“Oh, really? Which questions made you feel puzzled, exactly?” He Zhichu smirked and asked sarcastically, “Or do you still need Nianzhi to explain any further for you?”
Gu Nianzhi looked down, pursing her lips, and said quietly, “…Actually, I’ve never believed that human race improvement and optimization can actually be realized using such destructive and invasive means.”
When she heard Huo Shaoheng talk about Operation Borrowed Seed, from the very beginning, these suspicions began to grow in her mind.
From the way she saw it, using this type of research method would no doubt lead to a dead end.
“I agree with your perspective.” He Zhichu looked at Gu Nianzhi in surprise and said, “You actually grasped the key to this issue if you are able to think about it that way. This type of method would absolutely never result in true technological advancement.”
Gu Nianzhi didn’t have memories from before she was 12 years old, yet she still had this kind of intuition.
He Zhichu couldn’t help but think optimistically. Didn’t that mean that he should have somewhat of a position in Gu Nianzhi’s heart?
Huo Shaoheng balled one hand into a fist to rest his chin on. He thought for a moment, then said, “…This explanation does make sense. After that Japanese numerical unit lost the war, they handed over nearly all their human experimental data to the winning countries. This was the only set of data that was never handed over.
“This was because the data didn’t involve typical human experiments. If it were actually handed over, the winning countries would never be able to accept this kind of pure evil sin, even if they had their own ulterior motives.
“This also explains how Nianzhi’s grandfather, Gu Haoze, would later on use all sorts of ways to remove the experimental data from the Gestapo headquarters.”
Reinitz also thought it over and replied succinctly in German, saying, “The data was not about the optimization of the Huaxia race, but… Data targeting weaknesses in the Huaxia genetic makeup? If that’s the case, now I also understand why our bureau’s predecessors would write such contradictory things in their memoirs.”
Perhaps they could also tell what the data was actually about, but this was the kind of thing that still challenged the people’s ethical perspective at the time. So, the bureau chose to reveal selective things, or flat out stay quiet about others.
The Nazi race optimization eugenics program was also very evil, but its main purpose was to optimize their own race.
As for what the Japanese did, they actively chose to drag down another race when they discovered that it would be impossible to optimize their own race.
In other words, they would be number one if they killed the person running ahead of them…
That kind of perverse and shameless mentality would forever prevent them from being the ultimate winner.
“But if your grandfather Gu Haoze was only an accident and an uncontrollable factor that occurred within the experiment, why didn’t they simply kill him off? Why did they send him to the Gestapo headquarters in Europe, instead?”
Huo Shaoheng thought that there had to be something else they didn’t yet understand.
Gu Nianzhi nodded and said, “I am still thinking about this point. Huo Shao, do you remember why the Gu family had adopted gu Yanran and her mother, Gu Jing?”
Huo Shaoheng stiffened slightly as he replied, “You are saying that the Gu family’s genetic disease was rooted in Gu Haoze? And that Gu Haoze’s genetic illness was a consequence of the race optimization operation?”
Gu Nianzhi began to laugh. “Huo Shao, your brain works even faster than mine does. Right, this is exactly what I meant,” she said.
So, there must be a reason why they had no choice but to do this.
However, this point was not related to the topic of discussion at the moment.
Gu Nianzhi said, “Afterwards, the data went missing. Because our country won the war, Japan could no longer capture our citizens on a large scale in concentration camps to conduct experiments as they did during the war years. So, they have returned to the first goal of Operation Borrowed Seed, which was to optimize their own race. Coupled with the development of science and technology, it was unnecessary for them to continue using that kind of stupid method to conduct race optimization experiments.
“…That’s why they set up all these clinics treating infertility. They are now able to steal the reproductive cells directly from the patients seeking treatment, and conduct artificial insemination and reproduction to observe the results of optimization.”
Huo Shaoheng walked back over to his laptop to open another folder.
Gu Nianzhi agreed completely, saying, “My father must have also discovered their intentions, so he chose to use this method to warn the people trying to look for the data.”
“However, why didn’t your father report these clinics directly to the authorities if he discovered that they were conducting similar experiments?” Reinitz asked curiously. “I thought he hated this kind of thing more than anything.”
“Of course he hates it, but do you think my father alone can fight against the power of an entire country?” Gu Nianzhi glared at Reinitz as she said, “After all, I investigated these clinics myself. They are genuinely researching how to optimize Japanese genes, but are not involving any Huaxia genes. So, I think that my father was strictly monitoring these clinics to prevent them from doing anything that would harm the Huaxia Empire.”
Reinitz shook his head. With a smile, he said, “Cereus, you’ve never even seen your father before. How are you so certain that he’s actually a good person?”
Gu Nianzhi’s expression was resolute as she said, “I know. I know it for a fact. My father is absolutely not a bad person. Not only is he a good person, but he is a rare and capable good person.
He Zhichu averted his eyes in silence, no longer able to stand looking at Gu Nianzhi’s expression.
Huo Shaoheng was about to add a few comments to Gu Nianzhi’s idea when he looked up and saw He Zhichu look away. He thought that something didn’t feel right.
But He Zhichu always spoke vaguely and changed the topic. Now he was even using Gu Nianzhi’s presence as a condition of telling the truth.
Huo Shaoheng decided to stop trying to get any information out of He Zhichu. He was also wary about taking the few things He Zhichu had already said as facts.
He needed to resume his previous work method. Just like Reinitz, he would doubt everything and rely on himself to prove everything.
…
“Earlier, I demonstrated my conclusion using the three perspectives of premise, history, and follow up. In other words, Operation Borrowed Seed did not succeed. The operation to exterminate the Huaxia race did not succeed, either.”
Gu Nianzhi looked up with a smile and stared at the curved screen TV in front of her.
Huo Shaoheng had just opened a new folder, which was the handwritten English poem that Gu Nianzhi took a photo of in the Dass clinic’s consultation room –”A Little Girl Needs Daddy.”
When the framed and wall-mounted poem was enlarged on the curved screen TV, Gu Nianzhi suddenly thought the poem’s shape looked a bit familiar.
The swirling handwriting of the English poem was filled with curves and lines that spun together to create each word. Each word actually looked like a flower.
The framed handwritten English poem consisted of short and long lines intersecting like flowering vines that seemed to form a complex picture.
If someone who didn’t read English saw this poem, they would probably think it was a picture as opposed to a poem.
An abstract drawing made up of black and white intersecting lines.
Gu Nianzhi’s mind suddenly felt enlightened when she thought that this was actually a picture.
She pointed to the TV screen and said, “…Look at this. Doesn’t this handwritten English poem look like a picture when you observe the shape?”
“What picture?” He Zhichu glanced at it and said, “I can’t tell.”
Huo Shaoheng stood behind the desk and stretched forward. With both hands bracing against the desk, he looked up at the enlarged handwritten English poem displaying on the TV screen. He nodded thoughtfully. “It does look a bit familiar,” he said.
“Isn’t that right?” Gu Nianzhi grew excited as she said, “Tell me, doesn’t this handwritten English poem look like a map of Africa?!”
Huo Shaoheng squinted his eyes and slowly straightened his body. His eyes stared at the picture unblinkingly.
Gradually, he stopped trying to decipher the handwritten English words and purely examined it as though it was a picture.
As expected, the picture appeared increasingly similar to the map of Africa in his memory!
Huo Shaoheng bent over and immediately opened a map of Africa on his computer. He put it beside the handwritten English poem.
Everyone could now see it with the comparison.
The handwritten English poem was laid out in a method that was nearly a mirror image of the general shape of Africa.
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help but grab the mouse from Huo Shaoheng and take things into her own hands.
She opened a photo editing software and first copied the map of Africa on it. Then she also copied the handwritten English poem to allow the photo editing software to find the overlap between the two.
With the help of the photo editing software, Gu Nianzhi quickly discovered a very obvious bright spot in the bottom corner of the two images.
It was where the English word ‘there’ was located.
The last two lines of the poem read, “So diving deep or soaring high, she’ll always find him there.”
Gu Nianzhi’s heart plummeted.
She quickly marked down the point where the word ‘there’ overlapped with the map of Africa, then opened the marked-up image of Africa and inputted it into GPS software to look for the coordinates.
Huo Shaoheng, He Zhichu, and Reinitz all quietly watched Gu Nianzhi quickly use the computer and discover the message her father had left behind.
The map software took less than one second to bring up the coordinate data.
“33.9249° South, 18.4241° East.”
Gu Nianzhi laughed. “It’s 33 degrees 55 minutes south latitude, 18 degrees 25 minutes east longitude. The location this latitude and longitude points to is the second-largest city in the southernmost country in Africa – Cape Town.
“It’s there. My father must have left something in that place.”
When Huo Shaoheng saw the latitude and longitude and the name of Cape Town, his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
How could it be such a coincidence?
In order to find the true whereabouts of the flight MH210 that Gu Xiangwen had been on, he sent Zhao Liangze to a station on a small island in the Cape of Good Hope to facilitate the search of the nearby waters.
The Cape of Good Hope was the landmark of Cape Town. It was only two kilometers away from the city, which is completely within walking distance.
