InterGalaxia (On Hold)

1.26

Lei Yang returned home soon after his chat with Edris. He had an urgent need to chat with Xiao Gou about his discovery but he obviously can't do that in front of Edris. Though he could talk to Xiao Gou through the communication channel in his head, he preferred to speak aloud his hypothesises as he found that he could find inconsistencies and misjudgements easier that way. It's probably the same mentality that elementary school teachers work with when advising students to read their work aloud to make sure it makes sense. Plus, if he just zoned out for half an hour to chat with Xiao Gou, he would be alerting to Edris that something wasn't right with him. Immediately kicking off his loafers across the room without a care, he took a seat on his couch with his head in his hands. His foot was tapping incessantly due to his pent up irritation. Breathing heavily through his nose before exhaling a sigh, he stood up to stare at a blank space for a while. His phoenix eyes narrowed in determination after apparent internal deliberation. 

"Alright Xiao Gou, have the World's source material at the ready to verify my conjecture. Don't interrupt me until I'm done, even if I ask you questions, know that it's rhetorical" he grunted. [Alright, Host! I'm ready when you are]. Breathing deeply, Lei Yang turned his gaze to the ceiling and cupped his chin in thought, tapping the index finger intermittently against his bottom lip, causing his teeth to knock against the fingernail periodically. "Alright, let's start off with what bothered me about Lei Yang's imprisonment. I found that the 'evidence' against him was not compelling enough to be classified as evidence. I mean, video camera footage of him showing up in a convenience store within a ten-kilometre radius of the meet up on the same day and fingerprints on the folder the information was stored in is ridiculous. Talk about a half-assed job in providing 'evidence'. Anyone could visit a convenience store and his fingerprints can be on god knows how many documents as he worked in the Finance Department. What I found odd is the fact that he was still convicted, on that small and superficial amount of evidence. It's unjustifiable and not legally probable in the majority of normal instances". Lei Yang got up to go to the kitchen and pour himself a glass of water. Quenching his thirst, he was stood back in the middle of his lounge room.

 "So that got me to thinking, for Lei Chu to pull off this farce of a trial and conviction, she needed to have friends in higher places. Sure, Edris could have helped her but he is a businessman with a hotel chain, he has no connections to anyone within law enforcement or the judicial system. It was then that I happened to chance upon that article of Congressman Peter Davies with Edris in the newspaper. Looking further in Peter Davies' background, I found Benson Davies, a probable ally to Lei Chu but the only issue was I couldn't find out any personal information about him except that his father was a congressman, his maternal grandfather was the Police Chief Commissioner and his maternal Uncle is a Judge in the Supreme Court. It seemed as if any of his personal information was blocked off, I couldn't even find out where he worked. With that, I couldn't find a connection between him and Lei Chu. Though he definitely had the means via familial connections to help implicate the original Lei Yang, I couldn't very well point the finger with that little proof. So I organised a marriage interview to not only get Lei Chu out of the picture but also as a genuine reason to get in close contact with the man. From the events of last night and the chat I've had with Edris, I've put together a hypothesis. It goes like this" Lei Yang took another sip of his water before placing the glass on the coffee table. He crossed his arms over his chest.

 "Benson Davies, the COO of the second largest hotel in Sawyer Conglomerate; was the secret ally of Lei Chu from the original storyline, that helped jail the original Lei Yang. As the son of Congressman Peter Davies and his maternal grandfather being the Police Chief Commissioner, he had reasonable means and connections to jail the original Lei Yang and hide his meddling efficiently. Though I could suspect the original Edris Sawyer in being the openly secret ally, I recognise that the man just doesn't have the connections nor authority to implicate the original Lei Yang. But Benson did. I think he was sleeping with Lei Chu... no, that's wrong. He's interested in men, not 100% proven but I'm pretty much sold on this idea by his reactions and the rumours" Lei Yang paused as Xiao Gou cleared its throat to catch his attention. [Host, it says in the source material that Benson Davies is confirmed to be gay]. Lei Yang blinked before nodding his head, not too fussed at the revelation. He sat down and got comfortable before starting his spiel again.

 "That's to be expected. I suspect that Benson's family wanted an heir and was disappointed in his sexual orientation. Perhaps feeling obligated, he was then approached by Lei Chu in order to gain his collaboration in getting rid of her annoying and nosy little brother. She recognised that she couldn't do it herself and found a target that could be of some use, proposing to help Benson with any problems he had. So Benson agreed on the account that she provides an heir for him. Clearly, as a man interested in men, he would not use the conventional method to sire a child, so he most likely organised her to be a surrogate mother through IVF. Lei Chu would have agreed as it wouldn't compromise her in any way as she wouldn't have to deal with the child after birth nor have to have her integrity questioned by sleeping with the man to have his baby. In the end, she gets what she wants. There had to have been a contract signed by both parties, Benson strikes me as a careful man when he's not drunk. The only issue I see is Lei Chu was pregnant at the time with Edris' child and Edris himself..."

 Lei Yang stood up and started pacing, pausing after five minutes of thought. "The only thing I can think of is that Edris already knew or was informed of the contract, meaning he knew of the original Lei Yang's innocence but still ignored the issue, most likely because he cared for Lei Chu deeply. Or maybe he was just a selfish man and didn't care for others outside of his bubble. If that's the case..." Lei Yang was seething in anger and grit his teeth. Exhaling a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his eyes. 

"No, no use trying to analyse the original Edris Sawyer as he's now a different person due to the chain of events changing. Ignoring that, he must have given his consent or, best case scenario, Lei Chu made up a sob story to justify the reason she was suddenly deciding to be a surrogate for Benson. The insemination would have to happen after she gave birth to Edris' child. After the birth of the baby, judging the fact that Benson explicitly told me that he didn't ever want children, I wouldn't be hard pressed to believe that he fobbed off his child to his parents to deal with, maybe with an excuse of the mother dying during childbirth and the baby being a product of a night of drunk unprotected sex. That's what I've got, I can't think of anything else. Tell me Xiao Gou, did I get all of that right?" Before Xiao Gou could answer, a familiar screen popped up. [Mercenary Tian Anjing has notification from Adjurer Company Headquarters. Please stand by for transmission].

 Lei Yang patiently waited for the information to load. The screen wiped the previous words and replaced them. [Congratulations, Mercenary Tian Anjing. Due to gathering the scattered clues within the World and the storyline, you have unlocked the hidden conspiracy behind Lei Yang's conviction. As a reward for your diligence in pursuing the truth, Adjurer Company Headquarters will gift you 1000CC and a permanent System upgrade by one level. Continue to work hard as you complete your first World!]. The text disappeared after an animation of 10 3D coins, that represent the Company Credits, flying out of the screen and circling Lei Yang once before disappearing into a violet orb that just came out of his glabella. The orb shone brightly for thirty seconds before a robotic voice announced: [Congratulations System 'Little Dog', you have upgraded from Level 1 to Level 2]. 

[You're a little dog, your whole family is little dogs!] Xiao Gou harrumphed in displeasure.