Chapter 107: Legitimate Business, With Proper Licensing

Alpha-Ji felt a profound sense of humiliation... She had tried to act high and mighty, only to be slapped in the face! And this happened just hours later, despite her repeated posturing—no, her repeated emphasis on her own prestige!

Was her seven-star status not enough to command respect? Even if it were a facade, a seven-star rating was still a seven-star rating, wasn't it? Did they really think all those four-star and five-star hotels on every street corner were the real deal?

Although Guan Junyuan’s explanation was directed at Ye Chao, who was still undergoing medical checks on his hospital bed, rather than at her, Alpha-Ji—who possessed intelligence spanning all dramas—could certainly grasp the subtext. He was clearly hoping to use Ye Chao as a conduit to relay the aftermath, so she wouldn't get angry later.

But she was right there, listening to the whole thing! How could she not be angry? Was that realistic? Did they take her for a Hello Kitty?

"This is so corrupt! So dark! I thought things were dark before the apocalypse, but I didn't expect it to be even worse afterward..."

"This is a massive case involving the trafficking of tens of thousands of people! And it’s just being swept under the rug like that?"

There were only a few hundred or a thousand people held there, but what about those already sold? What about those who would be trafficked in the future? With a turnover of hundreds or thousands, the total revenue must have reached tens or even hundreds of thousands, right?

"And they have the nerve to say there isn't enough evidence? So many living people—actual human beings—hundreds or thousands of them, just vanished? Who do they think they’re fooling?"

Alpha-Ji was incensed, spinning around Ye Chao’s head like a dizzying halo, unable to stop.

Ye Chao was becoming truly dizzy from her spinning. "Calculator, wait, hold on, stop spinning, I’m getting dizzy... What exactly is going on?"

He genuinely did not understand the situation.

Two doses of sedatives in quick succession were not easy to endure. Even a dachshund would have been knocked out for hours; for Ye Chao to wake up halfway through and unleash his "Thunder-God" ultimate move was already an extraordinary feat. After incapacitating his captors and realizing he was rescued, he had passed out—or rather, fallen asleep—and only just woken up.

Throughout the entire kidnapping, he had only experienced three scenes:
1. Being knocked unconscious at home while completely bewildered.
2. Being injected with a sedative in a pitch-black prison, even without a mask.
3. Passing out from exhaustion in a pitch-black alley after discharging his electricity.

Each appearance lasted less than ten seconds, and the environment... well, there was no environment for him to observe, so he remained utterly clueless.

Alpha-Ji had to patiently explain everything from the start.

In truth, it wasn't very complicated. The most infuriating part was the scene she had witnessed in those blocks—a human trafficking operation reminiscent of a pet store. Words failed to describe it, so Alpha-Ji simply projected the footage: a series of cruel, cold, heartless, and unreasonable images.

"So that's how it is!" After watching it from beginning to end, Ye Chao understood.

"That's it? 'So that's how it is'?" Alpha-Ji widened her bean-like eyes. "Seeing these people sold like cargo, abused like livestock, and knowing you were nearly one of them, aren't you afraid? Aren't you upset? Aren't you furious?"

"Ye Chao, oh Ye Chao, I really didn't expect you to be this kind of person..."

She shuddered after saying it; she never thought she would one day utter such a cliché line.

"There's nothing I can do. After all, these people... they aren't considered human..."

"What? Not considered human?" Alpha-Ji’s bean-eyes were bewildered.

After a few seconds of silence, she zoomed the footage in, almost touching Ye Chao’s eyes. "You call these 'not human'?"

Ye Chao spread his hands helplessly. "But they really aren't..."

In this apocalyptic wasteland, theoretically, the only ones who enjoyed human rights in Jiang City were four categories of people: the Abilityless, the Enhancers, the Awakeners, and the Multi-Awakeners.

The Abilityless were, needless to say, humans who remained unchanged from before the apocalypse.

Enhancers, or physical awakeners, had seemingly limitless potential. As long as they trained and trained, they could keep breaking through—running a hundred meters in two or three seconds or jumping twenty meters was no challenge. They were like the polar opposite of Ye Chao. Liu Datong, who served under Ximen Qiong and excelled in blood-manipulation arts, was one of them. However, this method of cultivation placed a massive burden on the body and stunted development; therefore, outside of sensory enhancement, combat-related abilities were not taught in high school unless self-discovered.

Awakeners were the most common type of ability user in this era. If Enhancers were warriors, Awakeners were mages.

As for dual or multi-Awakeners, they were equivalent to dual or multi-elemental mages. Despite what movies might suggest, they were so rare they were almost legendary.

Ye Chao pointed to the video and continued: "This one is clearly a 'Lost-Minded'—an Awakener whose awakening went wrong, leaving their consciousness in chaos." (Essentially, the mentally ill of the pre-apocalypse era.)

"And this one is an 'Ability-Out-of-Control'—look, they can't control their power at all..." (Essentially, the psychologically deranged of the pre-apocalypse era.)

The Lost-Minded, the Out-of-Control, and the Petrified-Frozen all belonged to the category of people with limited legal capacity who only held partial human rights. Being detained was not a major issue; it was practically the norm.

Beyond these, there were the mutated populations: Beast-Men/Savages (atavistic degenerates), Feral-Beasts (degenerative monstrosities), and Genetic-Mutants (hybrids of two or more foreign genes).

There were the Infectious-Species: those who, through radiation, pollution, toxicity, mold, or disease, risked infecting normal populations.

And there were the Intelligent-Species: wolves, dogs, cats, snakes, foxes, and raccoons that had evolved to walk upright, read, write, and speak, commonly known as Humanoid-Beasts or Monsters (scientifically, convergent evolutionary species).

None of these belonged to the category of normal humans! They couldn't be treated as such. Given the current productivity, the world couldn't afford to feed so many mouths. Killing, capturing, imprisoning, or trafficking non-humans—or using them for experiments—carried no legal risk; in fact, there were often rewards.

Boss Qian touted himself as a legitimate businessman, and he was right—he had the licenses. As for the problematic ones, they had been moved out before the raid. In the end, the only thing that could be pinned down was Ye Chao's case, which was already facing hurdles like subordinates taking the fall, lack of evidence, and immense political resistance.

In any case, a department head like Guan Junyuan couldn't handle it.

After listening to Ye Chao’s explanation, Alpha-Ji finally understood. It was still the gap of the era! Humans couldn't even manage their own problems, so what could she, a program, do?

But was that it? Was it just going to end like this? She looked at the cake Boss Qian had sent as an apology, wishing Ye Chao a speedy recovery, and felt it was nothing but a mockery. She had no appetite for it at all!

Just like that? Was her seven-star face worth only a cake? How was she supposed to act high and mighty and slap faces in the future?

"We..."

"We can't just stop selling helmets. We need to keep collecting materials and continue making battle suits..." After this experience, Ye Chao felt the urgency of becoming stronger more than ever. He even wished he could be encased in steel armor at all times, especially around his neck! Constantly stalling on goods was not a sustainable way to do business.

"Hehe!" Alpha-Ji let out a devious laugh. "It’s not about the helmets. You’ll definitely agree with this method! And besides, don't you want to deal with that Boss Qian?"

Of course he did! Even as a stoic, iron-willed guy, the thought of nearly being murdered made him shudder with lingering fear.