Chapter 183 Necessary Erasure
It was 3 p.m. that day.
Eoubs East Xia Branch, D012 District.
Inside the self-service restaurant.
A well-dressed, elegant man approached Gore, who was eating steak.
"Would it be convenient for us to talk?" As the other person asked this question, he had already pulled the chair opposite him outwards—and naturally took the glass of whiskey that he hadn't even opened yet and gulped down a large mouthful. Clearly, his previous question was just a polite formality.
"You're that Sergio's boss and close friend—Hamilton, right?" Gore didn't say anything like "Sure, do as you please," but instead looked up halfway through his sitting down and said.
“Yes, it’s me.” Hamilton lit a cigarette, giving him a look that said, “What can you do to me?”
"Sigh... Speak, what do you want?" Gore had a pretty good understanding of the current situation in Siberia, because Roy had instructed him beforehand that for this kind of joint control mission, he would send a reliable informant to conduct intelligence gathering. The informant was a highly skilled and top-notch man who would not keep any secrets. So whatever Gore wanted to know, Hamilton would answer as soon as he asked.
"Let me tell you beforehand, the 'I' in front of you right now is just a projection of a life form from another dimension." He said this with sharp eyes, and his next sentence was: "The original entity in the original node has just finished a fight and is cursing in the infected zone right now."
"Hmm, I get it. It's obviously my cheap older brother's doing." Gore instantly sorted out his thoughts and then asked, "So why did he go to the trouble of projecting you from a parallel world and sending you to me?"
If it's just about "transmitting intelligence," a satellite phone call or a message sent via a terminal would suffice; there's absolutely no need to bring someone over for a talk.
“Of course, it’s to tell you things in person that are not convenient to communicate through communication devices,” Hamilton replied with a smile.
“Oh? At this point, what could be inconvenient to communicate? Those terminal communications might leave traces in the database; we can just ask Sheen, this network genius, to help erase them later,” Gore added.
Unexpectedly, the other party's next sentence raised the topic to a level reminiscent of a spy movie: "So... I'd like to ask you, how much do you actually know about this 'cyber genius' you've been talking about?"
Upon hearing this, his expression immediately changed: "Are you suggesting that she's an undercover agent sent from the Americas?"
“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant. She’s like the other cards you have down there; she doesn’t belong to any absolute power. She just acts purely for her own benefit.” Hamilton explained in a very relaxed tone, “The problem is… it’s often these seemingly passive cards that are the ones that can be deadly.”
After listening, Gore pondered for a few seconds and then asked, "I've known Sheen for quite a few years. I was introduced to her by Roy before he went to the Arctic Circle. If she's a long-hidden undercover agent... I'd rather you just tell me directly, and I'll kill her."
"Don't worry, she's definitely not an undercover agent. What's the point of being an undercover agent these days? The continents are fighting over resources of forbidden materials. If this continues, the earth might explode." Hamilton shook his head, paused for a second, and then added, "I can only say that Ethan Jonas right now is just like me, someone who doesn't belong in this time and space at all."
"Please speak like a human being." Gore felt that this was a bit illogical, but then he thought of the attack they had encountered on the return flight and seemed to understand something.
Hamilton could tell what he was thinking, so he just shrugged and continued, "Zhang Yisen's infection index has reached its peak. He is the only person Sheen cares about, and you could say he is her weakness in this life."
"So, to avoid the uncontrollable consequences of your reckless trading, Roy temporarily kept him safe and extracted a complete version of him from the parallel world."
Gore listened, thought for a moment, and then read aloud, "I knew this bastard seemed a bit strange. He survived the plane crash even though his special abilities were sealed, and they even sent someone to pick him up. Turns out, that's how it is..."
Then he questioned, "Isn't there more to his story than just this?"
“That’s right. In order to advance the 659 research project, and considering the special abilities within him, Roy intends to cultivate him into a vessel.”
“He originally planned to choose Gu Heng, but that guy will eventually die inside 2407, so the best candidate right now is Ethan, who can come back alive from under the ‘human head balloon’.”
"In fact... regarding the fate of that He Yu operative, the council and the top leaders initially adopted a 'kill him without mercy' attitude. After all, he was completely uncontrollable. His willingness to help us control 2407 was simply to retrieve the core fragment of 659."
"But in the end... that plan was temporarily withdrawn. I don't know what your brother was thinking, so we'll just leave it for now."
Upon hearing this, Gore paused for a few seconds before saying, "Judging from what you're saying—it seems like you've been through a lot at this point in your life."
"Then can you tell me how many people will die in this Siberian control mission, and who will come back alive?"
"Well, I'm sorry I can't just tell you that casually, of course I'm not deliberately playing the riddle-maker." Hamilton picked up his glass, took a few more sips, and then slowly said, "To be honest, I died several times there. Everyone dies a few times, but not everyone is everyone, so it's really hard to explain."
“Ha…your nonsensical description reminds me of a certain annoying guy…” Gore replied with a forced smile, “I’d like to know what kind of deal you and Roy have struck this time.”
“Revenge, of course, Mr. Gore,” Hamilton replied without hesitation. “I got involved for revenge. Why would I appear before you without any burden if not to accomplish something so simple?”
"Also, do you know what the biggest difference is between you and Roy?"
"When facing the game of chess, all you think about is relaxing control and always making them willingly do things for you through equivalent exchange. It's a simple strategy, but it takes a lot of effort to achieve a qualitative change from a quantitative one."
"But your brother's approach was to make the most of all the cards that were available for use, and to get them to jump onto the stage as vanguards in the most normal way that would not arouse suspicion from others."
"In my opinion, there is no difference between the two." Gore said this from the bottom of his heart. Aren't they both just using the people below them? What's the difference?
“Of course.” Hamilton raised an eyebrow and answered in a concluding tone.
"You're doing this for your own selfish reasons, to bring down the whole Eoubs, because in your view, this is the best way to end the suffering."
"But Roy—"
"Whatever he does is for all of humanity... and for you, his good-for-nothing brother."
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