Chapter 571: A Hymn to Society

A Hymn to Society
"It seems Fang Huan has already found us a 'testing ground'."
Qin Han's gaze fell on a corner of the report, where the investment purpose section was written in a very grand and dignified manner:
"To help regions like Africa, which lack medical facilities, achieve early diagnosis and prevention of diseases."
"They also proposed that it could be implanted in pets first.
Once matured, it would be prioritized for application to vulnerable groups such as the elderly living alone, to reduce the tragedy of 'dying alone'."
On the surface, this seemed like a monumental and meritorious project.
In remote, impoverished areas, it could be a life-saving miracle;
In bustling cities, it could be a protective eye for the vulnerable;
It could even allow countless pet owners to monitor their beloved pets' health in real time.
All of this was filled with the brilliance of humanity, enough to compose a hymn to society.
"This is fucking amazing..."
However, what Qin Han saw was a chilling abyss behind the halo.
"They're using 'goodwill' to lull the world into a false sense of security!"
"Yes, Chairman." The subordinate's expression was equally grave.
"Using 'protecting the vulnerable' and 'saving Africa' as pretexts, they're openly acquiring massive amounts of clinical trial samples.
By distributing this chip among hundreds of millions of people in Africa, they can accumulate an unparalleled database in a short time."
This isn't medical aid.
This is clearly launching an unprecedented, large-scale human experiment affecting hundreds of millions of people on the African continent!
Those are chips implanted in flesh and blood!
Who can guarantee there won't be side effects?
Who can guarantee it won't malfunction?
“After they’ve corrected all the errors and loopholes on countless human bodies in Africa, their next step is to promote it worldwide.
Before that, they’ll use the media and public opinion to minimize the dangers of the 'human chip,' constantly promoting positive and encouraging cases, subtly changing everyone’s perception.”
When people are no longer afraid, and even begin to look forward to owning such a chip…
“Then, Fang Huan and our Jiangjin Group can jointly promote this ‘mature’ product to the world?”
“Yes, Chairman… if Fang Huan’s plan is realized step by step…”
Qin Han finished the sentence, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth:
“Then, everyone who has had the chip implanted will become a ‘transparent person’ that Fang Huan can monitor at any time.”
“Even…” the subordinate’s voice trembled,
“just like in conspiracy theories, they can use this chip to…
end anyone’s life without anyone knowing.”
“…!”
Qin Han’s hand holding the water glass began to tremble uncontrollably.
Over the years, through its partnership with Fang Huan, Jiang Jin Group had indeed soared to great heights, reaping enormous profits.
In this process, he had watched helplessly as Fang Huan, this financial behemoth, devoured the world step by step.
He had even played the role of an accomplice in many matters.
But this time, the nature of the situation was completely different.
Everything before had been solely for wealth and power.
This time, it's about forging the final key—the key to lock the throats of all humanity!
A nail will be driven into everyone's body, allowing Fang Huan to control their lives, emotions, and thoughts at will!
And the core technology to create this key must be developed by his Jiangjin Group!
“…”
Qin Han fell silent.
In the past, no matter how outrageous Fang Huan's demands were, they were always cloaked in a business guise.
But this time, they were practically displaying their naked, dark fangs right before him!
For the first time, he began to ponder a question:
Should he make this money?
Is this the right thing to do?
In the past, he always thought social responsibility and business ethics were utter nonsense.
Making money was the only hard truth.
But now, his conscience, the thing he thought he had long ago given up, was beginning to ache.
This is clearly an attempt to manipulate all of humanity, and he will be the one to deliver the executioner's knife!
“But, Chairman…” a subordinate’s voice rang out softly,
“Fang Huan could have easily delegated this task to any company, even secretly.
Yet they chose to come directly to you, putting this project out in the open.
Don’t you think… there’s a deeper meaning behind this?”
Qin Han’s face turned deathly pale upon hearing this:
“We’ve benefited from Fang Huan’s success for so many years… now, it’s time for me to pay the price, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” The subordinate lowered his head,
“This might be a test, a test of whether our Jiangjin Group is truly Fang Huan’s ‘own people.’
It’s also a test of loyalty… a trial balloon.
If you refuse this investment…”
He didn’t finish his sentence.
Because everyone knew that those forces that had once attempted to rebel against Fang Huan would meet a fate worse than that of demons in hell.
“…”
Silence, a deathly silence.
After a long silence, Qin Han finally picked up the pen on the table and slowly signed his name on the document.
That pen felt incredibly heavy.
Each stroke was like an epitaph etched on the tombstone of human civilization.
At that moment, an immense sense of guilt for betraying all of humanity overwhelmed him like a tsunami.
But…survival is a biological instinct.
Qin Han's rationality was ultimately hijacked by this most primal instinct.
Humans have to live, don't they?
***
2024, a year destined to be recorded in history, the United States was facing a cataclysmic wave that would determine its future.
An election year, a time of great upheaval.
The two main characters on stage had already taken their places, and the script had reached its climax.
Nadtang of the Communist Party, a man who was always in the news, whose catchphrase was "Make America Great Again."
Hillis of the Democratic Party, a woman attempting to make history, whose slogan was "Political correctness, to the ends of the earth."
"..."
However, Nadtang, who was currently sharpening his knives and pondering how to serve another four years, had recently been frowning so deeply he could trap a fly, and his days were filled with utter frustration.
He was completely baffled, as if trapped in a logical dead loop, his CPU about to overheat.
“This doesn’t make sense… This is fucking unbelievable!”
Nadtang grabbed his signature blond hair in frustration, as if pulling at a clump of dry grass.
“I clearly turned that piece of trash Aiden into a vegetable, and also rubbed the Democrats into the ground a thousand times over.
How come, in the blink of an eye, these bastards are back in action like they’ve been injected with adrenaline?”

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Indeed, the current president, under the influence of the Democratic Party, has been branded by public opinion and Congress as "the weakest lame duck in history."
His congressional seats have been lost faster than his hair has thinned, and he's been stripped of power, reduced to a mere figurehead.
This is why the Republican candidate is so smug and arrogant, believing the highest seat is already his for the taking!
"But now, just because of the collapse of a mere island in the East, my approval rating has been overtaken?"
Although he says "just a mere island," the Republican candidate knows perfectly well that this is no small matter.
The sudden collapse of the Korean Peninsula triggered a global economic tsunami, like an 8.0 magnitude earthquake, shaking the entire world.
The people of the United States are naturally also bewildered and still reeling from the shock.
"Shouldn't it be me and the Communist Party who stepped up to turn the tide and cause our approval ratings to skyrocket?! Why?
Why did those Democratic Party members, whose graves are practically overgrown with weeds, swallow this windfall whole?!"
The Communist Party candidate was furious, his spittle flying like fire hydrants.
His advisors were all silent, heads bowed, eyes downcast, silently grumbling:
My goodness, isn't it all because of your mouth, it's like it's been blessed?
All you do is spout nonsensical, outrageous theories and empty rhetoric, offending everyone you can, and scaring away all the swing voters?
If you don't take the blame for this disaster that fell from the sky, who will?
Of course, they dared not say these words aloud.
A staff member, steeling himself, cautiously spoke:
"Fortunately, the incumbent president isn't planning on re-election. Otherwise, if he impulsively announced another run, the Democratic Party's approval rating would skyrocket."
This was the most bizarre part of the whole affair.
The incumbent president had indeed publicly announced that once his term ended, he would retire and leave the murky waters of politics.
Everyone was stunned.
Northern South Korea had always been considered a super time bomb, and now, along with South Korea, it had imploded.
Whether he was directly responsible or not, the credit undoubtedly went to the incumbent president.
The Democratic Party's approval rating soared like wildfire.
In a normal scenario, wouldn't he seize the opportunity and try for another term?
But at the pinnacle of glory, the incumbent president chose to retire gracefully, bidding farewell without a second thought, discarding this enormous political windfall as if it were worthless.
There were even rumors that the Democratic Party had initially intended to capitalize on the momentum and push the incumbent president back into power for another glorious era, but his sudden announcement of retirement caught them off guard, leading to the hasty move to put Hillis in the spotlight.
"Didn't that old guy used to constantly boast about serving a full eight years in that position and creating his own dynasty? How did he suddenly change his mind?" the Communist candidate wondered, completely baffled.
"Perhaps he's exhausted, or perhaps... he feels guilty for creating a 'vegetative state' and, out of a sense of responsibility, has chosen to resign," an aide speculated.
"Guilt? Bullshit!" The Communist candidate scoffed, a sneer of utter disdain playing on his lips.
"The word 'responsibility' simply doesn't exist in a politician's dictionary! I've never seen it in my life, and that old fox, the current president, is no exception!"
In the arena of power, what drives these monsters is never a sense of responsibility, but rather a desire and ambition deeper than a black hole.
The current president is a prime example.
Yet, this very beast of power relinquished his seemingly guaranteed re-election.
If there wasn't a shocking secret behind this, nobody would believe it!
"Then, only two possibilities remain," a senior aide said, his eyes gleaming, his voice hushed.
"Either the current president is truly weary of political infighting, disillusioned, and has voluntarily withdrawn.
Or… it's the will of 'over there.'"
"Over there?" The Communist candidate's pupils constricted sharply.
“Fanghuan Investment.”
The air in the office seemed to freeze as those four words were uttered by the aide.
The Communist candidate's body trembled uncontrollably.
That nightmare had returned.
“You know better than anyone that the invisible hand of Fanghuan Investment has reached into every corner of this country, already gripping its throat.”
The nightmare about “Fanghuan” still lingered in the Communist candidate's mind, refusing to fade.
In his previous term, he too had been a fearless and reckless youth.
He had mobilized all the empire's violent machinery and intelligence agencies to launch an unprecedented secret investigation into “Fanghuan.”
He even collected every conspiracy theory circulating in the market, trying to find even the slightest clue.
Anything that could link Fanghuan Investment to any crime, he would uproot and tear to shreds!
“But that time…we found nothing.” The Republican candidate’s voice was dry and hoarse.
That was the root of all the fear.
Over the years, the storms that swept the world, the events that rewrote history, clearly had the shadow of “Fang Huan” lurking behind the scenes.
Yet, no matter how thoroughly they dug, how thoroughly they searched, they couldn’t find any evidence.
Clean…like a newborn baby.
At that moment, the Republican candidate felt a fear that penetrated to the bone for the first time in his life.
It was the kind of dread you feel when you know a monstrous beast is standing before you, ready to devour you, but you can’t see its outline, you can’t even prove its existence—the chilling feeling of facing an abyss of terror.
“The current president did the same thing,” the aide added,
“He had his confidant, Secretary John, lead an investigation, using far more resources than you did back then.”
“And the result?”
“Not a hair. The report said it was cleaner than a dog licking a plate.”
What did that mean?
This is far more than just Fang Huan's skill at erasing traces.
"This means that Fang Huan's people have infiltrated every corner and every vein of this country like cancer cells!
So much so that... even top-secret reports submitted to the president's desk can be arbitrarily altered!"
The aide's voice trembled slightly.
"And the best proof is—John, the current president's most loyal lackey!
It was later revealed that he was a pawn planted by 'Fang Huan' from the very beginning!"
Yes, shortly after that futile secret investigation, John resigned and transformed himself into "Fang Huan's" top advisor.
His daily routine consisted of driving luxury cars, openly drinking coffee and playing golf with Washington state politicians, utterly arrogant and overbearing.
"John, hailed as the current president's right-hand man, was Fang Huan's man from beginning to end.
What the hell could this investigation possibly find?"