576: Chapter 576: The Road Under the Moonlight (Big Chapter for Monthly Tickets) 576: Chapter 576: The Road Under the Moonlight (Big Chapter for Monthly Tickets) “Are you okay?”
Heish walked up to He Ao, her hand slightly extending forward, but when she saw that He Ao was standing steadily, she withdrew it.
“I’m okay.”
He Ao nodded gently, re-tying the bone ax and wooden box before slinging them onto his back.
“What about that Ved just now?”
Raising her bracelet, Heish switched on its miniature flashlight and scanned around.
Eventually, her gaze settled on the skeleton that lay in two pieces in front of He Ao.
“Is this…”
“He paid a certain price in power.”
He Ao glanced at the skeleton and nodded slowly,
At this mont, he was extrely weak.
His previous explosive emotions, coupled with the aggressive use of his internal power, did indeed grant him powerful combat strength, but it also laid a heavy burden on his body.
Ved’s ‘Dream’ had also affected a portion of his soul, leaving him in a state of low spirits.
Dealing with battles against Arent, the ‘Eyes’ set by the Mysterious Person, and Ved this evening, even though he had cautiously controlled the pace of the fights to avoid major injuries, had left him quite exhausted.
Heish seed to notice He Ao’s fatigue.
She carefully stayed close to him, ready to lend a hand if he suddenly collapsed, but she didn’t get too close, maintaining a certain personal distance.
For a Transcendent of her level, that distance was almost instantly bridgeable with an outstretched hand.
“Here is the data you wanted,”
She looked up at He Ao and pulled out a micro storage chip from the inner pocket of her jacket, “The data from Vitland’s underground world usually doesn’t travel through the network, it’s all offline transactions.
When you read these data, if your bracelet has any software from big consortia like Trison Group or Nord Consortium, you’d better go offline to access it.”
“Okay.”
He Ao nodded lightly, accepting the storage chip.
“By the way,” Heish suddenly rembered sothing and quickly added, “I’ve contacted my people using Dasanc’s phone; they are on their way.
I’ve reached out to that doctor, do you want to go back together for a checkup?”
“That would be good.”
He Ao nodded in agreent.
He indeed needed a safe area to rest properly, especially after tonight’s return to his parents’ residence, the Mysterious Person had likely intensified surveillance on his family’s ho.
Ved had proven that the Mysterious Person possessed the ability to create imperfect B-grade Gene Potions.
However, these Gene Potions appeared to be incomplete and harbored so hidden flaws, which is why the Mysterious Person had not brought them out before.
In any case, the Mysterious Person had the capacity to produce near B-level high-end combat power briefly, and He Ao’s body couldn’t sustain another high-intensity battle anymore.
After the earlier events, Heish had shown that she was largely trustable, so He Ao didn’t mind taking advantage of her safe house.
Although the Zarote Area was closed off, impoverished, and ostracized, it was almost impenetrable because of that very reason, making it hard for the Mysterious Person’s people to infiltrate—making it an ideal safe house.
“You guys…” At that mont, Dasanc also arrived, panting heavily.
He braced himself on his knees, gasping for air, and looked around, “Is that guy dead?
Or did he escape?”
“This is it.”
He Ao glanced at the remains on the ground and said calmly.
He gazed at the man before him, who besides Ned, was the most promising candidate for Senator.
Dasanc was as young as the television news had described.
In He Ao’s mory, the old-school politicians of the Federation were almost all experienced and slippery, even Ned acted with a reserved and steady deanor, but Dasanc didn’t feel like any old-school politician to He Ao.
He seed sowhat naive, his gaze not as sharp, his eyes not as still as those of the seasoned politicians, instead they were filled with a certain hope.
Following the direction of He Ao’s gaze, Dasanc looked around in the darkness, where few windows were present and the moonlight was weak; he couldn’t make out what had caught He Ao’s attention, so he retrieved his bracelet from Heish and turned on the flashlight to look in that direction.
The mont he clearly saw the grueso skeleton, he instinctively stepped back, but quickly recovered.
Then he fell silent for a mont as if he had co to understand so critical points, and looked at He Ao, “Was this an assassination?”
“In a sense, you could say that,” replied He Ao with a nod and turned to walk outside, with Heish following by his side, while Dasanc trailed not too far behind them.
Once He Ao had confird his thoughts, Dasanc fell into a quiet silence, no longer speaking, just thinking.
The incident was indeed an assassination.
If it weren’t for He Ao’s presence, both Dasanc and Heish would have been killed or captured by Ved.
“Are you gathering negative materials on Ned?” asked He Ao in a low voice, looking towards Heish.
“Yes,” Heish nodded, not hiding anything.
He Ao followed her through experiences at Wel Consortium’s banquet and the subsequent pursuit.
With his keen senses, he naturally noticed things.
She attended Wel dical Consortium’s charity dinner to exchange information with an informant from the Wel Charity Foundation.
She paused, softly explaining, “Dasanc promised that, if he becos a Senator, he will do his best to help Scavengers obtain normal Federation Citizen status.”
Then, as if she sensed He Ao might wonder why she chose a young candidate like Dasanc, she continued to explain, “Despite his youth, Dasanc is an upright person.
I can feel that he truly wants to help the Scavengers.
I’ve ‘invested’ in other politicians before…”
She didn’t finish her thought, but He Ao could guess the outcos of her previous ‘investnts’ in other politicians.
For the seasoned politicians, interest was the first impression to make judgnts upon, and what Heish could offer was surely less than the monopoly of the Cleaning Companies Alliance of Vitland.
What Heish was doing was actually very dangerous; she was attempting to challenge a vested interest group that could influence the city council and mayors of Vitland City.
To the Cleaning Companies Alliance, led by Wel Cleaning Company, Heish was just a slightly bigger ant, despite being C-level, even as the number one Interdiary of the Vitland underground world.
The first attack was at the Wel Consortium, the second was an assassination during her eting with Dasanc.
If it weren’t for her encounter with He Ao, Heish would now be just another body in the crematorium’s furnace.
He Ao glanced at Heish’s determined look and said nothing.
“You might think I’m reckless, biting off more than I can chew,” said Heish.
They were approaching the skyscraper’s entrance, with the bright moonlight sprawling at their feet.
Staring at the cold moonlight, she said softly, “Do you know Christos?”
“Yes, the current Mayor of Dawn City.”
He Ao nodded slightly.
“He was very famous.
Not long ago, he pushed for a dical reform that shocked the entire Federation, but you might not know, when he first took office last year, he initiated the ‘Wilderness Wanderer Immigration Act,’ which acknowledged the existence of Wilderness Wanderers who, like Scavengers, had previously been people without identity.”
Heish walked in the moonlight, speaking slowly, “After this act, these Wilderness Wanderers have effectively beco part of the Federation’s Citizens.
Over ti, as long as this act remains, the Wilderness Wanderers can gradually acquire their own identities.”
She smiled, “Actually, back then, I was completely desperate.
I couldn’t think of any way to fight against the cleaning companies or the Wel dical Consortium.
I thought that maybe the world was inherently this unfair, and that the fate of every Scavenger was determined from birth, unable to change and not allowed to change.”
“But the ergence of this act made realize that there are people in this world who want to change this injustice.
The ‘Wilderness Wanderer Immigration Act’ is said to have been initiated because of the sacrifice made by a Wilderness Wanderer leader, which eventually led Christos to take the first steps in advancing this act.”
“If that Wilderness Wanderer leader could sacrifice, then so could I.
If my sacrifice could bring about a better future for countless Scavengers and break the centuries-long shackles placed upon us, then my sacrifice would be worth it.”
Moonlight spilled over her cheeks, marred with spattered blood, “Even if my sacrifice doesn’t bring about anything, there will always be people who will follow the path I’ve walked and continue to change the world, just like I’m now following the path once walked by that Wilderness Wanderer leader.”
Moonlight also fell on He Ao.
“The road ahead will be difficult.”
He Ao looked at the bright moon and whispered softly.
“I am ready.”
Heish, too, was gazing at the moon in the sky, her gaze resolute.
At that mont, Dasanc also caught up to the pace of the two, standing side by side with them beside He Ao, looking up at the bright moon.
A tranquil silence spread among them.
“I’ve been thinking,”
The one to break the silence was Dasanc, who had been quiet until now, “Ved is a talented person.
If he had an environnt in which he could fully exhibit his talents, a setting where he could use his abilities without restraint, could he ultimately beco an outstanding scientist?”
“Others have asked similar questions before.”
He Ao spoke softly.
In the third official Copy World, after He Ao had killed Dancing Girl Qi Ke, Christos had also asked him a similar question.
“What was his answer?”
Dasanc turned his head to look at He Ao.
“There is no answer.
There are no ‘what ifs’ in this world,” He Ao said calmly, “If you want to know the answer, you have to try it yourself.”
Hearing this response, Dasanc fell silent for a mont, then turned to look again at the bright moon in the sky, “How is he doing now?”
“On the path of attempting.”
He Ao answered in a subdued voice.
Moonlight lay at their feet, clouds drifting in the night sky faintly cloaked the dim moonlight, which ca and went like the difficult path in the depths of a dark night.
Off in the distance, flickering lights erged from the night, as the three of them had reached the exit of the building, a glancing look revealed the dilapidated road where streetlights were broken.
At the end of the road, it seed as if lights were approaching, those called by Heish were hurrying over.
“Stars Pharma is the one providing you with funds?”
He Ao withdrew his gaze and looked at Dasanc beside him.
Although Dasanc had so ideas, he was too naive, a complete newcor.
He was not like Christos, who had served for many years as a city councilor before running for mayor, struggling through elections, clearly understanding the political rules of Dawn City, and uniting a group of solid allies who could provide him with financial support.
As a young newcor, Dasanc’s sudden rise was sohow unexpected, and behind it, there was a high likelihood big consortiums were supporting him.
Stars Pharma, after being hit by a series of negative events related to the Fountain of Youth, faced Christos’s dical reform and its share price never recovered to its top ten position.
Although Wel dical Consortium, originally ranked second, was also affected by the repercussions, the damage it suffered was not as severe as that of Stars Pharma.
In this waxing and waning, the two tightly matched consortiums drew even closer.
In such a situation, Stars Pharma would certainly try every ans to maintain its position as the industry leader.
Moreover, corporate sabotage between Stars Pharma and Wel dical Consortium seed to have beco commonplace.
In the last Fountain of Youth Copy World, He Ao had seen Wel dical Consortium’s corporate spies in Stars Pharma’s research institute.
The current situation made it quite obvious that Ned was a person propped up by Wel dical Consortium, and although Stars Pharma’s influence in Vitland was not as strong as that of the Wel dical Consortium, supporting a competitor like Dasanc to challenge Ned and annoy Wel dical Consortium was quite normal.
“Yes.”
Dasanc didn’t hide anything, he straightforwardly said, “Before I gained such prominence, people from Stars Pharma found and wanted to collaborate.
They didn’t need to make any political promises, just to compete with Ned for the position of Senator.
“However, they didn’t invest much money in , they just helped with my initial operations, and then intermittently assisted , letting naturally gain so popularity.
After that, leveraging this fa, I started many networking groups, spreading my reputation, and I also t Heish.”
“Because of your ergence, Wel dical Consortium felt threatened and had to spend a lot of money on campaign advertisents for Ned, in order to maintain his support rating.”
He Ao nodded slightly.
Influence your enemy to the greatest effect with the least cost.
Dasanc’s philosophy was very similar to Christos’s and Stars Pharma, just having suffered Christos’s blow, was very aware of Christos’s influence.
Of course, they did not wish for another Christos to rise in Vitland, so they only gave Dasanc a small amount of money, enough to affect Wel dical Consortium was enough.
“After my support rating exceeded 7, they stopped supporting .”
Dasanc said slowly.
Currently, Dasanc’s support rating should be around 13, several tis smaller than Ned’s, and with Ned backed by Wel dical Consortium, Dasanc could only irritate Wel dical Consortium, nearly impossible to challenge Ned.
“The negative information about Ned you got from Heish, are you planning to make it public?”
He Ao continued to ask.
“Hmm,” Dasanc nodded,
“My support rating is decreasing, Wel dical Consortium is trying to diminish my influence, I don’t know if I’ll still have this much impact before the next election, or even if I’ll survive until then.
“So I must take advantage of the ti when my influence is greatest to publish these things, at least to prevent Ned from being so reckless.”
“May I see the materials about Ned that you’ve obtained?”
He Ao asked slowly.
Heish stretched out his hand, took out a storage chip again, and handed it to He Ao, “This is a backup.”
Reviews
All reviews (0)