She picked up the booklet and ran to the gray rabbit, asking, "Rabbit, are you okay? Can't you even speak?"
The gray rabbit moved its furry ears and weakly replied, "The blood silver bullets are troublesome. Let me rest for another hour. If you're bored, just take a look at what he gave you. Perhaps you'll find the answers to your questions."
Alright, Lu Ah-Cang admitted that her mind was filled with questions. From the moment she saw the deep underground laboratory beneath her feet, she understood that the ultimate goal of this kidnapping case was not about kidnapping at all.
She carried the gray rabbit to the sofa and nestled on the other side, flipping open the booklet that was stained yellow by time.
It was a diary with a name written on the title page — Sean.
Lu Ah-Cang can understand any language, but the handwriting in this booklet was the most beautifully written French she has ever seen.
March 1 Weather: Sunny
I heard the birds on the roof talking, saying it will rain tomorrow. I told Mama, but she said kids must not lie and birds can't talk. But I heard them.
From the day I was born, I heard the nurses scream and whisper that Mama had given birth to a deformed monster. At the time, I lay bored in my crib, which was in the farthest corner of the nursery. The other children had lots of friends and relatives coming to see them every day, but not me. Just Papa and Mama.
Two ants crawled up to my bedside. I saw them turn into two little girls wearing floral dresses – so interesting. They chatted with me, saying I'm the only child who can see and hear them. They said I'm really awesome.
I was happy. No more boredom. The ant girls visited me every day, bringing sweet berries. But one morning, only one ant girl came. Was the other one sleeping in? Turns out, her partner got stepped on by someone and died.
She said the ant clan lives a tough life. They have to be very careful because they're too small and weak. A tiny move from humans can be fatal to them. I told her I won't hurt them.
The next day, Mama took me home. I never saw the ant girl again.
September 13 Weather: Rain
Mama and Papa had a fight with the mayor because he won't allow me to go to school. I'm ten years old now, and kids my age pass by my house every day, carrying their school bags and having fun.
I hear that school is a place where you can learn a lot, meet many people, and find a lot of happiness. I want to go to school.
Yesterday, I told David next door that I want to go to school with him, even if it's just to take a look. David agreed. I'm so happy.
David is my only friend. Although he sometimes plays pranks on me.
September 14 Weather: Rain
David pushed me to the empty space behind the school. He pushed me out of my wheelchair and dragged it into the ditch by the river.
Kids at the school threw stones at me. They laughed and competed to see who was more accurate in throwing the stones. I heard someone shouting: Kill this monster!
Yes, they are brave knights and I'm the ugly monster. The sides are clearly drawn. Mama, tears streaming down her face, brought me back home covered in wounds.
From now on, I won't ever tell them I want to go to school. In fairy tales, monsters eat people, but I don't eat people. Does that still make me a monster? I'm a bit confused.
January 8 Weather: Overcast
David got married, and his bride is really beautiful. They moved to Paris.
The house next door has a new owner. I saw an old man with white hair, followed by a petite girl with golden curls. She was carrying a cute little suitcase, and her face was like a just ripened apple in autumn.
I hid behind the curtains and watched quietly.
January 19 Weather: Sunny
Claire made apple pancakes for me.
She's the only girl who didn't scream when she saw me. She said she heard me playing the piano, and it is the most beautiful sound she has ever heard.
Yes, I have a second-hand piano that I bought with the money I earned from writing papers and manuscripts for others.
I haven't gone to school. It was my parents who taught me to read. But when I see those difficult math, physics, chemistry etc. problems that give others headaches, I can easily write out the answers. I wrote a physics student's graduation thesis, and it caused a sensation at his school. They said it's impossible for a university graduate to have written it. Indeed not, because I've never been to school, not for a day.
I'm glad I can earn money. I don't really like writing these things for people; I prefer playing the piano. I fell in love with Chopin's "Nocturne" after hearing it only once.
Without sheet music or fingering techniques, I play it over and over on my second-hand piano. Claire says she likes the way I look when I play the piano, my whole person exudes a sort of brilliance.
March 27 Weather: Rain
Claire is locked in the attic by her grandfather.
Associating with me is taboo. A good girl shouldn't have any relationship with a monster.
I dragged the piano to the nearest window.
From dawn to dusk, I played "Nocturne" over and over again.
I know she's right next to me.
My music is just for her.
April 26 Weather: Overcast
The room next door is empty.
Claire has been forcibly taken to Poland by her grandfather. I hear there's a wealthy and handsome man waiting for his bride there.
I'm holding a pocket watch in my hand – a birthday gift from Claire. She said time stops every time she listens to me play the piano.
I fell asleep on the piano. Tears streamed from my eyes, flowing into the gaps between the keys.
June 28 Weather: Sunny
Mama had a dispute with the mayor again. It's still because of me.
They "suggested" that we leave the town. The mayor said all the residents expressed that they don't want to see a "monster" that can scare children to tears anytime in this "peaceful and happy" town.
Mama refused.
At night, a group of people broke into my home. Many things at home were smashed, including my piano.
"Does a monster like you deserve to play the piano?" When they left, a man with beady eyes gave me a contemptuous look. I sat in my wheelchair, watching them strut out of my home.
My heart is cooling down bit by bit.
August 2 Weather: Thunderstorm
A strange disease resembling plague has erupted in town. Many people are dying.
The psychic in our town said it's my existence that has brought this misfortune. They want to lynch me and burn me alive. This town is remote, and one more or one less person will not be known to outsiders.
Papa picked up a shotgun for the first time, raging at the approaching crowd.
Mama protected me tightly, ready to fight anyone who comes near me.
They chained the front gate of our house, drenched it in gasoline, and set it on fire.
The thick smoke was choking. Mama and Papa fell in the blazing flames.
I thought I was going to die. But the gray rabbit saved me. It dragged me deep into the woods. I saw many other animals — bears, moles, wild boars.
They said they are demons.
December 25 Weather: Snow
I don't quite remember which Christmas this is in my life.
Just now, I gave the wild boar demons a gift. It's my newly developed acceleration chip. With it, their speed can match the speed of light.
I must thank them; only their power could have helped me establish this underground kingdom in such a short time. Over the years, they have grown accustomed to me as their leader. The wild boar demons once said on behalf of all their fellow demons – You are smarter than us.
Yes, I'm smarter than anyone. So, I have the ability to change this world. I loathe my past self; I hate being subordinate to others.
May 3 Weather: Sunny
The ten of them must pay the price for their actions that year.
Neptune will ultimately be a gift for them, the best gift for all humans who scorn the weak. I will create a world.
I am God.
Snap! Lu Ah-Cang closed the booklet, feeling all kinds of emotions in her heart.
The gray rabbit opened its eyes, its breathing much steadier than before.
"Some years ago, the kidnapped children's parents, headed by Luc Beroul, had cooperated and pooled resources to bring back a crystal from the distant Neptune in order to complete their experiment of enhancing human intelligence. The blue ore crystal from the deepest part of Neptune was said to instantly transform the brain capacity of living organisms and increase active proteins. In simple terms, it could turn an idiot into a genius in a short period," the gray rabbit slowly walked to her side, continuing, "They called this crystal Neptune. After bringing back Neptune to Earth, they needed a group of test subjects. They secretly gathered the information of pregnant women from all over France, and using the guise of free prenatal checks from a certain health organization, brought these expectant mothers to Paris. After the examinations, they warmly took these women, most of whom came from remote towns or the countryside, to visit the Louvre. On that day, someone had tampered with the air conditioning system of the Denon Wing, placing the raw liquid extracted from Neptune in it. The raw liquid evaporated into the air, spreading out through the vents. The people touring outside were completely unaware."
"The experiment wasn't very successful, huh," Lu Ah-Cang sneered. "Moreover, one of those pregnant women was Sean's mother."
"Out of the ten pregnant women, three failed to become mothers. The remaining ones who gave birth either had children with disabilities or cerebral palsy. And then, there's Sean," the gray rabbit sighed. "Those guys were essentially playing with human lives. This thing Neptune, instead of expanding human intelligence, messes up DNA and damages neurons – that's the truth. I don't know where these rich people heard the fallacy that Neptune can make people smarter. They hoped the experiment would succeed, hoped to gain unprecedented benefits from Neptune, and even yearned to use Neptune to make themselves smarter than they are now."
"They're already so lucky, but they're still dissatisfied with themselves," Lu Ah-Cang stroked Sean's diary. "Sean's ability to communicate with demons is probably innate."
"Yes. I don't know if his ability has anything to do with Neptune, but he does have the innate ability to communicate with various demons. Moreover, all demons are willing to obey him because he's just too intelligent," the gray rabbit blinked, "Including me, everyone admires him. That year, I was trapped in a hunter's snare and injured my front leg. Sean, who was walking in the woods, heard my cries for help and set me free. Maybe you'll think such a plot is cliché, but it's the truth. I'm grateful to him, and I've stayed by his side ever since. When he was almost burned to death, I did my best to drag him out of the fire."
Lu Ah-Cang walked up to the wall and asked, "Is the laboratory outside all Sean's work?"
"Yes," the gray rabbit nodded. "Sean's mind is simply not in the same category as ordinary people. His intelligence is far beyond our imagination. He gathered many demons and built this underground laboratory in the depths of Paris. Although these demons are not particularly powerful individually, the strength they have when gathered is not to be underestimated. Following Sean's instructions, they obtained a large amount of funding, and even attracted a group of human scientists to come here. All resources, all power, are for Sean's plan." The gray rabbit paused and said, "He wants to change the world with Neptune."
"Wait, you don't mean... Sean is breaking down Neptune, using his Hadron collider to maximize Neptune's power, then transporting it to the highest point on Earth, detonating it, and allowing the crystal's effects to spread across the entire world like a black hole explosion?" Lu Ah-Cang suddenly felt that something was terribly wrong.
"Once the collision is successful..." The gray rabbit looked up, its red eyes staring somewhere in the void, "Neptune's power will turn all humans on Earth into monsters with various defects—possibly losing intelligence, possibly having limb disabilities. In short…thorough transformation and disaster."
"When everyone becomes a flawed 'monster,' this world will become the absolutely fair New World that Sean so hopes for?" Lu Ah-Cang began to understand what he truly wanted.
"Yes. No discrimination, no oppression," the gray rabbit's face showed no expression. "He kidnapped the children of those ten billionaires, partly as revenge, wanting them to bear the pain of losing loved ones. But in the end, he asked them to bring their most precious things to the Louvre. He told me that if just one of those ten people said, 'The thing most precious to me is the child you kidnapped,' he would abandon this plan. However, none of them said that. Their most precious things are diamonds, cashier's checks, and profits."
"You don't want his plan to succeed, right." Lu Ah-Cang walked up to the gray rabbit and said suddenly.
The gray rabbit's three-petal mouth moved, and after a long time, it said, "I used monitoring the human police's progress on the kidnappings case as an excuse to temporarily leave Sean, and asked you to be Charlotte Beroul's substitute, not for anything else. Because to obtain Neptune, we need to obtain the DNA of those ten billionaires, and within an hour, mix all the DNA, along with Charlotte's fingerprints and retinal information, to unlock that specially made cube. I found a place for the real Charlotte elsewhere. She is an unusually timid person. I worried that seeking her in person would affect my plan. That's why I hired you, hoping you would fully cooperate with me."
"You planned to replace Neptune without anyone knowing?" Lu Ah-Cang recalled everything he had done in front of that old house.
"I had hoped you would put on a play with me to the end and deceive Sean into putting a fake Neptune into the machine," the gray rabbit sighed. "Unfortunately, he's just too clever; my trick was ultimately seen through by him."
"Even if he believes it's the real Neptune, once he uses it, he will surely realize it's fake. Then he can still find the real Neptune and continue his plan," Lu Ah-Cang felt that this substitution plan seemed rather imperfect.
"He won't have that chance," the gray rabbit shook its head. "Sean's health is steadily deteriorating. Years of overloaded mental work and his body's inherent physical defects mean he's doomed to have a short life. However, do you believe that a person can be so intelligent that they can calculate their own time of death precisely by computing various bodily indicators? Sean can." It jumped down from the sofa. "Today at midnight."
The gray rabbit walked to the piano, laboriously hopped onto it, and said, "You can't help but admire such a genius. Everything is under his control, as precise as a clock. Tricking those wealthy children to come to Paris, making those billionaires have no choice but to gather in the same place, extracting their DNA through me, bringing Charlotte with us to obtain Neptune. The timing of everything is in his arrangement, not a minute too early or too late. I once wanted to sabotage it, but as you can see, I failed."
"Since he won't live past midnight, why not just take Neptune and escape far away? If you didn't return to him, you wouldn't be in this situation now. It seems like you're asking for trouble," Lu Ah-Cang was puzzled.
"I don't want him to die in regret. His greatest wish is to see Neptune being transported away. Fooling him is good enough." The gray rabbit shook its head.
Lu Ah-Cang sighed, brushing her fingers over the piano keys, and asked, "Why do you want to sabotage his plan? You and he should have been on the same side. The life and death of those humans actually has nothing to do with you."
The gray rabbit pondered for a while and asked her, "Do you remember the boy who stole things from home to feed the dogs? Do you remember that hot-headed André who shielded us with his body?" She nodded.
"I just don't want people like them to be harmed by Neptune," the gray rabbit exhaled deeply, as if trying to spit out all his pent-up feelings. "If Sean is pursuing absolute fairness, the thing he's doing itself is extremely unfair. Among humans, there are not only guys like Luc Beroul but also mainly people like the boy and André."
"You truly are a great rabbit." Lu Ah-Cang laughed.
The gray rabbit slumped down in frustration, saying, "But my power is too weak. I tried my best, but couldn't stop Sean. Neptune has already collided successfully, and he will send it to the highest point on Earth at midnight. By then, except for the people in the lab, all humans on Earth will wake up tomorrow morning and find themselves..."
Lu Ah-Cang's fingers clumsily danced on the piano keys, producing a monotonous sound. "I've always thought that the phrase 'saving all of humanity' sounds quite cringey," she suddenly burst out laughing, "Hey, if I can save them, will I also become a great Formless?"
"You can't do it," the gray rabbit felt she was delusional, "The collider is already in operation, and its program is set not to stop once it starts. Unless someone squeezes into it and destroys its main power cable. But you know, even if someone can shrink their body to the size of a mouse or a cockroach and enter through the machine's power inlet, it's impossible to withstand the high heat and extreme radiation inside it. They would turn into a wisp of steam before even getting close to the main power line. Moreover, those power lines are made of the toughest alloy and cannot be cut by anything."
"Oh..." Lu Ah-Cang thought for a while, then smiled sweetly at the gray rabbit, "Can you help me with something?" The gray rabbit stared blankly at her.
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