Chapter 426: Clean-up

Upon returning to the election center, Adam discovered that it was a lot more deserted compared with when he had last left, and all of the workers were simply going through the motions without any passion or drive to speak of.

The election manager immediately brought Adam the latest election report, and according to the statistics, support for him had plummeted so severely that his election campaign was on the verge of collapse. Adam paid no heed to this, tossing the report aside as he said, "Don't worry, everything will get better."

This was something that every politician would say, and the election manager was already accustomed to hearing things like this, but not long thereafter, Adam's high-level consultant, Toshiyuki Matsumara, presented him with an even more terrible piece of news.

"Mr. Kevin Reed is very unhappy with your recent performance. If he becomes convinced that you're intentionally wasting his election funds, then he may take some rather unpleasant measures."

No capitalist would be willing to stand by and watch their investment being wasted, particularly a powerful arms merchant like Kevin Reed. If he were to discover that anyone was trying to deceive him, then that person would be met with extremely cruel retaliation that often entailed horrific torture and even death.

Adam remained calm and collected as he replied, "Please inform Mr. Reed that he'll see the situation take a turn for the better very soon."

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Are you sure?"

Toshiyuki Matsumara represented the northern congress, and he was well aware of just how dire the current situation was, so he couldn't be placated so easily.

"I'm certain," Adam replied in an assertive voice.

"Alright, I'll pass the message onto Mr. Reed, and I hope you can fulfill this promise soon to avoid leaving a permanent blotch on my resume."

Shortly thereafter, Adam was visited by May and Cowboy, and both of them were astonished as soon as they laid eyes on him.

"You seem to be more confident than before."

May's intuition was extremely sharp, and thinking back to the places that Adam had recently visited, she had a rough idea of where this change in his disposition had come from.

"I'd say it's more like he's more certain of himself than before. Looks like you're preparing to make a big move," Cowboy said.

They were quite pleased to see this positive change in Adam as it meant that their long-term investment hadn't gone to waste.

Adam smiled as he replied, "I have gained some power recently, but I still hope to receive your full support in what I'm about to do next."

"What are you planning to do?" May asked with a wary expression.

There was no way that she would agree to doing anything illegal as that entailed taking on an unmanageable level of risk, which could result in catastrophic consequences.

Cowboy seemed to have seen right through Adam's intentions, and he pursed his lips as he said, "He clearly feels like he's powerful enough to make a radical move. I have a feeling we're going to be very busy very soon."

"Your efforts won't be for nothing, and I assure you that the outcome will be worthy of your investment."

Adam was beginning to speak more and more like a standard politician, and May and Cowboy didn't know whether to be glad or concerned.

However, they had already incurred far too much sunk cost, so the only option for them was to support Adam.

"I'm planning to initiate an eradication operation to get rid of some chaotic elements first."

Adam openly revealed his first target, which was Succubus Beth.

"Do you have a way to deal with her? Let me make this clear in advance: there's no way we'll fight with you on the front lines."

May was expressing some doubts as even up to this point, the pawn shop was still unable to reliably track Succubus Beth's activities.

Cowboy adjusted his hat slightly as he rose to his feet and said, "We'll provide you with the support that you need as long as it's within reason. I hope you can succeed and inject some impetus into your campaign."

Adam didn't provide any in-depth explanations, and May and Cowboy didn't pry into the matter any further. Following their departure, Adam immediately began to organize the required personnel for the operation.

If Adam really could pull off his entire plan, then May and Cowboy were going to reap immeasurable benefits during the process, so Adam hadn't been lying to them. While taking the time to elevate his own powers, he had been constantly pondering and refining his plan as well.

When it came to the Chaos Raisers serving the director, the main obstacle standing in his way was the difficulty in tracking them down. All of their targets were selected at random, so Adam couldn't just try to hunt them down carelessly. He had to conduct a thorough investigation, then hatch a plan and assemble a team before disguising himself and infiltrating his target.

The alternative was to influence their target selection and scope. This time, Adam had decided to take the initiative, sending an encrypted message to Raven through the dark web, and it didn't take long before he received a reply.

"Your plan is definitely quite bold and daring. I hope everything will unfold according to your plan. If that happens, we'll be entering a brand new stage of collaboration. I'll do everything I can to assist you in the execution of your plan, and I wish you all the success in the world."

Adam's plan wasn't very complicated. For the Chaos Raisers, the ideal targets were those who had high levels of social influence, but could also be taken down with minimal risk. If such targets were to present themselves, then it was almost guaranteed that the Chaos Raisers would take the bait.

With that in mind, he had meticulously selected several groups of people, among which were intermingled individuals that were more likely to be targeted. The plan was to have the Chaos Raisers "inadvertently" discover these targets on their own to make the process seem more organic.

The person who was chosen this time was a renowned heart surgeon, Doctor Jim Edwards. At least half of the most important figures in Sandrise City would turn to Doctor Edwards whenever they required heart surgery.

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Furthermore, Doctor Edwards had many other identities, including shareholder in the Compassion Company and board member of the Ark Learning Children's Fund. He controlled a legally ambiguous organ supply chain, which could be manipulated to prioritize organ assignments for important figures.

He was an extremely important figure on the list of people Adam wanted to investigate, and the plan was to get the Chaos Raisers to set everything into motion and expose the dark underbelly of the city for what it really was.

Three days later, everything was confirmed.

Adam took the void rail to Area 28, accompanied by Diana and Shae. Last time, he had come here to investigate the Compassion Company, and it seemed that fate had brought him back here again.

Doctor Jim Edwards lived a very regimented lifestyle. Aside from the very few surgeries that he had to carry out in person, he spent the vast majority of his time in his medical school and private clinic, and he barely had any hobbies. On this day, he was scheduled to carry out a heart surgery for a congressperson in his clinic, which had the most cutting edge equipment.

Adam's trio encountered a privately installed temporary security perimeter a kilometer away from the clinic, and in order to avoid spooking their target, they chose to stop and wait at the perimeter.

As the surgery commenced, the mechanic bee that was transporting the new heart quickly approached the clinic under the protection of an armed drone.

Right as the mechanical bee crossed over the security perimeter, two miniature missiles suddenly shot out of the ground, crashing into and detonating the mechanical bee and the armed drone, immediately following which a distress signal was sent out to all nearby Mechguard units.

With the security perimeter breached, Adam's trio snuck in before traveling toward the clinic at high speed, and another fully armed team was also approaching simultaneously from a different direction.