Chương 73: Chapter : 73

"Exactly," Vane sneered.

"It made the rich nobles in the Inner City incredibly wealthy. It gave them shiny cars, fancy clothes, and golden palaces. But mining Soluriam is highly toxic. The process creates a thick, poisonous magical runoff. And instead of spending money to dispose of the waste safely, those greedy, rich pigs secretly dumped millions of gallons of toxic runoff directly into the river." Princess Iris went completely pale. The river that fed directly into Vane's rural village.

"They poisoned the water supply," Iris whispered, feeling sick to her stomach.

"They poisoned my home!" Vane roared.

"They traded the lives of innocent villagers so the nobles could have extra gold in their pockets! The Soluriam runoff infected the drinking water with a highly contagious magical disease. It burned through the magic channels in our bodies and rotted our skin." Behind the sofa, Ken was listening to the entire story. He let out a slow, silent breath.

"Okay, wow," Ken thought to himself, completely dropping the jokes.

"That is actually incredibly messed up. The government poisoned a whole town just to save some money on garbage disposal. This is exactly why I hate politicians. They are always doing shady stuff behind closed doors. Honestly, I kind of get why this guy is so angry. But turning into a giant bat is still a really dramatic overreaction." Naomi shook her head, her knightly pride completely clashing with the terrible story.

"If you found out the truth, why didn't you report it? You were an Army Captain! You had the authority to go to the Upper Council and demand justice!" Vane looked at Naomi like she was the most foolish child in the world.

"I tried," Vane said bitterly.

"I was horrified. I gathered all the evidence. I took water samples. I went straight to the capital and demanded a meeting with the project director. His name was Dr. Raven. He was a corrupt, wealthy official who sat in a comfortable leather chair while my people died." Vane's fangs bared in a snarl.

"I slammed the evidence on his desk. I told him I was going to expose the truth and halt the entire project. I told him he was going to prison."

"And what did he do?" Sayma asked quietly.

"He laughed at me," Vane said, his double-layered voice dropping to a terrifying whisper.

"He snapped his fingers. Ten Imperial Guards walked into the room. They beat me until I was unconscious. Dr. Raven silenced me. He used his political power to completely erase my military record. They wiped my name from history, labeled me a traitor, and banished me into permanent exile. I lost everything, just for trying to do the right thing." The room fell completely silent. Even Naomi lowered her daggers just a fraction of an inch.

The reality of the Belmontia Empire's corruption was sitting right in front of them, ugly and undeniable. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The heroic Imperial Captain had tried to save his home, and the Empire had crushed him like a bug.

The silence in the ruined penthouse was heavy and uncomfortable. Princess Iris stared at the mutated, bat-like monster standing in front of her. She had spent her entire life inside the palace walls, dreaming of becoming a good Empress. She knew her brothers and sisters were cruel, but hearing about Dr. Raven and the Soluriam project made her feel physically sick.

"I... I am so sorry," Princess Iris said softly. Her voice was genuine. She wasn't playing a political game. She was truly heartbroken for him.

"What the Empire did to you and your village was an absolute atrocity. It was evil." Vane let out a wet, bubbling scoff.

"Keep your apologies, little Princess. Words do not bring back the dead." Vane looked down at his own monstrous, clawed hands. The toxic green light in his eyes flickered, looking almost sad for just a split second before the pure rage completely took over again.

"I was exiled," Vane continued, his voice trembling.

"But I sneaked back to my village one last time. I had to see my family. But I was too late." Vane closed his eyes. Even as a mutated monster, the memory clearly tore him apart.

"Within a year of the mining project starting, the plague took everyone," Vane whispered.

"I stood in the mud and watched helplessly as my parents died. I held my wife's hand as her skin turned gray and rotted away. I had to listen to my own children crying in pain until their lungs finally gave out from the Soluriam infection." Naomi looked away. She couldn't look him in the eye anymore. Her rigid sense of right and wrong was completely scrambled. She wanted to hate him for being a criminal, but the sheer, unfair tragedy of his life made her heart ache.

Sayma adjusted her glasses, her hands shaking slightly.

"You lost your entire world."

"Yes," Vane agreed, opening his glowing green eyes. The sadness was gone. There was only absolute, unfiltered madness left.

"The Empire took my family, my honor, and my home. I was driven completely insane by the grief. I wandered the outer districts like a ghost. I realized that justice does not exist in this world. The only thing that matters is power. And if you want to hurt the people in power, you have to play dirty." Vane spread his massive, leathery wings wide. He pointed a claw at the shattered remains of the giant glass tank in the center of the room.

"That is why I turned to forbidden Curse magic," Vane declared proudly.

"You thought I was just some greedy gang boss? You thought I was kidnapping addicts from the slums just to make myself stronger?"

"You were farming their life force," Sayma said, trying to keep her voice steady.

"You were stealing their remaining years."

"I was gathering ammunition!" Vane roared excitedly.

"My grand plan was never about ruling the slums! I didn't care about selling drugs or making money! Every single drop of life force I collected in that tank was being heavily compressed and weaponized. I wasn't just building a battery. I was building a massive, biological curse weapon!" Ken, still hiding behind the sofa, suddenly stopped breathing for a second.

"Wait, what?" Ken thought, his eyes going wide.

"A biological curse weapon? Like a magic nuke? Okay, that is definitely way above my pay grade. That is not just a standard bad guy plot. That is actual terrorism." Ken quickly pulled his knees to his chest and put his hands over his ears.

"Nope. I am not listening. I am just a potato farmer. Please leave me out of the massive bomb plot." Princess Iris gripped the handle of her silver rapier tightly.

"A weapon? What were you planning to do with it, Vane?" Vane smiled. It was a terrifying, fanged grin that stretched entirely too far across his mutated face.

"I was going to give the capital city a taste of its own medicine," Vane laughed, the demonic double-layer of his voice making the threat sound even worse.

"I intended to take that tank, sneak it right into the heart of the Inner City, and detonate it directly outside the Upper Council building!" Naomi gasped.

"You would kill thousands of innocent people!"