The officer scoffed, lifting his chin slightly. "At the back of the file, you'll find the complete teardown and analysis report of your equipment."
"The machines you brought had pristine outer shells, but the core components were severely defective. The underlying architecture was highly incompatible. Pushing it to maximum capacity guaranteed an inevitable overload."
"Furthermore, foreign spyware was found embedded deep within the primary processors."
"Security let it through because you were granted special approval as a tournament sponsor. You signed a liability waiver, so we didn't perform a full-scale teardown inspection at the docks."
Adrian's ears rang loudly.
With trembling hands, he flipped to the final pages, his eyes scanning the detailed teardown analysis.
The more he read, the paler he became.
The more he read, the harder his hands shook.
"Adrian, I am not negotiating with you. I am informing you."
"If you don't sign the restitution acknowledgment right now, we will place you under armed detention and contact the head of the Cole family to come collect you."
The officer's tone turned icy. "You should know that the consequences of bringing that equipment could easily land you an espionage charge. Asking for a mere four hundred million is already doing the Cole family a massive favor."
Adrian collapsed onto the ground, cold sweat dripping down his forehead.
His entire body convulsed with tremors.
Pure panic consumed him.
Four hundred million...
That was hundreds of millions of dollars!
The last time he got scammed out of a fortune was racing against Serena at the Apex Horizon Speedway.
Because that scandal involved several elite heirs from Vaelion City, his family had been forced to grit their teeth and clean up his mess to quell the public outrage.
His grandfather had furiously exiled him abroad to lay low and learn his lesson.
He had only just returned to the country, barely managing to cool his grandfather's temper.
He had even sworn an oath to his grandfather, promising that attending this tournament as a Guest Inspector would drive the family's stock prices through the roof.
But now...
He had ruined everything again.
He had triggered a four-hundred-million-dollar disaster.
And he was borderline accused of being a spy.
Forget keeping his position as the heir.
It was highly likely... his grandfather would break his legs and banish him from the family forever!
He was staring down the barrel of total ruin!
The thought snapped Adrian out
his daze. He jerked his head up,
staring pleadingly at the office
"No, no, you can' tell my grandfather. You can't..."
Word of this absolutely could not reach his grandfather's ears!
The officer remained unmoved. "Of course, if you can transfer the four hundred million immediately, we won't need to involve the head of your family."
Four hundred million...
Where the hell was he supposed to get that kind of cash?
He stared blankly into the distance, his mind completely blank with terror.
Suddenly, his gaze locked onto a specific spot.
A crowd of competitors had gathered nearby to watch the spectacle.
Among them, one particular group stood out.
Lydia Brooks and her team had come for the show.
Watching the high-ranking officers surround Adrian, seeing him look like a dead man walking with his mbling around him. .net>
They felt an immense wave of satisfaction.
They had come specifically to watch him suffer.
And seeing it unfold was absolutely exhilarating!
Serena stood off to the side, her arms crossed, her expression utterly calm.
She wasn't surprised by his punishment in the slightest.
Because even if the penalty hadn't been severe, she would have found a way to make it devastating.
After all, didn't Adrian always parade himself as the untouchable heir, the elite billionaire who stood above everyone else?