Volume 11: Memetic Crisis Chapter 563: Progress and Sacrifice
With the help of two security agents, the injured were carried into the carriage. As for the broken meat and blood on the ground, they were cleaned up by the automatic cleaning robot responsible for the courtyard.
After watching the Security Bureau's hovercraft drive away, Ke Lan let out an imperceptible sigh - in fact, even if he killed the two researchers, it would not matter at all... But what was the point of doing so?
Is it simply to vent your anger?
The reason why the people in the research institute dare to be so unscrupulous is because they have the undead crew members backing them up . Apart from the people in the crisis management department who can check and balance them, they can completely override all the public power institutions in the Ark - whether it is the United Parliament Group, major financial groups and powerful families, the military... and even the Security Bureau, they are all suppressed by them in terms of authority level. Over time, this group of people naturally became the veritable "superiors".
Anyone who can enter the institute can be considered a genius without exception... Nine out of ten geniuses have some characteristics of being arrogant because of their talent. Add to that the almost top-level authority and material conditions, and these two factors together have led to the current situation: in the eyes of the people in the institute, ordinary people on the Ark... even the daughters of the consortium like Zofia Soma, have no "human rights" to speak of. To them, the entire Ark is like a giant livestock farm, and the people on the ship are like livestock that are raised and can be slaughtered at any time.
To put it bluntly, as the institute's power has continued to grow, its members have gradually lost their humanity.
Even those who are not bad by nature will gradually be assimilated into the environment after joining this organization.
For example, two students with excellent academic performance graduated in the same year and joined the biomedical department of the research institute together. One of them was extremely utilitarian and started participating in human experiments soon after joining the institute, believing that "as long as corresponding academic achievements can be achieved, the sacrifice of those 'experimental subjects' is worth it."
Another person who is unwilling to work on these "experimental subjects" will be gradually marginalized. Not only will he be unable to achieve research results, but even his mentor will gradually distance himself from him. Without companions, resources, and valuable data that can only be obtained through human experiments, this student, no matter how talented he is, will eventually be just like everyone else.
This is particularly prominent in the biomedical department - according to the data that Ke Lan found using the authority of the crisis management department, their department alone "consumes" thousands of experimental subjects every year.
There are many experimental subjects like this, some are criminals, some are arrested exiles, and some are people who owe huge debts and are unable to repay... But not only this kind of "scum", there are also many experimental subjects who have not committed any faults at all, just like those in the "Telekinetic Living Experiment Group", many of them are elite soldiers from the army.
Regardless of whether they are guilty or innocent, the researchers in charge of the experimental project will not tell them the true purpose and consequences of the experiment... and regardless of whether the experiment succeeds or fails, less than 30% of these people can eventually leave the experimental base.
Asano Akira was considered very lucky, because the research institute borrowed a lot of soldiers from the military for their project, and under pressure from the military, they did not get rid of "failures" like him in the end - if it were other "experimental subjects" without any background, they would most likely be injected with a tube of "sedative" after the experiment and then be packed up and thrown into the incinerator.
As for those "experimental subjects" who had made major breakthroughs, their fate was even worse - in the underground ice storage of the institute, Ke Lan saw at least hundreds of human bodies soaked in various solutions... Some were complete people, and some were just certain parts or organs of the human body.
If this kind of thing happened in the old era, the entire institute would probably be executed for "crimes against humanity"... But on the Ark, regular law enforcement agencies have no power to judge them at all.
The advancement of science does require sacrifice...but this is definitely not a reason to treat human life as worthless.
"Perhaps, with this incident, the Undead Crew should reorganize the research institute." Ke Lan thought to himself, "At least, if things continue at the same pace as before, this group of people will soon become a heretical sect."
…
With the sound of the chainsaw engine, the robot cut off a large piece of blood-soaked turf, and then took out a new one from the warehouse to lay it on top - except for the two bullet shells that Ke Lan picked up and put into her pocket, all traces were poured into the garbage disposal device and crushed into pieces by the sharp blades.
Ke Lan knew clearly that killing these two researchers... or even killing Renee herself would be useless. The only one who had the ability to change all this was that high and mighty undead crew member.
He is just a "chess piece" now, but if he wants to become a " chess player"... first, he has to become a member of the crew.
He didn't know whether the "chess player" also had strings tied to his body to control the puppet, but at least he had to jump out of the chessboard in front of him first.
Ke Lan turned around and saw Zofia and Ze Luo standing at the door, looking at her.
"I was just giving that guy a reminder." Ke Lan said.
"I know, but isn't it too impulsive? After all, they are from the research institute." Zofia said worriedly.
"The research institute may be in trouble now. You don't have to worry about them coming back to retaliate against you and the Soma family."
As for herself and the God Hunters, Ke Lan didn't even mention it. Zofia was a smart woman. Ever since Ke Lan was chosen as the person in charge of "Aguna Kotor", she was sure that her fiancé had obtained an extremely terrifying force at some point in time. The authority of this force seemed to be far above that of the research institute...
Otherwise, why would the development rights of an S-class relic that has hardly been developed, a treasure that almost every force covets, fall into the hands of a young hunter with no identity or background?
The battle record of the God Hunting Group after its establishment can indeed be considered brilliant, and the family represented by his surname is indeed an existence that is out of reach for ordinary people - but even if the two are added together, when placed in front of an S-level relic, it is far from enough.
What's more, this S-class relic is itself an ancient warship from an alien civilization - this is not an immobile city ruin, but a super weapon with terrifying power. Anyone who masters this weapon will instantly have the capital to fight against the entire Ark.
Without that terrifying help, Ke Lan would never have been able to climb to this position.
Although she didn't know about the existence of the Undead Crew, as one of the heirs of the Soma family, she would more or less know something about this supreme authority hidden in the shadows.
A force like the Soma family can be considered to be in the upper-middle class of the powerful. In addition to the patriarch knowing about the existence of the Undead Crew, the patriarch's right-hand men and successors will generally also know some information - these news are usually very obscure, but they are enough to make people "think carefully and be terrified."
Zofia had always known that the United Parliamentary Group did not actually have 100% autonomy; they were more like a group of agents - but as to who they were representing, she couldn't quite say.
In the early years, she thought that the family forces behind those congressmen were the "decision makers" who could truly dominate the parliamentary group. However, as she grew older, she came into contact with more and more things and understood more and more inside information. She gradually began to realize that things did not seem to be as she thought at the beginning.
If those congressmen really represent the forces behind them, the management of the entire Ark will probably become a mess.
Everyone wants to gain benefits for their own forces, so the parliamentary group will inevitably be filled with open and covert struggles - even the competition for heirs within the Soma family is so tense, not to mention the game between families.
But the fact is just the opposite. In many cases, the parliamentary group is the one that checks and balances the various forces and organizations, and those major events that need to be decided by the parliamentary group can hardly be decided in more than a day - if it were in the old era, it would take at least several months just to hold meetings and argue.
The efficiency of the United Parliament Group is terrifyingly high, but it is also for this reason that the Ark can gain a foothold on Alpha Star.
To Zofia, the United Parliamentary Group did not feel like a countermeasures agency composed of representatives elected by various forces, but more like a one-man show full of authoritarian style. Coupled with the news that the "United Parliamentary Group" did not have 100% autonomy, Zofia finally came to a conclusion: above the Parliamentary Group, there is a power agency hidden that ordinary people are unknown to.
First of all, this authority will definitely not be the main brain of the Ark - although the main brain has a high level of authority, people will never be willing to let the machine's authority exceed their own. Even if the positions of the members of the parliamentary group are not consistent, if they intend to go to war, the first thing they must do is to unite and deprive the main brain of its "highest authority".
This authority can only be composed of "people".
"Yeah." Zofia nodded and asked, "The whole ship is blocked... Maybe something happened at the research institute?"
"Did you get the information from your family?" Ke Lan was a little surprised. Logically speaking, the news blockade of the "meme infection" incident was comprehensive. Even the powerful people on the Ark found it difficult to obtain relevant information - after all, "memes" are spread through information themselves. The more people know about it, the greater the harm it causes.
Even if the Crisis Management Department had planned to involve non-governmental organizations in the subsequent cleanup and reconstruction work, the news should not have spread so quickly.
"No, it was those two researchers," Zofia answered. "They had a phone call with Dr. Renee not long ago. They mentioned that a serious accident had occurred at the institute's headquarters, but it seemed that even they themselves didn't know what the accident was."
"They made the call in front of you?" Ke Lan was a little stunned. "Are these guys so careless?"
"No, before the call, they specially picked a soundproof room and turned on various anti-eavesdropping devices... but these things seemed to be of no use to Ze Luo." Zofia said.
"Oh, I almost forgot, there is this great god beside Zofia..." Ke Lan said in his heart, and couldn't help but look at Ze Luo more, "What did they say?"
"That Renee seemed to be in a hurry to return to the Ark. She mentioned that this accident was related to one of her colleagues. Her colleague had made a breakthrough in his research. Although the consequences were disastrous, she wanted to know the specific experimental data." Ze Luo said immediately, "She asked the two researchers to keep an eye on Miss Soma, and specifically mentioned that if you come to see Miss Soma, she will find a way to use drugs on the two of you."
Ze Luo didn't say what drugs they used, probably because they didn't mention it in their original conversation, but despite this, Ke Lan could guess what they wanted to use...
"Forget it, let's not talk about them." Ke Lan said , "Someone will take care of those things for me."
"Is it that group of people?" Sofia looked at Ke Lan and asked in a low voice.
"Which group of people?" Ke Lan thought that Sofia was asking about the Security Bureau or the Crisis Management Department, but after meeting her eyes, he realized that this was not what the other party wanted to ask at all.
"The group that chose you." Zofia said.
"Yes." Ke Lan nodded without hesitation, "It was originally their fault for not managing this matter properly. They should take responsibility."
"I seem to have... won the first prize?" Sofia looked at Ke Lan and couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
"I don't know whether it's the first prize or not. I only know that similar troubles will probably happen frequently in the future." Ke Lan squatted down and picked up Zofia's foot with the anklet. Blood flashed between his fingers, and the anklet forged from a special alloy broke into two and fell to the ground.
"The more you fear trouble, the more likely you are to be in trouble." Zofia put her hands on Ke Lan's shoulders and said, "My grandfather told me this."
