Chapter 26 The Judge in the Cracks

"Ahem, Miss Ning." Fu Bernard felt a tightness in his throat and quickly cleared it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Situ Linchen raised his eyes and looked at Ning Shuyin with an inscrutable expression.

Fuberna quickly averted his gaze, daring not to look again, for fear of being sacrificed on the spot.

He racked his brains, drawing on his years of experience surviving in the cracks of the league, and found a temporary solution.

A live video call with Zhou Zhiheng is absolutely out of the question.

The marshal has always been at odds with the Zhou family, and the Zhou family's crown prince is an extremely difficult person to deal with.

We must first salvage this awkward situation.

It's better to delay and let things cool down, allowing investigators to gather evidence and submit a written report afterward, than to make things difficult to complete now.

Then, Fuberna slammed his fist on the table, interrupting the whispers in the room.

"Mr. Zhou Zhiheng was also injured in the explosion and requires treatment, so he is currently unable to appear in court. Given the important witness..."

The Zhou family heir was at the explosion site, so it's okay for him to say that.

Fuberna gave himself a pat on the back for his cleverness, then prepared to bring down the gavel: "Today's hearing is adjourned for now. This case is postponed..."

Just as Fulbner was about to bring down the gavel, a clear female voice suddenly rang out.

“Mr. Fu Bernard, please don’t be fooled by Miss Ning Shuyin’s words.”

The speaker, dressed in a black navigator uniform, had a sharp expression on her face; it was You Lingfei.

After saying this, she confidently walked to the center of the courtroom, pointed at Ning Shuyin, and said:

“I am saddened that even now, Miss Ning is still trying to confuse the public. She is a girl from the bottom of society with no background. She has gotten to where she is today by taking advantage of other people’s kindness and trust. Yesterday, the lives of 100,000 people on the space station became a tool for her to create a god for herself.”

You Lingfei's eyes were filled with resentment.

Yesterday, the flagship "Starship" completed its towing mission, and Marshal was supposed to return to the Far Mountain Space Port.

But the marshal canceled all his schedules and rushed back to see Ning Shuyin, even taking her back to his residence on the space station.

At this moment, this ordinary woman was actually wearing an S-class combat suit. This was a suit that You Lingfei had tried every possible means to obtain but could not.

Fortunately, she received this recording from her mother, Madam You, last night, which gave her the opportunity to deal with this woman.

“Everyone,” You Lingfei raised her voice, “As a B-level navigator with extremely high perception, I can sense that she is lying.”

You Lingfei added an extra scene for herself.

A navigator's perception is not mind reading; it cannot detect a person's thoughts at all.

But she only wanted to stir up the emotions of the crowd and didn't care about anything else.

She wanted to portray Ning Shuyin as an "ambitious schemer who would stop at nothing."

Ning Shuyin's gaze swept across the audience.

Although the high-ranking officers all had cold, expressionless faces, she could clearly see that some unconsciously pursed their lips, and others clenched their fingers on their knees.

Their emotions are being stirred up by these accusations.

Ning Shuyin knew that once prejudice takes hold, the power of language becomes negligible.

With Lorraine refusing to testify and Zhou Zhiheng unreachable, the two simplest and most direct ways to escape punishment have been blocked.

Fubner was dragged out by You Lingfei at this point, and he was furious, but he could only continue the trial.

"Ms. Ning, may I present any other evidence?"

Ning Shuyin raised her head and looked directly at Situ Linchen on the judge's bench.

“Since my witnesses cannot testify, let the physical evidence speak for itself. I request a direct analysis of the recording to restore its original appearance.”

Ning Shuyin was referring to the processed recording.

"We request the Marshal's authorization to use the fleet's most sophisticated voiceprint analysis technology to conduct on-site repairs to ensure an absolutely impartial result."

Upon hearing this request, Fu Bernard looked at Situ Linchen.

The marshal's face remained very gloomy after hearing Zhou Zhiheng's name.

It's not impossible for him to refuse Ning Shuyin's request.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Situ Linchen nodded slightly, which was taken as agreement.

Soon, a man dressed in a technician's uniform pushed forward a sophisticated instrument.

Ning Shuyin felt a tremor in her heart when she saw him step forward.

Just now, she caught a detail—when the man walked into the courtroom, he exchanged a very subtle glance with You Lingfei in the audience.

It was indeed a trap.

Ning Shuyin looked up and gazed at Situ Linchen on the stage once more.

But both Situ Linchen and Luo Lan turned their gazes to the technician and stopped looking at her.

The technician had taken the recording from the secretary and began to skillfully manipulate the screen with his fingers.

The complex spectrograms jump and recombine continuously.

Finally, he clicked "Done" with great ceremony, a smug smile on his face.

He spoke confidently: "I have restored the original audio and removed ambient noise and various signal interferences. Now, please listen to the speaker's original voice."

Then—

"It's going to explode, 3, 2, 1."

"boom!"

A clear sound was emitted.

Her voice is almost identical to Ning Shuyin's.

In the matching analysis chart on the central screen of the courtroom, the matching degree of this audio with Ning Shuyin's voice soared from 92.7% to 99.99%.

The countdown, coupled with the devastating explosion, seemed to recreate the life-or-death ordeal on the space station.

This time, the evidence is irrefutable!

The courtroom erupted in chaos, with a cacophony of voices rising in discussion.

Fuberna stood up.

He first looked at Situ Linchen on the judge's bench, then at Luo Lan in the audience.

Neither the marshal nor Loran made a move to speak.

Since none of them would speak up for her, Fubernay had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue.

He cleared his throat: "Now, I announce..."

Everyone thought Ning Shuyin was finished.

However, in this most desperate moment, the girl who was being condemned by everyone spoke up.

"Technician, please restore the recording sample from before you repaired it to its original state in front of everyone."

The room fell silent upon hearing this.

Immediately afterwards, whispers and doubts spread like a tide.

People would occasionally point at Ning Shuyin and discuss, "What on earth is she doing?" and "What does this mean?"

The technician's smug smile froze on his lips.

He glanced discreetly at the audience, then looked at Situ Linchen on the judge's bench.

"Marshal, the recording has been restored. The evidence is conclusive, and Miss Ning's demands are completely unreasonable."

Fu Bernard also turned to look at Situ Linchen.

Now that the marshal has authorized the technicians to conduct the analysis, it remains to be seen what the marshal will say.

At this moment, Situ Linchen's judgmental gaze fell upon the technician.

"Since Miss Ning has requested it, then you shall comply."

His authoritative voice echoed throughout the hall.

The technician's forehead immediately broke out in large beads of sweat.

He could not disobey the marshal's orders.

When his hand touched the screen again, unlike before when it moved smoothly, it trembled slightly.

The progress bar on the holographic screen reached its end, and the recording was played again.

"Buzz—Zzz—"