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Chapter 7 - Chapter 7: Secret Court × Going Ashore

National Medical University, Research Center for Intractable Diseases.

A travel-worn Dia dragged his luggage into the building.

"Hey, student, you can't just enter here."

Before Dia could even put down his luggage, a girl in a white lab coat with long hair and heavy dark circles under her eyes called out to him.

Dia turned his head upon hearing her, about to explain, but the girl froze the moment she saw his face:

"Senior Diego! Why are you back? And how have you become... so..."

The girl in the lab coat stuttered, finally managing to squeeze out a single word:

"Mature."

Dia recognized her as well; she was a junior from his lab. He smiled and said:

"Yo! It's Alice, right? I've run into some things recently, so I came to ask Professor Cheadle for some advice."

Alice was shocked that a person's demeanor could change so drastically in such a short time.

In her memory, Senior Diego was a kind senior who always had a gentle smile on his face and often helped the junior students with their experiments.

But now, Senior Diego's gentle, almost good-natured aura from the past was gone, replaced by a confidence and a certain determined air that was present even in the way he walked.

Hearing Dia's words, Alice snapped back to reality and quickly said:

"Senior, you're a step too late. Professor Cheadle just received a call from the Supreme Court and left. It seems she's gone to attend a secret court session."

Dia's brow furrowed. That was trouble.

Within the judicial system of the Republic of Mingbo, there existed an entity that was completely out of step with the mainstream courts: the Secret Court.

The Secret Court was not a "secret" court in the sense of being unknown; on the contrary, everyone knew of its existence.

Its name came from the subjects of its trials—people who could not be known to the public.

Secretly captured spies, high-ranking officials with immense influence, even Supreme Court justices—their identities were either too sensitive, or a public trial would cause massive social upheaval.

There was no limit to the number of attendees at a Secret Court session, but it had to adhere to the "4-3-1" principle—

The "four" refers to the four key figures that must be present: a judge, a clerk, a legal scholar, and the criminal. The "three" refers to the three steps the trial process must go through: presentation of claims, supervised cross-examination, and the pronouncement of the verdict. And the "one" means that not a single word of the trial's content can be leaked—the principle of absolute secrecy.

Everyone knew the Secret Court had secrets, but no one dared to investigate, because the only people who knew the secrets were at the Secret Court itself, either as staff or as prisoners.

Cheadle was likely invited to participate in the trial as a legal scholar, but that would make it very difficult to find her.

The location of a Secret Court session was not fixed, not public, and never repeated. Due to its special nature, it was often held in a remote place.

If Cheadle happened to be going somewhere far away this time, it was possible he'd have to wait for a long time!

After making some perfunctory excuses, Dia bid farewell to his junior.

Walking on a cobblestone path, Dia thought for a moment and took out his phone.

Although he didn't hold out much hope, he decided to try contacting Cheadle to get a definite return time.

"Dururu... Hello, Dia? Have you arrived already?"

To Dia's surprise, Cheadle answered the phone:

"Ah, yes, it's me. Professor Cheadle, are you..."

"No time to explain. Come to the airport first, as soon as possible! Beep beep beep beep..."

Before Dia could finish his pleasantries, Cheadle quickly cut him off, only telling him to hurry to the airport before hanging up.

Dia was truly bewildered now. To the airport again? He had just come from there!

He urgently hailed a taxi on the roadside. The driver was just about to ask where to, when Dia directly pulled out two large-denomination Jenny bills:

"To the airport, as fast as you can!"

The driver's eyes lit up. He snatched the money, didn't say another word, and immediately shifted gears for a launch start!

Screech—

With the sound of tires screeching against the ground, the taxi came to a steady stop in front of the terminal hall.

Dia threw the car door open, bent his knees, and leaped out, landing in a neat semi-squat. He then dashed into the hall in a few quick strides.

As soon as he entered the hall, the sharp-eyed Dia spotted that conspicuous shade of green in the crowd.

Cheadle Yorkshire was wearing her classic white and green dress, a cross pinned to her collar, a pair of white high boots on her feet, and what looked like deliberately cute dog-paw gloves on her hands. She wore a green-patterned round hat that covered most of her head and her long green hair, and two fluffy dog ears on her head twitched from time to time.

'Does she even wear this to a court session? That's too much...'

With some rather disrespectful thoughts running through his head, Dia quickly walked up and greeted Cheadle.

Cheadle turned to look at Dia, a flash of surprise in her eyes. Clearly, she hadn't expected Dia to have changed so much so soon after graduation.

But according to the timeline in the reports, it was normal for one's personality to change after a life-or-death situation.

"You're not slow. Do you have anything urgent right now? If not, do me a favor and come with me."

"You can store your luggage at the airport for now. I'll explain the details later."

As she spoke, Cheadle pulled out a badge from somewhere and handed it to him, then took out her phone and began to do something.

Dia looked closely. The upper half of the badge depicted a simple line drawing of a scale, pierced from below by a sword. On the lower half of the badge were the words "Clerk."

Is this? A work credential for the Secret Court?

Since the Secret Court's confidentiality principle only applied to the trial content, things like staff identification were searchable online.

Dia recognized it, but he didn't know why Cheadle was giving it to him.

For him to be the clerk? He wasn't even a civil servant, was he?

Although a thousand thoughts raced through his mind, there was no time to think carefully. Dia's intuition told him that Cheadle probably wouldn't harm him.

Moreover, this was a good opportunity to build a good relationship with her and prepare to inquire about Nen.

So, Dia nodded decisively and replied:

"Okay, I'll be right back."

He then ran to the counter to store his luggage.

When he returned with the claim ticket, before he could say a word, Cheadle hurriedly grabbed his arm and rushed him towards the tarmac.

The tarmac wasn't far from the hall, and since both of them were fast, it didn't take long for them to cross the walkway and catch a small airship.

After boarding the airship, Cheadle casually found a seat and sat down quietly. Only after the airship took off and stabilized did she speak:

"You should recognize that badge. You're going to attend a secret trial with me. You will act as the clerk, which is just to take records. With your abilities, you're more than qualified."

"The location for this trial is on an island in a lake 120 kilometers from Loi—Hundred Ring Island!"

"Don't worry about your identity. I've already had a friend in the legal department register you in the system. You are now a government-registered public official."

This... I've landed a government job just like that?

Dia realized he had underestimated the power of a Triple-Star Hunter.

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