Chapter 329: One After Another

Amon Zachary, who once ran a small construction company, sued Steg Tower three years ago for plagiarizing his architectural design concepts; he is currently entangled in a prolonged legal battle with Steg Industries' legal team. The court adjourned three times under the weight of money power, with no resolution to date. The construction company, unable to fund the ongoing legal war, went bankrupt and closed after its capital chain broke, and now faces a high probability of losing the lawsuit.

Rand Gilbert, a former employee of Steg's Engineering Department, sued Steg five years ago for illegally seizing three engineering invention patents he developed. However, his lawyer was directly bribed by Steg, and with inside-outside collusion, he lost the case swiftly. He was then countersued by Steg for extortion and now faces a high probability of losing.

Darlene Regan, a former junior supervisor in Steg's Pharmaceutical Sales Department, sued Steg one year ago for workplace sexual harassment against multiple female colleagues. She was fired at light speed. Multiple female colleagues testified for Steg, claiming Darlene's accusations were false and that they had never suffered any harassment. Darlene lost the case swiftly and was simultaneously countersued for defamation and false accusation.

As he read through case after case, person after person, Denton felt only shock and horror. In the past, he had been obsessed with research. Inside the company, discussing such sensitive cases was strictly forbidden. Outside, huge sums were spent bribing the media to stop the news from spreading. Thus, he, who had spent years in the laboratory, had no impression of these cases at all, and had not even heard the names of these plaintiffs.

"Darlene... I have no impression at all."

He read through each entry one by one until the end of the document. The victim serial numbers reached over a hundred, while the number of lawsuits against Steg soared to more than two hundred.

At that moment, his phone rang again.

"Ding-ling-ling—"

He glanced at the call; it was still that "unknown number." After a moment of thought, he reached out and answered directly.

This time, the voice on the line had been replaced by an electronic tone generated by a voice changer.

"Hello?"

"Your call this time is remarkably polite," Denton said to the person on the other end. "But that cannot conceal the fact that you are tracking and investigating me—you were in the venue just now, weren't you? You knew I was about to make a move, so you happened to call me."

"There are surveillance cameras at the entrance; I have no need to be there in person," that electronic voice replied. "Moreover, do not misunderstand; I am not targeting only you, but have investigated information on more than a hundred people."

"You have seen it yourself: every single one of them is a victim whose interests were infringed by Steg. Of course, there are also righteous individuals who could not stand what Steg did. The common point is that they were all beaten by Steg's legal system until they had no power to fight back."

"Are you one of them?"

"You need not waste effort trying to find me. The point is this: if you fight alone within the rules, none of you can defeat a billionaire with power and influence. But if an ordinary man's rage leads him to spill blood within five paces, your lives will be ruined along with his."

At these words, Denton thought of Elizabeth in his heart and could not help but grit his teeth as he replied, "I will not be ruined along with him!"

"If your ability were invincibility rather than cloning, then that statement would have some merit."

His expression changed abruptly.

"How about using it to do some good? Denton, your original purpose in researching cloning should not have been for robbery or murder, right?"

Hearing these words, he fell silent.

Cure Elizabeth and countless others suffering from illness, then achieve fame and success, be recorded in medical textbooks, and perhaps even win this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine.

This was the beautiful life he had originally envisioned. If Steg had not usurped all his achievements, this life could very well have become reality.

"What do you want me to do?" Denton asked.

"I will send you another document. It will contain the contact information and case details of these people, as well as the audio recordings and surveillance video evidence that were deleted from the original case files. Use your clones to read them all, then contact these people and join forces with them to file lawsuits against Steg Industries."

"Among these hundred-plus people, there are several journalists, some of whom have not yet resigned. Winning the lawsuit is important, but that is not your initial goal. You must first get the journalists to find ways to spread this story. The bigger the uproar, the better. Do not worry; I can lend a small hand in the realm of the internet."

"Steg just won the Central City Annual Best Contribution Award, so the faster you act, the better. Your case will fire the first shot, striking directly at the honor he just received. The heat will explode instantly. The remaining hundred-plus people will follow up with lawsuits, and the matter will grow too large to suppress." "If they are truly willing to spend money to suppress it, do not worry, because I will step in."

"After that, it will be a case of the wall falling and everyone pushing. People from all walks of life will come to help you, whether for fame or for money—it does not matter. As long as Steg is crushed, they are your allies."

"For your wife, start doing what you must. The sooner you reclaim your patent, the sooner she can begin surgery."

"Good luck to you, Denton Black."

Beep—beep—

The call was completely disconnected, yet Denton's eyes now gleamed with light.

"Elizabeth... wait for me."

On the other end of the phone, Ma Ma Zhaodi was driving a San San Bengzi to deliver pastries.

"Is this necessary?"

"Act the whole role. Start a food delivery business so Denton won't try to investigate me."

"I mean, do we really have to play that chuunibyou and embarrassing meme?" San San Bengzi ruthlessly roasted. "'Because I will step in'... ah, just hearing that sentence makes my toes curl out a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment on the ground."

"Can't I just enjoy it?"

Ma Ma Zhaodi rolled his eyes. "I finally put on a disguise, only to find I can't even be a pervert anymore. Am I not allowed to show off a little?"

"Speaking of showing off..." San San Bengzi reminded. "Recently, your group chat mentioned a certain urban legend, and a video was even captured. I think it is necessary for you to see it."

"Ever since the particle accelerator exploded, urban legends have become adaptations of real events." Ma Ma Zhaodi scratched his head. "Let me see what video it is."

The scene on the phone immediately began to play.

It was a relatively secluded alleyway.

"I recognize this place," Ma Ma Zhaodi replied immediately. "A small alley near Central City Prison. I originally wanted to hide here and enjoy some peace, but a foreigner still chased me straight here."

"They probably took this place as one of your respawn points. This video was filmed last night."

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared on the screen. Ma Ma Zhaodi looked closely and saw a bald man in prison garb emerge onto the street.

"... He is so bright. Where did he come from?"

"He floated out."

No sooner had San San Bengzi spoken than that man's body suddenly scattered, turning into a wisp of ethereal green smoke that drifted with the wind into the woods and vanished without a trace.

The video ended there, and Ma Ma Zhaodi stood stunned.

"He really did float out."

(End of Chapter)