Chapter 374: Chapter 374

Even though a pretty young girl told him, "Shut up," Xiang Shan, of course, would not really shut up.

When children make mistakes, they need to be taught a lesson. And educating them at this moment is the most effective.

So Xiang Shan pressed, "Do you know where you went wrong?"

Zhu Xinyu buried her face in the table, not saying a word.

"First of all, it’s about ’lies’," Xiang Shan said. "Not all lies are malicious. For instance, someone with a basic illness is in poor health. Then, they find a new brain disease during a check-up, one that could kill them if their emotions fluctuate too much. At that time, if the doctor temporarily hides the diagnosis from the patient and instead informs their family—is that a lie? Or letting a terminally ill patient go through the last journey of their life filled with hope. Is that lie sinful?"

Zhu Xinyu mumbled, "Sophistry. That’s at the individual level..."

"If you want to talk about the overall level..." Xiang Shan slightly recalled what Jing Hongtu had told him, as well as some knowledge Ingrid had shared with him. He said, "Do you know? Human civilization, in fact, was born on top of lies."

Zhu Xinyu "hmm"ed, and after a few seconds, said, "You know it but do nothing to correct the lie. Accomplice... lackey..."

"The ’lies’ I’m talking about might not be on the same level as what you’re talking about," Xiang Shan said. "Are there borders on the earth?"

"Huh? Speak your point."

"There are no borders on the earth. ’National territory’ and ’nation-states’, even more so, are fictitious concepts. You might as well say the existence of ’nation-states’ is a lie. A piece of colorful paper, why should it be exchanged for tangible goods? Therefore, the value of ’currency’ and the entire financial system are lies. Where does a ’company’ exist? In its employees? But if a small company has a car accident on the way to a team-building event, and all employees perish, the company still continues to exist. Where does it exist then? Various forms of ’organizations’ are also lies."

"But these nested lies form an efficient production system. It produces materials that individuals cannot acquire and distributes them. Even though there are many injustices within it, it allows as many people as possible to enjoy the best material conditions possible—’modern civilization’ is the greatest humanity there is."

Xiang Shan knocked on the table again, "So do you think these ’lies’ are evil?"

Zhu Xinyu still kept her face buried, not looking at Xiang Shan.

"What we defend is but one of the many lies that maintain the operation of modern society. And even that is temporary. In the future, bit by bit, it will be opened up to the public. Why? Because if we keep this information completely secret, when it accidentally comes to light, it will only cause another form of trust crisis."

"Which means, even if you don’t come here to steal this information, it will gradually become publicly available over the next ten or twenty years. But stealing this information is like abruptly telling a terminally ill patient ’you have a terminal illness.’ This isn’t good."

Zhu Xinyu didn’t speak. But Xiang Shan felt that she might have listened.

Xiang Shan sighed, "You have a passionate heart, sympathize with the weak, and are willing to help others. This is good. But you do not possess the correct methods and are advancing down a path that has been proven impossible. Using your strength in the wrong place. That’s not good."

Zhu Xinyu’s face remained pressed against the tabletop. Her voice was muffled as she said, "Then do you know the ’correct path’ or ’possible path’?"

"I don’t know," Xiang Shan shook his head. "No one knows the future. No one can predict the future. God could, perhaps, but that’s just a fictitious thing."

Zhu Xinyu said, "Can’t you rebel just because you don’t know the correct method? Because you don’t know the ’right path,’ you should just stand still? Just wait for death?"

Xiang Shan laughed, "You’ve gone to another extreme, child. We can’t know the future, but we can learn from history. Perhaps the only lesson humanity as a whole can learn from history is that humanity doesn’t learn any lessons from history, but we, as individuals, can still extract something from it. Not just history. ’Logic’ can also help us make limited predictions."

"However, a single person’s rebellion is sure to be engulfed by the tide of history. Even if you hadn’t met us today, you would eventually face other difficult situations. Powerful external forces would break you. No, even efforts without feedback, would, one day, extinguish your passion."

"Ten years of drinking ice..."

"That’s if you’ve really been drinking ice for ten years. According to your ID, you’re only seventeen today. Surely you didn’t start doing this at seven, did you?"

Zhu Xinyu lifted her head. Xiang Shan felt the young girl’s gaze was somewhat terrifying. The girl said earnestly, "Not at seven. I witnessed the depths of human nature when I was just five."

Xiang Shan couldn’t help standing up, reaching out to pat her head. Zhu Xinyu recoiled in horror and then fell onto the chair because of the handcuffs.

"What do you mean?" Zhu Xinyu was very angry.

"Sorry," Xiang Shan said. "I just meant to express... ’You’ve really had it tough.’"

Zhu Xinyu’s tears fell. "I don’t want your pity. You don’t know anything at all!"

Xiang Shan watched Zhu Xinyu cry for a while, waiting for the girl’s mood to stabilize. He changed the subject, saying, "Actually, what I mean is, in this world, every ounce of ’change’ is precious. Right now, you are just meaninglessly wasting your own worth."

Zhu Xinyu looked at him. "Do you dare to say you know the ’right path’?"

Xiang Shan shook his head. "No. All I dare say is that I hope to explore the right path. I still don’t know if my choices are right or wrong, but I believe the opportunity for change is right before us. If you’re willing, you could help me or come to witness it all."

Zhu Xinyu frowned. "You mean... I still have to be a dog."

"Not a dog. A comrade," Xiang Shan said. "This is what I meant by ’another choice.’ No single country’s judicial system is suited to put you on trial alone. Because very few judges and prosecutors are authorized to know about ’our project.’ They also find you bothersome. Detention without trial, or perhaps a makeshift military tribunal formed by the ’Peacekeeping Forces,’ could also be a choice. But for you, ’staying within the project campus’ might spare you many of the above troubles—and there are already several examples, including Hartman."

"You have no malicious intent, and there isn’t a suitable institution to judge you. So, as a form of ’judicial trade,’ becoming an external technical staffer for our project, confined within the campus to some extent, is good for you and everyone else." The rightful source is Nov3lFɪre.ɴet

As Xiang Shan spoke, he took out a pre-drafted agreement from his package—the one he had written a few days ago. He slid the two sheets of paper across to Zhu Xinyu: "You can take a look for yourself."

Zhu Xinyu didn’t look at the content of the document but stared at Xiang Shan, asking, "You...?"

"I don’t believe in unconditional goodwill in this world," Zhu Xinyu said. "It’s beneficial for me, beneficial for the authorities, so what about you?"

Xiang Shan smiled. "Several aspects. Firstly, my interests align with ’the authorities’ to a certain extent. If I do things that benefit the authorities, they will benefit me. Secondly, let me reintroduce myself. United Nations Project Services, Director of the Rama Project Research Center, Xiang Shan. I am actually a scientist. The data you stole is my research subject."

Zhu Xinyu was taken aback, seemingly thinking of something: "The reason you posed as ’Ramanujan’..."

"I quite like the discussion atmosphere of the ’Risk’ community," Xiang Shan still smiling: "To tell the truth, as a formally trained engineer, we—I and the other researchers at the center—really hope for the help of hackers like you."

Zhu Xinyu pointed at Hartman: "What about that guy?"

"After all, he has an official background from the Federation and he’s still an FBI agent, so it’s pretty difficult for him to stay within the project campus. However, if you choose judicial trade, choose to undergo detention in the project campus, then you wouldn’t be subject to that restriction."

This was indeed a peculiar phenomenon. Hartman was also a criminal who came out through judicial trade, living a life not much different from being imprisoned. But the organization responsible for him is the FBI, so according to agreements between major countries, he couldn’t appear in the campus. Yet, Zhu Xinyu wasn’t the power of any one country; the object of her judicial trade was the United Nations, the Rama Project, so she could be there.

The United Nations can’t restrict the freedom of an individual citizen. But Zhu Xinyu could be categorized as a "prisoner" or "criminal."

—As for the United Nations Project Services actually not having the authority to detain a natural person without trial, that was a minor issue. There’s always a way to find or create suitable clauses to manage this situation.

Zhu Xinyu looked at Hartman: "Like him?"

"Much more favorably," Xiang Shan said. He stood up, walked behind Zhu Xinyu, placed his hands on her shoulders, leaned down, and said to Zhu Xinyu, "Moreover, I genuinely need your help to ’change the world.’ I said your stuff was useless, don’t you want to see if mine is of any use?"

Xiang Shan only said one sentence. If he whispered to this person for half a day, he would need to explain his own position to the authorities.

Zhu Xinyu panicked inexplicably for a moment. She lowered her head and quickly read the terms.

After reading the restrictions she would have to accept, she looked up, glanced at the bracelet on Hartman’s hand, and showed a look of disdain.

But then, she extended her hand to Xiang Shan: "Give me a pen. You didn’t give me a pen."

Xiang Shan took out a ballpoint pen, and as he handed it over, he grasped Zhu Xinyu’s hand: "So now, we are comrades."