amaotonovel Chapter 4360 The Justice League Assembles (8)
Chapter 4360 The Justice League Assembles (8)
Chapter 4360 Justice League: Assemble (Part 8)
"Then why did they come in?" Barry was completely baffled.
“Most of them are there because of illness,” the nurse said after a moment’s thought, “or because of a sudden accident that landed them in the hospital, but they couldn’t afford the bills…”
“Wait a minute,” Barry interrupted him, then said, “but it seems like a lot of them are addicted to drugs…”
“They contracted it after becoming homeless,” the nurse said. “Life was so hard that they wanted some emotional comfort. Or maybe they were still sick and needed something to relieve the pain. There are people who make a living doing this…”
"Who?"
The nurse shook her head and said, "Let's not delve into that. No one can stop the people behind it. In short, most people are affected by illness or accidents."
"What about insurance? Won't insurance cover it?"
“About 60% of insurance policies won’t cover it,” the nurse said after thinking for a moment. “Insurance companies will require you to be the perfect victim. Ideally, you should pick up your phone at the moment of the accident and record how the oncoming car came, how your car overturned, how your leg was broken, and how your head started bleeding. Of course, if you actually submit all this evidence, they will say you deliberately caused the accident to defraud the insurance company. Otherwise, why would you prepare it in advance?”
Barry roughly understood. The people in these shelters weren't degenerate; they had encountered accidents, their insurance companies refused to pay out, they went bankrupt, ended up on the streets, became addicted to drugs, and were then brought into the shelters.
Because the city's urban management regulations are extremely strict, not only are homeless people not allowed, but even litter is prohibited on the streets. Therefore, these people need a fixed place to live if they want to reintegrate into society. However, given their circumstances, it's impossible for them to rent a house. They can only try to stay with someone else, but the rules for doing so are very strict; even between immediate family members, it's practically impossible to find someone, otherwise everyone has to leave. Thus, these people have absolutely no way to reintegrate into society.
Although the city government built a shelter to house them, it was no different from keeping animals in captivity. Animals don't even suffer from drug addiction. These people's lives were already over; the rest of their lives were just a matter of enduring.
The thought filled Barry with a deep sense of despair. He dared not imagine how painful it would be if he were reduced to that state. He also understood why those people looked at him like that—many of them were only in their twenties or thirties, about the same age as him, but their lives were already over.
Barry was initially proud of the well-managed central city and the absence of homeless people, but now it seems to him that it's nothing more than a harsh elimination mechanism. Everyone has to live a flawless life from birth, and the slightest mistake will get you kicked out here, with no chance of turning back.
Those who become homeless in Los Angeles are certainly in a terrible situation, but because of the lax regulations there, there are loopholes they can exploit. For example, they can secretly hide people in their own basements or swap rooms with relatives and friends. If they are resourceful enough, they can even live in abandoned buildings.
But that wouldn't work in the city center. The city management patrols almost 24/7. For tourists, this is great; the city is very clean and beautiful, and many say it's too beautiful for an American city. But for these people who have unexpectedly become homeless, it's a fatal blow, leaving them no room to struggle.
The nurse seemed to sense what Barry was thinking. As they reached the entrance to the Wakewood neighborhood, he said to Barry, “City council members change an average of four times a year, just because this is one of the safest cities in America with the lowest crime rate. Each councilor gets a piece of the action, claiming they led the safest city in the country—a great opportunity to embellish their resume. And because of this, these people never have a chance to reintegrate into society. The councilors won't let these stains tarnish their crowns. If you don't want to become like that, you'd better watch out.”
After the nurse left, Barry squatted down and clutched his head, feeling a splitting headache. He rubbed his face repeatedly, trying to clear his head, but he couldn't suppress the rising anger in his chest.
Humans shouldn't live like this. Remembering the numb look in his eyes that he'd seen through the observation window, Barry clenched his fists tightly.
But suddenly, as if he remembered something. In an instant, the blue lightning flashed and disappeared, and Barry reappeared in Louise's room.
Barry made an apologetic gesture to Louise, who was lying in bed drinking yogurt, then picked up her laptop and left.
"Sorry, I'll return it to you later!"
Barry, laptop in hand, sped to downtown Metropolis. The Capitol Building was still there, and the members of Congress were still there, though workers were already working overtime to turn on the heating, and delivery trucks were everywhere. Clearly, they were prepared to spend the winter there.
When Barry rushed in, the entire council hall was as warm as spring. The cold wind outside couldn't penetrate at all, so much so that when Barry stopped in the center of the rotunda, he felt the part of his body that had been frozen began to melt, and then turn into tears.
He opened his computer and brought up the pictures he had seen before. The first one was the one he couldn't bear to look at: a three-year-old child whose ear had been frostbitten off.
It's no exaggeration; his ear was frozen stiff and then completely fell off. Because it was so cold, there wasn't even any bleeding at the cut. His mother thanked God, because the ear was already badly rotten, and this way of detaching it from his body wouldn't cause him much pain.
Barry just stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the picture, unable to say a word or do anything, frozen in place.
However, his appearance clearly attracted a lot of attention, as the members of parliament were once again arguing over the audit of votes, gathered around the rotunda. At that moment, a stranger suddenly appeared in the center of the hall, and naturally, he was noticed.
The congressman speaking in the center turned to Barry, somewhat bewildered; he hadn't seen anyone enter. So he turned to Barry and asked, "Who are you? How did you get in?"
Barry's attire clashed with the atmosphere of the hall. The entire hall was a deep brown, with neoclassical decorations on the walls and ceiling. All the members of parliament were dressed in suits, their hair meticulously styled, wearing expensive watches, their hands almost wrinkle-free, and their fine pens gleaming with an oily sheen. Cufflinks, tie clips, brooches, and the sparkle of jewels created a scene that resembled an oil painting.
Barry was wearing a hoodie with a jacket over it, his gray work pants were covered in dust, his face was young, even immature, and his eyes were unsteady, like a monkey that had suddenly wandered into a modern office building.
But he couldn't care less about that now. He was completely overwhelmed by his intense emotions, and he shoved the person who had asked him the question away, knocking him to the ground.
After pushing the man, Barry was surprised himself. He didn't know where he got such strength, and he was usually someone who disliked using violence. He hesitated for a moment, but didn't pull him away. Instead, he walked to the podium.
He pulled out the computer's data cable, connected it to the computer on the podium, lowered the microphone, and asked, "Have you seen this before?"
The child's picture quickly appeared on the big screen. But unexpectedly, there was no uproar or commotion; everyone seemed used to it, and everyone looked towards the exit.
Soon, fully armed security guards rushed in, waving batons and shouting at Barry, "This is the Capitol Building! Protests and demonstrations are not allowed! Leave now, or we will open fire!"
“I’m not protesting,” Barry said. “I just want to ask you, don’t you know this? Haven’t you seen it?!”
But by then, security personnel had already rushed in front of him. Barry, of course, wasn't going to surrender. He grabbed his laptop and darted away, his movements so swift that no one saw him.
"Look at this! This child is only three years old, and his ear has been frostbitten off. He'll need an amputation soon. Didn't you know?!"
"And this one, this girl is so young, and she's already living on the streets. She's had a child and contracted a sexually transmitted disease; her body is covered in sores, and she can only lie on the street with a fever. She's about to die!"
"This man is 60 years old, about your age. He used to be considered a wealthy man, but now, he's lying on the street, seemingly insane, eating paint off a coffee shop pillar. Can't you see him?!"
As Barry spoke, he kept dodging the security personnel, constantly changing positions in the rotunda, holding his laptop, pointing at the pictures outwards, and trying to get them to see them.
The result was just people yelling, "Take that computer away from him! Damn it!"
"Why can't you see this?! Aren't you ruling this country? Hundreds of thousands of people are dying in this country, and you don't care?!!"
“You are all outstanding individuals selected by each state. You are chosen to represent the people because they trust you, and you can decide the outcome of the election. But why don’t you care about these people who are about to die?! They may have voted for you too!”
"If you just enact laws, improve welfare, and regulate those big corporations, so many people wouldn't be dying for no reason. Isn't that right?!"
By the end, Barry's voice was breaking with emotion. He truly couldn't understand why no one was willing to do something so simple. Increasing the insurance payout rate by just 1% could save tens of thousands of lives—why couldn't they?!
“Stop, you damned terrorist!” an elderly congressman shouted. “You know we can decide the election results, yet you still cause trouble. We are the ones who decide the future of this country!”
"The future?! What future?! Those people might freeze to death tonight!"
"Then why don't you go save them?" another person said. "You have superpowers, right? Then why don't you move those people to a warmer place? What's with all this crazy behavior coming here?"
"What's the name of that organization that manages superpowered individuals? The Sky Eye Society! Quickly call their leader over and take this madman away. If anything goes wrong with the voting, it's all your security's fault!"
“That’s right, I told you there should be a new audit. Now that an outsider has come in, who knows if he used superpowers to change the vote results? It must be audited! Otherwise, I won’t accept the election results!”
"That's right, a retrial is necessary, a retrial is absolutely required!"
The noisy sounds echoed in his ears, but Barry could no longer hear them. He felt dizzy and his vision began to blur, as if he had entered another world. The exquisite and polished floor beneath his feet began to turn black, the bright murals above his head bled, the impeccably dressed gentlemen grew fangs, their loud conversations turned into savage grins, and cracks gradually appeared in the earth.
A second before Barry lost consciousness, he felt a gust of cold wind rush in through the door and vaguely heard a voice say, "Neogrid Soship, head of the Sky Eye Society. I'm sorry this superhuman has caused you trouble. I'll take him away now."