Without saying anything else, Nathan quietly walked out of the interrogation room.
When Braydon saw Nathan exit, he instructed his subordinates to take Zion into remand before he personally escorted Nathan out.
Alongside Colin and the Elite Eight, Nathan got into his car and left.
Braydon watched as Nathan's convoy vanished from view, and Sigurd could not help but mutter under his own breath, “That Nathan Cross is too bloody arrogant!” “Had you been in his position, you'd surely be much worse than him,” Braydon replied calmly.
Though a little miffed at first, Sigurd suddenly perked up. “Zion may not end up in prison this time, but he did break the law after all. No matter what they decide to do with him, he'd surely be out of contention for the next election. Looks like our Mr. Holmes is destined to be the next president.”
Casting his gaze in the direction where Nathan's convoy disappeared, Braydon shook his head. “I don't think we’ve really gotten it in the bag yet.”
Sigurd's eyes widened in surprise. “Mr. Holmes' primary rival is none other than the cabinet secretary, Zion Lucas himself. Why wouldn't it be a gimme for him now that Zion is out of the picture?”
“Zion was considered Mr. Holmes' strongest opponent only because of the absence of Nathan from the race,” replied Braydon in a low voice. “If Nathan decided to put his own name forward, with his stature as the Chief Military Governor, I can’t see Mr. Holmes or the now dismissed Zion Lucas coming anywhere close.”
“Wasn't Nathan himself the one who declared that he had no intention of running for president?” Sigurd asked.
That was met by Braydon's cold sneer. “Do you think that's up to him?
Within the arena of wealth and power, whose words could you really trust? There's such hollowness in the way they speak, so how could you take anything he says at face value?”
“Do you mean to say that Nathan is purposefully feigning disinterest to cause others to lower their guard, Braydon? That he intends to join the race late and then steamroll his way to victory?” said an uncertain Sigurd.
Braydon narrowed his eyes to a squint. “I think we cannot discount that possibility.”
That got Sigurd nervous. What were they hoping to accomplish by getting on the wrong side of Hansel Windsor, Zion Lucas, and even Nathan Cross?
Was it not all in the hope that they would be able to ride on Erwin's coattails and prosper alongside the latter's rise to prominence?
However, his smile froze over shortly after. “But Nathan isn't like Zion, Braydon. Zion may be the secretary in the Cabinet, but he's just a civil official after all. Nathan Cross is the military's top general, with command over the majority of the regional forces. Would Mr. Holmes and the president allow us to touch him?”
“He may very well be the military's top general, but this is Brimmopolis we are talking about. The Capital Garrison numbers two hundred thousand strong and is commanded by Will Long who has secretly expressed support for Mr. Holmes. So, should anything happen, there is no way that his charges would take orders from Nathan. On the contrary, Will would be able to lead his troops and lay siege to the Headquarters of the Chief Military Governor if need be,” Braydon said with a snort.
Upon the mention of that point, Braydon paused before he sniggered coldly. “Mr. Holmes would, without question, want to bring Nathan down. As for President Woods, he has elevated Mr. Holmes and helped him to defeat Zion, so I reckon that President Woods' intention is to use Mr. Holmes to counter the Chief Military Governor's influence, for Nathan simply wields too much of it. Since President Woods supported Mr. Holmes when the latter went against Zion, I reckon that he would surely back Mr. Holmes up should Mr.
Holmes go against Nathan.”
Upon hearing that, Sigurd started to burgeon with confidence.
Braydon then ordered, “Deploy the best men we have at our disposal. I want all of you to conduct a thorough investigation on Nathan and find evidence of his wrongdoing by any means necessary. In the event that you can't find anything, then make something up if you have to.”
“Understood!” Sigurd said.
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