Chapter 3103: Resistance and Revenge
With this suspicion and questioning, public opinion began to spiral out of control. Sacrificing oneself for the district was one thing, but treating players' lives as if they were worthless was unacceptable. Moreover, with Alton Corporation causing so much trouble and colluding with Player Home, was the government truly unaware?
After all, every player in the district would eventually face degeneration. When their abilities waned, what kind of situation would the players themselves and their families be in?
This led some players to question the retirement system of Zone 025.
The District General Government responded very quickly, releasing retirement data for players who had been supported by the government over the past twenty years. They used the survival years and quality of life of those individuals as direct evidence, and also disclosed the cities involved with Alton Corporation, along with data analysis estimating how many players might be implicated.
Comparing the two sets of numbers, the incidents on Challenge Island seemed insignificant, and a large portion of those involved were players from other zones.
Many people in Zone 025 did not like players from other zones who came to retire, after all, retirement was a burden. If they hadn't contributed anything to Zone 025 in their youth, why should they come here in their old age? No matter how wealthy Zone 025 was, it couldn't support that many people.
For a time, the claim that players from other zones were "parasites" became widespread.
At this point, Zone 025 could no longer pull any tricks. No matter how they handled it, the result would be Alton Corporation taking full responsibility, with local governments conducting self-investigations.
However, Xu Huo did not want this matter to end there. He singled out several buyers mentioned in the Challenge Island materials, demanded that the lawyer disclose them on the spot, and pressured the government to hold other districts accountable.
That's right—the buyers were not only from Zone 025 but also from other districts, and even involved other wormhole points.
This wasn't because Challenge Island's program could broadcast live to other wormhole points, but rather that all records would be sent in fragments to customers. It was clear that Alton Corporation had decent business capabilities, even attracting customers from other wormhole points.
After hearing Xu Huo's words, the lawyer found it utterly absurd. Although he had been shocked enough over the past few days, this left him completely stunned. It wasn't that he looked down on Zone 025, but districts were parallel entities—how could Zone 025 hold other districts accountable? This wasn't like holding a subordinate government within the same district accountable!
Moreover, even if Zone 025 dared to make such a joke, would the other districts even care?
Besides, although the lawyers were unclear about the identities of these people, they could infer from the previously exposed inside information that these individuals held high status. Being A-level wormhole points, it was hard to say whether this would bring unpredictable dangers.
Furthermore, "The city government has already rejected our request for another public hearing."
So using this avenue to expose these people's identities was no longer possible.
Xu Huo was unconcerned. There were plenty of other avenues. Now that the matter had blown up so big, many people wanted to stir the pot. As long as the materials were distributed, those who needed them would naturally use them.
The best approach was for the Audit Department to pressure the government internally. As long as a formal letter was issued in the name of the District Government to other districts, the matter would be mostly resolved.
What fun was there in just making a fuss in Zone 025? Naturally, everyone involved should share in the excitement.
This concerned the future of players—no player could truly sit idly by. As for what kind of storm this might stir up, that was beyond the control of a few individuals.
However, after sending the materials to the Audit Department through Ding Xiang, Xu Huo received no reply for a long time, and even Ding Xiang herself lost contact.
Facing resistance was only natural. In fact, these contents couldn't even be sent through the Message Collection Terminal—they would be immediately locked and destroyed upon upload. Moreover, Zone 025's Enforcement Team had begun to act, tracking the signal to his location.
Xu Huo had been involved in the Yangtao City matter from the start, and naturally, someone had investigated his identity. However, as a psychotherapist intervening and accompanying the plaintiff in this case, even if his identity was found to be fake, the city government could no longer salvage public opinion. Besides, his role in this was not particularly significant.
The reason they hadn't taken action against him earlier was entirely due to Zone 025's order. Initially, it wasn't necessary; later, there were too many people, and arresting him alone was useless. Moreover, the materials from Challenge Island were being spread everywhere, with many players uploading them—how could they arrest everyone?
But when it came to the list of personnel involving other A-level wormhole points, Zone 025's players became very cautious. After all, unlike causing trouble at home, involving other districts could easily lead to inter-district friction.
Thus, the Enforcement Team quickly locked onto Xu Huo. However, before they could arrive, the Bookworm notified him in advance.
Zone 025 was vast, with plenty of places to lie low. He took the mother and left Yangtao City, also taking away several high-ranking members of Player Home involved in the matter.
The core members were either dead or incapacitated, but there were a few who slipped through the net—those who were directly involved in the deaths of degenerated players.
In a mountain villa with a warm interior, Xu Huo pointed to the five people trapped on the ground and said to Ms. Qi beside him, "They all participated in your son's death. Most of the other participants are already dead. I've brought these few for you—you can deal with them as you see fit."
Ms. Qi's eyes were bloodshot as she glared at the people on the ground. She grabbed the short knife from the nearby table and charged at one of them, plunging it directly into his chest. Blood splattered onto her face. She blinked hard, forcing tears and blood out of her eyes together, then pulled out the knife and charged at the second person.
The knife was a bit off and didn't hit a vital spot. The stabbed man couldn't help but scream, "I was just responsible for moving the bodies! I didn't kill anyone! I was just a worker—how would I know how they died?!"
Ms. Qi seemed to hear him, yet also seemed not to. She just breathed heavily and gripped the knife handle tightly.
"The bodies could be profited from. He often mixed chronic poison into the patients' final treatments." Xu Huo sat nearby, watching them.
Ms. Qi moved again, pulling out the knife and stabbing it in once more, finishing the man this time.
The other three were stiff and unable to move, constantly begging for mercy and cursing. Ms. Qi didn't spare them. She didn't even listen to their excuses anymore. She stabbed again and again with all her strength, until her hands trembled, she could no longer hold the knife, and her legs couldn't support her. She half-knelt on the ground, crawled to the last person, pressed the knife against his throat with trembling hands, and used all her remaining strength to push down until he stopped breathing.
With a clatter, the knife rolled to the ground. Ms. Qi also turned over and sat on the floor. She stared blankly at the bodies beside her, then looked out the window.
Wind blew through the mountains. The rustling of trees grew louder, gradually drowning out the dripping of blood, drowning out the drumming heartbeat, drowning out the heavy breathing... drowning out everything in her life.
"I've taken my revenge." She looked at Xu Huo. "I don't want to live anymore. You should leave quickly."