Chapter 278: Angels without Wings
"You did not enter Mount Paraiso?" a deep voice interrupted Dave.
"Of course, we did. We split into two batches. The first batches entered ahead of us and we were supposed to follow the following day because batch 2 was not done with the initial assessnt of the two new species discovered."
"We were camping at the foot of Mount Janai, facing Mount Paraiso. That evening, when we were having bar-b-q in the bonfire, we heard horrendous cries for help from the other side of the mountain. The captain who went with us sent a team of elite soldiers to go over and take a look but no one ca back."
"The following morning, at the first light of dawn, more reinforcent consisting of soldiers and rcenaries arrived. They went to Mount Paraiso bringing with them high-powered arms. When they ca back, they brought with them mangled body parts. There was no single person with a complete body part."
Dave shivered when he rembered the look of the corpses when a soldier accidentally opened the body bag.
He rembered vomiting and had nightmares for a week.
"What happened to those who died?" Amaya asked. She rembered what the werewolf said to her.
"The Ra-Iyan governnt released a statent that their deaths were caused by wolves and the governnt will be responsible and compensate the victims’ families. But because Ra-Iya was just a poor country, the king pleaded with the netizens for sobriety."
Dave smirked before continuing. "The Ra-iyan governnt is so despicable. They knew how to sway public opinion. The King of Ra-iya delivered a heart-wrenching speech saying how he was saddened by the death of the unfortunate heroes. If only his country is rich, then he would compensate the victim’s family a thousandfold."
"That king really knew how to play with people’s emotions. He said that the Ra-Iyan governnt is very poor and showed footage of the orphans and holess foraging food in the dumpsite. He also showed children of farrs in the remote areas who needed to help their parents with farm work from sunrise to sunset."
"Then he appealed to the netizens and opened a fund drive for the benefit of the victims of the incident. At the sa ti, he opened another fund drive for the children of Ra-iya. He called the fund drive, ’Angels without Wings.’"
"What a despicable leader. He used other people to compensate for what his governnt owed and he used the tragic incident to scam the people via his Angels Without Wings organization." Dave gritted his teeth and continued to rant.
"Angels without Wings is a big fundraiser for the King of Ra-iya. Millions of dollars flowed into the fund through crowdsourcing but only a fraction goes to the orphanages or the institutions that take care of the pitiful orphans and the poor children in the villages."
Amaya perked up when she heard what Dave said.
"What do you an? Where does the fund go?"
"Where else? The money is being used to train the military, purchase weapons, and fund research and developnt of advanced weaponry and other experints. Those two spider children should be a product of those experints."
Amaya looked at Dave with starry eyes. "You knew so much. Where did you get all this information? Are you a mber of the organization behind the Dark Web?" Amaya’s eyebrows arched as she waited for Dave’s response.
Dave suddenly felt a chill on his spine.
"I needed to do a lot of research in my line of work, so I stumbled upon this information by accident."
"I have promised my cousin that I will sponsor one orphanage. It is good that I haven’t transferred the fund yet."
"Don’t be such a kindhearted person. ’Angels Without Wings’ is a scam. If you donate, it will only benefit the King of Ra-iya. The money will not reach the intended beneficiaries, instead, you contribute to the achievent of the goals of that ambitious king."
"Heh, why do I feel that you have deep resentnt to the King of Ra-Iya?"
Dave’s facial expression looked very ugly.
Marx noted the shift in Dave’s mood. He felt an impending danger.
"Aya, so things are better left as they were." Marx tried to diffuse the tension.
"But wasn’t it Dave who told
earlier that I should talk about my trauma? I should let it out so I can overco it. Looking at Dave right now, there is sothing in his past that he can’t let go. But if he does not let go and continue to bottle it up, then the pressure will continue to mount until one day it will explode."
Marx wanted to kiss Amaya on the lips because her words touched him. However, he restrained himself and pinched her nose instead.
"What profound words."
Marx sized up Dave and he saw him hesitating.
"Well, indeed, I am a mber of the Dark Web organization. This is a secret so I hope this stays within the four walls of this room."
"I knew it!" Amaya uttered excitedly. She guessed it right.
"I joined the organization after my sister died." lancholy enveloped Dave as a fleeting mory of his sister’s death flashed before his eyes.
Amaya poured him a cup of brewed coffee from the coffee maker. She asked the maid to replace the tea with coffee. Marx’s gaze was fixed on the cup that Amaya handed to Dave and then he looked at her with an aggrieved look.
She poured another cup and passed it to Marx. Only then did his gaze relax.
"Back in college, my twin sister went with
on an educational trip to Ra-Iya. We visited the king’s castle and there we t the king. The king wanted to look good on social dia so he hosted a banquet for the students who were on that trip."
"My sister was very beautiful. She is a female version of ."
Marx spewed out the tea from his mouth. Dave who was sitting across him quickly dodged.
"I didn’t know that you are narcissistic," Marx comnted drily.
"Why? We are identical twins. If she is not beautiful, then how could the King of Ra-iya be enamored by her?"
"What happened next?" Amaya interjected to stop the two from further arguing.
"The king invited her to beco an exchange student. My naive sister agreed readily despite my disapproval. She ca back to Ra-iya and beca the favored mistress of the king behind our backs."
"A mistress, not a concubine?"
"Yes, a mistress."
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