Chapter3

"Cough... cough, cough..."

The tiny body in my arms convulsed violently. The toxic exhaust fumes emitted by the Aurora Island factories had crushed my daughter's fragile respiratory tract.

Her little face had turned purple from suffocation, every breath sounding like a torn bellows being pulled apart.

"Medicine... please, give her medicine..." Erin sobbed, holding our daughter and desperately beating against the slum walls.

Only the top-tier hospital had the cure. That was Julian's territory.

Dragging my "crippled" legs, I crawled all the way up to the luxurious banquet on the top level of Aurora Island.

Inside the golden hall, glamorous guests mingled. My appearance was like a lump of rotting mud thrown onto fine velvet.

"Mr. Julian, I beg you, give my daughter the cure." I sprawled on the expensive carpet, my voice hoarse.

The music stopped. Disgusted glares shot at me from all directions.

Julian swirled the wine in his goblet, looking down at me from his high horse.

"You want the medicine?" A mocking curve tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Smash!

He viciously smashed an entire bottle of vintage red wine onto the carpet right in front of me. Crimson liquid mixed with sharp glass shards splattered everywhere.

Next, a solid steel dog chain was tossed beside my hand.

"Put it on." Julian pointed at the broken glass on the floor. "Crawl over here like a dog and lick the wine off the carpet clean. Then I'll reward you with a vial of the cure."

The surrounding socialites eagerly pulled out their phones, the camera flashes stinging my eyes.

"Hurry up and crawl, you crippled dog!" someone jeered from the crowd.

I stared at the dog chain, my fingers curling slightly.

"Commander, the pulse frequency is unstable, don't do anything rash!" The tech officer's voice trembled with panic through my earpiece.

For my daughter's life. To buy time for the decryption.

I picked up the dog chain and fastened it around my own neck.

Click. The sound of the metal clasp snapping shut echoed clearly across the hall.

I dropped to all fours, pressing my bare hands directly onto the jagged glass.

The shards pierced my palms, causing blood to well up and mix into the crimson wine.

One step, two steps. My knees scraped across the glass fragments, sending sharp jolts of pain shooting up my nerves.

I lowered my head, bringing my face close to the carpet now soaked with mud and blood.

Suddenly, a polished leather shoe stomped hard on the back of my head, brutally crushing my face into the broken glass.

"Such an obedient boy, Raynor," Julian's voice drifted down from above.

Piercing pain spread across my cheek.

I didn't struggle, letting him trample my head beneath his foot.

But at an angle they couldn't see, my right hand had a death grip on a bloody shard of glass.

The edges sliced deep into my palm, but I didn't let go.

"Beep—"

Deep within my earpiece, the tech officer's breathless report finally came through.

"Commander... decryption rate at sixty percent."