Sherlock Holmes

This small room is close to the confessional. The facilities inside are extremely simple. There is a table, bookshelves full of prayer documents on the wall, and a not very bright gas lamp floating quietly above the head, casting a dim light, shrouding the Below are two people several times different in age.

"It's been almost 10 years since we last met." Emperor Augustus said leisurely. The old man always likes to recall the past, because their future really is running out.

"Indeed, at the inheritance ceremony in the year 219 of the Holy Calendar, when the Pope held your re-election coronation ceremony, I was not far away. You looked at me and said that the future belongs to young people."

Moriarty's attitude was very respectful, like a junior sitting in front of a respectable old man, bowing slightly when speaking.

Struggle is a struggle, it is an inevitable collision between two forces, but as representatives of these forces, naturally they will not curse each other like a street fight.

As for the old pope, in fact, after the coronation ceremony, he announced that he was unwell and has never appeared in public since. Although he is already responsible for some of the decisions of the Holy See, in fact, Moriarty has In these ten years, it gradually took over 70% of the power of the Holy See.

Emperor Augustine leaned back in his chair and recalled what he looked like ten years ago. At that time, he was not dependent on a wheelchair for mobility, nor did he have to rely on drugs to maintain his vital signs every day. A ninety-year-old man was recalling himself. Looking young in his 80s, this thought itself seems to carry a kind of despair.

Therefore, after a short silence, Emperor Augustine finally brought the topic back on track:

"In the London incident, the official death list was 22,000, but in fact, the death toll was 35,000." He told these numbers in an understatement, then looked at the young man in front of him and asked Said: "What do you think, thirty-five thousand lives, how much?"

Moriarty shook his head: "Not much."

"Yeah, I don't think it's much. In fact, I can guess what it's like outside now. According to this year's administrative district output, if the factories in the first-level urban areas stop working for one day, the empire will lose 600 million in currency circulation. The entire empire has 173 Each administrative state contains at least one first-level urban district and two to three secondary urban areas. If the strike wave exceeds 50%, 35 billion will be lost every day. These lost funds will become stranded in the next three years. The debt will be fed back to the people. By then, more than 30 million people will have lost hope of living. So when I was taken out of the Council of Elders, you had already killed a thousand times as many people as me. "Emperor Augustine said an even more shocking number in a similar indifferent tone:

"So, do you think it's all worth it?"

"Of course it's worth it." Moriarty's tone was very hard, but in the face of the terrible death figures, his hardness seemed so cold-blooded.

Rights are a very scary thing. All those who yearn for rights only see the advantages and conveniences it brings to them, but selectively forget that when they obtain rights, they must also shoulder responsibilities.

And when this responsibility is so strong that one person's will can determine the life and death of tens of millions of people, and the rise and fall of a race, then rights are no longer related to 'beauty'.

Instead, it's more like a curse.

There is only one emperor in the empire, and there is only one holy son in the Holy See. The two people who stand at the top of power inevitably bear this curse.

Emperor Augustine killed 30,000 souls, a heinous crime!

But since he was taken out of the Council of Elders hall, nearly 30 million people will gradually die in the next ten years. So, isn't this a heinous crime?

If calculated according to the most basic mathematical formula, Moriarty is also guilty, and his crime is a thousand times more serious than Augustine the Great!

But he ignored so many lives and used the word "worthy" so confidently and righteously.

"Why?" the old man asked more interestedly:

"Because you are a little greedy. Those who try to pursue eternal life will inevitably die."

"Hahahaha——" Emperor Augustine laughed, and then began to cough violently because the air flow hit somewhere in his throat. He arched his body in pain and sweated profusely before finally stopping.

"Boy, if you win, you win. Of course, the winner can use all kinds of rhetoric to whitewash himself, but now, in front of me, you can be more sincere."

"What I say is the most sincere." Moriarty said calmly: "I am different from you. I was born to serve the human race.

I don’t have many desires of my own. In the past thirty years, the only thing I have wanted to do is to help mankind go further.

In fact, you are the person I respect the most, no one else.

Even if you want to kill me, I can understand that I have thought about it countless times in the past six months. If I were sitting in your seat, I would definitely be more decisive than you. ,

You and I both understand that we are sinners. The distribution of rights will kill people, but if we don’t distribute it, more people will die. Conscription will kill people, but if we don’t recruit soldiers, more people will die. 25 years ago, you connected taxes with the output value of factories. Together, countless private factories closed down, more than half of the farmland land system in 207 Holy Calendar was reclaimed by the imperial government, and countless people who had cultivated land for their entire lives chose to hang themselves at the entrance of the farm.

Many people died each time.

The resentment of these dead people will make you and me irrecoverable and not have a good death. Of course, I have never expected that I will have a good ending. This is doomed. I even admire you more and more, because You dare to do this, you carry the weight of these lives.

but

But pursuing eternal life is not enough.

This will lead mankind to despair. "

Moriarty's last word was despair, not destruction.

This is a very subtle word.

If Emperor Augustine gains immortality, then human beings should not be extinct, and can even continue to exist for a long time, as Moriarty expected, a thousand years, ten thousand years, or even further away.

But he knew very well what a terrifying existence a person with extreme rights and a long life would be. Education will change people's cognition, and time will make people take everything for granted. History can be modified at will, and an immortal person The emperor will turn the will of the whole race to become more and more inclined to himself, and eventually become one with himself.

When one day, one person's will is echoed by hundreds of millions of people in the entire race, then what does it mean?

A giant beehive?

Or is it an ant colony driven by pheromones and corresponding to the collective consciousness?

If the will of all mankind is really gathered together and becomes a whole, then will mankind still exist?

Emperor Augustine looked at the young man in front of him and was silent for a long time. In the end, he just shook his head:

"You are thinking too far away. I have seen the possibility of extending the life extension experiment. In the situation you mentioned, the success rate is only 30% at most." Emperor Augustine murmured: "And if I say it now, I actually don't If I want such a long life, I might just want to live another fifty years, seventy or eighty years at most, do you believe it?"

"If it were you now, I would believe it, but if it were you 50 years later, I don't believe that when a person wants to do something, he has a different mentality than when he can do something. "Moriarty replied very sincerely, and then the conversation suddenly changed:

"Also, your analysis just now said that 30 million people will die due to the changes in the past few days, but you forgot that time can change many things. If the controllable strategic plan of the wild demon can be achieved within two days, If it is implemented within the year, the combat power on the front line will directly increase three times or even four times. As a result, mankind will directly enter the period of great counterattack that has been waiting for 300 years.

The widespread application of electricity will push the entire human manufacturing industry, industry, and output value to a new level.

Human society at that time was not what you see now.

Maybe, those 30 million people will not die.

I promise that after your death, all losses will be minimized. I will inherit your will and lead mankind to a better future. "

Moriarty said, he was following the greatest emperor in history to discuss his life and death, and the future of mankind. Such a heavy topic, in his mouth, turned out to be so calm, it is hard to imagine that these thoughts In his mind, he has thought about it over and over again, maybe every day, every night, every minute and every second.

Emperor Augustine suddenly felt that sitting here now and admitting that he lost to such a junior did not seem to be unfair.

But he caught a very strange word in the other party's words.

【I】

From beginning to end, Moriarty seems to be saying, I will be like this, I will be like this.

But he is just a holy son of the Holy See, and what he will become in the future is just the Pope of the Holy See. And the empire still has an emperor. In fact, if the war on the front line is really as he said, it will enter the era of great counterattack, then the gate of hell will be closed. It's also a matter of time.

When the door of hell really closes, the Holy See will inevitably decline.

Without demons, humans would not need the Holy Light, and without the Holy Light, there would be no faith. So what is the need for the existence of a Holy See without faith?

The old emperor looked at the young man in front of him, knowing that it was impossible for him to not think of this.

so.

Emperor Augustine thought of the new politician named Franklin, and thought that in his past life, he was actually just a scientific researcher most of the time.

But now, he was actually pushed to the front of the stage, and through countless means, he was about to become the new emperor of the entire empire.

Emperor Augustine became more and more silent, watching the young Son's eyes become brighter and brighter, so that the decaying white spots growing around the pupils shone brightly.

"It seems that you have thought of the path that I have never dared to try."

Moriarty nodded and said the final idea that he suddenly realized one night when he was a teenager and has been fighting for it:

"The prerequisite for mankind to move forward is that there can no longer be disputes of interests between factions, that power cannot be concentrated in the hands of individuals, and that the distribution of resources must be unified, but those in charge of resources must not have selfish desires and favoritism. Faith is eternal and free, but faith cannot be the sustenance of people's thoughts. People must have hope, life, self-will, and vision for the future. Upper-level managers should enjoy better treatment, but lower-level people must There must be the right to supervise the upper class, there must be a more compact system for the distribution of wealth, and there must be no huge gaps in the information gap. Money will no longer be the only criterion for measuring the quality of life. Only in this way can we be considered a sound society.

All this will be a grand and long-term battle, and the first step in this battle is [the emperor of the empire and the pope of the Holy See must be one person]

Or rather me

And I am willing to bear the turbulence caused by this first step, I will do my best to make up for the losses caused, I am willing to bear the anger of society, and I will listen to the thousand-year curses of the people.

I said that I have always regarded myself as the savior of mankind. I know that this mentality is a bit sick, but I will always work hard, even if I have to kill the people I respect most, I will not hesitate. "

Moriarty spoke word by word, and gradually, his tone began to become passionate. Although he suppressed his voice, it seemed to be a cry towards his heart.

Emperor Augustine looked at the young man in front of him. He moved forward with difficulty, as if he wanted to see more clearly. Because of this movement, his white hair, which had not been cut for a long time, hung slightly from his forehead, making him look so old. , but the light in his eyes has not disappeared.

Finally, he finally smiled from the bottom of his heart:

"Sick obsession and idealism. Do you really think you can resist all this? How do you know you can succeed?"

"Only results are the only way to test problems. At least you are sitting here and can listen to what I have to say."

"The fact that I can sit here and listen to what you said is not entirely due to you. To be honest, I have heard a little bit about the detective named Sherlock Holmes. He is really a very outstanding young man. Man, if you had not found such a subordinate, you would never have been able to get me out of the Council of Elders."

Emperor Augustine said that he had only heard Shylock's name a few times, but he spoke highly of him.

But Moriarty thought for a moment and corrected:

"That detective is my friend, not a subordinate."

"Hahaha" the old man smiled weakly and shook his head: "Innocent child, don't you understand? People like you and me can never have friends."

Moriarty fell silent. He did not respond directly to the other party's question, and he did not know what kind of thoughts flashed through his eyes. Under the dim gas, only two dark shadows were left under his eyebrows.

At this moment, the only person in the world who seemed to be able to see his expression was Emperor Augustine.

So he smiled, very weakly, but cheerfully, not like a defeated person at all.

I don’t know how long it took, but the laughter finally stopped.

The old man looked at Moriarty and said calmly:

"Now, I want to make a deal with you."

It’s two chapters in one chapter. I don’t want to divide it into top, middle and bottom parts. It’s easier to read them consecutively. But what I wrote was really difficult. I really can’t think of what the world in the mind of a pathological idealist looks like. Anyway, Please count your votes again. (This is not out of context, because this transaction will be reflected later. mua~)