Chapter 138: Benevolence and Righteousness (2)

"We're not butchers! Those things are people, they're just incomplete pieces of data! All you're doing is compressing that incomplete data. If you and I don't do this, someone else will do it anyway. There is no absolute right or wrong in this world, money is the only truth! With enough money, we can also be immortal, we can also have our data and memories completely preserved in their entirety like those rich bosses!"

"Is there really no right or wrong in this world?"

"No. Perhaps those concepts existed in the past, but not right now," Liu Shouren said before swirling the champagne in his glass and taking another sip.

"Our parents gave us the names benevolence and righteousness because..."

"Our parents are already dead, and they died because they didn't have money. Have you forgotten that? Also, what even are benevolence and righteousness? Think about all of the eastern historical figures that are referred to as benevolent and righteous, they were all martyrs! What does that tell us? It tells us that those who uphold the values of benevolence and righteousness all have to die for their beliefs!

“Screw that! Insignificant ants can't do anything to influence this world in a meaningful way! We can't become heroes no matter how hard we try! The laws are decided by all of the people up there. Everything you do is legal, so even if what you're doing is wrong, it's the lawmakers that are wrong, not you. It has nothing to do with us, so don't overthink it."

After preaching to Liu Shouyi, Liu Shouren opened the window before whistling at the beautiful women playing in the pool outside, and all of them got out of the pool before making their way into the room.

After hearing what Liu Shouren had to say, Liu Shouyi's brows were still tightly furrowed, but some of the psychological pressure that was weighing down on him had been alleviated.

Adam was observing this from his hiding spot off to the side, and he finally understood the reason for Liu Shouren's appearance in Liu Shouyi's psychic world.

He was an unsightly angel of darkness, but an angel nonetheless.

Liu Shouyi didn't agree with his ideology, but Liu Shouren's words really did have a significant positive effect on his emotional well-being.

However, what Adam was more interested in finding out was how Liu Shouyi had ended up in this sorry state and found himself in Shadow City.

……

After leaving the mansion, Adam turned to another direction, and after passing over a spatial rift, he arrived in another one of Liu Shouyi's psychic modules, this one containing a joyous experience in which he secured first place in the Mathematical Olympiad during his youth.

After that, Adam passed through several more modules in a row, containing various scenes from his childhood, the death of his parents, and his first relationship, among other experiences, but he found nothing of use in those modules, and in the end, he returned to the Gaia Corporation.

However, this time, the point on the timeline was completely different, so the scene that the psychic module contained was also different.

Judging from the fine wrinkles on Liu Shouyi's face, Adam was able to determine that this was most likely something that had only happened recently.

At this moment, Liu Shouyi was in a dimly lit room with a dark, shadowy figure seated across from him. Judging from the facilities in the room, Adam could see that this was a psychic treatment suite in the corporation building.

Many large companies had psychic treatment suites like this, but the vast majority of the therapists there were just normal psychiatrists. However, looking at the projection device set up in the room, Adam could tell that this therapist was an adapter psychotherapist.

The fact that an adapter had been hired to fill the role of a normal psychiatrist was another testament to the Gaia Corporation's immense wealth.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Relax. I can sense that you're very tense and anxious." The adapter didn't seem to have noticed Adam's presence, and she continued speaking to Liu Shouyi as normal. "It seems like you're under a lot of stress due to your work. Rest assured, there have been many examples of people with conditions like yours in our corporation, and they've all been able to make full recoveries thanks to my treatment."

"No, I'm not nervous, and I'm definitely not dissatisfied with my work. I hold nothing but gratitude for our corporation."

"I can sense that you lying..."

"I'm not lying, I'm telling the truth!"

.

Liu Shouyi seemed to be rather fearful of the adapter, and he was unconsciously raising his voice to try and make himself sound more convincing, but the adapter remained completely unconvinced.

"Relax. Our corporation takes care of its employees very well, and these periodic psychic treatment sessions are mandatory. I'll get you back to your normal, cheerful self in no time!"

After that, the adapter paid no heed to Liu Shouyi's objections and invaded his psychic world without any warning.

Perhaps video footage of the treatment process had to be submitted to the higher-ups for verification, or perhaps it was for some other reason, but in the instant that the adapter invaded Liu Shouyi's consciousness, the projection and recording devices in the room were immediately switched on at the same time.

This is the first time I'm seeing someone's psychic world being invaded while I'm in their psychic world!

Seeing as neither Liu Shouyi nor the adapter seemed to have noticed him, Adam was more than happy to observe the process.

All of this had already happened in real life, and prior to gathering sufficient information, he had no plans to act prematurely.

Thus, Adam watched as the adapter invaded Liu Shouyi's psychic world, then made his way over to the projector to see what was happening.

Sure enough, after entering Liu Shouyi's psychic world, the adapter didn't administer any treatment to Liu Shouyi at all, nor was she interested in any of the psychic aberrations or psychic anomalies that could've been present in his mind.

Just like Adam, all she did was go from one psychic module to another to examine Liu Shouyi's memories. Whenever she entered a module in which Liu Shouyi expressed his dissatisfaction with his work, the adapter would always pause there for a while, as if to ensure that these expressions of dissatisfaction were recorded.

After the number of these memories reached a certain threshold, an alarm began to ring out, and the doors of the psychic treatment suite were opened, following which a group of people entered the room.

Among them were senior leaders of the corporation, mechanical security guards, and a woman with a very strange appearance.

After entering the room, they completely ignored Adam and headed straight for Liu Shouyi.

"There are more and more people who are becoming discontent with their work like him," one of the senior leaders complained in a displeased voice. "We're paying them even more than most business owners out there, yet there are still so many people who are unhappy. I genuinely can't understand why."

"Indeed. Humans just aren't as easy to use as machines. If the Alpha God Artificial Intelligence Development Plan hadn't failed, we wouldn't even need to have these people continue working for us. I'll leave the rest to you, Madam Tree."

The woman who was being referred to as Madam Tree nodded in response, then also invaded Liu Shouyi's consciousness.

After that, she specifically picked out the psychic modules in which Liu Shouyi had expressed his dissatisfaction toward his work, then captured each of the Liu Shouyis in those modules before slicing his skin open with her fingernail and stuffing something that appeared to be a seed into his body through those gashes.

The seeds slowly took root in Liu Shouyi's psychic body before sprouting into seedlings, and once that happened, all of Liu Shouyi's memories seemed to have undergone slight changes.

All of his expressions of discontentment became milder and more placid, and as those seeds continued to grow, branches began to emerge out of Liu Shouyi's nostrils, ears, and even his eyes. After that, he became much calmer and more content than before.

"All done."

Madam Tree left Liu Shouyi's psychic world after doing all of that.

"I knew we could count on you. Those seeds can't be removed by anyone else, right? I've heard that there are some people who are already experiencing some problems."

"What was that?" Madam Tree asked in a displeased voice.

The senior leader hurriedly explained, "Please don't misunderstand, I'm not doubting your abilities. There have been no problems in the past, but I heard that something recently happened to a supervisor in a branch of our company. Is it possible that they've gone to a special adapter psychotherapist to remove some of the seeds that had been planted in them?"

"That's impossible. No one can completely remove the seed memories unless they're an even more powerful adapter than I am. As far as I know, the only one capable of doing this is the lord of Shadow City, but he's a self-proclaimed philosopher, and there's no way a philosopher would do something so specific. He doesn't have that much spare time on his hands."

After that, Madam Tree gave the senior leader no further opportunity to speak before departing from the room.