The Mechanic [BL]

[55]

Chapter 55 - Doom (1)

"Judging from the forces that Eden has brought, it's not enough to destroy us, but it is likely to destroy our protection system."

"If the protection system is gone, it's no different to us being wiped out by a whole army?"

"You mean to surrender to Eden? Living like an obedient pet waiting for its charity?"

"Second Chief, please don't twist other people's words! I'm just saying, I just think trading Adam to Eden is one good option we have to lower our guard."

"You have forgotten our most important creed of Lost Paradise, Third Chief. No matter how bad the living environment is, Lost Paradise will never compromise, never be slaves! What's more, the mechanic is right, we can't trust Eden, it may not fulfil its promise at all, it just wants to get rid of one of its biggest threats. If we lose our trump card and have nothing of value, we'll just be sitting ducks!"

When Zhang Xun had given his analysis of Eden and why Eden was forcing them to get rid of Adam, the quarrelling intensified. In the past, Zhang Xun always thought that the internal meetings of the Round Table would be as peaceful and orderly as the open parliamentary meetings. He didn't expect there to be so much hostility, they were almost getting up to hit each other.

He glanced around with his eyes at the surrounding guards who kept their gazes straight ahead, as if they had seen nothing, standing upright with their guns in their hands, guarding all the exits.

As for Adam, the central character of the incident, his seemingly calm eyes occasionally revealed unease. He and Zhang Xun were arranged to sit in the first row of the parliamentary bench and could only speak when they were allowed to.

Zhang Xun listened to their arguments and felt that the situation might not be as bad as he thought. Most of the Chiefs evidently refused to compromise with Eden. At such a time he was almost thankful for Lost Paradise's increasingly extreme hatred of Eden. Even the Chief who wanted to surrender and reconcile with Eden didn't dare to say it directly, after all, surrender was regarded as a disgraceful act of cowardice.

He quietly held Adam's hand and whispered, "Don't worry too much, it sounds fine."

Adam didn't speak.

The Chiefs couldn't reach an agreement and finally the Fifth Chief said, "Continuing arguing this won't get us anywhere. This meeting is suspended, everyone, go back and rest. We still have one more day, but there's one thing I can be sure of." Those tenacious eyes full of years of hardship and wisdom looked around and all those who were swept by this gaze fell silent unconsciously, "I will never be a slave. If freedom means death, I choose to die with dignity."

The most highly respected Fifth Chief, who had the most influence, had already set the tone for the final decision. Zhang Xun breathed a sigh of relief, even though the crisis had not been resolved and even though he didn't know if they would decide to execute or handover Adam the day after tomorrow, or what the reaction would be.

Zhang Xun and Adam were allowed to retire and were escorted back to the Lab by a team of soldiers. However, after the door of the Lab was closed, the group of soldiers didn't leave, but stayed positioned around the Lab, seemingly not planning to leave any time soon.

The Lab was sealed off.

This arrangement wasn't surprising. Eden had suddenly turned up on the day of the Harvest Festival, causing a large-scale panic in Victoria Square. Fortunately, Adam had warned James before, so the military was prepared and enough soldiers were arranged to evacuate the people to maintain order, so there was no large-scale panic or stampede casualties. But rumours of Eden asking Lost Paradise to hand over Adam had also spread. If the situation escalated, someone might try to kill Adam in order to survive.