Top edge chapter 45

Subtle influence

“Mother?”

Upon hearing that word, Klet, who was casually leaning on the desk, immediately straightened up, a hint of confusion flickering in his eyes.

Although the nameplate had been removed, and there were no photos on the desk, Shen Siwei knew that that was his mother’s office.

“She is the chief engineer here,” he said. “Responsible for the design of the Life Tree Energy Station.”

“I see,” Klet pondered and said, “No wonder you were born up there.”

Unconsciously, Shen Siwei’s thoughts began to wander, and he suddenly realized that perhaps many things had been predetermined long ago.

Even if he hadn’t chosen to join the military, given his background, he would most likely have chosen a political career.

Perhaps in a parallel world, his identity would be a negotiator, and he would still meet Klet.

“negotiator?” Klet tilted his head and interrupted Shen Siwei’s daydreaming. “Will you help me find it?”

Shen Siwei collected his thoughts, turned on the flashlight, and walked into the office. “Are you sure it’s here?”

“Not sure,” Klet went to the bookshelf and started searching. “But it’s highly likely.”

Shen Siwei opened the desk drawer. “Why?”

“You probably don’t remember, but there was a person named Avis in Nightingale. He’s a hacker who hacked the surveillance of the Clinton Grand Hotel to assassinate you.”

Shen Siwei indeed didn’t remember. “And then?”

“He searched for this agreement online, and every time he was about to find it, the information would disappear.” At that point, Klet paused and added, “The places where the information disappeared all had traces of the military.”

Shen Siwei closed the empty drawer. “Are you saying the Marg people deleted this agreement from the entire network?”

In order to save paper, people in that era tended to store things online. If the network privileges were high enough, it was indeed possible to tamper with things behind the scenes.

“Avis thought so,” Klet crouched down and continued searching through scattered documents.

“But what about people’s memories?” Shen Siwei felt puzzled. “If this agreement was really signed back then, wouldn’t anyone remember?”

“Because the original residents of the Life Tree are mostly deceased,” Klet stopped searching, rested his elbows on his knees, and turned his head back to look at Shen Siwei. “Your mother…”

“Yeah,” Shen Siwei replied softly, confirming what Klet said.

Due to the rapid development of medical technology, there was a gap in the lifespan between the original residents of the Life Tree and the later-born residents.

Shen Siwei’s mother, for example, passed away in her seventies due to illness, while Shen Siwei, who also in his seventies, still maintained a youthful appearance.

“Moreover, the Marg people’s rule did not start with the construction of the Life Tree,” Klet picked up a document and continued searching, “it began after the Deep Sea Energy Station was destroyed.”

“You mean,” Shen Siwei interjected, “before that, people used to coexist with the Marg people on an equal footing?”

In such an environment, no one would mention the agreement.

It’s like all peace treaties in history; as long as there is no conflict between the parties, no one will deliberately emphasize peace.

Over time, the original residents of the Life Tree gradually grew old and passed away, while the newly born residents were unaware of that history.

“I haven’t experienced things from the past,” the documents on the ground have no value,” Klet stood up again. “But Malken said that there was a time when there was a trend of worshiping the Mags within the Life Tree.”

“I remember,” Shen Siwei pondered. “Young people imitated the clothing and appearance of the Mags, considering them as their idols.”

Not only did Shen Siwei remember, but it was also mentioned in Amor’s diary.

Initially, the Margs were just like ordinary civilians. But it had to be admitted that the Margs were more handsome, taller, and physically stronger. The lower-class people began to yearn for the upper class, and a trend of idolizing and copying the Margs emerged in society.

Amor said that people’s ideologies began to change unconsciously from that time.

Later, the deep-sea energy station was destroyed, and the Life Tree faced a new energy crisis.

Most of the people who signed the agreement had already passed away. In addition, people had already formed the idea that “the Margs were nobler.” If the Margs couldn’t lead them, then who could?

“So the Nightingales find speaking of change so difficult,” Klet said. “Without changing people’s minds, it is impossible to change the status quo as well.”

“If there really was such an agreement,” Shen Siwei frowned, “it would indeed give them the power to speak and more people would listen.”

“But it’s not here.” Klet shook the room with a flashlight again. “We’ve searched everywhere.”

The design plans for the energy station were left in that office because Shen Siwei’s mother was the designer.

But she wasn’t the drafter of the agreement, just a participant, so the paper version wouldn’t be there.

Wait, a participant?

Shen Siwei’s gaze suddenly moved to the wall, where an electronic picture frame hung, but because the frame had long been out of power, the photos inside were not displayed.

“Have you used something like this?” Shen Siwei took off the thick glass screen and looked for a socket on the frame.

“A large cell phone?” Klet held the screen for Shen Siwei.

“It’s somewhat similar, but not quite.” Shen Siwei touched the frame and took out a small memory card. “This is an electronic picture frame that can read memory cards and display the photos inside.”

Klet looked at what Shen Siwei had in his hand ,

Shen Siwei took out a reader from his backpack. Although the memory card was an antique from over a hundred years ago, the data inside was well-preserved.

There were not many photos, just a few dozen, mostly related to work except for the seaside scenery.

“Is this your mom?” Klet asked, looking at a woman who appeared in the photos all the time.

“Yeah,” Shen Siwei nodded lightly.

His mother always wore professional attire and glasses with silver frames, which hadn’t changed for decades.

“She’s beautiful,” Klet said, looking at Shen Siwei. “My mom is beautiful too. Do you want to see her photos?”

Shen Siwei was about to say “yes,” but at that moment, a group photo appeared on the screen, capturing their attention.

“‘Signing Ceremony of the Life Tree Development Agreement?'” Klet read the words on the red banner, and the two of them frowned at each other instinctively.

The group photo had about twenty or thirty people, standing in a row, smiling and applauding. The two people in the middle were holding something that looked like a certificate. The person on the left was Shen Siwei’s mother, and the person on the right, whom he had also met, was Miller.

He enlarged the image of the two holding the certificate, and the content about equality on it was clearly visible.

“…The Life Tree belongs to all individuals, regardless of which level they live in, and they enjoy equal rights…”

Klet read the text from the photo.

“So the agreement really exists.” Shen Siwei put down the reader and murmured absentmindedly.

Although they had speculated earlier, the feeling was still shocking when the actual agreement appeared.

More than a hundred years ago, the designers had already anticipated the possibility of inequality arising from dividing residential and administrative areas based on hierarchy.

They signed the agreement, thinking that it would provide protection, but little did they know that time would bury it all.

That was a lost past and a disappeared history.

Shen Siwei could almost imagine the waves that would be stirred within the Life Tree when these things were exposed.

“What do you think?” Klet suddenly asked.

The day before, Klet had asked Shen Siwei about his choice between equality and safety.

At that time, Shen Siwei had chosen neutrality as he didn’t quite know where he stood because subconsciously, he still prioritized the stability of the Life Tree. But now, looking at what he held in his hands, he had a new answer in his heart.

“Send it to Nightingale,” he said.

After leaving the design center, Shen Siwei sat in the corridor, absentmindedly looking at his mother’s old photos.

He still remembered that when he first woke up, even thinking about his family and friends didn’t bring up any emotional response. But now, it was different. He could feel sadness and longing, as if his frozen heart had regained warmth.

Was it because of Klet? Shen Siwei wasn’t sure.

But he realized that his emotions seemed to fluctuate only when he was around Klet.

Klet quickly finished the call and walked back to Shen Siwei, asking, “What’s your plan now?”

“First, let’s find Amor,” Shen Siwei put away the reader and adjusted his mood. “He and Li’s aircraft are here, so they must be nearby.”

Since they had traced it there, they were only one step away from the breakthrough, so there was no reason to give up.

“Okay,” Klet said.

Shen Siwei stood up and continued walking down the corridor. However, at that moment, he abruptly stopped in his tracks because the flashlight’s beam had illuminated a strange dark figure.

“There’s someone,” Klet also noticed the figure. He walked a few steps ahead of Shen Siwei and then turned back to him, saying, “It’s a corpse.”

The two of them reached the platform in the middle of the corridor and saw a person lying in a pool of blood, with several gunshot wounds. Judging from the condition of the body, the time of death was approximately a week ago.

Shen Siwei crouched down beside the body and looked at it, his expression grave as he said to Klet, “It’s Li.”

Although his handsome face had turned blue and purple, making it impossible to see his original appearance, based on his clothing, the deceased person was indeed Li.

Klet frowned. “Why did he suddenly die here?”

Shen Siwei scanned the surroundings and picked up a bullet casing from the ground. “It’s a military bullet. Special forces use it.”

Shen Siwei had considered the possibility that Amor and Li might have been attacked by aberrant creatures and died halfway through their journey.

But he never expected to encounter the presence of the military there.

“Could it be that the military has already taken Amor away?” Klet asked.

Shen Siwei could only think of that possibility.

From the time they departed for the mission until now, about a week had passed, and Shen Siwei had always been a week behind Amor.

In other words, when Shen Siwei arrived there, Li had already been killed by the special forces the previous week.

The members of the special forces couldn’t have killed Amor; they would take him back to the top level of the Life Tree.

If that’s the case…

Shen Siwei furrowed his brows deeply. “Then why did Moran send me down here?”