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墨書 Inktalez
Old Shao was filled with worry. A notorious criminal dared to stand here in his true form and even revealed his real name. This indicated that either the criminal had found a foolproof escape route, or he had no intention of fleeing.
The sound of bells rang out from the square, precisely ten chimes.
Once the somewhat dull echoes faded, the young man, Shi Xu, spoke up. "It’s already ten o'clock without us realizing it. In just two hours, it will be a new year. So, I’d like to wish you all a happy new year in advance, because some things, if not said now, may never be said after the new year."
Old Shao understood Shi Xu's words clearly; to put it simply, today would end with either his death or his oblivion.
Jiang He, sitting nearby, addressed Shi Xu. "You dare to show your true self? Even if you manage to escape today, from this moment on, you will be wanted nationwide. You will have to live like a ghost in the shadows for the rest of your life, never able to return to the surface."
Shi Xu looked at Jiang He and burst into laughter. "Did I ever live openly in my first half of life? Since the day I became an orphan and was taken in by Wei Demian, I was destined to live differently from normal people. My adoptive father believed that humanity had ceased to evolve; he thought people could evolve through pain and death, but I disagree."
"Oh?" Old Shao glanced outside the café. Xu Yiman and others had already set up a cordon outside, working alongside the police to evacuate the crowd waiting for the fireworks display. However, with so many people in the square, this was no easy task. Moreover, this unpredictable Criminal Consultant could potentially drag tens of thousands down with him.
Shi Xu noticed the cordon outside as well but did not show any signs of concern.
"What are your thoughts?" Old Shao asked, trying to buy time for the police to evacuate the citizens as quickly as possible.
"I’m curious about your views on human nature," Shi Xu inquired.
"Human nature?" Old Shao waved his hand dismissively. "That's a vast topic. To be honest, I've never overestimated or underestimated human nature. For every so-called bad person in this world, there is an equal number of so-called good people. For every selfish individual, there are just as many selfless ones. There are as many who kill for themselves as there are who would sacrifice themselves for others. Humanity isn't as good as it could be nor as bad as it could be."
Shi Xu nodded in apparent agreement with Old Shao's perspective.
"But," Shi Xu continued, "the good and evil people in this world are merely extremes at either end. The majority of people exist somewhere in between—neither good nor evil. They are like grass on an endless plain; they bend wherever the wind blows and tragically believe themselves to be the wind."
Old Shao seemed to realize something; this young man sitting before him appeared far more profound than he had initially imagined.
"So you want to prove that you are the wind?" Old Shao turned his gaze into the distance. In the brightly lit square, he could see several dark figures—loyal followers of the Criminal Consultant still clad in black cloaks. They surely would not believe that this seemingly ordinary young man sitting in an inconspicuous café was their revered champion of justice.
"I am certainly not some kind of wind," Shi Xu waved his hand and said. "In reality, we are just some deeply rooted little grasses. When a gust of wind blows, we won't easily sway. Humans are always social animals; in fact, there is no wind in the world. When one blade of grass bends down, the others follow its direction. This is true for most of us, including me, and naturally includes you as well."
"What do you mean by that?" Jiang He asked.
Shi Xu looked at Jiang He and replied, "Jiang He, do you think you are a good person or a bad person?"
"I am definitely not a bad person; I am ninety-nine percent sure of that," Jiang He asserted firmly.
Shi Xu smiled slightly. "Ninety-nine percent, Jiang He. You have always been so meticulous. As I mentioned earlier, we are going to play a game, and it’s about time for it to begin. Take a look at this; I heard you have Hyperthymesia and remember everything. I’ve only seen it on television before and wonder if it’s really that impressive."
As he spoke, Shi Xu pulled out a small notebook from his pants pocket. It was a deep blue notebook, looking quite exquisite, tied with a small bow that clearly indicated it belonged to a girl.
"I heard you are someone without emotions," Shi Xu said with an amused expression as if recalling something funny. "I have only heard of emotionless killers; I have never heard of an emotionless police officer."
Jiang He showed no expression on his face, even though he recognized the notebook.
"It’s clear that this little girl still likes you," Shi Xu continued. "It seems that young girls nowadays really like older men; us young folks don’t seem to have much market anymore."
Jiang He ignored Shi Xu's ramblings and simply asked, "Where is the person? Where is he?"
Shi Xu did not answer but instead asked, "Before the game starts, I asked you whether you consider yourself a good person or a bad person. You told me you are definitely not a bad person. But how do we determine good and bad? You must have heard of the Trolley Problem: when a train is on its way, there are six people tied to one track and one person tied to another. At this moment, there is a lever next to you. If you don’t pull it, the train will continue on its track and kill those five people. If you choose to pull the lever, the train will switch tracks and kill that one person."
"Everyone tells us that life is priceless; one person's life may not be more important than five lives," Shi Xu said seriously while looking at Jiang He. "And five lives certainly seem more significant than one when viewed from a numerical perspective. The difficulty of the Trolley Problem lies in the fact that whether you choose to pull the lever or not, you have made an immoral decision and will face your own inner condemnation."
"And this is what makes us human; we possess a sense of morality. However, this sense of morality was created by selfish humans from the very beginning as a means to deceive themselves," Shi Xu continued softly. "If I say that the individual tied to the tracks has bullied classmates since childhood, often beat their parents, stole money from others, and even harmed their neighbor's dog, your moral retaliation would diminish significantly, leading you to choose to pull the lever."
Neither Jiang He nor Old Shao spoke.
Shi Xu went on, "Thus, you should realize that no matter what happens, as long as we use this method, we can comfort everyone. If a girl is killed, we say she was provocative and dressed inappropriately. If someone's money is stolen, we ask why they didn’t keep their money in a safe place. If a child is bullied, we question why they only bully others instead of being bullied themselves."
"Actually, everyone understands that these matters have nothing to do with the victim. What they say is merely an attempt to comfort their own selfishness from a seemingly moral high ground. Some people are clearly aware of this, yet they continue to act this way; they are truly bad individuals. Others, however, are oblivious to it and still say such things; they are simply foolish."
"Foolish," Old Shao murmured.
"I believe we are all intelligent people. Old Shao, I am well aware of what you said earlier, and I agree with you," Shi Xu said. "In fact, I have always emphasized that in understanding this world, we belong to the same category of people; it's just that our methods differ. The issues you choose to ignore have actually become increasingly severe in recent years. Haven't you realized that?"
Old Shao began to understand Shi Xu's point, which instinctively made him touch the collar he had in his pocket.
"So what exactly do you intend to do?" Jiang He asked.
Shi Xu looked at Jiang He. "The situation is quite simple. The difficulty of the trolley problem lies in the comparison between one person and five; it’s too small. But what if the scale increases? If you had to choose between one person's life and the lives of one hundred thousand people right in front of you, what would you choose? Life is priceless, but sacrificing one person to save one hundred thousand is something almost everyone would do."
"I enjoy reading superhero comics, but people often overlook one thing: heroes frequently have to sacrifice some lives to save the world. For everyone else, those who die are heroes; but for those who suffer from unforeseen disasters, those individuals are killers."
"The line between a hero and a killer is often just a thin veil," Shi Xu continued. "And now, Jiang He, this opportunity lies before you. There are at least one hundred thousand people in this square. Although the police have begun evacuating, you underestimate human nature; they won't leave until danger is right in front of them."
Suddenly, Shi Xu pulled two buttons from his pocket.
"One red button and one blue button," Shi Xu explained. "Press the red button, and Shui Xinlan dies while one hundred thousand people in the square live. Press the blue button, and one hundred thousand people die while Shui Xinlan survives. I’m curious to see if someone devoid of emotions also lacks any self-deceiving sense of morality."
"You are someone who enjoys calculations; you know very well which numbers carry more weight," Shi Xu said with a smile as he placed the two buttons in front of Jiang He. "Wireless remote control—technology changes the world. It’s almost ten-thirty; if no choice is made before eleven o'clock, they will all die. You should understand that creating such a bomb is quite easy for me."
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