Chapter Seven: The Sorrow of a Stray Dog

Jin gave a cold snort and said, "Of course, even if you were commissioned, you are still participating in the organization's production of weapons for invasion!"

Tamaru stepped back, gestured toward the group of people who had not yet recovered their mental faculties, and shrugged. "Aren't they doing the same thing?"

"They are not the same!" Jin gritted his teeth and replied.

However, looking at those dazed and ignorant people, Jin suddenly felt a heavy weight in his heart.

"Oh, look at the guy who fancies himself a savior." Tamaru hopped in place, his expression of disdain deepening. "Then why don't you ask them for their own opinion?"

"Please stop, everyone, please stop!"

Meanwhile, K had already run to the area where the manual laborers were working and urgently appealed, "Stop what you're doing! Everyone, stop!"

He caught his breath, stood on top of an object so that everyone could see him, and waved his hands. "Listen to me, everyone, please stay calm!"

"What you are all helping to build is actually an invasion weapon for aliens!"

The workers in protective suits gathered around, but the scene K had expected did not unfold. They simply stared at him blankly—the look in their eyes was as if they were watching someone with a severe case of delusions of grandeur.

An inexplicable thought popped into his mind, and K’s mouth twitched, but he suppressed the bizarre feeling and continued, "So please, don't continue! You must flee from here immediately!"

Yet, the people around him did not react; they just watched him quietly, with that same look in their eyes.

In the conference room where the white-collar workers were located, Jin was also encountering a dilemma. The people who had fully awakened surrounded him, questioning him with dissatisfaction:

"Why are you interfering with our work?"

"I still have three hours before I can finish my shift!"

Jin’s brow furrowed as he explained, "You have to understand, your lives are being drained!"

"You are being used by extraterrestrials who intend to invade Earth to manufacture weapons!"

However, to his words, no one retorted. They seemed to accept it by default, or perhaps they had known about it all along. But in their eyes, there was little hatred for Tamaru; instead, the anger directed at Jin was gradually rising.

"So what? What does it matter?!" A young man stepped in front of Jin and said, "What, you think you’re protecting the Earth? You think you’re saving us? You think you’re some kind of 'savior,' don't you?"

"Are you waiting for us to shower you with a thousand thanks? Thinking we should kneel and worship you? What I hate most is a bootlicking lapdog like you!"

"Do you think we don't know there are huge risks in taking a job like this? Do you think we’re all idiots who don't know we're being used? If it weren't for you—if it weren't for you lapdogs—how would we have become the stray dogs of society? We can't even get a credit card, banks won't accept our applications, no one wants to hire us, and the whole of society isolates us!"

"During the day, we can only beg on the streets or do manual labor, and at night we can only shiver while sleeping in the park! What else are we supposed to do? Isn't our current situation forced upon us by people like you? And now you have the nerve to play the saint and come to 'save' us?"

"Hmph, I think you just want us to have nowhere to go and starve to death!"

"Since you say this work consumes our lives, then let me tell you: for us, money is what matters more. Otherwise, who knows if we’ll end up as frozen corpses in the park?"

"That's right."

"Exactly, stop causing trouble!"

"We need to earn money!!!"

The young man's words represented the inner thoughts of the vast majority of workers present, and people began to shout in agreement.

Jin was at a loss. He felt a deep headache coming on; he was not skilled at dealing with this kind of situation.

The contradiction they faced was very simple: is it better to have no money, leading to the inability to afford a warm home and potentially freezing to death in a park one night, or is it better to sell off one's lifespan for money to ensure one can live comfortably for a short time?

Society had abandoned them; the government had abandoned them. They were like stray dogs, struggling to survive in the world.

It was much like the famine victims in ancient China; because of unbearable hunger, they would frantically eat guanyin clay. The clay is fine and swallowable, giving a false sense of fullness. But the problem is that soil is just soil—what nutritional value could it possibly have? Thus, the clay cannot be digested; it accumulates in the intestines and stomach, becoming impossible to pass.

After consuming the clay, the victims would usually die a slow, agonizing death from intestinal blockage.

Yet for those victims, there was no other way to survive. Death was inevitable; the only choice they had to consider was how to die. Should they starve to death, or eat until they burst in a desperate pursuit of satiety?

It was just like the Little Match Girl. She knew full well that in the bitter winter, the warmth of a match could never save her, but she still persistently struck them, just to enjoy the fleeting warmth and have a beautiful dream amidst the darkness and cold.

And now, Jin and K were trying to shatter that dream.

Therefore, their dissatisfaction was hardly surprising.

"That man is an alien!" Jin pointed at Tamaru, exposing his identity in an attempt to frighten the group.

"So what if he's an alien?" a young woman said dismissively. "As long as the pay is good, that's all that matters."

"Exactly." Tamaru sat on the conference table, a smug smile on his face.

He didn't need to consider whose side the people would take. People would only stand on the side that benefited them. He could provide them with work, so these stray dogs of society would naturally support him—that was beyond question. Without this job, they would only starve and freeze in the park; but here, they traded their lifespans for money, allowing them to enjoy a warm life. It was all so simple—just a matter of exchange.

"Does the invasion of Earth not matter to you at all?"

"Hmph, compared to that, our life tomorrow is the real problem!" the young man said. "Our future is dark anyway!"

"That's right! We just want money!" The surrounding crowd immediately voiced the same sentiment.

Faced with their protest, Tamaru cast a smug look at Jin before stepping forward. "Everyone, rest assured, I will not withhold your wages! Go back to work, everyone, don't worry!"

"Everyone, don't do this!" Jin could not stand by and watch them waste their lives in vain. He tried to stop them but was met with resistance, and for a moment, he found himself in a dilemma.

However, when he turned his head, he saw Tamaru pushing the door open and leaving. Jin hurriedly gave chase.

"Stop right there!"