Overturned Tower

Ringo felt an inexplicable chill running down his spine.

It was like the air conditioner in the room, which had been on for a long time, was turned down twice without anyone noticing.

When she realized it, a deep chill had already penetrated her body and mind, making Lin Yu couldn't help but shiver.

It's not that the disguise has been revealed...but it's like suddenly realizing the truth that cannot be known.

It was like a group of people laughing and playing in a hotel with rumors of being haunted, but suddenly realized that there was an extra person among them without any abnormalities, and they couldn't even remember who the extra person was.

Her expression suddenly froze a little.

Ringo noticed that although Mr. Ultramarine made a murderous warning, there was no ferocious smile on his face, nor any look of nervousness or fear.

His expression is——

sad.

It was helpless, but plain and determined sadness.

It reminded Lin Geo of his own experience as a student...the helplessness he felt when his essay was rejected by his tutor and completely overturned and rewritten.

Ringo suddenly reacted.

Judging from Mr. Ultramarine's gentle character, he must have made thorough preparations to redeem these synthetic humans after careful investigation and research, but in the end he found that it was completely useless.

Mr. Ultramarine's eyes did not look at the man who was kneeling on the ground and dying slowly because his breathing was blocked.

Instead, he looked behind the man, as if he was listening carefully and feeling something.

But when Ringo looked in that direction, he couldn't see anything at all.

Looking out from this narrow alley, you can only see the cheap neon lights.

——He must be looking at this sinful and cold city.

Through these people, you can see the city. Then, using it as a mirror, I saw that my excessive gentleness turned into a sharp blade and hurt myself...

Ringo stared at Ultramarine blankly, thinking in his heart.

And on the other side, in a world that Ringo can't see.

The container of God, which would only appear in Russell's field of vision, was standing behind the man, looking at Russell.

The right leg of the God's Vessel turned into a copper pillar and was nailed to the ground, while strong ropes appeared around the man's hands and waist, which were tied to the copper pillar behind him.

His right hand was clasped on the man's face. On top of the handkerchief soaked in blood, there was a thin mask on top, compacting all the blood back.

Although the man struggled hard, his chin was held down by the left hand of the God Vessel. No matter how hard it struggled, it was impossible to move an inch.

"Waterboarding...tsk, tsk, tsk..."

The vessel of God, who looked like a barber, said with a smile: "Why, you got angry after being sprayed with bloody saliva?

"It's too easy to irritate you. I only need to raise a group of alpacas to achieve unlimited refills of anger. Anger~unlimited~MAX~"

"Why do you think I decided to kill them?"

Russell suddenly spoke.

Hearing this, the God's Vessel raised his eyebrows: "Them?

"Are you so murderous, my...master?"

On the other side, Ringo also heard Russell's words.

After hearing this, she hesitated for a moment, and then tentatively replied: "Because you are disappointed with them?

"Feeling that your good intentions have been betrayed...or realizing that they don't deserve to be saved?"

"neither."

Russell shook his head and said calmly.

He looked back at Ringo and smiled softly.

Although the expression was the same as when he was determined to kill someone, Ringo did not feel fear because of it, but instead felt a sense of relief.

Russell touched Ringo's little head, and then touched her ears that were erect due to the battle.

"You know how I became a hero, Ringo?"

"...I remember that I seemed to have saved many people..."

"That is the commonality of all heroes. But if you think about it carefully, you will realize another commonality."

Russell said softly: "That is killing.

"I became a hero because I killed people. All 'heroes' were favored by the board of directors precisely because they killed people.

“If you are not good at killing, no matter how many people you save, or even if you are worshiped by people, you will not become a ‘hero’ endorsed by the directors and given permission to kill.

"In the final analysis, a hero is an instrument for killing. Like a well-forged knife or a loaded bullet.

“But it’s not the sharp blade, nor the trigger itself that kills. It’s the will to pull the trigger, the arm that wields the sharp blade.

"It's the 'eyes' and the 'brain'. In other words, it's the director behind the 'hero'."

When Russell was halfway through speaking, he took his eyes away from Ringo and looked at the container of God.

"Before this, I naively thought...Director Amirus really came to entrust me with solving the problem of the synthetic human rebellion."

"Isn't it?"

The Vessel of God raised his eyebrows.

Ringo was also a little confused: "But, the mission I received here is indeed..."

"--it's not true."

Russell replied calmly: "Thinking about 'cannot hurt their lives and subdue them all', 'should establish a good relationship with them and improve the image of the outer islanders in the hearts of the residents of Tongshen Island', 'beautiful and proper solution'" Synthetic crisis, let Tongshen Island return to order and peace, and then suffer defeat or something...

"If we really do this, I think it will be completely reduced to a useful tool."

"…What exactly are you going to say?"

The more Ringo listened, the more confused he became, but he had a bad feeling in his heart.

Russell just laughed gently: "On the contrary, I want to thank him, because he expressed his views sincerely. There was no pretense, no politeness, no false kindness.

"This made me realize one thing clearly -

"Tongshen Island's xenophobia, Shenzhen Heavy Industry's fear of synthetics... What does it have to do with me?

"I'm just a worker. My real mission is to disintegrate the deterrent power held by the synthetics, that's all. I think about the 'perfect solution', consider the 'people's vision', and worry about 'Civilian acceptance', thinking about quietly completing investigations, quelling rebellions, and resolving crises... But what does that have to do with me?

"From the beginning, they never regarded me, a foreign company dog, as one of their own. Even if I changed their views, I changed the entire Tongshen Island people's views and opinions on other Sky Islanders, and even made them think about 'other people'." The corporate dogs of Sky Island generate sympathy and recognition, and in the end the only ones who benefit from it are the Seven Giants of other Sky Islands.

"——It would be better to say that I am the 'one' of Sanzhi Heavy Industry."

Russell's thinking was clear and his eyes were bright: "My highest-level position is from the branch of Shenzhi Heavy Industry. As a deputy director level person, I should enjoy preferential treatment on Tongshen Island. Why do I have to remain anonymous? Sneak into civilian areas to investigate?

"The board of directors of Sanzhi Heavy Industry really wants something from me. Even if I am not a local 'hero', I can still enjoy the resources of a hero.

"...Because the 'hero' is just the director's dog, and the board of directors needs my help now. If I were a real low-level person, they might get angry and fight back after taking advantage of me. But I am a sanity heavy worker. Part of... This can even be counted as my merit, as my 'advance power'."

Russell sighed softly and looked at the man who was gradually losing consciousness after being waterboarded.

He stretched out his hand and slowly moved it along the other person's left temple to the right temple through the blood-soaked handkerchief.

The psychic energy extended into an invisible sharp blade, cutting the man's brain and giving him a painful blow.

“I really want to thank them for making me realize something important:

"Here, I'm not even a low-end thing like a 'company dog'. Or..."

Russell smiled and said: “Now I am the company itself.

"—Kill them, Ringo. There's nothing to be afraid of anymore.

"Rather, if we show our cowardice, things will become more troublesome."