Arlington National Cetery, a drizzling rain.
A group of mourners dressed in black held umbrellas, standing solemnly in the gloomy graveyard.
Dias followed the procession, gently placing a bouquet beside the grave, then turned and bowed slightly to the deceased’s family, whispering a few words of condolence.
The family mbers nodded politely in thanks, but there was little sadness on their faces. Everyone present was going through the motions chanically.
The deceased was a US Senator, an elderly lady over eighty, a symbol of "high virtue and prestige" in politics.
But in the eyes of all the mourners, she was rely an old relic who should have been in a coffin long ago. The funeral brought a sense of relief.
The priest stood by the grave, beginning to recount the life story of the deceased.
After laying the flowers, Dias had no patience to listen, quietly retreating to the back of the procession, near a man in military dress uniform.
"This is the second sitting congressman to die this month, and the fifth in the past three months," Dias said in a low, cold tone.
The man in uniform looked ahead calmly, "So what? The Congress is full of old guys in their seventies and eighties; they should have moved aside long ago.
The sa goes for the State Council, the Supre Court, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pentagon, the Ministry of Finance; these departnts are bloated with old, undead parasites.
Their deaths are no loss, only beneficial to the country."
Anger flashed in Dias’s eyes, "It’s good for those old guys to die, but we are also at risk. The Supre Court Justice who died last month was even our ally."
The man in uniform tilted his head slightly with disdain, "Let the virus eliminate these old guys; it’s better than you ’Tree of Justice’ using violence to get rid of them.
This is the price that must be paid to save the United States. Besides, we’ve already produced the vaccine in advance; you are immune, what are you worried about?"
Gritting his teeth, Dias said, "Worried? I’m worried that your report only has one sentence describing the global pandemic potential of the ’X’ project.
You even deliberately tucked that sentence in the middle of the report, hoping I wouldn’t see it.
I’m worried you’ve hidden other side effects, causing unpredictable developnts. I’m more worried about the strong immune escape of the virus and the short efficacy of the vaccine.
Oh, Monica said your ’Super Soldier’ is useless; that Niger idiot has muscles but no brains, not smart enough."
The man in uniform’s face stiffened, patiently explaining, "You chose an illiterate for the experint; of course, it didn’t work well.
As for the vaccine, RNA vaccines are developed and produced much faster than conventional inactivated vaccines, so there’s no need to worry too much about immune escape.
The X Virus iterates rapidly; in nature, its virulence will weaken quickly. It will sweep the globe like a storm, take away a batch of the undead, and then everything will return to normal.
The Spanish flu of 1918, the Russian flu of 1977, and the H1N1 flu of 2009 all did the sa.
This is natural selection, eliminating the old and weak who drag down human developnt, rejuvenating society and the economy.
A year, at most a year.
We will experience panic, helplessness, and despair, then resu tranquil lives. The young will thank us."
The man in uniform’s voice rose, almost fanatical, "Moreover, the ’X’ virus is very special, the enhancers produced from it are truly effective for humans.
With enough data to screen, we can create a whole new humanity, a whole new future."
This outburst turned heads at the funeral, eyes filled with confusion and discontent. Dias had to forcibly interrupt, shouting ’shut up’.
The man in uniform realized his lapse and quickly fell silent.
After a few minutes, the casket was lowered, the funeral coming to an end. The mourners gradually dispersed.
Dias confird again with the man in uniform, "Are you sure the ’X’ virus will rage for only a year?"
"I’m sure." The man in uniform replied.
"Safer, more efficient enhancers need to keep up; many are waiting," Dias reminded.
"Rest assured, we will all beco the first batch of new humans," the man in uniform promised, then questioned, "But how will you ’Tree of Justice’ clean up your internal ss?"
Dias sneered at the man in uniform’s promise but equally confident, said, "I have no trouble, why clean up?"
---------------
At this mont, Zhou Qingfeng was driving, taking Old Hamr for his ’training day,’ learning how to beco a ’Shadow King.’
"Victor, your skills in fighting and killing are strong, but no matter how strong you are, you can’t beat a bullet.
A true ’Shadow King’ needs connections, secrecy, like Dias. Your enemy is precisely who you should learn from.
As a senior intelligence analyst in the Departnt of Holand Security, Dias’s position may not seem high, but his authority is substantial.
His most terrifying ability is his pervasive surveillance and mastery of countless undisclosed secrets.
With enough secrets, he can control everything in the Deep State, completing one insider deal after another.
But Dias has a flaw; he relies too much on technology like computers. Without a phone, radio, or internet, he becos an idiot.
So, I will take you to et so friends..." Old Hamr babbled on in the back seat but soon dozed off, exhausted.
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