Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!

The leader cleared his throat.

He had answered this question countless times before the trial, clearly having prepared a mental draft.

Thus, he responded fluently, "I previously ran a company, and most of them were my employees."

The prosecutor asked, "What company? You said 'most', are all of the defendants present your employees?"

The leader looked around and nodded, "Yes, they are all my former employees."

He first answered the second question, which could be answered succinctly.

Then he backtracked to answer the first question, "The company was in AI digital avatar creation and management, which means virtual hosts."

This response was quite formal—first a professional, written introduction followed by a plain explanation to help listeners understand.

As mentioned earlier, he had obviously been asked these questions numerous times.

The prosecutor asked, "Why commit fraud?"

Upon hearing this question, the leader tilted his head slightly toward the lawyer, seemingly wanting to look but restraining himself.

"Initially, I heard that the AI industry was the new era's trend, lucrative; I happened to have some money, so I invested and started a company. The virtual host direction was considered low-barrier..."

His verbal expression started to become less formal, not concise anymore, even somewhat storytelling.

"After entering this industry, I realized it was already saturated, and business couldn't compete with others who entered earlier. Soon, the company was nearly bankrupt, and to make matters worse, I got scammed..."

He spoke with emotion, and towards the end, the sobbing voice he barely stopped was on the verge of resurfacing.

"Thump, thump." The judge decisively raised the gavel twice.

"Wang Zhenhai, do not talk too much about matters unrelated to this case. Answer only what the prosecutor asks."

The leader's emotions subsided quickly this time.

"The money was almost gone, and then I was scammed. I reported it when I was scammed, but the scammer was never caught, and the money was never retrieved."

The leader's narration finally shortened but with an odd tone, pausing after each sentence.

Every time he paused, he would nod forcefully.

"At that time, I had an employee who had been in the military. During a chat, he told me that newly retired soldiers often have spare cash. Later, when I was really broke and also had a vengeful feeling due to being scammed, I started committing fraud. Once I started, I couldn't stop."

The prosecutor asked, "Is that retired military employee also here?"

The leader nodded forcefully, "Yes."

As he spoke, he looked at another person at the defendant's bench.

A low murmur echoed in the room, the audience's first realization. The victims showed indignant expressions.

Nan Zhubin and Chonghui exchanged a glance, slightly raising eyebrows.

...

The prosecutor's interrogation was still ongoing.

The prosecutor asked again, "How was your first fraud conducted?"

The leader nodded forcefully, "Every year, a website has the names of new recruits. I told the employees to look if the company from their hometown had any acquaintances, and roughly calculate who might retire that year."

"After selecting the people, it's handed over to the employee responsible for calling, pretending to be the military department or the former unit's new documentation, claiming it's verifying the veteran's information, obtaining basic phone numbers, addresses, and such."

The leader continued nodding forcefully, "Then select the suitable retired soldiers, call them, and say there's a good job position specifically offered, ask them to scan the app code, and get the information in the album. My company happened to have AI synthesis equipment from previous business, which they would use, then let dedicated technicians forge special videos, and that's how money was obtained."

This response made the victims frown deeply, seeming to relive the moments of being deceived.

Someone instinctively hugged their arms.

The prosecutor asked again, "How was your second fraud conducted?"

The leader's response echoed through the courtroom.

According to Wang Zhenhai's statement, his team was a professional targeted attack, not a wide net fraud, but specifically focusing on particular groups.

Thus, with each criminal act, Wang Zhenhai could recall almost everything in detail.

"..."

"How was your second fraud conducted?"

"..."

"Third time..."

"Fourth time..."

Each time he answered, Wang Zhenhai would nod forcefully.

His motions grew stronger each time, his head began to move his whole neck and half of his upper body, like bowing every time he spoke.

By the final response, he could hardly stop himself, his head almost hit the rail in front of him, and he began crying again:

"I am sorry to those veterans, I just really wanted money, I was scammed too, I just..."

The judge interrupted loudly without changing his expression, "Wang Zhenhai, control your emotions."

He then turned to ask, "Does the prosecutor have more questions for Wang Zhenhai?"

The prosecutor shook his head.

...

There were quite a few people on the defendant's bench.

The prosecutor asked each one according to their criminal circumstances.

Chonghui leaned slightly toward Nan Zhubin and whispered, "What do you think of this Wang Zhenhai, the leader?"

Bai Qinghua turned to look at the two disciples without speaking.

Attending the trial as a witness was training; observing the trial and watching the proceedings was training; analyzing the reactions and emotions of the criminals and others in the trial was training.

As long as they weren't chased out, the disciples could train in whichever direction they chose.

Nan Zhubin recalled a bit and said softly, "This leader... is very skilled."

Chonghui looked at the stage, barely moving his lips as he spoke to avoid disrupting the trial, "Tell me, let's verify each other."

Nan Zhubin and Chonghui spoke almost identically, "He has been using the most trust-gaining method throughout."

"Prolonged eye contact to increase the credibility of his words."

"Proactively disclosing concealed information, needless to say, making himself appear completely candid for leniency."

"And the intermittent 'emotional breakdown', recovering faster from 'breakdown' as he goes on, it can basically be confirmed as a performance, intended to show a repentant stance, while placing his position low to gain trust and even some insignificant sympathy; simultaneously subtle enough not to evoke annoyance."

"Constant nodding while speaking also to increase the credibility of his speech. But..."

As he spoke, Nan Zhubin slightly furrowed his brow, "This nodding body language has another explanation."