Chapter 573: Chapter 573: The Reporter Runs Faster Than Anyone Else_1
The next morning, at the entrance of Rose Iron Prison.
"Mr. Galahad, what exactly is your relationship with Miss Awen?"
"May I ask where the two of you met? What was the occasion?"
"There’s a rumor that you had dinner together at the Crystal Jazz Restaurant, is this true?"
...
"We’re not in that kind of relationship, just acquaintances, no further comments. And please, don’t crowd the entrance to the prison, you’re disrupting work, thank you!" Aiden, about to enter the prison, said with a stern face.
This morning, as soon as he arrived at his workplace, he was ambushed by a group of reporters from various newspapers.
The candid photo was published suddenly yesterday, and the media that got hold of the photo first rushed to report it immediately, by which time the newspapers in Silvertown had not yet identified who Deborah was dining with.
But a day passed, and they discovered the identity of the male lead in the photo—after all, Aiden had been in the papers for capturing the Red Shark pirate crew.
This time Aiden finally realized his mistake, he found he had underestimated the local entertainment journalists, who sometimes moved faster than anyone else.
Deborah was an actress of the Empire, a rising star who had just made her debut a few months ago. In the autonomous state, her fame wasn’t very pronounced. Therefore, there was no media coverage when she first came to the autonomous state.
But her appearance was far too striking, and with the added influence of the "right of presence," local reporters soon took notice of her.
Perhaps by the third time he met with Deborah, she had already been targeted by undercover reporters.
Then, a single report turned him into Deborah’s rumored boyfriend.
Yesterday, Director Harold wasn’t too concerned about the matter, merely asking casually before Aiden brushed it off swiftly.
But things were a bit more troublesome with other former colleagues. After leaving the office, a former teammate who had also read the report came over to "congratulate" him, and that set off a ripple effect. A group immediately surrounded him with questions and exclamations, a range of labels like "big shot," "ladies’ man," "Heretic Inquisitor’s life peak" quickly stuck to him, not giving him a chance to get a word in.
In the end, it was Rebecca who broke up the mob for him.
"Isn’t it great? You’ve become a celebrity, senior, secretly dating an Empire’s theatrical star—and you never mentioned it to us," Rebecca said, her lips upturned in a smile, though her eyes were not as cheerful.
For some reason, once she spoke up, everyone else quickly fell silent.
Although he managed to explain things away eventually, whether they believed him or not wasn’t clear.
The reporters crowding the entrance made it impossible for Aiden to go in. He tried to send them away, but not a single one budged.
The questions kept coming at him like rapid gunfire:
"When did the two of you officially start your relationship?"
"Are you considering marriage yet?"
"What’s the due date for the baby?"
"Have you thought about the baby’s name?"
...
"Have you not heard what I said? And your questions are getting ridiculous," Aiden grew more incredulous at the absurdity, "You are now obstructing the prison’s functioning, disperse immediately!"
This bizarre line of questioning was probably their goal; they didn’t need the truth, just sensational material to attract readers.
An abrupt siren tore through the noisy questioning of the reporters as Veronica suddenly emerged with a squad of riot officers, shouting, "Nobody move! Everyone, hands up!"
The reporters turned in surprise, baffled at the sight of the armed prison guards looking ready for battle.
"Are you deaf?! I said hands up!!" Veronica’s voice escalated sharply.
The journalists were all intimidated by the stern expression of the female officer, raising their hands, those who were taking photos lifted their cameras as well.
"Didn’t expect that, did you, you bunch of prison breakers? We’ve long received a tip-off! To think you’d dare to make a scene right at the door..." Veronica raised her hand, and suddenly the riot police officers behind her began to draw their guns, "Daring to break into here, are you all sick of living!?"
A crowd of journalists was dumbfounded on the spot.
Someone cautiously spoke up, "Wha, what?"
"Don’t play dumb. Today a major criminal was being transferred, we received a tip-off that accomplices were planning to break the prison; it must be you," Veronica shouted, "Surrender immediately, leniency in confession, severity in resistance, you have the right to remain silent, but everything you say will be used as evidence in court!"
Dead silence fell on the scene.
The awkward silence lasted for a few seconds, and suddenly a journalist cried out indignantly, "What utter nonsense!!"
"I’m just a journalist from Silver Entertainment!" someone instantly cried out to assert their innocence, immediately getting responses from the others.
"I’m a journalist from Fringe Era!"
"How could we possibly look like prison breakers?"
"How can your prison threaten the media with guns?"
"Police brutality!!"
...
"Shut up," Veronica silenced them, her gaze as sharp as if it could cut a person open.
These journalists who only dealt with entertainment news had never seen such a scene and were once again suppressed, not a single one spoke up.
"Disguised as journalists? Prison breakers have gotten quite smart recently," Veronica sneered.
"Hey, no prison breaker would do that!"
"We even brought cameras!"
"Isn’t showing you our credentials enough!!"
The journalists couldn’t help but be frustrated by the seemingly simple-minded female officer.
"Alright, since all of you insist you are innocent, I will thoroughly investigate," Veronica replied seriously, "Line up here and take out your credentials for me to check one by one. Any non-cooperative actions, and don’t blame us for being impolite."
"What the hell? Watch me expose you!" a journalist from the back muttered discontentedly, then raised his camera aiming at Veronica.
Veronica, alert, noticed him, took a quick step forward, grabbed him, and pulled him out, snatching the camera and pinning him to the ground at the same time.
"Caught you, prison breaker!" Veronica shouted, "Good, disguising your weapon as a camera!"
"I’m not! I don’t have one!!" the journalist being pinned shouted, "That is clearly a regular camera."
"The others might be accomplices, take them all in for investigation!" Veronica commanded, "Confiscate their ’weapons’!"
"Don’t!"
"We have nothing to do with him at all!!"
"This! This is my press card! I really am a journalist!!"
...
Completely thrown off-balance, the journalists, after a while, finally began to realize — Aiden Galahad, at some point, had disappeared without a trace.
