Why it never ends

Chapter 1032 Chewing

This thick photo album was thrown in front of Hesta's desk. Just as Kende was about to open it, Hesta suddenly reached out and pressed the cover tightly.

"Oh?" Kendai smiled provocatively, "You don't dare to look, you don't dare to look?"

"Answer me a question first, Kende," Hesta said softly, "Why do you want me to see this?"

"Because this is your responsibility," Kende stared into Hesta's eyes, her voice cold, "What do you think the decision you made at the emergency meeting was? Just a few words and it's over? Hesta, every decision you make in your position has a price, and I want you to bear your price in full, right now."

"That's exactly what I'm asking," Hesta also looked at Kende, "If this matter could possibly shake me, why did you put it in front of me?"

"Whatever you say," Kendall said. "What are you—"

"Will there be any direct benefit to you in shaking me?"

The atmosphere reached freezing point. Kende withdrew her gaze first and sat down at the other end of the long table.

Hesta looked back at the photo album. She turned the first page expressionlessly and saw many corpses piled together. The camera was not focused on the bodies, but only on many pairs of bare feet without shoes, like a pile of dry wood.

Hesta's eyes swept through each photo. These specific shots were always aimed at children, hunger, and the hopes people had when they were alive. In addition to portraits, there were also many traces of life that could still be seen after being destroyed: some broken pieces of tea bowls that fell to the ground, burnt books, a hand holding a metal badge...

"Do you know the details of this attack?" Kendai said softly, "The attacks on the above-ground and underground targets were carried out simultaneously. People on the ground died from the shock waves caused by the high temperature and violent explosion, and people underground died from suffocation. You made the decision to retaliate without any investigation, Jane Hesta. Have you ever thought about how people will evaluate your impulsive decision that night in the future? Have you ever thought that history will eventually judge everything you have done?"

"Historical trial?" Hesta raised his eyes and glanced at Kende. "Are you starting to worry about this kind of thing?"

Kendai sneered: "Oh, I did forget. Young people like you never take these things to heart-"

"It's good that you know." Hesta turned the pages of the album one by one. "But Kende, since this is a problem for you, then you really should think about it carefully - what consequences will you bring to yourself in the future for what you are doing today? Are you willing to bear it? Can you bear it?"

"I have long understood that the restraint of dozens of generations can be broken by one generation." Kendai said, "From the night you decided to intervene, AHgAs's neutral position has become a joke... And this bitter fruit, the bitter fruit you caused, will eventually be borne by everyone - all the mercury needles, all the residents in the habitable areas, and the free people in the wasteland who could have survived chelation. And you, Hesta, you are still here, gloating, and you don't even know what you have done."

"I'm done." Hesta closed the back cover of the album. "Do you want me to take it back?"

"It doesn't matter." Kendai took out another document, this time only two thin sheets of paper, "You have received your official pass to the Fayalar Wasteland. When do you plan to leave?"

"It depends on the situation." Hesta said, "What suggestions do you have?"

"The mercury needles left in District 12 are very valuable," Kendai said, "You should take fewer people with you." "Got it."

Hesta stood up holding the photo album. She quickly walked to Kende, took the pass, and then strode away from the Cosey workstation.

On the way back, she looked ahead without saying a word, still recalling the scene she had just seen in her mind.

Most of those photos were taken in the underground air-raid shelters of the Southern Liberals, and only those who hid in these air-raid shelters could still keep their bodies intact. The ground was already a scorched earth, and the intensive bombings had set the mountains on fire. Animal corpses could be seen everywhere, including birds that could not fly out of the mountain fires and groups of dead wolves... Even on the evening of the third day of the bombing, a sudden rainstorm put out the fire, but the scythe of the god of death had already swept through, and everything was irreversible.

Hesta clearly remembers that the reporter who took the photos wrote on one of the pages: I think we have misunderstood hell. The real hell is not noisy, it is silent.

At a right turn, Hesta was distracted and almost hit a pedestrian crossing the crosswalk.

The other person was a young person, holding a paper bag full of bread in her hands. She was completely frightened by the sudden appearance of the car. She neither dodged left nor right, but just stood in the middle of the road with her eyes wide open.

Hesta slammed on the brakes and stuck his head out the window: "Sorry...are you okay?"

The young man then left in a panic.

The light turned red, and Hesta could no longer keep parking her car on the sidewalk. She stepped on the accelerator and started off again, suddenly feeling a little depressed.

She heard a voice say: Since you want to bring the scale of our discussion to the historical level, you should also be aware that the moral standards of historical figures are completely different from those of ordinary people.

Then another voice said: "So you can take everything for granted? In fact, just like she said, you don't know the consequences of doing this at all - you can't know at all!"
These voices intertwined in her mind like a huge web.

The scenery outside the car window gradually became lonely. In a chaotic thought, Hesta suddenly thought of Anna. She once told everyone the story of the No. 12 waiting room at the Navigation Museum. Near the exit, Anna said gloatingly, what can we do? Sometimes people can only choose between a bad option and a worse option... Ignorance brings the best results.

Hesta, who was lost in thought, suddenly sneered. She felt ridiculous that she had inadvertently sought comfort from Anna. However, the story in the waiting room still stayed in her heart.

Yes, I really can't predict what the consequences of doing this will be... Hesta thought, not only me, but no one can.

Maybe I really was just choosing between a bad option and a worse option.

…But I’m so glad I’m on this ship right now.