Chapter 372: Chapter 372

Zhu Xinyu was groggily waking up when she felt a severe pain in her cheeks. She opened her eyes to find herself in an unfamiliar room. The room was strange, with walls covered in soft blue velour; it was all padded. There was a table in front of her, neither too high nor too low. It was difficult for her to exert enough force to hit her head against the table.

Zhu Xinyu felt something on her face and touched it. It appeared to be some kind of restraint. She casually wiped the drool from her mouth with her sleeve. Her head was still a bit foggy, yet she realized something was wrong.

This clothing was oversized, and it was a military uniform...

—But fortunately, no one saw me drooling in my sleep... The most update n0vels are published on novel[f]ire.net

"I’m sorry, they were indeed a bit too rough. But this is to prevent... suicide?" A voice came from across the table. It sounded like it was talking to her.

But the reason Zhu Xinyu couldn’t see clearly was because...

She was extremely nearsighted.

Squinting her eyes, the girl retorted irritably, "Who are you? What do you mean by preventing suicide?"

An object slid across the table to her. Zhu Xinyu could barely see that it was her glasses.

Zhu Xinyu picked up the glasses. Only then did she notice the handcuffs on her hands. At the same time, her feet were shackled to the chair.

The one who had passed her the glasses was a young man. He was dressed in a neatly pressed suit, looking very formal. Beside him, a disheveled blonde man was tinkering with a computer.

Zhu Xinyu recognized it; that was her computer.

She wanted to scream angrily, but a sharp pain cut her off the moment she opened her mouth, turning her shout into a moan, "Er... what..."

"They think you could be a well-trained agent sent by some hostile organization, likely to commit suicide at a critical moment. But, they have orders to ’catch you alive.’" The strange young man explained in Zhu Xinyu’s mother tongue, "That’s why they dislocated your jaw at first contact. Although the doctors have reset it, your muscles and ligaments were inevitably injured. You won’t be able to chew tough food for quite some time..."

Zhu Xinyu angrily slammed her hand on the table, "Who are you exactly? This is illegal detention..."

"No, this operation conforms to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2900 (2027), which grants the Outer Space Security and Relations Coordination Committee all necessary powers under the UN Security Council to take ’preemptive military action’ against ’acts of piracy and terrorism in space and against those hostile toward the committee in non-member states to prevent such acts,’ and you happen to tick all three boxes, ’Zhu Rong,’" the young man said.

Zhu Xinyu calmed down. Since he mentioned the name "Zhu Rong," that meant her cover was indeed blown. Her computer was seized while operational, filled with evidence that she was "Zhu Rong." Denial was now pointless.

Zhu Xinyu looked at Xiang Shan, "And you? A Federation lapdog?"

"No, I represent the United Nations Project Services. Let me introduce myself, my name is Xiang Shan, I am from the Republic, and currently, a staff member of the United Nations Project Services."

Zhu Xinyu frowned, "Project Services? What’s that... what did you say...?"

"’An organization providing solutions on peace and security, humanitarian, and development issues to help people build better lives,’" Xiang Shan nodded.

Zhu Xinyu widened her eyes in disbelief, "Are you kidding me? The United Nations... would the United Nations barge into a sovereign country to arrest someone? And talk about ’preemptive military action’?"

Isn’t the United Nations that ineffective organization where peacekeeping forces are usually not allowed to retaliate without limits when attacked by local armed groups? How could they be so bold?

"There are indeed no precedents," Xiang Shan acknowledged with a nod, "But this is a special case. A decision made on the fly by the Security Council—well, I also think it’s a bit out of the ordinary. Including hanging such an operation under Project Services. But it is truly an international project. If successful, it could indeed help humanity build a better life and achieve peace and development. After all, it’s an unprecedented special project. Rules are, after all, meant to serve humanity."

"Huh?" Zhu Xinyu stared at him incredulously.

Xiang Shan’s words revealed the critical information. This was not the effort of one country, but many major countries collaborating.

"’Zhu Rong’... or Miss Zhu Xinyu. You are arrested on suspicion of stealing confidential United Nations documents," he stated.

"The United Nations..." Zhu Xinyu said, "When did I ever steal data from the United Nations? Ah..."

"It seems you do remember me," Xiang Shan said with a smile. "Let me introduce myself, my ID in the ’Risk’ community is Ramanujan."

Zhu Xinyu growled softly, "It’s you... You came for that undecipherable data!"

At this moment, Hartman looked up. He didn’t understand Chinese, but he could make out the pronunciation of "Ramanujan." He mistook this as the time to introduce himself during a "netizen meetup," so he spoke up, "Hello, ’Zhu Rong.’ My ID is Aqini."

Zhu Xinyu was startled and immediately cursed, "Lackey!" She then turned to Xiang Shan, "And you said you weren’t a lackey of the Federation..."

"Mr. Hartman is a special technical talent from the Federation supporting our work group. After all, you are indeed very skilled. Finding you was somewhat difficult," Xiang Shan said. "That’s reasonable, right?"

Zhu Xinyu opened her mouth but said nothing.

"You’ve really stirred up a hornet’s nest, Miss Zhu Xinyu," Xiang Shan said. "The information you stole, if leaked to the outside world, could potentially trigger unpredictable social turbulence, causing a massive economic earthquake, and thereby impacting livelihoods, even leading to large-scale unrest. Therefore, every country is consciously limiting the dissemination of this intelligence. However, due to an accident, you have stolen intelligence from the very core of this project—this might be the most dangerous intelligence in human history...

Zhu Xinyu said, "The data my virus sent back... What is it, nuclear weapons? No, there was also something biological... Biological weapons?"

Xiang Shan tapped the table gently but firmly, "Miss Zhu Xinyu, please consider your position. You stole very important intelligence, so now you have been labeled as ’the most dangerous terrorist in history.’ In the eyes of major countries, your level of threat is nearing that of Bin Laden. Given that you operate as an individual hacker, it is not an exaggeration to call you the most dangerous terrorist in human history."

"However, your punishment has not yet been decided. This matter is too significant to be handled by the judicial system of any single country. Someone proposed sending you to The Hague. You would stand in the dock of the Hague International Court. If this proposal is adopted, you would become a rare individual placed on that defendant’s bench for crimes against humanity."

Xiang Shan said all this merely to intimidate this girl. But for some reason, the more he spoke, the more the girl seemed to relish the moment.

Nevertheless, Xiang Shan continued: "However, the ’Rama Project’ is highly classified, and even the Hague International Court cannot easily become involved. The judges who would try you and your defense lawyers would need to be carefully selected. But before all that, you still have a choice..."

Zhu Xinyu smiled, revealing her small, white teeth: "But, I refuse."

Xiang Shan frowned, "You haven’t even heard me out."

"No matter what you say, I will refuse," Zhu Xinyu said with a smile. "Unprecedented? Hazardous? I couldn’t ask for more."

Zhu Xinyu stood up, leaned forward with her hands on the table, and spoke softly to Xiang Shan, "Do you know? I’ve always believed that if ’revealing the truth’ will destroy something, it only proves that it was built on lies and is fragile."

"If the truth will destroy it, then let it be destroyed! Humanity will be reborn from the flames!"

Xiang Shan said, "But natural laws do not guarantee that humanity will always continue. A fire might burn the old to allow the new to grow, but it might also burn everything together..."

"Are you what they call a reformist?" Zhu Xinyu looked coldly at Xiang Shan. "Or something more extreme? Do you think we have already reached a utopian state?"

Xiang Shan shook his head, "Absolutely not, but..."

"There’s no ’but’ about it," Zhu Xinyu said firmly. "Timid reforms are meaningless. While you patch things up here and there, the cruel strong continue to oppress the weak, and the mediocre weak continue to aid these crimes. Every minute, someone is victimized; every second, someone falls into the Abyss. They taste the flavor of Hell long before the world gets better. Your reforms merely ease the contradictions, delaying the revolution that truly solves the problem."

Xiang Shan cracked a grin. The girl’s reasoning was sound, but something seemed off in the practice.

Zhu Xinyu’s words flowed like a long poem. "For a long time, everything I’ve done was to change the world. Your ’another choice’ is nothing but ’mitigating impacts,’ ’betraying accomplices,’ and ’admitting guilt for amnesty’—just like that dog there."

Zhu Xinyu was referring to Hartman at the end. To make sure Hartman could understand, she specifically switched to English.

But Hartman was not offended, instead, he smiled amiably.

"Isn’t this the ’opportunity’ I’ve always been looking for?" Zhu Xinyu’s expression was fervent. "I don’t even know what your plan is, I don’t know what that data really represents. But... it must be an unjust destiny making me do this!"

Hartman shrugged, "Boss, this girl has totally lost it. Let’s just get her into a psychiatric ward."

Xiang Shan ignored Hartman, instead asking Zhu Xinyu, "So, Miss Zhu, have you changed the world before?"