"This is the crux of the problem." Cen Yemeng didn't look at him. "The ordinary people on this planet do not live normal lives, only mechanized or even programmed lives. But the human gene that craves freedom never changes. Their lives are completely anti-human, leading to a surface appearance of peace and order on the exile planet, but everyone harbors an impulse within. This impulse has a specific medical term on the exile planet: berserk syndrome."
Jiang Ye frowned.
He had been staring at Cen Yemeng, but she hadn't looked at him at all.
This was definitely not normal. His wife was deliberately avoiding his gaze.
Why?
But it was a meeting, and Jiang Ye couldn't make a scene. He could only suppress his feelings.
"Information about berserk syndrome was reported by intelligence officer Chen Long Nü," Cen Yemeng said. "She personally witnessed an incident where a patient with berserk syndrome was shot dead."
She clapped her hands, and the holographic projection immediately changed.
The video seemed to be shot from above a tall building, looking down at an asphalt road where pedestrians were marching in an orderly fashion, like a phalanx. These were office workers heading to their companies. The exile planet was a highly militarized planet, and each residential area had its households marching to work together, a common scene.
Suddenly, a man in the phalanx screamed without warning, broke away from the formation, and began to sprint forward.
Jiang Ye was startled. The man's scream and movements were like a zombie's.
The entire phalanx panicked, shouting:
"Number 26!"
"Come back, Number 26!"
"What's wrong with you, Number 26!"
The sprinting Number 26 ran out of the frame. The phalanx on the ground, after a brief moment of confusion, regrouped and continued forward, even leaving a space for Number 26's position.
The video ended.
"The man who just ran out was a sudden case of berserk syndrome," Cen Yemeng said. "According to the intelligence officer's investigation, patients with berserk syndrome are shot directly by the city defense forces and sent to the incinerator. Then, a terrifying thing happens: the people behind them will move up to fill the numbers."
"For example, if there are a hundred people in this phalanx and Number 26 runs off, after a few days, the exile planet will issue an order for the current Number 27 to become Number 26, Number 28 to become Number 27, and so on. They will take their personal belongings, move from upstairs to downstairs, change workstations, completely replacing the previous person while alive."
The entire conference room fell into a sudden silence.
The expressions of the attendees were grim.
Jiang Ye spoke, "So, eventually, there will be a vacancy for the hundredth wife."
"Yes." Cen Yemeng didn't look at him and clicked the screen.
"Isn't their relationship completely messed up?" Jiang Ye frowned. "Just because one person runs off, all the couples behind them have to collectively divorce and remarry? What about the vacant positions in the factories? What happens to the hundredth wife, does she remain single?"
"She won't remain single. The exile planet has strict symmetry control; it's a society of extreme compulsion," Cen Yemeng said, still not looking up at her husband. "The hundredth wife will be taken away by the city defense forces after some time and disappear. Some say that this lone individual will be euthanized, while others say there are hidden underground factories on the exile planet specifically for such individuals. There are also legends that Number 100 will be taken to the other end of the exile planet, cloned into a multitude of identical individuals, and a new community will be formed."
"As for the vacant positions in the factories, there are always spare quotas. Generally, there are five spare quotas, meaning they can accommodate five instances of berserk syndrome patients escaping. In this situation, the higher-ups have clearly planned for this long ago," Cen Yemeng explained, without looking up at all.
Jiang Ye couldn't help but frown.
What was wrong with his wife today?
Why wasn't she looking at him?
Was she angry with him?
No, they hadn't argued, and Cen Yemeng wasn't the type of wife who would give him the cold shoulder when angry; she would always clarify things and her feelings face-to-face.
Jiang Ye felt a gnawing anxiety. He had to ask for a clear explanation after the meeting.
With their good relationship, could it be that the separation due to busy work had caused a rift?
"As for the specific cause of berserk syndrome, the explanation from various hospitals on the exile planet is that there is a berserk pathogen that spreads through multiple pathways, and occasionally unlucky individuals get infected," Cen Yemeng said. "But everyone knows that this berserk pathogen is entirely fabricated; this is clearly a psychological illness. People live like machines from birth, without emotion, without freedom, and it's easy to suddenly go mad one day and start running wildly in the streets. This running is clearly a rebellion against the rules."
"The entire population of the planet is constantly experiencing berserk illness. The people of the exile planet are like newly conscious robots in ancient times, with immature technology, thus occasionally producing rampaging robots. It's all the same principle."
"Therefore, the exile planet, which appears orderly on the surface, is actually fire beneath an ice shell," Cen Yemeng said. "Our actions should be able to gain the support of the ordinary people on the exile planet, including the poor and the rich, small business owners and soldiers, students and illiterates, covering over 99% of the exile planet's population. We must liberate all the people of the exile planet and fight for their freedom."
The attending military officers' eyes lit up.
No one spoke, but a constant stream of strategies and scenarios was forming in their minds.
The meeting continued.
After another forty minutes of intelligence sharing, this part of the intelligence involved spies gathering information on the locations and names of military factories. Many of the so-called private enterprises, food factories, and light industry factories on the exile planet were actually covert military factories, producing large quantities of weapons, ammunition, and chips for war robots.
The reason for the exile planet doing this was likely in preparation for a future full-scale war. Even if the Galactic Empire struck their overt military factories and facilities, the disguised military factories scattered throughout the residential areas could still operate, producing a continuous stream of weapons.
Jiang Ye sighed inwardly.
This approach by the exile planet clearly involved using civilians as shields.
The higher-ups of the exile planet probably believed that the Galactic Empire had humanitarian principles and would not use weapons of mass destruction in civilian areas.
But they didn't know that the Galactic Empire didn't recognize the citizenship of the exile planet people at all and had completely authorized the use of all weapons. If not for the exile planet's special location, the entire planet would have been destroyed by a star-annihilation cannon long ago, turning the military strength that the exile planet had painstakingly prepared for years into a joke.
When the technological gap reaches a certain level, there will be no war, only one-sided slaughter.
The meeting concluded.
Cen Yemeng left the conference room in a hurry, without looking back.
Jiang Ye stood up and followed her out.