The scar-faced man and his companions all shook their heads, indicating that none of them had shouted.
“Ah!”
As Elon smiled faintly, Darnell rubbed his eyes and quickly forced a smile at James. “Officer Adington, what brings you here?”
“Are you releasing me or calling me for breakfast?”
James held his nose and shouted at his men. “Get him.”
Several of his men took out electric batons and approached Darnell.
“Don’t you dare touch him.”
At that moment, Elon suddenly said, “I promised to protect him for one night. It’s not dawn yet.”
Darnell gave a thumbs up. “Thank you, Mr. Billionaire. You’re absolutely a man of your word.”
Hearing this, several police officers frowned and glared at Elon. “Protect him? Who do you think you are?”
“Stay out of it, or we’ll beat you up too!”
James seemed wary of Elon and quickly ordered his men to shut up. “Shut up! We are police officers, not thugs.”
“We can’t involve the innocent.”
Then he turned to Elon. “Elon, this brat is a thorn in my side. Are you going to protect him?”
Elon replied calmly, “I’ll protect him until six o’clock. Before six, no one could touch him. After that, what you want to do to him is none of my business.”
“Fine, I’ll wait until six.”
James sneered. “I’ll give you face, Elon.”
Ten minutes was nothing for him to wait.
Thump!
While James could wait, Darnell couldn’t. He picked up the electric baton and jabbed it at James. “Officer Adington, here’s your baton.”
“Ah!”
James jumped from the electric shock and then fell heavily to the ground, looking miserable.
Several of his men hurried to help him up.
Darnell ran over. “Officer Adington, what’s wrong? This baton is yours. Why don’t you take it?”
Zzzt!
In the chaos, Darnell electrocuted several people before jabbing James in the thigh again, causing another scream.
The remaining men were furious and drew their weapons to deal with Darnell. “Bastard!”
Darnell shouted to Elon. “Mr. Billionaire, they want to hit me.”
The police officers looked at Elon, who felt defeated for the first time in his life.
Damn! This brat was really something!
But he couldn’t go back on his word and squeezed out a sentence with difficulty. “Before six o’clock, no one can touch him.”
Darnell cheered happily. “Did you hear that? You can’t touch me before six o’clock. Don’t make things difficult for Mr. Billionaire.”
His opponents couldn’t hit him, but he could hit them. It felt great.
He swung the electric baton around, scaring the scar-faced man and his group into lowering their heads while James retreated in pain and frustration.
Damn it! Who was dealing with whom here?
“Brat, just wait!”
James gritted his teeth. “You’re dead meat!”
He reached for his gun holster with his good hand but found it empty since his gun had exploded yesterday and he hadn’t gotten a new one yet. He signaled to his men instead.
They understood and reached for their guns simultaneously.
At that moment, Darnell’s ears twitched slightly as he stopped moving.
Six o’clock arrived quickly, and James shouted, “Take this bastard down! If he resists, shoot him on the spot.”
“You fight, injure people, and steal guns. If you dare to assault an officer again, then even if I take you out, no one will blame me for it.”
Thud!
Darnell cheerfully dropped the electric baton and raised his hands slowly. “Officer Adington, don’t be angry. I surrender.”
“Take him down!”
Three men rushed forward and restrained Darnell’s hands while James approached angrily and slapped Darnell.
Darnell ducked his head just in time so that the slap landed on one of the officers’ faces instead, leaving a red mark with five fingers.
The officer looked frustrated but couldn’t retaliate.
“Bastard! How dare you dodge?”
James was furious and ordered someone to bring an electric baton that crackled ominously. The prisoners cowered in fear as James sneered.
“Kid, you shocked me twice earlier. Now I’ll shock you twenty times.”
He licked his lips and jabbed the baton towards Darnell’s armpit. “Endure it well.”
“Ah!”
Before the baton even touched Darnell, he screamed first and kicked James away.
Bang!
James fell to the ground with a bruised face and got even angrier. He grabbed the baton again and charged forward. “How dare you kick me? I’ll kill you!”
Bang!
At that moment, someone kicked open the iron door forcefully. The aggressive James was startled as a group of people stormed in.
There were both men and women among them. Some were police officers with high ranks while others looked like leaders that James recognized as important figures from the police department.
Areli led a few people behind three middle-aged inspectors with an icy expression on her pretty face.
“Officer Adington! What are you doing? Torturing for confessions?”
James shivered and dropped the electric baton in shock. “No… no…”
“You’ve come just in time!” Darnell pointed at the burn marks on his clothes. “James humiliated me by beating me up with an electric baton. I almost got killed!”
“Look at these marks! Three people held me down while Officer Adington jabbed me with it repeatedly.”
“You must give me justice. Otherwise, I’ll file complaints against the police department or expose this incident to media outlets.”
“I have an Algerian passport too. I can even complain to my embassy!”
Hearing this speech along with seeing Darnell’s clothes’ marks made those high-ranking police officers’ faces turn colder.
“He lies! He lies! We’re injured instead! Ask those prisoners if Darnell is the one who attacked us first!”
James defended himself hastily while shouting towards the scarred man and Elon, “Micah, Elon, say something!”
The scarred man hesitated before saying, “Yes… yes… Officer Adington is right.”
Elon closed his eyes slowly without getting involved further.
“Micah can be the leader in this cell because he’s related to Officer Adington!”
Darnell exposed their relationship directly. “Can we trust what he says?”
Those high-ranking police officers glared angrily at James.
James wiped the cold sweat that had formed on his forehead, feeling the pressure mounting. If things went poorly, he could very well find himself suspended and under investigation.
He glanced at the group of superiors in front of him and then at Darnell, who was still grinning slyly. It was becoming painfully clear that he was nothing but a fool in this scenario. He had never imagined he wouldn’t be a match for Darnell.
For the first time, he regretted coming to Woodsea.
Areli spoke up, her voice cutting through the tension, “Spectrum Pharmaceuticals will pursue this matter to the end.”
“I will have my legal team prepare for a lawsuit.”
“Doctors, you need to examine the injuries immediately.”
At these words, a middle-aged officer forced a smile. “Miss Fanshaw, this must be a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?” Areli shot back, giving no quarter.
“The situation has already been clarified,” she continued, unfazed. “Captain Meech has submitted her report. In the Woodsea incident yesterday, Darnell acted heroically.”
“Gisselle and Hugo have also confessed. Gisselle is a relative of James, and they were coerced into framing Darnell.”
“The assault on the officers by Garrett and others was a result of Officer Adington lacking legal identification, leading them to believe they were impersonating police.”
“Furthermore, Officer Adington’s wound was self-inflicted and had nothing to do with anyone else.”
“If you don’t believe me, over a thousand villagers present that day can attest to it, and there is surveillance footage as evidence.”
“But James resorted to torture. You all witnessed it. If we hadn’t arrived in time, Darnell would surely have been forced to confess.”
“Do you still intend to cover this up? Should I escalate this to the mayor or take it to the capital?”
As this string of well-reasoned and sharp statements were laid out, a square-faced officer quickly waved his hands, eager to explain, “No, no, Miss Fanshaw, there’s no need to escalate this to higher-ups over such a trivial matter.”
The expressions of several officers darkened, and they shot James an angry glare before the square-faced officer forced a smile and continued, “Rest assured, Miss Fanshaw. We will provide you with a satisfactory resolution. We will handle the true culprits fairly and ensure no innocent person is wrongfully accused!”
Areli’s face remained icy as she waved her hand. A mature, composed attorney with sharp eyes stepped forward, handing a thick stack of documents to a middle-aged officer.
“This is evidence of James’s criminal bribery. He has received over six million in protection fees before and after the Woodsea incident.”
“He also sold off fifty percent of the seized vehicles to his own car refurbishment shop, then resold them to the public, falsely accusing them of buying stolen cars, leading to their arrest and extortion.”
“Earlier this year, he also sexually assaulted three women. All the incidents, witnesses, and testimonies are documented here. We hope the police will handle this matter seriously and justly.”
Areli continued, her tone devoid of emotion, “Within two days, if you cannot provide us with a response, I will make this public and let the media expose your true colors.”