, a line forming between her brows.

After thinking for a moment.

She picked up her phone again and dialed Karl's number.

The phone delivered a chilling message to her ears; "The number you have dialed is out of service area..."

Yu Qin and Karl always secured their communication heavily, rarely letting anyone track them through their encrypted communications.

But if one party disabled it, the call wouldn't go through.

Under what circumstances would Karl disable it?

When he was in danger!

At that moment, Yu Qin's heart sank.

An ominous premonition violently rose from the depths, a chill shooting up from the soles of her feet, flooding her mind and spreading throughout her body, making her shiver suddenly despite the warm weather.

"Can't reach Karl?" Lucas asked through clenched teeth.

"He might be in trouble too," Yu Qin said with a grave face.

"Take it easy!" Lucas cursed at the doctor treating his wound, then said, "Find out about Karl's situation immediately. We can't afford any more incidents with him!"

Yu Qin didn't respond.

Wasn't that obvious?

Her movements and speech quick, she moved to a corner of the office and made four or five phone calls in quick succession, like issuing a Martial World Hit Order, all aimed at finding out Karl's current status.

After a while.

A message came back.

— Karl had been taken away by the police, accused of engaging in spy activities.

Yu Qin collapsed onto the sofa with a thud, drained, her lips parched, feeling as if her soul had been ripped from her body.

One piece of bad news after another, she was nearly driven mad!