death of hope

Chapter 970 "Psionic Storm" (46) Blood and Tears Files

The effects of intravenous injection of awakening drugs are not immediate.

The process of Zero going from a deep coma to a light sleep was gradual. A slow awakening helps control the risks. Putting aside human nature, such a precious "experimental subject" cannot be lost.

Li Ang wasn't idle during this time either. He was using his tablet to review Zero's decrypted documents, his expression constantly changing as he read. The more he learned, the heavier his psychological burden became.
(The company's hired spies had been eyeing this girl with extraordinary psychic abilities for a long time, but they hadn't made a move yet because...)

Is Zero dating the young master of a local yakuza gang in Shin-Sapporo?
Huh? Are you serious?

What is this thing?
Upon reading this, Li Ang almost suppressed a laugh;
(This is utterly absurd...like a soap opera with a melodramatic plot...)

Just like the security guard said, this world is a makeshift operation, and reality is always far more absurd than fantasy...
As you continue reading, the content becomes increasingly unacceptable;
"Capture," "detainment," "imprisonment"... these words appear with an unusually high frequency in the materials; what cold and cruel words they are.

This app, meant for hunting bloodthirsty beasts or detaining vicious criminals, was instead used on an innocent young girl.

Sakura Corporation didn't treat this girl like a human being at all; they only used her as experimental material…

·
(I need to focus and stop thinking about things unrelated to work... I can't let Mr. Joseph down...)
Li Ang rubbed his eyes, forcing himself to concentrate and not think about anything else. This information was much more detailed than the one he had seen before.

Yuna Jinguji is a high school student who has a muscular older brother named Takatoshi Jinguji.
The brother and sister are orphaned and their origins are unknown. Detectives speculate that their parents are undocumented immigrants of Nordic descent from an agricultural planet…

Back in his hometown, the industrial world of Ix, Li Ang began his internship at the largest port in the entire star sector at a very young age. His knowledge and experience of the starport were far richer than that of many veteran sailors.
(God have mercy, these illegal immigrants with their families...)

The remains of these unfortunate people are often found inside standard shipping containers used for smuggling.
During the long voyage, the children of undocumented immigrants, living alongside the corpses of their parents, are highly likely to develop mental health issues from the trauma…
The dazzling lights of neon Sapporo acted like a beacon, attracting impoverished people from nearby star sectors. Newcomers were all undocumented, and the identities of the brother and sister remained a mystery. Their first official record was their adoption registration at a homeless shelter.
In fact, the colonial authorities allocated a considerable amount of charitable relief funds, but the corrupt Terra Federation was already rotten to the core.

After layers of exploitation, very little money was actually left for the shelters.
The orphanage was dilapidated and overcrowded, and those children, mostly undocumented immigrants, who couldn't get in, were thrown into the social melting pot.

Most of them died of hunger and cold in the snow, or succumbed to illness and died in the streets, which the civil affairs department euphemistically called "natural selection"...

Orphans who survive the first year are usually healthy and robust, without any infectious diseases, and are classified as "human children worth rescuing," and are reinstated into the shelter.

They were roughly thrown to families who wanted to adopt them, thinking that their suffering was over, but in reality, it was the beginning of another tragedy.
The records show that Zero's older brother, Jinguji Takatoshi, had repeatedly reported to the city hall that his adoptive parents had misappropriated subsidies and abused him, and had also reported his adoptive father, Miki, for his own sister, Yuna, on several occasions… Li Ang had visited the city hall, and the suggestion boxes for taxpayer citizens were already rusty, let alone those for the children of illegal immigrants. Given the federal government's consistent approach, complaints and reports naturally went unanswered…

·
(Happiness is a thousand different things, but unhappiness is unhappiness in its own way... Sigh...)
Upon seeing this, Li Ang felt empathy and let out a soft sigh.
The decay and corruption of the Terra Federation of Humans is not an isolated case on a single planet, but a widespread ulceration…

Such tragedies are not limited to Shin-Sapporo; they are also common in my hometown of Ikusaka. Adoptive parents have embezzled government-issued orphan subsidies, and even worse, one adoptive father mistreated his adopted daughter…

(Beast!)

Li Ang clenched his fist silently.

For some reason, the records after that are rather blurry, with a lot of text data being blacked out. The information shows that the brother and sister moved away from their adoptive parents' home and lived independently.

(It's strange, in Shin-Sapporo, land is incredibly valuable and the cost of living is exorbitant, so many illegal immigrants live in tents or simply sleep outdoors, using a few newspapers as blankets at night.)

The Jinguji siblings are orphaned and rely on each other for survival. They can only find odd jobs, and given the cost of living in Shin-Sapporo, they simply cannot afford to pay their rent and tuition.
Perhaps... it was funded by her gangster boyfriend?
Continue reading the information; soon after, a large-scale gang war broke out, and one-sixth of the city was engulfed in flames. The police were unable to maintain order, and the colonial governor requested the National Guard stationed in the suburbs to enter the city to maintain order.

Dr. Joseph was worried that his 'precious experimental material' might be lost or stolen by other companies in the chaos, so he hastily hired a team of mercenaries to strike first.
Taking advantage of the underworld boss's distraction, they launched a surprise attack on the hospital, killing the underworld members guarding it and 'accidentally' killing Zero's brother... successfully capturing their target.

Dr. Joseph gave instructions to temporarily hide him in the company's secret room and imprison him until the research institute was completed, at which point he would be moved to the B14 area underground of the research institute... Li Ang knew what happened after that.

·
(The brother this girl called out in her dream is already...)
Upon reading this, Li Ang's eyes became slightly red and swollen. Although the central air conditioning in area B14 was functioning normally and the temperature and humidity were comfortable, he still felt a chill run down his spine.
(My benefactor, my mentor, my hope for defying fate, the sovereign to whom I swear allegiance;)

Dr. Joseph H.D. Dane,

He appears to be just a harmless old scholar, but he murders, kidnaps, and imprisons innocent siblings…

And I… as the doctor's confidant, have the blood of innocent people on my hands…
Li Ang felt uneasy, recalling the confessional he had seen in church as a child, and slowly made the sign of the cross on his chest:
(Glorious and merciful Lord...)

All I want is to reclaim the glory of Iks, to reclaim everything that is rightfully mine. What have I done wrong...? How many more sins must I commit to deserve this...?