FRGL chapter 82

“Luo Hai!” Fanny exclaimed in surprise, quickly holstering her gun and rushing over, calling to the others, “It’s Prosecutor Luo Hai! Come help!”

Berkeley was also startled and quickly ran over with the other officers. Together, they helped Luo Hai up from the ground and began to assess his injuries.

By the afternoon, a light drizzle mixed with hail began to fall over Lansai City.

The weather was already cold, and this rain made things even worse. Seven or eight police cars parked in front of the Lightwing Hotel, their flashing lights reflecting against the gray clouds, like a cold warning that made the surrounding residents keep their distance in fear.

Luo Hai’s hair was wet, hard to tell whether from sweat or rain. He sat quietly in the back seat of the police car, a coat draped over his shoulders. Berkeley sat across from him, holding a small notebook and asking him questions one by one.

“So, you’re saying they’ve been keeping you locked in the basement all this time?”

“Yes,” Luo Hai replied. “When they brought me here, I was blindfolded the entire time. After throwing me into the basement, they locked me up with shackles. They only threw my meals into the cell window three times a day.”

Berkeley quickly jotted down the notes and asked, “Did they torture you?”

Luo Hai was silent for a moment before answering in a low voice, “Yes. About every two or three days. Oddis wanted to extract information about the prosecutor’s office from me, but I didn’t say anything.”

Berkeley looked up. “You didn’t say anything at all?”

Luo Hai calmly raised his scarred arm. “If I wanted to talk, I would have said something from the start. Why would I endure all this torture?”

Berkeley instinctively took a step back, his gaze caught by the prosecutor’s sharp eyes. Before, he had dismissed the rumors about the icy prosecutor, but facing him in person now, he truly felt the pressure.

“It’s just routine questions. I didn’t mean to doubt you,” Berkeley chuckled awkwardly, pretending to be busy writing in his notebook. “So how did you—”

“This morning, I heard some commotion outside. The Lightwing Society members were shouting things like ‘The police are here.’ That’s when I realized the Nantes rescue team had found this place,” Luo Hai said calmly. “I took advantage of their distraction and escaped. I pried up a brick from my cell and used it to break the shackles and the door lock. By the time I escaped the basement, the hotel was already empty. I tried to get away, but I fainted in the stairwell due to exhaustion. The rest, you all know.”

Berkeley said nothing, only continued writing in his notebook. After a while, the car door opened, and Fanny stood outside. “The search inside is almost finished. We didn’t miss a single corner, and we took pictures of every detail.”

Berkeley shifted his body to let Fanny see the notebook and lowered his voice. “Does the search align with what he said?”

Fanny glanced at Berkeley’s notebook and nodded. “Yes. We found the room where Prosecutor Luo Hai was kept on the basement floor. The lock and shackles were smashed, and the brick was found at the door.”

Berkeley nodded, sitting up straight and saluting Luo Hai. “Prosecutor Luo Hai, you’ve been through a lot. You should rest and recover now. We’ll be heading back to Nantes tomorrow night.”

Luo Hai nodded, and Berkeley stood up from his seat, signaling to Fanny before getting out of the car.

Fanny grabbed a medical kit and hurried into the car, sitting down next to Luo Hai. “Come on, let me take care of your wounds.”

Luo Hai didn’t say anything, just rolled up his sleeves to reveal his injured wrist and forearm. Fanny took out disinfecting iodine and cotton swabs, carefully cleaning his wounds. As she did, tears started to fall from her eyes.

“We all thought you were dead,” Fanny wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “I never imagined, after all this time, I’d see you return in one piece…”

Luo Hai’s gaze softened. “I’m fine.”

“These days, we searched everywhere for you. We turned all of Nantes and its surrounding areas upside down, and who would have thought you’d be hiding in such a remote place?” Fanny complained. “Colin was so worried, he couldn’t eat or sleep. The last time I saw him, he had such big dark circles under his eyes…”

Luo Hai couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt deep inside. “How’s the situation in Nantes?”

Fanny let out a bitter laugh. “Not good. You’ll see when you get back. More than two-thirds of the Omegas in the city have been arrested. The prisons can’t hold so many prisoners, so they just grab a batch and execute them to free up space for new ones… This led to a shortage of Omegas for the Offering Day, causing another wave of Alpha protests… Right now, Nantes is basically hell on earth.”

“And you?” Luo Hai asked softly. “How are you?”

“Me?” Fanny said, while bandaging his wrist, trying to sound casual. “I got a few scoldings, got demoted twice, and now I’m just a regular officer. Not even a team leader anymore.”

Luo Hai was taken aback. “How did that happen?”

“It’s no big deal. It’s normal. I’m not the only one who got demoted at the station,” Fanny said. “Things have been tense lately. One wrong word or action and you get reported. I got in trouble for buying a sandwich for an Omega I arrested because she was so hungry. Some of my colleagues got fired just for complaining about the Omega policies after work.”

“…” Luo Hai was speechless.

“So, I’m doing alright. At least I still have my job,” Fanny forced a smile. “Betas don’t have it as easy as Alphas. Right now, being unemployed means you probably can’t even afford food, since the city keeps getting locked down, and the prices of rice, flour, and vegetables have risen tenfold.”

“I believe these problems will be solved soon,” Luo Hai said softly.

“After we catch Eugene Oddis?” Fanny lowered her gaze, her hands pausing for a moment. “I don’t think that will solve the problem. Even if we catch one Oddis, who can guarantee there won’t be another one?”

“You’re right,” Luo Hai chuckled lightly. “Catching one Oddis will only bring out thousands more. It won’t stop until this world is completely changed.”

Fanny’s eyes widened, and the atmosphere inside the car changed completely after Luo Hai’s words. She subconsciously gripped the bandage harder, nervously glancing around to make sure no one else could hear their conversation, before lowering her voice to ask, “…Luo Hai, are these injuries really from Oddis?”

“Of course.” Luo Hai’s tone was calm, his face showing no emotion.

“So what you said… about being imprisoned and tortured by them, that was all true?” Fanny’s eyes showed some uncertainty.

Luo Hai didn’t answer. He simply raised his arm to look at the bandage Fanny had wrapped around it, then gave her a faint smile. “Thank you. I’m fine now. You can go back to your work.”

Fanny looked at him, wanting to say something, but in the end, she didn’t ask any more questions. She just nodded and got out of the car.

Luo Hai sat alone in the back seat, leaning his head slightly to the side as he absentmindedly gazed out the window. Many police officers were still coming in and out of the Lightwing Hotel, and the military stood guard at the hotel entrance, coldly scanning the street with their intimidating rifles.

The reflection in the car window showed Luo Hai’s face, along with the redness and bruises on his skin. The expression on Eugene’s face from a few hours ago resurfaced in his mind, causing Luo Hai to unconsciously chuckle.

….

“No, absolutely not!” Eugene had raised his voice. “I won’t allow it!”

“Then do you expect the people from Nantes to believe I escaped from the Lightwing Society’s headquarters completely unharmed, dressed in new clothes and shoes? Do you think that would be convincing?” Luo Hai stared at him.

“We don’t need to actually torture you. Li Jie and Dandan can do makeup. They can use cosmetics to make it look like—”

“Do you think the police in Nantes are fools?” Luo Hai interrupted Eugene impatiently. “I’m not just walking in front of them as a show. I’m going back to Nantes with them!”

Eugene fell silent, his face darkening as he stood still.

Xiao Lau and the others exchanged looks, unsure whether they should intervene.

Fortunately, Luo Hai didn’t make others hesitate too long. He grabbed Eugene’s arm and walked toward the basement, stopping in front of the cell.

The cell had already been arranged as planned, everything was ready, and only the final touches remained.

“Even if you don’t want to, this is an essential part of the plan.”

Luo Hai opened his palm, revealing an irregularly shaped, slightly sharp shard of stone. “If you really don’t want to watch, you can leave. I can handle it on my own.”

A surge of anger erupted from Eugene’s chest. “And then leave you alone here to harm yourself? Do you think I’m that heartless?”

Luo Hai chuckled lightly, placing the stone shard in Eugene’s hand. He raised an eyebrow, his expression almost teasing.

“Then help me,” Luo Hai lowered his voice, his warm breath brushing Eugene’s ear. “If it’s you, no matter how much it hurts, it’ll feel good.”

Eugene took a deep breath, then suddenly grabbed Luo Hai’s wrist, pushing him against the rough wall of the cell.

…

Luo Hai gently touched the bandage on his wrist, feeling the wound underneath heat up.

Scenes from the dungeon flashed in his mind like a movie—Eugene, hoarse-voiced, injuring him while passionately kissing him, the memory causing a small surge of warmth in his lower abdomen.

Strictly speaking, none of the marks from the dungeon were fake. Every detail was a result of Eugene’s hands, meticulously left on his body.

Before long, the officers began leaving the hotel with evidence. After confirming nothing had been left behind, Berkeley opened the car door and got in, pulling out a walkie-talkie. “Mission complete. Do a headcount, and take Prosecutor Luo Hai back to Nantes.”

Luo Hai tilted his head slightly and glanced toward the end of the street. A tall figure stood by a tree in the distance. As he looked over, their eyes met—those deep amber eyes.