Chapter 117: Waste Disposal

"Does the Guard have a way to handle… I mean, to relocate them? Is there any way to relocate them?"

Hiroyuki knew that releasing them blindly was equivalent to a death sentence. It could threaten local ecosystems or cause harm to the creatures themselves. Some people "released" red-eared sliders into rivers, only for the river's small fish to vanish entirely. Others tossed land tortoises into the ocean; the poor creatures would struggle desperately in the saltwater to return to land, but people would mistake it for them being unwilling to leave. So, once the tortoises finally crawled back to shore, the "saviors" would just throw them back into the sea again.

It was nothing short of a horror movie.

Before long, a warrior who appeared to be a planetary observer approached Taro. He opened a holographic screen and, while scrolling through it, said, "Intelligence has identified three planets that serve as habitats for Sandrias. We will first provide these Sandrias with necessary medical treatment—as you can see, they have been abused and are in poor condition. We need to at least get them to a state where they can return to the wild. Then, we will conduct genetic sequencing to compare them with the local Sandrias populations and determine the most appropriate place to send them back."

Sandrias existed in different subspecies, so it was only logical to place them with their own kind. Of course, the relatively small number of individuals made the process much easier.

This organized and professional workflow put Hiroyuki at ease. He began working on the monsters, asking Taro to help him reach the back of the Sandrias' heads. Seeing that the giant beasts were indeed under Hiroyuki’s control and would not attack randomly, Taro felt reassured and cooperated with his work.

Soon, a pile of bloody mind-control chips accumulated at Hiroyuki's feet. Having seen the blueprints for these devices, he found them easy to extract—much easier than the first time he had used this ability to remove a chip from "Little Guy." Back then, he had merely visualized what a chip might look like, and his guess had hit the mark. It seemed the requirements for his ability were quite lenient, provided he had a rough idea of the target; he had been lucky.

"Was this chip made by Tregear?"

"Not necessarily. I’m just guessing he might have had a hand in it." Hiroyuki left himself some room for doubt. He truly had no concrete evidence, and as for his suspicion that Tregear might be trying to sabotage the Intergalactic Alliance, he preferred to keep it to himself rather than pin the blame on anyone without proof.

Taro fell silent for a moment, then mused, "If he did make it, his motives would surely be impure... Is he looking to cause trouble for the Intergalactic Alliance? Did they provoke him?"

Well, although Hiroyuki didn't know Taro's reasoning process—which seemed quite erratic and stream-of-consciousness—they had reached the same conclusion by different paths. He truly didn't know whether Taro understood Tregear too well, or if he just understood the trouble-making nature of the Intergalactic Alliance too well.

Hiroyuki shrugged. He had no way of knowing what was on Tregear’s mind; that man’s thoughts were equally erratic. "Even if they didn't provoke him, he could still simply dislike the Intergalactic Alliance."

In truth, the Intergalactic Alliance had overextended itself; they were everywhere. Over the last millennium, the number of member planets had surged, and it was entirely possible that during this expansion, they had inadvertently crossed paths with Tregear.

As far as Hiroyuki knew regarding the intersection between Tregear and the Intergalactic Alliance, there was one confirmed point of friction.

As previously mentioned, the Intergalactic Alliance would designate a specific industry for member planets to develop, ensuring a monopoly for that planet within that field. It was somewhat like a franchise: the headquarters ensured that no other store of the same type opened within a certain radius to avoid splitting the customer base. If a massive project was beyond the manpower of a single planet, the Alliance would break it down into smaller tasks and distribute them.

Not all these projects were high-end scientific research; there were always dirty, grueling tasks to be offloaded onto certain member planets.

For instance... waste disposal.

The Intergalactic Alliance designated several member planets to handle all the waste produced by the member nations. Theoretically, if waste sorting were done properly, it could be a business, but the reality was far from simple. In the end, it devolved into dumping, burning, and landfilling, which left the environments of those member planets in shambles.

They had no choice but to accept it. Since they were eating from the Alliance’s plate, they had to obey its management. The cost of rising up in resistance was too high; after all, the resistance of one planet would have to face an army supported by hundreds of others. It was a war that could not be won.

Planet Qucio-Ura was one such "trash planet," one of the few designated to receive waste from other member planets. Its natural environment was quickly ruined; the soil became rich in heavy metals and radioactive materials. Plants withered in vast swathes, and biological deformities were common. The water systems were destroyed, devoid of life, and filled with concentrated nuclear wastewater and heavy metals, making it entirely unfit for consumption. The rain was acidic, eroding the surface until it was no longer habitable, forcing the residents to move underground.

Thus, the daily routine for the natives of Qucio-Ura consisted of hiding in underground shelters at night to avoid mutant creatures, and scavenging on the surface by day, sifting through waste dumped from other planets for items that were less contaminated.

Of course, the freshly delivered trash didn't go to the natives first; the "waste management facilities" picked through it first, and only what they discarded reached the locals.

Those toxic pollutants and highly radioactive wastewater were never treated. The natives risked their lives every day to scavenge. If they were lucky, they might find expired canned goods, old clothes, scrap wood, or even electronic waste from which they could extract precious metals. If they were unlucky and touched something in the trash, their limbs would swell and rot; they would return home, fall deathly ill, and pass away within days.

The resident governor, based in the deepest level of the shelter, lived on food and supplies shipped directly from other planets. He would just smile and say that this was clearly the fault of Qucio-Ura—they hadn't followed the protocols for waste management, so it was only natural that they were suffering the consequences of their own incompetence. Even if they lacked the capacity to handle so much waste, the dumping would continue as scheduled, with everything dictated by the agreement.

Tregear’s little companion, "Little Guy" Snark, was a native of Qucio-Ura. It had mutated after consuming contaminated waste, growing to a massive size and becoming feral. It went on a rampage, attacking the locals and destroying the already crumbling surface shelters. To stop Snark's frenzy, Tregear had no choice but to destroy it.

Snark had once been the last flickering candle in Tregear’s heart, and he had been forced to extinguish it with his own hands.

Whose fault was it?

Hiroyuki told Tregear that it wasn't "Little Guy's" fault, nor was it Tregear’s fault. It was the fault of the trash, and the fault of the "trash" who dumped it.