Chapter 168 Clue
Chapter 168 Clue
"Foolish! Absolutely foolish!"
Ashfall slammed his foot into Louis's chest, sending him flying backward. He crashed hard onto the stone pavement beside the mountain of corpses.
"I thought your little scheme to silence witnesses privately was nothing more than a pathetic circus act! I didn't even bother to intervene, figuring that even if you failed, you'd only lose a few expendable pawns!"
Ashfall's pristine white shoe pressed down on Louis's face. Those once-pure blue eyes now radiated a chilling violence:
"But you absolute imbecile—you threw in your most elite enforcers and your closest confidants! And they ended up butchered like trash, piled right at your doorstep!"
"Do you have any idea what this mountain of corpses represents?"
Ashfall's voice grew colder. "It represents Leo slapping The Evernight Order in the face in the most humiliating way possible!"
"Ashfall... have mercy..."
Pinned beneath the shoe, his cheek pressed against the cold stone, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, Louis pleaded desperately, "Please save me... If you intervene, no matter how strong Leo is, he's still just a mortal..."
"Save you?"
Ashfall let out a cold laugh and lifted his foot from Louis's face. As if he'd stepped in something filthy, he pulled out a white silk handkerchief and wiped his shoe:
"Louis, you overestimate your worth. The situation has already spiraled beyond what my intervention can clean up."
"But—"
Louis struggled to get up.
Just then.
"Ashfall!"
A gray-robed intelligence officer from The Evernight Order rushed over from inside the estate, his face pale as death:
"This is bad! News about Louis sending assassins after Erwin has spread throughout all of Paris!"
"What?"
Louis's eyes went wide. He looked as if he'd been struck by lightning.
The intelligence officer held up his tablet with trembling hands:
"Half an hour ago, someone leaked photos and videos from last night's assassination attempt online!"
"The footage clearly shows Valeri leading the team into Erwin's residence! Every media outlet is going crazy with the story, saying you tried to silence witnesses and failed, getting your men killed instead!"
"The entire French public is condemning you! The presidential office has already ordered the police to issue an arrest warrant for you immediately!"
Hearing this, Louis's vision went black. He nearly passed out on the spot.
It's over... completely over...
Ashfall's expression turned thoroughly grim.
He spun around, those blue eyes locking onto the crumpled Louis on the ground, his voice ice-cold:
"Louis Valois."
"Handle what comes next yourself."
"The Evernight Order doesn't clean up messes for worthless failures."
With that, Ashfall ignored Louis's wailing and strode toward the interior of the estate.
"Ashfall..."
The intelligence officer hurried to catch up, lowering his voice. "Now that this Leo bastard is acting so arrogantly, shouldn't we... give him a reality check? Show him what The Evernight Order is capable of?"
Ashfall stopped walking and fell silent for a moment.
"No rush."
He turned his head, gazing at the Paris cityscape in the distance through the morning mist, a deep, cold gleam flashing in his eyes:
"First, have the intelligence department work at full capacity to suppress as much of Louis's scandal online as possible. Use every connection we have in the French government and media."
"We can't clean it up completely, but we can at least minimize the damage."
"Yes, sir!"
The intelligence officer bowed in acknowledgment.
"As for Leo..."
A cruel smile curved Ashfall's lips. "Once I've decided how to destroy him, I'll make my move."
"Right now, the priority is stabilizing the situation."
...
Meanwhile.
In a top-floor presidential suite at a luxury five-star hotel in central Paris.
Morning light streamed through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows into the spacious master bedroom.
Luxurious silk sheets covered a scene of decadent aftermath.
Leo lay on his back in the center of the plush bed, his bronze, muscular chest marked with scratches and kiss marks from last night's battle.
Around him and in his arms, four stunningly beautiful women with different charms and provocative figures curled up lazily in various alluring positions.
Ivy lay naked against Leo's chest, her golden hair cascading messily around her, her skin covered in intimate marks.
Serafina reclined on Leo's side, wine-red curls hiding half her face, her slender eyes still hazy with satisfied bliss.
Victoria's long, shapely legs draped casually across Leo's waist, her seductive body barely covered by a sheer black lace nightgown that revealed more than it concealed.
Charlotte was curled up on the far side, her usually cold, stunning face softened, her slender arms wrapped tightly around Leo's arm.
Leo opened his deep eyes and gave Ivy's firm, round bottom a light pat.
"Time to get up."
Ivy let out a lazy, kitten-like moan. Her azure eyes fluttered open drowsily, looking at Leo so close to her. Her red lips parted slightly:
"Mean... I'm still tired... It's all your fault last night... You wore me out so much my back's about to break..."
"You all started it."
Leo's lips curved into a devilish smile, mercilessly calling them out. "Last night, you four ganged up on me. And now you have the nerve to complain about being tired?"
Serafina lazily rolled over, her slender eyes glimmering with charm. "Who told you to have such stamina... If we didn't team up, how could we possibly handle you..."
Victoria stretched languidly, her breathtaking curves on full display in the morning light, laughing seductively. "Besides, you were the one who was so fierce in bed last night... And now you're blaming us..."
Listening to these women's shameless flirting, even the usually cold Charlotte's cheeks flushed slightly pink.
"Enough."
Leo threw off the covers and got out of bed bare-chested, casually pulling on a black silk robe.
"Stop lying around. Time to get up."
With that, he strode toward the bathroom.
Behind him came the women's playful complaints and the rustle of clothing.
Ten minutes later.
Leo emerged from the bathroom freshly washed, still in his robe, and walked into the suite's luxurious dining room.
The long table was already laden with an exquisite French breakfast.
Olivia sat at the table in sleek black tactical gear, holding a tablet, her striking face showing a hint of gravity.
"Boss."
Seeing Leo enter, Olivia immediately stood, reporting respectfully:
"The Evernight Order has started making moves. Since this morning, massive amounts of negative news and videos about Louis have been getting deleted at an extremely rapid pace."
"They've mobilized every connection they have in French media and social platforms to suppress the story with full force."
Leo took the head seat and calmly poured himself a cup of black coffee, saying lightly, "Doesn't matter."
"Let them delete. Information spreads online faster than they can scrub it. All of France already knows Louis sent assassins after Erwin. They can't erase it completely."
"Besides..."
Leo set down his coffee cup. "The more frantically they delete posts, the more it proves their guilt. It'll only make more people believe those scandals are true."
Olivia nodded, admiration flashing in her eyes.
Every move Reaper made was terrifyingly precise.
"By the way."
Leo looked up as if remembering something. "The leads I asked you to investigate—any progress?"
"We've made headway, boss."
Olivia immediately pulled up an encrypted file on her tablet and handed it to Leo:
"According to feedback from our intelligence network, aside from Kenichi, there was one other person who had contact with that Japanese man back then."
Leo took the tablet and scanned the information on the screen.
It was a yellowed photograph.
In the photo, a French man in his forties wore a white lab coat, standing in some kind of laboratory.
[Name: Étienne Martineau]
[Occupation: Senior Researcher at the French National Biological Research Institute, specializing in genetic engineering and cellular biology]
[Status: Deceased]
"This Étienne..."
Leo narrowed his eyes. "You're certain he had contact with Kenichi?"