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墨書 Inktalez
"By plane, you can travel six hundred kilometers in just one hour, reaching places far from home. Yet, in the same hour, you can't prepare a feast," Old Shao said lightly. "You can accomplish many things in an hour, but sometimes, you can't achieve anything at all. Since I already know what you want to do, I naturally have a way to save people. However, before that, I want to confirm my suspicions."
Shi Xu tightly gripped the remote control for the bomb in his hand, as if he could press the button at any moment. Both Jiang He and Old Shao noticed that there was only one button on the remote. This meant that all the bombs were controlled by this single button.
"The people you truly want to kill aren't the one hundred thousand in this square. Instead, it's these followers you've painstakingly selected. In your words, these people are righteous yet numb. You deliberately created three flawed cases to pick out those you wanted. If these self-proclaimed righteous individuals spent a little more time searching, they would uncover the truth."
"Compared to the righteous yet numb, I prefer the indifferent and numb," Shi Xu said with a smile and a nod. "Don't you think? When a nation loses its ability to think, what do you think will happen? I believe you've seen all the historical outcomes throughout time and across cultures; it's truly a terrifying thing. Have you not noticed this trend in recent international events?"
"I know what you're trying to say: the era of elites controlling this world is on a downward slope," Old Shao replied. "We've discussed this matter before. You're afraid of such a world; I'm not. The ninety-five percent should have their own right to choose."
Shi Xu shook his head. "In that sense, we are merely worried about two extremes we both fear. Our worldviews are similar, but our methodologies differ; perhaps that's what makes this world so interesting."
Jiang He noticed Shi Xu's watch; there were only forty minutes left until the New Year.
Jiang He spoke up, "You both look to the future while I only care about the present. Things must be done one at a time; there's no point in exchanging words here. You want to kill; I will stop you from killing—it's as simple as that. Since you want to kill your followers without affecting others, then this bomb must be on your followers and in a critical location. The collars you've put on them—the small boxes—are where the explosives are hidden."
"To be precise, it's not a bomb; it's fireworks," Shi Xu buried himself deeper into his chair. "Isn't there a fireworks display tonight? I'm just adding some excitement to the show. The small box contains an electronic igniter that will ignite the powder inside when the time comes, and with a bang, their heads will explode along with the fireworks. Just imagine that scene; it should be quite interesting, right?"
"Fireworks," Old Shao said as he looked out the window. "Fireworks are beautiful things; that's black powder, isn't it? Very unstable—it explodes upon contact with an open flame."
"You need to trust my control over gunpowder," Shi Xu replied.
"After the gunpowder explodes, metal shards will be blasted out and pierce their necks, severing their carotid arteries. At that point, even Hua Tuo himself couldn't save them," Jiang He added.
"Yes." Shi Xu still dared not show his face; he kept his entire body hidden behind the wall of the café, wary of any snipers outside who might take his life with a single shot, even though Shi Xu had likely already decided to surrender his life.
"Actually, I want to know what you plan to do to save these people if I let you go. That's what I want to ask you," Shi Xu said.
Old Shao glanced at Jiang He. "This kid, Jiang He, is surprisingly calm and smart. He's the smartest person I've ever met. His intelligence lies in the fact that he never lets emotions cloud his judgment. Even when faced with the worst situations, he remains composed. Am I right?"
Jiang He nodded.
Shi Xu chuckled. "Old man, are you praising Jiang He for being smart or subtly implying that he's an emotionless creature?"
"Perhaps both," Old Shao said seriously as he looked at Jiang He. "He always knows what to do and when to do it. So why don't we hear what Jiang He thinks? I'm sure he knows what to do."
Jiang He nodded and spoke up. "Since they are called followers, those people are the ones who listen to you the most. To avoid exposure, every time you record a video, you wear a mask to cover your face and use a voice changer to alter your voice. You've never shown your true self; in other words, you could be their leader, and I could be their leader too. You should understand that the mask is just a symbol; who is behind it doesn't matter."
At this point, Jiang He suddenly laughed. "And the ones you've selected through layers of screening happen to be the least capable of thinking for themselves while also being the most obedient. As long as we create a video in the same way, whatever we tell these people to do, they will do."
Shi Xu slapped the table with one hand. "Haha, that's truly clever! But are such people really worth saving? Even without me, there will be others controlling them. And their control is far more sophisticated than mine. They can use these people to do anything they want; these individuals lack critical thinking skills and don't realize that things are constantly evolving and changing. They don't understand that the world isn't simply black and white. Good people can use them to commit bad deeds, and bad people might even use them for good."
"That's what makes these people so terrifying," Shi Xu continued. "Those without faith aren't scary; what's frightening is this group that can easily adopt beliefs. The inferiority of humanity is fully reflected in them. Is this the kind of person you want to save?"
Jiang He replied, "I don't want to think about what you've mentioned, but I feel that having a choice is much better than having none at all. However, we only have twenty minutes left; if we don't go out soon, we might run out of time."
"I feel the same way," Old Shao said as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it up. "One last question: Who is the successor you're looking for?"
Shi Xu shook his head. "I didn't seek anyone out; I just posted some things online and designed a few puzzles. Everything that Wei Demian taught me over the years—biology, chemistry, physics, mechanics, psychology, logic, and so on—is recorded in a few notebooks. Only a clever person can solve the puzzles to obtain these notebooks. Along with them comes a stash of black market money. As long as they dare to spend this dirty money, there's no turning back for them."
"In fact, I believe one person's heart can move another's," Shi Xu continued. "It doesn't matter who they are—good or bad, man or woman. The seed has already been planted, and naturally, many will water it. Jiang He is right; 'Criminal Consultant' is just a title. I can be one, you can be one, anyone can be one. So every generation will have detectives like you and Criminal Consultants like me. It's quite interesting."
"Alright." Old Shao stretched lazily and said, "I've asked everything I needed to ask. We still have fifteen minutes; I think that's enough time."
While the two were still puzzled, Old Shao suddenly threw something at Shi Xu. Jiang He noticed that Shi Xu instinctively reached for the button, but just as he was about to press it, he seemed to realize what was thrown at him and abruptly pulled his hand back.
Jiang He finally noticed that it was none other than the collar he had removed from his own neck earlier. And in the small square box right in front of the collar was just enough explosive material to kill a person.
The collar naturally landed on Shi Xu, and at that moment, Old Shao darted out like a snake. Jiang He quickly pursued him, aiming for the remote control in Shi Xu's hand. Shi Xu jumped up like a startled cat but didn't dare to dodge sideways; he knew that if he ended up in an open area, he would be facing a bullet from a sniper.
Shi Xu suddenly understood Old Shao's intentions and prepared to press the button again.
But no matter how fast a person is, they cannot outpace the speed of a finger pressing a button. Shi Xu came here today as part of a gamble. He might have prepared himself not to leave alive, but there was no doubt that Old Shao had won this bet. For the first time, Shi Xu did not press the button, and now he would never have the chance to do so again.
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