The fifty billion people who survived, during the post-war reconstruction period, continuously absorbed a massive amount of radiation, making radiation sickness the most common affliction after the war.
Some people absorbed nuclear radiation beyond the safety threshold, resulting in complete DNA fragmentation.
Those who were exposed to excessive amounts of radiation were almost impossible to treat; their cells would not regenerate, and despite exhausting all medical measures, they could only be kept alive a little longer before ultimately dying in agony.
Fortunately, the global government established after the war gathered the most advanced life scientists from all of humanity, in conjunction with AI, invented a "gene protector."
After the drug became widespread, those with collapsed genes recombined, and thus a group of Radiations capable of adapting to nuclear radiation and even with greatly enhanced bodily functions was born.
Afterward, more and more people deliberately became Radiations, and now, thirty years after the war, there are one billion Radiations worldwide, making up twenty percent of the total population.
And ninety-nine percent of them are 'N-type' Radiations, which is the most common adaptation level.
The man with the hoarse voice in front of him belonged to a higher type, 'R-type,' a rare kind of Radiation.
How rare? Among these prisoners, Gao Xin looked around and saw only one other R-type at the edge of the group, named Mo Qiong.
Beyond that, there were no other R-types, nor any higher types.
"Sigh..." Gao Xin lowered his head, his chest bearing a tag that merely listed his name and number.
Such prison uniforms represented ungmutated normal humans, colloquially known as 'glass people.'
Because of numerous incidences of Radiations accidentally injuring normal people in society, he had seen many related news stories, such as "a man's palm shattered from an overly enthusiastic handshake with an old classmate," or "a man paralyzed from the waist down on his wedding night," and "a woman's hug piercing her boyfriend's rib through his heart."
With such incidents mounting, Radiations increasingly regarded normal humans as too fragile for everyday interactions, hence the nickname 'glass people.'
There is reproductive isolation between different types of Radiations, let alone with normal people; physiologically speaking, they are different species.
"I wish I were a Radiation too."
"Those people can easily develop superior physical fitness and perception, not to mention various amazing abilities, they're practically a different species."
"The gene protector made by AI has a one hundred percent success rate, anyone can become a Radiation by being exposed to radioactive material causing their genes to collapse and then injecting a bottle."
"But now that thing is just too damn expensive, I missed out on the era of free distribution of the drug during my parents' time..."
"If... if I had known I'd be deported here, I'd have obtained a bottle by stealing or robbing if I had to."
Gao Xin murmured to himself in his heart, filled with regret.
But then he tensed up, his teeth clenched with resentment: "No, this isn't my fault, I was framed, I shouldn't even be here!"
With this thought, Gao Xin looked around unwilling to accept his fate.
Crime Prison Island was already not far away, getting closer within his field of view. Once on the island, there would be no hope of appeal.
Even though he had been proclaiming his innocence constantly from capture to trial, it had been to no avail.
But now, still on the military vessel escorting the prisoners, this might be his last chance to appeal for exoneration.
"Officer! Officer! I've been wronged!"
"How could I dare to kill someone, I don't even know that person!"
"I'm innocent! Truly innocent, don't send me to Crime Prison Island!"
A man suddenly shouted out, appealing to a navy guard on the side.
This caught Gao Xin off guard. Were other people wronged too?
Just as he was thinking of how to appeal, someone had already taken the lead, and not just verbally but breaking away from the line of prisoners.
"Bang!"
A navy soldier stepped forward and kicked, and the shouting man was instantly sent flying.
The man, clutching his leg and trembling, cried out in pain, unable to get up from the ground.
Then a white-coated military officer came over and said, "Everyone line up according to the red line on the deck!"
The kicked prisoner, clutching his thigh: "Officer, my leg is broken!"
"Repeat after me, glass person, get back in line," the white-coated officer said with an icy gaze.
The prisoner with the broken leg cried out, proclaiming his innocence while obediently getting back in line, struggling to crawl back to where he belonged.
The rest of the prisoners suddenly fell silent, not daring to make a sound.
Gao Xin too lowered his head in bitterness; he didn't know how many times he had appealed. If it had been effective, he wouldn't have ended up here.
The thoughts in his heart were merely clinging to the last thread of hope, but the fate of the man with the broken leg had utterly extinguished it.
"Swoosh!" It was at this moment that a figure suddenly sprang out, aiming straight at a marine, passing by like lightning.
Someone had taken advantage of the commotion centered on the man with the broken leg, attempting to escape!
"Thud!" The marine was instantly knocked out, and before his body had fully fallen, his rifle fell into the hands of the person who hit him.
"Tat-tat-tat-tat!"
His marksmanship was exceptional; he fired bullets at the marines around the vessel in one breath.
Precise and swift, he took down all the marines' guns, and these soldiers were at various positions and elevations!
"I'm out of here!" he said with a light laugh as he leaped into the sea, thinking to leave with elegance.
The incident happened so fast that most people hadn't caught on, some hadn't even turned to look.
But the white-coated officer had taken notice, more than that, his eyes shot menacingly.
Quite literally, as his right eye emitted a blazing laser striking right at the escapee's chest.
"Boom!" A muffled sound followed, the target's chest blew open, and his body fell rigidly.