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Chapter 324: Argument

"I strongly protest against your actions! This completely violates my scientific ethics!" Professor Steve, emerging from the laboratory, sternly voiced his objections to the staff responsible for liaison.

As a scholar of the Dove Faction who opposed radical human experimentation, Steve was deeply disgusted by research methods that disregarded human lives. However, the surrounding staff paid no mind to his complaints.

"Professor Steve, over twenty thousand people are dying every day because of the Spirit Devourer, and that number is highly likely to increase. Sacrificing a small number of criminals to save people who are more useful to society is a good thing for humanity," a black-clad man said expressionlessly from outside the laboratory door.

"The value of life cannot be calculated like that! Every life is equal; we have no right to kill one person to save another."

"We don't have time to discuss the value of life. That boring philosophical question of whether to run over one person or five people will have different answers for everyone."

"I just want to remind you that your parents, wife, and daughter are already under the strict protection of our national security department. You can rest assured and conduct this research." The black-clad man continued to state this fact in an emotionless voice.

"You people! Is this still the United States that champions human rights?!" Steve despised this naked threat against his family.

"In the face of survival, everything else must give way."

"That's *your* survival, you Ability Users! Why should ordinary people pay for it?!" Hearing that his family was being monitored, he became enraged, shouting with red eyes. Some bystanders turned their gaze towards the argument.

As a steadfast scholar of the Dove Faction, Steve had no interest in touching or using the products of those bloody experiments. He was merely an old man with modest assets, living a comfortable life, but purchasing large quantities of expensive spiritual materials to improve his physique was like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water.

Back then, for Cheng Mu and his group to restore their physiques to their youthful prime, the total value of resources they invested amounted to hundreds of millions, and the wealth consumed after they began cultivating was an astronomical figure.

These old men, who had missed the baptism of the Spirit River Autumn, paid an enormous price to catch up to the younger generation who had been fortunate enough to encounter it. Such a price could only be afforded by a select few. And Steve, evidently, was not among them.

As an ordinary person, Steve had witnessed countless conflicts between Ability Users and ordinary people over the past decade, and he roared out his thoughts almost uncontrollably.

"Because we are strong, and you are weak." Facing the emotionally unstable Steve, the black-clad man coldly stated this reality, simultaneously gesturing for the curious onlookers to disperse.

"Please, Professor Steve. Innumerable lives are waiting for you to save, and your family is waiting to be reunited with you."

If not for the absolute command from above, he, as a representative of the United States' national security department, would never have patiently explained himself to Steve.

Many of his subordinates were still struggling under the clutches of the Spirit Devourer; every second wasted now was a disregard for their lives.

This useless old man, who could be crushed with a single pinch, had no right to lecture them. Obeying orders was enough. The black-clad man, a former special forces operative, detested nothing more than such individuals who possessed no power yet were overflowing with compassion.

"Perhaps the world propagated by the Red Radiance is where ordinary people can truly live better?" After being half-forcibly sent back into the laboratory, Steve exchanged bitter smiles with his colleagues, then thought of the "virus" that had infected his computer a while ago.

However, that thought merely flashed by, immediately overwhelmed by the experimental data before him.

Based on the proportion of professional occupations, excluding the special categories of leaders and the wealthy, researchers constituted the highest proportion of Ability Users.

This was especially true for Eagle Faction scholars, who did not reject various radical experiments. They were primarily composed of a group of young people at the forefront of the times, each of whom directly applied experimental results to themselves, becoming Ability Users.

Next came the Dove Faction scholars, who, though far more numerous, leveraged their extensive knowledge to gain significant advantages in system refinement and Spirit Arts development, achieving much on the path of cultivation.

However, their adherence to scientific ethics and morals caused Dove Faction scholars to lag far behind their Eagle F Faction counterparts in pioneering core development paths.

After all, directly experimenting on humans versus first testing on animals, then making repeated adjustments, and finally transplanting to volunteers once conditions were fully mature—the difference in research cycle length was simply too vast.

Compared to them, the powerful and influential, vying to be first and desperate to seek immortality, naturally chose to prioritize cooperation with the Eagle Faction researchers, who produced results much faster.

As for ethics and morals, how many individuals who defeated countless adversaries and eventually climbed to the peak did not have piles of bleached bones beneath them? Compared to their own longevity, what did a few more bodies matter?

"Huo Er, have you surrendered too? You're at the pinnacle of humanity, a dignified Super-class Mage!" Steve said to his colleague and former student upon returning to the lab.

Steve had taught classes in the biological sciences department where Huo Er was a university student for a few months. Although they hadn't seen each other since, he still had a slight impression of this young man, who came from a distinguished family but was diligent and hardworking.

"Teacher, I'm infected with the Spirit Devourer virus and only have a little over half a year left. It's true I'm a Dove Faction researcher, and I also hate human experimentation, but what can I do? Time is pressing, and I don't want to die! I still have hundreds of years of life ahead of me, and countless mysteries in this world await my exploration!"

Under the threat of a death countdown, Huo Er, a Super-class Mage of the United States, was no exception. After gaining immense power and a long lifespan, he could not accept the fact that he would lose everything in six months, choosing to abandon what he had originally held dear.

Hearing his former student's agitated statement, Steve felt a bit tired. But even if he was unwilling, he still had to persevere.

They both had things they couldn't let go of, forcing them to engage in research against their consciences. What Huo Er couldn't let go of was power and life, while what Steve couldn't let go of was his family.

Steve had already decided that after this whole affair was over, he would completely retire from his research position, get away from everything, and go fishing at a small villa by the Mississippi River.

Although he partially agreed with the ideals of the Red Radiance, he didn't possess the ardent desire to abandon everything and travel thousands of miles to join them.

Once he joined an organization hostile to the authorities, it would mean abandoning his family. Because with their comfortable lives, there was no way they would go crazy with him.