Chapter 407 Everyone Is Selfish

After the combat meeting, Su Mo drove the Black Ark alone and returned to Crescent City overnight.

Recalling the first time he entered Crescent City, he saw the wonders of a high-tech city. Although he could see the depression buried under the brilliance of the city when he looked closely, it was still very prosperous overall.

But now, there is only the depression caused by the war.

The victory of the Iron Sun Battle did give a shot in the arm to those who wanted to resist the World Government and giant companies. They were all encouraged.

But encouragement cannot be eaten.

Under the previous war policy of the World Government, the social operation structure was severely damaged.

The factories that were supposed to produce synthetic food had their civilian equipment replaced and produced military guns and bullets.

The strategic reserves were severely emptied. The reserve food that was originally enough for the entire city's people to eat for a year was withdrawn by the military and transported to the front line early.

Even the most basic resource - manpower - was squeezed out of shape.

A large number of healthy young and middle-aged people were forced to join the mobilization army, and the population structure of the entire Crescent City was already out of balance.

All these factors added fuel to the fire of the Crescent City's predicament.

Even if the city was indeed under control under the mutiny initiated by Schenkov, it would probably take more than a day or two to restore normal operations.

Su Mo drove the hovercraft at a low altitude near the ground. Looking around, the streets were full of rubble and gravel, all traces of the previous fierce battle between the security forces and the Shangting Guards.

The once prosperous commercial street was left with only ruins destroyed by artillery fire. The walls of many buildings were full of bullet holes, and some had completely collapsed, leaving only a few broken steel bars exposed.

The vegetation and trees on both sides of the road withered and broke, leaving only bare trunks and a few dead branches shivering in the cold wind, and occasionally a few dead leaves were blown up by the wind and flew away in a spiral.

A metropolis like Crescent City should be a city that never sleeps, with bright lights and nightlife every night, but now the streets are deserted, without the roar of vehicles or the hustle and bustle of the crowd, only refugees can be seen everywhere.

In the corner of the alley, a mother was carrying her dying child on her back, her face was full of dried tears and dust, and she was looking for leftovers next to the trash can.

But she was destined to be disappointed.

In the current environment, food is more precious than diamonds.

The only people who can still have enough food and clothing are probably the rich people who have underground storage rooms.

Ordinary people can only eat the relief food that the city council distributes every day, which is not enough to eat. Everyone is eager to suck off the crumbs that fall on their clothes.

Leftovers? Almost non-existent.

Even if there are, the leftovers in a trash can like this one that has been turned over by many people have long been picked up by others.

In the end, the mother only found an old coat from the trash can, which was full of holes and looked like a rag.

She shook it and wrapped it tightly around the child, trying to give him some warmth, but the cold wind of late winter still blew in mercilessly through the hole.

The child's face was as pale as paper, and he was shivering from the cold. There was no light in his eyes that should be at this age, and he just looked at the night sky numbly.

A small square, which used to be a leisure place for the surrounding residents to take a walk after dinner, is now seriously damaged.

The statues on the square have collapsed, broken stones are scattered all over the ground, and the fountain pool is full of sewage and garbage.

A dozen refugees sat around a makeshift bonfire, burning all kinds of garbage they picked up to keep warm. The firelight reflected their faces and fatigue, and their eyes reflected the jumping flames, but they seemed to see no hope.

An old man who had been out came back and took out a few bags of dry bread from his pocket. It was the relief food just distributed by the city council.

Several men and women wanted to run over to take it, but the old man covered the bread with his hands and shook his head, pointing to the young children, indicating that the children should eat first.

The men and women retreated with their throats swallowed, and the children trotted over to take the bread and ate it voraciously.

There was a child who was obviously skinny, but he did not take the initiative to take the food. He sat alone in the corner with his head down. He might have autism or other intellectual disabilities.

He was holding a stone he had picked up, carving circles on the ground, and then drawing straight lines radiating outward around the circles.

It was a sun that illuminated the darkness.

The destruction brought by the war was everywhere, and every corner of Crescent City was full of pain, but in those ruins, people of all kinds could still be seen surviving tenaciously, waiting for the dawn that would come at an unknown time.

Su Mo took a floating car across the city and first went to the municipal building in the municipal center.

In the past, the municipal center belonged to the office area of ​​the city council, and outsiders could not enter casually unless they had an official appointment.

But after Schenkov took power completely, he opened this urban area to the outside world and vacated all non-essential office facilities to accommodate refugees.

For example, large conference rooms that are used less than twice a year, and oversized office buildings built for image projects, are empty anyway, so it is better to let people live in them.

Although it is impossible to accommodate everyone, as many people as possible will be accommodated.

Moreover, Schenkov has a good grasp of human nature. He knows that it is not the lack of people that is worrying, but the inequality.

If whoever comes first is accommodated, there will inevitably be dissatisfaction and chaos.

Therefore, he only accommodates vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, infants, and the disabled, so that the facilities can be maximized and countless gossips can be reduced.

Schenkov learned of Sumo's arrival at this time and quickly came out to greet him. The two brothers who had formed a deep friendship in the past years shook hands vigorously and bumped shoulders.

Schenkov said excitedly: "Well won the Battle of Tieyang, it was such a beautiful fight!"

Su Mo smiled and shook his head: "It doesn't have much to do with me. The main reason is that Wolf Raid's players are so strong that they managed to fight the whole game without collapse. Then Dong Zai defeated Ichiro Aso again, and that's why he won so quickly."

Schenkov burst out laughing: "After all these years, what surprises me the most is this girl Dongdong. I think she was a street gangster back then, but now she has become the mainstay of everyone."

"One of my subordinates told me two days ago that he had arrested Dongdong a few years ago and had her prosthetic arm taken away, and he was spat on by her. I don't know if this was true or if the kid was bragging. Ha ha."

After exchanging a few words of greetings, the two got back to the topic.

Su Mo asked: "How is the situation here in Crescent City?"

Schenkov: "The seizure of power went very smoothly. The prosthetic bodies that your engineers will hand-create based on the "human documents" in the future are really amazing, and their quality is not inferior to the genuine products of the Iron-Blooded Alliance. "

"The blood code mixture is the same as the blood-activating factor. The carriers can practice it very quickly."

"After Counter-Violence Section 4 kills the Shangting Guards, the city is completely under our control, but..."

Having said this, he couldn't help but sigh: "The situation is not as optimistic as imagined. There are more than 30 million people in Crescent City, which is more than 30 million mouths."

"Strategic material reserves have long since bottomed out. It will take time to convert various military production lines to civilian use, and urban reconstruction is not a matter of a day or two."

"And the more times like this come, the more unpredictable people's hearts become. Even though everyone was united when Charles was executed, once the excitement was over, petty theft, burning, killing, looting, etc. all appeared. In short, it was very chaotic."

Su Mo smiled, with some deep meaning in his eyes, and said, "People are all the same. They have good and bad sides."

"Governing a city is already so difficult. What does it take to govern a world? Sometimes it's really hard to imagine."

Schenkov joked: "Hey, don't imitate Zhao Yiming who opened the champagne at halftime. We haven't won a full victory yet."

Su Mo was amused and laughed after hearing this.

Schenkov continued to ask: "What are your next plans, and what do you need from me?"

Su Mo shook his head: "Don't worry about the war, just leave it to me. Just take good care of Crescent City, resume production as soon as possible, organize city reconstruction, and don't let anything big happen here again."

Schenkov: "No problem, I will take care of it."

After the meeting with Schenkov, Sumer set out to return to Edge Towers.

Most of the fringe mercenaries have gone to Tieyang, but there are still enough people left in the building, and they are all trustworthy elite members.

On the one hand, beheading tactics must be guarded against.

Although Crescent City is far away from the front line and the defense system of the Edge Building is complete, if it is not fully protected, the enemy will send a small group of secret troops to attack here.

If this happens, someone needs to protect the safety of the companions in the rear. Even if they cannot be defeated, they must cover their evacuation as soon as possible.

On the other hand, to put it harshly, the main thing to guard against is the "people around you" in Crescent City.

When Su Mo returned to the Edge Building, a lot of people gathered outside, estimated to be several hundred, all of whom were displaced refugees in the city.

The mercenary guards blocked the door with weapons, while KK was talking to them anxiously.

"It really doesn't work. Those are the ones we use internally and we can't tell them apart."

"Please, give us something to eat, we are really hungry!"

"I understand your feelings, but we also have our own people to take care of here."

"You have so much supplies, it won't do anything to share any of them with us!"

"Really can not."

"Please! Just think of it as a good thing!"

Just when KK was surrounded by a crowd, Su Mo appeared.

"Brother!" Seeing Su Mo back safely, KK was overjoyed and breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Mo walked up the steps, glanced at the refugees below, and asked KK: "What's wrong?"

KK lowered his voice and said helplessly: "Don't we have supplies in our building all year round? These people want us to give them some."

A woman holding a child below begged: "Captain Su, we know you are a good person, please share some food with us!"

Su Mo shook his head: "Sorry, I can't give it to you."

The woman asked anxiously: "Why? You obviously have so many things."

Su Mo: "If I give you supplies, when the news gets out, a bunch of people will come and ask me for it. So what do you think, should I give it to you or not?"

"Here, even if I distribute all the supplies in the building, I still can't give them to everyone."

"If I don't give it, they will accuse me of favoritism and have unreasonable hatred towards me. I don't want to be a good person and still get scolded."

The minds of these refugees were moving very fast. Someone took the lead and shouted: "We keep it secret and will never tell anyone! Whoever says anything about going out will have his whole family killed! Is that right, everyone?"

Whether it was a genuine oath or a perfunctory one, the refugees responded one after another and promised not to tell anyone about it.

Su Mo smiled helplessly: "It still doesn't work. As KK said, these supplies are collected by ourselves. We have our own people to take care of. We can't provide more help to others now."

“But we are really hungry!” The woman took the child out and said, “Look at my son, he is so hungry that there is no flesh on his face. Please help us.”

Su Mo still shook his head: “The various aid points set up by the city council will distribute relief food. Each person will receive a fixed amount every day. Although it is true that we cannot eat enough, at least we will not starve to death.”

“I am sorry to say this - please be patient for now, don’t ask too much, just survive for now.”

After that, Su Mo did not talk to the refugees anymore, and took KK to the inside of the building, leaving the mercenary guarding the door there.

The woman saw Su Mo leaving like this, and she was anxious, and her mouth said without thinking: “Why are you so selfish!”

Su Mo stopped where he was.

The originally noisy scene suddenly fell into silence, leaving only a few whispers.

Someone quietly pulled the woman’s clothes and reminded her in a low voice: “Captain Su is helping us fight, how can you say that to him.”

The people around him also echoed.

"Yes, it's wrong to say that."

"Giving is a favor, not giving is a duty, how can it be said to be selfish."

"You should apologize quickly."

Were these words from the heart?

Or was she just worried about angering Su Mo?

It is unknown.

The woman realized her slip of the tongue and lowered her head to apologize to Su Mo: "I'm sorry, Captain Su, I was too anxious just now and didn't think before I spoke."

Su Mo turned around and looked at everyone.

Everyone had imagined many situations.

The worst case is that Su Mo got angry and said how hard it was to fight in the front and how he would be scolded by you when he came back, and scolded them.

In this case, don't say anything, just disperse quickly. Being scolded is nothing, if he quits in anger, they will still be unlucky.

It is also possible that the woman's words were very successful, and Su Mo really changed his mind and was willing to distribute supplies to everyone, which is naturally the best.

However, Su Mo's reaction at this time was a little unexpected.

He was not angry, nor did he agree. He just smiled bitterly at everyone: "To be honest, there are indeed sufficient supplies in the Edge Building. If we secretly take them out and share them, there will be no serious consequences."

"The main reason why I didn't give it to my companions is that I want to maintain the quality of life of my companions. Even in this turbulent period, I still want them to have a decent life and not live in embarrassment."

"The lady is right. I am very selfish."

"But humans are selfish. When encountering anything, they think first about themselves and the people around them. That's why there are so many injustices and sufferings in this world."

At this point, Su Mo's smile became complicated, and he said faintly: "I am not a god, I am just an ordinary person." (End of this chapter)