Talia didn't bother to hide as she walked out of the inn.

She blatantly walked down the stairs and down the bar area of the inn, attracting a lot of attention on the way.

Brick followed her from behind in a protective manner.

The eyes that looked at her and the corpse on her shoulder were filled with complicated emotions. Afterall, when the boys were running off, this inn was the first place that received the pamphlets.

From the contents, they easily made the connections and realized that this was the brave reporter who dared write such an article at the expense of her life.

When they read the pamphlets' contents, they sensed the impending danger and none of them had the guts to go help her. Now, they felt a bit guilty- the contents of the pamphlet were like a dagger carving under their skin.

They couldn't pretend that they didn't read it, they couldn't avoid it.

A few of them walked outside as soon as Talia left, watching by the door as the valiant-looking Geneform walked off with the martyr.

Talia showed no signs of hesitation as she directly walked towards the middle of community G, the open market with the corpse.

Brick had a worried look in his eyes as he followed, but he didn't stop her.

Yes, Talia was angry.

Yes, she was raging, but this was not the reason why she was performing such a blatant show with the corpse of his fellow rebel.

The reason was simple.

'She's the reinforcement'. She thought with mixed emotions.

The moment she read the contents of the pamphlet, her mind was blinded by the fear of the threat to the reporter's life, so she abandoned all caution and rushed towards the inn as fast as she could.

On one hand, this likely already destroyed her mask.

For her to discover the reporter's location so easily and so fast, Cell was no fool, he would most likely realize that she was no longer an F Rank NetRunner.

But Talia no longer cared because on one hand the deed was already done, and on the other hand, she realized something that she almost overlooked.

By reading the content of the paper left behind by the reporter and understanding her emotions and fear during her last moments through it, she realized the true sacrifice that this reporter made.

For days, she'd been worried, agonizing to know if her message got to the Freegrid Collective. She was desperate to get reinforcements.

This was because despite being an E Rank NetRunner now, she didn't dare underestimate Parasite. Instead, it was because she was an E Rank Ascended now that she respected and feared the Warlord even more.

She didn't know the abilities that a Gene Augur gets at E Rank, but with her own abilities as a benchmark, she had the appropriate amount of respect for a veteran like Parasite who had years to grow into himself and his abilities.

But she wasn't scared, this wouldn't stop her plan.

All she wanted was the boon of reinforcement. And now, she realized that she finally got what she wanted.

Even if the potential reinforcement from the Freegrid Collective didn't come on time, Talia realized that the reporter was the greatest reinforcement that she needed all along.

She could already feel it. She could smell it and she could hear it… the drumbeats of rebellion.

Talia's eyes gleamed. 'She realized that alone, she can't fight the Zmer gang after discovering the true story behind the girl, Emilia's death'.

'She was essentially stuck in enemy territory alone with no help'.

'And so, she orchestrated this whole theater at the cost of her life. She wanted to wake this community up, she wanted to make the people rise up in numbers and go against the tyranny of the Zmer gang'.

'Alone, these people are weak and mundane. But together, even the weakest ant can topple a giant once they start moving as a colony'.

Her eyes gleamed. 'This is Audrey's sacrifice, to turn all of community G against the Zmer gang and Parasite'.

'She didn't know of me and the others, she knew that her chances of actually making these people gain the courage to fight against authority is slim, yet she had the bravery to give her life for a cause that she believed in'.

Talia's eyes glowed neon green. 'You can rest at peace Audrey, I, Talia Venn will complete the mission that you started'.

The reason why Talia was having this theatrical walk with the corpse of the reporter to the open market was to reinforce the effects of Audrey's pamphlets.

She could feel the churning undercurrents of a brewing storm. Now, all she was doing was fanning the flames of the impending storm.

After the murmurs and gossip, the news spread like wildfire in harmattan.

Majority of people in the streets already learned the truth- the Zmer gang was involved in slave trade and had been secretly leeching them and using their loved ones to enrich themselves!

As they watched the valiant-looking Geneform walk off with the body suspected to be the corpse of the reporter, they felt rage shimmering in their hearts.

Talia walked to the open market, then she looked at Brick.

Realizing her intentions, Brick turned around to look for a shovel but a man- a Geneform approached him and voluntarily gave him a shovel.

"Take," he said. "Use it to bury her".

Brick nodded in gratitude before turning and right there, right in broad-day light in front of the open market, Brick began digging a grave.

Time seemed to come to a stand-still.

There was no sound. Even the domestic animals and birds seemed to have sensed the churning undercurrents as they all maintained the solemn silence.

Brick dug the grave and Talia solemnly placed the Synth corpse inside.

By then, a crowd already gathered around the open market, including a weak and extremely frail female Geneform who wore rags and seemed like she was just one step away from death.

All of them looked weak and malnourished, but there was a fire burning in their eyes as the Synth corpse was laid to rest in the grave.

The atmosphere was charged with electricity and Talia didn't miss the clear opportunity that was before her.

As soon as the last sand was put on the grave, covering it, she turned to face the crowd with her head high and her back straight.

She pointed at the grave and said in a loud voice. "This is Audrey Ross, the reporter who risked her life to reveal this truth to all of us".

"And as you can see, she was right. She knew they would kill her, but for the truth, she didn't hesitate to sacrifice her life".

"Like Audrey said," Talia's eyes glowed neon green with power, reflecting her heightened emotions as she asked in a loud voice. "How much longer before justice comes for Emilia?"

"How much longer before justice comes for Emilia's aunt and uncle?"

"How much longer before justice comes for the Zmer gang?"

"How much longer before justice comes for Parasite?"

"Are we going to continue staying idle and revel in our weakness and cowardice while our loved ones are enslaved and sold as commodities?"

"For how long are we going to stay cowards?"

"I say ENOUGH!" Her voice boomed like thunder.

"Enough to the Zmer gang treating our community as their playground, enough to the Zmer gang's oppression, I say enough to Parasite's brutality!"

"It's time we stand and fight!"

"It's time we fight for our homeland!"

"They abandoned the Wastes, but it's our Wastes! It's where most of us grew up, it's where we have our lives. We can still live as free men even in the Wastes!"

Talia tightened her right hand into a fist and raised it high above her head. "Justice for Emilia!" She screamed.

The crowd could no longer stay silent; they were riled up already.

"JUSTICE FOR EMILIA!" They roared.

Talia's eyes gleamed as she heard the reply that she was looking for.

She pushed on. "Justice against the Zmer gang!"

"JUSTICE AGAINST THE ZMER GANG!" The crowd roared.

"Justice for our families!"

"JUSTICE FOR OUR FAMILIES!"

"Justice against Parasite!"

"JUSTICE AGAINST PARASITE!!!"

And with that, all hell broke loose.

Community G became a bomb that was waiting to detonate!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.