Chapter 816 - 835: The Blood-Stained Road

If those in the middle of the line still had hope, then the people at the very back were already doomed. Their chances were already slim, and now that the treatments were suspended for three days, the line was only getting longer. There was simply no way everyone would be seen. Some of the disheartened patients prepared to leave.

They thought, "We can’t wait any longer. So many people have quit their jobs now; maybe the factories or mines will offer higher wages to hire workers..." If they couldn’t get treated, earning more Star Coins was a good alternative.

Of course, this was only the mindset of those with mild symptoms.

The severely ill patients couldn’t afford to care about such things. Standing at the back, they watched the steady stream of people leaving, astonishing sparks of hope igniting in their eyes. They thought, "Leave, all of you, leave! The more who leave, the better! We still have a chance!"

But after waiting for an entire day, almost everyone who intended to leave had already done so, and the line remained just as dauntingly long.

Riots sometimes broke out in a single instant. The refugees didn’t dare revolt against the hospital itself. The facility was armed with advanced weaponry; the moment Mechas and artillery were deployed, tens of millions of refugees would be reduced to nothing but ants. Thus, the weak swung their fists at the weak.

Qiuqiu and the others only found out about this news by accident. Initially, the hospital administration hadn’t planned on telling them at all. However, they couldn’t stop some of the students from wanting to sneak out and have some fun during their three days off. After all, this was a poverty-stricken planet—something they had never seen in their entire lives. They figured that even though it was a bit of an eyesore, they could take plenty of pictures to show their parents and tell them about their experiences when they returned. Driven by curiosity, the group disguised themselves and followed a guide out the door.

Originally, they were supposed to take the back door straight to the market. But one curious classmate wanted to go to the front and see the patients. What they found there was a scene of utter carnage.

It was incredibly brutal. All of it was due to a dispute over a spot in line.

Those near the middle and back wanted to move further up, but no one was willing to give up their chance at survival. As a result, the people fighting for a spot came to blows. One man actually beat to death the woman in front of him, who was already on the verge of dying anyway. The barbaric act added a touch of madness to his demeanor. At the sight of blood, even the eyes of an honest man filled with cruelty.

Some were afraid of him. They thought, "It’s just one person," and actually allowed him to cut ahead. The man was ecstatic.

The line seemed to return to normal after that, but the onlookers were far too naive. Once the floodgates opened, there was no going back. The Guard Team did absolutely nothing to intervene. It turned out that using violence to force others out of their spots was perfectly fine. It turned out that cutting in line was allowed. It turned out that order was nothing more than a meaningless scrap of paper.

A portion of the people who had lost all hope were suddenly reinvigorated. More and more people joined the chaotic brawl. With rapid breaths and boiling blood, tormented by illness and suffering, and fueled by passion and adrenaline, who could even remember what they were doing?

Fists slammed into bodies, drawing bright red blood. The dense crowd surged back and forth, and those unfortunate enough to fall to the ground were instantly trampled to death. In just a few hours, hundreds of lives were lost.

This was the exact scene witnessed by the small group of students who had gone out to take pictures and document life on Q3.

The teenagers were horrified. When they had seen the poverty, they were only surprised, realizing there were actually places like this in the universe. When they had seen the blind praise and ignorance of the patients, they felt a bit sad, realizing there were people suffering like this in the universe. But upon seeing such a gruesome scene, their faces turned pale. Their lips trembled slightly, and they immediately turned their heads away.

The guide was equally shocked by the sight. He quickly escorted the Spirit Healing Masters back into the hospital and immediately sent a message to the relevant hospital administrators. Soon after, several armored vehicles and heavily armed soldiers rolled out of the hospital compound.

Meanwhile, the students brought the news of what happened outside back to the rest of the academy.