Sapphire City had just woken up. The plump sun struggled to squeeze itself out from between the tall buildings, stretched lazily in the sky, and glanced resentfully at the sound of reading in the city, which had already stopped and started twice.
The sun had not yet ascended to its throne, and could only cast its brilliance into this prosperous land from the side as much as possible.
However, the buildings were too tall and too dense, even obscuring the sun's rays from the sky, creating a deep darkness that even sunlight could not reach.
Kallen sat on a plastic stool outside a corner breakfast shop, a stark contrast to the white-collar workers rushing by with disposable paper coffee cups.
On the small table in front of her were stacked dozens of empty steamer baskets and bowls. She was puffing out her cheeks, struggling to chew her seventeenth portion of xiaolongbao.
She frowned, not because of the food—the shop's food was quite good—but because of the dense list of names and addresses.
"Mmm... East District... Songtao Road..." she mumbled indistinctly while chewing. "What the hell... there are so many people?!"
The suitcase Joachim had given her was placed next to her, yet the suitcase, which looked like it held a secret, did not attract any attention in the dense crowd.
Even Kallen herself, who had already devoured seventeen portions of xiaolongbao, failed to attract any attention.
The reason was, of course, the badge she wore on her chest—Mosquito's Breath.
This thing seemed a bit common, but at this moment, besides their group, the only other person in Sapphire City who might have a Mosquito's Breath was Himeko's father, Murata Ryusuke.
Of course, these Mosquito's Breaths were not prepared by Joachim in advance. They were temporarily assembled by Joachim using a portion of the sub-quantum micro-robots he carried with him.
"Boss!" After poking the empty xiaolongbao steamer basket with her chopsticks twice, Kallen skillfully tapped the badge, then quickly raised her hand and shouted, "Another basket!"
The breakfast shop owner, so busy that he was about to vomit his liver out, raised his head in a daze and glanced in Kallen's direction. His eyes widened.
The customers in the shop had already changed several times, so not many people thought there was anything wrong with Kallen at this moment.
But the boss hadn't changed. He didn't remember how many times Kallen had called him, but he was sure that she had called at least ten times!!
A dozen baskets of buns? Interesting.
If it were a place with a slower pace of life, the boss would have gone over to see what was up with Kallen. But this was Sapphire City, a place where the pace of life was so fast that most people didn't even want to eat breakfast.
So—only a fool wouldn't make money!
He quickly served Kallen another basket of xiaolongbao, took the money, and then ignored her again.
Kallen stuffed three more xiaolongbao into her mouth, then continued to frown at her mission list.
These guys were the "scum" of Sapphire City, sorted out by Joachim.
From street thugs who bullied students, to capitalist entrepreneurs with vast resources and connections, they were all registered here.
The names of some of them were shocking. It could be said that if something really happened to these people, the entire Sapphire City would be shaken, which was also the reason why Joachim had not approached them directly.
These people were too big for him to touch.
This "should not" did not mean that Shenzhou would not deal with it, but that Shenzhou would not let others deal with such characters. After all, the consistent style of the Shenzhou government has always been to "handle everything."
If Joachim were to do this, he would only eliminate the person and at most deal with some of their connections.
But for the Shenzhou government, dealing with the person was the simplest part. The reason they had not acted was because they were looking for perfect replacements for these guys, so that their downfall would only be a joke, and would have no impact on the grassroots population.
On top of that, they even had to ensure that this "successor" would not follow the path of the "old predecessor," to analyze the flaws and perfect their own system.
You could even say that these big shots on the list were gu deliberately raised by the government, in order to make up for its own shortcomings, and to lay a more solid foundation for the grassroots, and even for the future generations.
But the point now was, did humanity really have a future for slow development?
When society collapsed, and these [gu] who had no one to suppress or control them suddenly found that they could control their own lives, what would they do?
The bad guys of the apocalypse just appeared like that, like vicious dogs let out of their cages, reveling in the [self] they had never mastered.
In essence, they were just a group of stray dogs who had lost both their wildness and their humanity, with only their bestiality left. No matter what they could achieve, they had no effect on human civilization itself.
What ability could a guy who had to rely on "accidents" to control his own life have?
And more importantly—
Joachim didn't touch them because he would weigh the pros and cons, but when Kallen saw them and their "glorious deeds," she would only see red.
Misappropriation of special disaster relief funds, malicious suppression of technological innovation to maintain monopolies, use of resources for coercion...
The coldness and malice that permeated the lines made the delicious xiaolongbao in Kallen's mouth taste different, as if she were chewing on a wax block stained with the stench of money and filth.
Even Kallen's jaw tensed.
Of course, she understood Joachim's concerns. When it came to upholding justice, Kallen was the absolute expert. This was both her own pursuit and the result of Otto's subtle influence over the years.
These people had deep roots, and pulling one would affect the whole. In times of peace, it did require the delicate "surgical operation" of the Shenzhou government to deal with them, to both remove the tumor and ensure the normal operation of the body.
But now, the times have changed!
Or rather, the times were about to change!
When order collapsed and the shackles of law and morality disappeared, how would these already unscrupulous guys use the resources and means they had accumulated to build their own, even more cruel "kingdom" on the ruins?
Although they still had to cross two hurdles of one in ten thousand, even this slight possibility should be snuffed out directly.
This was Kallen's real purpose, and attracting the government's attention was just a bonus of this operation.
After finishing the eighteenth basket of buns, Kallen patted her half-full stomach, then picked up the small suitcase and quietly blended into the bustling crowd.
The time was precisely the moment the sun had fully risen.
Well, the sun is up, you people hiding in the darkness.
Are you ready to escape from the hands of [Arahato]?
Wang Defa's morning began in the master bedroom of unit 2801 of the top-tier apartment building [Platinum Mansion] in the city center.
The sunlight streamed through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, plating the expensive Italian furniture with a layer of gold.
His fat, greasy body was clad in an expensive silk robe. He slowly paced to the window, looking down at the traffic and pedestrians moving like ants below.
This was his most enjoyable moment of the day. This feeling of being above all living beings made him feel that the seven-figure price he had paid to "entertain" a key figure last night was well worth it.
"Hmph, a bunch of poor outsiders," he curled his lip, remembering the news from his subordinate yesterday that the few "nail households" in the West District had finally succumbed to the pressure and accepted a demolition compensation far below the market price. His mood couldn't help but improve.
He had only used some insignificant "little tricks"—cutting off water and electricity, making noise at night, and even finding some "social friends" to "have a chat."
The efficiency was high, and the cost was low.
As for the lives of those outsider residents? What the f*ck did he care? With a single sale of this piece of land, he would make another nine-figure profit.
He walked to the dining room, where the servants had already prepared an exquisite breakfast.
Air-freighted caviar, freshly baked handmade bread, and a glass of expensive red wine that was said to have been used to pay off the debt of a bankrupt boss—he loved this kind of thing plundered from others the most.
While eating, he browsed the news and internal reports on his tablet.
A report about the "unclear use of funds of a certain charity foundation" made him sneer.
He was behind that foundation. Donations? The money that should have been taxes had long flowed into his own pocket through various means. He had even used it to launder some of his income, gaining both fame and fortune.
If it weren't for the young man from the Yun's Group who was always pressing him with his jaw-dropping charity data, he might even have been able to compete for the Ten Most Moving Figures of Shenzhou this time.
These young people nowadays... Wang Defa, who was almost fifty, couldn't help but sigh.
He looked at the charity methods of the Yun's Group from left to right, but couldn't find a single flaw. No matter how he dug, it showed that the Yun's Group had really invested the money in the construction of those poor and remote areas.
This young man is really well-connected. He can actually disguise it so well. Even I would be envious of the amount of charity he has spent.
Wang Defa quietly took a sip of the plundered red wine, then casually poured it into the trash can next to him like it was waste liquid.
You should know that the previous owner of this bottle of red wine was a wine lover. In order to treasure these rare fine wines, he had spent a lot of money to customize a luxurious wine cellar, just to give these fine wines the highest respect.
Yes... this is the feeling...
The feeling of casually wasting something precious to others... this feeling intoxicated Wang Defa.
Another report he casually opened showed that a medical equipment company he controlled had recently seen its profits soar by thirty percent through monopoly channels and inflated prices.
He nodded in satisfaction, completely ignoring the mention in the corner of the report that a local hospital had been forced to cut public services due to the high cost of equipment procurement.
This was his kingdom, built on information asymmetry, resource monopoly, and just the right "use of the rules."
He was familiar with all the loopholes, had enough connections and means to smooth over anything that was not in his favor.
The law? That was to restrain the poor.
Morality? How much did that thing cost per pound?
After breakfast, he changed into a handmade custom suit.
Today, there were several important "projects" to discuss: one was about inflating the price of a certain daily necessity, and the other was to suppress a newly emerging small company with innovative technology. Either acquire it at a low price, or make it disappear completely.
Maybe it's better to make it disappear completely. I've looked into that innovative technology. It's just a small, clever idea. As long as the company collapses and the creator of the technology can't speak up, I can use this technology on a large scale.
He liked this feeling of having everything under his control.
He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror in the entrance hall, carefully adjusting his tie, then smiled slightly at the mirror. His image was that of a slightly chubby, amiable business uncle.
A new day, another wonderful day of harvesting wealth and consolidating power.
He could almost see his business empire shining in the sun, and the wails of the losers he had trampled underfoot were just insignificant background noise!
His industry had already touched the most grassroots lives of the twenty million people in Sapphire City.
In Sapphire City, who could touch him?
Who dared to touch him?!
Who could—
BOOM—!!!
A loud bang suddenly came from the floor-to-ceiling window behind him. The sturdy tempered glass suddenly turned into a connected, snow-white curved surface. The huge floor-to-ceiling window collapsed with a roar, like a solid city wall collapsing here!!
A black, purple, and green, sci-fi-like agile figure, wrapped in sunlight and the biting morning wind, stepped on the collapsing tempered glass "city wall" and broke into this luxurious palace!
Wang Defa was shaken by this sudden change and froze on the spot. He stared in horror at the figure that landed steadily on his expensive Persian carpet.
He saw it.
The figure stood majestically amidst the flying dust and sparkling glass shards.
Black, purple, and green armor covered its entire body. The lines were sharp and full of futuristic technology, reflecting a cold metallic luster in the sunlight shining through the broken window.
On the chest of the armor, a complex core, as if containing endless energy, was pulsating faintly, exuding a heart-pounding pressure.
The head armor was imposing. On the faceplate, cold optical lenses were locked onto him without any emotion.
This was by no means any security force or official personnel he knew!
This existence, as if it had walked out of a science fiction movie, broke into his "kingdom" with a brute, domineering, and absolute power that directly crushed all his reliance!
He opened his mouth, wanting to scold, wanting to talk, but looking at the figure shrouded in the morning light, Wang Defa's pupils just kept contracting.
This feeling... this pressure... it was as if a feeling he had forgotten was being stirred up from the depths...
No, not forgotten!
It was a feeling that he had hidden in the deepest part of his being, a feeling he never wanted to recall!