That dawn arrived earlier than usual. The day's first light slid across the city's towering buildings, reflecting on the old, blood stained asphalt. The floating holo ads were still scorched, their data stream flickering the message: "Level 3 Security Incident Under Investigation."
Võ Văn Kiệt Boulevard, which had echoed with screams, thunder, and the sound of steel clashing against steel just one night before, was now only filled with the sound of autonomous street sweepers rolling by, scrubbing away the traces as if trying to erase a memory that should not be recalled.
But within the city's central data archives, a strange eight second audio clip remained, featuring the echoing sound of a bronze drum amidst the artificial rain.
Special Treatment Room. Gia Định People's Hospital. Trần Trung opened his eyes. The white light pierced his pupils, then softened into a translucent glow.
The first sensation was emptiness. Below his right knee, nothing remained. The monitor by the bed pulsed with a steady green rhythm, like the voice of a silent sentinel.
A middle aged man in a white blouse entered. His hair was streaked with gray, and his eyes had seen too many cross the boundary between life and death.
"You're awake, Trần Trung," a gentle Northern accent said. "Congratulations, you survived."
Trung gave a slight nod. His voice was hoarse: "My wife and children? The little ones?"
"All safe. The police are protecting them in a special quarantine zone. The two other children and the kidnapped group are all fine. You saved them all."
Trung closed his eyes. Images of the previous night surged back like a fierce wave the flashing lights, the smell of smoke, the children crying, the hot blood flowing, and finally, the two words, "SÁT THÁT," carved into his chest, glowing like a sacred inscription.
Beside him, someone had left a holo newspaper. When Trung touched it, the paper came alive, projecting a photo of him, the blood-soaked man standing in the street. The main headline was a bold red slash:
"SÁT THÁT MAN HERO OR REBEL?"
Below it, 3D comments hovered:
"A man like that deserves a statue!"
"Hero or lunatic? The system has police his unilateral intervention is against the law!"
"If everyone had a heart like his, this country would fear nothing."
Trung turned off the screen, his gaze distant. He understood that light and shadow always go hand in hand. The door opened. A young police officer entered, his dark uniform overlaid with the blue hologram of the Security Bureau.
"Hello, Trung. I am Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Lâm. I need to ask you a few things."
"Go ahead."
Lâm opened a digital notebook, his voice steady:
"Do you know who the people you fought were?"
"No. I only saw them kidnapping children."
"We confirm they are a cross-border human trafficking offshoot, operating under the cover of an international tourism conglomerate. Traces indicate intervention from the high tech crime network of Vạn Sinh Corp, an international energy group. You inflicted heavy damage on them, but it's only the tip of the iceberg."
Trung remained silent. In his mind, the voice of the laughing man from that night still echoed: "Your leg is gone, how can you keep fighting?"
Lâm closed his window.
"You acted like a soldier. But the superiors require an investigation, as you might have exceeded justifiable self defense."
Trung smiled faintly:
"If protecting others is exceeding, then I accept it."
The officer looked up, meeting a gaze that was both gentle and steely. He nodded slightly, speaking softly, as if to himself:
"There are things... the law hasn't had time to name."