72: Chapter 72 Mediation

Morning light pierced through the clouds, spilling onto the intersection where the southern section of Chengchun Road met Guanghua Road.

Lin Ning sat astride his little e-bike, holding a cup of soy milk in his hands, his gaze sweeping calmly over the road surface.

This was already the fourth morning of his segmented tracking of Sofiani.

The method was clumsy, but effective.

Every day, during the morning, noon, and evening shifts, he appeared at his predetermined stakeout spot as punctually as if he were clocking into work.

The rest of the time, he would be sweating buckets at the Fighting Gym, or at home, closing his eyes and focusing his mind to explore that nascent, strange power.

The progress was obvious.

After three days of repeated attempts and losing enough nosebleeds to make any normal person anemic, Lin Ning finally figured out the "minimum consumption limit" of his Psychic Power.

Now, as long as he kept his perception range limited to himself and maintained the intensity at a "vague sensing" level, he wouldn't suffer from those annoying aftereffects like dizziness and headaches.

This feeling was quite wondrous.

Even without deliberately focusing his attention, he could vaguely "touch" the underlying tones of the emotions of pedestrians around him.

Anxious office workers radiated a grayish restlessness, mothers holding their children exuded a warm yellow serenity, and a man on the phone in the corner was wrapped in a layer of guilty pale red.

It was like a background radiation map that was always slightly fluctuating.

What surprised him even more was that he had discovered a new way to play—binding that formless Psychic Power into an extremely thin "thread" and extending it out through his line of sight or hearing.

Although the farther the distance, the duller the perception, and he couldn't "see" specific images clearly, he could be alerted the moment any emotion targeted at him—whether it was curious goodwill or malicious peeping—touched his "tentacles" like a flame.

This gave him more confidence while staking out, at least he didn't have to worry about alerting the enemy.

Nine-seventeen.

That familiar white BMW appeared in the traffic right on time, driving from west to east, passing the section he was staking out, and turning into the northbound lane before driving away.

Lin Ning finished the last sip of his soy milk leisurely, tossed the paper cup into the trash can, and silently pushed Sofiani's activity trajectory a little further forward on the map in his mind.

Almost there.

Based on people's driving habits and his estimation of the surrounding map, this should not be far from her original starting point.

In two or three days at most, he would be able to find her hideout.

Twisting the throttle, the little e-bike merged nimbly into the traffic.

He planned to go to the Fighting Gym; Coach Chen Hu had said yesterday that his adjustments to the force-linking were interesting and had arranged to test them again today.

His phone vibrated.

Caller ID: Jiang Yu.

Lin Ning's heart skipped a beat for no reason, and he answered.

"Lin Ning..." Jiang Yu's voice was a bit tight, and the background noise was loud, "I'm here... The XX Sub-bureau called and said they've arranged a mediation and want me to go over now."

"Send me the address." Lin Ning was concise.

Almost at the same time, another call came in, a local landline number.

Lin Ning switched to the other line.

"Hello, is this Mr. Lin Ning? This is the XX Sub-bureau. Regarding the conflict triggered by the family dispute you were involved in earlier, we have arranged for mediation today. Please take the time to come over..."

"Address." Lin Ning repeated.

Hanging up both calls, he turned his bike around; the plan for the Fighting Gym was ruined.

The air in the mediation room seemed to have a few more pieces of human trash, and it started to get sticky and foul.

Jiang Yu sat on one side of the long table, her back straight, her lips pressed into a pale line.

The "family members" opposite her were a completely different scene.

Jiang Father's neck veins were bulging, and he was waving several sheets of paper in his hand, his spit almost spraying onto the mediating police officer's face: "Look! Look! Minor injury level two! My son is still lying in the hospital! He's the one who hit him! Make him go to jail! Pay up! Not a single cent less!"

Jiang Mother was slapping her thighs and wailing on the side: "There's no justice! The beast I raised with my life is colluding with a wild man to beat up her parents and brother! You little beast, you trash with no father or mother, just go out and get hit by a car and die! Comrades police, you must uphold justice for us!"

The young mediating police officer looked exhausted, trying to control the situation: "Don't curse! Everyone stay calm! We are handling this matter right now. Mr. Lin Ning, do you have anything to say about this appraisal conclusion?"

Lin Ning leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over those so-called injury reports, and then over the faces of Jiang's parents, which were twisted by excitement and greed.

It was strange; he didn't have any anger in his heart, only a deep, lingering disgust.

These entanglements, these dirty calculations, compared to the dangerous world he had been exposed to these past few days, which was hidden under an elegant coat, were ridiculously cheap.

But it was really disgusting!

"Comrade police," Lin Ning said, his voice calm, "I will just ask two questions."

The mediation room went quiet for a moment.

"First, how did your public security agency ultimately characterize my actions at that time?"

The police officer was stunned for a moment, flipping through the files in his hand: "According to the on-site investigation and the statements of the parties involved, your actions belong to... stopping ongoing illegal infringement, protecting the personal safety of others, and meet the relevant circumstances of 'acting bravely for a just cause'."

"Second, based on this characterization, do I need to bear criminal liability or civil compensation liability?"

The police officer looked at the aggressive Jiang family, and then at the unnaturally calm Lin Ning, carefully choosing his words: "From a legal perspective, if your actions are determined to be legitimate defense or acting bravely for a just cause, and did not significantly exceed the necessary limits, you generally do not bear criminal or civil liability. Of course, if the other party is indeed injured, from a humanitarian perspective, it is sometimes suggested..."

"Humanitarian compensation?" Lin Ning smiled, but there was no warmth in that smile. He raised his finger and pointed at the Jiang family who were still clamoring opposite him, "Comrade police, do you think they deserve to talk about 'humanity'?"

"Who the f*** are you talking about?!" Jiang Father slammed the table and stood up.

"Sit down!" The police officer raised his voice.

Lin Ning stopped looking at them and turned to the police officer, his tone clear and resolute: "Since the police conclusion is that I am not at fault, then this matter is over for me. If they are dissatisfied with the conclusion, they can sue according to the procedure, and I will accompany them."

He paused, his gaze turning cold: "However, from just now until now, I have heard their continuous abuse, slander, and threats against me. I am now officially filing a report to pursue their illegal acts of insulting, slandering, and threatening my personal safety. Do I need to make a statement? I can cooperate right now."

The mediation room went completely silent.

Jiang Father and Jiang Mother opened their mouths like chickens whose necks were being strangled, seemingly not expecting that Lin Ning would not only be unafraid but would also dare to counter-sue them.

The police officer also started to get a headache.

Planning to cold-handle it first, he turned to Jiang Yu.

He grinned silently; this side was also very troublesome.