He sighed hypocritically, walked into the room, and shook his head, saying, “You entered my office and stole without my permission. Now, as long as I call the police, you’ll have to sit in the police station. Students with a criminal record won’t be accepted by any good university. Tell me, why would you do something so self-destructive? Can you face your parents? I’m really disappointed in you.”

The Vault was already at the end of her rope. Although she glared, she had no real presence. She only used her voice to cover her unease: “I didn’t steal anything, and you have no evidence. If you call the police, I can call them too.”

The middle-aged man stared at her, as if he’d just heard something very funny.

“Forget it, you really are just a student, you don’t even understand the basics of the law. When you speak, you need evidence.” He took off his coat and hung it on the rack beside him. “I can understand that, as a senior, you’re under a lot of pressure and lost control of your emotions, so you say nonsense. I don’t want to argue with you, it’s pointless. Sit down, let’s talk.”

The Vault stood still.

The middle-aged man tapped the table with his fingertips, tilting his chin to look down at her, and said, “I’m willing to talk to you, that’s a good thing. Otherwise, I could just call the police and everything would be settled. Whether you accept it is up to you, but my patience is limited.”

A struggle flashed through The Vault’s heart, but in the end, she walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down across from him. She casually placed her phone on the table.

The middle-aged man glanced at it and gestured, “Turn it off.”

The Vault turned off her phone in front of him.

The middle-aged man crossed his hands on the table and clicked his tongue in exclamation: “Wendy Ward, student…”

·

Julian Grant was working with colleagues from the sub-bureau, taking a detailed statement from Melanie Spencer. At the same time, he was trying to contact other victims to see if they were willing to come forward as witnesses.

It was a long and tedious job. They had to persuade, question, and verify over and over, while also soothing the other party’s emotions.

Julian Grant also wanted to check if there were any other vulnerabilities at Central High that could be targeted. If he could coordinate with other departments and prove multiple instances of negligence by the school, it would give them a big advantage later. But his authority was limited, and he didn’t want to escalate things, so negotiations were a bit difficult.

As evening approached, after a busy day, Julian Grant suddenly remembered that The Vault, who had promised to keep in touch, still hadn’t reported in.

That girl was always coming and going unpredictably—who knew where she’d gone this time.

Julian Grant thought about contacting her, but recalling The Vault’s annoyed expression earlier, he decided to let it go.

He made himself a cup of coffee and leaned back in his chair to rest. Just as he was relaxing, a colleague came over and told him that the local police station had received a report from Central High, and the police were looking for Wendy Ward, asking if he had any information.

Julian Grant choked on his drink, the water burning his nose and mouth.

He exclaimed, “What?!”

The colleague said, “Central High has already posted an announcement on their official website. They’re accusing Wendy Ward of extortion, defamation, and theft. Isn’t that student in danger now? Should we notify our colleagues at the station? This is probably retaliation from Central High.”

Julian Grant raised his hand to stop him: “Wait!”

He stood up, then sat down again. After considering, he picked up his phone and said to his colleague, “Go calm those students down first, tell them not to believe any news. I’ll check the situation and let you know what to do.”

Julian Grant opened Central High’s official website and saw a big announcement on the homepage.

“Statement Regarding the Malicious Extortion by a Student of Our School.

“As a key high school in City A, Central High has always aimed to cultivate outstanding talents who are healthy in body and mind and can contribute to the country in the long term. We are willing to trust our students and hope to give them the freedom to develop. However, recently, a student at our school has repeatedly made serious mistakes, even indirectly causing another student to commit suicide by jumping off a building. Now, she is attempting to extort the school leadership. Out of consideration for her being a senior, we initially wanted to guide and comfort her, but due to the severity of her actions, we have decided to deal with her seriously. Details are as follows.”

Below was an audio file and a web link.

“This student has a record of campus bullying, which led to a female roommate committing suicide by jumping off a building this March. Because her parents pleaded, and the student usually performed well and had excellent grades, and there was no clear evidence of bullying, plus the victim’s family expressed forgiveness, the school agreed to handle the matter quietly after considering all factors.

“However, the student did not change her ways. Not long ago, she was caught climbing over the wall at night and fighting with another student, caught red-handed by the teacher on duty, and was punished after a review. She held a grudge against the school, believing the school was unfair. At a routine morning assembly, she made inappropriate remarks, inciting chaos among students, almost causing a serious incident with extremely negative impact. The school informed her parents and hoped she would reflect.

“Before the punishment was officially issued, the student sneaked into the administration building’s office to steal. After being discovered, she again tried to extort the school leadership with false accusations. For details, see the audio above.”

“To protect the student’s privacy, related videos are not being released for now. We are extremely disappointed in her behavior and have officially reported the case to the police. The student is being advised to withdraw. This is a formal announcement.”

Julian Grant clicked on the audio and listened quietly.

A young woman’s voice: “I was just passing by the office, I didn’t take anything, and you have no evidence to prove I came to steal.”

A middle-aged man’s voice: “Alright, I’m tired of talking like this too. Just say it, what do you want?”

“You haven’t even offered the minimum compensation. I can call the police too.”

“How much compensation do you think is appropriate?”

“It’s a human life. How much do you think it’s worth? You’re still trying to force me. You deliberately let other students bully me.”

The man sounded helpless: “I’ll say it again, you have no evidence. I hope you’ll stop saying these pointless things.”

The girl became agitated: “Don’t push me! If it comes to it, I’ll jump off that dorm building too! Two people have already died at this school—if there’s a third, none of you will get away with it!”

There was the sound of a hand slapping the table.

The man: “Alright, fine, the school is willing to offer a million. Is that enough?”

“Not enough.”

“Then another million?” the man said. “Do you really know what you’re doing? Let me confirm with you again.”

“I know,” the girl said. “You can’t go to my mom again. I can pretend none of this ever happened.”

The man: “We only reported your situation at school to your parents, about the fight at night…”

The girl, agitated again: “You’re lying! Shut up!”

The man: “Alright… alright…”

The audio ended there.

The related content had already been uploaded to Weibo and other social media accounts.

As soon as this information was released, it was quickly picked up by multiple news outlets, and they even paid to promote it widely.

By the time Julian Grant discovered it, it had already spread like wildfire, accompanied by all sorts of “insider leaks” of dubious authenticity. The comments were extremely harsh.

“So disgusting. What’s with this student? Campus violence, biss! She’s already caused someone’s death, why isn’t she expelled? This is irresponsible to other students!”

“What’s the use of a scumbag like this graduating from a prestigious university? From an illiterate piece of trash to a more dangerous, high-IQ piece of trash? The school’s indulgence is just breeding criminals.”

“She’s been doxxed. Wendy Ward, phone number: XXX, home address: XX Street… Her mom works at XX. Damn! It’s even a government job, let’s report her directly!”

“Doxxing is illegal, are you all crazy? And how did the student’s info get out so fast? Don’t end up targeting the wrong person.”

“I’m a student at Central High, this news is definitely real. She acts like a lunatic at school, biting everyone. We all hate her.”

“Here we go again. Whenever something happens, a bunch of ‘classmates’ show up. Show your student ID before you speak.”

Julian Grant was completely stunned. The viewers in the livestream were also full of complaints.

Those who had been following The Vault’s perspective were better off—they’d already been educated enough in this scenario, and were calmly watching the drama unfold, pointing fingers at everything.

“As a netizen, watching netizens act brainless in a game, I feel personally attacked.”

“Are netizens really this dumb? I refuse to let them represent me.”

“Damn (a type of plant), these people are suffocating me.”

“Netizens watching netizens? No infinite recursion, please. [doge]”

“These paid posters are so low quality, the tricks are too obvious, and bystanders still fall for it. Netizens in this era are so naive. Sigh, it’s hard to fool people nowadays.”