Face-Slapping System

After settling Dean Castro's matters, it was finally Councilor Fernan's turn to speak. 

In truth, Roland was also curious as to what he was going to say. This was the first time he had met him, and if not for the fact that Dean Castro had shown goodwill towards him earlier, he would have suspected that they were spies sent by Councilor Brown over. 

Before Fernan spoke, he took a look at Stacey first. Understanding her worries, Roland smiled and assured him that she can be trusted and that there was nothing to worry about. 

Fernan nodded his head and made a deep sigh. He collected his thoughts before he began talking. 

"First things first. I must inform you in advance that me and the force behind me is directly opposed to Councilor Brown's party. May it in politics or in the business world, our two forces have clashed openly and covertly.

I have recently heard of some rumors regarding the conflict between Sparkling Buds and Councilor Brown's forces. The reason for me being here is connected to those rumors, which I know might be true due to other information I heard earlier."

"You also have some conflict with his son, right?" Fernan asked. 

Roland nodded his head. His conflict with Bryan was not a secret. Perhaps, the whole school or those interested in gossip had probably heard of what happened at the hospital already. 

"I also heard that you are now getting targeted by Councilor Brown himself. This would just amplify our earlier conjectures that Sparkling Buds indeed have some direct conflict with Councilor Brown… or more precisely, with Razor-" 

Fernan's words came to a sudden halt. As he mentioned that name, a stifling pressure suddenly bore down on Fernan's neck. His body went stiff as he felt shivers down his spine. 

He looked up and saw Roland looking at him impassively. However, it was this same impassiveness that scared the shit out of him. It felt as if a mountain was pressing down on his shoulders. 

He realized that he had spoken a bit  too soon about Razor without explaining first his clear intention of being here. 

"D-don't get me wrong. As I said earlier, me and the forces behind me are directly opposed to Councilor Brown. The enemy of my enemy is a friend, right? R-right?" HIs voice seemed to crack down due to the nervousness. 

The atmosphere was so cold that he thought he was about to be frozen. 

It was only when he mentioned the last sentence that the pressure disappeared and the room atmosphere returned to normal. 

Deep down, Fernan let out a sigh of relief. He truly felt that he was about to die. 

He turned to look beside him and noticed that Dean Castro did not seem to feel that heavy pressure. 'Strange. Was it just my imagination?' 

After relieving himself from the pressure, Fernan finally explained everything in detail. He spoke about how they found out the matter regarding Razor and finally talked about cooperating to bring Councilor Brown down. 

Apparently, the reason they found out about Razor was that they just simply saw one of his men roaming around this area a few days ago before their disappearance. 

Due to their conflict with each other, Fernan and Councilor Brown's forces had always been monitoring each other, afraid of the opposing side's drastic actions. 

Razor was a famous mercenary in Fore City. Almost all the top echelon know of his existence here. They knew that he was Councilor Brown's man and his disappearance caused a stir in the top circle. 

A few days after the arson case, Fernan's forces who knew that Razor's last movements seemed to be centered around here had basically confirmed that the burnt corpses there were from Razor and his gang. 

In the entire Fore City, everyone knows of Razor and his methods. It can be said that most of them were afraid of him, especially since he was one of Councilor Brown's men. Hence, the one who made a move to Razor was basically this new establishment that had almost popped out of nowhere. 

After learning that other forces seemed to be in conflict with Councilor Brown, Fernan's forces immediately decided to reach out for cooperation. 

An ally that wasn't afraid of crossing Councilor Brown's forces was something that Fernan and the force behind him exactly wanted. 

Roland thought for a moment before nodding his head. Cooperating wasn't an issue. Being Councilor Brown's opponent for so long, they must have surely known a lot of secrets that might no longer be available. 

"Great!" Fernan's excited voice rang through everyone's ears. 

"We can begin right away. The election is just right around the corner and we don't want Councilor Brown to cheat his way upwards again. We must stop him this time, else, the human trafficking in Fore City would just worsen." 

Roland's ears perked up the moment he heard that. He nodded his head and planned to learn of all the details later. 

According to Fernan, Councilor Brown was actually involved in many illegal activities. He does it very covertly, hiding it behind normal activities such as the orphanage and the Brown Hospital, not allowing the normal people to learn of it. 

Upon learning of this, rage could not be concealed in Roland's eyes. This had basically confirmed that Councilor Brown was indeed a terrible man. With this, there was no need to wait at all, he could just go over and kill the man right away. 

However, he knew that this would not stop the trouble right away. 

According to Fernan, Councilor Brown had basically come into power almost out of nowhere. This means that there was a force supporting him behind his back, and even if they killed Councilor Brown right there and then, another Councilor Brown would just rise up to replace him.

It was not that Fernan's party did not try to eliminate him. However, knowing the problem that would pop up right after, they could only lay low and wait for an opportunity to strike.

Hence, they must plan carefully, and take out all of his 'business' in Fore City in one fell swoop. 

As for reporting it to the police, Fernan stated that it was a bad idea as the police force in Fore City were also basically Councilor Brown's men. 

"Alright, so what do we need to do?" Roland asked curiously.