Year 19, January 2.
Luzon.
Manila.
Standing south of the Pasig River in Manila, Li Qingye gazed out from the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Manila branch of Homo sapiens Company. Before him lay what was, without question, paradise:
Towering, magnificent commercial buildings, busy office blocks, dazzling shopping malls, and upscale restaurants—all unmistakable signs of prosperity and bustle.
He gently swiveled his ergonomic chair and looked calmly toward Manila's north bank: the Tondo district.
Houses haphazardly thrown together from corrugated metal.
The buildings stood so close together they seemed like piles of garbage.
At least ten people lived in each room, none of which measured even twenty square meters.
The surrounding area was nothing but mountains of trash and cesspools.
Across a single river, paradise and hell were both in plain sight.
Li Qingye turned his gaze away. He had brought quite a few people with him to Manila this time. Chen Jianxiong, who had been handling some matters, hurried over to him.
"Boss, here's the intelligence I've gathered over the past three months. Please take a look."
Li Qingye flipped through the documents, his expression unchanged. Even the countless horrifying accounts they contained couldn't stir him in the slightest.
Zhang Wei, who had come along, looked somewhat pale.
Li Qingye glanced at him and casually pulled out one of the pages. "This is what you wanted."
With trembling hands and a racing heart, Zhang Wei looked at what was written on the page. A few minutes later, he grew even paler, and tears poured uncontrollably from his eyes.
"Come on. Let's go see what darkness looks like."
With that, Li Qingye led Fili and Chen Jianxiong outside. Zhang Wei stood up as well, clutching the paper so tightly it seemed to weigh unbearably heavy in his hands.
More than a dozen modified jeeps pulled out of the branch's parking lot and headed northwest toward the Tondo district.
After crossing the river, the convoy drew every kind of gaze as it passed through the slum's winding streets.
Some were greedy, some envious, some curious, and others filled with fear or hostility.
The convoy finally stopped in front of a cluster of corrugated-metal shacks. The security personnel kept a wary eye on the surrounding slum residents, their pistols off safety and ready to fire at any moment.
Inside the jeep, Li Qingye asked calmly, "Jianxiong, get started."
"Yes." Chen Jianxiong picked up a portable Biological Computer and entered a series of commands. Soon, the Pheromone Hives mounted on the jeep roofs began releasing all kinds of pheromones in every direction.
More than twenty minutes passed.
Some feedback appeared on the Biological Computer's screen.
Chen Jianxiong immediately reported, "Boss, the mission is complete."
"Let's get out and take a walk." Li Qingye opened the door.
The group walked along the slum's chaotic streets. Flies buzzed everywhere, while the heavy scents of spices and fried food filled their nostrils. It was a local delicacy called "pagpag."
Many of the shops on either side of the street sold pagpag.
As he walked along the garbage-strewn road, with filthy water running everywhere, Li Qingye felt no discomfort. To him, the rest of the world was just as dirty and dark.
At the end of the street stood a cluster of buildings enclosed by brick walls and corrugated metal.
Though the distance was barely three hundred meters, the group walked very, very slowly.
A father and son passed Li Qingye.
"Dad, I came first in my exam today. When I earn money, I'll take you, Mom, and my little sister to live in a big house down south..." The child spoke with longing.
The father managed a smile and ruffled the child's hair. "Haha, study hard, and I'll treat you to some pagpag today."
"Really?" The child couldn't help swallowing eagerly.
Not far away, a scrawny little girl overheard them. Envy filled her eyes, and her stomach growled louder and louder.
Suddenly, she seemed to make up her mind and rushed toward Li Qingye. Fili reacted instantly, drawing his pistol without hesitation.
Before Fili could fire,
the little girl dropped to her knees and cried out in a weak but resolute voice, "Sir! Please, take me with you! I'll do anything, as long as you give me a little food. I don't eat much..."
Fili lowered the gun toward the ground, seemingly waiting for an order.
The little girl's eyes brimmed with yearning and desperation. "Sir, please. I'll really do anything..."
The light in her eyes was the will to survive. It was faint, but fiercely tenacious. She knew this was her last chance. If she missed it, she might starve to death in some corner.
"Those are good eyes. Like stars. I think I'm starting to admire you." Li Qingye looked into her eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
As Li Qingye slowly walked past her,
despair completely engulfed her eyes.
Did he reject me? Is this the end for me? I can't accept this! Maybe this is just my fate. Like a rotten fruit in a garbage heap, not even fit to be picked up and turned into pagpag...
"Come along, if you still have the strength."
What? A look of ecstatic joy suddenly blazed in the little girl's despairing eyes, like a supernova exploding.
Hunger was nearly making her lose consciousness, but her longing to live kept her moving after Li Qingye. Her body, already utterly spent, squeezed out one last bit of strength.
The slum residents around them remained utterly indifferent.
They reached the end of the street.
The area inside the wall was silent. Suddenly, several figures wearing face masks and baseball caps appeared at the entrance and pushed open the closed Iron Door.
Li Qingye and the others walked inside without hesitation.
It was a relatively enclosed block. The dozens of corrugated-metal shacks were quiet. The Iron Door closed again behind them.
Chen Jianxiong spoke up. "Boss, they're inside."
When the soldiers led the group into a room, Zhang Wei completely lost control. "Brother! Waaaah..."
He recognized at a glance the disheveled middle-aged man slumped in front of a computer. One of the man's legs was shackled, and his other leg was disabled.
The other people in the room were hardly any better off.
This was one of the Fuqing Gang's hideouts in Manila. More than a hundred Chinese people who had been lured here were being held captive and forced to work in online gambling.
The Fuqing Gang specialized in tricking Chinese people into coming here for work. This was only the tip of the iceberg.
Zhang Wei's older brother, Zhang Hao, had been tricked into coming here the same way. The gang used promises of high pay to lure Chinese people in.
Once these people reached Manila, they were either extorted, held in the slums and forced to work, or forced to serve as drug mules. Some had even had their organs harvested. The women suffered even worse fates.
Since Zhang Hao was a programmer, he had it relatively well compared to the others. He'd only had one leg broken for being uncooperative at first.
After leaving the room, Li Qingye stood in the middle of the block.
Although Chen Jianxiong had seen plenty of darkness, the horrors before him still made him deeply uncomfortable.
Li Qingye's gaze grew colder. "This stinking world really does need to be cleaned up."
"We've taken control of the Fuqing Gang's leader in Manila, but the branches in other countries will probably realize something's wrong here soon," Chen Jianxiong warned him.
"It doesn't matter. I've never worried about threats from the dead."
Before you continue