Chapter 401

Chapter 401: Heart Knots and Hints

Lin Qingliu had a high tolerance for the nutritional paste. Although it wasn’t particularly palatable, he could bypass the unpleasantness by temporarily numbing his sense of taste.

Thus, he quickly consumed the nutritional paste on his plate, not even touching the utensils he had prepared. After all, using a knife and fork to handle the gooey substance packaged in a bag seemed rather redundant.

As for the members of the first team, they too had endured hardships, but those days were decades in the past.

Despite the council’s numerous betrayals, their provisions and medical care had remained adequate.

After so many years, tasting this familiar flavor once more, the expressions on their faces were quite telling.

“Everyone, I’ve finished eating and will take my leave. Feel free to take your time here.”

After squeezing out the last bit of nutritional paste from the package, Arthur stood up and added with a meaningful tone:

“This conference room will be under a shielding status for the entire ‘day’; anyone not present will not know the content of the discussions.”

He emphasized the phrase “the entire day.” It was lunchtime, and there were exactly eleven hours until midnight; his words practically screamed, “Discuss among yourselves and give me a final answer.”

Confirming that everyone had registered his almost blatant hint, Arthur strode straight to the conference room’s door and used body language to decline the offers of a few first team members who were about to see him off.

Once the door closed, Arthur’s footsteps faded down the corridor, and the teammates who had been forcing the nutritional paste into their stomachs very tacitly stopped their movements.

They exchanged glances, seemingly trying to confirm what each of them was thinking.

“Let’s take a moment.”

After Lucas’s death, the oldest member of the first team was "Disaster Core."

At this moment, he put down the food he had been eating halfway, as a flicker of light seemed to flash in his sunken eye sockets.

“As the Speaker said, there are only us here now, so we might as well speak our minds.

“What do you all really think about the Speaker’s plan?”

“Disaster Core” looked at his teammates, including the relatively new "Holy Shield" and "Infinite Scroll," who remained as expressionless as ever.

“What do you mean, what do we think? Didn’t we all just agree?”

"Fortress" was the first to retort.

“Yes, we agreed, but…”

"Disaster Core" paused for a moment and spoke with implication:

“If this plan succeeds, there will be no need for us to withdraw, but if it fails… we all know what the outcome would be.

“I believe that everyone present, including myself, in that situation agreed just to go with the flow; the Speaker understands this too, which is why he let us discuss it ourselves. Otherwise…

“If there’s a leaker, the Speaker may be powerful enough to protect himself, but we would have no future to speak of.

“So, if you have any worries, concerns, or things you’re unwilling to let go of, we are all long-time partners and friends; there’s nothing we cannot discuss.”

At this moment, "Disaster Core" laid everything out. He looked at his friends and comrades and said:

“I’ll start:

“To be honest, I still care about Lucas. Is there anyone who feels the same way?”

He scanned the room, boldly voicing what he had been unable to say in front of Arthur.

This wasn’t out of cowardice, but rather about a matter that had already happened. Even speaking of it in front of the Speaker would be pointless.

Under the gaze of "Disaster Core," "Starfall" and "Fortress" nodded, while "Infinite Scroll" remained as expressionless as ever. The new "Holy Shield" wore a complex expression, being the successor to the group, harboring mixed feelings of love and hate toward Lucas.

On one hand, he had been one of the rejected candidates back then, feeling a certain jealousy toward those who were chosen. On the other hand, after undergoing the surgery, he came to understand the immense pressure Lucas had endured over the years, which deepened his respect for him.

Objectively, however, he was also a beneficiary of Lucas’s death. Thus, the new "Holy Shield" chose to sidestep the issue, trusting that the others would understand his awkward position.

The silence stretched for half a minute before "Fortress" suddenly spoke, his voice lightly tinged with emotion:

“I can understand it rationally, but emotionally, I still feel he was the one who killed Lucas. As for forgiveness… none of us have the right to grant it, not even Luke.”

"Disaster Core" nodded in agreement:

“I used to think the same, but…”

His tone carried a hint of hesitation, as though he were trying to convince himself:

“If you think about it, it was the council members who installed the self-destruct device to control us. Shouldn’t we consider them the real culprits?

“When prey falls into a trap, isn’t it because of the hunter’s design?”

After "Disaster Core" spoke, the conference room fell into silence once more.

After a while, "Fortress" said:

“You make a good point. Perhaps we really should consider stepping back.

“I can’t attack the Speaker out of personal hatred; everyone can see he’s our hope.

“But I also can’t just let go of my hatred and serve him.

“Thinking about it, the Speaker might have anticipated all this, which is why he offered us freedom.

“Maybe that’s for the best. After all these years, I’ve never seen anyone truly retire. Let me experience that feeling.”

As he finished speaking, his body gave a slight shudder, as though exhaling a heavy burden, finally letting go of something.

"Disaster Core" nodded:

“I feel the same way. Does anyone else have something to say?”

The room remained silent. "Disaster Core" glanced around once more, his tone now more probing:

“Do you all remember… there was a symbol made of glass shards at the scene of Lucas’s death?”

His question struck like a thunderclap, jolting everyone present to recall the incident.

Only moments ago, they had been absorbed in the fact that Arthur had directly caused Lucas’s death, overlooking the mysterious symbol that had appeared at the scene—a symbol representing a deeply hidden organization in Hope City: the “Believers.”

The “Believers” had officially emerged in Hope City around mid-year, and so far, that mysterious mark had only appeared a few times, but each time it was significant…

Whether it was the incident of losing control at the research institutes, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of researchers, or the subsequent blood rain that quelled a riot, that mark had been left at both scenes, and…

All investigations into the “Believers” had ultimately gone nowhere. If it weren’t for the organization’s apparent affinity toward humanity, the council members would have been far more uneasy.