Chapter 780 - Differing principles, separate paths (1/2)
Translator: Legge
Ren Xiaosu was not trying to be annoying at this moment, but he really believed he did not have any grand ambitions for the world. All he wanted was to live happily with a group of people.
Whether it be a wolf or a pig that became his teammate, Ren Xiaosu would not mind. The teammates he wanted should all be real people with compassion.
For some reason, Ren Xiaosu placed a lot of importance on human compassion.
After going through so much, he could only identify with the Northwest because he could sense the compassion he needed there.
This compassion was not about whether his comrades were strong and powerful during battles, but that when the battles were over, everyone could support each other while bantering and cursing as they made their way home together.
But Ren Xiaosu did not see any of this in the Wang Consortium. He could only remember the Wang Consortium’s artificial intelligence and how the Anjing House plotted from afar to bring down the supernatural beings and the outlaws in the underworld.
That was right. After the cave-in at East Lake and the expedition to the Sacred Mountains, the Wang Consortium and the Anjing House had indeed made Ren Xiaosu change his opinion of them. The last time he met a genius strategist like that was Qing Zhen.
Actually, Qing Zhen was also decisive in killing people. But his sincere brotherhood with Luo Lan made Ren Xiaosu feel that Qing Zhen had more compassion in him. This was the difference between Qing Zhen and Wang Shengzhi in Ren Xiaosu’s eyes.
Wang Shengzhi managed to react after a brief moment of surprise. Actually, Ren Xiaosu had already answered his question.
He said seriously, “I had the same thoughts as you when I was young, but I’ve seen too many shady things going on within the consortiums. So I gradually started to believe that humans managing humans is the beginning of a tragedy, not unlike my own.”
Wang Shengzhi continued, “I’ve met a girl who was violated, but the Public Order Division did not dare to punish the accused because he was a member of the Wang clan. In the end, I had to personally give the order to sentence the accused to life imprisonment. Even today, there are still people pleading for him.
“I’ve come across a traffic accident where a few pedestrians were horsing around in the streets. As a result, they fell down accidentally and were hit by a car. The driver was not in the wrong at all, yet the Public Order Division made the driver compensate the victims on grounds of humanitarian reasons.”
“I’ve even seen…” Wang Shengzhi sighed and said, “I’ve seen too much, so I want to make a change. Many people think I’m doing all this because of what happened to my legs. But I’ve never defended my reasons and just let them think what they want.”
Ren Xiaosu fell silent. In truth, none of Wang Shengzhi’s reasons could be said to be wrong. In fact, Ren Xiaosu even supported Wang Shengzhi a little. That was because, at present, it seemed that an absolutely fair artificial intelligence could indeed solve those problems by managing society in place of humans. At the very least, it would make the family members of the Wang clan and stronghold officials behave like they were treading on thin ice.
If it weren’t for the fact that Wang Shengzhi’s authority was stable, these wealthy and privileged people would have already flipped the table.
But when Ren Xiaosu suddenly remembered the “therapy,” he felt a thorn stab his heart.
While this was only a minor matter, Ren Xiaosu somehow felt he could pry into the logic of the entire artificial intelligence through it. That was a world based on absolute rationality.
A world without any compassion.
Wang Shengzhi said, “I’ve run the Wang Consortium for 17 years and brought the troops under my firm command over that period. I’ve completed the purge within the Wang Consortium’s political system just so I could wait for today to arrive. For the sake of an impartial world, I can sacrifice everything I have now.”
Ren Xiaosu thought for a long time before saying, “Maybe you won’t like what I have to say, but I think you’re acting too hastily. Perhaps I don’t know how to manage a stronghold or a consortium. But I think that the world you dream of might be realized one day when everyone becomes educated and has their basic needs fulfilled. No, it might never be realized even then. I still refuse to accept a world without any compassion in it.”
He knew full well that even if the world were rich in resources and most people could afford to attend school, there would still be beggars, thieves, and criminals around.