Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 471 Fruits and Seeds

"Then what do you call her?" Sun Hang asked, pointing to Xue Yue, who looked completely bewildered.

“She is the ‘fruit,’ the ‘fruit’ that this ‘tree’ bears,” Lin Lun said. “In fact, the ‘fruit’ and the ‘Faceless Ones’ are a complementary system… However, she is a very special ‘fruit.’ Rather than calling her a ‘fruit,’ I think it would be more appropriate to describe her as a ‘seed.’”

Are you sure you're a graduate of Chunming City Second Industrial University, and not an agricultural university?

Lin Lun ignored Sun Hang's teasing and instead took out something that looked like a remote control from his pocket and pressed a button on it.

With the sound of rollers rubbing together, a white mist spread out, and a large cabinet made of welded steel slid out from the wall.

The large cabinet was neatly filled with more than a dozen transparent coffins, which looked somewhat like the cryogenic coffins commonly found in the Institute of Mysterious Objects. However, upon closer inspection, it was discovered that these coffins did not have the numerous and complex life support and monitoring devices found in cryogenic coffins; they were simply containers.

Inside these transparent coffins were the bodies of more than a dozen young men and women—they were called corpses because their skin was covered with large patches of purplish-red lividity. If they hadn't been kept in a low-temperature environment, these bodies would probably have decomposed into skeletons by now.

Sun Hang sensed no life force inside these corpses, nor did he detect any aura belonging to any strange creatures.

The lids of these coffins were numbered from "#1" to "#18" in black marker, with a label next to each number. However, the label was covered with a thick layer of frost, making it impossible to read the contents.

"You have such a grotesque hobby as collecting corpses?"

“These people are all containers for the ‘fruit’,” Lin Lun said. “The fruit that the ‘tree’ produces has no physical form, and the only person who can see it is me… oh, now there’s also you. But in an experiment, I discovered that the ‘fruit’ can possess the corpse of a recently deceased human and greatly prolong the corpse’s decomposition time.”

“Containers one through three were the initial experimental models.” Lin Lun walked up to the coffins, reached out and gently wiped the label. The warmth of his palm gradually melted the frost covering the label, revealing the text underneath: “Their preservation times are 668 minutes, 759 minutes, and five days and eleven hours, respectively.”

"'Fruits' possess intelligence and independent thinking abilities. After possessing a human corpse, they gradually learn all the original owner's life skills and acquire most of the original owner's memories... Of course, I discovered this in Container No. 3. Containers No. 1 and No. 2 had too short a lifespan. The 'fruits' hadn't learned those things before they perished as the containers' physiological functions ceased to operate."

“I conducted a bold experiment on container number four,” Lin Lun continued. “I released it and tried to integrate it into human society… It remained for one month and nine days. During this month, I discovered that ‘fruits’ can become an extension of ‘trees.’ They instinctively absorb negative emotions from people, store them, and then feed them back to the ‘mother tree’ that gave birth to them.”

"These fruits sound like disposable hunting tools made by the tree," Sun Hang commented.

“But as the nineteenth container, its situation is completely different.” Lin Lun looked at Xue Yue. “When the nineteenth fruit was born, I noticed its difference, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was… Driven by intuition, I deliberately let it leave the Well of Desire, and it entered human society on the ground in that chaotic spiritual state… You should have heard about what happened afterward, right?”

Sun Hang nodded.

"It turns out I was right. After it took over Xue Yue's body, Xue Yue was like a resurrected person. Her bodily functions not only showed no signs of weakening, but she was also able to achieve a wonderful self-cycle by constantly absorbing negative human emotions—negative emotions would not accumulate in her body, but would be consumed as 'energy' needed to maintain this body." Lin Lun's speech gradually quickened. "This means that it is no longer an extension of the 'Mother Tree,' but a completely independent individual. It does not need to rely on feeding back to release those large amounts of accumulated negative emotions, but can do everything that the 'Mother Tree' can do."

Lin Lun waved his arm excitedly: "You know what? This is what I really want—it's no longer a fruit that will eventually rot, but a seed that takes root! It will eventually grow into a second towering tree! And in a way that can perfectly integrate into human society without causing widespread panic and suspicion!"

Seeing Lin Lun staring at her with fervent eyes, Xue Yue took a few steps back in fear, pressing her back against the cold, rough wall.

“You frightened the child,” Sun Hang said. “It seems you have a slight problem with your emotional control.”

"I'm sorry." Lin Lun took a deep breath and quickly regained his composure. "I just... I just... Okay, I did lose control a bit, it's my fault."

Lin Lun turned around, took half a step closer to the "tree," and continued, "But after the birth of Fruit Number Nineteen, another problem arose."

"What problem?" Sun Hang asked doubtfully. "Could this problem be related to those 'Faceless Ones' you mentioned? After all, you didn't say a word about the origin of these Faceless Ones."

“That’s right… it’s related to the Faceless Ones.” Lin Lun nodded. “After bearing the nineteenth fruit, for all these years, the ‘tree’ hasn’t borne any more fruit… Not only that, the muscle fibers in the trunk and branches have begun to atrophy…”

"Nutrition deficiency?"

"I think so too... Although it's a strange creature, it seems to follow some rules of nature. Besides providing itself with a one-time hunting tool, the purpose of its fruit is probably to reproduce... However, it seems that less than five percent of these fruits can successfully turn into seeds, and once a fruit that can turn into a seed is formed, it will consume a large amount of the 'nutrients' that the mother tree has accumulated over time..."

“I know that many creatures in nature end their life’s mission after they reproduce, and even if they die immediately after reproduction, it will not affect the continuation of the species,” Lin Lun said. “But I can’t just watch it wither away… I need this seed to live before it truly grows into a second mother tree.”

“I discovered that allowing the mother tree to absorb a large amount of negative emotions can slow down the withering process, but after losing all the ‘fruits,’ I cannot provide the mother tree with enough negative emotions to keep it alive… It is no longer the sapling it once was. The negative emotions generated by a few or even dozens of people can no longer satisfy its appetite. I need to find something that can replace the ‘fruits’ and ‘containers’ to collect the negative emotions of people outside and then send them to the mother tree.”

"To do this, I dissected the containers of the first dozen or so fruits," Lin Lun continued.

Sun Hang noticed that there were very obvious anatomical and suture marks on Container 1 and Container 18. Some of the limbs of some of the containers were even missing, and Container 13 even had its head missing.

“In the brains of some of the containers, I discovered a small amount of mutated brain tissue. Although this tissue was inactive, it could still assimilate living brains after being implanted into normal people's brains… Using this method, I mass-produced a large number of ‘Faceless Ones,’ relying on them to absorb negative emotions from the outside world for the Mother Tree. Although the absorption effect of the Faceless Ones cannot compare to that of real fruit, as long as there are enough of them, it can meet the needs of the Mother Tree.” “Now it seems that you have successfully saved the Mother Tree.”

"It can only maintain the current state of the mother tree and prevent it from withering further..." Lin Lun shook his head. "I need more resources and more space, but with my current status and ability, this is the limit. Even if you don't come to me, I have already planned to find an opportunity to contact the Tian Shu Tower."

"Then why didn't you look for the Heavenly Pivot Tower from the beginning?"

"Because I want to live and continue my research," Lin Lun said bluntly. "I know that human society cannot accept my crimes, so I must make myself valuable enough before I can disclose all of this to the federal government and the Tian Shu Tower."

Lin Lun turned around and looked directly at Sun Hang: "I have said everything about me and this 'tree'. I am willing to accept any judgment from human civilization... However, please preserve my research results; they are very important... very important to the entire human civilization."

"Would you... would you execute him?" Xue Yue suddenly asked in a very low voice, "He seems to... have killed many people..."

Sun Hang looked at Lin Lun, and Lin Lun looked at Sun Hang... Just as their eyes met, Sun Hang suddenly realized that he could read Lin Lun's thoughts and memories again. As an ability user with complete control over his own thoughts, Lin Lun could close his mind to prevent others from prying into it, or he could open his mind completely for others to read.

He didn't lie.

But the AI's assessment of him wasn't wrong—he lacked the moral values ​​that normal humans should have, and he didn't possess any so-called good or bad intentions. He was willing to use any means to achieve his goals... Or rather, his values ​​were closer to those of an AI without any emotions, except that he lacked the underlying logical constraint of "not harming humans" that AI had.

When faced with the trolley problem, he would not hesitate to change the trolley's route to the track with fewer people tied up—unless the "value" of the people tied up on that track far exceeds the "value" of the people tied up on the other track.

In his eyes, human life is not priceless... Including himself, all lives can be put on a price tag, and this value can be high or low.

Most people would not want such a person to hold power, but the fact is that most people who hold power are like this.

As the saying goes, "A kind heart cannot command an army," and this applies not only to the military but also to other fields.

"Is this considered whitewashing a psychopathic serial killer?" a little voice in Sun Hang's head suddenly asked.

“This world isn’t black and white. The word ‘whitewashing’ is ridiculous. Lin Lun doesn’t need to be whitewashed,” another little figure said.

"It seems... to make sense." The first little figure nodded thoughtfully.

"This is actually the same as writing online novels."

"What do you mean?"

"Some readers may feel that the protagonist's values ​​are too skewed and the book is simply unreadable, while others may find the 'saintly' character disgusting... But in fact, the author doesn't need to care about such things at all. The author only needs to write the story as well as possible, as long as the book won't be banned and the plot logic is reasonable."

"Holy crap, what you said actually makes a lot of sense!"

Sun Hang touched the pistol in its holster, then nodded to Lin Lun: "Report to Tian Shu Tower tomorrow."

Lin Lun's expression didn't change much, as if he had already guessed that Sun Hang would say that.

"This place will be transformed into a fully enclosed laboratory directly managed by the Tian Shu Tower. You will be in charge of this experimental project, and I will send the most senior and professional group of lunatics to work with you... Also, if I said I would put an explosive collar around your neck to prevent you from losing control, would you mind?"

“I don’t mind at all.” Lin Lun smiled again.

"You don't need to worry about those gangs and vagrants in Liusu District anymore. I'll talk to the Chunming City Management Committee and the Sheriff. This place will no longer be the largest slum in Chunming City... To be honest, I even want to build a closed passage directly connecting to the Tian Shu Tower here."

"You don't seem to be an ordinary hunter?" Lin Lun suddenly asked, changing the pronoun he used to refer to Sun Hang from "you" to the more respectful "you" in "you are not an ordinary hunter." "I noticed that you've been using 'I' as the subject all along?"

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask." Sun Hang pointed to Xue Yue behind him with his thumb. "By the way, is she still of any use?"

“It’s useful, but I won’t keep it locked up in the lab,” Lin Lun said. “It should go out into the world and meet more people and things… I’m curious to see what it will eventually become without human intervention.”

“Okay, then I’ll take her with me.” Sun Hang nodded.

(End of this chapter)