"Dexter, it’s been so many years, and you haven’t changed a bit," Jimmy said with a smile.
Though he made it sound like Dexter hadn’t changed at all over the years, I could tell he was mocking Dexter for not growing up.
"Who’s this? Your younger brother? I didn’t know your dad had other illegitimate children," I asked Dexter, my tone clearly unfriendly toward the uninvited younger brother. Dexter tightened his grip on my hand and replied, "He’s nobody."
"Looks like my brother’s wife holds so enmity against ," Jimmy chuckled, his hand still extending toward for a handshake.
"The purpose of my return is not to beco your enemies. Instead, I want to cooperate with you." Though he sounded sincere, I didn’t buy it.
"My brother has sold the Black Group to Crowdstar Group, which ans the Blacks have lost the privilege the Black Group provided them until now."
"That was very brave of you, Dexter. You’ve just declared war against all the Blacks, you know?" Jimmy’s smile remained.
While I was pondering the aning of his words, Jimmy suddenly leaned closer to Dexter and spoke in a voice that only the three of us could hear.
"So of the recent killing sprees have impacted the core operations of the black market industries behind several conglorates, and Peter Jones is just a small-ti doctor..."
"He and his entire team, the Geno Society, are rely puppets controlled by capitalists. The real root of evil... remains untouchable until you beco one of the rich and powerful."
I gazed at Jimmy, understanding what he was getting at.
So, Peter was rely a lackey raised by the rich and powerful... To unearth the hidden truth and expose the mastermind lurking in the shadows, we needed to assu the role of the powerful backer first. That was probably the reason why Dexter had agreed to return to the Black family.
"Dexter, I told you three years ago that the only way to confront all of this is for us to work together. But you refused. I’ve been trying to prove my loyalty to you all these years. Surely, you can feel my sincerity?" Jimmy looked at Dexter
Dexter remained cold, shielding alertly as if guarding sothing important.
Noticing Dexter’s reluctance, Jimmy
backed off and added with a smile once more, "Chill, Dexter. The recent incident has already impacted the core interests of the upper echelons. Soon soone will step in to clear those and resolve everything
The arrogant clowns behind the killings will soon be wiped out."
Jimmy was referring to the mastermind behind the serial killings, wasn’t he? In other words...
"Such a perfect masterpiece..." Jimmy glanced at aningfully, then left.
The ntion of "perfect masterpiece" sent a chill down my spine.
Before "Sophia Milford" was murdered, the killer also referred to her as the perfect masterpiece he had ever seen...
I knew Jimmy wasn’t the murderer, but that phrase simply held too much significance for .
"Who’s that guy? He’s so dashing... " Violette was still captivated by Jimmy’s deanor and appearance. "But why do I have a feeling that he’s not one of the good guys? More like a movie villain."
"Hmph," Dexter grunted, clearly dissatisfied.
Seeing Dexter’s reaction, Violette giggled. "Oh, you know what? He’s nowhere near as handso as Dexter."
Dexter glanced at , as if seeking my agreent.
I was speechless. Was now really the ti to compare who was better looking?
Jimmy ntioned that the rich and
powerful behind the scenes had
been thoroughly angered by the mastermind of the serial killings. In other words, they were going to take action.
"Everything looks good. You can be discharged today," the doctor, wearing a mask, said after examining and reviewing my test results and dical records.
Perhaps... I was being too cautious. The sight of hospitals and doctors always put on edge. I couldn’t shake the feeling of being observed by everyone around . "Sophia?" Dexter noticed my unusual behavior and ca over to touch my forehead.
I looked up abruptly, belatedly coming to my senses. "I’m fine..."
"Your health is fine. Everything’s good," the doctor reassured. "Oh, and the results from the health departnt’s tests ca back clear too."
"Phew! We really dodged a bullet... "Violette sighed in relief.
"The health departnt?" I furrowed my brows.
"They discovered that the crazed headmaster from the special school has AIDS. Also, among the people who were locked up with us, one has AIDS, and three have infectious diseases," Violette explained. "Quinn was found to be a carrier of the AID virus. Her husband, Callum, was promiscuous and abusive. Not only did he engage in high-risk sexual intercourse, but he was also abusive and alcoholic... Quinn was infected by him."
I gasped in disbelief. It seed that we had been exposed to a high risk of infection given the circumstances, especially for those who were stabbed by Quinn.
"Violette! Have you taken the test?" I instinctively grabbed Violette’s wrist. She was one of the people Quinn had stabbed. If she had any contact with Quinn’s blood...
"I have, and I’m clear. Don’t worry, Sophia," Violette quickly assured , then laughed. "What are the odds? I should probably go buy a lottery ticket, haha!"
I was stunned for a mont, rendered speechless
Before anyone realized that Quinn and others were carriers of AIDS, no one would have thought of taking antiretroviral drugs. By the ti the results ca out positive for AIDS, it was likely already past the optimal ti for prevention.
"Sir, Juliet has contracted AIDS and is currently in a state of collapse. Damien is watching over her," Ewan whispered in Dexter’s ear as he arrived to pick us up from the hospital.
I sat numbly on the edge of the bed.
Juliet had contracted AIDS... It was as though Quinn had done it intentionally. Since Juliet couldn’t be killed for now, Quinn had inflicted another form of suffering upon her. She infected her with a highly contagious yet incurable disease.
"Both the contraction of AIDS and
the recent killing spree were kept top secret, yet Jimmy sohow learned about it... How did the news of Juliet being infected with AIDS spread?" I asked Ewan.
Ewan took out his phone. "Soone deliberately posted it online. We tracked the ID, and it was from overseas. The police suspect it’s Quinn."
Since Quinn had been exposed, she had nothing to fear, so she posted online:
"Hi, I’m one of the masterminds
behind the killing ga. I’m truly a pitiful woman. My family favored boys over girls, so I was left at my grandmother’s place when I was young."
"My parents didn’t care about , and I was drained of all my worth. I was eventually married off to a worthless scoundrel in exchange for 1,000 dollars."
"Not only did my husband abuse ,
but he also maliciously infected with AIDS. Thanks to him, I felt a despair I’d never experienced before in this world. My despair ended when I learned about Project Zero."
"This world is too dark. There are simply too many maggots that need to be cleaned out, so we planned this killing ga. I was hiding among the players in this ga."
"And at the end of the ga, I used a knife—stained with my blood— to stab several survivors. Naly, Juliet Turner, Violette, Dexter Black, and Sofia Miller."
Quinn seed to deliberately spread the news online.
I looked at Dexter worriedly. He shook his head and assured , "I won’t be infected with the HIV virus. Because of the geno editing, I’m naturally immune."
"Then why Violette and I— " I asked, puzzled. My eyes t Violette’s.
Sofia Miller and Sophia Milford were experint clones of the sa embryo. Since Sophia was a completely genetically modified experintal body, was Sofia one too?
If my current body had also undergone genetic enhancent and editing, then I was immune to AIDS. But Violette...
Violette looked a little scared and quickly declared, "It’s just my luck."
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