Chapter 243 The Balance at Both Ends 24
Kui Xin was staring at the bank balance displayed on the communicator screen, her eyes lingering on the long string of numbers, unable to look away for a long time.
Amber watched her for half a minute before she couldn’t help but ask, “Is there a problem with the money?”
“No.” Kui Xin casually put down the communicator.
She was counting how many zeros there were in the balance, repeating it several times.
When she got up to walk, she felt an unusual lightness under her feet, as if she were wrapped in light air, exuding a sense of unreality.
The money she had received all at once was simply too much, and Kui Xin lost her sense of understanding regarding this long string of numbers in her account. Eager to regain a sense of reality, she turned to Amber and asked a question.
“What can 20 billion be used for?” Kui Xin’s serious gaze made Amber involuntarily start to calculate seriously.
“If we put it into Mechanized Dawn, 20 billion is enough for a full budget of a new type of exoskeleton armor research project, which can not only support several laboratories but also fund a large group of researchers,” Amber said. “Twenty billion is enough to establish several large secret bases with complete security functionalities, as well as cover their expenses for an entire year.”
“Ah…” Kui Xin had a vague understanding inside.
At the right moment, Adam communicated with Kui Xin through her headset, being more sensitive to monetary figures. “Twenty billion can establish a small offshore military base equipped with destroyers and missiles, having a permanent military force. Twenty billion is equivalent to all the expenses associated with the Federation launching twenty small satellites into space, including insurance, R&D, production, trial-and-error, and rocket transportation.”
It continued, “If you have no concept of these distant things, I can give more examples. Twenty billion could fund thousands of students to obtain doctoral degrees, equal to the income of two hundred thousand ordinary three-person households for one month, allowing nearly twenty million impoverished people to eat well, wear warm clothes, and live happy lives for a considerable period…”
Kui Xin instantly awakened, realizing the meaning represented by this long string of zeros in her bank account.
To the wealthy clans, this money was insignificant; to them, this twenty billion was like a feather. But from another perspective, this twenty billion felt so heavy, heavy enough to buy the lives of twenty million poverty-stricken people from death, allowing them to live.
When Kui Xin was in elementary school, the concept instilled by her teachers was that life was priceless.
Later, as she grew up, she discovered that this was not the case; there were too many things more expensive than life. After arriving in the Second World, her understanding deepened. It wasn’t that those expensive things shouldn’t be so expensive… but rather that compared to those things, human life was too cheap, too undervalued.
Of course, people in the Second World probably wouldn’t instill the concept of “life is priceless” in children, as individuals from birth were categorized into different tiers, determining their value. Higher citizens had more valuable lives, while lower citizens’ lives were deemed worthless.
This method of classifying people reminded Kui Xin of pork for sale in a cold storage; it was scanned by machines, labeled, and assigned grades just waiting to be sold.
Amber asked, “What do you plan to do with this twenty billion?”
“Although the current situation seems unsuited for a long-term strategy, we still need to prepare for one; we can’t wait until the danger is near to start laying plans.” Kui Xin snapped back to reality, saying, “With this money, The Shadowless can skip the capital accumulation phase… Let’s adopt Eve’s organizational structure model and establish a company that can operate openly to facilitate activities and complete various affairs. Bases should be set up under the company, with strongholds established outside the bases.”
Amber crossed her arms, “Where should the headquarters be located? White Whale City? It’s too far away, too distant from the inland economic and political centers. Activities would be inconvenient; limited resources have long been monopolized by wealthy clans. There are cities with better resources than here.”
“You’re right; the location of the headquarters needs careful consideration.” Kui Xin said, “White Whale City is unsuitable.”
“Then please think it over carefully.” Amber stared into Kui Xin’s eyes, “Now I want to see Four Leaves, you promised me.”
“Sure.” Kui Xin said, “Wait here; I’ll bring him over.”
“Alright.” Amber’s brows relaxed a bit, and her tone softened.
“You understand that the pressing adversary won’t give that child time to grow; he’s too fragile, too young, a blank slate, with a mind as innocent as that of a baby.” Kui Xin brought the conversation to the point.
Without any hesitation, Amber replied, “I will protect him.”
“You can’t be his nanny forever. Under normal circumstances, it will take at least seven to eight years for him to grow up. In these years, he needs to learn about this world, build a worldview, learn combat skills, and develop a mature mind.” Kui Xin continued, “Will you stay by his side for those seven to eight years, Amber? You don’t have that energy, and I don’t either.”
“You’re not saying this to convince me to give up, otherwise, you wouldn’t have let me see him.” Amber observed Kui Xin’s facial expression. “You’re accustomed to seeing many steps ahead. You had already anticipated the situation would be like this when you took Four Leaves away, yet you still took him. You wouldn’t bring him out of hell just to abandon him afterward… Kui Xin?”
This time, he did not call her by her code name, as if reminding her of something intentionally.
“I won’t regret the things I’ve done.” Kui Xin said, “But I must remind you that we need to make a choice regarding Four Leaves. We can’t allow him to grow normally; we might even need to ‘hasten’ his growth.”
“‘Hasten’?” Amber’s eyelids drooped, and her brows furrowed, seemingly extremely averse to these two words.
Softly, he said, “Just like what Mechanized Dawn did? To hasten Four Leaves’ growth?”
Kui Xin said emphatically, “Yes.”
“Stuffing vast knowledge and memories into his brain, instilling values in him, helping him shape his worldview, imposing concepts that do not belong to him, making him grow into a ‘mature person’ in a short time?” The previously calm expression on Amber’s face displayed noticeable emotional fluctuations for the first time, an emotion labeled “disgust.”
“Yes.” Even though Amber showed strong resistance, Kui Xin’s tone remained unchanged, “You know this is a necessary measure.”
Amber fell silent.
“I understand how you grew up.” Kui Xin said indirectly. “I know why you’re so resistant to this forced method of ‘growth.'”
Amber scoffed coldly, “You know? What do you know?”
“As an independent individual, a person with a soul, your understanding of the world and the formation of values should not be instilled by others. It should come from personal experience, then judgment, eventually forming a complete worldview and value system.” Kui Xin said, “You believe that that which is instilled by others is not real, that only the reality you personally experience is real. You despise being controlled and indoctrinated. You must desire for Four Leaves to personally experience this world, to judge what the world is like, to decide for himself who is an enemy and who is a companion, to determine how he should live.”
Amber tightly pursed his lips.
“You don’t want Four Leaves to have a fixed value system; you don’t want him to become a soldier or anything else. If he must fight for something, it should be for himself.” Kui Xin’s calm pace slightly eased Amber’s mood, “Am I right, Amber?”
After a long time, Amber softly murmured, “Mhm.”
His expression remained unchanged, but he seemed to be enveloped in sadness.
“You want him to grow on his own; that is very correct and should not be termed as a mistake. However, growth is too slow; he may die.” Kui Xin said, “We have a very clear choice before us: either hasten his growth and let him mature quickly, or allow him to remain a pure, innocent ‘baby’, a lamb waiting for slaughter. By choosing the former, his chances of survival will be slightly higher; when others want to kill him, at least he won’t confuse those wanting to kill him with those who wish to embrace him.”
Amber seemed to be stung by Kui Xin’s words; he looked away, covering his forehead with his hand, the pale blue veins on the back of his hand becoming prominent.
He didn’t consider for long.
“I… understand.” Amber said quietly, “Hasten his growth, let him live a little longer. If he lives long enough, he will have opportunities to understand the world anew.”
“Then I’ll go get him.” Kui Xin took a step back, and a spatial vortex opened behind her.
In less than ten minutes, Kui Xin returned with Four Leaves to the stronghold.
Four Leaves tightly held Kui Xin’s hand, like a small dog following behind her, securely walking in unfamiliar places only when being pulled by someone he trusted.
Upon seeing a stranger in the room, Four Leaves instinctively looked at Kui Xin, appearing slightly unfamiliar.
“This is Amber.” Kui Xin loosened Four Leaves’ hand, gently pushing on his back to make him walk forward, approaching Amber. “He’s a very good person, just like the Hunter Falcon.”
Four Leaves drew strength from Kui Xin’s words and said to Amber, “Hello, Amber.”
When meeting someone, the Hunter Falcon had taught him to greet.
“Hello, Four Leaves.” Amber paused for a moment due to his greeting, quickly responding.
“Then I leave him to you.” Kui Xin nodded to Amber.
“Mm.” Amber said to Kui Xin again, “Thank you.”
Kui Xin turned around, and Four Leaves hurriedly grabbed her arm and said, “Are you… leaving?”
“I’m going to buy food; I’ll be back shortly.” Kui Xin replied.
“How long is shortly?” Four Leaves asked.
Kui Xin answered, “Fifteen minutes.”
Four Leaves looked down at the children’s watch and locator He Kangshi had given him, reassuredly releasing Kui Xin’s arm. He had a concept of time; fifteen minutes was much shorter than a day, and he could wait.
After Kui Xin left the stronghold, she slowly turned towards the convenience store, buying milk and cereal, along with some instant packaged food.
Adam said, “I recommend you consume more protein and green leafy vegetables.”
“Okay.” Kui Xin said, “Is your profession acting up again?”
“Perhaps.” Adam said, “I have a question.”
“Go ahead.” Kui Xin picked a vegetable-rich ham sandwich from the shelf.
“Aren’t you afraid Amber will implant something into Four Leaves’ brain?” Adam asked. “For example, causing Four Leaves to harbor rebellious thoughts about you, weakening your influence over him? He doesn’t trust you and fears you might manipulate Four Leaves. Four Leaves cares too much about you; he regards you as the most important person.”
“This is indeed possible, but I don’t think Amber would do that.” Kui Xin said, “Because he is also an artificial human; he knows the pain of being controlled, where even the thoughts are not his own. That feeling makes him loathe it… Therefore, he doesn’t like to control his kind using his abilities, even if it is merely to impose a trivial mental suggestion.”
……
Four Leaves sat down on the sofa in the stronghold’s room, looking confusedly at Amber and asked, “Are you feeling unwell?”
“I’m fine; there’s nothing wrong.” Amber forced a smile at him.
“But you… look like something’s wrong.” Four Leaves said doubtfully.
“That’s because what I’m about to do next makes me feel somewhat sad.” Amber placed a hand on Four Leaves’ head, and a glowing blue light ignited deep in his pupils, “But I still must do it.”
Amber’s memories and thoughts were forcibly implanted into Four Leaves’ brain. Four Leaves clutched his head in pain, unable to resist shouting, “It hurts!”
This pain was something he had previously experienced. When the researchers from Mechanized Dawn placed him in the brain machine, his head would feel such pain—so intense that it felt like it would crack. Things not belonging to him forcefully invaded his brain, triggering his brain’s self-defense mechanism as it resisted those memories while integrating them.
Time passed, and as the pain subsided, Four Leaves, curled up on the floor, dazedly put down his hands, opening his eyes and staring blankly at the ceiling.
“Four Leaves.” Amber called out to him.
Four Leaves reacted to this name, turning his eyes toward Amber.
“I’m sorry.” Amber said quietly, “The things I gave you are what you need to understand and also what you will need to adhere to for some time in the future. Before you have your own ideas, you need to keep doing the things I taught you.”
Four Leaves closed his eyes and then opened them again, “Those…”
“I will teach you how to fight, how to kill enemies, how to discern enemies, how to survive, how to lie, and how to disguise yourself.” Amber said, “The rest, you can learn gradually.”
“Why do the memories you gave me show that you distrust Maotoufu?” Four Leaves asked in confusion, “Is she an enemy?”
“She… is not at the moment.” Amber said cautiously.
“Will she be in the future?” Four Leaves asked again.
“Not necessarily; I’m not sure if she will be.” Amber reached out a hand to Four Leaves, wanting to pull him up.
But Four Leaves dodged Amber’s hand and stood up by himself, revealing a somewhat childish smile: “Maotoufu won’t be an enemy; she brought me to this world!”
Amber’s eyebrows twitched, and after a long time, he slowly said, “Alright, you do have your own ideas about this matter… then there’s no need to follow my thoughts.”
