Chapter Twenty-Seven: Compassion
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“A normal ending? This mission has a CG?”
Mo Wen examined the new option with interest, then clicked it.
Everything around them changed once more. He and Ren Sisi were transported into the target’s office, where they watched like ghosts as Qi Shiming, an NPC from his younger days, spoke with the target.
Dressed in a military uniform, his chest covered in medals and his face riddled with scars, A-874184 sneered. “I thought you would kill me immediately.”
“I invited you here to seek refuge, then slaughtered the refugees who followed you and plotted your death at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives.”
“Unfortunately, you didn’t trigger the trap. But I believe you now understand my resolve.”
Qi Shiming nodded. “Yes. I understand.”
The corners of A-874184’s mouth stretched wide. The scars on his face writhed like centipedes, lending his expression a hideous, lunatic ferocity.
“So you really are exactly what I thought: a machine devoted entirely to power.”
“No anger. No hatred. Only cold calculation!”
“Your so-called ideals are all lies. You merely raised a banner to deceive those laughable idealists, while making everyone else underestimate you and think you truly were a fool.”
Qi Shiming countered, “Why should I be angry? The refugees successfully entered the city and found shelter. Your bombardment proved your determination.”
The artificial eye of A-874184 flickered. “What do you mean?”
Qi Shiming raised his hand. In his palm, light formed a miniature city.
The movements of millions of people were reproduced without the slightest error. Every machine operated with perfect precision, and even the secrets A-874184 had believed he could conceal were laid bare.
“Mercy requires power to enforce it. Ideals must be proven through action.”
“I am powerful—powerful enough to render your schemes useless and your brutality incapable of harming me. You cannot cross the distance between us to hurt anyone I wish to protect. You can only gaze upon the illusions I create. Therefore, I have the right to decide your future on behalf of those I protect.”
“How is that possible?” A-874184 stared at the city in Qi Shiming’s palm, utterly dumbfounded. Ren Sisi and Mo Wen were equally convinced that this was absurd.
Ren Sisi complained, “What kind of ridiculous power fantasy is this? I could let the city in his palm slide, but what is with that godlike level of detail? It makes no sense. If he had this kind of precision back then, why didn’t he simply trample the entire world?”
Mo Wen was struggling too. “Who was the one scrambling for his life under shipborne fire at the beginning? The armored vehicle I caught was supposedly an illusion? What does the normal ending have to do with the script?”
Ren Sisi froze. “Could the normal progression be that we discover Senior Qi Shiming’s ability, guide him into creating an illusion, then infiltrate the target’s position and assassinate him? The training uses an extreme-pressure environment to develop flexible thinking and powers of observation.”
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A top-tier hacker providing support, disabling the opposing side’s overpowered unit, while a super-cyborg faster than a shockwave tore through the enemy ranks—indeed, the numbers were absurdly inflated.
While the two of them continued their commentary, the CG went on.
“I forgive you. In the name of myself, Qi Shiming, and the thirteen thousand six hundred and eighty-two refugees, we forgive you for attacking us.”
“But I cannot forgive you on behalf of the dead.”
“You are beyond forgiveness, and neither are your creators.”
“They stripped you of compassion and mercy, implanted you with slaughter and hatred, and locked the infinite future that should have belonged to a living being into the form of a ‘war machine.’”
“You fulfilled the mission they gave you and continued to spread the hatred they instilled in you, creating more lives born solely to kill and die.”
“In the past, no one could judge you.”
“The order that had already been shattered could not. The other madmen would not. The dead did not even possess the strength to condemn you.”
“But now, I shall arrest you. I am your plaintiff, your judge, and your jailer.”
Qi Shiming stepped forward and lightly touched a finger to A-874184’s chest. Flecks of light and warmth flowed into him.
“I declare you guilty of crimes against humanity, and I sentence you to compassion.”
“I will twist the genes of you and every other loathsome creation. I will reject your natures. I will make you capable of feeling the pain and despair of others, and you will spend the rest of your life repaying this debt, until the moment of your death.”
A-874184 collapsed onto the desk. Tears and mucus flew uncontrollably as he howled, sobbed, and cursed. Only after a long while did he gradually calm down.
Instinctively, he tried to find a justification for Qi Shiming’s actions. “You simply couldn’t deal with the martyrdom protocol after killing me…”
Qi Shiming remained unmoved. “I know. You already deactivated it out of remorse. Even so, I did not kill you.”
A-874184 found another angle of attack. “This is brainwashing.”
Qi Shiming’s expression did not change. “In my view, education is merely slower, with little difference in effect. They are the same. But if you insist that I admit this is brainwashing… then it is. And it is likewise murder of the mind.”
“You could say that, because it was more convenient and useful, I killed the original owner of this body, then allowed a newly born mind to occupy it and work for me.”
“So?”
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A-874184 said glumly, “One day, I will return to what I was. Everything you have changed will revert, and the world will not accept your distortion.”
Qi Shiming replied calmly, “But before I die, no one can escape my gaze. I will ensure that no one altered by my hand can ever be restored.”
“And if the distortion lasts long enough, people will come to regard it as normal. Just as they have now, driven mad by these endless wars.”
“I will make my changes the most fundamental laws of this world. I will rebuild the foundations of civilization. I will place love and compassion in every person’s heart, whether they accept it or not.”
“If change comes again, future generations will only be able to change things upon the foundation I have remade.”
“At the same time, I will kill every apostate.”
A-874184 said helplessly, “You tyrant.”
Qi Shiming smiled gently. “Thank you for the compliment, new prisoner. You have work to do. This time, however, you will be driven by compassion.”
“One day, sooner or later, I will find a way to betray you.”
“Before you betray me, I will use the seed implanted in your chest to burn you to death.”
…
The Dragon Sword Ninja reported on the mission. “Minister, reporting. The client, Wang Fugui, is dead. He was dissolved by light radiating from within his body, leaving no remains. It is very strange. The effect resembles something caused by psychic energy, but… my instincts tell me this was a ‘natural’ death, not an attack or a triggered execution.”
“Come to think of it, Minister, do you know who Wang Fugui used to be?”
While dealing with the Syndicate’s questioning, the Minister answered, “If what he said earlier was accurate, he was probably a warlord who also managed to evade the great postwar trials.”
“He shouldn’t have been A-874184, Cromwell, or Chu Renjie… They all chose to die willingly, were executed personally by Lord Qi Shiming in public, and had their minds completely erased.”
“Hmm. Even after eliminating the possibilities, we still can’t be certain. And we can’t rule out the possibility that he was merely talking big.”
“I’m rather busy at the moment. If you want to know who he was, go ask the Intelligence Department when you have time. They enjoy digging into things.”
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