The Debtor System: Starting with a debt of 1 billion

The night is like ink, full of stars.

The wind on the base's rooftop carried the distinctive salty smell of the sea, dispersing the lingering gunpowder odor in the air. A massive holographic projection hovered above the harbor, projecting every detail of "Phoenix's" destruction onto the clouds—news being rebroadcast by global media: once-powerful board members in shackles, the ruins of the laboratory cordoned off, and survivors weeping uncontrollably before the cameras.

Lin Mo leaned against the railing, an unlit cigarette between his fingers. He looked at the images, but his eyes seemed to be veiled by a layer of mist.

"elder brother."

Suya sat in the corner, hugging her knees, draped in Lin Mo's coat. Her gaze wasn't on the noisy images, but on her feet—there was a cleaned-up pool of blood, left behind when they fought their way out a few days ago.

"Um?"

"They're all cheering." Suya's voice was soft, as if afraid of disturbing the night. "They said justice had triumphed over evil, and that we are heroes."

She looked up, her eyes filled with confusion. "But... I don't feel happy at all."

Lin Mo remained silent, crumpling the cigarette in his palm.

Yes, the more intense the noise from the outside world, the greater the emptiness within.

Those "hunters" they destroyed with their own hands, those shattered memories in the labyrinth of consciousness, those "brothers and sisters" who died in the "Garden of Eden"... these images haunted their minds like ghosts. The trial is over, the enemies have been caught, but can those torn-up pasts, those blood-stained hands, really be washed away with a live broadcast?

"We killed people too, brother." Suya lowered her head, looking at her palms. "That 'Butcher,' and the guards in the base... are we really any different from them?"

Lin Mo's heart sank.

He walked over, squatted down in front of Suya, and held her cold hand.

"There is a difference." His voice was low but firm. "They kill for power and control, while we... do it to survive, to protect each other."

"But now, 'Phoenix' is gone, and the Doctor is locked up." Suya's eyes reddened. "What about us? What is our 'future'?"

This is a question no one can answer.

From childhood, they were instilled with nothing but killing and obedience; they were implanted with nothing but viruses and programs. Now, the programs have stopped, the instructions have disappeared, and they are like kites with broken strings, unable to find a place to land.

"I don't want any hero's title." Suya leaned on Lin Mo's shoulder, her voice tinged with a tired sob. "I just want a dream where I don't have to live in fear anymore, I want... a home that truly belongs to us."

Lin Mo gently patted her back and looked up at the starry sky.

The holographic projection in the distance was still flashing, and cheers could be faintly heard.

But on this small rooftop, behind the hustle and bustle of the world, there is only the sound of the wind and two hearts bewildered and lost after surviving the ordeal.

The trial is over, but the redemption has only just begun.

They are no longer tools of killing, no longer ghosts of revenge. But how to be an ordinary person, how to live without hatred to sustain them—that is the true end they face.