Darkstone Code-Chapter 725 - 0723 Lying on the Book of Merits

"Mr. Lynch, have you read today’s newspaper?"

In the train compartment, the Senior Soldier suddenly asked a question. Lynch, who was reading a book, put it down and looked at him, signaling him to continue.

The Senior Soldier organized his thoughts and asked the question that had perplexed him all morning, "The joint military exercise just ended, and Sheep Ship immediately announced the performance parameters of the Wave II submarine. Isn’t this... "

He hesitated, "too arrogant?"

"What I mean is, if we have a new military equipment plan, we should hide it instead of announcing it like now, where anyone who buys a newspaper can see those important parameters!"

He waved the newspaper in his hand, which, besides a slightly blurry design sketch, also contained very detailed submarine parameters.

For ordinary people, these parameters are just numbers; they can’t derive anything valuable from them.

But for laboratories and institutions in other countries specializing in military research, these data can not only expose the Federation’s current technological capabilities in this area but also serve as a "beacon" for other countries.

For example, if a framework intends to build a submarine with an underwater speed of ten knots, but the Federation’s announced performance reaches twelve knots, the twenty percent performance difference is enough to achieve technological superiority.

So this country might redesign a new type of submarine with an underwater speed that, if not surpassing, would not lag much behind the Federation’s new submarine.

Doing this seems to have little value or significance, yet it actually avoids this country wasting money on military equipment that would inevitably become outdated as soon as it’s produced, reducing the likelihood of them incurring losses.

The Federation’s published data will cause a global stir, with people using the Federation’s data as a benchmark for the next batch of submarines.

This brings no benefit to the Federation, so the Senior Soldier was very puzzled as to why the Federation would do this.

It’s important to know that before this, the Federation had never disclosed any related information; they weren’t even willing to disclose the caliber of their army’s rifle bullets, and now they’ve revealed so much, making it hard to understand.

Lynch pursed his lips, took out a pack of cigarettes, and the Senior Soldier opened the compartment window for him.

The rhythmic clanking sound of the train wheels continued forward, and the wind blew in from the window, carrying with it the hot air of summer and a slightly pungent scent of vegetation scorched in the wilderness.

He lit the fire, exhaled lightly, "We often say that the biggest difference between humans and animals is that we are intelligent beings, but in reality, apart from us, there are many other intelligent beings in nature."

"But why am I the ruler of this world and not other creatures, do you know?"

The Senior Soldier thought seriously for a moment. He was a high school graduate, with a normal level of education. He tentatively asked, "Because we can use tools?"

"That’s just one of them; you might not be aware, but in fact, humans are not the only intelligent animals that can use tools."

"There are other factors, think again."

The Senior Soldier talked about many differences between intelligent beings and ordinary animals, but he didn’t touch on the point Lynch wanted to express. Eventually, he gave up, "I don’t know, this is too difficult."

"Not at all!" Lynch laughed and said meaningfully, "Because humans can lie..."

Lies are also an important driving force in social development. From "We’ll live better" to "Capitalists will sympathize with us" and "We never lie," human history is essentially a scam, a development of lies.

And in this process, the role of lies is not simple.

When the first person to say, "Let me think of a way," reassured other upright apes trying to solve survival problems by smashing a stone at their feet and injuring their toes with the stone fragments.

Then, when he said, "We will surely win" and incited a group of upright apes to charge with him at more ferocious animals, facing an unknown fate, lies sometimes are not so easy for people to distinguish.

"We provided fake parameters, and they will desperately research based on the parameters we gave. You might not be very clear, but every little progress in parameters means a collective breakthrough in a field and related fields."

"More money, more social resources tilt..." Lynch shook his head; the arms race is very dangerous. The danger lies in the fact that if someone wants to feel secure, they must keep up with the changes."

An entire country, in order not to fall too far behind in armaments, would focus its main energy, financial resources, materials, and talents on relevant fields, thus neglecting the development of other aspects of society, creating a distorted society.

Related industries expand rapidly, encroaching on the living space of other sectors, and even due to policies and other reasons, they might aggressively swallow up other industries, forming deformed monsters that will eventually drag their country into the Abyss.

The Senior Soldier was still somewhat confused, "Mr. Lynch, if they... really develop a submarine surpassing these parameters, how should we respond?"

Lynch glanced at the newspaper with the Sheep Ship President, dismissively saying, "They chose the wrong future!"

Submarines indeed have great use, but they’re not invincible.

People are frantically researching submarines now because there is no good countermeasure yet; once anti-submarine aircraft appear, their value will greatly diminish.

According to the current submarine diving depth, anything observing within a fifteen-degree angle above them will definitely see their black, ghost-like shadows moving slowly in the water.

As long as they can be detected, they can be attacked; depth charges or even an alloy trawler, even if unable to destroy it, can render it worthless.

People are frantically researching submarines only because there’s nothing good to counterbalance them, but once Lynch’s aircraft appears, those people will regret it.

However, speaking of which, the birth of aircraft and their utilization in warfare is not a simple matter; it involves many things beyond technology, including political issues.

The clanking train, unaware of what the men in one of its compartments were planning, only knew to feed and drink well and then rush forward frantically!

When Lynch returned to Bupen, it was already past eleven o’clock at night. Trains crossing half the Federation never arrived on time.

There weren’t many people at the station, but the lights were all on. Now, the Gafura visiting delegation was still in the Federation, and many of the accompanying reporters hadn’t followed them everywhere. To showcase the Federation’s prosperity and freedom, aside from other places, some public facilities in Bupen had already delayed their lights-out time.

Like train stations, bus stations, and coach stations, they had to remain brightly lit all night.

This is a face project, but most taxpayers were not opposed to it.

There’s a bit of a nouveau riche feeling, as if a group of "noble old tycoons" came to the Free Federation, and everyone couldn’t feel at ease without showcasing their strength.

The station lights were as bright as day.

Some homeless people and beggars secretly gathered around here at this time; here, they found clean benches and an environment, and with the lights, it was not only safer but also more comfortable than spending the night elsewhere.

The key is, they could conduct their business here.

With a "hiss," a whirl of hot steam puffed out, then dissipated. A few diligent homeless people and beggars held up "Help Me" signs and headed for the platform.

But this time, they didn’t get their wish; several people in black suddenly appeared and blocked their way.

Seeing those guys who seemed to have "I’m not to be messed with" practically written on their faces, the homeless wisely chose to back down.

The Federation is a city of freedom and fairness, but those beautiful words only appear in the dictionary of the wealthy.

Lynch stepped out of the car, his shiny leather shoes had already been polished by a shoe boy before getting off; for this, Lynch gave him two dollars.

One dollar was the shoe cleaning fee, and one dollar was the tip, the shoe boy was so happy that his nose bubbles burst.

A large group of people surrounded Lynch and the Senior Soldier. The Senior Soldier followed Lynch, and he looked much fatter, in fact, he wore a bulletproof vest, making his job simpler now, just to shield Lynch from bullets.

The group didn’t stay long at the station and headed to the villa at Half Mountain.

Just as he got home and hadn’t taken his clothes off, the phone in the corner rang. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"There’s a task for you..."

The speaker was Mr. Truman. Even before Lynch arrived in Bupen, he knew Lynch would come back tonight, and when Lynch entered the villa, he confirmed it again.

Lynch was well aware of such things, he didn’t feel any anger from being... observed, almost all big figures in the Federation had people shadowing them to some degree.

However, these people shadowing them were not to gather evidence or anything, but rather to help solve their problems.

"What task?" he asked, holding the phone to his shoulder as he walked to the bar.

He casually took out a bottle of wine, got a glass and some ice cubes, and poured himself a drink.

"The President feels we shouldn’t treat the Gafura cultural delegation so indifferently. You have a good relationship with Princess Jenia, so someone thinks you’re very suitable as the reception officer, you must make them satisfied."

Lynch caught the meaning in his words, raised an eyebrow, and took a sip of the cool wine, dissipating the summer heat significantly, "Does this count as a sacrifice for the country?"

After about seven or eight seconds, the answer "Yes" came through the receiver.

Lynch’s mouth curled up slightly, "Then once I’ve completed the task, will I be awarded a medal?"

"After all, I’ve sacrificed for the country!"