Chapter 392: Losing the Initiative in the First Trial (Two-in-One)

Crocodile was ninety-four years old this year.

He was at the Sixth Tier. Because his crocodile genes held him back, he could expect to live for a hundred and fifty or sixty years at most.

He had become an intern lawyer at fourteen, finally earned his full license at twenty-four, and owned his own law firm by forty-four.

At fifty-four, he was already making a fortune and had even opened a chain of law firms.

Everything seemed to be flourishing.

But that same year, an incident suddenly made him abandon his professional philosophy and become an Anthill lawyer instead.

Thus, by the time he turned sixty-four, he was completely destitute.

His young wife, who had shared his bed for over a decade, took a sum of money he gave her and left. After that, he ran around the Anthill alone.

Ten years ago, he paused his legal work to study various political topics, leading up to the present.

He was a complete idiot.

That was Papa Rat's assessment of him.

You wouldn't even think such a person could exist in reality. For the first half of his life, he had been an unscrupulous rogue pettifogger who took any case and used any means necessary.

Back then, whenever small businesses in Muke District ran into trouble, they would line up at his door begging for exoneration. The law was his weapon, as well as his toy.

But in the latter half of his life, he essentially abandoned every dirty trick he had learned. He shifted his clientele from guys whose pockets were so stuffed that money spilled out when they walked, to paupers who didn't even own a home.

His win rate in court dropped significantly, but the litigation success rate for Anthill residents soared.

Of course, even when he won, he barely made any money.

A few rotting, all-natural bananas or a decent crate of Happy Water were the best things those guys could offer.

Whenever he faced their guilty expressions, he would smile smugly. "It's fine, it's fine. If I were in it for the money, I wouldn't have taken the case."

"Just live a good life."

Mr. Good Life.

That was the nickname the Anthill gave him.

At this moment, Papa Rat looked at the man across from him—this "Mr. Good Life" who was looking down, adjusting his tie, too guilty to meet his eyes. His gaze was complex.

Finally, he sighed. "What do you think I'm worried about? If you can't even recite the legal statutes on the stand later, I'll seriously kill you, Crocodile."

"Oh, don't worry!"

Crocodile chuckled foolishly, knowing his old friend had agreed. Excited, he reached out a claw and tapped Papa Rat's right shoulder.

"It's time to show these little brats the professional standards of a lawyer."

"Relax and watch my performance."

With that, Crocodile strode confidently toward the courtroom doors.

Papa Rat looked at Crocodile's suit—which clearly no longer fit due to his weight gain—and his eyes flickered. Then, he walked to another corner in the distance, reached out a claw, and dragged a figure holding a Video Camera out from behind the wall.

"Did you get it?"

"I got it, Boss."

The figure looked at Papa Rat, not daring to breathe.

"Later, regardless of whether we win the first trial, release this video. Make sure my face is blurred."

Papa Rat spoke softly.

"Understood."

The figure nodded heavily, gave a salute, and hurried away.

Papa Rat sighed. Leaning against the wall, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and placed it in his mouth.

He wasn't suited for hot-blooded plots, nor was he cut out for tear-jerking life-and-death farewells. He was a rat.

Rats always did the dirtiest, most despicable things. They always belonged in the dark of the sewers.

A rat never did things that made it uncomfortable—like giving up everything for the sake of others. That was exactly why he thought Crocodile was an idiot.

But some things simply had to be done by fools, not by rats.

Once he finished his cigarette, he walked into the courtroom.

The trial was just beginning. The judge had finished reading the courtroom rules: no audio or video recording, no accessing databases during the trial, and no connecting to external networks. All evidence had to be prepared in advance, and if new evidence arose, a request had to be made to the judge...

"Victory Court is now holding a public trial in accordance with the law regarding the environmental pollution dispute between the plaintiffs, all residents of Victory Anthill District Four, and the defendant, Nuochen Biotech. This case is subject to summary procedure, by a jury... The involved parties have the right to request a recusal."

"The reading of the indictment will now commence—"

Naturally, the indictment detailed the Anthill residents' accusations regarding the harm Nuochen Biotech's environmental pollution had caused to the inhabitants of Victory Anthill District Four.

—

"The defense may now make a statement regarding the criminal facts alleged in the indictment."

"Yes, Your Honor."

The lawyer standing in front of the factory director rose, cleared his throat, and began to speak fluently.

He responded to all the accusations listed in the indictment one by one.

To sum it up in one phrase—complete denial.

Aside from admitting that their sewage discharge had exceeded quotas, they insisted that the illnesses and deaths of the children were entirely unrelated to the pollution.

"Bullshit!!!"

The public gallery instantly exploded in an uproar.

A crowd of Anthill residents sprang from their seats, hurling abuse at the lawyer.

"You heartless dog!!!"

"Liar!!!"

Someone even started spitting.

The judge immediately suppressed the scene, and the person who spat was dragged out.

Then, it was Crocodile's turn to make his statement.

Naturally, his statement completely contradicted the opposing side's.

However, Crocodile made a point to emphasize one specific detail.

"Your Honor, in addition to the above, there is one more point. Under Article 81, Section 4 of the Peace Heavenly Kingdom Financial Act, commercial institutions of a certain scale have an inherent responsibility to protect the surrounding populace. I hope you will give this extra consideration."

"Mm."

The judge nodded expressionlessly.

Inwardly, he recalibrated his assessment of Crocodile's legal skill.

Compared to ten years ago, his skill hadn't diminished much at all.

He naturally knew of Crocodile's legend.

He had assumed that since Crocodile became a legislator, he would have grown rusty with litigation. But looking at it now, that wasn't the case at all. The final point Crocodile brought up was something many minor lawyers would overlook.

This served as a fallback plan: even if Nuochen Biotech ultimately walked away free of criminal charges, they would still have to pay a certain amount of compensation based on this clause.

But this was only the beginning...

"The cross-examination will now begin."

He spoke coldly, directing his words at Nuochen Biotech's lawyer. "Do you admit to the plaintiff's statement that Nuochen Biotech's pollution led to the deaths of the children?"

"I do not, Your Honor."

The lawyer remained impassive as he pulled out three sheets of paper. "Your Honor, we specifically hired a testing agency that meets the Heavenly Kingdom's first-tier standard to conduct three tests."

"First, a theoretical simulation test, building a one-to-one model of the factory's sewage discharge. Second, we found volunteers and conducted a physical simulation experiment. Naturally, due to time constraints, we used microwaves to accelerate the spread of pollution to simulate half a year of discharge. Finally, our senior executives personally engaged in deep exposure to the pollution—"

"No matter which test, the result is the same."

The lawyer smiled faintly, his voice echoing powerfully. "There are absolutely no occurrences of death."

"Bullshit!!"

"Absolute bullshit!!!!"

"Motherfucker, it's fake! They bribed the agency!!!"

Instantly, the public gallery was filled with righteous fury. They were on the verge of hurling rotten eggs right at the Nuochen Biotech lawyer.

"Silence! Silence!"

The judge rapped on his desk, had someone bring the three sheets of paper to him, and put on a show of glancing over them. He discussed them briefly with the people beside him before speaking. "The evidence is valid."

"Plaintiff, do you have anything to say?"

Crocodile remained calm. "Objection, Your Honor."

"Neither theoretical nor physical simulations can perfectly replicate real conditions."

"Objection, Your Honor," the opposing lawyer countered. "Whether it is the simulation tests or the physical experiments, we have achieved a simulation rate of over ninety-nine percent. According to Heavenly Kingdom regulations, such simulations are fully admissible as evidence."

"Objection, Your Honor. We suspect the defense's simulation report of being exaggerated."

"Objection, Your Honor. The opposition is spewing utter nonsense. The evidence is right in your hands! This is slander! This is contempt of court!"

The judge flipped through the reports in his hands before shooting Crocodile a cold glare. "Plaintiff's counsel, any challenges to this report must be verified in accordance with the law. Unfounded objections will not be tolerated."

It was over.

In the gallery, everyone's hearts sank in panic.

Anyone could see that the scales were now tipping in Nuochen Biotech's favor.

Yet Crocodile spoke at a leisurely pace. "Your Honor, I do not believe our objection is entirely unfounded. As everyone knows, while theoretical simulations might achieve an accuracy rate of over ninety-nine percent, for physical experiments to reach such a high rate, they require near-perfect replication of the environment, case variables, and participant demographics. We believe the defense is incapable of meeting these conditions."

"Heh."

Nuochen Biotech's lawyer laughed. "Absurd. Your Honor, the opposition fails to comprehend our desperate desire to restore our reputation. We paid an enormous price to ensure every condition matched perfectly, successfully achieving a ninety-nine percent simulation rate."

"So you are saying... you used children under the age of five in the pollution simulation experiment?"

The corners of Crocodile's mouth lifted, but his gaze was as sharp as a sword.

For a moment, the entire courtroom fell abruptly silent.

Fine beads of sweat suddenly broke out across the forehead of Nuochen Biotech's lawyer. He never expected the other side to have hidden such a deadly trap right there.

Fortunately, his professionalism kicked in, and he immediately spoke up. "Objection! Your Honor, we already stated clearly that Nuochen Biotech hired a testing agency to conduct the tests. The report was issued by professionals. We are unaware of the testing process and absolutely took no part in it. For the opposition to point directly at 'you' is blatant slander!"

Having fired that off in one breath, he exhaled in sheer relief. Wiping his sweaty palms on his pant legs, he secretly rejoiced at his quick reflexes, which had saved him from falling onto the defensive.

But right then, he suddenly heard a very soft sneer.

What an idiot... The judge couldn't help but close his eyes.

Before the lawyer could process it, Crocodile's voice rang out from the other side. "Objection! Your Honor, under Section 2, Article 513 of the Heavenly Kingdom Litigation Law, when hiring a third-party agency to conduct tests for evidential purposes, the commissioning party must participate in and supervise the entire process; otherwise, the evidence is inadmissible."

The lawyer's face went ghastly pale.

He never expected Crocodile to be this familiar with the legal statutes. Because connecting to external networks and databases was forbidden, everyone—whether they possessed a Smart Seed or were a bionic species—had to rely on their brains to memorize the laws.

But the opposition was clearly a cut above him when it came to reciting the law. This was why he hadn't thought of Article 513 before it was brought up, forcing him into an anxious response to the previous question. Had he remembered, he could have easily parried by claiming the testing agency might have used rapidly matured bionic bodies.

Of course, the most important point was that they genuinely hadn't accompanied and supervised the third-party testing the whole way through.

Because those testing agencies had been bought off long ago.

To put it bluntly, this trial was supposed to be a guaranteed win.

The judge was their man, the testing agency was theirs, the prosecutor was theirs—

Thus, he had dropped his guard, thinking this was just going through the motions as usual.

He just didn't expect a Crocodile to suddenly lunge out...

Looking at Crocodile's appearance, he finally seemed to remember something.

It was from ten years ago. There really had been a small-time lawyer who played the game like this.

But hadn't that guy become an internal legislator for the Reform Party?

Why was he here?

In the gallery.

Yan Jing looked at Zeng Qing, who had her face buried in her hands beside him, and asked, "This is the standard of your Nuochen Biotech?"

"If I knew this was their level, why the hell would I, Fourth Master, have put in so much effort helping you find evidence? Fourth Master wouldn't even need to make a move; justice was already destined to prevail."

"Stop talking."

Zeng Qing covered her face with both hands.

It was too fucking embarrassing.

"After this, I'm definitely firing them all! I'll do a complete overhaul. Give me a month at most, and it'll be completely different!"

Zeng Qing lifted her head, looked at Yan Jing, and said, "Do you believe me?"

"Yeah, sure, I believe you." Yan Jing nodded perfunctorily.

Zeng Qing covered her face again. This time, she buried her head even deeper.

Up on the bench, the judge took a deep breath. "The plaintiff's objection is valid. The evidence provided by the defense is inadmissible. If there is a second trial, it may be resubmitted."

"Does the defense have anything else to say in response to the plaintiff's cross-examination?"

"Yes! Your Honor!"

The lawyer spoke up, "First, although the evidence we provided is inadmissible, the opposition's claim that our pollution directly resulted in the deaths of the children also lacks a closed logical loop."

"Ob—" Crocodile started to say.

"Challenge sustained."

The judge brought his gavel down with finality, offering Crocodile no time to speak.

"..." Crocodile's face darkened. Here we go again. Just as I thought, these bastards have been bought off.

Truthfully, reaching this point, he already knew there was little chance of winning this trial.

But the reason he absolutely had to show up was to do his utmost to secure some compensation for the Anthill residents.

"Your Honor, we still have physical evidence that can close the logical loop."

Crocodile looked at the judge and spoke again.

"According to the rules of litigation, this judge has already sustained the challenge. If you are dissatisfied with my ruling, you may file for a post-trial inquiry."

The judge looked at Crocodile with a placid expression before adding, "Of course, if your inquiry succeeds, it will be marked as my dereliction of duty."

"...Understood, Your Honor."

Crocodile's expression sank.

"Does the defense have any other evidence?"

The judge looked back toward the Nuochen Biotech lawyer.

By now, even a fool could see something was wrong.

Leaving everything else aside, it was supposed to be the plaintiff's turn to present.

"Yes, Your Honor. We wish to call a witness."

The Nuochen Biotech lawyer made the request.

"Your Honor, we also wish to call a witness!"

Crocodile chimed in at the exact same moment.

At a time like this, the more obvious it was that things were rigged, the more he couldn't yield a single inch.

"Granted."

Unprecedentedly, the judge nodded in approval of Crocodile's interjection.

Soon, the witnesses for both sides entered the court.

Nuochen Biotech's witness was a young man wearing a security uniform, while the Anthill's witness was—

Nowhere to be seen.

Crocodile stared at the young man, freezing for a second or two. Then, he let out a heavy sigh, squeezed his eyes shut, and knitted his brows.

That young man was supposed to be their witness.

Just as expected—

He had been bought off in the end.

"How could it be Xiao Liu?"

"It's Xiao Liu. It's really him..."

"Xiao Liu, you walked the wrong way! You're not supposed to be over there—"

In the gallery, the crowd stared at the young man in disbelief.

He was the patrol officer for their area. They called him an "officer," but he wasn't even formally on the payroll. Everyone had always been on great terms with him.

But facing the crowd's gaze, the young man just lowered his head, refusing to speak.

Just as everyone fell into a collective silence—drowning in disappointment and sorrow—a sudden, squawky voice rang out from the back of the gallery.

"Pops?"

Yan Jing blinked, pretending he had only just spotted Papa Rat.

In reality, he had heard the rat's voice outside the doors just moments ago.

"You brat."

Papa Rat's face remained calm.

Of course he knew his boy was at Nuochen Biotech, sticking right by the side of the newly appointed Zeng Qing.

He was a huge shot now.

And just like that, inside the tense, high-stakes courtroom, a father and son who were both playing dumb ran into each other.