Enforcer Manual
Chapter 258: Awakener List_1

Chapter 258: Chapter 258: Awakener List_1

Lu Xiang and Song Lan stayed in the hallway of the prosthetic hospital for quite some time until Lador was stabilized after receiving emergency treatment and was transferred to a ward. Only when his mental state had settled did they enter the room.

"You’ve arrived just in time."

Lying on his back, Lador nodded towards his coat that was hung on the rack and had been left in tatters due to the explosion, saying, "There’s a pack of cigarettes in the pocket of my coat, hurry up and get it for me."

When he was wheeledinto the ward, he had made the same request to the nurse, but met with a merciless refusal, even getting a lecture in return.

Talking about the health risks of smoking?

What a joke, these people have no idea what he had been through today.

If it had been just a second or two difference, he might not have been brought here in one piece, and even though he was saved, his worldview had been greatly shocked—now he had to light up a cigarette to calm his tumultuous emotions.

The only time in his life he had mustered the courage to stand up against the corporation, prepared to die nobly, yet he had not died. This made Lador feel that his current situation was somewhat awkward, realizing that playing the hero was not so easy.

Song Lan spoke the same words as the doctor, "Smoking is harmful to your health."

"Cut the crap, and be quick about it," Lador waved his hand impatiently, "I myself don’t mind."

"According to research, the harm from secondhand smoke is even greater."

"You..."

Upon getting emotional, the pain from the wound in Lador’s abdomen caused him to break out in a cold sweat; he bit back the pain and said, "Forget it, you’re here for the United Technology matter, aren’t you?"

He wanted to meet death as an enigmatic figure provocatively, but didn’t die as expected; having been saved, he inevitably found himself in a situation that tacitly encouraged being forthcoming.

Ever since that cyberpsychotic monster had bizarrely appeared, the ending he had envisioned for himself was thrown into complete disarray. Now Lador just wanted to get the routine interrogation over with and enjoy some peace, "The project’s name is ’Awakener’, once a reckless mercenary found out about this name."

"Go on."

"This is a project fully promoted by United Technology within the territory of the United Government, and for the sake of this project, they have specifically established a file called ’Awaken List,’ which gathers a list of people with high compatibility for prosthetic implantation from various cities through different channels. Once someone is added to this list, they become a focus of their attention."

People often say that Spiritual Energy is a natural talent born within a select few, a gift that only a small number of lucky individuals receive.

But in Lador’s view, prosthetic implantation and bodily modifications were similar; the only difference was that the latter two were a bit easier to get into, offering people unrealistic fantasies.

A 20% Cybernetic Prosthesis Mod is the limit for an average person’s body endurance. Over the decades since the establishment of the United Government, the only one who managed to almost fully replace their body with prosthesis while retaining sanity, leaving only the brain, was Wild Bone.

In fact, more than half of Wild Bone’s prostheses were developed and researched by United Technology.

So, what are the research starting points?

Successes built upon countless failures.

"They categorize the selected candidates into the list according to different levels and subject them to varying degrees of Prosthesis Modification," Lador continued.

"Most people can’t refuse the attractive offers made by United Technology, the free of charge transplantation of military-grade prostheses appearing as a chance to break away from their current social strata, presenting them the opportunity to become the envied ’corporate people.’ I admit, as part of my work as a middleman for a long time, I was persuading those targeted by United Technology to accept their terms."

But they will never understand that no matter how generous the terms seem to be, the company will never be at a loss.

"Those who accept the ’Awaken List’ program are essentially selling themselves to United Technology. Whether the prosthetic transplantation is successful or not, they become the company’s property, and that includes the Cyberpsychos. They have developed a way to put these Cyberpsychos into hibernation and awaken them when necessary, deploying them to predetermined locations."

That’s how ’Hyena’ died, and I nearly met my end in a coffee shop near the border inspection station."

"As for those who have succeeded in prosthetic implantation, they will be sent back to the core area to continue serving the company. The Anfiya you’re investigating in District 17 is ranked quite high on the ’Awaken List’, which is why they resort to the murder of a department head to keep Anfiya under their control. By my estimation, the ultimate goal of this project is to create another Wild Bone."

A wholly United Technology-controlled Wild Bone.

However, Wild Bone’s physique was so unique that despite searching for many years, United Technology had not found another case that could come close in terms of the degree of Prosthesis Modification.

"Those Law Enforcers who died while investigating the disappearances were because they eventually traced it back to United Technology."

"Understood," said Lu Xiang with a nod.

Lador had resolved many of her doubts, but in doing so, had planted a new one, "It’s a miracle you’re still alive."

"That, I owe to those two foolish mercenaries."

Lador began to laugh, seemingly reminiscing a past event. As a middleman working for a large corporation, he shouldn’t get personally involved in his job, but inevitably there were a few individuals who left a lasting impression on him, "They actually stole the list of names from District 17 and almost managed to escape."

Thanks to these ’idiots’, he had accidentally seen the content of the list and buried it as his deepest secret.

Even when he knew that United Technology had the intent to silence him, he had no plans to divulge this information.

Because doing so would immediately escalate the intensity of the pursuit several notches.

"If you continue the investigation, you’ll encounter it sooner or later."

"Encounter what?"

"The Humanoid Weapons that United Technology has researched. They’re not something that Cyberpsychos can be compared to."

And it was because of these Humanoid Weapons that those two ’idiots’ made a fatal mistake and died on the road to the ’outside world’.

Unless absolutely necessary, the subsidiaries of United Technology didn’t wish to wage war against ’concerned citizens,’ but if pushed to a desperate situation, they would certainly deploy their Humanoid Weapon.

Lador had accepted his fate, simply waiting for an outcome.

He didn’t know whether the next person to visit him in the ward would be a Law Enforcer or an Assassin sent by United Technology.

"Good luck to you."