Chapter 45: "Kill"
While Kenzo was silently contemplating, and giving his final judgment, suddenly, faint sounds of several footsteps and casual conversation came in like a distant murmur in the silent atmosphere of the building.
Upon hearing the faint sounds of footsteps and voices, Kenzo immediately hid even deeper in the dark corner of the room.
His breath was extremely faint, almost nonexistent. His figure blended in perfectly.
His senses were sharp, ready to absorb all the information which was practically coming his way.
The whispers, even though they were just whispers, were still clearly audible in the quiet atmosphere.
"When is the next batch coming?" said one of the voices, his tone slightly rough and deep.
"They should be arriving in around two to three days according to our informants," while the other voice was polite and slightly casual.
As their conversation drifted in, Kenzo finally saw their full figures.
One was a burly man with a rough build and broad shoulders. While the other was a slightly slender man with a white coat and glasses.
The burly man's brows furrowed slightly, wincing a little, looking at the packed cages filled with children.
Not with disgust or pity, but annoyance.
"Looks like the storage is completely filled." "Even if we might be able to squeeze in a little more," "there is no guarantee we might be able to store the next batch."
The man in the white coat nodded slightly and adjusted his glasses and also looked at the cages.
His eyes were completely detached. He probably had already seen this scene multiple times by now.
"That might indeed be so." "However, we can still extract the remaining organs of those who don't fit and still earn a handsome sum."
By now, several people had already woken up. But none of them uttered a single word or made a single sound.
This was not entirely because of fear.
The reason was simple.
It was because they had learned. Learned when it would hurt. Learned when they would be punished.
In 1967, a well-known psychologist named Martin Seligman conducted a series of experiments on learned helplessness.
In one of those experiments, a dog was placed inside a confined area and subjected to repeated electric shocks.
At first, it struggled. It barked repeatedly, trying its best to escape.
But no matter what it did, the pain continued. Again and again. Unrelenting.
Until eventually, it just stopped.
Later, the conditions were slightly changed. An escape was made possible. A simple and easy path out.
All the dog had to do was move.
But it didn't.
Even when the shocks returned, even when the pain came again, it just lay there.
Silent and unmoving.
It had learned something far worse than fear could ever inflict. It had learned that resistance was futile. It had learned "learned helplessness."
Kenzo evaluated calmly.
His eyes were intently focused on the next words the burly man was about to say.
"Tch! When are our clients coming?" the burly man said, clicking his tongue slightly.
Obviously, even if they sold the organs, it would only be a fraction of the amount a living, breathing human being could sell for.
The man in the white coat, on the other hand, stayed silent, not saying anything to the burly man, remaining completely indifferent to the slight outburst.
After a few seconds, he spoke in a calm and controlled manner.
"Stay calm, Goro." "We have done this before plenty of times by now." "The clients are always late." "But once they come, our entire stock will be emptied in less than a week." "So be patient, the money will come flowing in soon."
Goro grimaced slightly.
He had already heard this plenty of times before.
But he didn't argue.
He was a patient individual himself.
If he wasn't, he couldn't be in charge of this place.
In the shinobi world, the ones who ask too many questions and don't have patience are the first to disappear.
He had already learned this a long time ago.
Even so, he couldn't help but subconsciously glance at the few women strapped to the chairs.
Immediately, a lewd grin spread across his face, and as if by reflex, he licked his lips.
Seeing the look in his partner's eyes, the man in the white coat immediately understood what was about to happen.
He then sighed deeply, clearly already tired of his antics.
"Don't be too rough with the merchandise." "You might accidentally damage the quality of the organs too."
Goro, however, wasn't in the mood to listen.
With a casual shrug of his shoulders, he left his partner behind.
The other person also understood the signal and, without saying anything, left the building.
Kenzo's clone watched all of this with cold eyes.
Not with hatred or anything. Just cold calculation.
From their conversation, it was pretty apparent they were selling slaves on a routine basis and had done this plenty of times before.
And most likely were suppliers to even bigger slave traders, kind of like middlemen.
Small villages and other bandits probably sold people to a group of their men, and they were brought here.
For Kenzo, slaughtering this place was as easy as breathing.
Previously, Kenzo took so long for his judgment was precisely because of one question.
Is it worth it?
But once he saw how none of the people in the cages were even trying to fight back or try to escape, as if they were completely helpless, all doubt vanished away like drifting clouds.
And calm clarity remained in his eyes.
Wasn't he just like them?
"Trapped in a cage of his own making…" "Trapped in the same learned helplessness."
Constantly thinking of the smallest benefits and risks.
Like a person trying to get everything and only ending up getting nothing.
It's not that he didn't believe he should stop calculating the risks and benefits of a situation.
No, far from it.
If he dared to try that, he would be dead within weeks.
Or rather, he believed in the philosophy that everything in this universe has some kind of meaning or understanding behind it.
Often, the answers to your questions are found in the simplest of daily things.
Kenzo closed his eyes for a moment.
Before opening them again the next instant.
His eyes shifted to the man who had already started his so-called "play" with the women.
The judgment was made.
"Kill."