Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

As the third week of June approached an end, Xiaoyun finally had a task that required him to leave his three-point life.

He was all the way at the court early in the morning, his face looking much older than usual, with his hair groomed to the side with hair gel.

It was almost impossible for anyone to recognize him as Xiaoyun, with his voice sounding deeper as if he had aged ten years into the future.

"Your ID, please." The guard questioned, stopping Xiaoyun from going any further.

"Here it is... Mr.Li Fa had made a special appointment for me for today in accordance with the Governor."

After reading the paper Xiaoyun had taken out, the guard didn't question it any further as he opened the door for him.

"Welcome. You should see the sign on the wall that leads to your destination."

"Thank you."

The moment Xiaoyun stepped into the building, he could feel a cool air blowing onto his hot face as he let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank god this place has air conditioning."

Walking past the entrance, he soon found himself a little lost as the place looked completely different than before.

Fortunately, the paper he had told him the destination he needed to be at, which allowed him to just follow the signs on the wall.

"The First People's Court... Where is it... Here it is..."

After finding a sign that read exactly what he was looking for, he slowly opened the door before a guard inside instantly pulled him over.

"He's the people's assessor, let him in." A judge in the middle murmured as soon as he saw Xiaoyun.

"Thank you. Sorry for being a little late." Xiaoyun apologized as the guard led Xiaoyun all the way to the middle.

"You're just on time... Ahem, the court session may begin."

---

A few hours later...

Xiaoyun was bored out of his mind as the past five cases were overwhelmingly just petty thieves.

The defendant was attempting to get a lighter sentence in front of a court, hoping it would be lighter than what the police had offered.

In reality, it was the same sentences that the police offered while they were in detention, wasting the court's time.

Still, it does raise concern in Xiaoyun's mind, considering four of the cases involved people who were all recent refugees living off the basic government handouts.

They couldn't find a stable job and were fed up with living on porridge to porridge every single day in the public square.

"The court finds you guilty of three counts of trespassing, one count of shoplifting, and one count of damaging public property.

We also find you breaking your bail condition of your previous shoplifting crime. The sentencing will be 3 years in prison and 300 hours of community service."

"Do you wish to appeal?"

As the judge laid the final punishment, the defendant remained silent as he slowly shook his head.

"Then the verdict is final. Guards, you may escort him out of the court."

With two guards coming up to lead the defendant away, the sixth case of the day was finally done.

"Almost done... One more and it's free lunch."

The only other People's Assessor next to Xiaoyun murmured as the guards began escorting the next person to the defendant's seat.

"Free lunch? They give that?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"Yeah, duh. Why else would I be here... This is your first time here?" The man quietly asked.

"Mhm..."

As the court resumed, the two quickly fell back into silence as the judge struck the gavel to start the court session.

This time, however, rather than some boring case that involved some desperate refugees, it was people whom Xiaoyun knew.

"Oh boy... This is the reason I got called on today, wasn't it?"

The person next to Xiaoyun murmured as he instantly recognized the two defendants, who the guards escorted into their spot.

"Court is now in session. Defendants Zhang and Defendant Li, you two have been accused of accepting bribes, infringing on citizens' personal information, and abuse of power.

Prosecutor, please read the charges."

"Thank you, Your Honor... The Department of Intelligence had found charges between April and June of this year.

The defendant, while serving as the head of the IT department and the head of the telecommunication department, had accepted bribes worth up to 2.4 million NRC of goods and luxury items.

In return, the two of them had provided unauthorized access to citizens' call records and private conversations between citizens, specifically phone calls of Li's salvage group's competitors.

It had violated state regulations and the rights of citizens. His acts constitute the crime of accepting bribes, corporate espionage, and abuse of power."

As the prosecutor laid out the case, the two defendants looked further and further down as their face was filled with regret.

---

After almost ten minutes had passed, all of the evidence was laid down before the court, as the case was much bigger than Xiaoyun had ever imagined.

It was a months-long crime that had affected multiple rival salvage groups within Foshan and Guangzhou.

To his eyes, it was the most blatant case of corruption to help a singular salvage group gain hidden knowledge of what they were planning to salvage.

"Defendant Zhang, do you understand the charges and the evidence against you?" The judge asked.

"I understand. I admit I had accepted bribes, but I didn't realize it was this serious. I thought I only gave away call records." Defendant Zhang answered.

"Defendant, were you aware that these records contained private communication data of thousands of citizens?

And please think carefully, this is under oath... As a telecommunication expert, can you really not know about the information you sent?"

The prosecutor questioned again, not really satisfied with the previous answer given by the defendant.

After a short silence, Zhang changed his answer.

"Yes, I knew. But I really didn't know it was this big of a crime... I was the one who took the action. Please spare my wife."

Before the defendant could speak up again, the defense attorney quickly stepped in to calm him down.

"Your Honors, my client admits to wrongdoing, but I ask the court to consider that the two of them had cooperated fully with investigators after they had been caught.

They both had returned part of the illegal gains and had shown remorse... I'm here to argue for a lighter sentence."

"Defendant Zhang, did you ever think about the harm this would cause ordinary people?" The people's assessor next to Xiaoyun questioned.

The defendant hesitated for a second, then spoke up again.

"No... I was blindsided by money."

"Very well. Both sides have presented their statements. Defendant Zhang, you may make a final plea." The judge ordered.

"I regret what I did. I ask the court for leniency... Please, my wife hasn't done anything. I did this all behind her back."

As Zhang said his last word, his wife continued to remain silent as the guard soon escorted everyone out of the room.

Only the judge and the two People's assessors remained in the room.

"What do you guys think of the sentencing? I had thought of 12 years in prison for Zhang and five years in Prison for Li, fining them both for 500,000 NRC."

"I got no problems with it." Xiaoyun instantly answered.

"I think the charges regarding state regulation should be lifted. I don't think transmission of data that's technically outside of the settlement's jurisdiction is illegal."

Seeing the other People's Assessor rejecting one of the charges, the judge didn't compromise a single bit.

"But the intention Zhang had was to help one company over another using a public office, regardless of whether it was outside of our boundary." The judge argued.

"That is true... Then I have no problem with the sentencing."

With the other People's assessor voting in favor, all three of them had reached a unanimous decision as the judge signaled the guard to bring them in.

"Ahem, after reviewing the evidence and hearing the arguments, this court finds:

The defendant Zhang accepted bribes totaling 2.3 million yuan, guilty of the crime of accepting bribes.

The defendant provided citizens' personal telecommunication data for profit, guilty of the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information.

The actions constitute an abuse of power as a state functionary... Therefore, the court sentences Zhang to 12 years' imprisonment and fines him 500,000 yuan.

His wife, Li, will be sentenced to five years as a conspirator for not reporting abuse of power in a public office... Her sentence will be five years."

As soon as the judge mentioned the sentencing time for his wife, Zhang let out a sigh of relief as if this was the outcome he was hoping for.

"Do the two of you wish to appeal?" The judge asked one last time.

"No, sir."

"Then the verdict is final. Guards, you may escort the two of them out of the court."