Darkstone Code
Chapter 241 - 0239 Numbers and Life [By: Sanqian Galaxy, 688 sponsored extra update -3/8]

Chapter 241: 0239 Numbers and Life [By: Sanqian Galaxy, 688 sponsored extra update -3/8]

Johnny is a worker at the Ristone Group’s chemical factory. Six years ago, in an "accident," he and some of his colleagues lost parts of their skin.

Yes, skin. Who knew that the gases produced by heating those chemical materials would quickly corrode their skin? The skin exposed outside the clothes would swell, blister, and peel off rapidly after being fumigated.

The factory claimed that the accident was caused by errors in production, which led to such severe consequences. These included not precisely controlling the dosage as required, not following standard production procedures, not wearing all necessary protective clothing, and not handling the accident onsite in a timely manner according to accident standards.

The company’s explanation seemed very reasonable, with everything in order, but in fact, some of them, including Johnny, knew that it was a batch of new materials, and they didn’t make any mistakes at every step. They strictly followed the factory’s requirements for production.

It was just that the factory’s laboratory made some errors in the formula, which resulted in severe consequences.

As for why they agreed, it was because if they didn’t, not only would they not get a penny in compensation, but they would also be sued by the company.

Due to their operational errors, the company lost a large sum of money, its image, and workers.

Later, the Workers’ Union’s lawyer told them they had a good chance of winning the lawsuit against the factory, and just when everyone was about to rejoice, the lawyer timely informed them.

If they wanted to win the lawsuit, they might have to endure a lengthy lawsuit lasting about two to three years and exorbitant legal fees. The money they would eventually receive might not even be enough to cover the lawyer’s fees.

Moreover, their problems were already very serious at that time. One colleague, due to nervousness or some other reason during the accident, breathed heavily, which caused severe damage to his trachea and lungs.

In the end, they had no choice but to sign the agreement with the help of the union lawyer, admitting that the accident was their fault, and the company, based on humanitarian spirit, gave them some compensation.

That money could only cover the initial medical expenses. Less than three months later, he was kicked out of the hospital, and then his wife divorced him, his children also refused to associate with him, shouting "Go away, monster" and avoiding his every hopeful embrace.

He now lives in a welfare center, and his job is to wait for death and, when any bigwig visits, to be pushed out to show his misery and the hardships of the welfare center.

Because of losing some skin, bacteria can easily breed in his body.

In earlier years, it was still manageable. He had some money for care and ointment and still had decent resistance.

Now it’s different. Much of his exposed muscle has turned black, with some black circles appearing, a sign of severe infection. The doctor told him that if he couldn’t raise around two hundred thousand for medical expenses in the short term, he could die from sepsis or organ failure at any time.

These are already the few suns he can see.

Lying on the sickbed in the yard, Johnny looked at the sky and thought of the gray sky. He had to thank the company for at least providing them with goggles, allowing his eyes to see vaguely.

Soon, he heard the dean’s scolding, heard a lot of noise around, and even heard people’s exclamations!

What are they shouting?

Mayor?

Has the mayor arrived?

Johnny’s eyeballs twitched, and he finally gave up. Even if the mayor came, it wouldn’t mean anything to him. He might as well enjoy his life, which could end at any time.

After all, no one usually brings him out of the room to enjoy nature.

Just a day later, on January 1 of the new year, the entire society of Sabin City was shocked by a report titled "Hell is Empty, Devils Are in the Human World!"

People actually knew about the existence of these groups, but they had always used various ways to self-suggest that they couldn’t see them. When someone tore away their numbness, they finally had to face the bloody reality.

The first to react was the mayor. He specifically chose this morning, canceled all other engagements, and came to the welfare center to see the victims of the accident.

Immediately followed by social elites, some with ulterior motives, reporters, and onlookers.

In front of the public and reporters, the mayor expressed shock, anger, and disturbance about these events with a deeply pained expression!

The atmosphere was heavy on site, yet they didn’t know that not far from them was a guy named Johnny, sighing at the boredom of these people.

The mayor actually already knew about these incidents, but the way he knew them was completely different from how he knows now. In the past, no matter what happened to these people, they were probably just a small part of some number in a document.

Only a small part, not the whole. No matter how much their lives were threatened and endangered, their names wouldn’t even appear in that document.

Anyone seeing the words "11 injured" would never imagine that these eleven people weren’t just cases of a cut finger or a mark on the head.

Vibrant lives can’t melt away the coldness of data unless people can see it with their own eyes.

When Johnny came back to his senses, he only heard the mayor’s last sentence—investigate thoroughly!

After finishing a semi-impromptu speech, he felt that the timing was about right, and his stance was shown to the people. To be honest, before this, he hadn’t thought about dealing with Neo in this way.

Essentially, such scandals don’t only disgrace Neo and the Ristone Group. The Workers’ Union, City Hall, and even the indifferent society as a whole are the disgraceful parts.

Perhaps because of this, he hadn’t thought of using this tactic, but Lynch thought of it.

He called Lynch yesterday to ask about the matter, and Lynch’s response surprised him a bit.

Back then, Lynch said, instead of avoiding these problems, it’s better to acknowledge them. People appreciate those with courage, responsibility, and the willingness to change and simultaneously resent the silent perpetrators even more.

Silence cannot conceal the sins they once committed!

More importantly, this could make Ristone Group a negative example, and then no matter what happens to them, people will only be glad and think it deserved.

Hence, today’s events occurred. In fact, the speech Johnny didn’t pay attention to earlier was seventy percent the mayor’s apology.

He apologized to those who had suffered and been treated like this over the years in front of the public and media, apologized to this society, pleaded for people’s forgiveness, and insisted on bringing certain people to justice.

His speech was highly successful. Social elites, media reporters, and those just watching all clapped enthusiastically and with anticipation.

It’s just that everyone’s expectations might differ.

The social elites hope that Ristone will follow in the footsteps of Henghui and completely collapse, which is a rare opportunity for all walks of life in society.

Pillar enterprises in a region do not only have benefits for that region. In some regards, their disadvantages to society outweigh their contributions.

Because of their dominance in regional financial economics, they almost endlessly plunder local resources to grow themselves. All small to medium-sized enterprises under such companies’ "care" are destined to work for others, having no opportunity to grow and develop because as soon as they do, they’ll be in competition with the regional pillar enterprises, eventually failing.

Now, this stone pressing on the capitalist merchants is about to be moved, and they have no reason not to be happy.

As for the others?

Reporters are excited about the new big story they got, which means a huge social response. They can gain more wealth and personal influence.

Ordinary people simply look forward to seeing some wealthy, powerful people fall, that’s all.

Under Mark’s enthusiastic lead, people started a kind of "routine," which is fundraising.

It seems that as long as you start a fundraiser, any unfortunate event can turn into good fortune. Johnny became focused on figuring out how much people would donate and how much he could receive for his treatment.

The mayor also left people’s view at this time, walked to the edge of the crowd, and stood with Lynch.

His assistant brought a handkerchief for him to wipe his hands. Earlier, the little assistant noticed the mayor had secretly wiped his palms twice, probably sweating due to emotions.

"How did you come to think of joining this game?" The mayor asked out of curiosity. It wasn’t convenient to talk on the phone yesterday, and some things are not suitable for phone discussion, so now is the perfect time to ask.

Lynch didn’t make a joke or change the subject. At this moment, he had to clarify his position and demands and try not to conflict with others’ demands, which is also an important process in forming a united force.

"I have my eye on those machines in the Ristone Group factory, sewing machines, cutting machines, steam ironing machines, and some other little things..." Lynch turned to look at the mayor. "Do you think auctioning these things off will be enough to compensate these people for the torment they’ve endured over the years?"

The mayor’s eyelids twitched, suddenly becoming guarded, "What do you want to do?"

Lynch nonchalantly spread his hands, "I heard Neo, the president of Ristone, is a supporter of the president’s reelection. Maybe we can use this opportunity to throw out some big news!"

His face bore a knowing smile, "People need this!"