Keating, who usually took advantage of the quiet and rested for a few hours in the afternoon, couldn't sleep this time. He felt sad for Verak, the inmate he had been with the longest, even though he had only been with him for a little over ten days.
Keating, who had remained stable for nearly two years, had rare mood swings, and his life rhythm was completely disrupted by Verak. He didn't know how long it would take to calm down again in the future.
At this point, it seems that he can only be thankful that he has had relatively few interactions with Verak. If it had been longer, he might not be able to bear living alone, and then he would fly into a flame and die for the freedom he never got.
Keating closed his eyes and dreamed of a dream while half asleep.
"Okay, I'll go to the infirmary every afternoon to change the dressing."
It was Verak's voice.
"Mr. Keating and I will call you if you need anything."
He seemed to be talking to a prison guard.
"It's nothing, you can leave."
The sound of the cell door being locked.
After a while, there was a groan of pain, and Verak stretched out and lay down: "Mr. Keating, I really didn't expect such a thing to happen. I thought I was going to die, and I even thought of committing suicide last night.
But the development of things today completely exceeded my imagination.”
Keating didn't expect that he would actually have a dream about Verak, so he remained semi-awake and listened quietly to the voice as he continued to speak.
"I'm really happy. I've never been so happy. It's nowhere near as good as when I made hundreds of thousands or millions of gold grams. I survived, and they have already succeeded half the time. Facts have proved that we are right, comrades.
The sacrifice is not meaningless."
"I firmly believe that their future is bright, and I have countless ideas that I want to implement."
"I still don't know what the future will be like, but they have set an example for me. As long as I try my best and be enthusiastic, even if no miracle occurs, I will definitely not regret it at the end of my life."
"I know you are also very tired. You were kept awake last night because you were worried that something might happen to me. When you wake up, I will talk to you about my current plans for the future and my thoughts on the follow-up to the Theory of Equality."
Keating sensed something was wrong. Everything was too real, too real to be a dream. He opened his eyes and slowly turned his head to look at the bed on the floor. Verak was lying there with a bandage on his body.
, those eyes that became clear and bright again were also looking at him.
"K..." Keating looked stunned, unable to believe what he saw.
"Mr. Keating." Verak pursed his lips and smiled, his eyes sparkling, "Thank you for your encouragement last night."
Keating sat up, rubbed his eyes, opened his mouth slightly and looked at Verak: "How...what happened to you? You, this is not a dream..."
Seeing Keating's incoherence, Verak sat up with difficulty and leaned against the wall, with a smile on his pale face: "It's the Equality Society. They have been fighting the government tenaciously in Lezein and have experienced countless sacrifices. Today they finally finally
An important victory was won, forcing the government to choose peace talks."
"Peace talks?" Keating was stunned.
This news, like Verak's life, is a result that almost everyone dare not imagine. An organization that is not favored by anyone has come step by step to today, and it is actually a miracle to make the government bow its head.
"This is inevitable." Verak said, "What they insist on is the correct future. The correct future will definitely be accepted by those who do not want to sleep, and will eventually be realized."
"I see light in your eyes again." Keating received this shocking information, "What's next?"
Verak thought of that lunatic Lecter, and his smiling face turned cold: "Because the Equality Association has reached peace talks with the government, they can't touch me now, and I'm not in danger for the time being."
"You need to recover from your injury for a while. It's best if he doesn't cause trouble for you." Keating was sincerely happy for Verak.
"Lecter originally planned to free up cell 209 next door, so that I could have a room to myself like you, and arrange for an extra prisoner to take care of the daily life." Verak glanced outside the cell to make sure there was no one around.
Finally, he lowered his voice and said, "I lied to Lecter and said that the whereabouts of the gold were about to be revealed. That's why he didn't transfer me. Instead, he asked the prison guards to take care of us."
"What do you think?" Keating could tell from Verak's words that he was going to make a big move next.
Verak's expression immediately became solemn: "I can't place my hope of survival entirely on the Equality Society and do nothing myself. Although they have forced the government to engage in peace talks, this does not mean that they have achieved a complete victory. I have
It is necessary to prepare for the worst, that is, they will suffer heavy losses at the next important node and lose their status and ability to negotiate with the government on an equal footing."
Keating admired Verak's performance very much.
Verak firmly claimed that equality is inevitable for world development in the future that he strives for, but he did not let the temporary victory go to his head, and rationally and clearly considered the possible failures in the process of striving for it.
This kind of parallelism between ideal and reality is, in his opinion, the quality that a leader must possess.
"If something like this happens, I will no longer have the need to be protected, and Lecter will most likely target me again. At that time, it will still not be a matter of willpower. I won't be able to hold on for long in his hands, I will only be tortured.
Death." Verak was worried about this very likely life direction, "I have to fight side by side with them and strive to get out as soon as possible."
"You still..." Keating was quite surprised that Verak still insisted on the idea of escape.
"Of course, this is the most promising way to survive." Verak asked, "If we are imprisoned here for the rest of our lives and can't do anything, then are we alive or dead long ago?"
Keating swallowed.
"I believe you also want to get out, more than anyone here." Verak was deeply impressed by Keating's performance in keeping track of time. "I also believe what you said. Telling the whereabouts of the gold does not guarantee freedom.
Because our status is not equal to that of Lecter and the others, it is not safe to risk our lives on their promise."
"You want to join forces with me?"
"Yes, not just you, everyone in this prison who wants to be released from prison is my companion and ally."
"Tell me what you want to do." Keating asked the most critical question.
Since Verak wants to do something that no one has ever done, he must first understand whether Verak is talking big words and making unrealistic fantasies, or whether he really has a careful plan.
"The first step is undoubtedly to understand the terrain. Only by knowing the terrain well can we formulate the most critical basis for prison escape, that is, the escape route. The second step is to get to know enough allies. We have to face hundreds of prison guards. Only by relying on
The strength of a few people is still too weak." Verak talked about his thoughts, "Understanding the terrain, I have to get out of here. If I want to contact other prisoners, I must be able to go out for a walk."
"That's the problem." Keating shook his head slightly. They had discussed many times the issue of being imprisoned in a cell and not even leaving the basement level. "If you want to go out, you can only work like other prisoners, but you
Now that he has a special status and is injured again, they won't agree.
.If it is really time to be able to work, I think the Equality Association and the government outside will have already decided the winner. Is there any point in doing all this by then? The Equality Association will win, and you can leave without any effort. Equality
If you lose, you will be taken to the interrogation room by Lecter immediately."
Verak was convinced: "You are right, taking the conventional route is still a dead end, so I never considered this method from the beginning."
Keating became a little interested.
"We have to use our advantage, which is the whereabouts of the gold that you have never revealed." Verak looked outside again warily, "I used this reason to convince Lecter to let me stay here to explain the gold.
The secret of his whereabouts itself still has a lot of room for exploitation.”
"You want..." Keating almost understood what Verak meant.
"I can tell Lecter that your mental defense has been loosened. As long as I help you get the opportunity to go out for fun every day, I can get closer to you and have a better chance of finding out the whereabouts of the gold." Verak
State your initial thoughts.
"Do you think he would agree?"
Verak nodded: "He will not agree until peace talks are held between Ping Ping and the government. Because in his opinion, if your mental defense is about to collapse, then anyone who comes to you can close the relationship and hopefully find clues.
My greater value is still being tortured by him. It’s different now, he can’t touch me, and I can’t make up for the new prisoners if I stay here. He can only believe me, because at least on the surface, even if he doesn’t ask about his whereabouts
, and he has nothing to lose.”
"What next?" Keating was quite satisfied with Verak's idea and asked about further plans.
"No." Verak said, "Further plans can only be made after we know more about it."
"So when do you plan to start?"
"I'll start when my body recovers a little and I can walk more or less." Verak sighed. His current physical condition is very poor. He is on the verge of death. It may take years to fully recover.
"I will try to stand up on my own within a few days."
"Stop dreaming." Keating shook his head and suppressed the rising hope, "This is not something you can fight for or not. Your body will have to wait at least half a month before you can get up and move around."
How could Verak not know the condition of his body? He knew better than anyone how absurd what he said was: "But time waits for no one... There is not long left before the next point of the Equality Society's fight against the government will arrive."
Already..."
"Be specific." Keating didn't know what the node of the Equality Society was. Since he was going to escape from prison with Verak, he had to understand this point in time.
"It has something to do with the World Expo. If they recognize the truth and know that peace talks with the government are meaningless, they will definitely make big moves during the World Expo, so the node will appear any day during the months when the Expo is held.
" Verak analyzed, "If they don't recognize the truth and wait for the government to improve the system, the latest point will be after the World Exposition. When the diplomatic missions from various countries leave, the government will immediately take action against the Equality Association and complete the
The final purge.”
"That's a few days at the shortest and a few months at the longest we have." Keating eliminated Verak's analytical logic and asked about the final result.
"Um."
Keating took a deep breath: "It depends on God's will. If the weather changes within a few days, there is nothing we can do."
"Then we can only pray that we will win the final victory." Verak smiled, lay down again, and stretched his body. "All we can do now is recuperate and get well as soon as possible."
"Don't be impatient, emotional stability is very important." Keating warned.
"Well, I'm not in a hurry. I only do what I can do, and I won't worry about things I can't control." Verak knew that a happy mood was helpful for physical recovery, so he tried to relax as much as possible, "By the way, listen.
You said last night that you had rewritten the Theory of Equality?"
Keating took out the new "On Equality" with added content and threw it to Verak: "After listening to you every day, I will repeat what you said in my notebook when I have nothing to do during the day. In addition, I think
Some of the contents are not comprehensive or profound enough, so I have made supplements myself.”
"Do you have anything to add?" Verak sat up again and flipped through Keating's edition of "Equality."
"This book is really good." Keating commented, "Every time I read the contents, I can't help but feel a little excited when I look at the summarized views and visions for the future. So during this period, I can also have some
I feel the same way. No wonder so many of you are willing to sacrifice for it and give everything for it."
Verak flipped through the pages and carefully examined the differences: "Actually, I was a belated observer and did not realize the charm and true value of this book at the first time. After I realized it, it almost completely changed me.
Now that I think back to my former self, I feel very emotional. Although if I had stuck to the way I was before, I may not be living a good life now, but I prefer it now."
"Then take a good look at it. I think there is a lot worth discussing based on this book," Keating said.
"Of course." Verak looked up at Keating, "I told you that this book is not finished yet. The first nine chapters only explain the problem and the current situation, but they do not explain how we should change it.
In fact, everyone is still in the process of exploring, but now I feel that I have found a way, and this chapter ten can be written."
"I'm looking forward to what's coming next."
"Everyone has the right to write Chapter 10, because Chapter 10 represents the correct future. The correct future is not decided by one person. If everyone can write Chapter 10 in their own mind, then it will always be
There will be a correct answer." Verak said his opinion, "This is also something I only realized later."
Keating stared at the serious Verak.
Verak was thinking a lot, holding up "On Equality" which Keating had transcribed: "I think I might be able to write Chapter 10 for them, a kind of future in my mind."