Darkstone Code

Chapter 1232 - 1230: Power and Influence

"Any piece of news has its purpose!"

With one sentence, the essence of news is made clear: purpose!

The various newspapers in the state reporting this news indicates that something must be happening!

As a lawyer, Hicks knows well the consequences he would face if he admitted, so from the start, he never considered owning up to these matters.

"Now we are facing two troubles..."

The head of the campaign office looked at Hicks, they were in a closed environment, in the office of the head of the campaign office.

There was almost no place to hide anything here, ensuring that no one would eavesdrop or know what was being said inside.

The expression on the campaign office head was very serious; it was only after reading the news this morning that he realized it, yesterday he was still socializing.

To get Hicks elected, they must persuade those capitalists employing thousands to stand with them, which was one of his main tasks.

In the Federation’s political arena, this behavior is called "lobbying," and the interest transactions arising from lobbying are either overlooked or necessarily legal.

Sometimes Federation’s laws and rules are so magical, they have a department for anti-corruption investigation on one hand, and find ways to provide a legitimate cover for those criminal activities on the other.

In the end, it’s still a matter of interest transfer.

The ones who make the laws and rules also need these things, so they always leave themselves some "backdoors."

He thought everything was under control until he saw the newspaper this morning; he didn’t even feel like having breakfast and brought Hicks into his office.

He looked at Hicks seriously, "The first question, what is the relationship between you and that whore, and will it affect the plan?"

"The second question, what level of support can the party provide you?"

Hicks paused for a moment, frowning, "Must I answer these questions?"

The head of the campaign office nodded, "Yes, you must answer!"

Hicks paced back and forth, looking troubled and somewhat embarrassed, "The relationship between that woman and me is simple, a transaction of money and pleasure, just in a peculiar way..."

The office head didn’t expect such an answer, he instinctively said, "Did you abuse her or did you play role-playing games, like mother-son or father-daughter?"

This was probably the only answer he could imagine; he thought this might be all there was to it.

And such matters indeed count as grave scandals, abuse represents a severe tendency for violence, and the issue of role-playing is even greater.

People are always selfish, hoping everyone else but themselves is perfect, they wouldn’t want someone with mental illness to become the Governor!

Hicks said after a moment of silence, "We mutually abuse each other..."

The head of the campaign office raised his hand to cover his face, then pinched his waist while pacing back and forth behind his desk, just sat down and couldn’t help standing up again, propping one hand on the table, pointing at Hicks with the other, "You didn’t inform the Chairman or the Party Whip about these matters!"

He was also a Conservative Party member, his father was also with the Conservative Party, was once a Governor and also a Senator, leaving him considerable political resources.

These resources in his hands have the potential of being monetized in some ways for enormous profits.

Precisely because of such profound political background, he knows very well that if the Conservative Party Committee knew Hicks had such issues, they would definitely not let Hicks stand out!

Someone once said the Federation’s elections are "the Lord’s magnifying glass," even a tiny flaw, like farting in public, will be dug out and exposed to all!

This is no minor problem, it’s a big issue, if he disclosed these matters, the Conservative Party wouldn’t have chosen someone flawed like him to compete with Tracy from the start.

With one in a million hope left in his heart, he asked, "Do you have any photos from those perverted games you played?"

Hicks remained silent, didn’t answer, the guy opposite him directly swept some papers off the desk onto the floor.

"Damn it!", he roared loudly, "Damn it!", repeated again.

Hicks quickly added, "I am the only one with those photos, there’s no one else besides you who knows about it."

The head of the campaign office shook his head, sat heavily on the chair, feeling a surge of wanting to give up, "Whether you have them or not isn’t the problem, do you know that?"

"As long as that woman claims you took photos, they can find enough ’photos’ to show to the public."

"It might just be a photo of a whore and a butt, no one cares if that person is you, they only care if the headline names you!"

Just as mentioned above, sometimes Federation people treat an issue seriously, sometimes very nonchalantly.

For instance, they believe someone swearing on the Bible not to lie won’t actually lie, do you have to be so foolish, so naive to believe people won’t lie because of religious reasons?

The jury believed, could be said the cultural level of the jury isn’t high, occultism and religion have greater influence over them.

But sometimes even Judges and Prosecutors believe, which is unbelievable.

If that woman swears on the Bible that she didn’t lie, the public will lean towards her testimony, and this is deadly.

No one expected someone seemingly perfect to have so many issues.

He asked again, "Is your account secure?"

Hicks didn’t know how to answer, "Do you want it secure?"

The head of the campaign office was so infuriated he laughed, "That’s not a question I should answer!"

He paused, "You should inform the Party Whip about your matters, and then wait for news, meanwhile, you should pray our opponents merely want you to quit running, otherwise, your political career is over!"

He wasn’t exaggerating, a politician involved in tax evasion is a very severe charge!

In the Federation, tax evasion is a serious crime, even short-paying one dollar of tax could result in very severe consequences!

This is no joking matter, some Merchants were fined to bankruptcy for not declaring tens of dollars, the public hates taxes so much but hasn’t taken more extreme actions, maybe due to the ’fairness’ of the tax system.

Ordinary people violating the law in this regard face the same results as wealthy people and politicians violating the law.

The more this is the case, the more people hope to see those upper-society law violators fall harder!

Only this way can they find spiritual satisfaction.

When a Governor candidate is exposed with tax issues, even without pressure from big figures, it’ll soon evolve into a social problem.

He directly gave up, "I can’t deal with it, handle it yourself!"

The problem Hicks faced quickly communicated within the party, the Chairman of the Conservative Party Committee even offered a brief comment, hoping everyone to abide by Federation’s laws, and also hoping the Federal Tax Bureau doesn’t act recklessly without evidence.

Also anticipating Federation’s laws to give rumor spreaders some punishment, people indeed have the right to express their subjective will anytime, anywhere, but if it violates the law, the speaker should be held accountable!

Very simple and straightforward statement, but Hicks wasn’t making an effort.

Hicks directly reported the situation he was facing to the Party Whip, generally, party moral issues are handled by him, it’s only when the party becomes the ruling party that his jurisdiction covers the whole Federation Society.

From ordinary people to party leaders, up to the Party Committee Chairman and even the President’s conduct, all fall under the ruling Party Whip’s work.

Which is why the ruling party’s Whip is considered among the top three people, while the non-ruling party’s Whip doesn’t rank in the top ten.

Upon knowing the news, the Party Whip immediately informed the Party Committee Chairman, and they quickly figured out some situations.

Actually, finding out who is orchestrating isn’t complicated, anyone hoping Hicks quits and ultimately benefits is certainly the instigator.

Seen in this way, Mrs. Tracy apparently fits all conditions, but this woman in certain aspects doesn’t possess such capabilities, so they obtained the list of political donations Mrs. Tracy received since she started running for Governor until now.

Getting this document wasn’t difficult, due to Federation’s laws, these things are disclosed in a limited capacity, as long as you have certain social status or power, you have the right to view these materials.

They quickly locked onto some targets, finally filtering out the most likely person, then arranged for someone to test their stance.

By nighttime, Linch’s name was the only one left on the list.

Around ten o’clock at night, when Lynch was about to sleep, the phone unexpectedly rang.

He gave a light pat to the young maid’s rear, the latter loudly ran to bring the phone over.

He lay on the bed, "This is Lynch..."

The caller was Hicks, making it more sincere, "Hello, Mr. Lynch, I’m Hicks..."

Lynch slightly frowned, directly interrupting Hicks, "Sorry, Mr. Hicks, I don’t know you, and I am already resting, could we discuss this tomorrow during the day?"

The phone fell into deathly silence for a few seconds, and then Hicks forced a smile and said, "Of course, I sincerely apologize for disturbing your rest, Mr. Lynch, we will talk tomorrow during the day."

Lynch slightly smirked at the corner of his mouth, "Then good night, Mr. Hicks."

"Good night, Mr. Lynch!"