The solemn conference room was filled with people with gloomy faces. Everyone quickly flipped through the speeches on the table, but the incomprehensible looks spread quickly among the crowd like a flu, contributing to the growth of an atmosphere of silence.

Because the man standing on the main podium had completely abandoned the speech he had prepared earlier, expressed his personal opinions unscrupulously, and intentionally or unintentionally attacked the public participating in the hearing.

"...I have always believed that the public has too blindly followed the so-called aesthetic revolution and ideological trends, passionately trying to relieve the boredom and emptiness after the destruction of the war. But this behavior is incompatible with the decadent philosophy pursued by neurotic poets

It's the same, it will only push the already shaky social trend of thought into a situation where it will never see the light of day!"

"This dangerous liberalism is the enemy of civilized society!"

The young people in the public hearing room stood up almost angrily, using fists and anger to defend the rights they were fighting for, equating the thin and sinister middle-aged man in front of them with the rigid and cold-blooded military government, and knocking them down together.

The ground is gone.

However, rows of military police firmly resisted the flow of people. The production numbers of the guns in their hands were as clear as new, and the gun blades reflected the completely different faces of Chu Tie and Han Xue.

The old man on the rostrum coughed, trying to focus everyone's attention on the center of power, and then said: "Mr. Sionis, but I don't think the 'ideology that harms society' you mentioned is consistent with the decryption you advocate.

Semiotics, what’s the essential difference?”

Hearing this sentence, the middle-aged man put on a faint sneer on his face, and said confidently: "I have no position on the dispute over the names of decrypted semiotics and prediction, but relying on Professor Craven's calculations

, from Fort Bravo to the Pyrenees, from Zhengtu Island to the Southern Islands...it has saved the federation millions of pounds in expenses! These cases are discussed in detail on page 23 of your desk manuscript, and I will not explain them all.

Listed all..."

Mr. Sionis, with a gloomy look, clapped his hands and completely closed the speech in front of him.

“The reason why I don’t care about the scornful term ‘decryption semiotics’ is because in the face of irrefutable evidence, even if we are facing a crazy witch doctor, an inexplicable oracle from heaven, or a magical octopus with flexible tentacles,

What does it matter?"

After pretending to be humble and bowing to the jury, Mr. Sionis walked out of the podium with his arrogance, left through the second side door, and unilaterally announced the end of the hearing, leaving all the noisy debates behind him.

The assistant was the first to react. He picked up the materials scattered on the table and ran out the door. He caught up with Mr. Sionis and complained in a low voice: "Sir, why did you just go against the script? And your hostile attitude.

It will probably cause trouble..."

Mr. Sionis chuckled and said: "Haven't you noticed yet? This so-called hearing is just a target thrown by the old stubborns in the Congress to silence the young people. The old fools have already

Knowing that Craven's achievements cannot be concealed and that nothing will go wrong no matter what, he asked me to be the bad guy. Otherwise, why don't you take the opportunity to demonstrate these ghosts like the Espionage Reporting Act, the Economic Sanctions Act, and the War Liquidation Act today?

?”

They hurriedly walked around the corner of the Parliament, known as the "Land of Glorious Glory", and left the venue completely under the escort of guards at the back door.

The assistant's face turned pale with fright, and he hurriedly lowered his voice to stop: "Sir! Don't let the detectives from the Investigation Bureau hear this! This will really cause big trouble!"

"Cousins, you have to remember one thing."

Mr. Sionis got into the car, lit a cigar, and slowly exhaled as the smoke filled his lungs, he said softly: "The Sionis family's status is supported by plantations, transportation, manufacturing plants and real estate.

What got up has nothing to do with you, me, or anyone who can be identified..."

Assistant Cousins ​​suddenly realized, "So you did this on purpose?! The parliament needs someone to attract firepower, so you deliberately behaved arrogantly and unreasonably, letting all the limelight fall on you?!"

After taking a puff of the cigar as if he would get lung cancer after three cigarettes, Mr. Sionis quickly and restrainedly put out the cigarette butt, and said without interest: "No, you still ignored me, so you are just a sixth-level assistant civil servant, and

I'm a congressman - the old guys want me to attract hate, but I'm here to piss off the hearing panel!"

"You want to use me, huh..."

Mr. Siannis said angrily, "Then I'll let them ride the tiger too!"

Assistant Cousins ​​was even more worried now, and whispered: "Didn't you offend both sides at once?"

"So what? The Parliament needs our Siannis family to continue to suppress the power of the Cobot family, otherwise the old man's position as Speaker of the Parliament will never be stable. This is not friendly cooperation at all, at most it is mutual use. I

If I don’t use him to protect Craven’s status this time, am I going to wait for him to write a letter of commendation to thank me?”

Assistant Cousins' jaw nearly dropped to the floor. He lowered his head to collect the manuscript in his wallet and placed it in Mr. Sionnis' hand. After a long time, he sighed: "Politics is really... really complicated..."

Mr. Siannis said dissatisfiedly: "If you want to use the word 'dirty', just say it, don't be secretive."

The driver turned a deaf ear and drove the car onto the suburban road. The tall buildings on both sides finally slowly disappeared, revealing a quiet and peaceful pastoral scene. The exquisite houses and neatly trimmed fences all showed the wealth of this place.

Cousins ​​couldn't help but sigh: "It's so beautiful here... I really want to move to the suburbs one day..."

Mr. Sionis glanced at him and said in a confused voice: "Coriano, President of the Agricultural Association."

"What?" Cousins ​​didn't react for a moment.

Mr. Siannis said: "I mean, the house you were looking at just now is the property of Coriano, the chairman of the Agricultural Association. Oh, by the way, in that order are the chairman of the Securities Management Committee, Senator Sidou, and the speaker of the parliament.

Legal advisor, Director of the Youth Administration, member of the Navy Committee..."

"This...is so prominent? Then why do they live together here?"

"These people who live here are all the culprits who have monopolized power in the city and made the place a mess. Then they leave the mess to you young people and transform themselves into pastoral characters in the countryside. Every time

When we meet, you have to boast that you never love power, but you have no choice but to shoulder a heavy responsibility... It's weird, I didn't see it before, do you have such an ambition?"

Cousins ​​​​like a cat whose tail was stepped on, quickly explained: "That's not the case, Mr. Sionnis! I didn't know before... I said that because I really didn't know!"

Siannis patted his shoulder and comforted him: "Don't be nervous, I didn't say there was anything wrong with you. Even if you really think so, you are better than these hypocrites represented by the Speaker of the Parliament, who carry you with you every day.

Mask. As long as they hide behind the mask, they can sanctimoniously hide their thoughts in their hearts and say all kinds of things against their will."

Seeing Mr. Siannis's sullen expression, Cousins ​​asked in a low voice: "I understand, you can't stand these people, that's why you insist on going against the parliament today?"

Sionis finally nodded: "You are right. As I said before, my personal behavior cannot represent the family. If I have to deliberately cater to or oppose based on my position, then why can't I express my likes and dislikes along the way?

What? In an era where everything relies on falsehood to survive, at least I can ensure that my own emotions don’t need to be false - if I do this, I will be better than those old cunning people, and that’s enough."

Cousins ​​nodded in understanding and asked by analogy: "Then you are against the Cobot family because you are dissatisfied with their hypocrisy, right?"

Mr. Siannis was silent for a while and said, "No, I'm just unhappy with those fat people."

Cousins:…………

…………

"Cousins, wait at the door. If anyone wants to come in, stop them for me."

"Yes, Mr. Sionis."

The old exterior walls and unknown decorations gave the building a mysterious atmosphere as dusk fell. Cousins ​​looked back and saw the gargoyle squatting on the roof with a strange grin.

He smiled and immediately shuddered.

Facing the setting sun, Siannis held his wallet and quickly passed between the black basalt columns, pushed open the sandalwood door decorated with onyx, and entered an independent building.

From the outside, this circular building may be a small library, because the messy books stacked on the floor have exceeded the size of a normal family collection. Absolutely no one would choose to decorate every open space with books.

But if you take a closer look, this conclusion will be overturned. Because even the most enthusiastic bibliophile will not inexplicably want to pile up the "trash" of the past ten years in the book collection.

These waste products include expired TV newspapers from Clarion Press, rural sacred sites not allowed to be published by the Holy See, Economic Times from Dawn Press, distribution flyers printed on the street, exquisite picture albums printed on coated paper by auction houses, and even

There are many tabloids produced by private printing houses. These inexplicable things are all included in the collection of this small library, layer upon layer without even a decent place to stay...

"Craven, the funds I have obtained for you are quite large. Can't you spend even one pound to hire the worst nanny in the country to tidy up this house?"

As Mr. Siannis complained, a man with curly hair and oriental-looking black eyes appeared from the corner of the room - the sudden appearance seemed to emerge from the shadow of a corner.

generally.

"The preciousness of knowledge lies in the accumulation of information... Human beings have observed the movement of stars for generations, and only then have they summarized information that exceeds the limits of short human lives, and have mastered the laws of the planet beneath their feet. And what is in front of you is equally precious human information

Wealth, just in form, is not yet accepted by anyone—except me.”

The black figure slowly spoke, and his body was finally illuminated by a trace of incandescent light.

"My dear friend...how did today's hearing go?"

His voice was a little weak, and his expression was unnatural. He seemed to be trying his best to show kindness, but he couldn't move the stiff muscles on his face.

From the perspective of outsiders, the friendship between these two people is difficult to understand. But if someone can find that Sionis's originally thin body looks quite strong in front of Professor Craven, and his sinister expression can be called sunshine in comparison, they may be able to understand.

A bit of this "sympathy".

"It's going pretty well. Your research progress will definitely not be affected in the short term."

Mr. Sionis took off his hat, sat on an armchair, and frowned, "But I saw the Miskatonic University badge on the clothes of a few young people. This is not a good sign..."

"I just knew...I just knew..."

Professor Craven arched his back nervously, "First they used 'symbol decryption' to humiliate my prediction science, and now they are pushing students to attack my research... My dear friend, do you remember how Professor Apahan treated me back then?"

Ours, right?”

Sionis stared at the light coming from the only window of the house with a dark face, "Craven, you don't have to worry about this. External criticism and slander will not cause any harm. As long as our role is irreplaceable, these

The cunning fox will carefully wait for your results..."

But he changed the subject, "I'm just worried that the involvement of the University of Michigan will lead to your unique prediction method and use the political resources of the University of Michigan to replace our position. This is the real threat..."

Professor Craven's black eyes flashed, and he said categorically: "Absolutely impossible! My Bayesian research method cannot be replicated by those short-sighted people! They don't even know whether the door of truth is round or square.

If you don’t even know, how can you seize the light of truth?!”

Siannis twitched the corner of his mouth and didn't say much.

Professor Craven's mood gradually calmed down, and then he started talking about business, "My dear friend... have you brought the information I asked for?"

"Of course. While I was delaying my attendance at the hearing, my assistant had already rummaged through the data in the archives and found the information you asked for."
To be continued...