Blackstone Code

The stifling atmosphere in the room left Vera feeling deeply depressed. She now realized that some problems were far more troublesome than she had initially thought.

However, she was reluctant to step forward and do anything at this moment. Despite the emotional distance that had grown between her and Gap due to his betrayal, they were still legally married, and she had to bear part of the responsibility.

Even if it was just a small portion, it was enough for her to keep secrets, especially for the sake of their child.

In the Baylor Federation, many deep-seated societal issues existed, though they were rarely reported.

Not reporting them didn't mean they didn't exist. The most severe issue was school bullying.

Children with "stains" were particularly vulnerable to bullying, and even teachers often turned a blind eye.

Among these "stains," having a father who was a criminal and currently serving a sentence ranked the highest.

This meant that a child had no male protector. In this male-dominated society, this situation signaled to everyone that bullying the child or even his mother wouldn't cause much trouble.

No burly man would storm into the school with a baseball bat to teach those bastards or teachers a lesson, nor would a well-dressed man with a lawyer sue the students and the school.

Even teachers viewed these children with prejudice and indifference. Most teachers were ordinary people, not saints, and were no different from those on the street.

For her child's sake, at least at this stage, Vera wouldn't consider revealing these secrets.

Vera quickly got up and said goodbye. Lynch didn't insist on her staying, as it wouldn't be appropriate. He soon turned his attention back to the unfinished work at hand.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the city, Gap was shivering and curled up in a sheep pen. It had to be said that a bizarre story he read during school had saved him.

As January approached, the temperature in Sabin City had dropped to freezing. Without proper insulation, spending the night outside would mean never waking up once one fell asleep.

The story he read described a protagonist who survived a winter disaster by squeezing into a flock of sheep. He had once scoffed at such tales, thinking how silly it was—if feeling cold, why not just wear more clothes?

Today, he realized that the story wasn't silly; he had lacked such experiences.

Hugging a sheep, Gap felt unprecedented warmth. He had never longed for a warm environment more than now, yet he was also very confused.

He didn't know where he found the immense courage to escape, but now that he was out, he had no idea what to do next.

Report to the police?

That might be a good idea, but as an auditing accountant, he knew the consequences of confessing his actions. Even if others acknowledged that he wasn't the mastermind, he would still bear severe charges and lose his accountant certification.

In the future, no reputable company would hire someone with a serious criminal record and no qualifications.

Perhaps gangs wouldn't mind, but that was a path he didn't want to choose.

Talk to Mr. Neo?

He had fled from Neo, even injuring a guard with a broken lens. If he only wanted to talk to Neo, why would he go through such trouble to hide?

Besides, he had a vague feeling that if Neo found him, he might truly disappear. This made it even more impossible for him to approach Neo.

So what should he do?

Should he go back and pretend nothing happened?

Would the police or Neo believe that nothing happened?

Everything had changed, and for the first time, Gap felt a sense of powerlessness and loss of control. He had never experienced this before.

He felt anxious, his heart was racing, and he had a throbbing headache.

In a daze, his consciousness began to slow, and he drifted into a semi-conscious state, quickly falling asleep in the warmth.

At this moment, several young people approached the sheep pen with sticks.

Leading them was a country girl, around seventeen or eighteen, with flaxen hair tied into long braids at her waist.

She wore a headscarf, a somewhat dirty heavy skirt, and had lively eyes despite the freckles and dust on her face.

She was an ordinary country girl, one people could find anywhere.

Beside her was her brother and other children from nearby farms. These kids were natural socialites, always making friends from far distances.

This time, they had gathered because the country girl had recently discovered something shameful—she suspected someone was abusing her sheep.

She couldn't bring herself to discuss this with her parents or other adults, so she confided in her friends.

While such acts involving sheep or cows weren't uncommon in the Baylor Federation or even worldwide, especially in poorer pastoral areas where it was almost a pastime for the shepherd children, the girl couldn't accept someone doing this to her sheep. So she gathered her friends to catch the culprit.

"It seems quiet now…" the country girl peeked into the sheep pen, where it was very quiet at night.

At the edge of the flock, a few horned rams opened their eyes. After staring at the girl and her friends for a moment, they closed their eyes again.

It was too cold. The girl and her friends tiptoed around in the moonlight, searching for the bad guy. Soon, they found a scene that made them sick.

A shirtless man was asleep, hugging a sheep, leading them to think of even more horrifying things. The girl was furious and raised her stick high!

With a dull thud, the dreaming Gap suddenly felt the world go dark, as if his soul was being forcefully expelled from his body, drifting in endless darkness.

Intense pain quickly woke him up, but his groggy mind couldn't comprehend what was happening before he was subjected to a beating!

His agonized screams echoed far, creating a local legend later on that every winter night, the spirits of the dead would appear here.

If one encountered them, they would devour their flesh and blood, making them their food!

This story later even became part of "Seventy-Two Strange Tales," turning into Sabin City's horror legend.

But that was all in the future. For now?

There was just a poor soul beaten awake from his sleep, only to be knocked out again!

Neo's private bodyguards were close to turning the area upside down. They had searched along the highway several times but found no trace of Gap.

Gap seemed to have vanished into the vast wilderness. Meanwhile, there was also some troubling news from the police.

The girl who reported to the police didn't only accuse Gap; she also implicated his direct superior, the department head, and two board members.

There were others too. In the sexually manipulative corporate culture, the dominated were often less than a private possession. Sharing had become the norm.

Gap would share the girl with others, and they would share their girls with Gap. It was a peculiar "corporate culture," something people were ashamed to admit but couldn't deny its existence.

Gap's direct superior had already been caught. Once the local police and Federal Bureau of Investigation received instructions from local authorities, their methods became more brutal.

Gap's somewhat portly superior quickly succumbed to their methods. After falling in the restroom four times and repeatedly "provoking" fellow detainees in the holding cell and getting beaten up several times, he gave in.

He confessed what he knew, hoping to mitigate his responsibility by being the first to come clean.

The investigation team reaffirmed Gap's importance and issued a new wanted notice. Simultaneously, they started an investigation around the girl, further delaying Listoan's relocation plans.

They had to resolve these issues or at least prove that the cases had no direct connection to the company before moving forward, which was very difficult.

Everything seemed to be turning against Listoan Group. Even Neo could sense a subtle shift in the neighboring state's conservative governor's attitude towards him, increasing his anxiety.

But there was no quick resolution. Unlike what he initially told others, that he could leave anytime, he couldn't actually leave.

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