Chapter 96: Dystopian Society
Chapter 96: Dystopian Society
The person was dead, but no one cared.
Almost immediately, guards with unnervingly cheerful smiles approached to drag the corpse away, not sparing the little girl a single glance.
"What's going on here?"
Klah sweated profusely. The scene shook him deeply.
Those unnaturally synchronized grins, those zombie-like figures moving in lockstep—they struck his soul like a hammer.
And of course, the sensation was thoroughly negative.
Kuro thought for a moment, then stepped closer. Before he could speak, Molly grabbed a clump of dirt and hurled it at him in a frenzy.
"Get away, Navy! I don't need you! Don't need anyone! You're not worth trusting!"
Lida approached calmly, offering her backpack filled with snacks.
Molly stared blankly at the girl who looked about her same age, then at the bag.
Lida pulled out a crisp bread roll, tore off the wrapper, and extended it. "Smells fresh and soft. Want a bite?"
Smelled... fresh.
So fresh.
Molly twitched her nose, swallowing hard.
"You'll starve if you don't eat something", Lida coaxed, bringing the bread to her lips.
Molly finally gave in, gently licking the crust. One taste, and she snatched the entire roll from Lida's hand, devouring it ravenously.
"Eat some fruit too, or you'll choke", Lida offered, presenting an apple.
This time Molly didn't refuse. After finishing the bread, she bit into the fruit, then burst into wails.
She sat there, tears carving rivers through the grime on her soot-streaked face. Nearby pedestrians and the guards at the gate stood motionless as dolls, deaf to her grief.
"Please... help me."
Molly gripped Lida's hand with red-rimmed eyes, clutching it like a drowning woman's last straw. "I beg you, help me! Please!"
Kuro exhaled cigar smoke, surveying the surroundings. "We're Navy—of course we help Civilians. But could you explain exactly what's happening? What's this Morgant business?"
"Morgant..."
At those four syllables, Molly visibly shuddered, hugging herself as she trembled. "Morgant... it's a demon's realm. I'm not from here—I come from a nearby town. Half a month ago, my life was still... happy. Mother and Father said they'd take me to Morgant to play. I was happy."
Her voice hollowed, eyes vacant. "I remember clearly—it was evening. I fell ill and fell asleep in Father's arms. That's when the Prince of Pleasure's stage play was performing."
"Then everything changed. When I woke up, Mother and Father wanted to settle here permanently. I was happy. I thought... I thought we'd live in this fairy-tale kingdom. But it's nothing like that!"
"They worship the Prince of Pleasure. When he ordered relocation, they obeyed without question. When the guards handed out medicine pills saying they'd grant citizenship, Mother and Father swallowed them without hesitation. I was still sick then, so I only kept the medicine pill in my mouth... Then Mother and Father broke into that same happy smile, and we moved here."
"The horror began. Anyone who took the medicine pills lost all awareness except for artificial happiness. Every single day, they work until late night in those Factories."
"The Factory produces everything you see—every toy, every craft is handmade by these people! This wasteland is Morgant's dark underbelly! These people are disposable commodities! Each day they receive two 'Happiness Pills.' Once their labor is exhausted, they die. What fairy tale? What happiness? It's all a lie! A lie!!!"
Kuro narrowed his eyes, watching the crowd. Some were active, others motionless like statues.
Beyond the Factory loomed a waste pond, its polluted water pooling into something resembling a lake.
Yet individuals stripped off their clothes without concern, entering the waste pond with serene smiles as if soaking in a natural hot spring. Others dragged themselves home, climbing into battered cardboard boxes with the same contented expression, as if entering a luxury bathroom.
"He's using that as a bathtub?"
"I baked some cake! Come eat!"
A man suddenly seized a cockroach the length of his arm from somewhere, placing it on a rock. A crowd gathered.
"I'll go first!"
He produced a stick like a chef's knife, striking the cockroach.
"Ha! Your cake's rock-hard! You've got no skill!"
Another grabbed a branch, joining the beatings.
Amidst laughter, everyone grabbed whatever they could—sticks, stones, bare hands—pummeling the cockroach into a bloodied pulp as it writhed.
The crowd scrambled for splattering cockroach entrails, each wearing eerie smiles as they stuffed the grotesque chunks into their mouths, savoring them like gourmet delicacies.
Kuro exhaled a smoke ring, his face darkening as he glared toward the gildedpalace. "What the hell is this dystopian society?!"
The hallucinations were obvious now.
After swallowing those medicine pills, their entire world inverted. Waste ponds became hot springs. Cardboard boxes became bathtubs. Cockroach became cake.
Meanwhile, actual human food—
Kuro glanced at some buns half-mixed into the mud.
Certainly discarded as filth now.
Everyone here was utterly delusional.
Poison.
That's what this was. Poison.
Klah adjusted his glasses. "Haven't you sought help from nearby Navy? With all this activity, surely some Navy must've come."
"Navy?"
Molly's face twisted. "Some Navy were infected by the Prince of Pleasure and ignored me. Others resisted... but they were assassinated."
Kuro crushed his cigar stub. "Evidence enough. Assassinatednavy is one crime. Poisoning citizens is another. Time to pay that bastard a visit."
He turned toward the castle.
"Don't go! Please don't go!" Molly screamed, tears streaming. "You're good people—don't go! You'll die! Just escape! You're unaffected now, but other Navy here are definitely compromised! You defeated Kai Shao—others will come soon! Flee while you can! You're outnumbered!"
Kuro exhaled smoke, patting Molly's head with a smile. "We're Navy. And plenty of Navy are Justice's soldiers. Don't worry—I'm going straight to that Prince of Pleasure to tear this nightmare down."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
