Chapter 183 The Real Humanitarian Affairs Department
The young woman, Lu Chan, was openly trying to sow discord, and the young researcher immediately became wary and tense.
Meanwhile, his signs of breaking free from the rapid hypnosis quickly weakened, as the words of the young girl Lu Chan seemed to have a magical effect, rapidly dissolving his hard-won defenses.
I feel as if I have vaguely grasped the truth behind this change.
"There must be a dozen or so more outstanding individuals like you in this stronghold. Originally, I wouldn't have been able to hypnotize you with this level of mental magic, but now I can do it easily. Do you understand why?" The young girl Lu Chan said in a teacher's tone, "A steadfast spirit can only truly shine when it practices the path it believes in. Your once impenetrable heart is now full of flaws, and I easily breached it. This is all because your hearts are filled with contradictions."
"……you're right."
Under the power of mental magic, the young researcher blurted out his true feelings, things he shouldn't have said.
"When I decided to join the Humanitarian Division, I thought I was making a contribution to the country. Even if it meant working for a 'wicked organization' that couldn't see the light of day, it didn't matter. After all, it was right under Luo Shan's nose. The country couldn't openly establish a department to research how to deal with demon hunters, so it could only retreat behind the scenes and provide silent support, while putting on an act of distancing itself from them. We insiders weren't allowed to investigate the background of our own organization either."
"And I believe that my efforts will eventually give back to society. It doesn't matter if I don't get the recognition of the masses, as long as I can prevent the future of the Luoshan superhumans ruling the secular world, I am willing to sacrifice myself... But what will the result be?"
"They're waving the banner of saving ordinary society, but from the top down, they don't care about the lives of ordinary people at all. They even use living people... even ordinary people as experimental subjects, all they think about is how to become the next Luo Shan. How can I believe that the future the Humanitarian Affairs Department is building will have a better society?"
"I even started to suspect that we had been deceived, that our backers were not the government at all, but just a group of ambitious people in high positions who were hiding their true intentions and possessed huge amounts of money and connections..."
"So you're just slacking off here?" I asked curiously. "Are there many people like you in the Humanitarian Affairs Department?"
He still seemed unwilling to answer, while the young girl Lu Chan repeated my question verbatim, eliciting his answer: "...It's not a small number, at least. Some of them have been given a handle by higher-ups, forcing them to devote all their energy to the project, but they can't produce good results with that negative mindset."
"Given your hypocritical attitude, I doubt... Silver Mask will stand idly by and do nothing." The young girl, Lu Chan, seemed to be asking the question intentionally.
"Hmph... Anyway, Silver Mask can solve any problem, so we might as well just dump all the problems on him." The young researcher said dismissively, "Cyborg technology, Seed of the Heart, Project Twelve, Reality Trimming... Whenever the Humanitarian Division urgently needs something, he can always bring it out just in time, like a mechanical cat."
"The Humanitarian Affairs Department is now overly reliant on him, from the top down, and that's probably something he'd like to see. That's why the Doctor urges us to focus on our own research, but the Doctor is ultimately Silver Mask's 'possible clone,' and there's probably a conspiracy involving Silver Mask in this."
"That guy is an absolute devil; he has no regard for the future of the Humanitarian Division. Accepting his gift is undoubtedly a case of drinking poison to quench thirst. The higher-ups and those behind the scenes all seem jubilant, but all I see is utter devastation. Especially that Seed of the Heart... what exactly is that thing?"
"The Humanitarian Division's main research focus is on human modification technology based on the Seed of the Heart, but I feel like we're just doing the work for him and some other entity behind him."
Towards the end, it seemed that he was no longer doing it because of the girl Lu Chan's quick hypnosis, but simply to vent his pent-up emotions and speak his true feelings.
His words also answered a question that had been bothering me.
Since the Humanitarian Division is an underground organization established to resist the predetermined rule of Luoshan, its establishment time should not be earlier than the "Fantian Incident" three years ago. Is it really enough for the Humanitarian Division to develop the supernatural technology it has today in such a short period of time?
Neither the monster-transformation technology nor the methods of manipulating reality were developed by the Humanitarian Division itself. The former was a creation of Ying Lingyun, combining "future technology obtained through unknown channels" with "seeds of the heart obtained through unknown channels"; while the latter was purely the power of fragments of the Divine Seal. Apart from these "external forces," the Humanitarian Division itself seems to have accomplished nothing; they shouldn't have achieved their current status.
However, this doesn't mean they were incompetent. Analyzing strange objects with scientific and technological means is not something that can yield results in a short time. Furthermore, the pressure from Luo Shan forced them to abandon the proper path of technological accumulation and choose a shortcut.
This so-called "shortcut" is a heavy reliance on the unknown technology provided by Ying Lingyun... No, the key may not lie there. Extraordinary measures in extraordinary times are a reasonable decision, and relying on powerful external forces in a still weak initial stage is not incomprehensible. Once this stage is overcome, whether one abandons external forces and strives for self-reliance or turns the tables and absorbs external forces, there is no guarantee of hope.
So what is the root of the problem? Is it that the Humanitarian Affairs Department, while upholding the banner of ideals, is targeting living people and even ordinary people, causing members like this young researcher to feel disillusioned?
But as the senior researcher had said before, time was running out for the Humanitarian Affairs Department. Even if the department's higher-ups and backers weren't as selfish as the young researcher thought, they were certainly not at a stage where they could afford to be concerned with ethical taboos. To cling to moral baggage in the face of such a behemoth as Luo Shan was simply courting death.
What is the right thing for them to do?
Is this the "real Humanitarian Affairs Bureau" that the young girl Lu Chan wanted me to see?
I have never studied the subject of "organizational management," and those who have made significant contributions to the field might find my thoughts to be merely those of an outsider. I also have little interest in the topic itself. In my view, the most noteworthy information revealed by the young researcher is Ying Lingyun's unique position within the Humanitarian Affairs Department.
I suspected from the beginning that he was not of one mind with the Humanitarian Affairs Department, but I did not expect that his position within the Humanitarian Affairs Department would be so detached.
“…Kill me then.” The young researcher closed his eyes. “I have conducted countless inhumane human experiments on ordinary people here, and being killed by you victims dozens or hundreds of times would not be enough to repay me. Although I will be restarted and resurrected even if I die, I have no objection if you want to torture me or take your anger out on me.”
They were quite composed, though.
The young girl, Lu Chan, sighed softly, then stepped forward, raised her right hand, and touched his brow with her index and middle fingers together.
"You should go to sleep first."
The young researcher was instantly hypnotized, fell backward to the ground, and lost consciousness.
If we keep this young researcher alive, he might report our whereabouts to his superiors after he wakes up—especially regarding the escape of the young girl Lu Chan. Perhaps it would be better to kill him on the spot. His death would certainly attract the guards, but if we really want to play hide-and-seek, I do have a way.
However, since the young girl Lu Chan does not want to kill people indiscriminately, I will respect the will of my companions for the time being.
At that moment, seemingly awakened by the sound of the young researcher falling to the ground, the "strange man" bound to the cross next to him woke up.
He saw us immediately.
“Lu Chan? And…” he said, looking at me, “Are you that child?”
Why does everyone call me "kid" the moment they open their mouths? I'm about to get angry.
Although I am indeed a child now.
"Why are you here? These cells should only be accessible to those with the appropriate permissions, and breaking the magic seal is practically impossible..." The demon hunter seemed to be sorting out his chaotic thoughts. "And that researcher lying on the ground... Could it be that you've found a way to escape from this place?"
"Not yet," said the young girl, Lu Chan. "We are working on it."
"Could you please liberate us all too?" he asked urgently. "If you could liberate all of us... no, even just half of us, if we unite, we can definitely escape this... place..."
I originally wanted to tell him that there was no way to escape from here normally, but before I could even speak, he froze on the spot, his expression shifting rapidly, muttering to himself, "Wait, what's with this feeling of déjà vu... Have I said something like this before?"
"You're still the same as ever. Last time, and the time before that, when I was secretly working with you to plan the prison break, you said the same thing to me," said the young girl, Lu Chan.
"Last time... and the time before that?" The witcher's expression grew increasingly blank. "What are you talking about... No, I remember. Something similar happened before..."
"—You should be waking up by now." The girl, Lu Chan, seemed to use that magical voice again.
"..."
Upon hearing this, the Witcher remained silent for a long time, then revealed a bitter yet relieved emotion, saying in a desperate tone, "...So that's how it is. So I'm already dead...we're all dead."
As he spoke, he exuded an aura of death, as if he were about to die.
(End of this chapter)
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