This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 225 I really am human.

Nie Weiyang's gaze, through the rising steam from the teacup, calmly swept over all the scholars who had their ears perked up.

"Second Administrator, my relationship with him..." He paused slightly, as if searching for the most appropriate words, and finally chose the word that was both vague and carried a certain weight: "A partner in some sense."

You could hear a pin drop in the conference room.

“I can communicate with him directly. He might not care what other people say, but he will listen to me,” Nie Weiyang continued, his tone calm and without the slightest hint of emotion. “He has always known my exact location. Some of my… special characteristics, and much of the information I know, are related to him. He has given me some help, or rather, ‘investment’.”

He gently put down the teacup, making a soft clinking sound.

"So, if I really encounter a major, life-threatening problem that I can't solve, he might come to my aid—of course, this is just a 'maybe'."

"He's too mysterious, and his logic is beyond my comprehension."

In Nie Weiyang's words, the second administrator is a powerful, mysterious external entity with a special connection to him, but not entirely under his control.

This explains his intelligence sources and some anomalies, while leaving enough ambiguity and uncertainty to prevent anyone from developing an unrealistic reliance on him or prying into his life.

The scholars digested these words, their expressions varying.

Shock, realization, doubt, contemplation... a mix of emotions mingled silently.

In any case, an individual who can establish a partnership with an anomaly that is suspected to be at the level of a 'planet administrator' may already be beyond conventional understanding.

Many people couldn't help but think of the question again: Does Nie Weiyang really belong to the category of 'human beings'?
Before anyone could gather their thoughts for a question, Nie Weiyang said, "I am human."

His voice was clear and assertive.

A scholar sitting in the back row, who looked quite young, cautiously asked with a touch of youthful arrogance:
"Which...which generation of humans?"

That was a really pointed question... Everyone held their breath and stared intently at Nie Weiyang.

He gave a cryptic smile, glanced at the young scholar, and answered frankly, "This generation of humans. Just like you."

Whether those present believed him or not, he told the truth.

A more complex silence fell over the meeting room.

Admit? Question? Accept? Various thoughts swirled in everyone's minds, but no one dared to ask any further questions.

Nie Weiyang stood up, the chair legs scraping against the smooth floor, the slight sound breaking the stagnant air in the conference room.

“If there are no other questions, let’s end our discussion here.” He spoke calmly, as if we had just discussed some routine academic issues. “If you need any assistance with the follow-up matters regarding linking the shelter, excavating the server, and exploring the trench coordinates, please feel free to contact me again.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the minds of those still overwhelmed with information, and offered a clear, almost blunt, suggestion for action:
"If you're willing to take this advice: prioritize concentrating your efforts on completely eradicating the tentacles of the Return Sect that have infiltrated. Then, activate the servers and attempt to repair or activate the planet's own defensive barriers."

“Based on this, establish a local area network covering the Pan-Asian region—at least, reconnect the entire Chinese territory.” His voice carried no hint of coercion, only a calm statement. “This would benefit everyone, wouldn’t it?”

He nodded slightly, said nothing more, turned and walked straight to the conference room door, his movements fluid and without hesitation. The heavy soundproof door closed behind him, leaving a room full of scholars and high-ranking officials, their thoughts swirling and their emotions complex, still trying to digest the enormous amount of information that had been poured into them in such a short time—information powerful enough to reshape their worldviews.

However, he had only taken a few steps down the corridor when he heard hurried footsteps and slightly tense shouts behind him.

"Mr. Nie! Please wait a moment!"

Nie Weiyang stopped and turned around. It was the young scholar who had asked such pointed questions earlier; his face still held lingering excitement and a sense of reckless courage. "Hmm?" Nie Weiyang uttered a simple question.

“You…no, you know so much information, and…you’re so strong.”

"Why don't you choose to exploit the information gap to become the sole superpower, rule over all humanity, eliminate all dissidents, establish absolute authoritarianism, and shape the world according to your own ideas?" The young scholar stared intently at Nie Weiyang's face, but avoided meeting his gaze: "Kill to establish authority, set fires to cleanse, massacre cities to intimidate, destroy nations to reap the rewards... Destroying all the rules of the old era, that's not difficult for you, is it? It's the most efficient way, isn't it? You just need to have that idea, and then... muster the courage to execute it..."

“Courage isn’t for this.” Nie Weiyang shook his head slightly: “Is murder, arson, massacre, destruction of cities and countries, breaking of rules, and trampling on lives the only option?”

His tone was calm, yet carried a heavy weight.

"If that's the case, then I can't do it."

“I am neither a god nor a machine. I cannot do this, at least not now.”

"Then who are you?" the young scholar raised his voice. "To astronomers, your spiritual power is practically like the sun! Who exactly are you, and what do you want?"

“That doesn’t prove anything. In fact, I’m just an ordinary person,” Nie Weiyang said. He paused, then added a phrase that sounded like a blessing from a peacetime era: “As for what I want… I hope for world peace.”

"You? Ordinary? World peace?" The young scholar's face twitched as if he had heard an extremely absurd joke. He subconsciously wanted to refute the word "ordinary," but for a moment he didn't know how to comment on the goal of "world peace."

In such times, who can wear a sarcastic smile at 'peace'?

No one who has been ravaged by death and crisis would dislike peace.

Nie Weiyang grinned, a flash of cold light appearing in his sharp fangs: "Am I not ordinary?"

This wicked humor startled the young scholar, who nearly fell backward, but he still insisted, "With your personality and the way you are... are you ordinary? Ordinary people can't compare to you..."

“If you think I’m not ordinary, then you can say I’m a normal person. Or, I’m just a person.” Nie Weiyang smiled and said, “A person can be like this. Being ordinary or normal is not a mistake, much less a lowly one.”

He reached out and patted the other person's arm.

"What's your name?" he asked.

The young scholar was nervous, but he still answered, "...Wan Yi."

“You are very good, Wan Yi,” Nie Weiyang said. “You maintain the power of skepticism and progress, and you also maintain an attitude of skepticism towards me and a willingness to get to the bottom of things. Humanity needs people like you.”

He turned and left.

Behind him, the conference room door opened again, and several scholars slowly walked out, watching Nie Weiyang's figure disappear around the corner of the corridor, their expressions varied.

A young female scholar complained: "...This mentality is even more tolerant than the baby food tag on Xiaozhishu."

"Regardless of whether he's human or not, he's a friendly unit, isn't that right?"

The colleagues next to him looked at each other, remained silent for a few seconds, and finally let out a sigh of relief and nodded.

“…Alright.” A middle-aged scholar pushed up his glasses. “At least based on the current behavior, that’s correct.”

(End of this chapter)