RITW 15: Ecological Ethics Foundation

No matter what Sun Min thought, Zhang Sanxi was both startled and angry. She fought back, shouting, “Get away from me! Stay away!”

The person holding her seemed unable to tolerate such treatment and actually let go of Zhang Sanxi. It was only then that Zhang Sanxi could clearly see the person’s face: this “person” appeared male, with his facial skin disconnected from the neck, revealing gray muscles that contracted with each breath. His features protruded in an indescribably eerie manner.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Sanxi exclaimed, “You have gills!”

“What’s wrong with having gills? Did I steal your rice?” The fish-like man immediately retorted, his throat sounding as if it contained clay. “I kindly saved you, and not only did you hit me, but you also discriminate against me!”

Zhang Sanxi replied, “You forcibly brought me here and injured my companion. Hitting you was me being lenient!”　

“I saved you!” The fish-like person argued back. “I saw you being taken hostage by those two men to look for supplies. If I knew you’d cause so much trouble, I wouldn’t have bothered saving you from that group of green-tagged men.”

“I don’t need your help!” Zhang Sanxi’s anger subsided slightly. “Just take me back.”

The fish-like person sneered, and his facial features contorted in an extremely ugly manner. He said, “They haven’t come for you after all this time. Maybe they don’t want you anymore.”

“What are you trying to say?” Zhang Sanxi asked.

The fish-like person replied, “Madam, are you interested in learning about our mission, our self-preservation, and the only way to save humanity—the Ecological Ethics Foundation? Join us, enjoy member privileges, and have the chance to receive generous rewards!”

Zhang Sanxi was astonished. “So you’re selling memberships?”

In fact, their encounter with the Ecological Ethics Foundation here was not coincidental. The foundation had recently intercepted the shelter’s frequency, and it was only possible because they were relatively close to the residential area. The hospital’s intact structure and its emergency equipment made it an inevitable choice for the foundation as a temporary base.

　　

“I’m not interested,” Zhang Sanxi said calmly, intending to gather information. “Do you have more people than us?”

“Dealing with your group of green tag people is not a problem,” the fish-like man replied.

Ignoring the provocation, Zhang Sanxi asked, “Do you receive good treatment?”

“In the continuous heavy rain right now, we’ve found a dry place. As long as we follow the rules, we have basic provisions for clothing, food, shelter, and transportation. There’s no distinction in abilities among us; we all carry the same guilt,” the fish-like man said.

Zhang Sanxi quipped, “I haven’t committed any crimes.”

The fish-like man replied, “In fact, you have. As long as you’re a human, you’re guilty. Humans were once at the top of the food chain, the wisest beings with transcendent intelligence. Therefore, humans have an ecological ethical obligation to the entire environment. Humans have a duty to protect the environment and care for animals and plants. The food humans take from nature should be moderate. Unlimited consumption is humanity’s original sin.”

Zhang Sanxi remained silent as the fish-like man continued, “Because we are guilty, we deserve to bear all of this. These monsters are the punishment bestowed upon us. We should endure, not resist. When the apocalypse comes, we should strive to save the entire ecosystem rather than just ourselves. When the calamity monsters reclaim our lives, our sins will be washed away as well.”

“I would never beg for death,” Zhang Sanxi said, “Why don’t you go and find a monster to come to you?”

“There’s no conflict in letting nature take its course with our great path to redemption,” the fish-like man even made a hand gesture, “We, too, seek survival, but we do so within certain limits.”

Zhang Sanxi couldn’t comprehend the other party’s remarks. Now she had retreated step by step to the edge of the railing, where she could easily escape into the water by flipping over. However, facing the fish-like man on the other side, whose speed was faster than hers, she didn’t know what Yu Qunqing could do. She hoped that Yu Qunqing wouldn’t choose to electrify the entire water surface at that moment. Zhang Sanxi already had a deep shadow in her heart.

“Crackle—”

Zhang Sanxi reached back with her hand, thinking the railing behind her had broken. However, the railing was still sturdy.

The fish-like man looked up, and suddenly, a large shadow descended from above, with several familiar figures smashing into his face.

There was a hole in the ceiling, through which Sun Min agilely jumped down while Yu Qunqing descended from the staircase leisurely. Sun Min thought that it was finally time for him to take action. This time, he carefully observed the surroundings and found a relatively weak spot on the floor above, quickly breaking it. Then he lured the fish-like man’s companions over, and sure enough, they were all caught in one fell swoop!

“Ouch!”

“Who stepped on my face!”

The fish man’s side erupted in chaos. After a while, they tremblingly stood back up. They were all wearing tight black wetsuits with small oxygen tanks on their backs.

These individuals were all unattractive in appearance. Zhang Sanxi finally saw clearly that one had two faces—the face on the front was normal, but the back of the head was bald, hiding another face. Another person had a sunken chin, and their mouth extended into an inverted triangular shape, resembling an anteater. There was also a person with thick, doll-like fingertips. These three, along with the fish man, were huddled in a corner, shivering in fear.

Sun Min’s hands were covered in mud, clearly indicating that this was his doing. He held a sharp spike against the fish-like man and said, “See if you dare to cause trouble again!”

The four peculiar-looking people clustered together, making Sun Min appear particularly handsome and righteous.

“Sun Min,” Zhang Sanxi tried to remain rational, “I don’t have any issues with them.” She felt that there might still be a chance for negotiation between both sides.

However, the fish man shouted, “So you’re all in cahoots, trying to trap us! I misjudged the situation!”

Zhang Sanxi replied, “I didn’t intend to trap you; this was just a misunderstanding.” She attempted to explain to Sun Min, “Initially, they thought I was a hostage and tried to rescue me. They… maybe haven’t done anything wrong.”

“What are you saying?” Sun Min gritted her teeth, “Did you forget what happened in the residential building so quickly, Zhang Jie? Kindness now can be betrayed in an instant.”

“It’s not the same…” Zhang Sanxi defended, “We were bullied by the prison boss at the beginning, and we encountered those hateful cannibals in the residential building. But if we kill these mutated people here, what differentiates us from those wicked people?”

The fish man yelled, “You call us mutants and call those heartless people humans. Are we not also human? It’s clear that you discriminate against us.”

Zhang Sanxi said, “But your appearances are just too non-human.”

The anteater-like man replied, “Although I am ugly, I have a beautiful heart.”

Sun Min retorted, “You captured Zhang Jie! Who knows if you’re just trying to gain sympathy? I don’t believe anything you say.”

The three parties spoke their own words, completely on different wavelengths, and seemed ready to start fighting the next second. Zhang Sanxi and Sun Min both looked at Yu Qunqing simultaneously. The members of the Foundation immediately huddled together, trying to gauge the situation. Anyone could see that this person was the one in charge here, not someone to provoke.

Yu Qunqing asked an unrelated question, “Do all of the members you previously recruited look like you?”

The two-faced man nodded then shook his head, “There are still some differences; no one is as unique as I am.”

Yu Qunqing agreed, “Many of you are LV1 ability users.”

“Don’t call us ability users. If I could, I would rather be an ordinary green-tagged person… Even if I died due to a calamity monster, wouldn’t it still be better than looking like a monster?” The fish-like man finally poured out his heart, “I’ve shouted so many times that I am human, but no one listens. Without a human appearance, I am not considered human—I am a monster that can be attacked at will. The shelter… ha, the shelter you all stay in will eventually turn its blades towards you!”

The two-faced man said, “Actually, after mutating, I don’t feel like a human anymore. Although I have memories of human history, human knowledge, and human morality, I find it difficult to identify myself as human. I have two spines, I can see from a 360-degree angle, and my mouth at the back can speak. Of course, I am a monster!”

The anteater-like man also became agitated and said, “If it weren’t for firmly believing that we carry original sin and live to atone for it, I would have considered ending it all.”

After listening to the accounts of these strange-looking “people” Sun Min, in the end, had a hint of compassion and hesitated to take action against them.

The light fell on Yu Qunqing’s face, making him look like a compassionate spirit. He reached out and grasped the slippery webbed hand of the fish man. The fish man was startled, their gills opened wide and their protruding eyeballs seemed about to fall out. It had been a long time since the fish man felt the warmth of another human’s touch. He felt a warm and tingling sensation all over their body, as if an electric current surged through them, and it seemed as if his body was floating among the clouds.

The grip of a human and a non-human form created a scene that was both evil and sacred.

In a low voice, Yu Qunqing said, “I know your pain.”

His tone was extremely gentle, and the fish man dared not even breathe through his mouth, fearing it would disrupt the moment. The anteater-like person behind them slightly raised their elongated mouthpart.

Yu Qunqing continued, “You, yourselves, do not carry original sin. This is not your fault.”

The fishman didn’t shed a tear, but both of the faces of the two-faced man started crying. They couldn’t understand why their emotions were so out of control, but they just wanted to grasp Yu Qunqing’s hand. Yu Qunqing held their hands back, showing no hint of repulsion.

No one noticed the cold sweat on his forehead – he had already exhausted his powers.

The atmospheric lighting was part of his supernatural ability.

The tingling sensation the other party felt was a miniature electric current he had spent a lot of energy creating. The senses of the body and the emotions could deceive each other; if it felt tingling, it was indeed tingling.

As for the content of their conversation…

Because in his past life, Yu Qunqing knew the founder of the Ecological Ethics Foundation.

He was a complete lunatic. Before he died, he told Yu Qunqing how he had deceived the people. He first instilled the concept of “original sin” and then, at the right moment, “forgave” them. The people in the foundation all came rushing to him with tearful eyes. He had a good eye for selecting people, specifically choosing those who were more easily influenced. At present, it’s only been three months since the end of the world so the members of the foundation shouldn’t be too entangled.

Later, the founder revealed his true face and sent each member of the foundation to hell. The rejected abilities users thought they had found a place where they could find solace in each other, but little did they know that what awaited them were cold dissection instruments. The living fish man and two-faced man before them might soon become preserved limbs in formaldehyde or exhibits in a museum.

As the fishman wiped his dry eyes, the atmosphere between them suddenly became harmonious. Initially, Sun Min, who was on guard, also fell silent. The two-faced man didn’t press the matter further. The fishman proposed that they should go to their place to get some essential medicine as compensation for unintentionally hurting them.

Zhang Sanxi believed she fully understood Yu Qunqing’s implication and suggested that they escort them back to their community. Yu Qunqing silently consented to her proposal. The fish man and his group felt confident in their water abilities and, as Yu Qunqing didn’t seem like a bad person, they agreed.

They walked relatively quickly, with Yu Qunqing and Sun Min falling behind.

Sun Min sighed, “Brother Yu… next time, I’ll calmly distinguish whether someone is a good person or a bad person.”

“How could it be so complicated?” Yu Qunqing said, “Just remember, when a person is killed, they will die.”

“Huh?” Sun Min was puzzled.

Yu Qunqing elaborated, “In this environment, it’s challenging to control yourself from resorting to violence. Once emotions run high, someone who argues with you may end up getting killed. If your ability fluctuates too much, a passerby might lose their life. So, when you have an advantage, you must learn to respect life.”

Does morality matter in the apocalypse?

At times, it may not seem necessary, but it is precisely because humanity still remains that there is hope for human society even in the face of a catastrophe.

Sun Min looked at the peculiar and bizarre people ahead and suddenly understood why they all subconsciously listened to Yu Qunqing’s words.

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The author has something to say:

Yu Qunqing: I am actually a good person