The Brain Science Case 142p2

Chapter 142: The Blazing Fire (Part 1) – 12 -2 (End)

The internal wiring of the bomb had been almost completely cleared, but the counter was still counting down, and at the innermost part, there were only two wires left, one white and one black.

“There’s only a black one and a white one left.”

‘Very good. Next is your choice.’

“What do you mean?”

‘You’re a neuroscientist. You must have heard of the “trolley problem,” right?’

Yingli was taken aback. “Of course.”

“What… what problem?” perhaps because he was too uneasy, Shi Jingde couldn’t help but interject.

“Simply put, it’s a classic dilemma. It was originally designed by the philosophers Philippa Foot and Judith Jarvis Thomson. The problem is this—a runaway trolley is heading toward five people. If it continues on this path, all five people will die. The only way is for someone on the trolley to pull a switch and divert the trolley to another track, which will only sacrifice one person and save the other five. If it were you, would you choose to sacrifice one person to save five?” Yingli quickly explained this classic dilemma. “Is this the problem you’re talking about, Auntie?”

‘As expected of Yingli, you explained it very well.’

“I think I know what you mean.” She stood up, and she was terrified by Li Yuejiao’s real purpose.

‘Ha, so smart. Come on. There are still two wires left on the bomb. As long as you choose to cut the black wire, the bomb will immediately enter the final thirty-second countdown.’

Yingli’s lips were pressed into a thin line, and Li Yuejiao continued, ‘that’s enough time for you to escape. The bomb will kill Shi Jingde… one of the masterminds who agreed to kill the Gan couple back then, and at the same time, I will release his family. If you choose to cut the white wire, the bomb’s timer will stop, but the result is that I will immediately kill his family.’

Is it to kill Shi Jingde to save the other four innocent family members, or to let him live, but to ignore the fact that his family will be executed? This was Li Yuejiao’s version of the “trolley problem.” “Auntie, you…”

‘Don’t forget, when it enters the last hour, one person will die every fifteen minutes.’ Li Yuejiao gently reminded her, ‘you still have three minutes and thirty seconds to consider.’

“How could you do this? Li Yuejiao… you bastard.”

‘Don’t be so naive. You still think you have a chance to get out of this in one piece.’ Li Yuejiao laughed happily. ‘I’m letting her… the survivor who was left with a broken family because of us, make this choice. I’m already being very merciful to you.’

Holding the receiver, Yingli slowly walked back to Shi Jingde.

‘Yingli, what will you choose? I remember that the reaction of the ventral side of your prefrontal cortex is much weaker than that of an ordinary person. If that’s the case… you should choose the side with the greatest benefit, right?’ Li Yuejiao’s bewitching tone continued to come through. ‘Without the burden of morality and emotional fluctuations, you will choose to cut the black wire, right? You can both kill your enemy and save the other four innocent people. There is no better deal than this.’

Staring at Shi Jingde’s trembling, fat body, Yingli’s face was completely without any emotion.

It was pure coldness.

‘You still have three minutes.’

At this time, the police officer who was hiding behind the sofa kept pointing at his earpiece. Receiving the hint, she turned on her earpiece again.

Fang Zijun’s voice immediately came through. ‘Teacher, time is tight. You listen to me quietly—’

**

Jinglin forcefully pushed away his left hand, and even though her right hand was injured, he still swung his right hand and punched her several times.

She slammed his right hand’s wound. The man lost his balance slightly from the pain, and she rolled away from his grasp, then jumped back in and fought back.

The back of the fishing boat seemed to have a big hole, and the water was coming in faster than she had imagined. The boat was gradually tilting backward, and at this time, the sound of an engine, accompanied by a man’s roar, intervened—

“The boat is already tilted like this. What are you guys doing?”

Jinglin would not forget this voice… it was Wu Jianxiong.

“I’m coming.” the man responded, climbing onto the side of the boat and jumping down. Jinglin grabbed her service pistol and rushed to the side of the boat. Wu Jianxiong, who was driving a speedboat, had already quickly taken the man away. She fired a few shots, but it was useless.

Wu Jianxiong on the boat turned and looked at her from a distance. She gritted her teeth, held on to her last bit of reason, and quickly went back to the cabin door.

The rescue fishing boat sounded its horn, and Chen Huomu’s voice immediately came through her earpiece. ‘Little Zhou, we’re here… how did the boat get so tilted?’

“The bomb at the stern just exploded. The cabin door is locked, and I can’t get in.” Jinglin found a hammer that had been left behind and hit the lock a few times.

Finally, the lock was broken. She squeezed into the cabin, turned on her flashlight, and the three of them were floating in the dim cabin, their hands also tied. The only good thing was that Wu Jianxiong had only locked them in, and had not tied them to a fixed point.

“I found them.”

‘You get them up on deck. Our fishing boat is parked next to it. I’m going to go up and meet them.’

“Roger that.”

Shi Jingde’s wife and Shi Shuxin quickly climbed onto the deck with the help of the light, but the last person was nowhere to be seen.

“Peixin?”

Jinglin shouted a few times, and only then did she hear Shi Shuxin say urgently, “Shi Peixin can’t swim.”

“Can’t swim?”

“Yes, she was holding on to the doorknob just now, and she was also holding back to let us go first… please, you have to save her.”

“I will.” Jinglin quickly took off her suit jacket, and in just her shirt and pants, she swam into the cold seawater. Through the faint light of the flashlight, she finally found Shi Peixin floating in the cabin.

Shi Peixin was weakly paddling her hands, and it seemed she only had a little bit of consciousness left. Jinglin knew that a drowning person would grab whatever they could, so she carefully went around behind her and held her, and then she swam up with all her might.

But the pull of the sinking fishing boat was getting stronger and stronger, and the water from the bottom of the boat was constantly squeezing the remaining air. The cabin door was right in front of her, but she just couldn’t reach it, and her lung capacity was also gradually reaching its limit.

At that moment, a splash of water came from above. Jinglin vaguely heard someone tell her to “grab the rope.”

That was Chen Huomu’s voice.

**

After listening to Fang Zijun’s explanation, Yingli took a deep breath.

‘What’s wrong? Is this decision so difficult? You still have seventy seconds.’

“I understand.” She pushed up her glasses and decisively gave the two police officers an order. “Cut the white wire.”

“Uh, but the hostage…”

“Don’t worry about that. Just do it.”

The two police officers gripped the diagonal cutters, closed their eyes, and cut the white wire Yingli had indicated—the countdown finally stopped, at one hour and fifty-eight seconds.

“D-Did it stop?” Shi Jingde asked, still in shock.

After a few seconds of silence, Li Yuejiao, as if she had just woken up from a shock, said, ‘I’m very surprised… you actually chose to let him go. The killer you’ve been looking for is right in front of you.’

“You probably haven’t received the news yet. Your people have already acted. But with Officer Zhou’s active rescue, the mother and her four children have all survived.”

‘What…’

“It’s a shame for you, to have gone to such lengths to design such a dilemma for me.” Even though her palms were sweaty, Yingli still rested her chin on her hand and looked at the surveillance camera in the corner of the ceiling. “Unfortunately, you were defeated by your own daughter.”

Li Yuejiao was silent, and the two police officers then began to untie Shi Jingde.

“Ah… are my wife and children okay?” seeing Yingli nod, Shi Jingde finally smiled with relief, “thank goodness.”

“You can finally understand the pain of losing a family member, can’t you?”

Under Yingli’s gaze, his smile instantly froze on his lips.

“The one who saved your family is Officer Zhou Jinglin—Li Yuejiao’s daughter. If it weren’t for her risking her life to jump onto the fishing boat, your wife and daughter would have sunk to the bottom of the sea. This is the heroic rescue of the detective of the Criminal Investigation Division you looked down on.”

“I understand… thank you, thank you so much.”

‘Ha, haha…’ the speaker sounded again.

‘I never thought it would turn out like this…’ a series of broken laughter came from the receiver, ‘oh well. Since you didn’t do it, then I’ll do it for you.’

A faint electronic sound came from their ears. Yingli quickly went around to the back of the sofa to check and found that the bomb had started to count down quickly again.

Shi Jingde’s bonds were too tight, and it was undoubtedly impossible to untie them in less than thirty seconds.

“Let’s go. The bomb is about to explode.”

Yingli urged the two police officers to escape. Shi Jingde, after learning the truth, was surprisingly calm.

“On my behalf, at your parents’ grave… say you’re sorry.”

“Ah, although this can’t make up for the crime you’ve committed.” Her lips pursed slightly, and she nodded. “I’ll pass on the message.”

Looking at Yingli’s back as she quickly escaped to the door, Shi Jingde smiled and slowly closed his eyes.

“Everyone… get down.”

Yingli instructed all the police officers at the scene through her earpiece. She turned her back to the door, and the time she had been counting in her head had already reached zero.

A flash of fire, accompanied by a loud bang, erupted.

**

Not far away, Li Yuejiao, who was observing the bomb detonation through a telescope, instructed the “driver” to start the engine with a blank expression.