Matthew narrowed his eyes slightly at Dalton. He didn't say a word and simply stared at him.
Dalton realized he had misspoken. He was so scared he didn't know what to do, the atmosphere in the car suddenly became tense.
Matthew continued to stare at him for a while, before slowly saying, "A few expert martial artists, eh? I think I really am a little scared, so how about I kill you first to give myself some courage?"
Dalton shook with fright.
"Please don't kill me. I said it all wrong. You... People will be afraid of you, never the other way around, just like how I'm afraid of you."
In the back seat, Kingston tensed up too, worried that Matthew really might kill Dalton. If that happened, they would never be able to talk things out.
Matthew said coldly, "Throughout the entire journey here, everything you brought up about Julian involved women and nothing else. You didn't mention anything about what businesses he did, who he worked with, or what shady business dealings he had.
"So tell me, what use is there in keeping you alive? To displease me?"
Dalton yelled frantically, "I didn't know that's what you wanted to know about! I know a lot of things regarding Julian, so I can tell you everything.
"Julian has produced several highly profitable medicines, of which I've heard two of them are illegal. He has them produced under the guise of cold medicines, and the waste from the production is always secretly disposed of around midnight."
When Kingston heard Dalton mention production waste, he immediately asked, "When did he start producing the illegal drugs?"
Dalton glanced back at Kingston, then at Matthew. Seeing as Matthew said nothing, he replied, "Two years ago."
Two years ago?
Kingston thought for a moment, then said, "I knew it. Two years ago, during summer, the population of Woolfields all contracted respiratory diseases pretty much around the same time. I was shocked, thinking that a plague had broken out, but the people from other cities weren't affected.
"Furthermore, they would fall ill again even after recovering and never seemed to get better. There would always be people who became sick again after some time. I finally know the reason for it now."
Dalton said nothing, looking anxiously at Matthew.
Then, Kingston seemed to suddenly recall something. He asked, "There were two new kinds of medicines added to production last year, right?"
Dalton was slightly shocked. "How did you know? There were indeed two new medicines added."
Kingston was quite angry to hear this and couldn't resist saying angrily, "Tell me, did one of the medicines start production in the first half of the year, in March? And did the other one start production in August?"
Dalton nodded. "Yes, one on 12th March and one on 15th August."
Profit? Kingston looked as if someone had punched him in the gut. He cursed angrily.
"Julian is truly heartless! He's just scum! He doesn't care for people's lives as long as he can make money.
"In the first half of that year, a few people with cases of skeletal fluorosis surfaced, while there were a dozen or so cases of cancer in the later half of the year.
"He earned his money but sentenced more than 20 people to death in the process. There's no telling how many more people are still in the incubation period."
Matthew's heart leaped in his chest. He had often seen news of cancer clusters forming due to pollution on television. There would be headlines like "10 biggest cancer clusters in XXX village" or "18 biggest cancer clusters in the country", but they had all felt like distant issues from him.
But this time, he was getting to know one up close and personal.
There was just one thing he couldn't wrap his head around, so he looked back at Kingston and asked, "You're doing all you can for Woolfields, even to the point of risking your life. Why then do so many people not want anything to do with you and even see you as a jinx?"
Kingston's expression was dark as he replied, "I'm a plague doctor who frequently works with plagues. They're worried that they'll be hit by plagues because of me, so they treat me as a walking plague myself.
"What's more, there've been far too many people falling victim to respiratory diseases in these two years, with more and more cases of skeletal fluorosis, cancer, dementia, and people with psychiatric conditions popping up. They can't find the cause, so they blame it all on me instead.
"I... I ...
"I..."
It was as if he was revealing a long-buried secret. He wanted to spill his thoughts but didn't seem to know what to say.