Chapter 153: Power Failure
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
“So the ‘massive fraud’ you mentioned refers to inheritance fraud?” Lin Xu countered. “I think you might have misunderstood something. It wasn’t until after Marianna died—when her husband and the estate lawyer showed me her will—that I learned she left half her inheritance to me.”
“Lin Xu, don’t play innocent with me,” Merk slid his chair back and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table as he fixed Lin Xu with a sharp gaze. “Yes, I know you and Ms. Perser had a good relationship at first, but a year ago, things changed. You felt threatened.”
Lin Xu met Merk’s eyes calmly, curious about what strange theories the man would spew next.
“At the time, Marianna was pregnant.”
“Yes, she told me a few days before the banquet,” Lin Xu answered casually.
Merk bristled at Lin Xu’s composure. The man was calm to the point of being immune to pressure, and Merk felt a flash of frustration. Still, he quickly recovered his focus.
“The original will left half the estate to her legal mate and half to you. But after having her own child, she rewrote the will, cutting your share down to a quarter.”
“The Perser estate is massive. Even a tenth of it would make people fight over scraps.”
“You’re just guessing, Detective Merk,” Lin Xu said coolly. “I told you, I only learned about the inheritance after Marianna died.”
“Lin Xu, don’t give false testimony. The evidence will speak for itself.”
Lin Xu knew he hadn’t done anything wrong. From his perspective, Merk’s certainty bordered on foolish arrogance. But a man who rose to captain of the Capital Star Police wasn’t just a dumb cop guessing cases in his head. Strange… Lin Xu was almost certain those causing him trouble were the same shadowy people from the start. But why the emperor had chosen a fool like Merk for this was beyond him.
Lin Xu lowered his eyes, tilted his head slightly, lost in thought. Merk reclined in his chair, and the two men settled into a tense stalemate. The air in the interrogation room shifted slowly.
Suddenly, Lin Xu’s misty gray eyes locked onto Merk’s, his voice icy as he asked, “Why do you think Marianna left me exactly one-quarter of the inheritance?”
Merk might have guessed that Marianna’s pregnancy meant she would change her will—and fantasized that Lin Xu would be furious enough to kill. But how did he know the precise figure of a quarter?
“Because we found Marianna’s real will, and evidence that you tampered with it,” Merk said. “Otherwise, how do you think I got the arrest warrant from the prosecutor? You can deny everything, but all this will be submitted as evidence in court. The judge will decide your guilt. So you’d better…”
Before Merk could finish, the interrogation room doorbell rang. He had to stop and look toward the door. One of Merk’s officers opened it, stepping aside for a sharply dressed middle-aged man carrying a briefcase. Merk’s heart sank. Lin Xu’s lawyer had arrived, making this interview much more complicated.
Sure enough, as Metz stepped inside and caught sight of Merk’s sour expression, he spoke immediately: “Detective Merk, I hope I don’t have to take on a case where I prosecute the arresting officer for coercion.”
“Mr. Metz, right? Don’t worry. Your client is perfectly intact and sitting right here. I’m just talking with him.”
“Let’s hope so,” Metz said professionally. “Detective Merk, I’d like to speak with my client in private.”
By protocol, they had that right. Merk could only comply, standing and moving aside as Metz passed. Metz added, “Please, turn off the recording devices. I want my client’s privacy protected.”
“Understood.” Merk slammed the door shut behind them. Metz waited a moment, making sure the ceiling recorder’s light went off. Then he dragged a chair from the corner and sat beside Lin Xu.
“Dr. Lin, do you understand what’s happening now?”
Lin Xu no longer needed to pretend with Metz as he did with Merk. After a pause, he shook his head. “Merk thinks I masterminded Marianna’s murder a year ago to claim her massive inheritance.”
Metz’s eyes locked on Lin Xu, serious now. “Dr. Lin, I want you to answer honestly. This will determine our strategy going forward.
“Did you ever covet Marianna Perser’s wealth? Were you involved in the murder, even just a little? Or did you never pull the trigger but talk about the idea with others?”
Lin Xu answered decisively, “No.”
Metz studied Lin Xu for three seconds, searching for any sign of deception. Seeing none, he sighed with relief, then frowned.
“The police have solid evidence. I got your call and, before coming to the station, had someone obtain the arrest warrant’s supporting documents from Merk.
“I haven’t seen the evidence itself, but apparently there are two wills—the original and a tampered version—records of your edits, and proof of contact between you and the two assassins. Dr. Lin, does any of this strike you as unusual?”
Lin Xu recounted his story to Metz. “Mr. Metz, I only saw Marianna’s will after she died. Before then, I didn’t know she left me half her estate. When I returned from ancient Earth to Capital Star, I saw her will in the vault. There was only one version—never a second. She might have wanted to change it for her child but never got the chance.
“As for those two assassins, I investigated them. I only recently learned they were hired off the darknet. I contacted their employer.”
Metz paused. “So the original case Rolson closed was flawed. Do you know who the real mastermind is?”
Lin Xu’s expression darkened. He wasn’t sure how much to reveal. “Some nobles,” he said, avoiding the emperor’s name.
“And this time…”
“They’re framing me again. The joint complaint is their doing.”
“I remember you were almost shot at the banquet where Perser was attacked. They tried to kill you too, right?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Lin Xu didn’t answer.
Metz watched him fall silent and wisely decided not to press further. He jumped to the next question. “Why did they switch to framing you instead?”
“They want to stop me from saying certain things. Murder is the quickest, cleanest method, but it’s not the only one. Making people stop believing me is another path.” Lin Xu paused before adding, “They’re afraid of Heinrich. They dare not kill me outright.”
Marianna had no surviving parents or close blood relatives. Most people she associated with were defenseless scholars or business folk. Her husband, Chen Jinshan, was only a lieutenant colonel at the time — no threat. The authorities could safely assassinate Marianna, cover everything up, and no one would have the power to cause trouble.
But Lin Xu was different now. Heinrich Chu commanded an entire elite Imperial fleet. If Lin Xu were killed and Heinrich remained dissatisfied with the investigation’s outcome, he could pressure Imperial authorities or conduct his own inquiry. That might tear Marshal Chu and the powers-that-be apart.
But if Lin Xu was tried under Imperial law instead of being killed by private forces, no matter how strong Heinrich’s army was, he couldn’t challenge a verdict supported by solid evidence. Public opinion and the people’s will would turn against him.
Unless Heinrich staged a rebellion against the Empire, the Supreme Imperial Court’s judgment would be Lin Xu’s final fate. Metz caught the hint in Lin Xu’s unfinished words. But it wasn’t a dead end — Lin Xu didn’t need to meet force with force. He only had to prove his innocence.
Lin Xu continued, “Mr. Metz, about the will— you should contact Marianna’s estate lawyer, Patterson. The two assassins’ employer is named Bovajiah, and he can be found on the darknet. I don’t know what evidence the police have, maybe they’re using him as a cooperating witness, or maybe the transaction records are forged.”
“I’ll look into it,” Metz promised.
“One more thing,” Lin Xu said. “My child, Yuanxiao Volans, is with Colonel Arnold. Please, tell him to keep taking care of him a little longer.”
After Metz left, Merk came back trying to squeeze something useful out of Lin Xu. But in verbal sparring, Merk was no match. He got nothing. Merk couldn’t keep Lin Xu in the interrogation room indefinitely, so he was moved to the holding cell. It was Lin Xu’s first time in an interstellar-era holding cell.
The space was a sealed, pure white room. Ventilation slits ran only a finger-width along the ceiling-wall junctions, eliminating any chance of escape. Inside were a fixed bed, chair, and small table. The bathroom was separated behind a half-wall.
Lin Xu stayed there for two days. Metz visited once, telling him Heinrich already knew about the case and was trying to find a way forward. Metz applied for temporary bail, but it was denied. The prosecutor pressed charges, and the Supreme Imperial Court accepted the case. The first hearing was scheduled for a week later.
Metz discovered Merk had a video showing Lin Xu entering Marianna’s vault and handling the will’s data chip. The footage was genuine.
But the police also found so-called deletion marks on the chip, supposedly erased by Lin Xu. Normally, editing a data chip leaves traces, but there are ways to conceal them. The police claimed to have found a “second version” of the will, with modification timestamps matching Lin Xu’s vault visit. No matter how precise an electronic artifact, there are always loopholes to exploit. Metz was working to find a technician capable of proving the “second version” will was forged. Bovajiah was still being tracked.
Ding—
A small slot appeared on the white wall, and a tube pushed a nutrition gel through it.
Lin Xu hadn’t been very hungry before and hadn’t touched it, but now he felt he could use some energy.
He grabbed the nutrition gel, sat down at the table, twisted off the cap, and took a sip. Immediately, the synthetic chemical taste seemed to torture his tongue. While twisting the cap back on, Lin Xu tried to summon a small splash of water with his power to wash the strange flavor away, but after several attempts, not a single droplet appeared. What was happening?
The shock made him forget the chemical aftertaste. He tried summoning fire, then tearing through space-time—nothing worked. He walked into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, held his hand under the flowing water, but the purified water just ran as usual, completely unaffected by his will.
Lin Xu’s lips tightened. He stepped back a few paces and extended the sharp mermaid claws from his fingertips. The claws gleamed metallic, their edges so sharp they left shallow cuts on his forearm with the slightest touch. Within seconds, the wounds healed. He held his arm under the water again and watched the blood stains vanish.
Raising his head, the mirror’s surface reflected a pair of pale gray eyes—faint in color, their edges blurred, as if shrouded by mist, with no clear end in sight.
His mermaid form and zombie-like mutation hadn’t disappeared; his internal energy remained ample. But his powers—they were gone.
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