Chapter 600: The epitaph carved with as the goal

AI is undeniably changing the world.
From smart homes to self-driving cars, it seems anything associated with AI instantly gains the dual halo of technology and capital.
The introduction of AI-powered automated security checks at airports further convinces people that the world is striding into a new AI-driven era.
However, machines are ultimately machines.
AI can process massive amounts of data, but it cannot comprehend the complexities of human nature and the unpredictability of life.
In some areas, AI's efficiency is needed, but in others, humans must make the final judgments that determine fate.
For example, insurance.
Unfortunately, capitalists, driven by the pursuit of ultimate efficiency and profit, have eagerly introduced AI-automated review into the insurance claims process.
This has turned applications that could be considered on a case-by-case basis into mass decisions by a cold system.
This has also caused the rejection rate for insurance claims to skyrocket exponentially.
In the hotel bathroom, a hooded man stood alone in front of the mirror, taking deep breaths.
Before coming here, he had made up his mind countless times.
But now, as the moment of action approached, his hands still trembled uncontrollably, and his heart pounded wildly, as if it would leap out of his throat.
Was it too late to back out now?
No. It couldn't be.
If he didn't act now, he would never have another chance.
Click.
He took a modified, commercially available semi-automatic pistol from his backpack and skillfully screwed on the silencer.
Then, he solemnly, one bullet at a time, loaded the three bullets he had prepared into the magazine.
The bottom of the cartridge cases was engraved with letters:
The first bullet: Delay;
The second bullet: Deny;
The third bullet: Defend.
Delay, denial, defense—these three words encapsulate the "three-step denial tactic" most frequently employed by the insurance giants he loathed when facing client claims.
This was also the epitaph he etched for his target with the blood, tears, and despair of countless strangers.
"..."
Having completed his final mental preparation, the man emerged from the restroom and headed towards the hotel lobby.
The man reached into his coat pocket and grasped the cold grip of his gun.
What he remembered wasn't his back injury from the surfing accident—given his family's wealth, the medical expenses wouldn't even require insurance.
What he remembered was the ceaseless echo of despair that seeped into the ordinary wards day and night outside that expensive, VIP private room.
He remembered the elderly woman who needed an amputation due to diabetic complications; her daughter, at the end of the corridor, cried into the phone, "We've paid premiums our whole lives, why won't they pay?"
He remembered the young father who, because the insurance company refused to pay, humbly sold his house outside the hospital room, just to raise money for his child's treatment;
He remembered countless faces contorted with pain and bills, countless times he was awakened in the dead of night by suppressed sobs and futile arguments.
Each time, those sounds of pain pierced his eardrums like sharp needles through the soundproof walls of his luxurious private hospital room.
He lay on that comfortable hospital bed, acutely aware of the collapse of countless families on the other side of the wall.
That wall separated not just two hospital rooms, but two worlds forcibly torn apart by the system.
One was a world meticulously protected, a world of complacency;
The other was a world ruthlessly crushed, drained of its last drop of blood, and then carelessly discarded…
His target, the CEO of the largest insurance company in the entire country, the very man who had single-handedly introduced that cannibalistic “AI automated review” system into the insurance market, stood there now.
It was he who, with cold algorithms and profit reports, had issued the licenses for all this suffering, shamelessly reaping the blood and sweat of countless ordinary people!
Even with such burning righteous indignation, raising a gun to shoot a living, breathing person still required overcoming a tremendous psychological barrier.
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead, blurring his vision.
But compared to the guilt of murder, the intense urge to destroy this cannibalistic system that robbed the poor to enrich the rich, and to send a powerful warning to society through extreme means, ultimately prevailed!
Bang—!
Three gunshots ripped through the hotel lobby.
***
"..."
The air in the conference room seemed to solidify into lead, weighing heavily on everyone's hearts.
Normally, these impeccably dressed insurance tycoons, always impeccably groomed, would be laughing and joking, their smiles radiating the arrogance of capital.
But today, they sat listlessly in their seats, like wilted eggplants, barely daring to breathe.
Everyone's gaze, intentionally or unintentionally, drifted towards the empty head seat, their eyes filled with a mixture of fear, bewilderment, and a hint of… schadenfreude.
The owner of that seat, yesterday an insurance behemoth pointing fingers at an industry summit, was today lying in a morgue freezer, no different from a pile of frozen pork.
Finally, someone, unable to withstand the oppressive silence, spoke up in a hoarse voice:
"So... damn it, can anyone tell me what's wrong with that killer?"
"According to... the investigation," another person replied shakily, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses,
"Our AI automated review system rejected all the insurance claims from the patients in the room next to the gunman's when he was hospitalized, not giving them a single penny."
"It's said that guy got a shock and his personality changed drastically afterward, and he developed a huge prejudice against our insurance industry."
"Damn it! There must be a reason why they won't pay!
Just because of that, does he think he can just grab a gun and, in public, smash a listed company CEO's head into a rotten watermelon?!"
A fat man slammed his hand on the table, his fat jiggling.
"Is this bastard crazy? If he's wronged, he should go to a lawyer! Has a donkey kicked his brain?"
"Exactly! This is savage behavior! If he feels wronged, he can sue us in court!
This kind of brutality... is simply the scum of society!"
Voices of agreement rose and fell, but their voices betrayed a weak, blustering tone.
However, this righteous denunciation was interrupted by a quiet voice from a corner.
"Alright, stop pretending to be innocent."
An elderly man, who had been silent all along, slowly spoke, his cloudy eyes sweeping across the room.
"Who among us doesn't know the truth?
That so-called AI automated review system has a 90% error rate. Did they only find out on the first day?
Then why are we still forcing ourselves to push it through?"
"Well...it's for efficiency..."
"Efficiency? Give me a break! Stop playing the saint. It's disgusting.
It's really just about finding a thousand reasons not to pay, or nitpicking with a magnifying glass, and finally giving away a pittance to appease the beggar.
Isn't this our insurance company's secret to making a fortune and living a life of luxury every night?"
Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent.
Because this was the naked truth.