Chapter Seventy-Three

Xiao Wei arrived in time, subdued the thugs, and saved the survivors.

The other two subway stations weren't so lucky.

When reinforcements arrived, the subway station was in a mess, and the attackers had disappeared.

Due to the excessive number of casualties, with many people dying in the line of duty, the person in charge agreed that his subordinates with superpowers should "appropriately" take measures to extract information about the attackers from the four people who released the poison gas.

"I'm innocent! I just took a part-time job online, who knew I'd be doing something so despicable?! If I'd known it was about releasing poison gas, I wouldn't have done it!" one person cried out desperately.

The lie detector expert opposite him had icy eyes. "Lying."

An answer that does not match one's understanding is a lie.

In other words, to fool a lie detector, you must first fool yourself.

Only if you believe you are innocent can you have even the slightest chance of getting away with it.

"I was just a little greedy, attracted by the high salary, daily pay, and easy work... I swear, I didn't mean to harm anyone!"

The suspect tried to defend himself.

The lie detector superpower: "Lying".

The policeman shouted, "What kind of job offers high pay, daily wages, and is easy to do? Isn't this obviously a scam? Can you honestly say you didn't suspect anything was wrong?"

"I..." The suspect stammered, lowering his head and instinctively avoiding eye contact.

"There are four people arrested. If you refuse to confess, others will," the lie detector expert said coldly. "You can stay in prison and repent properly."

No!

The suspect panicked and wanted to tell the whole story. But once he revealed everything he knew, he would likely face legal judgment, putting him in a dilemma.

Next door interrogation room.

A young man in his late twenties remained calm. He answered all the questions the police asked after only a few. However, his tone showed no remorse, but rather a fanaticism.

"I volunteered; this was a test from the Great Leader. If I passed, I would become a distinguished superhuman. Unfortunately, something went wrong along the way, and things didn't go well."

"Why harm your own kind? Did you know that cats and tigers once shared a common ancestor, as did humans and apes? But now, would a tiger consider a cat one of its own? The same applies to humans."

"If people don't feel guilty for killing apes, why should I feel sorry for the deaths of ordinary people?"

At this point, the young man became even more excited, spreading his arms wide and shouting, "The world has changed! Superpowered individuals will be the masters of the next century! Ordinary humans are about to exit the stage of history!"

"Whether they like it or not, it's obvious that things will develop this way."

"As for me, I simply recognized reality and decided to be great."

The lie detector expert stared at the young man for a long time before suddenly blurting out, "Crazy!"

He was a superhuman, and he never imagined that one day superhumans would break away from humans and become a new species. Yet the evolved human in front of him had already begun to fantasize. What was this if not madness?

Despite being criticized, the young man didn't take it seriously at all, and instead continued to express his unique insights: "Even if we resist, mere humans cannot stop the torrent of history."

"Whether you admit it or not, the reality is that you either become a superhuman or you die."

"Time heals all wounds, and even arguing is pointless."

As he spoke, the young man gave a strange laugh, "When all the ordinary people are dead, and only the superpowered people survive, who will protest or object then?"

In the end, even the police had to admit, "He's completely insane."

The supervisor sent people to interrogate the suspects, hoping to extract information about the attackers from the four men. However, the suspects gave evasive and contradictory answers, fabricating numerous reasons to escape punishment. A lie detector expert refuted each claim, pointing out that the suspects were lying. Then a tense standoff ensued, and finally the police learned...

These people were all peripheral members who wanted to become core members, so they volunteered to participate in terrorist attacks.

The goal is simple: to create events, unleash human potential, and generate more superpowered individuals.

If someone unfortunately dies, it means they carried inferior genes, so it's not a pity they died.

After hearing the report, the person in charge's blood pressure soared, feeling as if they had encountered yet another strange species.

The subordinate continued to report, "They were all acting under orders and had no information about the attackers. The suspects didn't even know that the leader had planned a double attack. The gas was aimed at ordinary citizens, and the assassination was aimed at public officials."

"Our initial guess is that these people are hostile to the government, use ruthless methods, and may already have a murder case on their hands."

"Also, the incident at the subway station was leaked to the media, and now there's a huge uproar online."

"Looks like I won't be able to sleep tonight." The person in charge sighed and threw himself into his work, issuing instructions one by one and directing his subordinates to respond.

After the terrorist attack at the subway station was exposed, countless people were stunned and increasingly felt that the world was unsafe. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was "evolving into the apocalypse".

"It's not enough to just survive; ability is king, and ordinary people will only be trampled on."

"What makes you say that? Even if someone has superpowers, they're still just an ordinary citizen. They should enjoy the same status as everyone else!"

"Ordinary people and superpowered people have the same status? People who say that are usually ordinary people. They can't climb up themselves, so they expect to pull others down."

"What I'm saying is my most genuine feeling in life. I'm not just an ordinary person, but an evolved being who has improved my attributes one or two times, yet I've been trampled on countless times. I'm determined to stop avoiding it and take the initiative to challenge dungeons in dangerous places to farm attribute points."

"I'd like to ask, why are there still ordinary people living so naively? Have they never suffered any injustices in life and don't know the importance of attributes and superpowers? The workplace has already changed to 'superpowered people get promoted first,' and you still tell me that superpowered people and ordinary people are the same! Even a child knows that they are clearly different."

"When ordinary people encounter criminals, they get injured, disabled, or killed. When superpowered individuals encounter criminals, they can subdue them, hand them over to the police station, or at worst, escape. If you're so capable, tell the criminals to treat everyone equally, giving ordinary people and superpowered individuals the same treatment."

"Haven't you noticed? There are far fewer people surfing the internet. Many accounts suddenly stopped posting one day. It's not about deliberately creating panic; it's just that many people have encountered accidents or incidents and lost their lives."

"In conclusion: The Federation is doomed, humanity is doomed. What can I do in this situation? Take care of ourselves and die a more comfortable death?"

"To be fair, judging from the subway station terrorist attack, the government is indeed unreliable, and self-rescue in times of trouble is more reliable."

"Rely on yourself? I have absolute confidence that you are less reliable than the government!"

As time went on, a sense of oppression and despair spread online.

"...Since the incident began, there have been several cases of self-harm. In order to curb this trend, the Publicity Department has decided to introduce a superhero," the Minister of Publicity said in a deep voice.

Head of Special Rescue Department: ?

Then go ahead and push it! Why are you coming to me?

Do you realize that every minute and second we take now will have to be made up for by working overtime tonight?

Facing the bewildered look of the person in charge, the Minister of Publicity bravely stated, "After multiple rounds of screening, everyone agrees that Xiao Wei, the action team leader of your department, is the most suitable candidate."

The person in charge was stunned. "Who? Who did you say?!"

“Xiao Wei, the action team leader of your department,” the propaganda minister had to repeat, “is a perfect candidate, both in terms of image and ability.”

The person in charge was utterly exasperated.

"A federal hero who leaves work on time every day and never works overtime?" The person in charge felt that the Minister of Propaganda was an undercover agent sent by the enemy. "Look at everyone in the department, who isn't more dedicated than him? If this is exposed, the citizens will distrust the government even more!"

The propaganda minister, however, said, "Didn't we stay at the subway station? We didn't leave when it was time to leave; we even participated in the follow-up operations, went to provide reinforcements, and rescued the survivors."

The person in charge, "..."

I work overtime every day, and nobody praises me.

Xiao Wei only worked overtime once in such a long time, and you've already got your eye on her?

What, did working overtime once change your resume or your mindset?

The person in charge stared at the head of the propaganda department as if he were a spy.

"You don't know my difficulties; I had no choice," the propaganda minister began, playing the victim.

"Initially, the attributes of firefighters, doctors, and police officers improved very quickly, and I thought I could cultivate a group of talents. However, the highest attribute level stopped at 6-7. After that, I could only get attribute rewards with an S or higher rating. I don't know if it's because of the potential, or because repeatedly running similar dungeons caused an imbalance in the four dimensions, and the game punished me."

"Ultimately, these people can only become mid-level combatants, not superheroes."

"There are others with high attributes, exceeding 9, but their awakened abilities are average. Looking at all the options, Xiao Wei is still the most powerful."

The person in charge remained silent for a long time before asking, "Is there really no other option?"

"Yes," the Minister of Propaganda admitted frankly. "This time, I plan to introduce three Federation heroes at once. Two of them are from the special forces. The man is a big fan of fighting and has been disciplined before. The woman has a spirit attribute of 9, so her combat ability is slightly weaker."

"His overall score is not as good as Xiao Wei's."

The person in charge covered his face in anguish, "Isn't there a hero candidate who can fight, jump, has outstanding strength, and excellent character?!"

"What nonsense are you spouting? We're all human, how can anyone be perfect?" The propaganda minister curled his lip. "So-called propaganda is about downplaying shortcomings, emphasizing strengths, and giving the public hope."

The person in charge couldn't explain why, but he subconsciously resisted and couldn't bring himself to agree.

The propaganda minister now found it strange, "What serious mistake did Xiao Wei make? Is it worth you being so conflicted?"

At first, he thought that just letting them know would be enough.

The materials have all been collected in secret, and the promotional video has already started to be made.

The person in charge didn't know how to explain. After thinking for a moment, he said, "My colleagues are all working overtime. If it were someone else, they wouldn't be so at ease leaving on time. They would feel apologetic and stay to help out. But Xiao Wei, he left very naturally when it was time."

The head of the publicity department was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "It's just the two of us here. Tell me the truth, are you jealous of Xiao Wei leaving get off work on time every day?"

"Be serious! I'm not joking with you!" the person in charge snapped.

"You volunteered to stay and work overtime, but he wasn't willing, refused to keep you company, and didn't interfere with others, yet you're considered an oddball?" The propaganda minister's expression was rather indescribable. "Listen to yourself, is he even speaking human language?"

"Who volunteered? There's always so much work to do! If we don't work overtime, things that happen today will take half a month to process!" the person in charge exclaimed in frustration.

The head of the propaganda department was too lazy to argue.

"If there are no other issues, then it's settled. You go ahead with your work, I won't bother you any longer."

The person in charge watched helplessly as the head of the propaganda department left, unable to produce any solid evidence to stop him. He thought that if anything went wrong later, he must argue his case based on reason.

He had tried very hard to stop it before.

(End of this chapter)