```


    "Director Obadiah, what do you think?"


    asked Consultant Welton Heng from across the table.


    Obadiah remained silent for about ten seconds before replying, "Since you, Consultant Welton Heng believe so, let''s go ahead with it..."


    At those words, the faces of David''s supporters, including Donald, suddenly turned pale, while the supporters of Brown and Bemy looked visibly shaken, almost ready to high-five in celebration.


    After the meeting dispersed, Donald immediately went to Obadiah''s office to question him, "Director, why give the decision-making power to the Long Beach Branch? Before the assessment period is over, they will definitely not release these taxes!"


    "Do you think that''s what I wanted, Donald?"


    Obadiah nced at him and exined, "You saw it yourself, Consultant Welton Heng has already stepped forward, and this whitewash tax could serve as campaign capital for the godmaking project. This is already a step back for him. We can''t just veto the freeze on funds and not give him any face, right?"


    "This... Sigh."


    Donald wanted to say more, but thinking of Welton Heng''s position as the Chief Consultant of the main bureau and his allegiances, rumored to be even closer to the president than Obadiah''s, it made sense that Obadiah was cautious. Consequently, Donald could only sigh in resignation.


    "David has even got a handle on a toughpany like GCO, and there''s still four days left. Even without this tax money, it''s not certain he can''t win, Donald."


    "Let''s hope so. I''ll inform him first to let him prepare."


    Donald pushed the door and left, and upon returning to his own office, immediately called David''s number: "Director David, I fear I have disappointing news."


    "What is it?"


    "Your 80 million-dor funds, they are supposed to be whitewash rather than ck tax, right?"


    "Indeed, that''s the tax GCO Corporation evaded before the ck tax legition."


    "Well, the supporters of Bemy and Brown at headquarters are attacking this point, iming that as a spokesperson for the ck tax legition, whitewash cannot be used as campaign funds for the godmaking project. The Director and I fought tooth and nail to reject this notion, but as apromise, we can''t help with the Long Beach Branch freezing your funds."


    "Fine, I''ll handle it myself."


    Donald had expected David to sound dejected on the other end of the phone, but to his surprise, David showed no signs of it, which caught him off guard. He then said, "Okay then, contact me again if you need anything."


    "Alright, goodbye Deputy Director Donald."


    In the center of the Long Beach District, in a coffee shop across from Helun International Trading Company, David hung up the phone with a cold smirk on his face.


    He knew that if Bemy dared to freeze his funds, they must have some confidence.


    However, he had not expected them toe up with such a far-fetched excuse that his funds didn''t qualify as ck tax and thus could not be used as capital for the godmaking project. That was a bitughable!


    But the silver lining was that Donald had confirmed that whitewash could also serve as capital for thepetition for the godmaking project. Now, if only he could sort out the frozen funds, then Bemy and Brown''s supporters would have nothing left to say!


    "What did the headquarters say, Director?"


    Noticing something was amiss, Nisen immediately asked.


    "Getting the headquarters to help unfreeze the funds is impossible now, we can only rely on ourselves."


    "What, what is going on with those higher-ups at headquarters? This is obviously Bemy from the Long Beach Branch making trouble; how can they tolerate such behavior?"


    Nisen, Simmons, and Bucky were all dumbfounded.


    Although they had known that Bemy had backers at headquarters, the higher-ups there couldn''t be so brazen as to seize their tax money outright, could they?


    ```


    What about the other senior officials, isn''t there anyone to speak up for them?


    "Alright, it doesn''t matter if they don''t care."


    David had a backup n in ce; since the headquarters didn''t care about the matter, all he needed to do was to get the Long Beach Branch on his side, and the funds would naturally be released.


    Even though Nisen and the two others were still full of doubts, seeing David unwilling to borate, they dared not ask further.


    As time ticked by, it soon reached 5:30 PM.


    At this moment, arge number of employees began to leave the Helun International Trading Company across the street.


    Soon, the appearance of a tall, thin man with sses caught his attention.


    [Name: Trevicon Martin.]


    [upation: Tax Director of Helun International Trading Company.]


    [Ie: Monthly legal ie of $56,000, illegal ie of $2.3 million US Dors.]


    [Ie Details: On December 23, port cargo arrived, reporting false tax figures to profit $500,000 US Dors, on December 31, thepany managed port goods, profiting $500,000 US Dors after cooking the books, on January 11 ...]


    [Tax Due: $910,800 US Dors.]


    "Bring him over to me, discreetly!"


    David knew that the Long Beach Branch might be watching him, and although he had tried to keep a low profile on this trip, he couldn''t be sure he hadn''t been detected, so everything had to be done with a level of discretion.


    Following David''s orders, Nisen and Bucky both donned hats and headed in the direction of the tall, thin man with sses.


    Before long, the man with sses was brought over. On seeing David, he asked with some confusion, "You are...?"


    As the tax director of apany, he was very familiar with the IRS staff of the Long Beach Branch, but he had never seen the faces of David and Nisen''s party.


    And if Nisen hadn''t shown his tax badge just now, he would not havee along so easily.


    "No need to guess, we are not from the Long Beach Branch, I am from the Las Vegas branch, my name is David."


    "David... wait a minute...!"


    The man named Trevicon seemed to have remembered something, he began to stare at David, sizing him up. After a long while, he confirmed, "Are you the Director David who led an armed raid into the Indian Tribe?"


    "It seems you do recognize me."


    "After all, my job is rted to taxation, how could I have not heard of you..."


    Trevicon began to feel uneasy inside because he didn''t understand what this infamous Chief Tax Officer wanted with him in Los Angeles.


    "Alright, let''s not talk about that. I ask you, you and Director Ducray of the Long Beach Branch, you are ssmates, right?"


    On hearing this, Trevicon gasped, but still tried to respond calmly, "Yes, that''s no secret. What''s the problem, is there an issue?"


    "On the 11th ofst month, you asked him to greenlight a tax issue for you, and in the end, you slipped him $80,000 US Dors, am I wrong?"


    "No, that''s not the case!"


    Trevicon''s face changed color, immediately followed by a rebuttal.