CH 274

All was silent, as eternal as the dark night.

The cold and damp air from the central air conditioning blew down, carrying a strong scent of coarse-grained bloodiness.

If it weren’t for the footsteps and voices from outside, bringing a bit of vitality, the elderly people in the room would probably take a very long time to recover.

However, there was another advantage of being elderly—they were not easily swayed by others. The life experiences of the elderly made them stubborn and resistant to novel and radical ideas.

Xing Conglian thought that this was probably why that person wanted the elderly in society to die thoroughly.

“Nonsense.”

After listening to Xing Conglian’s long theoretical explanation, Minister Shen paused for a long time before raising his aged head and answered disdainfully.

“Yes, do they think they can decide the future of humanity with just a vote?” Another elderly person was also finally awakened and joined in. “I think the most likely outcome is that this matter will be forgotten in a few years. Why does he think he can change the future genetic direction of the entire human race? Is he crazy?”

“Professor Zheng is right. The worst-case scenario is that he will eventually prove that everyone is selfish, and people will start killing each other for their own interests again. But in the end, society will return to stability because the number of psychopaths is too small to make a significant impact.”

“2%,” Xing Conglian said.

“What did you say?”

“In the Hale Psychopathy Checklist, the most extreme psychopaths account for 2% of the total population, and this figure remains constant across various racial and ethnic groups.”

“Exactly, it’s only 2%. How much impact can they make?”

“You’re wrong.”

“Are you trying to argue with me, Xing Conglian?”

“The extreme tendencies in psychological scales are based on statistical significance. But what if the mental state of the population has already deviated?”

“Regardless of any deviation, society needs to develop through cooperation and dedication. When individuals in a population are always ready to sacrifice themselves for the collective interest, that population becomes more competitive. In a society where people kill each other, human populations will gradually perish and cannot achieve victory. Nature has never been a blind arbitrator…”

“It’s the majority oppressing the minority. Those psychopaths affecting population stability are the ones being abandoned by nature!”

The elderly people were arguing back and forth, but Xing Conglian interrupted them.

“You lost.” He looked down at these “elderly” people condescendingly.

At this moment, Xing Conglian seemed possessed by Lin Chen—sharp, cold, and ruthless. Of course, he was also standing here on behalf of Lin Chen.

The elderly people were taken aback by his sharp remarks, and some of them even started coughing.

“When you start considering the practicality and likelihood of his ideas and try to find reasons to criticize him, you have already fallen into his trap,” Xing Conglian said. “What he wanted was discussion. With discussion, there would be different opinions, and he would gain more and more supporters because of this incident—the supporters you thought didn’t exist but actually do.”

The director of the Provincial Public Security Department had been patient with Xing Conglian until now, but even he couldn’t help saying, “So, what do you suggest? Block the news and ban discussions?”

“Blocking the news is the worst way to handle a crisis.”

“Then shut down the internet and ban the voting website.”

“In the long term, we can thoroughly study the TERN isomer, but in the short term, it’s impossible. So, the hostages in his hands represent the safety of all citizens. If he really makes demands on us and forces the voting website to go online, do you dare to prevent that page from displaying?” Xing Conglian asked.

“Xing Conglian, you’re really wicked.” The expert from the Network Department suddenly remembered something and slapped the table. “From the very beginning, it was you who led us into this predicament! Even if the Dark Web is currently a blind spot for our monitoring, once this voting game dares to go online, we have a thousand ways to monitor it, track the criminals’ IP addresses, and even manipulate the results. All of that can be done!”

“Yes, even if he wants people from every city in three provinces to vote, why should we do as he says? We can make plans in advance and direct the results to what we find acceptable, right?”

“Public opinion on the internet can also be manipulated. It’s not that difficult,” said the public opinion expert.

“So what? Which city are you ready to sacrifice?” Xing Conglian asked.

A cold shower poured down again, and the enthusiastic discussion in the command room stagnated and solidified. Unwilling sacrifice and strategic analysis after voluntary dedication were completely different concepts.

Even if they could seamlessly execute this plan, they were still stepping into a pre-arranged trap. That person had a way to expose the ugly core beneath all the beautiful decorations.

“It’s not feasible here, and it’s not feasible there. Can you provide a solution then?”

……

Lin Chen turned on the TV.

Before this, he had been busy in the interrogation room, and the young officer responsible for installing the TV belonged to the prison’s technical department.

The boy hadn’t experienced any truly cruel events, but after hearing the terrifying information casually mentioned by Lin Chen, his face turned pale. It was a state of “I’m about to throw up, but I can’t.”

After Lin Chen nodded at him, he was finally allowed to leave the small gray room.

Shen Lian raised the corners of her mouth again, looking contemptuously at the closed door.

Lin Chen picked up the remote control and turned towards the TV, asking her very gentlemanly, “Do you need any special proof to confirm that this news is indeed from a live broadcast and not edited to deceive you?”

The woman shook her head, appearing to trust him.

He then increased the volume a bit and put down the remote control.

Finally, there was a bit of modern civilization in the room. The news program had progressed to the next stage, and the female anchor was summarizing all the events that had occurred in the past few days. From Nordren to Tan Kang, from the nursing home to Zhourui Pharmaceutical, the news summarized the sequence of events from beginning to end, and Shen Lian was finally allowed to leave proudly.

The previous attack incidents were terrifying enough, and the news only dared to mention “ongoing intensive research” regarding the TERN isomer.

Probably, because the director also thought that they couldn’t continue to scare people like this, the next phase of the news finally became somewhat reassuring.

“The police have made a breakthrough in the case investigation. It is reported that the number one suspect named Shen Lian was apprehended by the police yesterday evening,” the female anchor said with composure and paused for a moment before continuing, “The police spokesperson stated that the interrogation against Shen Lian has been swiftly and orderly underway, and they believe a breakthrough will be achieved soon. Now, let us follow the footage to review the situation at that time…”

The scene faded in, and the background music started playing first. It was a fast-paced tune often used in movies during the final counterattack of the righteous side. With the breaking news reported by the news anchor, all the city’s police officers were mobilized, and the red and green lights flickered as police cars weaved through the streets.

The signboard of the nursing home appeared next, but it only received a symbolic shot. The scene then transitioned to the map of Hongjing, with traffic cleverly diverted. This depicted the situation when Lin Chen set a trap to catch Shen Lian.

Finally, numerous police cars stopped in front of the Zhourui building.

The camera kept moving up, reaching the top floor, and suddenly stopped.

The background music also came to an abrupt halt.

There was no more background music, nor were there fast-paced editing shots. The corridor was pristine, and the atmosphere was unusually calm.

At this moment, the figures of Lin Chen and Shen Lian appeared on the TV screen.

The news footage switched to the surveillance video from yesterday afternoon, which would not have been obtained by ordinary media if the police hadn’t released it.

The evening sunlight was gentle, and the police consultant in the video was talking to the number one suspect.

They each held a vial and lightly tapped the bottle caps, as if they were old friends.

……

The high-level officials in the Municipal Police Bureau command room also saw this news at the same time.

The news narration was, “At that time, the suspect Shen Lian attempted suicide. In order to stop her, the police negotiator finally agreed to administer a high-dose drug to save her life and create an opportunity for further negotiations.”

After this segment ended, the screen switched back to the broadcasting center. The female anchor looked to her side and said, “Next, we will invite special guest commentator Editor-in-Chief Zhang to analyze the intentions behind the police’s actions.”

The camera shifted, and a man in a polo shirt appeared next to the female anchor. After pondering for a moment, he pretended to be considering the question and said, “Honestly, I currently cannot fathom the intentions behind the police’s behavior. But I’m afraid that for the public, the police’s compromise with the criminals isn’t good news.”

“We need your specific analysis,” the female anchor requested.

Editor-in-Chief Zhang pushed his glasses up. “I suspect that the police made their judgment based on certain intelligence. They believe that Shen Lian herself is of great importance, so in order to gain her cooperation, the police consultant had to risk his life.”

“In other words, the police don’t have an exact way to counteract the drug used by the criminals?” the female anchor asked.

“That’s right. Unless internal core personnel reveal relevant data, it’s impossible to thoroughly research a compound in a short time, let alone find an immediate treatment method.”

“But can the negotiator’s act of exchanging his own safety for the chance of the suspect surviving be compared to capitulating to terrorists? This behavior seems like self-sacrifice, but in reality, it might boost the criminals’ morale. Is it truly an effective strategy?”

While the Editor-in-Chief Zhang was still explaining, the people in the small glass room had already reacted.

The “elderly” naturally wouldn’t be foolish enough to think that Lin Chen’s appearance in the news was an attempt to “take credit”.

“Are you all crazy?” The head of the provincial department was the first to slam the table with his fist.

“Who allowed you to act on your own without approval?”

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to!”

Xing Conglian was the first to be criticized. “This was something Lin Chen had promised Shen Lian a long time ago,” he said.

“Don’t think I don’t know Lin Chen’s personality. The conditions he agreed to at that time and what he’s doing now are completely different in nature!” The head of the department was furious. “You could have simply fabricated fake news to deceive Shen Lian, but instead, you released it openly. Isn’t it just to stir up social discussion?”

Xing Conglian shrugged, remaining non-committal.

“Since you’ve already speculated on the sinister intentions of the criminals, shouldn’t you be more cautious in controlling public opinion? Now you dare to pour oil on the fire, afraid that the current panic isn’t enough?”

Another person chimed in, “Ha, they’re just telling the criminals: we know what you want to do, and we’re not afraid of your tricks!”

“But if it really triggers a large-scale social discussion, wouldn’t that fulfill the intentions of these anti-social individuals even more?”

“It’s also possible that their motives aren’t that profound at all; they just want to kill people… just like…”

The public opinion expert was about to say more when Minister Shen raised his eyes, interrupted him, and said to Xing Conglian, “In the end, your speculations about the future development of the case are just guesses.”

Xing Conglian nodded. “Indeed, they are speculations.”

The elderly man interrupted him. “In other words, there’s also a possibility that the second round of city voting may not happen at all, right?”