Day 7.

The sun broke through the clouds, illuminating the land of Paradise Island.

"Jack of Hearts" Wei Pingchang, "Queen of Hearts" Shi Wenle, "Ace of Hearts" Huang Chunling.

On the top floor of the Red Peach Casino, in an elegant conference room, the top executives of Red Peach City were already seated.

Their gazes all turned to the people sitting opposite them—those who had experienced the sudden incident last night.

The death of a high-ranking official is a very serious matter for this city.

Vendettas, revenge, hiring someone to kill... all are possible.

But the fact that this happened precisely in the territory of "Red Hearts K" Cao He—the Red Hearts Casino—and that he died from the most silent poisoning, made the higher-ups take it even more seriously.

Huang Chunling's gaze was as sharp as a hawk's, sweeping over everyone in the conference room, and an invisible pressure instantly enveloped the entire room.

The residents of Red City present, including Susan, all unconsciously lowered their heads to avoid making eye contact with this high-ranking leader.

Huang Chunling frowned, her voice carrying an undeniable authority: "Cao He's men have already given me a brief report on what happened last night. I want to know why this happened, how could perfectly healthy people suddenly die?"

Susan felt the scrutinizing gazes around her. She took a deep breath, mustered her courage, and looked directly into Huang Chunling's eyes. "President Chunling, I really don't know what happened. President Cao was suddenly poisoned last night, and by the time we realized what was happening..."

Huang Chunling raised her hand to stop her, "Have you found out how Cao He was poisoned?"

Susan nervously swallowed, then turned her gaze to Cao He's subordinate and explained, "After the incident yesterday, I wanted to investigate the cause of the poisoning immediately, but Cao's men quickly detained all of us, prohibiting us from taking any action."

Upon hearing this, Huang Chunling frowned and followed Susan's gaze to look at Cao He's subordinate, her thoughts remaining unreadable.

"Well... since everyone's here, let's investigate the source of this poison together."

"Queen of Hearts" Shi Wenle immediately echoed, "Chunling is right, this must have been premeditated. If we don't find the culprit, won't we have to live in this fearful environment forever?"

"Jack of Hearts" Wei Pingchang nodded and said in a deep voice, "After they reported to me early this morning, I immediately ordered people to seal off the first crime scene to ensure that no one had touched the food there."

Then, he clapped his hands, and several of his men carefully placed all the food from the previous night on the table in the conference room.

Wei Pingchang then ordered someone to bring the doctor, who, under the watchful eyes of everyone, began to examine the food one by one.

The doctor took a silver needle, the same one as the night before, and inserted it into each type of food one by one, then observed the changes in the needle.

After examining each food item, she would record the results, but the silver needles always retained their original color without any change.

She only stopped when she detected the cup of water that Cao He had drunk from, then inserted the silver needle into the water and slowly pulled it out.

All eyes were focused on the silver needle, whose tip instantly turned black.

Everyone in the room gasped; the outcome was already clear.

Cao He died from poisoning after drinking contaminated water.

Huang Chunling sighed, and her imposing voice came again, "Who prepared this glass of water for him?"

Susan's pupils dilated, and she jumped to her feet. "Impossible! Ms. Chunling, there can't be anything wrong with this water!"

Everyone's drinking water came from the same source, so how come only Cao He was poisoned while everyone else was fine?

A hint of hesitation flashed in Huang Chunling's eyes, but everyone's attention was on Susan, and no one noticed her emotional change.

Ultimately, Susan was her person, and Cao He was her biggest threat.

Now that Cao He is dead, Huang Chunling is the biggest beneficiary, but internal strife shouldn't be fought this way, and killing shouldn't be done this way either.

Huang Chunling was already inclined to believe that Susan was behind it. She wanted to protect her subordinates but didn't want others to discover her bias, and she was also somewhat angry at Susan's reckless actions.

She paused, waiting for Susan to explain.

Susan lived up to expectations and began to try her best to clear herself of suspicion.

"Please, esteemed leaders, consider this carefully! We drank from the same pot of water, and the cups were randomly chosen. If I had poisoned it, how could I guarantee that General Manager Cao would have used the poisoned cup?"

Wei Ping walked to the edge of the table, carefully examined the poisoned cup, and questioned, "What if you had the waiter hand him the cup? What you're saying is still possible, isn't it?"

Susan anxiously explained, "Given Mr. Cao's wariness, do you really think he would trust me that much? He drank the water as soon as he got it!"

This explanation doesn't actually prove anything; the clues are too subjective.

At this moment, the examining physician asked, "You mean Mr. Cao has been drinking this glass of water from the very beginning?"

Susan didn't know what she wanted to ask, so she could only nod truthfully, "Everyone present can testify to this. Mr. Cao kept drinking that glass of water, and he refused when the waiter tried to refill his glass."

The doctor nodded and reported to the higher-ups, "Gentlemen, if that's the case, we can indeed rule out the possibility that the cup or water was poisoned from the beginning."

"Why?" Huang Chunling glanced at Susan and asked the doctor.

The doctor continued, "The poison that Mr. Cao was given is extremely potent. Just a tiny amount is enough to cause instant poisoning. The onset time is less than half a minute, so there's no way Mr. Cao could have held out for that long."

Wei Pingchang frowned and asked, "Are you saying that President Cao was suddenly poisoned halfway through?"

"That should be the case." The doctor nodded.

"Susan, did anyone approach President Cao's cup yesterday?" Wei Ping asked.

Susan thought about it carefully for a moment, then shook her head.

Shi Wenle stroked his chin and muttered, "This... is too strange."

Wei Pingchang seemed to remember something else and continued to ask, "Did anything strange happen during your betting game yesterday?"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately thought of the problematic die.

If it weren't for the problem with that die, Cao He and Chuan Liu's bet might have already been resolved, and Cao He wouldn't have died from drinking so much water.

Only then did everyone turn their attention to Chuanliu and Xiaoyao in the corner.

At this moment, Chuanliu had a sorrowful expression and looked so dejected that no one could bear to question him.

Huang Chunling cleared her throat and said, "Young friend Chuanliu, I didn't expect we would meet again so soon."

The latter twitched the corners of his mouth, then lowered his eyes in regret. "President Chunling, this is my fault. If I had been more resolute and paid for the casino's losses, President Cao would have had no reason to compete with me in dice, and he might not have died."