246: Necessary evil

Wei Ziqing struggled to crawl out of the narrow opening. Before he could even catch his breath, the intense gunfire, explosions, and faint roars coming from the direction of the main hall made his heart tighten.

"Has the fighting started?" He didn't dare delay and immediately identified the direction, rushing toward the source of the sound.

Passing through several hall gates and corridors, he saw the wide square in front of the main hall.

Two combatants in GUPA uniforms, holding firearms, were leaning against stone platforms and debris, tensely aiming forward;

not far behind them, under the shadow of a massive pillar, Professor Chen and his two students were huddled there, their faces pale.

Wei Ziqing immediately crouched down and moved quickly to the professor's side. "Professor! What's going on? Why did the fighting start so suddenly?" he asked urgently in a low voice.

Professor Chen was delighted to see him return safely, but then a look of fear and disbelief appeared on his face. He grabbed Wei Ziqing's arm, his voice trembling with tension:

"It's 'them'! The 'The Fellowship'! And people from 'Prometheus'!"

"The Fellowship?" Wei Ziqing was unfamiliar with the name.

"Yes! It's that... that anti-human organization that worships myths, considers itself superior, and acts with madness!"

Professor Chen spoke extremely fast, as if trying to dump all the information he knew. "Decades ago, all nations joined forces and clearly wiped them out! The files were all sealed! How... how did they crop up again? These persistent madmen!"

He became more agitated as he spoke, but then suddenly realized something. His expression changed, and he quickly let go, looking around before whispering earnestly to Wei Ziqing:

"Wait... Xiao Wei, what I just said... you must never tell anyone else! This is all classified. I shouldn't have... sigh, I let my mouth run because I was anxious!"

Wei Ziqing looked at him and nodded. "Don't worry, Professor, I understand. I won't say anything." He patted the professor's arm to reassure him, then his gaze turned sharp as he looked toward the center of the square.

The situation on the square was somewhat strange; it wasn't an active battle, but a tense standoff.

On one side were Lu Jianchuan, Shen Mingyuan, and Cynthia. Lu Jianchuan stood at the very front, his silver armor shining and his Aura heavy and condensed;

Shen Mingyuan was behind him to the side, his deep red goggles scanning alertly with dual guns in hand, clearly using Lu Jianchuan as a shield while maintaining long-range support;

Cynthia stood on the other side. She didn't wear similar armor, but her arms were equipped with a pair of sleek, powerful mechanical exoskeleton gauntlets. At the moment, her fists were slightly clenched, her posture steady, and her cold gaze locked onto the opposite side.

On the ground around them lay the remains of several killed, twisted black creatures—the 'Sentry Dogs.'

A faint stench still lingered in the air, indicating that a brief skirmish had just occurred.

On the other side of the standoff, there were not many people, only two, but their presence was unique.

One of them wore a set of ancient-style Hanfu with wide-sleeved robes, the fabric fluttering gently in a breeze from an unknown source.

His eyes were covered by a Silk Blindfold made of special material, yet it didn't seem to hinder the eerie feeling that he had full insight into his surroundings.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his posture ethereal and otherworldly, completely out of place in this battlefield filled with modern technology and the remnants of violence, like an ancient Immortal who had stepped into the wrong time and space.

The other person was completely different, looking like a youth of eighteen or nineteen with short hair and a cold face.

His body was not completely encased in armor but was in a semi-covered state:

armor with a biological texture, interwoven with black, orange, and white, was attached to key parts like his shoulders, chest, arms, and legs, while other parts exposed solid muscles that looked thoroughly tempered.

This 'Semi-armor' form was in stark contrast to Lu Jianchuan's seamless full-body armor.

Even more striking were the small, precision-engineered barrel-like devices on each of his shoulders, clearly mechanical the creations, and a compact mechanical backpack connected to his body that seemed to provide some kind of support.

He crouched slightly like a leopard ready to pounce, his gaze sharp as a knife, firmly locked onto Lu Jianchuan.

There was a distance between the two sides, and the air seemed to freeze. Only the remaining Sentry Dogs prowling and growling on the outer perimeter showed that the conflict had not truly subsided, but was merely suppressed by the stronger will of the standoff.

Wei Ziqing's arrival was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake. Both sides of the standoff glanced over, noticing this new combatant who had appeared from the rear flank, holding a gloomy bone sword and covered in plain white armor.

Wei Ziqing did not hesitate. He nodded to the professor, then unsheathed his sword with a 'clang,' moving to join Lu Jianchuan's line. He stood on Cynthia's flank, his sword tip pointing diagonally at the ground, coldly eyeing the two distinct individuals opposite them.

As he took his position, the balance of the standoff in the field seemed to shift subtly. The atmosphere became even more tense, on the verge of erupting, yet it strangely remained in the silence before a storm.

An imperceptible curve seemed to appear at the corner of the blindfolded man in Hanfu's mouth, while the Semi-armor youth only shifted his cold gaze slightly from Lu Jianchuan to the newcomer, Wei Ziqing.

The dead silence in the field was broken by the Semi-armor youth from Prometheus. His cold gaze swept over Lu Jianchuan and Cynthia, finally pausing briefly on the newly joined Wei Ziqing, his voice calm but carrying a condescending, evaluative tone:

"So, are you really not prepared to leave?" He spread one hand, gesturing to the surrounding packs of Sentry Dogs that were crouching and restless.

"I can guarantee that if you turn and leave now, we won't attack from behind. For you, this is the wisest choice at the moment. After all, looking at the numbers..."

His gaze swept over the dark mass of Sentry Dogs again before returning to the four people standing ready, his tone flat but full of pressure:

"We have a significant advantage on our side. Even if we don't crush you head-on, we can wear you down... until you die here. Is it worth throwing your lives away for a ruin that has already been mostly explored?"

"Are you joking!"

Cynthia's voice pierced through the other's attempts to dissuade them like an ice pick.

She took a step forward, her Mechanical Gauntlets clenching with a slight sound of metal grinding. Her deep blue eyes burned with long-suppressed anger and resolve:

"Leave? I will never—never flee with my tail between my legs like that!" Her voice rose slightly due to her intense emotions.

"Not only do I refuse your ridiculous 'suggestion,' but I'm going to capture you—all of you—alive! Then, I'll pry it out of your mouths, word by word! I'll find out exactly who those undercover moles you've planted within the official ranks are, those who lurk like vermin! And..."

Her breath hitched for a moment as her gaze locked onto the youth, as if she wanted to pierce through him: "Find my parents! And bring them... back!"

Lu Jianchuan then spoke in a deep voice, his words from beneath the silver armor sounding powerful and resolute:

"That's right, we will never agree. Just based on those 'good deeds' you've done—those human experiments devoid of conscience, turning living people into monsters or expendables!" He clenched his fist.

"We don't need any more reasons. Based on those alone, stopping you is something we must do! Is that reason enough? For the things you've done, I'll stop you every time I see you!"

Facing the two's fierce accusations and declarations, the Semi-armor youth's face remained expressionless, though his eyes flickered with a subtle light.

He first looked at the emotional Cynthia, his tone even carrying a hint of innocent confusion:

"Your parents? Regrettably, I know nothing of this. To be precise, before today, I didn't even know who you were." To Cynthia, these words were undoubtedly callous evasion and provocation.

Immediately, his gaze turned to the resolute Lu Jianchuan, calmly responding to the accusations about human experiments as if stating a simple fact:

"As for human experiments... that is merely a 'Necessary Evil.'

"Just like... well, just like those ancient rulers of great talent and vision. To build dams that could withstand floods and protect the masses, they would inevitably conscript labor, and in the process, there might be a loss of human life.

"Or perhaps, to refine medicine that can save more people, one always needs to conduct some risky trials first."

He tilted his head slightly, as if searching for a more fitting metaphor, and finally concluded:

"To achieve greater goals and acquire more important knowledge, some sacrifices and... less than honorable processes are inevitable.

"This is just a necessary and rational price on the path to a higher level of evolution and understanding. You call it 'evil,' but we see it as... necessary stepping stones."

"Necessary Evil?"

Lu Jianchuan repeated those four words, his voice from beneath the silver armor suddenly rising, filled with unmasked sarcasm and resolute rejection.

He slightly raised his clenched fist, pointing it at the youth opposite him. The red light of his goggles seemed to focus even more sharply on the other person.

"I don't accept it!" His voice was clear and firm, echoing across the empty square. "I've said it before, I'm an idealist!"

"I won't have any of this flippant 'Necessary Evil,' this excuse of using the pain and lives of some people to elevate a so-called 'greater goal'!"

His words were like bullets leaving the chamber, resonating with force. "I want to grasp 'the happiness of the masses,' I want to protect the peace before me, and I will try to find a way to get along with those around me and other races we can communicate with!"

He took a small half-step forward, his Aura erupting as if he wanted to brand his conviction directly onto the air in front of him:

"What I want is the Perfection of all things! It's to avoid senseless harm to any side as much as possible! Even though I know better than anyone that this world cannot be perfect, and there cannot be a lack of regrets and sacrifices—"

His voice paused here, becoming deeper and more resolute, word by word, as if cast in steel:

"—I will still strive with all my might in that direction! I will do my utmost to approach that limit!"

"I will never, nor will I ever allow myself to, lower my bottom line even by a single hair!" His raised arm pointed steadily at the other person, his final declaration like a judgment:

"Therefore, this so-called 'Necessary Evil' of yours, along with everything it represents, I resolutely refuse! I will never accept it!"