18: Asset Receipt

For the first time, the night sky over the Northern Mountains of the Emerald Principality was so clear, as if the Four Great Families had been erased like pencil marks.

Ms. Emerald's purple-blue pupils reflected the holographic projection, with seven hundred and thirty-four asset chains flowing through her fingertips. When the last drug route was marked red, her wrist terminal issued the incineration order: "12 Warrior mechs have been dispatched to execute 'Operation Clean Sweep,' expected to complete harmless disposal of organic compounds in 2 hours and 37 minutes."

"Ms. Emerald," Ada Wong's projection appeared behind her, "I've found something interesting. The encrypted ledger of the Bai Family's underground bank records transaction flows from three Emerald Ring Alliance senators."

"Deposit them into 'Ciyu Pawnshop,'" Ms. Emerald's lips curved slightly. "These are excellent collateral."

"Yes." Ada Wong's figure vanished, replaced by Topaz.

"Have all the old Gray Market industries been cleaned up?" she asked into the communicator.

"Of course. Miss Ada Wong has already started recruiting some locals to fill the void. After all, the Market Development Department's Sentinels are professionals in this area."

"By the way, what about the 'employees' in those scam compounds?" Topaz's voice came through the communicator, with Numby's excited grunts audible in the background.

"Screen them," Ms. Emerald narrowed her eyes slightly. "Those willing to cooperate can be converted into legal labor and sent to work in the mines. Those who resist... hand them over to Ains."

"Understood," Topaz chuckled softly. "However, I guess most people will choose to live. One more question: does Ains need to consider the political impact in the northeast?"

Ms. Emerald didn't answer. She simply walked to the spaceship's porthole and looked at the crowd below. Her left hand, adorned with a black lace glove, extended a slender index finger and pointed at the starry sky.

Seeing this, Topaz immediately understood. "Understood, be as merciful as possible. Alright, I'll go notify Ains."

Topaz was about to close the projection when Ms. Emerald's lips parted slightly, and she said blandly, "'Those who are hateful are not necessarily pitiable, but those who are hateful certainly deserve to die.' Those are the Boss's exact words."

Topaz paused for a second, then tilted her head and smiled.

"I didn't realize the Boss's moral compass was so flexible, haha."

"Hmph~ hmph~ hmph!"

"Oh, Numby! Don't bite that box! There are no gold coins inside!"

Soon, Titan's action forces began to execute the cleanup plan. The casinos in Gray Market Old Street were re-regulated, the scam compounds were completely dismantled, and the once-imprisoned "piglets" were gathered, forcibly given locked, numbered bracelets on their right wrists, and subjected to Review.

On the east side of Gray Market Old Street, within the "Jinding Compound" formerly controlled by the Ming Family, hundreds of ragged "piglets" were gathered in the square. Traces of unwashed blood still stained the ground, but the air no longer carried a foul stench.

Some of them had numb eyes, some were filled with fear, and many more were simply bewildered. These "employees," who had been tricked or kidnapped, had long grown accustomed to the dark, sunless life of telecommunication fraud. Suddenly being herded into the sunlight by fully armed soldiers, they were at a loss.

In the center of the square, a Titan soldier disguised as a Warrior stood on a hastily erected platform, his tactical goggles scanning the vital signs of the crowd. His voice, amplified by a loudspeaker, was cold: "According to Titan Corporation Management Regulation No. 114, you have the following options."

"First, voluntarily sign a labor contract to transfer to Titan Corporation's mining department. Basic monthly salary of 3000 yuan, with food and accommodation provided."

"Second, apply for repatriation to your place of origin, but you must pass a background check to confirm you have not participated in murder or fraud activities."

"Third, refuse to cooperate."

The crowd stirred. A young man with a bruised face suddenly rushed out of the crowd, knelt on the ground, and cried out, "I want to go home! My parents are still waiting for me! Please..."

The Warrior's goggles locked onto him: "Number?"

"B... B-zone 47!" The young man stammered, trembling. "I was kidnapped! I never scammed anyone! They beat me every day..."

The tactical goggles immediately brought up the database—an archive created by Bronya through cracking the compound's surveillance system. Three seconds later, the Warrior nodded: "Verification passed, yellow wristband."

Two civilian personnel in gray uniforms stepped forward. The young man's electronic wristband turned yellow: "Follow the instructions, don't look back."

These civilian personnel were naturally not ordinary people. Chen Hao had summoned another batch of Interstellar Peace Corporation grassroots employees through the Imaginary Gate a few days prior. These ordinary staff from another world were perfectly integrating into this unfamiliar land. The summoning process, however, had been a bit amusing.

Please watch the VCR: "The summoning process went more smoothly than expected." Chen Hao stood in Pierpoint's secret laboratory, watching another batch of employees emerge from the golden vortex. Xiao Jixiang floated in his mind, explaining: "These company employees don't require much adaptation; their memories can be easily modified. After all, their primary job is to assist in the colonization of planets."

"Then why did you charge me a seven-figure headhunting fee?!"

"Ehehe~"

"Stop acting cute, you little badminton shuttlecock!"

Back to the present.

This scene stimulated the others. Instantly, hundreds of people rushed to the registration desk, scrambling over each other:

"I'm A-zone 22! I can testify that they killed people!"

"Please check the records! I was sold here just last month..."

"You? Just by looking at what you're wearing, I know you're no good. Drag him out!"

A young man with a severed finger suddenly threw himself at the feet of a blond, Caucasian-looking staff member, crying loudly, "I understand geology! I'm useful!"

The staff member looked displeased and was about to lash out when a command came through his earpiece: "This person has a higher education degree from the Eastern Union, with an engineering background. Records show his grades were quite excellent. Transfer him to the Traditional Projects Department and give him an intern contract. You train him; if his performance is good after one month, he'll be promoted to a P3-level ordinary employee."

"Yes."

The staff member immediately adjusted his expression and helped the young man with the severed finger up.

"You're a lucky kid. Thank your parents for giving you a good head. Come with me, the higher-ups have decided to give you a chance."

The young man with the severed finger suddenly stopped crying, his mind full of questions. "What chance? What are you talking about?"

The staff member gestured with his head, signaling him to follow.

"What's your name, kid?"

"I, I'm Zhou Ping. Sir, what should I call you?" Leaving the noisy square and entering a temporarily converted office, Zhou Ping's uneasy heart somehow suddenly calmed down.

The staff member looked back at Zhou Ping deeply, then nodded. "You're not bad, kid. You're indeed much better than the riff-raff out there. However, to become my colleague, you're still far off. But my superior thinks highly of you and told me to give you a chance."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ping seemed to guess the arrangement this company called Titan had for him.

"You mean...?"

The staff member took a contract from a cabinet drawer in the office and handed it to Zhou Ping. "Sign the contract, kid. Let's see if you have what it takes."

Zhou Ping took the contract and was astonished by the title. It wasn't 'Titan Corporation' as he had thought, but 'Interstellar Peace Corporation Employee Onboarding Contract.'

"What, what's going on here?"

---------------------------------------

Aventurine, who had won so much at the casino he was almost blacklisted, decided to lay low for a while, so he came to Northern Myanmar to pass the time with his colleagues from the Strategic Investment Department. Inside the surveillance room on the edge of the square, Aventurine idly played with chips. On the screen in front of him, the interrogation process of each person was displayed in real-time.

"How pathetic," he scoffed. "They were submissive like sheep when tortured, but now that they see hope, they start tearing at each other again."

On the screen, a middle-aged man was tearfully accusing a companion: "He! He was the team leader! Last month, a girl tried to escape, and he personally broke that poor girl's leg!"

The accused man's face turned ashen, and the next second he was dragged towards the red zone by security personnel.

Topaz walked into the surveillance room, holding Numby, and frowned at the chaotic scene: "It's just that the Boss's moral standards are a bit too high. If you ask me, sending them all to the mines would be much simpler."

"My dear, that would lose its 'educational significance,'" Aventurine flicked a chip. "Fear breeds resistance, but hope... is the most effective tool for domestication."

He pointed at the screen, where the first batch of people who passed the screening were lining up to board a bus. Each of them had the relief of surviving a catastrophe on their faces, and some even bowed to Titan's emblem.

"Look, they're even grateful to us now," Aventurine revealed a sarcastic smile. "Compared to the Ming Family's electric batons and water dungeons, our labor contracts are like angels."

Topaz was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked: "What about those assigned to the red zone? I don't recall setting up that area?"

Aventurine's smile deepened: "The 'Hare' from the Development Department said that the newly recruited Sentinels in the area needed some 'teaching material.' Ms. Emerald reported to the Boss, and the Boss agreed."

Meanwhile, in the underground interrogation room.

"Please! I know I was wrong! I can help you manage others!" Former compound supervisor Wang Defa was tied to a special chair, with a list of victims on the computer screen in front of him.

The special agent 'Hare' – Ada Wong, who was in charge of the interrogation, calmly adjusted the equipment: "According to records, you personally executed 7 'piglets' who tried to escape, and sexually assaulted at least 13 female victims."

"Th-that... that was all the Ming Family forcing me!" Wang Defa trembled all over. "I can atone for my crimes by rendering meritorious service! I know all the leaders of the scam groups!"

Ada Wong picked up a metal patch from the table and placed it on Wang Defa's neck.

"This is a neuro-sympathizer. The company needs you to personally demonstrate the effect of the intelligence interrogation tool. Additionally, the new 'Sentinels' also need practical lessons."

The moment Ada Wong pressed the button in her hand, Wang Defa's screams were completely isolated within the soundproof room. The display on the wall clearly showed his brainwaves; the pain once inflicted on the victims was now being fed back into his own nervous system at a precise 1:1 ratio.

Ada Wong elegantly adjusted the dial of the "neuro-sympathizer," while the 'Sentinels' behind her frantically took notes. This was their direct superior personally demonstrating interrogation techniques.

"Pay attention to the change in the slope of the pain curve. When the alpha and beta brainwaves reach inverse synchronicity, pain and consciousness will coexist and reach their peak."

In front of the monitoring screen, the "piglets" who had just been assigned to the mining department were collectively watching this live broadcast. Although they could only hear Wang Defa's desperate cries and didn't know the horror of being unable to pass out from pain, it was enough to make many of them start gagging, and more desperately covered their eyes.

"This is the consequence of resisting the company," the Warrior's cold voice echoed through the broadcast. "Remember, your current lives are granted by Titan."

In the square, a frail girl suddenly knelt down and heavily kowtowed to Titan's emblem. Soon, more and more people followed suit—they might not understand what Titan Corporation was, but they clearly knew:

The new ruler was more powerful, more ruthless... but also more just than the old master.