Chapter 262: The Price of Happiness

On the second day of the trial, the defense summoned the first witness.

When the representative of the Crystal Singers civilization stepped onto the witness stand, the courtroom light seemed to soften by a third. It—or rather, 'she'—had a body composed of countless tiny crystals, emitting a wind‑chime‑like soft sound with each breath (if that could be called breathing). This was the standard physical sign after taking the Worry‑free Seed: the body crystallized, and emotional frequency stabilized in the 'pleasure band'.

The Pure‑3 light sphere guided: "Please describe how your civilization changed after using the Worry‑free Seed."

The Crystal Singers emitted a pleasant frequency, translated into the common language: "We were once an anxious civilization. Each individual worried whether the crystal structure was perfect, whether the tone was pure. This anxiety consumed 43% of our mental energy."

Her body surface glowed with a warm amber halo: "After taking the seed, anxiety disappeared. We accepted that 'the existing crystal is the most beautiful,' and ceased endless self‑optimization. Now we have more time to admire the starry sky, create music, and enjoy existence itself."

The courtroom data screen simultaneously displayed the 'Happiness Index Rise Curve': it jumped from 62 to 97, stabilizing above 95 for two years.

In the gallery, several juror civilization representatives' body colors noticeably brightened—this was the effect of being persuaded by the data.

After a fifteen‑minute recess, Lao Zhao did not leave his seat. He took out his wife's mediation notebook, flipped to the middle page. The corner of that page had a tea stain, the handwriting blurred somewhat, but still legible:

"The hardest thing to mediate is not who is right or wrong, but 'the wrong person feeling happy.'"

He closed the notebook and began to tidy the loose thread on his left cuff. This time he did not wrap it around the button, but took out a small safety pin from the side pocket of his briefcase—left by his wife, its head a tiny plum blossom.

As he pinned the thread end into the lining, he felt his shoulder sink slightly. It was not pressure, but the braided branch of a grafted sapling had at some point extended into the courtroom, weaving an almost invisible transparent net‑like structure on his shoulder—like an invisible mediation robe.

Su Yu sent a message through an encrypted channel: "The data show that the Crystal Singers' 'creativity index' dropped 71% after their happiness rose. But they argue, 'We no longer need to be anxious about creation.'"

Lao Zhao replied: "I understand. But in court we cannot rely solely on data."

He unscrewed the thermos; the tea had cooled completely. Fifty degrees—just right for the throat. He sipped slowly, his eyes on the warm amber halo above the witness stand.

Happiness is real. Ease is also real.

Then what are they arguing about?

The trial resumed, and it was the judges' turn to ask questions.

Lao Zhao didn't look at the data screen; he gazed at the Crystal Singers and spoke calmly: "May I ask, do you still modify your crystal structure now?"

"No longer." the Crystal Singers replied happily, "We have accepted that perfection exists in the present."

"But what if one day the external environment changes, say the temperature rises, and your crystal structure is no longer stable?"

The courtroom fell silent for a moment.

The Crystal Singers' halo flickered slightly: "The Worry‑free Realm will regulate the environment, keeping it stable."

"What if the regulation fails?"

"Well..." her frequency hesitated for the first time, "We would enter the 'Eternal Tranquility State'—transferred to the Memory Archive before the crystal disintegrates, to exist forever in our happiest memory form."

Lao Zhao nodded, took out a small object from his briefcase—not evidence, but a piece of quartz he had picked up from the ruins, its surface bearing natural cracks.

"This stone," he placed it on the judge's bench, "is also perfect in the 'present state.' But it does not adjust itself when the temperature changes. Because it lacks the 'desire to continue existing.'"

He lifted his head, his gaze cutting through the courtroom's uniform light: "Your happiness is obtained by giving up the desire to adjust. Right?"

The Crystal Singers fell silent for five seconds. During those five seconds, her amber halo dimmed slightly.

"Yes." she finally said, "But we are willing. Anxiety is too exhausting."

"I understand." Lao Zhao pocketed the quartz, "Thank you for your honesty."

In the gallery, the few civilization representatives who had just brightened darkened again.

The second witness was the Mist Walkers civilization, a gaseous lifeform. After taking the Worry‑free Seed, their misty bodies stably display a rainbow‑like gradient.

"We no longer worry about 'uncertain form.'" the Mist Walker representative's voice echoed like a distant reverberation: "Once, each individual fretted over what shape they might expand into the next second. Now we possess a stable and beautiful form."

Pure‑3 displayed a set of comparative images: before use, a gray, hazy mist with blurred edges; after use, a clear‑outlined, vividly colored cloud.

"Very beautiful." Lao Zhao said, then asked, "Do you still dream now?"

The question was abrupt. The Mist Walker representative paused: "Dream?"

"According to your civilization's records, before taking the seed, each individual had three to five 'form‑change dreams' per night—trying various form possibilities in the dream. This is the main source of your creation of new forms."

The Mist Walker representative's color flow slowed: "After taking the seed…… we sleep very soundly. We no longer dream."

"So the ability to create new forms has stopped?"

"But we no longer need new forms!" the Mist Walker representative's frequency spiked, a discordant gray‑white appearing in the rainbow: "Our current form is beautiful enough! Why must we constantly pursue 'new'?"

Lao Zhao did not rebut, merely nodded and made a note in the notebook before him.

In the gallery, Su Yu saw what Lao Zhao had written:

"Not that we don't want to, but that we cannot."

The third witness changed the atmosphere of the entire court.

"Bone‑corroding Vine" civilization representative—a plant‑wise intelligent life. After taking the Worry‑free Seed, they stopped the annual 'painful molt' (a necessary growth stage), and their bodies remain forever in the most flourishing state.

"We can finally break free from the eternal pain cycle." the Bone‑corroding Vine representative's voice carried mechanical pleasure, "Pain has no meaning; it is merely evolutionary debris."

But when he displayed the data chart showing the 'molt pain index' at zero, Lao Zhao noticed a detail: in the corner of the chart was a line almost hidden—a note reading: "Along with the disappearance of pain come: new tissue generation rate down 100%, genetic information update halted, environmental adaptation ability frozen."

Lao Zhao raised his hand: "May I ask, can you still reproduce?"

The Bone‑corroding Vine representative stalled. For a full ten seconds he gave no answer.

The Pure‑3 light sphere flickered: "Your Honor, this question involves civilizational privacy—"

"It pertains to the core of the case." Lao Zhao interjected, his voice still even, "The Worry‑free Seed promises 'happiness,' but if a civilization heads toward extinction while happy, is that happiness still 'harmless'?"

He looked at the Bone‑corroding Vine representative: "You may decline to answer. But please consider: if your child—assuming you could still have children—were destined from birth to be unable to adapt to any environmental change, able to live only in the constant environment created by the seed…… is that happiness, or imprisonment?"

The Bone‑corroding Vine representative's leaves began to move without wind. That motion was not a pleasant sway, but…… a tremor.

He finally spoke, and the mechanical pleasure in his voice showed its first crack:

"We…… have had no new sprouts for three years."

The courtroom fell dead silent.

On the data screen, that hidden line was requested by Lao Zhao to be forcibly displayed on the large screen:

"Warning: Long‑term use will cause permanent loss of reproductive function. This cost is already stated in the fine print of clause 74 of the purchase agreement."

At recess, Xiao Yu's emergency message was sent to the Earth Base:

"Juror emotions are fluctuating wildly! Seven civilization representatives are looking up the full terms of the 'Worry‑free Seed Purchase Agreement'! But the conservatives have activated the 'Emotion Soothing Agreement'—the concentration of worry‑free frequency inside the courtroom is rising!"

The screen showed: around the jury seats, the air faintly rippled with a rainbow-colored halo. That was the 'joy infection field' released by the carefree seed, intended to offset the impact of negative testimony.

Worse still, when Han Qing used the Balance Scale Fruit to weigh the 'weight of the third testimony,' the scale suddenly jammed!

In the left pan, the light dot representing the 'Bone-Eroding Vine Testimony' was astonishingly heavy, but the right pan——the dew drop representing the 'actual existing weight'——began to show fine cracks on its surface.

"The testimony is too heavy..." Han Qing's forehead beaded with sweat, "It's crushing the existing good memories! I must stop weighing!"

But the scale wouldn't stop. Black substance overflowed from the left pan, beginning to corrode the entire fruit's surface.

Su Yu immediately activated the emergency plan: via the plant network, she transmitted GuiHuaYuan's nascent civilization's 'pain barrier frequency' to Han Qing, adding it as a counterweight to the right pan.

The scale barely regained balance, but Han Qing's chest scar garden felt a sharp sting——on the surface of the ninth fruit, a fine but permanent crack had appeared.

"The daily usage limit may have to be reduced to two times." Aili's face grew solemn after checking, "The fruit itself is also bearing the weight."

Returning to the temporary lodgings at night, Lao Zhao didn't look at any legal documents. He sat by the window, placing the cracked quartz stone in his palm and examining it under the light.

Within the cracks, fine mineral crystals glittered with tiny points of light under the illumination.

Su Yu handed him hot tea: "Today you made them see many things they didn't want to see."

"Not enough." Lao Zhao took the teacup without drinking, "They see the 'price.' But they haven't yet seen…… why, even knowing there is a price, they still choose."

Outside the window, the lights of the Cosmic Memory Archive shone like a galaxy.

In the distance, through the windows of the jury's rest area, several civilization representatives could be seen engaged in heated discussion. Some had their body colors flickering anxiously, while others stubbornly retained the constant warm hue bestowed by the carefree seed.

Lao Zhao put the quartz stone back into his pocket and spoke softly:

"Tomorrow, it's time to let them see how those who didn't eat the seed…… live with cracks."