At this point, the professor's voice suddenly became despondent.
"That's what I originally envisioned… But five years ago, your father gradually shut down some of the White Room's research. He stopped conducting new rounds of infant selection, and the children who hadn't grown up yet and were under ten years old were all sent out of the research institute and returned to their parents."
"In the end, he only kept over two hundred students who could be called successes, continuing their education and training, while all other research came to a halt."
"I was furious and went to ask him why. He told me that from the very beginning, he had never thought about changing the world or anything like that. All of his actions were solely to achieve his own goals!"
The professor spoke, getting angry himself, and punched the bookshelf to vent his frustration.
"Changing the world through education was just my wishful thinking. Your father only used me to achieve his ambition and never intended to continue investing in research at the White Room!"
Ayanokoji watched him silently. After a while, feeling that he had calmed down and his anger had subsided, he finally asked, "...Professor, are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
The Professor smiled, "That's an old story, but it still makes me angry whenever I think of it."
"Then what exactly was the purpose of father establishing the White Room research institute?"
The Professor calmed down and slowly exhaled.
"I only found out later. Your father was originally a member of the Diet, a former prime ministerial candidate. Although more than twenty years have passed, he still hasn't given up and still wants to compete for that position."
"The Japanese Diet Law has two most basic provisions: first, the elected Prime Minister must obtain the approval of more than half of the Diet members; second, if the House of Representatives approves the elected Prime Minister, and it is rejected by the House of Councillors, the vote result of the House of Representatives shall prevail. This means that as long as more than half of the seats in the House of Representatives are controlled, it is equivalent to controlling the government.
In other words, to become Prime Minister, one needs to occupy more seats in the Diet and gain more support."
"Your father failed at this step before. To make a comeback, he learned from his painful experience and invested all his assets into the [White Room] project."
Diet members in Japan are elected by secret ballot, one vote at a time, by residents aged 18 and over with voting rights in their constituencies, with the highest vote-getter winning.
Among the candidates for Diet members, besides some ordinary people who wish to run without party support, most are candidates nominated by various political parties.
To contend for one Diet member seat, there are often more than a dozen candidates participating in the election, so the competition is extremely fierce. To gain the support of voters, a lot of money and time are required, and in the end, only a few lucky ones can become Diet members.
The Professor said with anguish, "Kiyotaka, do you know what your father's idea is? He wants these artificial geniuses from the White Room to run for Diet members!"
"Compared to ordinary people, or even candidates nominated by political parties, they have countless advantages. As long as your father helps build momentum behind the scenes, once they run for election with their many halos, there's a very high probability they will be elected as Diet members."
"The Prime Minister of Japan is not elected by popular vote, but by a vote of Diet members.
Your father has over two hundred such elite geniuses under him. If they participate in elections, with their advantages, at least half of them will be elected as Diet members.
How many Diet seats are there in total? Coupled with the factions that support your father, it can be said that once his plan is achieved, at least one-third of the Diet seats in the entire country will be in his hands!"
"Kiyotaka, this is why I had a disagreement with your father. These children were painstakingly cultivated under my watchful eyes, but he wants them to enter politics to achieve his ambition!"
The Professor excitedly gripped Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's hand and passionately declared in a loud voice, "Kiyotaka, I don't want to see an ambitious person like your father become Prime Minister. I don't want the country to fall into his hands!
Kiyotaka, help me, for my sake, and for the children trained in the White Room, as well as those who were failures!"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not doubt the Professor's words.
Because he had also been wondering how his father intended to become Prime Minister, and now the Professor had provided the answer.
So, his father wanted to do it this way... using those genius youths, making them Diet members, and then having them cast their votes for him?
To cultivate a child who could become a Diet member, who knows how many "failures" there would be. However, once this idea was realized, his father would no longer need to curry favor with other factions; he could form a new ruling party himself and replace everyone with his own people.
Then, the Diet would become his personal domain, and he would truly become the one who had the final say.
This idea was too radical and crazy. If it weren't for the Professor, who was directly involved, Ayanokoji didn't know how long it would take him to realize this level.
He invested all his resources in the artificial genius project, betting everything. Didn't he consider that if it failed, all his assets would be wasted?
He couldn't have not thought about it; he was gambling, gambling that he could complete the plan before his assets ran out, gambling that these artificial geniuses could grow into Diet members...
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka at this moment couldn't help but admire his cheap old man, Ayanokoji Fugang. He was an out-and-out gambler—he gambled with the lives of countless people, and he gambled with everything he had.
"Kiyotaka, can you help me? I've told you everything."
The Professor looked at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka with hopeful eyes, "Now only you can help us and stop your father's atrocities!"
"One more question."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shook his head and asked, "...Then what role does Ayanokoji Kiyotaka play in this? Since father has prepared everything, why is he so fixated on him? And you all, why are you also fixated on him?"
The Professor was speechless.
"If you don't tell me, I won't help you," Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said.
"I'll tell you."
As if making a huge decision, the Professor said, "Your brother, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, is the most outstanding genius in the White Room, and... he is your father's bloodline. Your father has placed extremely high hopes on him, cultivating him to become Prime Minister."
"Since father prepared so much, why doesn't he become Prime Minister himself, and instead cultivate Kiyotaka?"
"Although your father has many supporters, as a Prime Minister, or even as a leader of a faction, he is unqualified—his ability is insufficient, and he cannot become Prime Minister and govern a country.
In the Diet, there is still a considerable number of Diet members who genuinely care about the country. They will choose someone they believe can lead the country, not simply vote for personal gain.
Even in the best-case scenario, if more than half of the artificial geniuses from the White Room become Diet members, it's still only one-third. The votes of these swing voters are the most crucial.
Therefore, if he wants to gain the power of the Prime Minister, he must be fully prepared and have someone as a fallback, to become Prime Minister in his place.
He needs a tool that he can control and whose ability far surpasses his own—that is Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka perfectly meets his requirements; not only is he the strongest in the White Room, but he is also his biological son. If Kiyotaka becomes Prime Minister, it's no different from him becoming Prime Minister... Do you understand your brother's importance now?"
The Professor looked at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka meaningfully.
As expected... Ayanokoji nodded to himself.
He had felt it before, that Kiyotaka definitely held a very important position in his father's plan; otherwise, he wouldn't be so fixated, even tricking him into going to Private Hyakkaou Academy just to make him hesitant.
"...Kiyotaka, are you willing to help us now?"
"How do you want me to help you?" Ayanokoji asked.
Seeing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka relent, the Professor's eyes instantly lit up: "Kiyotaka, we don't need you to do too much. We are already collecting evidence and preparing to sue your father for disregarding human rights and secretly conducting human experiments on thousands of infants.
As long as you are willing to testify in court as a witness, we are confident we can bring down your father!"
"...Is that what you want me to do?" Ayanokoji fell silent.
"Exactly!"
The Professor nodded repeatedly. Seeing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's expression turn a bit displeased, he quickly added, "You don't need to worry too much. As long as you are willing to appear in court, we will protect you and your brother's safety.
Even if your father is convicted and imprisoned, we will give you a large sum of money, enough for you two brothers to live on!"
...Asking me to be a witness to accuse my own father, does this person want me to be a filial son?
"Professor, why would you think I'd agree to do something like that?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shook his head, his tone calm as he said, "You've got the wrong person."
Was he an idealist?
Why would he think he would betray his father and act righteously to destroy his family?
Even if Ayanokoji Fugang installed surveillance at home and restricted his freedom, as a father, he provided Ayanokoji with ample living expenses and never hit or scolded him. To be fair, he treated Ayanokoji quite well.
Although Ayanokoji was cautious when interacting with him and wanted to stay away from him, it was only a desire to stay away, nothing more.
Even if he had done many wrong things, enough to be sent to prison, it wasn't Ayanokoji's place to report him.
The smile on the Professor's face gradually vanished. He lost his patience, his face turning as cold as frost: "Kiyotaka, since you're unwilling to help us, don't blame me for not giving you a chance..."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's heart sank. It seemed the Professor was ready to show his true colors.
As he spoke, the henchmen moved, rubbing their fists and palms, a sinister grin on their faces as they intended to teach Ayanokoji Kiyotaka a lesson.
His earplugs were completely useless, weren't they?
Before he could complain, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka raised the phone from his pocket and shouted, "Don't move! I've already called the police!"
At the same time, the room door was kicked open from the outside.
A majestic girl holding a silver-white revolver pointed it at the henchman's back and loudly reprimanded, "Don't move! I have a gun! Stay away from my boyfriend!"
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