"Why?"
"Can anyone tell me what's going on?"
As the second-in-command of Plan A, Professor Brand's deputy, and also the official supervisor, Harry is now completely bewildered.
In the surveillance footage, Professor Brand led a group of people in a secret meeting, then passed through a very dark cloth and disappeared from the meeting room.
Am I dreaming?
His subordinate had already compiled a preliminary summary of the situation, and he reported in a reporting tone:
"According to our understanding, Professor Brand recently launched Plan C. The report he submitted indicates that the plan aims to strengthen the base's reserve capabilities to prevent unforeseen circumstances. Therefore, he has recruited back some scholars and astronauts who were previously dismissed or discharged."
"These people are all in the surveillance footage."
The subordinates pointed out each of these people in the video and said their names.
Harry listened patiently, his face composed.
"What about the others?"
"Those people are all Professor Brand's students or people he trusts..." The subordinate then pointed to three more people on the screen, all of whom were the last ones left. "These three confessed that Professor Brand had previously told them that Plan C was a very special project. They thought it was a top-secret project, but just now, Professor Brand emphasized to them in the conference room that participating in Plan C was tantamount to treason."
So, in the end, none of them got involved.
"And what about that 'black cloth'?"
"According to Jody before she left, it was a Spacetime Tunnel, but none of the remaining three knew its origins."
The subordinate recounted all the information in detail.
Harry's expression grew increasingly somber.
Where did Professor Brand and his group go?
What is Plan C?
Who is helping them behind the scenes?
A series of questions arose in his mind.
Right here.
Someone knocked on the door from the outside and brought in the items left at the scene.
"In total, there was a letter from Professor Brand and several bags containing Chinese documents."
"A document in Chinese?" Harry picked it up and immediately thought of Jody and Amelia's visit across the ocean not long ago.
This is not a simple matter!
Harry immediately opened those documents.
He couldn't understand Chinese documents, but he could have someone translate them.
He continued opening Professor Brand's letters...
In less than a minute, Harry's face turned as black as soy sauce, and his hands were trembling with barely suppressed excitement.
"Prepare the plane, I'm heading to Washington immediately!"
Ten minutes later, Harry boarded the helicopter.
On the plane, he reported the latest situation at the base to his direct superiors via radio communication.
His superiors fell silent upon hearing this situation.
Three hours later, the helicopter landed at a secret airport in Washington.
Harry, carrying documents and letters, was immediately taken away and soon met his superior Porter.
The advancement of Lazarus missions and the dismantling of NASA were both orchestrated by this old man. He was the one who supported Professor Brand, and he was also the one who controlled Professor Brand.
Going back even several decades, he was already deeply involved in various major events in this time and space, and now he holds both power and prestige.
Harry delivered all the documents to his superior.
The translations of those Chinese documents have been completed, but Porter first looked at Professor Brand's handwritten letter.
Then Porter was stunned.
Professor Brand was very excited in the letter. He not only explained the entire contents of Plan C directly, but also stated bluntly that their trip was to save all of humanity and all of North America.
Professor Brand even said that he felt no hope whatsoever in North America, only endless oppression and pain. The more he interacted with these insects, the more desperate he became about the future of humanity...
What's even more infuriating is...
The old man bluntly stated that as long as criminals like them were around, even if Plan A made a breakthrough in the future and humanity could truly venture into space, he didn't believe Plan A could be successfully implemented.
Similarly, Plan C is the same.
They would never join the Mutual Aid Society, an organization whose principles clashed with their own.
Even if the Mutual Aid Society allowed them to join, they would never dare to.
This is a clash of ideologies.
This kind of thing can't be solved by superficial acceptance, or by having a confession and admitting mistakes, showing that you've abandoned darkness and turned to the light.
Unless they voluntarily destroy their own bodies, conflict is unavoidable.
Judging from the size of the Mutual Aid Society society as understood from the letters, they undoubtedly had no chance of winning. Once they joined, the Mutual Aid Society's influence would grow within them day by day, causing them endless trouble, until a sufficiently strong force formed within them to wipe them all out...
Professor Brand saw this and was certain they wouldn't join the Mutual Aid Society, so he simply didn't make any effort and secretly ran away with his men!
"A bunch of executioners only know how to chop off heads, and at most, dissect hearts, but you know nothing about childbirth. You only know how to destroy hope, and you know nothing about embracing it!"
"But it's alright, we have chosen to hold hope tightly in our hands. It will become light to illuminate your darkness, and a sharp sword to pierce your mad hearts!"
Professor Brand's words were extremely harsh. Porter could almost feel that when the old man wrote those words in the letter, his face must have been filled with a cathartic smile. Decades of repression were all contained on that piece of paper, these unrestrained words turning into knives, stabbing into his heart again and again...
These knives can all be summed up in one sentence:
Goodbye forever! I'm joining the Mutual Aid Society!
Porter was a little out of breath.
It's not because Brand, that old guy, said anything hurtful; in all the ups and downs of his life over the decades, what kind of trash hasn't he heard?
My family's ancestral graves have been dug up countless times by the authorities...
The reason he felt depressed was the existence of the Mutual Aid Society that Brand had revealed in his letter.
How could such an organization exist?
If he hadn't already reviewed the base's surveillance footage and conducted his own investigation, he would never have believed that such an outrageous organization truly existed.
"Sir, what should we do next?"
Porter had been sitting there dumbfounded for a full half hour. Harry, whose legs were getting numb from standing, finally had to ask his old leader what method he could come up with.
At this moment, Porter finally came to his senses and said through gritted teeth:
"Didn't that old guy say that participating in his Plan C was tantamount to treason?"
"Then I'll grant their wish!"
"Anyone involved in Plan C will be placed on the treason list, added to the wanted list, and their crimes will be announced to their families!"