Right in the underground living room, the pitch-black chip left behind by Vincenzo Russo lay quietly on the wooden tabletop. Surrounding it were the thoughtful, contemplative gazes of every Zero Horizon member. The air condensed; everyone was filled with suspense and hesitation, wondering just how brutal the secrets contained within this chip were.
Shin crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at the chip before looking up at the group:
— "What do you all think?"
A calm voice spoke up from behind:
— "Open it up and let's see what's inside."
Stolas stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with a researcher's curiosity. Xie Xingchen also nodded in agreement, standing up and heading toward the central computer:
— "That's right, we need to see what the Central District has actually been doing behind everyone's backs!"
With that, the entire Zero Horizon squad gathered around the workbench, mentally preparing to face the deluge of incoming information. Xie Xingchen carefully inserted the matrix chip into the connection port. The medium-sized projection screen instantly lit up, displaying a decryption interface.
Through Xingchen's exceptionally skilled computer operations, four data files were completely backed up from the chip. They were labeled with special code designations ranging from YX-01 to YX-04.
Xingchen moved his mouse, announcing in a lowered voice:
— "Everyone! File YX-01 is an audio recording
format!"
Shin tilted his head back, asking curiously:
— "An audio recording? Is it probably some secret conversation?"
Tae-Joon crossed his arms and speculated:
— "That's very likely!"
Xingchen double-clicked on file YX-01. The audio waveform on screen began to oscillate. After a few seconds of static buzzing (BZZZ... RUSTLE...), heavy footsteps thudded on the floor, followed by an extremely fierce argument between a woman and a man:
— "What the hell are you doing, Lu Quanlin?!"
The woman's voice rang out, filled with rage and choked emotion. — "Do you have any idea that living beings out there are being slaughtered?! They don't deserve to be treated like this! They have the right to equality just like humans!"
Instantly, Lu Quanlin's deep, authoritative, yet ruthlessly cold voice roared, cutting her off:
— "SHUT YOUR MOUTH, LAM NHUOC HY!
What is there to pity about those foreign species?! If you care so much, go save every last one of them yourself!"
Seijuro, sitting nearby, suddenly interjected:
— "I bet this Lam Nhuoc Hy is Lu Quanlin's wife."
Roxy turned to give him a razor-sharp glare:
— "Listen to the whole thing first, Seijuro, don't interrupt at a crucial moment!"
Seijuro awkwardly scratched his head:
— "I... I was just curious!"
The audio recording continued to play violent sounds, making the room's atmosphere heavy. Following Lu Quanlin's roar came a chilling thud, the sound of furniture shattering (CRACK... SMASH!), along with a sharp, fiery slap (SLAP!) captured crystal clearly.
— "Are you still going to show pity for those creatures?!" Lu Quanlin's voice growled low.
Lam Nhuoc Hy sobbed in pain:
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— "You bastard... you truly are a monster! I deeply regret ever agreeing to marry you!"
Lu Quanlin barked back coldly:
— "Foreign species are nothing more than merchandise! Don't sit there demanding rights for them! Humans are the pinnacle of creation, while those half-breeds out there are mere defective products!"
— "They have thoughts and the capacity to learn just like humans! Why must they suffer such brutal treatment?!"
— "I'm warning you, Lam Nhuoc Hy! If you dare secretly free them, I will settle the score with you ruthlessly!"
Just as the argument reached its climax, the sound of a child crying accompanied by a door creaking open interrupted everything:
— "Sob... sob..."
Lam Nhuoc Hy's voice instantly softened, filled with maternal warmth:
— "Lu Xie? Why did you come in here,
sweetheart?"
Young Lu Xie's lisping, childish voice squeaked:
— "I... I can't sleep. I'm scared of the dark..."
— "Mommy's right here, my love! Don't cry
anymore, be a good boy..."
— "What are Mommy and Daddy doing in here?"
— "It's nothing, my love, Mommy and Daddy are just discussing some work..."
Lu Quanlin's voice blurted curtly:
— "Take the boy back to his bedroom immediately!"
CLICK!
The sound of a closing door echoed, and the audio recording came to a complete end. The underground room sank back into a suffocating silence.
Shin stroked his chin, lost in thought:
— "Lam Nhuoc Hy... was she trying to claim rights for foreign species?"
Stolas let out a soft sigh, his eyes filled with profound understanding:
— "I believe she was striving to voice the cries of the oppressed—those treated as nothing more than commodities, trampled under human feet..."
Loona hugged her arms, her ears twitching sadly:
— "She's so pitiful... Living beside a tyrant like Lu Quanlin must have been an absolute nightmare."
Kiriko shook her head wearisomely, turning to Xingchen:
— "Hurry and open the next file, Xingchen!"
Xingchen operated the controls immediately, opening file code YX-02. This time, the interface projected not an audio waveform, but a long sequence of classified personnel files with hundreds of stacked data pages.
Tae-Joon widened his eyes and exclaimed:
— "Gotta admit... this file is seriously long!"
He turned to ask Ling Mo, who was standing leaning against the wall with arms crossed:
— "What do you think, Ling Mo?"
Ling Mo said nothing, merely giving a quiet, slight nod, agreeing that the sheer amount of information was immense.
Xingchen quickly scrolled past a series of names until the list stopped at a dossier stamped with the vivid red seal of the Four Extremes of Order:
• [CLASSIFIED FILE - FEDERATION PERSONNEL DATA]
• Full Name: Arthur Pendleton
• Code ID: 2211
• Race: Human | Gender: Male
• Position: Officer of the Central District Four Extremes of Order
• Biography & Notes: Formerly a notorious Serial Killer belonging to the Gen-Primal generation. Currently holds the rank of Federation Officer, a leading expert in investigation and executing sick, sadistic torture methods.
After reading the dossier lines, Shin's face immediately hardened, his eyes filled with contempt and vigilance:
— "Arthur was formerly a serial killer... It's very likely the Central District government took notice of him, then whitewashed his entire dirty past to promote him to an Officer seat!"
Xie Xingchen continued moving his mouse, scrolling down through the subsequent personnel files of the Four Extremes of Order:
• [CLASSIFIED FILE - FEDERATION PERSONNEL DATA]
• Full Name: Siren Sinclair
• Code ID: 2211-B
• Race: Human
• Position: Officer of the Four Extremes of Order
• Biography & Notes: Master genius of psychological manipulation. Currently a core operative belonging to the former member branch of the Federation.
• [CLASSIFIED FILE - FEDERATION PERSONNEL DATA]
• Full Name: Damon
• Code ID: 2211-C
• Race: Bio-android
• Position: Officer of the Four Extremes of Order
• Biography & Notes: Belongs to the biological product division from the Federation's secret research facility. The sole perfect surviving specimen out of 1,000 created test subjects.
• [CLASSIFIED FILE - FEDERATION PERSONNEL DATA]
• Full Name: Lam Nhuoc Hy
• Code ID: Unknown
• Race: Human
• Position: None
• Status: Deceased
• Biography & Notes: Died from being murdered by a foreign species.
Reading this, the entire Zero Horizon squad was once again baffled, bewildered expressions showing clearly on every face. Kento slowly exhaled a plume of gray cigarette smoke, smacking his tongue:
— "Well, isn't that a twist... Someone who stood up to demand justice for foreign species ended up dying at the hands of the very creatures she fought to protect?"
SLAM!
Roxy slammed her hand hard onto the table, her dog ears bristling up completely and her tail standing erect in outrage:
— "Absurd! How could such a ridiculous thing happen?! There must definitely be some cruel hidden secret buried here!"
Kiriko nodded in agreement:
— "I think the same as you, Roxy. This whole thing is beyond unreasonable."
Shin raised his hand to signal the group:
— "Calm down everyone, let's keep watching quietly!"
Xingchen scrolled down to the next profile:
• [CLASSIFIED FILE - FEDERATION PERSONNEL DATA]
• Full Name: Saka X
• Code ID: Strongest G-4144
• Race: Human (Arabian Descent)
• Position: Former Officer of the Four Extremes of Order
• Biography & Notes: [DATA DELETED / BLACKED OUT BY SUPREME AUTHORITY]
Seijuro narrowed his eyes at the blacked-out screen:
— "What is this? Is that all? What kind of file is completely blacked out like that?"
Stolas lightly adjusted his glasses, analyzing pensively:
— "All critical information has been blacked out; almost this entire file has been tampered with and corrupted. It seems this individual named Saka X possesses an extraordinarily mysterious background."
Kiriko looked at the words "Former Officer" and suddenly remembered:
— "When that Officer seat became vacant... the Federation itself sent an invitation asking me to take the position left behind by this Saka X person."
Roxy clicked her tongue:
— "Turns out this guy is genuinely mysterious, huh!"
Xingchen scrolled through the entire list, but strangely enough, the whole YX-02 file contained nothing but profiles of the Officers of the Four Extremes of Order. There were no direct documents recording the illicit activities of the father-son duo, Lu Quanlin and Lu Xie.
Shin frowned, guessing:
— "Perhaps the evidence isn't located here. Could this entire chip really consist of nothing more than info on Lam Nhuoc Hy? Xingchen, open the remaining two files!"
Xingchen nodded, operating the keyboard right away. However, as soon as he clicked on files YX-03 and YX-04, the screen continuously flashed red security warning text.
— "These two files are encrypted at an extremely high level; standard access is impossible!"
Xingchen grimaced.
Tae-Joon patted Xingchen's shoulder and asked:
— "Is there any way to unlock them?"
— "There is, but this encryption algorithm is insanely complex. It'll take a massive amount of time to crack..."
Right at that moment, Loona stepped forward, her eyes shining with confidence:
— "Don't worry, everyone! I'm here too, I'll work with Brother Xingchen to decrypt them!"
Hearing this, Kento laughed heartily, giving Loona a thumbs-up:
— "Haha, the squad's little sister is still the best!"
Shin smiled and patted Loona's head:
— "Thank you, Loona. We'll have to rely on you and Xingchen this time!"
Loona perked up, beaming brightly:
— "It's nothing at all! I just want to make myself genuinely useful to everyone!"
(To be continued)