(Kuchiba Hiro was completely stunned.
He had imagined the thoughts of the ark's builders—things like "it was a necessary sacrifice for the continuation of humanity," "it was a privilege deserved by the elite," or even the blunter "the strong prey on the weak, those are the rules." But he never expected to hear such an answer.
Prepared for... the people?
He frowned deeply, his face full of incredulous confusion, almost thinking he had misheard: "...What do you mean? What do you mean it's prepared for the people?"
Makima looked at his confused expression and seemed to find it amusing. She tilted her head slightly, explaining in her characteristic gentle tone, as if stating an obvious fact:
"It means exactly what I said. That ship is prepared for the 'people' who built it. The only ones allowed on that ship are workers, doctors, teachers, the elderly, and children." She paused, a clear flicker of disgust crossing her golden-ringed eyes. "Those wealthy big shots and the Financial Clique have enjoyed enough already; I don't like them. And those Transcendents who use their abilities to run amok..." Her tone remained calm, yet carried the weight of an indisputable judgment. "They all deserve their due punishment and are not worthy of boarding the ark."
"..."
Kuchiba Hiro was completely dazed, his hand holding the chopsticks frozen in mid-air.
These words completely overturned all his previous perceptions and imaginings! He had always thought the "ark" was a Noah's ark built by the powerful for themselves, a symbol of ultimate selfishness, and the core target of his revenge.
But if... if what Makima said was true, wouldn't the "ark" become... in a sense, a "Ship of Hope"? And wouldn't his own long-standing revenge and pursuit be an attempt to destroy this potential hope left for ordinary people?
This thought threw his mind into chaos, leaving him speechless for a moment.)
Meanwhile, in the real world, the internet was like a depth charge being dropped, instantly exploding!
Bullet comments and social media went completely wild:
"Holy crap???????????"
"What did I just hear? The ark is for workers, doctors, teachers, the elderly, and children?!"
"Wait! My CPU is fried! So Makima isn't the villain? She's... good?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! This must be a lie! A tactic to win people over!"
"Can't Kuchiba Hiro detect lies? The Seventh Master didn't refute her; he even had an incredulous look on his face. This means what Makima said is very likely true. Plus, she clearly stated she hates the Financial Clique and those Transcendents who run amok!"
"If this is true... then the Seventh Master has been investigating the ark and trying to destroy it, wouldn't that be..."
"The more I think about it, the scarier it gets! Have we all been misunderstanding 'The Authorities' all along?"
"Don't jump to conclusions! Who knows if this is another scam? 'Prepared for the people'? It sounds too idealistic, not fitting the tone of this dark world at all!"
"But what if it's true? What if there really is a ship left for ordinary people?"
"My feelings are so complicated right now... I both hope it's true and fear it's a lie..."
"Lady Makima! If what you say is true, please let me on the ship! (Kneels)"
The sheer volume of information was so massive that public opinion split and fell into unprecedented chaos.
Some were thrilled by this sudden "hope"; some, based on their long-held perceptions of the powerful and the transcendent world, firmly questioned it as a lie; more people fell into deep confusion and doubt, not knowing which side to believe.
On the light screen, the atmosphere inside the Izakaya remained frozen.
(Kuchiba Hiro stared intently at Makima, trying to find any trace of a lie in her calm, unrippled golden eyes and flawless expression. But his perception ability still fed back the same result—she wasn't lying.
At least, within her own perception and standpoint, what she said was the "fact" and "principle" she believed in.
Kuchiba Hiro felt the conviction that had sustained his actions shaking violently, as if the ground beneath his feet were cracking.
He refused to give up, staring at Makima as if grasping for a final straw, trying to catch even a hint of insincerity or a logical loophole in her perfect answer and expression.
His voice was dry, with a slight tremor he hadn't noticed himself, as he pressed: "'The people'... who exactly do you mean by 'the people'? And why are you doing this? What's in it for you?"
Makima seemed happy to answer his doubts. She gently wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin, her movements elegant, as if she were engaged in an academic discussion.
"'The people' refers to the groups that form the foundation of society, maintain its basic operation, and are the most powerless to protect themselves in a disaster. Workers create physical value, doctors save lives, teachers pass on knowledge, the elderly carry the past, and children represent the future. They are the true cornerstones of civilization."
Her golden-ringed eyes gazed calmly at Kuchiba Hiro, her tone not impassioned, but possessed of an almost cold clarity. "As for why... does there need to be a special reason? I simply believe this distribution is more 'correct.' I dislike the existing order dominated by the Financial Clique and certain Transcendents. They only care about profit and selfish desires, making a mess of the world while hoping to escape alone. Breaking this order and establishing rules I consider more reasonable—that is my goal. Benefits?"
She tilted her head slightly, seemingly finding the question amusing. "Seeing the world operate in a way I deem correct is, in itself, the greatest 'benefit'."
Her disgust for the existing elite class was undisguised in her words, and her logic was nearly self-consistent, making it difficult to directly refute her motives.
Kuchiba Hiro's fists clenched involuntarily, his knuckles turning white from the force. He took a deep breath and asked the question that had always weighed on his heart, a question of blood and hatred:
"Then why kill people?! Why silence ordinary people like my father, who just happened to find out the 'truth'?! Aren't they also 'the people' you talk about?!"
His voice carried uncontrollable anger and pain.
Faced with this sharp questioning, Makima's expression didn't change at all. She still answered in that steady tone, as if stating a cold mathematical formula:
"The maximum capacity of the ark, according to the most optimistic estimates, is about a hundred thousand people. This is the limit of resources and the bottom line for ensuring the ship's internal ecology can be maintained during an unknown voyage."
She looked at Kuchiba Hiro, her eyes like a bottomless cold pond.
"If 'all' the people knew about the ark's existence and knew they had a chance to board, what would happen? Panic, riots, fighting... everyone would want to be that one in a hundred thousand. Order would completely collapse. In that situation, the ones who would ultimately board would never be workers, doctors, teachers, the elderly, or children. It would only be the strongest, the most vicious, or the most powerful. The result would be—'everyone' dies."
She shook her head gently, with an almost compassionate cruelty:
"Secrecy and necessary sacrifices are to ensure that a 'certain portion' of the 'people' can survive. It is the only choice. The spread of information must be controlled within an absolute range. Any leak point that could trigger large-scale panic and uncontrollable chain reactions must be eliminated. This isn't directed at individuals, but for... a greater probability of survival."
"...!"
Kuchiba Hiro opened his mouth, but his throat felt as if it were being squeezed shut by something, unable to make a sound.
He felt cold all over.
Makima's logic was like a cold scalpel, precisely and cruelly dissecting the helplessness and darkness of reality. He couldn't completely refute her logically, because the scenario she described was highly likely to happen. In the face of survival, the ugliness of human nature would be magnified to the extreme.
But... was his father's death, and the deaths of those who were silenced, deserved just because they were "necessary sacrifices"? Were their lives and their grievances just tossed lightly into a cold "probability" and "optimal solution"?
A massive sense of powerlessness and absurdity swept over him. The target of revenge he had been pursuing now seemed like a blurred and distorted phantom.
If he destroyed the ark, it might mean cutting off the hope of survival for countless ordinary people; but if he left it alone, how could his father's blood debt be repaid?
He was stunned, staring blankly at the woman before him who spoke the coldest words in the gentlest tone. For the first time, he clearly realized that what he faced might not be simple evil, but something even more terrifying and unshakeable... a "correctness" based on a certain cold rationality.
And this "correctness" was forcing him and everything he stood for into an unsolvable dead end.)
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