Lin Lun turned around, took half a step closer to the "Tree," and continued, "But after the birth of Fruit No. 19, another issue arose."
"What issue?" Sun Hang asked, perplexed, "Is this problem related to those 'Faceless Ones' you ntioned? After all, you didn't say a word about the origins of these Faceless Ones."
"Indeed... it's related to the Faceless Ones," Lin Lun nodded. "After the Tree bore Fruit No. 19, it hasn't borne any more fruits over these many years... Moreover, the muscle fibers on the trunk and branches have started to shrink..."
"Nutrient deficiency?"
"That's what I think too... Although it's a bizarre entity, it seems to follow so rules of nature. Its purpose of bearing fruit, besides providing a one-ti hunting tool for itself, should also be aid at reproducing offspring... However, the probability of these fruits successfully turning into seeds currently isn't even five percent. Additionally, when a fruit that can turn into a seed is produced, a large amount of the 'nutrients' accumulated over ti by the parent Tree will be consud..."
"I know many creatures in nature complete their life's mission after reproduction, and even if they die shortly after, it doesn't affect the continuation of their species," Lin Lun said, "But I can't just watch it wither away... Before this seed truly grows into the second parent Tree, I need it to stay alive."
"I discovered that having the parent Tree absorb a large amount of negative emotions can slow down the rate of withering. But without all the 'fruits,' I can't provide enough negative emotions for the parent Tree to survive... It's no longer the small sapling it once was; the negative emotions generated by a few or even dozens of people can't satisfy its appetite. I need to find sothing to replace the 'fruits' and 'containers,' go outside to gather people's negative emotions, and then transmit them to the parent Tree."
"For this, I dissected the containers of the first dozen or so fruits," Lin Lun continued.
Sun Hang noticed that on Containers No. 1 and No. 18, there were very obvious dissection and suture marks; so containers even had mutilated limbs, with Container No. 13 missing its head altogether.
"In the brains of so containers, I found a small amount of mutated brain tissue, although these tissues had lost vitality, they could still assimilate those living brains if implanted into normal human brains... Through this thod, I mass-produced a bunch of 'Faceless Ones,' relying on them to extract negative emotions from people outside for the parent Tree. Although the extraction effect of the Faceless Ones can't compare to real fruits, as long as the quantity is large enough, it can et the Parent Tree's needs."
"It seems that now you've successfully saved the parent Tree."
"I can only maintain the parent Tree's current condition, stopping it from continuing to wither..." Lin Lun shook his head. "I need more resources and a larger space, but given my current position and ability, this is already the limit. Even if you don't co looking for , I already planned to find an opportunity to contact Dubhe Tower."
"Then why didn't you seek out Dubhe Tower from the start?"
"Because I want to continue my research while alive," Lin Lun candidly stated. "I know human society can't accept my sins, so I must make myself valuable enough to disclose everything to the Federation Governnt and Dubhe Tower."
Lin Lun turned to face Sun Hang directly. "I've told you everything about and this 'Tree.' I am willing to accept any judgnt from human civilization... But please preserve my research findings; they are important... important for the entire human civilization."
"Would you... will you execute him?" Xue Yue suddenly asked in a barely audible voice, "He seems to have... killed many people..."
Sun Hang looked at Lin Lun, and Lin Lun also looked at Sun Hang... At that mont when their eyes t, Sun Hang suddenly found he could read Lin Lun's thoughts and mories again—as soone with the ability to completely control his own thoughts, Lin Lun could seal his thoughts away from others or open them up for anyone to peruse.
He wasn't lying.
But the main brain's assessnt wasn't wrong either—he lacked the moral views that normal humans should have, and there was no concept of goodness or malice in his heart; he was willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goals... Or rather, his worldview was closer to that of emotionless artificial intelligence, just without the fundantal logic of "not harming humans."
When faced with the trolley problem, he would unhesitatingly divert the trolley to the track with fewer tied people—unless the 'value' of the people on that track far exceeded the 'value' of those on the other track.
In his eyes, human life isn't priceless... Including his own, all lives can be explicitly priced, and this value has a hierarchy.
Most people wouldn't want such individuals to hold power, but the fact is, those who do hold power mostly are like this.
As the saying goes, rciful people don't lead troops, and this applies not only in the military but in other fields as well.
"Is this even attempting to whitewash a psychopath killer?" A little voice piped up in Sun Hang's mind.
"The world isn't just black and white; the term 'whitewash' itself is laughable; Lin Lun doesn't need to be whitewashed," another voice said.
The first voice nodded thoughtfully, "Seems... a bit reasonable."
"This is actually the sa as writing online novels."
"What do you an?"
"So readers might think the protagonist's worldview is too skewed, making the book unreadable, while others feel nauseated by the goody-two-shoes character... But in reality, the author doesn't need to care about such things; they only need to write an engaging story under the premise that it won't get banned and that the plot logic is sound."
"Wow, you sound quite logical!"
Sun Hang touched the gun holstered on his hip, then nodded at Lin Lun, "Report to Dubhe Tower tomorrow."
Lin Lun's expression remained unchanged as if he had anticipated Sun Hang saying this.
"This place will be transford into a completely enclosed laboratory directly managed by Dubhe Tower, and you'll serve as the project leader. I will send the most senior, expert lunatics to work with you... Also, if I say a collar bomb should be placed around your neck to prevent loss of control, would you mind?"
"Not at all." Lin Lun revealed a smile once again.
"You won't have to worry about those gangs and vagrants in Liusu District anymore. I will coordinate with the Chunming City Managent Committee and the Sheriff, and this will no longer be Chunming City's largest slum... Honestly, I am even considering constructing a directly connected enclosed corridor to Dubhe Tower here."
"You seem not to be an ordinary Hunter?" Lin Lun suddenly asked, his reference to Sun Hang changed from "you" to the respectful "you." "I noticed that you've been using the pronoun... 'I'?"
"Don't ask what you shouldn't," Sun Hang gestured toward Xue Yue behind him with his thumb, "By the way, does she have any use?"
"She is useful, but I won't keep her locked in the research lab," Lin Lun said. "She should go out into the world, to experience more people and things... I am curious, without human interference, what she will ultimately beco."
"Alright, then I'll take her with ." Sun Hang nodded.
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