[October 3, 1999, commissioned by a local....]

[Because the client's body contained excessive heavy metals, I suspected that Sunzhou's groundwater system had been seriously polluted, so I began investigating enterprises within Sunzhou's jurisdiction...]

[Judging from the levels of heavy metals, the degree of pollution, and the dates when the plants were built, Jinyang Steel Plant is the source of the contamination!]

[I filed a lawsuit in court, believing that before long, Jinyang Steel Plant would be rectified...]

Looking at the more detailed information,

Xu Liang fell into thought.

It was precisely because of this that Jin Bo took Jinyang Steel Plant to court, leading to the scene that played out five years ago.

And Luo Jun had only thought he was here to investigate environmental pollution, so he paid no attention and let him investigate as he pleased.

Then... what happened after that?

Thinking of this, Xu Liang kept reading.

[I began investigating the cases brought against Jinyang Steel Plant in recent years.]

[Judging from past trial outcomes, the steel plant as the defendant side did not care much when facing court proceedings.]

[Most of the time, they would simply lose the case and pay compensation. I felt very helpless about this, like I was doing something and yet it was all useless... but once the clients received compensation, perhaps their health might improve somewhat.]

[Just as I was thinking this way, I suddenly discovered something, and that was...]

Xu Liang stopped short when he read this.

Perhaps this was where Jin Bo's investigation took a turn! 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Also, the reason why he fixed his sights on the steel, and ultimately ended up dead!

Xu Liang kept reading patiently.

[I discovered that in 1987—twelve years before now, 1999—Jinyang Steel Plant had, for a short period, received a large number of lawsuits!]

[In these cases, around 1989, a large group of workers at Jinyang Steel Plant suffered bodily harm in a short span of time, and in large batches!]

[According to the case files, a large number of workers experienced organ failure, or developed cancer, the most common being leukemia.]

[The investigation eventually ended with an order for Jinyang Steel Plant to standardize and rectify operations, and with compensation payments as the final resolution.]

[...]

The rate at which workers at steel plants and chemical plants fall ill is far higher than for ordinary people!

So when this case broke, it was treated as a routine case.

But the problem was...

[After 1987, workers no longer showed this sort of concentrated, explosive outbreak of illness!]

[Was it because of standardized rectification? No. I investigated the plant's environment; they had not standardized anything, and even up to now in 1999, they are still operating in violation of regulations.]

[I racked my brains but still couldn't find a breakthrough. That group of workers from 1987 seemed as if they had caught the plague, and only that group had caught the plague....]

[I felt something was wrong and began a detailed investigation focusing on these people.]

[Through the court, I contacted several people who were hospitalized. After several rounds of inquiries, I finally discovered a shocking fact...]

Xu Liang narrowed his eyes.

From this, it was clear that Jin Bo... really did have a sharp mind!

Amid a sea of case files, he had somehow instinctively locked onto a particular group of problematic people!

If he hadn't died....

"Unfortunately, there is no 'if.'" Xu Liang murmured.

Then he read on.

[I discovered something: all the sick workers had actually come into contact with the same batch of scrap steel!]

[What's more, the time of contact was exactly two years before they fell ill, coinciding with the latency period for leukemia!]

[The number of people involved was too coincidental, and the timing too tight; I couldn't help but think more. I began to suspect whether that batch of steel was related to their illnesses.]

[According to the workers' descriptions, inside that batch of steel there were many tinplate boxes that looked like tin cans.]

[Driven by curiosity, some workers had opened the cans, only to discover that they did not contain food, but... some metallic granules!]

[These metallic granules looked a bit like iron filings, but were smoother than iron filings!]

[Afterward, under the boss's prodding over the phone, the workers threw all of those things into the furnace and smelted them into rebar.]

[A sense of dread came over me. I began a detailed investigation into where that batch of steel had gone. In the end, I discovered a horrifying fact: Sunshine Primary School, where my client is, happened to have been built using that very batch of steel...]

"It really is cobalt-60!"

Xu Liang's pupils suddenly contracted as he blurted it out.

To be honest, the moment he saw those metal cans, he had felt something was wrong.

When he read Jin Bo's description that inside the cans was a pile of metallic granules, his heart had already sunk completely...

And Jin Bo had likely come into contact with an old worker—one from the very batch who had handled that steel—so Luo Jun had noticed.

The truth was exactly as Xu Liang imagined.

[Damn it, I've figured it out: the steel was radioactive scrap!]

[What was in those tinplate boxes wasn't anything else, it was industrial radiation sources (cobalt-60)! Without any sorting, they had the workers throw the sources straight into the furnace for smelting!!!]

[Jinyang Steel Plant did not import scrap steel; they imported steel contaminated by radiation!]

[My client did not fall ill because of excessive heavy metals, but because they had been in a radioactive environment for a long time. Damn it, Luo Jun, you beast!]

[I don't dare imagine how many people have been implicated!]

[There's no time to lose. I must get these materials to the case-filing division before the hearing!!!]

This was the last line.

After that, there were no more new documents or materials.

Of course, Xu Liang already knew what happened afterward.

Luo Jun realized what was going on and directly sent people to have Jin Bo killed. Jin Bo died on the eve of the hearing and never even appeared in court.

The case was even decided in favor of the steel plant...

The police conducted an in-depth investigation but failed to solve the case, and everyone believed that the steel plant had no need to kill over something as "simple" as pollutant discharge.