Midnight, Under the Starry Sky.
"I didn't expect you to break your promise of never taking a life just to deal with me… it is my victory, I guess…"
A man lay below a cliff with a bullet wound on his abdomen.
Although he was bleeding and was on the verge of death, there was no such emotion called 'pain' on his face, which was very odd and disturbing.
In fact, he seemed very peaceful and calm even in this desperate situation.
"Don't be stupid… You forced me to do this. You are too dangerous of a man to be kept alive!"
A police officer wearing bulletproof armor was sitting right beside the dying man.
He had his back leaned against a tree, and there was a gun in his hand.
Even though the dying man was defenseless and on the verge of death, the police officer refused to put his gun away, and he was pointing it at the dying man's head while panting heavily.
"Haha… Seriously, dude, I am the one who got shot, and you are the one panting like that?... How did you even become a cop like that?..."
Hearing that question, the police officer replied angrily,
"First of all… don't talk to me! Just die quietly, you scum! Also, I have already told you many times how I became a cop!"
"I tried to warn you many times already! But you refused to listen!"
The dying man smirked at the police officer's words and replied in a weirdly calm voice,
"You do remember that I have planted a bomb that can kill-"
The police officer shook his head and interjected immediately.
"Don't bullsh*t with me! I know that bomb is fake! I know what kind of person you are better than anyone, you f*cking bastard!"
"You are a sh*tty bastard who can't see others in pain! You literally became a scientist just to make the world a better place for everyone!"
While speaking those words, the police officer could not keep his emotions in check.
"I always considered you a close friend! I warned you not to make rash decisions!"
"Many big companies now consider you a threat to their existence! They had bribed everyone from above to the lowest levels! If you are caught alive, you will be tortured to death, you bast*rd!"
"All your research will be stolen!... No, it will be destroyed!!"
The police officer could not keep his emotions in check; tears fell from his eyes as his hand holding the gun trembled.
He looked at his dying friend with blurry eyes and a pained expression.
"If I don't kill you here today… I will also lose everything… and you know that I became a cop to get enough money to afford my mother's medical bills!"
"I have a family to take care of too you know!"
"You have become a wanted criminal! I have been forced to do this, and if I don't, they will target my family!"
The dying man smirked at the police officer and replied,
"Hehe… so you have also decided to abandon the 'path' of bringing a better future to this planet… You do know that many people need the technology that I am working on, right?"
"This technology will make modern medicine hundreds of times more efficient and effective! You do understand that destroying it is a crime against humanity itself, right!?"
The police officer cried at the dying man's words, and his entire body shook as the guilt was breaking him from inside out.
"Forgive me… Forgive me, but I can't… I have a family; I have a daughter… t-they took her from me… they kidnapped her…"
"If I don't kill you, I will never see my daughter again… please…"
The dying man could only sigh at those words.
"I see… so those big companies have made their choice; they would rather let the common people suffer than let someone invent a technology to help humanity…"
"I should have seen this coming… I was too busy focusing on research that I forgot to consider the fact that not everyone wants to see the world prosper the way I do…"
A smile appeared on his face as he raised his hand toward the sky.
The night sky was just as beautiful as always; there were countless stars shining in the dark sky, and the moonlight was caressing his face, making him fascinated with the scenery.
"This is a 10/10 bleed-out spot… I am surprised you chose this scenery for my final moments… I completely took you for a blockhead…"
The police officer's knees went weak hearing his friend crack jokes even in this kind of situation.
"You… I hate you, man. I hate you… why did you became so close to me like this… It would have been better if we never became friends…"
The warm night breeze caressed the dying scientist's face as he replied,
"Hehe… I am usually very serious; I wonder why I am in such a weirdly calm mood…"
"Hey… You know, even if they kill me today, will that stop people from inventing new things?"
"Not at all, there will be more people like me… even if I die there will still be people in the future who will still continue my research. I have already made enough of a foundation for them…"
The police officer could not keep listening to his friend, as those words were killing him from inside; he refused to divert the direction of his gun, as he knew he might lose his strength to attack his friend if he retreated now.
"Forgive me, my friend… But I care more about my family than the rest of humanity! Everyone else can go to sh*t!"
"I j-just want my little daughter back man! I just want her safe!"
The police officer finally found his resolve as the face of his innocent daughter flashed in his mind.
He placed the gun on his friend's head and said,
"You are a wanted criminal who's wanted for researching illegal drugs; there's a shoot-on-sight order against you…"
"I am a police officer, I follow the law, I do not have the duty to go against my duty… I am not your friend right now; I am but a duty-bound officer…"
"Any last words?"
Hearing the question, the scientist grinned and spoke with a wide smile on his face; there was no pain or sadness in those clear eyes.
He even felt like joking in that moment.
"Hehe, delete my search history after I am gone…"
"Also, I hope that I get to pursue more 'knowledge' in my next life; becoming the best scientist in the world is my dream after all…"
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
And with the last words said, the police officer emptied the entire clip on his friend's head!
The scientist's head exploded like a watermelon, and his brain matter splattered everywhere, making the scene look like something straight out of a horror movie.
Once his gun ran out of bullets, the police officer lost his composure and fainted immediately.
And thus, the journey of a talented scientist ended in an unknown ditch, and his body was never found.
He was labelled as a high-level terrorist and never mentioned again in media or records either.
His documents and identification were erased from the world as if he never existed.
All the benefits his research could have brought to the world, lost forever.
The world had lost a gem, humanity had been pushed back several decades, and it was a very unfortunate outcome but a very common one.