Chapter 183 Global Trial
Chapter 183 Global Trial
The heat wave at Mojave Base hit like a blazing copper wall, slamming straight into them.
The ground temperature was a full seventy degrees hotter than the Arctic. The instant Jack stepped down the aircraft stairs, the sharp shift from extreme cold to scorching heat made his body sway slightly, but after just half a second, he planted himself firmly like a steel spike driven deep into the desert.
Heat shimmered across the tarmac. Grant and General Aaron, leading a full medical team, had been waiting in formation.
Without much talk, the moment identities were confirmed, the casualty transfer procedure kicked into gear efficiently.
Lawrence had a closed fracture in his left arm, Nolan's right scapula was badly cracked, Akira's back was badly burned by the blast of hot air, and Jack's back bore a brutal burn mark the size of a palm where the flesh had charred.
But Jack pushed away the nurse who stepped forward to help.
He stood alone at the edge of the heat-shimmering tarmac, quietly watching as medical staff slowly lifted Zack's stretcher down from the transport vehicle, crossed the empty airfield, and moved toward the black hearse parked in a shaded corner.
May stood beside the vehicle.
She wore a dark gray wool coat that had faded from washing, her hands tightly gripping a blue knitted scarf that wasn't quite finished, the ball of yarn rolling slightly in the wind.
Watching Jack approach step by step, May didn't cry. She simply reached out with her calloused hands and gently laid the scarf, still warm from her palms, beside the white sheet on the stretcher.
"The Arctic is windy and cold."
May's voice was so steady it seemed almost strange, every word hoarse, yet sounding as if she'd quietly practiced them thousands of times in her mind: "Take it with you... don't get cold."
Jack stood beside her, removed his tactical gloves, took a deep breath, and watched as the staff steadily pushed Zack's body into the vehicle, then heavily closed the rear door.
The click of the latch closing sounded especially sharp in the scorching wind. Jack didn't look back, turning to walk toward the core operations room in the deepest part of the base.
......
The atmosphere in the operations room was completely different from the suffocating tension before the decisive battle a week ago.
The air here was pressed cold by the central AC, harsh fluorescent lights illuminating every corner. The once densely packed tactical deployment maps on the wall had all been taken down, replaced by a giant LCD screen array spanning the entire wall, currently loading live news broadcast signals from all twelve global time zones.
Erin sat at the far end of the long table, twelve high-spec explosion-proof tablets neatly spread before her, each screen showing the final countdown for the global data release of the "God List."
"Three minutes left."
Erin looked up, her bloodshot eyes showing an unprecedented sharpness: "All twelve core data nodes are ready. The first batch of core evidence will forcibly override all mainstream media and major social platforms within thirty seconds of release."
"The second batch of supplementary testimony and bank records will be simultaneously delivered to judicial authorities in various countries within two hours. The third batch of criminal indictment files targeting core parliamentary members will be decrypted online in twenty-four hours."
Jack sat down heavily across from her, eyes fixed on the red numbers jumping on the wall.
03:00. 02:59. 02:58...
On the left screen, Arthur Howard, dressed in an impeccably tailored suit, stood quietly in the center of the Howard Group headquarters press conference hall. Before him were densely packed flashing lights and cameras from over a hundred top media outlets worldwide.
On the right screen, General Michael in his crisp Stars and Stripes military uniform sat solemnly in the Pentagon press briefing room, the military insignia symbolizing supreme power behind him.
The countdown hit zero.
Snap!
All twelve giant screens switched images in the same instant!
CNN, BBC, Reuters, AFP, Associated Press, Al Jazeera... Every major media outlet's official website and live TV broadcast was forcibly plastered with the exact same blood-red headline:
"The Shadow Council Falls: Humanity's Largest Transnational Genetic Crime Network Completely Destroyed"
Evidence and arrest footage, cold as iron, erupted across the globe like a volcanic explosion.
"The Banker" was forcibly escorted out by Interpol from his heavily guarded private underground bank in Zurich, high-precision cameras perfectly capturing the moment those cold handcuffs snapped onto his wrists;
"The Bishop" was publicly taken away in the gleaming corridors of the UN Geneva office, her eternally proud, elegant socialite face showing near-desperate collapse and panic for the first time;
"The Judge" sat in that office symbolizing absolute authority at the Supreme Federal Court, facing the iron-clad impeachment order presented by the FBI, the hand holding his pen trembling violently before the cameras;
And Billy, "The Merchant" who had controlled Asia's black market for years, was forcibly restrained by air marshals on his private jet attempting to flee across the border to Singapore. When the plane landed at Changi Airport and the cabin door slid open, waiting for him were twenty heavily armed tactical police officers;
"The General" was the last to be captured.
His private fortress in the European mountains was surrounded by Interpol and local special forces. The multi-million dollar mercenary security team collapsed completely under overwhelming firepower after resisting for just four minutes and forty seconds. Under the harsh lights of the interrogation room, "The General" in electronic ankle cuffs looked ashen, muttering continuously to the camera: "Impossible... my genetic evolution plan was perfect..."
Erin quietly gazed at the once-untouchable faces on the screen, now completely fallen.
Her eyes held no wild joy from turning the tables, only a near-exhausted weariness and relief from finally setting down a burden she'd carried for half her life.
She gently picked up the thick paper copy of the "God List" from the table—twelve names that once controlled the life and death of the world's dark side, each now marked with a blood-red checkmark.
"It's over."
Erin carefully folded the list and placed it in her inner pocket.
Jack sat across from her, watching those globally synchronized trial scenes on the screens.
Arthur reading his testimony forcefully at the press conference, General Michael making his final characterization statement at the military hearing, the Interpol spokesperson announcing arrest warrants to the world... everything was thundering forward on its predetermined track with perfect precision.
But Jack knew better than anyone that the true greatness of this trial wasn't about how many evildoers were held accountable, but that it let every single person under this sky witness with their own eyes—even gods hiding in the clouds, when they commit crimes, will be dragged down from their altars just the same.
He slowly stood up and walked out of the operations room without a sound.
The corridor was dead silent. Faint sounds of medical equipment beeping steadily came from the distance, and further away, the homey sounds of May skillfully working her wok in the kitchen.
The cold world had finally reconnected with the warm rhythm of ordinary life.
......
One week later, Washington, D.C.
The grand courtroom of the Supreme Federal Court was packed. The gallery was crammed with top journalists, dignitaries, legal scholars, and victims' families from around the world, the air tense to the point of freezing.
Jack stood in the center of the witness stand, dressed in a composed black suit, standing straight as a pine.
His right hand rested on the Bible, his left hand raised. Facing cameras from all humanity, his testimony was condensed into a single thunderous sentence:
"I am Zero, but I am no longer anyone's genetic experiment. I am Jack."
The final verdict was announced to the world at six that evening.
Adam Kane was convicted of crimes against humanity, illegal genetic manipulation, deprivation of life, and thirty-six other serious crimes, sentenced to life imprisonment, stripped of all political rights and possibility of parole, to be permanently confined in the highest security underground prison; the other apostles and related accomplices were sentenced to between twenty years and life imprisonment.
This global trial, lasting seven days, spanning thirty-seven countries, involving two hundred and seventeen extremely serious charges, was officially written into human history.
It was the largest and most far-reaching genetic crime case in human history.
Late that night, Arthur Howard appeared again at the Howard Group press conference. His face carried the composure and calm forged through decades of business battles, and when he spoke his final statement, his eyes held an unshakable conviction:
"The Howard Group will invest thirty percent of our net profits going forward into a global fund for genetic crime victims." Arthur bowed slightly to hundreds of cameras. "We swear to all humanity here—Howard will never become the next Kane."
As his words fell, applause erupted like thunder, blinding flashbulbs illuminating the entire hall like daylight.
......
Los Angeles, the Howard Estate study.
Jack sat quietly in a wide armchair, watching Arthur's figure on the TV screen disappear down the corridor.
Sophia sat beside him, her slender fingers holding a cup of warm red tea giving off white steam. Neither broke this rare peace.
Outside the window stretched Los Angeles's vast, brilliant nightscape.
Ten thousand lights spread out like stars, streams of traffic flowing on the distant highways, converging into rivers of golden light that flowed endlessly.
Ordinary, bustling, full of life.
As if that towering war that spanned polar night and death had never happened at all.