The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 41: Discoveries in the Dark
In just over three hours, William ate a late-night snack, then lay in bed pretending to be helpless. The doctors at the emergency center had somehow found something he did not recognize and smeared it on his face, making him look terribly haggard.
When he was wheeled out of the emergency center, everyone let out a breath, including the Sabine City IRS Director, who had never gone home. He had been waiting there the whole time, and only now did his heart finally settle.
As long as William did not die, the problem would not spiral beyond control. In truth, whether it was him, the people above him, or the management departments higher up, how could they possibly not know that there were certain problems in the work being done below?
A proper degree of delegated authority, even a little overstepping of the rules, was not considered excessive. As long as they could complete their work and their assignments, then none of it was a problem.
Every year, the Baler Federation saw no fewer than several hundred conflicts caused by questions of enforcement limits. In earlier years there might have been even more. Yet no one saw local enforcement departments suddenly become afraid to reach out their hands because of it, and no one saw those departments locked in cages by their superiors.
But if William died, then the matter would become very difficult to handle. Any effective, healthy mechanism had its own internal cleanup process, a way to clear away the rotten parts. The Federation government had one as well.
The Baler Federation’s Office of Internal Oversight was precisely such a special department. It had many subordinate offices under it, the more famous among them being the Internal Corruption FBI, the Disciplinary Committee, and the Counter-Infiltration Investigation Office.
Once public opinion began to boil, some of those people would soon appear in Sabine City, launching investigations around excessive use of enforcement authority and possible official misconduct. At that point, Michael would not be the only unlucky one.
A little Investigation Unit Team Leader could not carry that kind of “weight” alone. Someone would have to be tied to him and removed from office with him, and that person would very likely be a Director-level figure guilty of “knowing and failing to report.”
Fortunately, William had regained consciousness. That meant the situation would not get too ugly, provided one did not consider the long string of bills he was about to see.
William talked with the doctor and brought about their simple little cooperation. Here, the doctor’s conduct did not count as a major fault.
After all, in the Baler Federation, medical institutions were controlled by medical groups. In other words, hospitals were shopping malls under the command of capitalists wearing the skin of medical groups.
What they sold was something called health. If one wanted health, one had to pay money. Doctors and nurses were salesmen. They worked here not to save the dying and heal the wounded, although they always liked to advertise themselves that way.
From the very beginning, the purpose of studying medical knowledge was to enter a hospital and become a doctor or nurse, to become part of the high-income class.
Their essential job was also to create profit for the group. So why would a doctor refuse a risk-free cooperation that brought him a large commission?
Of course, this was also why whenever the President raised the issue of medical reform, he received support from the people. High treatment costs and the cold attitude of hospitals made most people hope something could change, though it was truly difficult to accomplish.
It was like asking the great capitalists not to make money. They were not philanthropists. Even philanthropists first had to suck enough blood from common people before they had a bright red heart to offer others. That was basically impossible.
In short, the news that William had been violently coerced by Michael and was gravely ill spread quickly. Michael, who was cooperating with the investigation at the police station, had not expected William to be hurt so badly.
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