Chapter 171. Operation: Supernova (2/4)

I used this time to finish unblurring the videos with him in it. I also successfully unblurred the rape video then properly censored it with black bars over the woman’s features that would most easily reveal her identity. I’d also scrambled the woman’s voice in a random fashion that prevented anyone from recognizing it. The only thing that mattered was him being branded as a rapist and cheater.

The audio from the video combined with the visuals did exactly that. The other videos provided more incriminating proof of his cheating nature. There were also other damning crimes recorded in other videos such as drugging girls. He also took advantage of his fans and other lesser-known celebrities who were trying to make a name for themselves in the business. In exchange for sexual favors, he’d back them. He’d fool around with all these women and record them in secret without them ever being aware. It was all just a bunch of low-life shit.

After I’d completely removed the blur from his face in every video I further enhanced it with the neural network I trained using his images.

The results were quite good. I was pretty satisfied with how it all turned out.

I’d started working on everything at 4:00 AM. It was already 9:00 AM now and I was mentally exhausted from too much multitasking.

There were still many things to take care of. It would no doubt be a long day. 

It was the last day of winter break too. I wanted to cry. I need a long vacation after this awful winter break.

I packed up my laptop and external hard drives in my bag. I’d been sure to remove any fingerprints and DNA on the one I kept in a plastic zip-lock bag. I even made sure to only hold it with gloves. Not even a single hair came into contact with it. It was the one I’d carefully wiped and stored all the videos on.

I retrieved the card and two-way radio from under my pillow and headed out.

I took a bus to a deserted location and entered an alleyway. I found a good place to put it down. I climbed a ladder on the side of a building nearby to keep a lookout.

My first objective was to deliver this to someone I’d made contact with.

I’d made use of a disposable phone number to send and receive texts through a website while connected to the secure no-log VPN I’d used to download the videos. I’d acquired the number of an investigative reporter I remembered from my first lifetime online through her company website.

She was the one who’d released the bombshell article with video evidence that ruined our target's life. I remembered her name and where she worked only because I’d used her as a character in the story I wrote. I just scrambled the letters in her name and the company she worked for. Unscrambling it was a simple enough task as long as I remembered it.

It was funny, I remembered everything about the stories I wrote, but I couldn’t be bothered to remember people when I met them in the real world outside of my fictional stories.

My priorities were pretty backward.

The appointed time I gave the individual supposed to pick up the hard drive was 11:00 AM. It was currently 10:30 AM. I was only sticking around to make sure she’d show up and recover it. It would be stupid if she showed up and walked right past it when it was right there.

I only texted her the location to meet up when I got on the roof. This was to ensure she wouldn’t stake the place out in advance to try and snoop out my identity.

I contacted her and informed her that I had critical video evidence that would be useful to the investigation she was working on into my target. Apparently, she’d been approached by several victims of the target.

I set a condition though, I advised her that if she accepted the hard drive, she must not publish her report until I gave her the go-ahead. I’d set it up in a way that a lot of the videos were encrypted and required a password to play. She would have access to some of them in good faith, but not all. If she tried any funny business, all the videos would be lost if an incorrect password was entered too many times. She would only gain access to all of them, including the most damning specially censored rape video, when I provided her with the password giving her the okay to publish her story.

As for the reason why I went to all this trouble, I simply told her it was because the police were in an active investigation.

That was a minor lie though. The police were not yet involved in this case. I would inform them soon, but the order I did things had to be very specific. I first had to get into that man’s laptop and guarantee he had no way to touch Ms. Angel of Death. It was for this reason I did all of this. Destroying him was easy, however, destroying him and ensuring she didn’t get caught in the crossfire was much more complicated.

It required all this extra work to accomplish.

I waited until 11:00 AM but the investigative reporter hadn’t shown up. I texted her asking where she was. She said she was still on her way but almost here.

Well, I had only given her 30 minutes after all. Who knows where she started?

I kept an eye on the alleyway using a small hand mirror I’d brought along to ensure she didn’t spot me. After ten minutes passed, someone finally showed up.

She appeared cautious. She was on full alert when she entered the deserted alleyway. She walked straight forward but passed the hard drive in the zip lock back.

I had to text her to turn around and I directed her to its location. After five minutes of back and forth telling her how many steps to take she found it.

I breathed out a sigh of relief now that it was in her hands.

She didn’t stick around for very long and departed. I waited exactly an hour before I jumped over to an adjacent building and climbed down a different ladder in another alleyway nearby.

It was now 12:15 PM.

Seriously, this was exhausting. I still had to attend to the main event.

I relocated to the hotel he was staying at. More specifically the roof where Rosa’s drone was set up. I left my phone beside the drone and pressed the button on my radio to confirm it was working properly.

“Can you hear me?” I avoided saying her name.

“Loud and clear,” she affirmed.

“Good, I can hear you just fine.”

“Has there been any movement on the target?”

“I have a visual on his room, he opened his curtains in the morning. He’s been inside the entire day. But it seems like he’s been getting ready to go out. We’re in luck, he might have a date with someone. He was on the phone earlier and shortly after he started to get dressed. It seems he’s just waiting for the appointed time to leave.”

“Good.”

“So, what were you up to until now?”

“I had an appointment of my own.”

“You? An appointment? With who?”

“An investigative journalist doing an investigation on our target. They’re a very valuable piece. The one who will take the spotlight as having exposed this scumbag to the public and destroying his career will be her.”

“Hmmm. I see. By the way, aren’t you worried about this guy having backups for all the videos or at least the rape one?” Rosa asked curiously.

“Not at all. He’s a moron. I’m not underestimating him or anything, but he’s genuinely an idiot that only thinks with his dick. He thinks he’s untouchable, as if he’s some sort of genius or god, but he’s really just a clown. He got to where he is only because of his father. His father is by no means an idiot, he has it all; money, influence, intelligence, and power. But even his father won’t be able to do anything to save him here.”

“Oh? And why is that?” Rosa followed up with another question.

“It’s because that investigative journalist’s piece will blindside him. He might be able to put a leash on the police to an extent even if they acquire all the incriminating evidence they need. However, the public will see everything with their own eyes thanks to that investigative journalist working in the shadows. Even if she doesn’t do it, I can just spread the videos online anonymously to his fans myself. It’d be more work that way, but it would still work.”

“Anyway, public outrage will put the police into a tough position where they are forced to convict him. His career will be over once he’s branded with the tags cheater, rapist, and criminal. His fanbase will also see just how he treats his fans and peers beyond the eyes of the public. Nobody will ever look at him the same way again.”

“Certainly, with such tags, his life would be over. He would never be able to show his face in public again. He may as well just die at that point.”

I yawned and agreed with her sentiment. He very likely would up and die at that point. It might not happen since there was a big difference though. There was the fact that the woman he raped would never be revealed. 

If he dared to reveal her name on his own, thinking he could do damage to Ms. Angel of Death, he’d be completely wrong. She would simply need to laugh it off in disgust and declare no such thing ever happened. He was just a pitiful dog who was trying to drag down anyone he could.

Her religious fanbase would naturally believe her word above all else. As the video with the original footage was long gone, and I’d censored it very thoroughly, it would never come to light. The only thing he’d do by revealing her name would incur her fanbase’s wrath.

By that point, he’d probably commit suicide for real. The only way he might not die is if he keeps his big mouth shut. I’m sure his father would keep a tight leash on his neck and not let him say anything stupid. I was relying on his father here. He’d definitely be the first one this idiot ran to. He’d spill the beans about how he raped her and everything.

“There’s movement! He’s leaving his room.”

I was brought back to reality by Rosa’s sudden outburst.

It was now 1:00 PM.

“I’m launching the second drone now.”

“Right.”

After fifteen minutes the drone arrived. Five minutes after that, our target exited the building. He entered an expensive car and drove off. Rosa’s second drone tailed him from the sky.

“You should head out now,” Rosa ordered through the radio.

“Right.”

I quickly made my way down to ground level.

With my bag on my back and a hat on with my hood up over it, I kept my head down.

I entered the lobby and took the stairs up to the 7th floor where his room was located. I didn’t have to hide from any cameras or anything. I trusted Rosa's words. When I arrived at his room I inserted the card Rosa provided to me. The light on the lock changed from red to green. My entry wouldn’t be logged according to her.

I entered the room quickly to avoid being spotted by anyone else. I wasted no time at all. I didn’t needlessly touch anything or move anything around in his room. I had a pair of disposable gloves on to avoid leaving any fingerprints behind. I would not leave a single shred of evidence that could link me to this job.

I pressed the button on the radio and gave a status update, “I’m in. No problems on my end. The room is clear.”

“All good on my end too. The target is still on the move. I’ll notify you immediately if there are any sudden developments. Irene is on standby in her car outside the hotel should we need her.”

“Great.”