After resolving the prisoner issue, Reno instructed the virus to bring the transport ship to pick everyone up.
Having done this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Tychus and Wang Yile Nora went to oversee the prisoners, leaving only Claire with Reno in the hall.
With eyes that seemed to speak, Claire said, "You've changed, Reno."
Reno's heart skipped a beat, but he casually asked, "Why do you say that?"
"If it were before, you would never have come up with such a method. This is imprisonment, Reno. You're forcing a group of innocent people to work for you, even resorting to deception. Although the method is clever, it's still deceit."
Reno fell silent for a moment.
He nodded and said, "You're right, Claire. After experiencing so much, I have indeed changed. I've become cunning, selfish, no longer innocent... I couldn't remain the same. Before, I only needed to be responsible for myself, but now I have to be responsible for two thousand eight hundred people."
"I understand," Claire said. "I don't blame you. You carry tremendous pressure. For those who trust and rely on you, you have to rack your brains and find solutions."
"As long as you understand," Reno sighed in relief. Honestly, he feared that Claire wouldn't understand him. In life, there were many unprincipled sanctimonious individuals who only knew how to condemn. Fortunately, Claire wasn't one of them.
But Claire had another idea. She said, "But have you ever thought that today, to expand yourself, you absorbed a group of people, and tomorrow, the lives you have to be responsible for will not be two thousand eight hundred but three thousand three hundred?"
Reno was taken aback.
Claire continued, "Obviously, more than three thousand people are not capital enough to confront the Federation, so you need to further strengthen your power. You need continuous development and expansion. In the days to come, you'll find that no matter how much you expand, you won't be able to contend with the Federation... It's too vast. And the responsibility you shoulder will only grow."
Reno didn't speak.
"I don't mean to stop you," Claire smiled at him, gently touching his face. "I just think your approach might have some problems. Trying to protect those you care about by absorbing more power might fundamentally be a wrong idea. You also can't bear everything alone; it will crush you."
"Are you suggesting..."
"Try to share some of the pressure with others. The Heart of Freedom already has organization and direction, but it lacks a complete structure, a complete system."
Yes, Reno knew Claire was right. The Heart of Freedom was far from being fully formed.
It lacked many things, including a crucial personnel and organizational system.
Construction was an exceptionally complex matter, and institutional development was the cornerstone, the top priority.
The reason the Heart of Freedom could maintain its organizational structure without a personnel system was partly because they were comrades-in-arms who had weathered storms together, and partly because the old military system still functioned. Among the two thousand eight hundred military personnel, there were a considerable number of non-commissioned officers and lieutenants from the old system, who formed the middle tier of the Heart of Freedom and faithfully obeyed Reno's orders.
It was because of their existence that the Heart of Freedom had a complete structure from the beginning.
But this old structure also somewhat constrained its future development.
If the organization didn't expand, then the old system would suffice. However, as the Heart of Freedom began to expand, the old system would find it difficult to sustain the new forces, and many things were bound to be broken.
In fact, these people from the Institute entering the Heart of Freedom as criminals would not have any immediate impact on the Heart of Freedom, but what Claire saw was Reno's determination to develop and strengthen the Heart of Freedom.
Some things, if not done now, might become even more difficult later. The forces that once supported this organization might eventually become forces that hindered its expansion.
Reminded by Claire, Reno thought for a moment and nodded, "You're right, Claire. I shouldn't bear all the pressure by myself anymore. For the Heart of Freedom to grow, everyone should play a role. When I go back, I'll study the issue of institutional development carefully. But you know I'm not good at this; I need your help."
"As long as you need it, I'll always be here," Claire replied.
Reno gently grasped Claire's hand with gratitude.
At that moment, Nora ran over, "The Abradie has entered the Teng River Base."
The two quickly separated.
Claire blushed and dared not look at her sister, while Reno seemed much thicker-skinned, "How's the situation?"
"The Teng River Fleet has returned, but we haven't taken over the base yet. Our soldiers are engaging in urban warfare using the base's facilities. Things are getting complicated. The plan may not be completed on time."
What a terrible piece of news!
Reno thought for a moment and said, "Go to the data processing center. There's a comprehensive monitoring screen there. Ike, connect to Abradie and transfer the signal to me. Hurry up, we need to establish a temporary command center here!"
With that, he rushed to the data processing center.
The data processing center was one of the core areas of the Institute, housing a super-optical brain, which was arguably the most advanced in the Federation, possessing the most powerful information reception, processing, and analysis capabilities, mainly used for research purposes. However, due to the proximity to the Teng River Base, it also handled some of the simulation warfare computing tasks.
For this reason, the data processing center had all the information and synchronous information processing capabilities of the Teng River Base.
Establishing a temporary command center here was undoubtedly the best choice.
Reno and Claire rushed towards the processing center, while Nora went to extract research personnel who were more familiar with the center from among the captives.
She first ran into the group of captives, then slowed her pace and, with a casual demeanor, approached Wang Yile. With a tone of complaint, she said, "I think it was a mistake for Reno to leave these people behind. The Federation government won't agree to our terms, and yet we're responsible for feeding hundreds of people. You know, the ecological garden onboard has limited resources, and being responsible for the food of our two thousand eight hundred people was already pushing the limits. Now we have to provide for several hundred more. It's not just food; it's water, accommodation, and even the air circulation system. It's all an extra burden."
Wang Yile had already received Reno's hint and responded, "It is indeed a problem, but it's not unsolvable. We can have them eat synthetic food."
"But that's meant for animals," Nora said with a surprised expression.
"So what? Humans can eat it too," Wang Yile replied nonchalantly. "If they can't stomach it, we can turn it into capsules for them to swallow."
His voice was loud enough for the captives to hear.
The captives immediately became restless.
Before being captured, these people were industry elites, enjoying the finest treatment. To put it mildly, they had robots to chew their food for them. Now, they were being asked to eat "feed" meant for animals. How could they possibly tolerate it?
Yes, synthetic food was edible, and it wasn't unsanitary, but with the advent of the Cosmic Era and the high development of material life, such food, no matter how well-made, could only be considered fit for animals. Under no circumstances would people accept such food.
The captives began to clamor, shouting, "This is torture!"
"Torture? I don't think so," Wang Yile sneered. "Such things have happened before. In the past, the Black River Fleet's quartermaster made synthetic food into combat capsules for soldiers to consume. You trashy, filthy, shameless lot have never treated others like human beings. It's about time you tasted it yourselves."
If he had been acting before, what he said now was not a lie. The new Federation government produced scandals every year, and the corruption scandal in the Black River Fleet quartermaster was one of them, exactly what Wang Yile mentioned happening at this moment.
That's why he could speak without thinking. The methods of mistreating captives didn't require much thought; a few examples from history and the news were enough for everyone to understand.
It was Nora who realized Wang Yile was getting too into character and pulled him back, saying, "Maybe you're right; after all, these people have made no contributions to us."
At this moment, Reno's voice rang out, "Damn it, this super-brain is huge, Nora, how do we operate it?"
"How should I know?" Nora replied irritably. "Why don't you ask Ike to handle it?"
"He's busy right now. He's responsible for connecting the Teng River to us and can't spare the time. This damn machine is too complicated; I don't quite understand it."
"I don't know either," Nora replied bluntly, then turned to Wang Yile and said, "You ask me about everything; how should I know how to deal with that thing?"
A young researcher couldn't help but say, "The black button."
"What?" Nora looked back at the young man.
"That black button can activate the Aurora... oh, I mean, the super-brain."
"And then?" Nora asked with interest.
"The Aurora is the super-brain; it's not something that can be explained in a few words. Unless I operate it personally, I'm its designer and architect, and no one knows how to use it better than me. But unless you agree to my conditions, I won't help you."
Nora took a gun from her body and aimed it at the young man's head. "Are you threatening me?"
The young man trembled with fear, but he gritted his teeth and persisted, "It's just a transaction. I can serve you, and I don't expect you to let us go, but you can't make us eat that synthetic food."
Nora thought for a moment and replied, "It'll only be you."
"No, it must be everyone," the young man replied unexpectedly, showing remarkable determination.
Nora looked at him and asked, "What's your name?"
"Byl... Halenrik Byl."
Nora slowly squeezed the trigger, watching it press down bit by bit, while Byl was extremely nervous, sweat dripping from his forehead.
Click!
The gun in Nora's hand made a clear sound, and Byl's body suddenly shook.
Then he realized he was still standing there perfectly fine.
The gun hadn't fired; it was just the sound of the trigger snapping back.
Nora retracted the gun and said, "You win."
Byl heaved a long sigh of relief.
Everyone cheered at the same time; at this moment, Byl became the hero in everyone's hearts.