Chapter 14 Don’t bully honest people, you bad guys!

Chapter 14 Don’t bully honest people, you bad guys!

"President, have you finished reading?"

As the sun sets, the light in Wanxiang Hall becomes increasingly dim. This abandoned building is as lifeless as the area itself. Perhaps only a line of framed words hanging on the wall can make it seem a little more lively.

The president has been reading since Chigenmaku left, and has been reading for a whole hour. He paced back and forth in boredom, and when he saw that the light became unsuitable for reading, he interrupted the president with dissatisfaction.

"It's already dark, I'm hungry!"

Fukuzawa Yukichi looked up and suddenly realized that it was getting dark, and he let out a breath.

"Sorry, it's just a little..."

"Hey, what's this article about?"

The president stood up, packed up the documents and put them in the briefcase he had brought with him. He lowered his head, a thoughtful look on his face.

"The Ship of Theseus, when every part of a being is replaced, is this being still the same? That's probably the story."

“Eh—it’s a philosophical point of view.”

Ranpo came over and saw the president just stacking the manuscripts at the beginning. He saw a page of the first section of the article at a glance.

Written in small ink letters on it:

【

…

One of my home use Bionic Man No. 101, version B531.

My first owner was a happy family of three.

Cleaning, cooking, washing clothes, and waking up the masters, day after day, year after year.

They had an expensive old cat, a lazy one, and I picked it up and wiped its smooth fur with cleaning foam.

Then the old cat started purring and rubbed my palm gently.

I have normal body temperature, simulated skin, oily blood, steel bones, and a human-like language system.

I eat with my masters, sleep with them, celebrate festivals with them, and weather disasters with them.

I wake them gently in the morning and say goodnight to them at night.

If nothing unexpected happens, I will accompany them until the end of their lives, until the end of their years.

So, am I… their family?

——The Ship of Theseus, Part 1

】

"... Cunning." Lord Ranpo muttered unhappily. He turned his head and looked at the cherry blossoms in full bloom outside.

"The question is what he thinks."

He said sullenly:

"If he still thinks he is himself, then he will be himself no matter what. It doesn't matter if he changes it once, five or ten times, he will still be himself."

The president didn't say anything, but was listening carefully.

"But if he himself doesn't think that's himself anymore, then it's definitely not himself. The moment the consciousness denies itself, it disappears completely."

He walked out of the room in a hurry and suddenly turned around and leaned against the door frame.

"And then what, President, what is the ending?"

Because it is a long story, the president read the ending first and then started reading from the beginning.

The president thought for a moment and concluded:

"The android didn't want to lose his last self, so he chose to activate the self-destruction program and self-destruct."

The dim space suddenly became quiet, the look in the emerald green eyes sank deeply, the corners of the lightly smiling boy's mouth suddenly flattened, and the clever boy's face became solemn.

The red light of the setting sun shone in from behind him, outlining a gloomy black and red border around him. He stood at the intersection of light and darkness, red and black, and even his existence became rare and obscure.

"He... committed suicide?"

"Well, it seems that the base where he was studied was blown up." The president did not clearly notice his abnormality. He thought and recalled:

"'The death of the self is only a temporary escape. The body will still be dismantled and the consciousness will still be implanted. What is the difference between simply destroying one's own consciousness and giving up existence? I want time to stop at this moment. The end of my individual must be decided by myself. ... I can do it. As long as I want, I can do everything!' Then the protagonist linked the laboratory's network, triggered the laboratory's self-destruction system, and was blown up and disappeared along with the entire laboratory."

Fukuzawa Yukichi sighed:

"A magical world of technology. Will our world become like that? With such complete technology, it is more like an excellent science fiction novel than a literary novel."

However, Edogawa Ranpo didn't hear what he said next.

The huge amount of data was discretely integrated in his brain, and the memories of his past interactions with Qian Jianmu were reproduced frame by frame. He suddenly realized why Qian Jianmu left so decisively this time, even with a hint of escape.

He thought he was feeling uncomfortable because he noticed the cat teacher, but it turned out that -

Are you afraid of him? !

"Hey - I'll take a look at it later! The president really likes this article!"

He suddenly turned his head to meet the dark red sunset. The detective's small cloak was spread out and puffed up. The detective held his hat, his free and easy tone was as relaxed as ever, but there was an indescribable solemnity in his eyes.

They begin to doubt their own existence and are unable to pursue a complete self, so they decide to self-destruct. Then why must the entire laboratory be destroyed along with it?

He thought about it over and over again.

No, there is insufficient data. Is he overthinking it? I hope he's just overthinking it?

The androids blew up a laboratory because they realized that even if they destroyed their consciousness, their bodies would be recycled.

If, think about it in a ridiculous way. If a person cannot die, what would he do in order to completely destroy his own existence?

No matter what, something extremely horrible will happen!

——

At this time, Sengenmaku didn't know that because of his mental problems, he had been put on Edogawa Ranpo's key watch list of dangerous persons.

He is showing Nakai around Yokohama.

Nakai is a rare type who doesn't talk much but is actually always reading and has his own opinions. Although they had never confided in each other, he could sense from Nakai's occasionally anguished tone that Nakai's mind was filled with great doubts about the literature of this world.

If a person is always born in a garbage dump, he can only wonder if there is something wrong with him.

Whenever he encountered problems on weekdays, Nakai would borrow his manuscripts to comfort himself, which seemed like he had survived a disaster.

Chiganmu thought that the kid hadn't eaten much good food, so during this trip to Yokohama, he took him to a coffee shop he had visited a few years ago.

The coffee shop was still quiet, and curry was sold inside, which was a rare sight. However, the eating area was strictly restricted to prevent the overbearing smell of curry from filling the entire store.

On the wall of books are rows and rows of self-printed books. There are several books published by "Literature" magazine, and most of them are unpublished novels written by myself. Qian Jianmu looked at the row of books that he had basically read, and recalled the days when he was struggling in the slums and he would take time out of his busy schedule to read books until he was exhausted.

He actually! no! People who love reading!

After two and a half years in the New World, he has developed the habit of taking down and reading new books on this wall as soon as he sees them. I always feel like his skill points were pointed in a weird direction.

“These are all well written. Do you want to take a look?”

"Is this Mr. Natsume...'s work?" Nakai's face, which usually had almost no expression, showed a rare blank look. "so much?"

"The books here are basically not published, so some of them don't have endings at all. Do you like Mr. Natsume very much?"

“He’s a great writer.”

Look at what you are doing to your child.

In a culturally barren world, the appearance of a well-written book is like a godsend. Zhong Jing was obviously overwhelmed by the sweet rain and was completely stunned.

"The books here cannot be borrowed. Let's go back when we see it's closed."

Qian Jianmu pulled out a book he hadn't read yet and walked to the window seat. Not long after, Nakai came over with a few books. His eyes were still dull, but after a few months of getting along, Qianjianmu guaranteed that his eyes had brightened up.

There was also a calico cat sitting on the counter of the coffee shop, and it seemed that the owner knew him. Qian Jianmu vaguely remembered that he had seen a calico cat here several times before. His eyes swept over the cat that was lazily acting coquettishly, and he didn't pay much attention to it.

Over there, Natsume Soseki continued to act cute for a while before stopping. Seeing that he was finally not alerted, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

What a sharp little devil.

It rubbed its way to the table next to Qianjianmu, where a red-haired boy was sitting. The boy was reading with his head down, and on the other side of the table was a plate of empty curry.

From here, you can just hear the conversation between the duo next door. So the third cat had no choice but to run to the red-haired boy and lie down.

It had seen that red-haired boy before. He had a faint smell of blood on him that could not be washed off. He must be a killer. But that day, as an old writer who was happy to take a break from writing, who dug holes with an excavator and filled them with a small spoon, when he saw the young man staring at the pages of his book in confusion, which he had dug and torn off because he thought the filling was not right, his heart, as a dove-spirited man, felt unusually empty. So he regained his adult form and walked over to communicate with him.

But to be honest, the book was written too long ago, and he himself doesn't know what he was thinking at the time, so even if you ask him about the ending, it will definitely not match. When readers read, they are actually reading themselves. When he doesn't want to write or can't write, the teenager needs guidance, he needs to think, and so on. The book tells the teenager to continue writing the story himself, "writing a book is writing about people."

He has a good heart. He felt that the young killer's heart and soul were numb, and he needed to be exposed to more ordinary people's lives and stories.

He needs to interact with normal people, live like a normal person, and write his own story.

Natsume Soseki had no foresight, and he didn't have the energy to investigate a passerby, so he didn't know what kind of decision his words made people make, nor did he know what this decision would bring.

At least at this moment, he felt that there was no problem. Isn't this good? The killers have turned over a new leaf, and today I am also contributing to the peace of Yokohama.

The cold and hard young killer looked at him calmly for a while, then moved the book aside, leaving a large space for the cat.

Yeah, that’s good. You respect the elderly and love the young.

At the same time, after an hour or two of silence, the sound of a conversation between the duo next door could be heard faintly, and Natsume Soseki pricked up his ears.

-

Sengenmaku glanced at the book Nakai was reading.

It was a very ordinary storybook, telling the stories of many small characters coming together and running around. There was no grand story, just a combination of tragedy and comedy. Natsume Soseki's thoughts and writing style are beyond ordinary people. In such a story, he wrote a hazy feeling of light and shadow. The only shortcoming is that the last few pages were torn off.

He didn't know what a coincidence this was. Natsume Soseki and the young Odasaku were both listening to their conversation, and the focus of their conversation was the crucial book that connected the two of them.

Although the subtle changes in the world line failed to escape the final outcome, they produced a tiny but crucial impact.

"Do you like it?"

"Mr. Natsume is a great writer."

Nakai's eyes were bright. He didn't care about being interrupted. Or maybe he was very excited but was forced to remain silent because he didn't talk often, so he had been holding it in for a while.

Selling Amway is a common trait of human beings, and finding people who share the same interests and selling Amway together is the most perfect thing in the world.

"Ordinary life, mediocre little people, exchanges of social classes, gossip and joys and sorrows in the market. You like such stories very much, right?" Qian Jianmu looked at him and asked softly.

"I don't actually hate books full of mysteries, but for me, they are too bland and boring. Whether it's a brutal case or a shocking announcement, no matter how rich the book is, if it were set in reality, I wouldn't even be able to finish writing a single page. There are ten thousand killers in ten thousand books, and ten thousand killers use ten thousand special methods. But if these ten thousand killers were to be placed in Yokohama, what they did would be as common as breathing. I would rather see the lives of normal people that I can't see, and see the beauty and all the truth that I can't see. As for the criminals and the victims, the authors and the spectators, to me, they are just empty. It's as boring as pouring red wine into the sea."

Nakai said seriously that because of his special ability, his emotions were always vague, and most of the time, his most common expression was his most essential attitude.

"Sir, you know that we are following a certain destiny. I can't walk out of the void, so I can only watch from afar. Although I hate stories like that, in the end, I can only write stories like that. At most, I can transform the story from the story itself to the readers like you do, tearing off the rules and watching them collapse with cold eyes."

"So, Nakai." Qian Jianmu stared at him and asked softly, "You saw that, the killer who doesn't kill people. Why do you think that killer doesn't kill people?"

Actually, this is a bit of a cheat, as the most abrupt ending to this article is the killer’s reason, but Nakai doesn’t know it. Asking Nakai this question before he has finished reading the entire book is actually making an assumption that the killer's reasons for not killing are written down, which is a little psychological trick. The impact of Senjianmaku's assumption is that the reason he wants is not inferred from the killer's plot. In essence, he is not asking about the killer's choice, but about Nakai's subconscious choice.

And Nakai's answer will tell Chimamu what he lacks and what he needs.

However, Nakai is not bothered by this matter. The reason why he was brought to Senmaku by Shusaku is, in the final analysis, because he and Endo Shusaku are the same kind of people.

He has no future.

He spent two months with Sengenmaku, during which he planned his own death, and realized the truth of the matter through the recurring nightmares.

His future only exists by Chijianmu's side. He is the rope that sustains his life, the only thin rope he can hold on to, and this strong and solid thin rope is enough to make him abandon his own thoughts and ideas for it.

He believed from the bottom of his heart that if he existed because of Qianjianmu, then there would be no problem even if all his actions were controlled by Qianjianmu.

——It can be said that the brainwashing that Endo Shusaku performed before sending him here was very effective.

Qian Jianmu knew nothing about this matter. The only two survivors thought that Chimaemura wouldn't care even if they told him about it, so no one mentioned it at all.

So he just replied:

"Sir, I don't need a reason not to kill anyone."

Nakai lowered his eyes, with an honest and gentle look in his eyes. He spoke again firmly:

“For me, the reason is the least important thing.”

-

For an old man who has been involved in politics for many years, it is quite fresh to hear people evaluate his books.

Natsume Soseki wagged his tail. No one combed his hair, so he could only lick it with his paws himself.

He could sense that the two children were still in the tentative stage of interaction, with the older one seemingly deferring to the younger one. And the smaller one is like an excellent ruler, infiltrating the hearts of those around him and controlling their thoughts.

That Nakai is a promising and unique talent in literature.

The most important reason why a killer does not kill people is never the reason, but the act itself.

It was only after realizing this that he felt that what he had written was too shallow, and thus tore off the last few pages. However, the project of supplementing them was too huge, and over time, it became a blank space that made people sigh.

Being able to realize this means that this child has seen through many things. The young are to be feared. The young are to be feared.

——You totally misunderstood! Mr. Natsume!

He didn't consider this at all!

Who would think about such profound life issues from a novel? Look at the red-haired boy next to you, he obviously doesn’t understand at all!

At this moment, the red-haired boy was seriously confused.

The choices made by the killer in the novel are so obvious, how could he not need a reason?

If there is no reason, his behavior would not be justified. How should such a story be written?

etc……

Don't let them lead you away.

In this situation with four people, you are the only one who is seriously thinking about the reasons why the killer doesn't kill anyone!

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