Wade got what he wanted.
He saw what was "Behind the door."
He also realized that the plan of the Fourth Wallfacer was not to — cause all of humanity to evolve again!
He lied to all of humanity!
He deceived the United Nations Planetary Defense Council!
And he also deceived those 'greedy' high-ranking officials.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
"Ugh…!"
"You… ugh… maniac!"
Inside the metal corridor, the lights were still bright.
The only difference was that Wade had completely lost his mind, as if he had seen something 'horrifying'; he kept vomiting, even though there was nothing left in his stomach to expel.
Eventually, there was nothing left to vomit.
With only bile remaining, Wade still felt his stomach cramping. Whenever he recalled the 'thing' he saw behind that metal door, he would instinctively start to vomit again.
It was hard to imagine that Wade, who was always absolutely rational, cold, ruthless in his methods, and willing to pay any price to achieve his goals, would be in such a pathetic state now.
After he had finished vomiting completely, Wade seemed to be exhausted. He ignored the dirty mess he had just made, sat down on it, leaned against the cold metal wall, his eyes seemingly unfocused, blank, and hollow.
"Want a cigarette?" Emrys offered him one, saying faintly, "Maybe the taste of nicotine will make you feel a little better."
This time, Wade did not refuse.
He usually disliked smoking, but now he took it without hesitation, gripping it with his pale lips.
Snap!
A flame rose at Emrys' fingertips.
Wade still seemed to be in a state of 'fear'. He stiffly craned his neck, lit the cigarette held between his lips, took a deep drag, and choked, coughing violently.
Cough, cough! Cough, cough!
As the nicotine seeped in, Wade's rationality seemed to return. He took several more forceful drags.
He quickly finished one cigarette.
Amidst the curling smoke, Wade's expression was bitter. He scoffed softly, "I regret it now—curiosity really does kill, doesn't it?" He knew that from the moment he personally saw what was "Behind the door," there was no turning back.
But he wasn't afraid of death.
Rather, even if he died now, he wouldn't care. But precisely—the thing behind the door showed him 'hope'!
Emrys Walsh—he was simply the devil in human skin!
He let him witness 'hope'.
But the cost of this 'hope' was so heavy that even someone as absolutely cold and rational as Wade couldn't help but wonder if this 'necessary evil' was truly worth it for the continuation of civilization.
"Now, you can answer my question again."
Smoke curled around Emrys' fingertips. He lowered his head, looking down at the almost broken Wade.
"For the survival of human civilization, is 'necessary evil' required, Mr. Wade?"
Wade opened his mouth, speechless.
Before, he thought everyone around him was conservative, and even felt out of place with them. For the survival of civilization, sacrifice was worth it, and it was a necessary 'price,' wasn't it?
If necessary, he too could be sacrificed.
But now, after personally witnessing the 'scene' behind that door, Wade wondered if he was too 'conservative'?
Compared to that bastard Emrys, he was practically a pure, kind, and naive little girl!
He thought his 'Ladder Project' was already against human nature, but in front of Emrys, he was worse than playing house!
If he was trampling on and disregarding human nature, then Emrys was—devoid of any 'humanity' whatsoever!
"Correction."
Wade slumped to the ground, his expression grim and twisted, his temples damp with sweat that gathered along his face and dripped from his chin.
Plop!
Plop!
Plop!
What did he see?
Behind the door was a taboo!
Wade didn't know how long it had been since he was this terrified. His two arms, propping him up on the ground, and both his legs, were still uncontrollably trembling at this moment.
"You—you are not humanity's 'savior'!" He stiffly looked up at Emrys, his pupils filled with horrifying bloodshot veins, his face pale.
"You—you are a complete and utter madman!"
"Thank you for the compliment."
Emrys smiled and nodded.
"I'm pleased to be called that by you, because the Trisolarans—they think so too."
"You… you want to rely on the 'thing' inside to defeat the Trisolarans?!" Even now, just thinking about the thing inside, Wade's stomach still cramped uncontrollably, as if it were churning. But he suppressed the urge to vomit, staring at Emrys with a pale face.
"I wouldn't be that foolish."
Emrys flicked the ash from his cigarette, smiling calmly.
"A civilization that can engrave electronic circuits onto an eleven-dimensional proton and then reduce it to two dimensions—I don't believe that this thing alone can stop them."
"Then what do you intend to do?" Wade gritted his teeth.
"If it can't stop them, why are you still—creating these disgusting things?!"
"That's not contradictory, is it, Mr. Wade?"
Emrys said calmly.
"To be precise, they are for—hmm, you can understand it as my negative byproduct for replicating something. Even if it fails, it still has value."
"Alright, I won't ask what that thing is anymore—" Wade's limbs were still numb, but he insisted on getting up by leaning on the wall, asking with a slight tremor in his voice.
"You're asking me to join, you must tell me—what exactly is your plan?!"
"Don't fob me off with 'it's part of the plan'!"
He said fiercely.
"The experiments you're conducting here, ETO hasn't disclosed them, which proves you have the ability to shield against Sophon monitoring. There's no need for 'lies' here!"
"You are truly very intelligent, Mr. Wade."
Emrys was not at all surprised. This place could indeed block 'Sophons,' and the reason was very simple.
The architecture here incorporated 'Blackstone'!
He admitted that the Trisolarans' technological level was very advanced, but sorry, Blackstone was a Necron construct, and the most prominent characteristic of this race was their disregard for the material universe.
Emrys raised a hand and directly sent parts of the plan into Wade's mind.
"You—you really are a madman!"
As this 'plan' flooded his mind, Wade's pupils constricted sharply. He staggered back several steps in utter horror, his face filled with shock.
"You—you are dragging all of humanity into the abyss of war!"
"Believe me, Mr. Wade, this is never what I wanted." Emrys' gaze was profound as he looked at Wade, saying softly.
"I don't want to drag humanity into hell, but—if this is humanity's only chance, we can only do this, no matter what the cost.
I am indeed not a savior, but if only 'daemons' can save humanity, I am willing to become the most despicable of daemons.
I will let humanity's wrath ignite the world, let the oceans boil, let the sky burn, let the mountains collapse. We will transform into monsters, falling into hell with them, and our names will become humanity's most vicious executioners in recorded history, but—our descendants will live forever in a peaceful world, won't they?"