Gordon Gardner opened the door. He rejected the attentive guards in the corridor and chose to enter the house alone: "Good afternoon, Joseph Chapman."
Joseph was sitting on an armchair, with the back of the chair facing the door, and his face facing the sea and beach outside the floor-to-ceiling window. He did not look back: "You are very brave, you dare to come in to see me alone."
Gordon was not surprised that Joseph could judge the number of people coming from the subtle footsteps: "I don't think this is anything to be proud of. First, I am a ghost-level ability user, and you He is just a dying old man; secondly, I have never doubted that with your strong-drinking personality, there is a high probability that you will attack me when I come in. However, you are also a smart enough person and you should not do such a thing. That kind of useless thing.”
Perhaps the last sentence had an effect. Joseph turned around and faced his unexpected successor: "You know me well?"
"Of course it should be. I cannot compliment your character, but I am fully aware of the craziness of your strategies and the decisiveness of your actions. For a person like you, you don't know what to do if you don't know yourself and the enemy."
Gordon chose a sofa and sat down, folded his hands on his knees, and responded to Joseph's intimidation with a relaxed conversational posture: "Look at it, no matter what the outcome of today's conversation is, you will definitely Damn it, why should you lose your dignity over such a trivial matter?"
"Humph, that's very well said." Joseph smiled sinisterly like an old wolf: "Death is just a small thing in your eyes?"
"Oh? I thought you had already lived enough. The world of mortals has seen through it, and life and death are indifferent. It turns out you haven't."
"One hundred and ten years is certainly not short in terms of the life of an ordinary person, but I am not satisfied."
"That's because you spent most of your life here in fine clothes and fine food." Gordon ruthlessly mocked: "Forget about the twenty years of the Fire War, the days you enjoyed are gone."
Joseph also laughed: "Yes, that's right, it's just enjoyment. More than a hundred years ago, I was born in a wealthy middle-class family in North America. I was a refined young master since I was a child. Of course, I did not grow up to be a playboy. , I made good use of the resources I had from birth, including material, knowledge, personal connections, etc. This exquisiteness was carried all the way to middle school and military academy, even when I went to Vietnam and Kosovo... You’re welcome To put it bluntly, in the sixty years of my life before the 21st century, I have never been poor."
"As for after the Battle of Fire," Joseph's expression became much more vivid, as if he was reminiscing about the past: "He entered the federal cabinet and became one of the twelve most powerful people on the planet."
"The pinnacle, this is the pinnacle of being a human being."
"With all due respect, your use of the word "good clothes and good food" to describe my half-life is really not comprehensive enough."
Gordon was quite serious at first, but he was amused by what Joseph said: "There is an old saying in Long County, a hero does not mention his past bravery. Joseph, listen to what you are saying, the memories of the past Did it make you forget your identity as a prisoner?"
"Why not reminisce?" Joseph responded: "Didn't you also organize this coup to gain supreme power? Gordon Gardner, I have heard of you, and I also know the name God's Favored One. No., it was only not long ago that the two identities were unified. You are a business genius and have unparalleled talent in doing business. A man with both ability and ambition like you will not be satisfied with just being a rich man. "
"I'm really sorry, because you are only half right." As Gordon said, he took out the wine and cigars from the cabinet at hand and prepared to enjoy them: "The position of rich man and lord is in my eyes There is no essential difference. My goal cannot be achieved by relying solely on money and power, not to mention that I have long been numb to those things."
Without sobering up, Gordon picked up the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp: "For example, now, I have ruined this full glass of fine wine, but so what? My poor taste buds can't taste any difference before and after sobering up, it's just simple I just want to quench my thirst. In the same way, I have no desire to eat those sushi gods and rice cookers in Sakura County. The sushi of the sushi gods is made from rice cooked by the rice cookers. Is the rice water for Rice Immortal chosen by the god of boiling water?"
Joseph seemed to have suddenly found a common language with Gordon: "It's all a gimmick. To put it nicely, it's the spirit of craftsmanship. In Long Jun's words - you'll be full after you eat."
Gordon was satisfied with the chatting atmosphere at the moment: "Look, the troubles of rich and powerful people are essentially the same. In the final analysis, the threshold of satisfaction has been adjusted too high again and again. Well, people, We don’t cherish things that are easy to get.”
"Do you want to talk to me about the issue of three views?" Joseph was puzzled: "It sounds to me that our views on this issue are not opposed."
"Be patient, Joseph, what I said above is just a foreshadowing." Gordon cleared his throat to show that what he said next was the key point: "If the rich see the life of the poor, they may find it no fun at all. Yan. Every day I run around for three meals and one night, even working as a cow or a horse; when I go to bed today, I still have to worry about whether I will have food to eat tomorrow, whether I will be laid off, how to earn more... Oh, this kind of life is indeed better than Those who have money and leisure will live a "fulfilling" life, but it will be a hundred times harder."
"But poor people have fun too."
"Children from poor families finally get the opportunity to go to an amusement park with their whole family on their birthdays. This kind of happiness is something that rich people who are keen on upper-class banquets can never feel."
"The poorer a person is, the weaker his desire is and the greater the chance of its realization. In terms of happiness alone, the poor are not necessarily really poorer than the rich."
"Well... I see that your expression is a little impatient. Don't worry, let's get to the point."
Gordon first raised a philosophical question: "Do you think human nature is inherently good or human nature is inherently evil?"
Before Joseph could answer, Gordon continued: "I believe that human nature is inherently evil. The reason why the majority of kind voices in this society is simply because most of these people are actually incapable of doing evil."
"Morality and law, the two major tools to maintain the smooth operation of society, are also shackles that restrain human desires. The latter is the last line of defense to ensure fairness and justice. But you and I both know that this line of defense is very important to many people with privileges. It’s in name only.”
"Money, power, force, appearance...these are all things that can only be obtained by a few people, and they have become powerful weapons for them to challenge public order, good customs, and the bottom line of morality and law."
"Returning to my previous point, the problem of the satisfaction threshold of privileged people is too high. In order to obtain the pleasure that is difficult to obtain, they often go to the path of paranoia and perversion, and work hard to explore the ugly parts of human nature. These examples abound: basketball The team boss has a habit of secretly filming women's toilets, and the rich second generation dares to make children's spines into handbags."
"After all, I am also a member of the business community, and I have heard many stories... But forget it, in short, none of those people have been punished accordingly because of their privilege shield."
"So Joseph, please tell me, have you ever done anything harmful, directly or indirectly, because of your damn hobby?" Gordon was waiting for Joseph's answer. Of course, he already had the answer. knew.
Denying and lying are meaningless. They are worthless except for humiliating themselves. Joseph decisively admitted: "Yes."
"Do you know which hobby I'm referring to specifically?"
"Of course, there is only one thing that I consider a hobby." Joseph paused: "Hunting."
"When did you have that crazy idea? After reading "The Most Dangerous Game" (a short story by Richard Cornell)?"
"Not long after the Battle of Fire, one of my top priorities at that time was to capture scattered aliens fleeing in the territory. As a result, unknowingly, I fell in love with this feeling of hunting and being hunted."
Gordon sarcastically said: "There are not many opportunities for such a blatant pursuit of intelligent creatures."
"Yes, it's a very exciting sport. Of course, the aliens were killed less and less, until they couldn't be found at all. But by then I was completely addicted to this game, so I thought of a perfect substitute. --Humanity."
"There are quite a few remote uninhabited islands in Wandao County. I picked a suitable one and transformed it into my hunting ground..."
"Okay, okay, you don't need to go into detail." Gordon interrupted Joseph, who was slightly immersed in fanaticism: "I know all this, let me tell you something you don't know."
"There is a young man standing outside the presidential suite. You should have heard of him. His name is Lionel, William Chapman's bodyguard."
"Want to know his past?"
