Of course, the thoughts of those higher-ups were also within Dr. Mei's expectations. After all, Dr. Mei herself truly had very little influence, so she could only borrow Newton's authority as a department head to stir up public opinion throughout MOTH.
If Dr. Mei had really published the article solely under her own status as a newly appointed researcher, then no matter how earth-shattering her writing was, it would not have caused even the slightest ripple within MOTH. It probably would not even have passed the review meeting of the lowest-level researchers in her department, much less entered the higher-ups' field of vision.
As Dr. Mei packed up the things she needed to take from the laboratory, she explained:
"They've already been driven into a dead end by us. Their only choice is to stake everything on one desperate gamble."
"Getting rid of the person who discovered the problem is far easier than solving the problem itself. As long as the advocates can no longer make their voices heard, the driving force behind reform will cease to exist as well."
"We are their biggest problem, and when it comes to eliminating dissidents, they have far more experience than we do."
"Based on all their years of practical experience, they must believe we're nothing more than a group of scholars engaged in scientific research. When it comes to conspiracies and schemes, there's no way we can compete with politicians who specialize in calculated intrigue. When it comes to dealing with assassinations, there's no way we can compare with professionally trained killers."
"That is the limitation of their class. Once they abandon self-criticism and lose the ability to recognize their own flaws, they inevitably fall into a narrow-minded trap."
"They failed to realize that the moment they gave up debating us slowly from the moral high ground of humanity's survival, gave up playing against us with the strategy they were best at, and instead tried to erase us by force, they had already lost."
"But this is a battle with no winner... The only one that can truly be called the victor will be the Honkai."
"A few years ago, no one believed the Honkai would completely wipe out humanity. Humanity would defeat this natural disaster one day. It was only a question of sooner or later... until the birth of the First Herrscher."
"Only an extremely small portion of humanity's elite realized that mankind had already stepped into a moment of life or death. As for the ordinary masses, including the rulers and vested-interest classes of the overwhelming majority of nations, they continued to follow the inertia of their old thinking, treating even the Honkai Eruptions caused by Herrschers as nothing more than unusually large natural disasters."
"That is also why MOTH contains so many members of the Honkai Coexistence Faction and Vested Interest Faction. People's beliefs change, even those of the elite."
"The Honkai Coexistence Faction believes humanity is as insignificant as insects and that the Honkai cannot be defeated, only coexisted with. Among them are those who hope to find a way for humanity to survive within the Honkai. The most extreme among them even advocate restricting the Honkai's development by destroying humanity's own technology in order to preserve the species. Others seek to flee from the Honkai, while still others hope to sell out humanity and defect to the Honkai."
"The Vested Interest Faction consists of people who see nothing but opportunities to profit from national calamity. As long as the Honkai exists, it creates an enormous space for profit, whether through the indirect gains of power, land, and wealth or through the inherent value of Honkai energy and Honkai modification itself."
"These factions do not exist openly in reality. They exist only implicitly within people's hearts. They are merely ideological trends, yet their influence is so immense that MOTH has now completely deviated from the original purpose for which it was founded."
"If humanity really does perish one day because of people like them, the most they'll probably say is, 'The ocean really was going to flood the world. The volcanoes really were going to turn the surface into a sea of fire. There was nothing humanity could do.' Just excuses to shirk responsibility."
"Opposed to them is the hardline Honkai Resistance Faction. They're a group of extremists who believe no Honkai is worth taking seriously, that evil must be eradicated completely, and that humanity's power is supreme and invincible..."
"...Dr. Newton, I'm explaining all of this for your benefit."
Dr. Mei soon finished packing all the important items. Fortunately, she had foreseen this day, so she had already stored all the critical things somewhere safe, and none of them had been stained with blood.
Sakura glanced at Newton, who stood before the window, calmly gazing at the scenery outside with an air of complete confidence.
Dr. Mei and Sakura had not told Dr. Newton about this sudden assassination attempt.
When Sakura received precise instructions from her superior in the middle of the night about when to carry out the mission, Dr. Newton had still been fast asleep.
After notifying Dr. Mei, Sakura had immediately come over to carry out the mission.
Yet Dr. Newton could remain so composed. It seemed she had anticipated this long ago as well.
No wonder Dr. Mei had not bothered to warn Dr. Newton beforehand.
Even Sakura could not help feeling a trace of admiration for such serene composure.
In reality, Newton still had not processed what was happening.
Her mind was currently frantically rewriting and reorganizing the entire chain of events:
Today was that rarest of treasures, an official public holiday. Newton declared that today, she could slack off for the entire day!
Sure, department heads earned quadruple pay for working overtime on a statutory holiday, but was Dr. Newton really the kind of person who cared about such a tiny bit of money?
"Ahhh... Another bright and sunny day..."
Newton pulled open the curtains—and saw a crowd of figures outside.
A group of killers wearing terrifying masks and holding still-dripping blades stared at Newton in astonishment...
"Uh, carry on. I won't bother you guys. I'll be leaving now."
Newton greeted them, then lowered the curtains again.
Unfortunately, pretending not to see something like an ostrich was useless.
Especially since those killers had come specifically for her.
The windows were experimental bulletproof glass and could not be easily destroyed.
Those terrifying people took a detour, destroyed the security robots guarding Newton's laboratory, and charged inside.
They had originally spent ages lying in ambush, waiting for Dr. Newton to arrive at the laboratory and clock in for work, only to discover that she had apparently been inside the laboratory the entire time.
As expected of Department Head Newton. She had actually been working overtime in the laboratory all along and had never even gone home.
Unfortunately, today she was going to die in that very laboratory.
Before they could begin their massacre, Sakura leaped out of the ventilation duct and launched a massacre of her own, taking every last one of them down with a single slash each.
All that remained was poor Dr. Newton, staring dumbfounded and having absolutely no idea what was going on.
"What the hell is happening? I'm Newton. What am I supposed to be doing? Is this my laboratory?"
Looking at her little "home away from home," which now resembled the set of a horror movie, Dr. Newton still could not quite accept reality.
At this point, she did not even know what expression she was supposed to make in response to all this.
"Today's literally a statutory holiday. Don't assassins get days off? Isn't this taking workplace competition way too far?"
"Being a department head in MOTH really is a high-risk occupation. Grass hasn't even grown over my predecessor's grave yet, and I nearly went to keep him company."
"But I'm basically finished anyway. My Iskandar model that I stayed up all night grinding away on, my treasured deluxe limited-edition Homu comic collection, my mini-game projection wristband..."
"I'm just an ordinary female university student from the literature department. Why do I have to endure pain no human being should ever have to bear?"
"I understand the reasoning and all, but Dr. Mei, why are you already packed and leaving? What about me?"
"Teacher Vill-V, I've had enough! I want to go home! High-level matches are too hard! I don't wanna play anymore!"