Episode 5

The introduction was somewhat unnecessary. Upon entering the room, the middle-aged man locked his gaze onto Wu Qingchen, and his eyes hardly lingered on anyone else. Standing before Wu Qingchen, the man straightened his well-pressed and tidy clothes before scrutinizing Wu Qingchen from head to toe for at least half a minute. For no apparent reason, the man then nodded and said, "Mr. Wu Qingchen, you have had a long journey. I'm Li Ziping, in charge of assisting you to participate in this meeting." The middle-aged man in front of him seemed familiar, and his name even more so. Wu Qingchen could confirm that he had probably seen him in the news previously but could not remember his position. Luckily, Li Ziping only paused for a moment before continuing, "Mr. Wu, the meeting is essential but also rushed, with complicated participants. You only need to talk to me, and you don't have to worry about the demands of others." Li Ziping pointed to the senior military officer and added, "Also, if there are any emergencies, please listen to Comrade Liu Tao's arrangements." Both Wu Qingchen and Director Liu Tao nodded. Li Ziping glanced around and asked, "Shall we begin?" Director Liu beckoned Wu Qingchen to stand by two tall and long glass panes. Two soldiers approached and opened the doors, and immediately, a humming sound flooded the small hall as the conference unfolded before Wu Qingchen's eyes. Several soldiers assisted Wu Qingchen in pushing the glass out of the way, as he trailed along with Li Ziping and Director Liu Tao. The moment the three people appeared at the side entrance, the previously noisy conference became deathly silent, and a massive sound wave erupted a few seconds later, mostly concentrated on the first level of the assembly, with hardly any visible attendees on the second and third levels.

This is the sound coming from at least three thousand people. The people have skin covering three colors: yellow, white, and black, and their hair is all different colors. At this moment, almost all of these people's bodies are leaning forward. The focus of three thousand pairs of eyes is on two huge bulletproof glass plates. There is a figure wearing wrinkled shirt and pants, standing between the side door of the small hall and the only seat on the main stage. Perhaps because these three thousand pairs of eyes are too focused, or perhaps because these three thousand people do not hide their expressions. Wu Qingchen can feel that these three thousand pairs of eyes contain almost all human emotions, including satisfaction, envy, expectation, hatred, contempt, and fear. They seem to have found a treasure and also seem to have seen a pile of rubbish; they seem to be looking up at an angel and also seem to be hating a demon. So far, this is the longest and most difficult road Wu Qingchen has ever walked in his life. This hardest road is about thirty to forty meters long and is the only seat between the side door of the hall and the main stage. The only seat belongs to Wu Qingchen. "I must be crazy." Even in his wildest dreams, Wu Qingchen never thought that he would wear wrinkled clothes, put on a bulletproof vest and a life jacket, and stand in front of two bulletproof glass plates in this country's most famous venue, with one and only one seat in front of him, facing a crowd of people from different skin colors showing various human emotions, such as anxiety, confusion, surprise, and anticipation.

I must be crazy.

Wu Qingchen's mind was basically a blank, and he didn't know how many times Li Xiaoping had patiently signaled before he tremblingly and even hair-raisingly placed his buttocks on the only seat of the rostrum.

After carefully adjusting the position and angle of the bulletproof glass a few times, two soldiers pressed a few keys on the instrument on the glass side, and several brackets were placed at the bottom of the giant glass. Several drills extended from next to the pulley, quickly drilling the floor of the venue with sawdust flying.

"Everyone..." Without sound testing or courtesy, in the slight buzzing sound of the drill, Li Ziping took a microphone from the table in front of Wu Qingchen, "Now everyone sitting here has the same reasons. No matter how many questions you have, there are almost no answers we can be sure of. We have done our best: this is Mr. Wu Qingchen, who is the most likely friend you have already met this afternoon."

Met already this afternoon? Does it mean in my dream? Wu Qingchen couldn't help turning his head to the right. Ji Mingming stood straight and serious, as if he heard what Wu Qingchen was thinking, and nodded gently at him.

"We have just confirmed the procedure, time is precious, and the final vote for the fifth agenda begins now."

The venue that had just quieted down immediately burst into a loud noise again.

Many people stood up excitedly, and a golden-haired woman on the right side of the venue even took off her shoes and threw them towards the direction of the rostrum, speaking passionately.

Wu Qingchen did not understand a single word. He looked towards Director Zhang and Li Ziping, who both had serious expressions on their faces. There was no awkwardness or anger. Li Ziping gestured for Wu Qingchen not to worry. "Miss Kors, this is a plan that we have all agreed upon. Even if you do not respect the results of the three hours we have spent, you must respect the facts... Yes, I understand that you respect... us... But, it is impossible for all of humanity right now. There is no time to delay the vote because there are still representatives who have not arrived at the venue..."

The volume increased.

"No, Miss Kors, Mr. Robert, ladies and gentlemen! This does not mean that citizens of these 40-plus countries have been excluded from the rest of humanity... No, absolutely not... And, of course, they have not been expelled. Gentlemen, they can arrive at any time, and even if it's the last second before the vote, they will not miss the chance to vote."

The noise did not show any signs of stopping or lowering.

Li Ziping had to raise his voice once again, "If the delegates from these countries cannot arrive in time, these countries can still designate any citizen of their own country, Z country, or any other country who is currently nearby, just like the friends from Tuvalu, Belize, and Honduras, to vote on their behalf, as long as they send a faxed written authorization recognized by the United Nations. Please believe that the United Nations has made the greatest effort and tolerance for this vote."

"Now please be quiet…" Li Ziping looked around the venue, even though the effect of his words was minimal. "The United Nations Security Council celestial event meeting has entered the final process of the fifth agenda item: the final vote on the confirmation experiment of the celestial event's suspected subject, Mr. Wu Qingchen."

Confirmation experiment? Human experiment?

Wu Qingchen's heart beat rapidly. Li Ziping continued, "Due to the recent arrival of many representatives, including Mr. Wu Qingchen, we need to give a brief explanation of the fifth agenda item to everyone."

"On May 8, 2012, at 13 hours, 27 minutes, and 13 seconds, a celestial event occurred simultaneously in the sky around the world, regardless of time zones or night and day."

"Current research indicates that this celestial event is directly related to the observers. Observers using different instruments obtained results of the same observation angles, and the observation content was completely consistent."

"In simple terms, at the same time, the content observed in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, on the streets and mountain tops, was completely the same, without any differences in front or side views. The distance between any observation object and this celestial event remained at about 355 meters. Through further testing by helicopters and submarines, we have confirmed that this distance will neither increase nor decrease and that there will be some blurriness when observed in water due to the refraction and reflection of light. Other materials also have been experimented on."

The Eastern Hemisphere, the Western Hemisphere, the whole world…

So it was all real, nobody lied to me, and I really had such an amazing dream at noon…

Recognizing countless familiar faces from the thousands of photographs, Wu Qingchen's doubts completely collapsed.

“The governments of various countries have confirmed that the celestial event far exceeds the level of scientific theory currently known on Earth, and the likelihood of finding a specific cause in the short term is not optimistic.”

“Currently, the human race on Earth faces a more urgent problem: another event triggered by the final part of the celestial event, temporarily named the ‘red mark.’ When the main body of the celestial event was accidentally injured and the red mark was produced, the entire human race on the planet simultaneously experienced the same red mark and bodily sensations, directly causing multiple accidents and incurring huge...” At this point, Li Ziping furrowed his brows, looked away from the manuscript, paused for a moment, and then continued: "...losses."

“According to extensive investigations conducted by various countries, as of now, the citizen of our country who is most similar to the main body of the celestial event is Mr. Wu Qingchen.”

The venue erupted once again, with thousands of people standing up, clapping, slamming tables, throwing files, and shouting loudly, the noisy sounds converging into one and making Li Xiaoping's voice sound like a small boat bobbing up and down in the waves.

"...Recognizing the most basic responsibility to all of humanity, the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council agree that it is currently necessary to further confirm the suspected subject of the celestial event - Mr. Wu Qingchen. This is to quickly determine the direct object of the celestial event and to avoid delaying the timing due to incorrect targets, causing the tragic consequences of the Red Mark Incident to happen again...". Some of the vocabulary in the draft made Li Ziping hesitate again, furrowing his eyebrows, "... and the adverse effects that may occur again".

"The proposed confirmation experiment of the suspected subject of the celestial event - Mr. Wu Qingchen has rigorous theoretical and practical support: In most cases, the human body receives a certain degree of external or self-injury every moment, and the most common situation is that the fiber of clothing, shoes, and socks rub against the surface of the body, causing minor injuries to the skin and rupture of capillaries. This degree of minor injury basically does not cause bodily sensation or any direct adverse effects on the human body."

"The confirmation experiment will be presided over by Professor Gu Feng from the Z National Defense General Hospital and Professor Luo Nanying from the Cancer Hospital affiliated to the National Capital Medical University. They will use laser therapy of skin microtrauma surgery to open up an easy-to-observe shallow groove on the upper arm of the suspected subject of the celestial event - Mr. Wu Qingchen, measuring about 3 millimeters."

"Within the previous three hours, 755 emergency surgical experiments have been arranged by the United Nations Security Council in 27 countries worldwide. 97% of the volunteers reported no bodily sensations and all volunteers did not suffer any adverse bodily effects."

"Therefore, the United Nations Security Council proposes an agenda: conducting a definitive experiment on Mr. Wu Qingchen, the suspected subject of the celestial event."

"Given the peculiar relevance of the celestial event with the personal safety of all human beings, there have been certain adjustments to the voting method for this agenda as compared to previous proposals. Regarding the voting rules for the agenda, everyone can read the document on the table... just look at the top one, which is the result of the last discussion half an hour ago."

Wu Qingchen's gaze immediately shifted from the noisy conference room to the top document on the desk in front of him.

"Ladies and gentlemen..." Li Ziping looked up at the clock, "It is now 6:43 pm on May 8th, 2012, and there are still 17 minutes left until the final vote...the phones on your desks can be used to contact the country domestically."

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