Chapter 112
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Chapter 112: Psychological Treatment
The council members around the round table fell silent for a moment, and one person spoke first:
"Overall, the situation is still within a controllable range. I don’t believe there is anything worth discussing separately."
As soon as he finished speaking, another person immediately began to refute:
"Matthew, you’ve been like this for years. The accumulation of small deviations can lead to ultimate failure. Don’t forget our identities; don’t forget our final task."
"…"
The other person stopped speaking, and the elder who had spoken first took over the conversation:
"Let me continue; there are still a few points to discuss.
"The first matter: the Cleanup Plan for Unemployed Individuals in the outer city should be coming to an end.
"Although it’s not exactly as we envisioned, the results are not too far off."
Immediately, another member chimed in—the same one who had suggested capturing the unemployed individuals not long ago:
"Yes, who would have thought that those unregistered residents would form a significant part of the Infected?
"This is great; I don’t need to expand my production line since nearly half of the unregistered residents are already dead, and the rest have been detained.
"Considering the losses on the civilian side, these individuals will perfectly supplement the production line, increasing its stability. But speaking of the production line, should we shut down the extraordinary beast nutritional paste production line entirely?"
"No need; we will discuss that in detail later."
The group briefly discussed and confirmed the conclusion of the plan regarding the unregistered residents, as passed in the last council meeting.
Around twenty thousand individuals from the outer city had died at the hands of humanity’s guns as Infected, while the remaining would be sentenced to labor reform, spending the next three to five years on the nutritional paste production line.
"The second matter: Regarding the recent unrest in the outer city, some soldiers from the city defense army have developed severe war weariness, and Wencheng does not want us to handle this matter coldly."
"What is there to discuss? The Infected can no longer be considered human; killing them is no different from killing extraordinary beasts."
"Vaughn, have you lost your mind from all that nutrient solution? Those are soldiers, living people. They have thoughts and emotions, not just data on your screen or fake programs in your simulation games.
"Do you understand how they will feel when they see their family and friends turn into monsters, and still have to fire at them? What severe emotional burden will they carry afterward?"
"It’s not for you to decide how foolish I am. Since you know those simulation games, you should understand how the Old Era dealt with these situations—it’s all about soothing, recognizing, and diverting conflicts.
"Wencheng knows how to handle the first two, and for the last one, let’s shift next month’s broadcast theme toward extraordinary beasts; if there isn’t enough time, we can extend it for another month."
"There aren’t enough psychologists in the military. Should we mobilize them from various regions?"
"Then mobilize them. Let the military’s propaganda department handle it, and set the price high. Wencheng wouldn’t seek us out for such a minor issue."
Seeing that a basic solution to this matter had taken shape, the elder at the head raised a third issue:
"The third matter: What are everyone’s thoughts about the organization called ‘The Believers’?"
"We must eradicate them!"
Almost instantly, someone said sharply.
"Hmph, that’s easy to say. I’ve watched all the footage I could find about the blood rain; the person responsible is at least Fourth Level, comparable to the top five members of any superhero team."
"Top five? I believe they’re at least in the top three."
Another person, with a serious and rational tone, interrupted the previous speaker:
"This person was able to bring blood rain upon the whole city this time, and next time they could bring down toxic rain across the city—that level of power is already comparable to the top three team members."
The earlier speaker looked a bit embarrassed:
"What does ranking matter? Finding ways to prevent this is key.
"And it was just mentioned that ‘The Believers’ is an organization, with at least two known members—one immune to most physical attacks and another who can control the weather to some extent.
"Damn it, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. Where did these powerful superpowered individuals come from? I suggest we increase the superpower screenings for those under twelve to twice! We can’t let such high-quality firewood fall into someone else’s hands."
"Calm down; we are currently discussing the issue of ‘The Believers.’ We need to decide whether to publicly acknowledge their existence and how to characterize them."
"There is no need to make it public; Lucas didn’t kill them. Who can we blame for being careless?"
"Wait, everyone; I have an idea!"
One of the members who hadn’t participated in the discussion suddenly spoke up, and everyone fell silent, turning their attention to her.
Under a shadowy hood, her face was indistinct, and a young woman’s voice came from beneath the hood:
"I have a way to solve all three current problems at once."
"Stop teasing us, Nia; you can’t compare to your predecessors in this regard."
"Nutritional paste, shields, and tracking down ‘The Believers’—the core of these three issues lies in one person."
"…Are you saying Lucas’s son?"
"Yes, that’s him. Do you remember why Lucas chose to adopt this child? Although I wasn’t a council member at the time, my mentor told me it was because the child’s abilities and the shields are somewhat similar.
"We can easily make him the new shield, and regarding the ability issue, we can add a suppressor to the existing control component. That’s a top-notch item of ours; even the clever people at the research institutes can’t figure out how to disassemble it."
The term "we" caused a slight distortion on several aged faces hidden beneath hoods.
This woman, just two years ago a mere ant, a piece of firewood, now stood equal to them simply because she became the successor of the previous Nia.
Several elders gritted their teeth in resentment, but they had no way to protest since they set the rules themselves; their future also depended on these regulations, so they could only swallow their anger.
On the other side, Nia remained oblivious to their subtle expressions and continued to speak enthusiastically:
"This way, we will have a new shield. With the lesson learned from the last time, the mycelium issue won’t happen again. The nutritional paste production line can continue to operate, and we can monitor when the mycelium is active or inactive. It’s really just about changing the carrier more frequently, so the first two issues will be resolved."
