Chapter 511.2: The Same Choice

Looking at the polite little girl, Yunyi smiled and crossed her arms. She replied casually, "You're welcome. Though our time together was short, we’ve been through life and death together. That makes us partners."

Partners...

Jiang Xuezhou silently looked at the collapsed Wally on the ground, and the wrecked Wangy beside him. She bit her lip, as if wanting to say something, but didn’t know how.

Night Ten walked over, lifted Wally by the arms, and slung the unconscious Wislander over his shoulder.

Even though he was already gone, they still had to report back to the Army.

"Let’s go. Don’t keep everyone waiting."

...

Living Quarters.

Su Ming, Meng Liang, and Battlefield Cheerleader had already returned from the administrator’s office and were sitting silently at a dusty table.

It was especially so for Su Ming.

After watching the video from Lu Yang, he seemed like a different person. He hadn’t said a word since leaving the office.

Sitting between the two, Meng Liang let out a bitter chuckle and silently prayed his partner would return soon...

Just then, the door beside them opened and three people walked in.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Sitting down at the table, Yunyi offered a polite glance to the trio, then looked at Jiang Xuezhou. "You too, take a seat. What we’re about to discuss is important."

Jiang Xuezhou, having learned what happened on the way, said nothing and quietly pulled out a chair.

Night Ten set Wally down in a corner, clapped his hands with a grunt, then sat at the table. "Let’s talk. We need to talk about Project Torch and Shelter 0."

Su Ming cleared his throat, breaking the silence in the room first. He glanced around and spoke. "I don’t speak for the Enterprise, but as a citizen of Ideal City, I believe this place should be destroyed." He paused, then added, "Physically destroyed."

Silence followed.

"I vote in favor." Adjusting her glasses, Yunyi looked around the room seriously and continued.

"With the current lack of trust or even communication between the various powers on the wasteland, once a weapon like this is unearthed, even if it was only a blueprint, everyone will fall into a prisoner’s dilemma."

Night Ten blinked. "... What do you mean?"

Yunyi smiled, about to explain it to the well-meaning but slow-witted guy, when Jiang Xuezhou spoke up a moment earlier. "It means the person who presses the button first gains the greatest advantage. So even those with no interest in the weapon are forced into the race, because no one can guarantee others aren't pursuing it in secret."

Seeing someone had said it for her, Yunyi coughed lightly. "

Ahem...

Exactly."

In real life, a prisoner’s dilemma wasn’t completely unsolvable.

Prisoners were only prisoners only due to a lack of communication. Once communication was established, many problems would resolve themselves.

But the wasteland wasn’t the same.

Between the Enterprise and Academy, there weren’t even phone lines.

From social systems to ideological structures...

Even the New Alliance, a relatively small administrative body, had trouble figuring out who to contact in their first meeting with the Enterprise.

There wasn’t even a need to mention the Academy or the Army, massive institutions that had walked their own path for over a century and a half.

Once trapped in a prisoner’s dilemma, it was almost impossible to escape.

Jiang Xuezhou stared at Yunyi and said suddenly, "But how do we know you didn’t take the research data? That you're only proposing we destroy the shelter to stop others from getting it?"

Su Ming frowned and stood up while glaring at her. "Are you suspecting we did such a thing?"

"It's just a reasonable suspicion. But your reaction now makes you look even more suspicious." Stared down by a murderous glare, Jiang Xuezhou’s expression darkened, but she didn’t back down in the slightest.

It wasn’t just about her anymore, it was about the fate of many people...

Night Ten glanced at her and gasped in shock.

He had a feeling she had changed since leaving that dream.

Watching the furious Su Ming, Yunyi coughed softly and spoke in a calm voice, "Su Ming, Ms. Jiang from the Academy represents them. Every party here is represented by at least one person... so sit down."

Hearing her commanding tone, Su Ming didn’t say anything and quietly sat back down.

He hadn’t really planned on hurting the girl and just wanted to scare her a bit. But to his surprise, it didn’t work. If someone from the Academy died inside, the conditions for destroying the shelter without any diplomatic risk would no longer hold.

Even if they could blame her death on the Enlightenment Society, whether the Academy believed it or not, they would be forced to assume the worst.

After all, a death in the shadows was very different from someone walking out alive.

Yunyi turned to Jiang Xuezhou and asked, "What can we do to earn your trust?"

To everyone's surprise, she didn’t use the opportunity to make any unreasonable demands.

She just stared into Yunyi’s eyes for a moment before speaking softly, "I trust you."

Yunyi was stunned.

Just as she instinctively wanted to ask why, Jiang Xuezhou looked away, slightly embarrassed, and spoke softly to herself, "... If you wanted to keep it for yourselves, there was no reason to go through the trouble of saving me, right? I’m just a nobody."

"So... I believe you."

"And I hope... I won’t regret that decision."

"Damn... You could’ve said that earlier. Had us all on edge." Night Ten let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair.

Jiang Xuezhou glared at him in annoyance. "Is it so wrong for me to take a moment to think over such an important decision?"

Ignoring the ungrateful woman, Night Ten simply raised his hand and spoke casually. "I vote in favor."

The reason was simple, there was no way the New Alliance could win the race. The gap was too wide.

Even the dumbasses from the Army had more capable researchers and better resources. A few days or weeks couldn’t make up for years of accumulation.

Confidence and arrogance were separated by a thin wall, but the outcome of each was worlds apart. Night Ten knew his place.

Besides, dragging the New Alliance into a race with no guaranteed reward brought no benefit.

It was clear that aside from the final product, a world-resetting weapon, the project was unlikely to produce any beneficial, intermediate results for society.

Meng Liang thought along the same lines and nodded. "I agree with Night Ten."

Everyone except Night Ten turned to the one person who had yet to speak. He was the only person left on the Army’s side.

His answer didn’t seem too surprising to the rest of them. "I vote in favor."

Tension finally eased from Yunyi’s face, replaced by a joyful smile. She looked around the table gratefully.

At that moment, it felt as if they had achieved something miraculous on the barren land.

People from the Army, the Enterprise, the Academy, and the New Alliance, four vastly different origins, had come together to cast the same vote on the fate of civilization.

Just like the brave, ordinary people months ago, 200 years ago, or even earlier... They made a choice that had profound consequences.

...

Restarting the countdown on the bomb, the group evacuated Shelter 0.

Before leaving, they took a moment to move 12 cryopods from Zone X-13 to the entrance of the shelter. The crew of the Pioneer had already perished.

Inside the pods now lay the disciples of the Enlightenment Society. According to Zhuang Lan, one of them was a Guide, a rank between Elder and Disciple, essentially a mentor to many others.

Letting them die silently may have been too easy, but as individuals who had interacted with deleted data, burying them along with the shelter, a place that should never have existed, was the best option for those still alive on the surface.

As for Zhuang Lan...

Technically, she should’ve been handed over to the Wislanders since she killed one of their commanders. But both Su Ming and Yunyi were strongly against that.

"... We will not hand anyone over to the Army. That would be like selling a criminal to slave traders."

Battlefield Cheerleader was momentarily stunned. "Isn’t that a good thing?"

Before the New Alliance existed, they themselves had sold captured marauders to the mines in Red River Town. He didn’t see anything shameful in it. In fact, it couldn’t seem more efficient to him.

But then he remembered his undercover role, and his expression changed. He glared at Su Ming and yelled, "Hey, what’s your damn problem?"

Damn it! How dare you try to gaslight and shame me, you dirty East Coasteres...