Chapter 287 - 266 Going Home

"Recently, the heavily-followed AMF-13 resolution, also known as the Defender Act, was voted down."

"The vote concluded with an overwhelming 256 votes against to 145 in favor; we can temporarily avoid war."

"It seems that Mr. Lille Lee’s speech at the hearing resonated in several regions of Mei Country, with people taking to the streets to pressure Congress."

"Additionally, another military corruption case unveiled at the hearing is set to go to trial. We will continue to follow up on this matter..."

"Now, let’s turn our attention to the upcoming New York mayoral election. According to public opinion polls, Anthony Flor’s approval rating has surpassed 70%, completely outpacing other candidates."

"This candidate advocates for revitalizing high-tech manufacturing and medical industries, as well as major infrastructure policies including network facilities to reduce unemployment and encourage international trade policies..."

"It is worth mentioning that candidate Flor, with the help of Lee’s Financial Group, has collaborated with the Workers’ Mutual Aid Association to transform Hell’s Kitchen."

"This area is now the lowest-crime community in all of New York—in fact, in areas renovated by Lee’s Financial, crime rates have significantly dropped, and employment rates have conspicuously increased."

"It seems we can already congratulate this political newcomer on securing the mayoral position."

Osborne Tower has now become a memorial, as per Martin’s intentions, revealing and documenting the absurd events and technologies involved over the past year.

People are surprised to discover that the technology used to resolve these events seems to originate from the same source as the technology causing these losses.

However, all of this technology has now been applied in Lille’s company to the civilian sector, and it has shown remarkable performance.

This was Lille’s debut on the world stage, and it was eye-catching, so much so that the entire world was reporting on everything about this young man.

How he became a vegetable due to an accident, how he woke up under his mother’s care, and then, together with the people in the community, overcame crime and gangs...

How he established such a vast and potential commercial empire, and prevented Mei Country’s Congress from expanding war investments.

But the story wasn’t over yet.

The bill to expand war investments was only temporarily halted, not the withdrawal of troops.

At the International Gene Cooperation Company’s prosthetics testing site, Lille sat beside Michael, the Death Warrior.

Michael lay on the hospital bed, with only some internal organs and half a skull being original, his degree of prosthetization exceeding 60%.

Lille felt a bit sentimental.

This engineer had an incredible tolerance for prosthetics, in a way, almost a born cyber saint...

It was paradoxical; he wholeheartedly accepted prosthetization but had no desire for combat.

No one knew how his stable mental state was achieved, but generally, as long as he wasn’t forced to do something he didn’t want to, the impact of the prosthetics was minimal.

If it were in the Cyberpunk World, each company would definitely capture him for various experiments until he was driven mad...

This engineer, who had faced adversity, had already dismantled the Death Warrior prosthetics and replaced them with lower-powered medical prosthetics—

Looking at the rudimentary prosthetic arm replacing his original limb, he let out a long sigh.

"I’m such a fool, now I’m a disabled person," he said, laughing self-deprecatingly. "I got into mechanical prosthetics research to help the disabled.

When Harren brought over the brain-machine interface technology, I was ecstatic and designed this set of prosthetics with all my passion, completely unaware of his true intentions.

But now, I still have to consider military designs..."

He was referring to Frank.

In the testing field, Frank was leaping and climbing, his prosthetics operating without any hindrance, constantly moving on the three-dimensional wall with the Magnetic Suction Gloves and Spider Silk Emitter.

In terms of combat awareness, Frank was probably the best under Lille’s command and naturally needed the best equipment.

[Full-body prosthetics development completed: Lightweight Special Operations Prosthetics]

[Description: An upgraded version of civilian prosthetics, combining exoskeleton and implantable prosthetics, organically integrating magnetic suction equipment and spider silk emitters.]

[Allows mildly disabled individuals to gain super mobility, executing special operations missions]

[The organic prosthetic degree is below 10%, classified as mild modification.]

[Drawback: Poor energy endurance, the total weight of all module batteries is 20kg, can support extreme operations for 16 hours]

[International Gene Cooperation Company: Advanced Prosthetics Development Laboratory completed development]

[Reward Technology Points: 300]

[Current Technology Points: 7300]

Not bad, now Michael was also under Lille’s command.

This unfortunate engineer was eager to develop better bionic prosthetics to restore his sensory system. Although the numbness caused by low-level prosthetics wasn’t enough to drive him mad, it was certainly uncomfortable.

Moreover, what Lille was doing was exactly what he wanted to do: medical prosthetics.

Once Frank completed all tests and everything was normal, Lille looked at Michael: "I guess you have some obsession with entering this industry?"

"I wouldn’t call it an obsession," Michael said calmly, "just thought this technology is impressive, looks cool—but I don’t like killing people."

"..." Lille was respectfully silent.

So, this was an engineer driven purely by interest.

After saying this, Michael looked at Lille again: "What about you? You’re my boss now, but you seem to be quietly developing military prosthetics, which doesn’t quite align with your peace dove image."

"This is at most considered security prosthetics," Lille shook his head. "In the face of external pressure, people need the strength to defend themselves."

"Anyway... I think your approach is much better than my previous boss’s. For now, I quite enjoy working here."

"Then I’ll leave this to you."

Lille looked at Frank in the training field, and they nodded at each other.

The Hellhound Team’s actions in Afghanistan were too extensive, mainly putting them on the spot.

Such matters cannot rely solely on Frank’s words, definitely requiring more corroboration and evidence, such as the operational records he mentioned and teammates.

But conversely, other involved personnel would surely consider silencing them—

This was the frontline of political struggle, and Frank had to handle it himself.

He looked at his mechanical gloves, feeling the power of technology, as memories of recent events flashed through his mind—

Just as Lille said, he no longer wanted to be a foolish Mei Country soldier.

This time, he would fight in the name of Frank Castle.

...

The last person to deal with was Christopher, an old friend of Lille’s mother.

The young man had stayed in New York for nearly a month, learning quickly, or rather, his mindset had changed rapidly.

As for the rest, he could learn once he returned to Latovia.

At the boarding gate, Silver, the CEO of Silver Mink Security Company, would take him back to Eastern Europe to help Lille prepare to expand the market as a Latovian.

The young man looked at Lille, gripping his hand tightly: "Mr. Lee, I will definitely complete your task."

"Work hard."

Lille patted his shoulder and watched the plane take off.

After everything was done, Lille took a car ride home, with the persistent and honest black neighbor, John, as the driver.

Looking out the window, the high rises gradually became shorter, turning into small apartments, where workers were descending from scaffolding, getting ready for dinner after work.

The street had newly patched marks, and people dressed modestly strolled leisurely, some couples, and some families of three.

People enjoyed the walk home after work or school, sharing their experiences of the day with their families.

It was hard to imagine that half a year ago, this neighborhood had the highest crime rate in New York, where one could get robbed just walking down the street.

Lille relished this stretch of the journey:

Escaping a backward place was never as fulfilling as transforming this barren and underdeveloped area into his ideal.

The car stopped at the entrance of the apartment building. Before Lille left, John called out to him with a simple smile: "Boss, you’ve worked hard."

Lille, somewhat surprised, smiled back: "I consider this work to be an enjoyment."

John rubbed his nose: "Me too, boss. I’m glad to work for you."

Getting out of the car, Lille could smell the aroma of food as soon as he entered the apartment, knowing that his mom had already prepared dinner, waiting for him.

Opening the door, Lille indeed saw his mom sitting on the sofa waiting for him—

Maya got up and hugged her son, her wrinkled eyes smiling deeply.

Sitting at the dining table, mother and son began sharing their day’s experiences—

In the cozy dining room, the television was broadcasting today’s news:

"... It seems, because of everything Lille Lee has done, we temporarily don’t need to worry about being dragged into another endless war."

"Young people who should’ve been carrying guns to the battlefield can stay with their parents; middle-aged people who should have taken someone’s life can watch their children grow up."

"Is there any better future than this?"

"Hope for world peace."