Chapter 766 Unexpectedness Is the Normal State of Life (1/2)

House: "Sinking in dreams, perishing in madness... This is probably the most realistic portrayal of the survivors of Dawn City. A fish-selling company was sold to 25 billion silver coins by them, and the entire alliance together did not have that much money. , This is much more expensive than the S coins used to destroy Boulder City!”

"It can be seen that they have not learned the painful lessons of Boulder City at all. Instead, they treat garbage as treasure and hold it in their hands, while the real treasure is treated as garbage and discarded like old shoes."

"The greatness of Boulder City was not because of the chips, but because of the hard-working workers! But the alliance paid those guys... Well, I mean if people have income without working, which fool will still work? They We are using wrong methods to corrupt this group of hard-working people into lazy people and drunkards!”

"Let me put it here. Sooner or later, the alliance will collapse. Those who have silver coins in their pockets will regret it in the end. It will be a matter of time!"

Moderator (applause): "So Mr. House, what do you think is the right thing to do?"

House: "Mr. Sigma is quite good. Although Firestone Group has taken over the most profitable industry in Bugla, that gentleman would not be stupid enough to pay dividends to shareholders... Of course, I mean this is a good thing, Firestone Group The benefits flowed silently into the pockets of everyone in Bugla, giving back to the entire settlement instead of fattening the wallets of a handful of shareholders. The loss-making financial report is the best proof that they have been losing money. , but he has been working hard! Unlike managers who win people's hearts, Mr. Sigma is an unknown philanthropist and a real good person!"

Host (sound of drinking water): "I also think Mr. Sigma did the right thing, but you can't evaluate that gentleman... Okay, our interview ends here. Today's topic is Baiyue Company. Please The next interviewee…”

Soft music played on the radio at the bar, and the host interviewed the next victim of the Boulder City bankruptcy.

The recent events in Dawn City have stung the residents of Bugla. They need to give these children with heart and liver injuries some mental massage to lower their blood pressure.

After all, the Alliance and Bugela are too close. Heaven and Hell are actually in the same province, and there are frequent business contacts between them. It is inevitable that there will be some gossip.

This is true for each other.

For example, now, this broadcast can be heard on the radio in Boulder City.

The residents of Boulder City are all too familiar with that distinctive drake voice.

"Sometimes I don't quite understand... Did this guy really listen to what he said seriously?" The middle-aged man sitting at the dining table eating breakfast made a helpless expression.

Seeing how Mr. House was doing was exactly what he had suggested, but now he regretted changing the channel.

Listening to that guy barking is better than listening to the battle report from the front line. Although the latter is a bit boring, it is not that boring at least.

The waiter who came over with the dinner plate shrugged his shoulders and placed a palm-sized piece of barbecue ribs on the table.

"I don't know, but it looks like we're having another meltdown, since it's morning after all."

"Ha ha ha ha."

The waiter made everyone laugh, and the dining workers burst out laughing, and several of them almost choked.

This is the Walnut Tavern near the industrial area of ​​Boulder City. The old signboard looks like it has some signs of age.

Workers who worked in the cannery used to come here to smoke cigarette butts and drink low-quality wine mixed with water, but now they are used to ordering a 3-silver-coin beef rib before going to work so that they can have enough energy between 8 a.m. and noon. maintain optimal condition.

There are only a few drunkards who get drunk early in the morning. Most people still need to be decent, especially after they have savings and families.

It was only after they had everything that they realized that the so-called quality, elegance, decency and other messy things were not the patent of the nobility at all, but just a series of things woven by those who got something for nothing to suppress them mentally. lie.

They themselves can see it most clearly. After their lives get better, they know more about integrity and etiquette than the old nobles.

At least they will not use money to humiliate their compatriots or ask for privileges that are above the dignity of others.

Although the mainstream media in Bugla Free State are accustomed to calling what happened in Boulder City the "Boulder City Bankruptcy," the residents of Boulder City themselves prefer to call it the "Boulder City Revolution."

For example, House, who was invited to complain on the radio at this moment, was a "victim" of that change.

Looking at the co-workers who were laughing at House, only one person showed a slightly sympathetic look.

When Joey and Lovett led people to occupy the radio station, he was among them. When he let House go, he clearly saw the expression on that guy's face.

"In fact, I don't hate him. That guy is also a pathetic person, and he is even more pathetic now. We were all hamsters in a cage. We finally broke free of the cage and were able to run outside the rollers, but he He panicked and got into the new cage before dawn...I have to admit, we really scared him at the time."

The studio was just another kind of assembly line, and the superior host obviously didn't respect House very much, and it was even less likely that Sigma was praised by him.

The people sitting at the table looked at each other.

"I can't agree with you. At least in my opinion, that guy doesn't deserve sympathy. He never said a good word for us, and he didn't say he was forced to do it until the end. And now it seems that he was also lying at the time. This guy Never reflected on it.”

"That's right, if he really felt that he was wrong, he wouldn't have escaped from here. Isn't there a saying that people who lie are not afraid of their lies being exposed. What they are afraid of is that someone will remember that he lied. And here is everything Everybody remembers it.”

These remarks were recognized by many people, but not all.

"...But because of this, I think it's understandable that he ran away. We have enacted laws, but there are too many people who hate him. Even if we don't persecute him systematically, we can't stop our friends who are out of control. Throwing bottles at him and even shooting him in the back of the head."

The noisy debate continued until the time bell rang. A group of workers threw away their cups and plates and headed towards their work place.

In the past, they had to arrive at the cannery on time when the bell rang, but the workers would complain that "workers don't have watches, and they only know the time when they hear the bell after leaving home" and "you can work energetically only when you are full." For this reason, the factory is required to either provide free working meals or allow workers 20 minutes of commuting time.

Although the reason sounds a bit absurd, the industrial owners association finally chose the latter as "the lesser of two evils". In exchange for not affecting the production plan and not drinking before work, the workers were given a twenty-minute "paid commute". "time.

For factories, just getting these drunkards to drink less can already increase production capacity quite a bit.

As for those workers, even if it is to maintain the dignity they have finally won, they will be a little more serious when working.

However, what no one expected was that the biggest beneficiaries of the bargaining between the Workers' Union and the Industrial Owners Association were the breakfast shop owners and food cart vendors around the industrial area, so that some pubs that were closed in the morning even became 18 hours or even 24 hours.

Longer business hours mean that more employees are needed, otherwise expensive overtime wages have to be paid. Therefore, even Boulder City, which has the least shortage of people, has experienced a labor shortage.

Fortunately, the survivors who continue to pour into the giant wall fill this gap, especially immigrants from Borneo and the central provinces. Most people start by washing dishes.

However, that doesn't mean everything.

For example, Niyang is a special case.

While most people were washing dishes and getting their ID cards, he immediately came up with the idea of ​​paid work, hiring citizens of the Union to be his boss.

not only that.

While the stupid wolf guard was still thinking of ways to make the Duke happy, he had already come up with a brilliant idea - to open a newspaper of his own to write about things that Duke Galava liked to read.

This was actually very easy, and he didn't even need to use up his brain cells to think about it, because House had already thought it out for him. He just had to hold his nose and copy the nonsense that guy said in the studio onto paper, and then add some spices. Just serve it to the Duke of Garava's table.

The name of this newspaper is "Shuguang Garden Street News". Shuguang naturally refers to Shuguang City, and Huayuan Street Subway Station is the historical place name of Qingquan City.

No one would know that this newspaper was just a sleazy little newspaper, because it would not be distributed to the public.

This is actually a small loophole in the alliance's laws, just like when he first obtained his identity.

Only publicly distributed newspapers need to be certified by industry committees, and the readers of the newspaper he runs are only the Duke of Galawa and the staff of the Xilan Imperial Embassy, ​​and it is published in the name of office supplies, even [Entertainment News] There is no need to add any logo.

In fact, "Shuguang Garden News" is not registered in the name of a newspaper at all. The business categories are office supplies and baby products.

It's just called the newspaper office.

Of course, due to the Shuguang City authorities' ruthless suppression of honest people who dare to tell the truth, the survival of "Shuguang Garden Newspaper" is in jeopardy, and it needs the sponsorship of well-wishers to continue telling the truth.

Niyang asked the editor in charge of typesetting to not only sell the paper but also leave the bank card number for receiving donations on the last page of the newspaper.

Sure enough, his newspaper received "anonymous donations" one after another.

Sometimes the signatures of these donations are "the supreme giant of White Elephant City", sometimes "the kind and caring elephant poet", and "the boatman who fights for equality on the eternal river", but Niyang is more important than anyone else. It is clear that these vests are actually the same person.

After all, there is only one person in the entire Xilan Empire Embassy who can read "Dawn Garden News" from beginning to end.

What's more, every time he went to the bank to make a payment, he went there on behalf of Duke Galawa.

If it weren't for the bank's receipt, he would have skipped the step of sending money.

Occasionally, the Duke of Jarawa was so excited by the newspapers that he would be asked to make a telegram of the imminent collapse of the alliance and send it to Tiandu in Borneo, so that he could share the simple joy with the respected Lord Wutuo.

However, neither Duke Galava nor His Majesty knew that the entire newspaper was run by his loyal servant from beginning to end.

"You are playing with fire, my boss... Dawn City is not Boulder City. People here will not tolerate anyone making fun of their respected managers. Even the most outrageous Goblin Observer will not make fun of living gods." Looking at the increasingly outrageous content in the newspaper, the editor in charge of typesetting shook his head and looked at the man standing by the blinds and said.

He is a recent immigrant who has not experienced the past and has not even got his ID card. His feelings for the manager are not as fanatical as those of ordinary people. He just has ordinary respect.

After all, after seeing Sigma's hypocrisy, he realized how good it is to have a leader who truly cares about his subordinates.

But the guys in Dawn City don't think so. Their feelings for the manager are like the residents of Luoxia Province for the "Spirit of the Sea of ​​Sand".

Ni Yang did not look back, but looked through the gap in the blinds at the direction of the Embassy Street not far away, and said in a very light voice.

"No one knows the Alliance better than me, no one knows the manager better than me... I am his real fan. As long as we don't break the rules, there will be nothing wrong."

The editor said with a wry smile.

"You must not have heard of the Sindison case."

He had heard of it before he came to the Alliance. After all, the TV stations in the Bugera Free State had made a lot of fuss about it to mock the freedom of the Alliance.

Nyan continued slowly.

"Of course I have heard of it. I even read the verdict in court and studied the file carefully. But you, probably only know the name Sindison, and think you have seen through the entire Alliance. You are actually the same as those guys in your hometown of Bugera Free State. You have lost your sense of taste after drinking too much sewage and cannot live without simple definitions and labels."

The editor was obviously not convinced, but because the other party was the boss, he still suppressed his temper and asked back.

"Isn't it true? He asked the Guards to arrest the guy."

Nyan looked back at him and said with a smile.

"Then what do you think would have happened to that guy named Cindyson if he hadn't done that? This is a wasteland. The law can punish people who make mistakes, but it can't resurrect the dead. I bet that if the Guards hadn't arrived in time, he wouldn't even have been able to walk out of the hotel alive, let alone get on the train home." The editor laughed and said, "According to you, can he still protect that guy?" Ni Yang said with a smile. "Protect that guy? Haha, it turns out that only I really understand that gentleman... He is not protecting Cindyson, nor those guys who are making trouble in his name, but the order of the alliance." In fact, it was also the Cindyson case that caused the citizens of the alliance to burst into unprecedented enthusiasm, spontaneously participated in the affairs of the representative council, and improved the formulation of a series of laws, such as methods to regulate the newspaper industry, etc. Unlike the emperor of Xilan and Sigma of the Free State, he guided people's enthusiasm and loyalty to him to the right place. And this is what Ni Yang admires most about him. Looking at the speechless editor, Ni Yang continued. "Just do as I say. That gentleman is not a stingy person. I have told you long ago that our job is to cheat, and I also need Duke Galawa's money, and I need him to continue to be stupid. In addition, I have to do a lot of things, not just to improve my life... I have to do a little good."

In fact, after staying in Dawn City for a while, his mentality has changed a little, especially after reading "Boll the Awakener".

He can't forget the sentence most-

"The tangible Stephen can be eliminated, but the invisible Stephen cannot be destroyed. We are their ghosts, and they are also our ghosts."

That sentence is like a revelation, making him who was walking in the maze in a daze and couldn't find a way out suddenly sober up. What the province of Boro needs is not the adult he worships.

It is meaningless to anger Duke Galawa to death. There is more than one White Elephant City in the province of Boro, and more than one duke. What's more, this duke has a large group of wives and a lot of sons, and he can pass the title down from generation to generation.

If you want to kill a nest of cockroaches, you can't just focus on one cockroach.

If he really pissed him off to death, Xilan Empire would not change at all, but would have a last gasp because of losing a fool who was good for nothing except blood unity.

This is possible. After all, there are not many people who can attract hatred like Duke Galava. He can't make the foreign minister of the alliance slam the table in anger, but that guy can make the ally, Captain Bennot, show a disgusted expression without even acting.

In the end, Duke Galava died, and he would lose the only tool he could use.

Therefore, instead of using the Goblin Observer to piss him off, it is better to use a pacifier to coax him like a baby and let him immerse in the sweetness of milk and honey.

Duke Galava will never know where his money was spent.

He will use the money to sponsor the Survivor Daily in French Fries Port, sponsor the Moon Clan who escaped from the Lowell Camp to publish more Survivor Daily in Golden Gallon Port, West Sail Port, and all places where sparks can be ignited.

Not only does he pay, he also contributes articles to the Survivor Daily in French Fry Harbor, just like Mr. Sberg who wrote "The Awakened Pol".

For this reason, he specially visited Boulder City, visited those who experienced the change, and even had a heart-to-heart talk with Mr. Malvern, the white-haired librarian of Boulder City. He also read the editor's book written by the old man for Boulder City. Draft Chronicle.

He and the old man agreed that it was Hal's "Daily Survivor" that ignited the fire of enlightenment, and Sberg's "Boll the Awakener" united the suffering poor of Boulder City.

The beginning of change had actually begun before anyone realized it, and it was already too late by the time Mr. Sid tried to nip it in the cradle. As for chips, S-coins, economic overheating and other series of crises, they are just the fuse that finally ignites the powder keg, speeding up the process and saving a few lives.

Without the enlightenment of that new culture, no matter how many people died that night, it would be useless. Boulder City would always be Boulder City.

After talking with the old man, he had found a way to change the Xilan Empire.

Just when the Duke of Galawa used his identity as the "Supreme Giant of White Elephant City" to generously pour money into the Dawn Garden Newspaper and was complacent, he had already used the pen names of "Mr. Rat" and "Big Horned Rat" to publish in the newspaper of Chip Harbor On it were written the things he hated most - "The Emperor's New Carriage" and "A Thousand "Needles".

Compared with Sperger, he has a slight advantage. Both his literary talent and knowledge are much richer than that of a cannery worker, and the most important thing is that he does not need to start with literacy.

Thank God, whether it was for the sake of being a nobleman or because he was too lazy to write love letters to noble ladies, Duke Jarava hired tutors for all his servants. Even a naive guy like Bablu can write, and even more so. Needless to say about him.

Looking at the editor sitting at his desk working conscientiously, Niyang, who was standing in front of the blinds, picked up the tea cup and took a sip.

Looking at the manuscript that slandered the manager, he didn't feel any emotion in his heart, but at this moment, his eyes lit up, and he suddenly had new inspiration, and he thought with a smile.

"Actually, what House said makes sense. The 'lazy' Boulder City is destined to perish, and poverty is the best way to maintain progress... Let me think about it, the next article will be called "Red Earth"."

Except for the thousand pillars of the City of Thousand Pillars, nothing can touch the deepest souls of the survivors of Borneo more than the "red soil"...

…

Since the "War in Paradise" was mainly fought by the residents of the shelter on the front line, and most of the cost of the war was borne by all parties in the Alliance, the Alliance residents far behind did not actually feel that their lives were greatly affected. .

On the contrary, because of the orders brought by the war, the factories in Dawn City and Boulder City started operating in three shifts again, just like they did during the battle of Luoxia Province.

But the difference is that today's alliance is different from the past in terms of productivity and abundance of materials.

In order to attract migrant workers to work in their factories, various factories also tried their best. Not only did they promise them free housing and insurance, but they also offered higher wages than the other.

Especially for those workers with skills and experience, those factories are eager to take care of the education of their next generation, and the treatment is more flashy than the other, which highlights the exaggeration.

As for those factories that try their best to attract no one, they can only think of two directions: "improving productivity" or "bringing in foreign labor."

Some old production lines with high manual participation are slowly being phased out in favor of production lines with higher levels of electrification and automation.

Due to the controllable fusion reactor in Xizhou City, the alliance's energy cost is very cheap, and in terms of automation, experts from Camp 101 and the students trained by them help.

In addition, with Borneo as a "pond" that can accommodate backward production lines, a series of equipment such as obsolete sewing machines and pot camel machines also have a place to go.

The residents of the Alliance, especially the residents of Dawn City, have ended up destroying the wasteland around them through their own hard work and wisdom to a certain extent.

Chu Guang didn't expect much from them. He just hoped that they would continue to live their lives well and influence other wastelanders in the wasteland to the best of their ability...

The front line of Haiya Province.

Today's front line is still grinding meat as usual. The only difference is probably that the newbies who have adapted to death are becoming more and more skilled at grinding meat.

The changes that happened to them were obvious.

Players who could only kill a dozen or twenty bacterial variants in one life and then rush to the streets, even if the level does not change much, the number of kills can easily reach three digits.

Attributes are only one aspect that affects combat effectiveness, not the only determining factor.

This is probably the most realistic part of the game.

Chu Guang, who was on the Heart of Steel, received two reports from afar.

One of the reports came from Camp 101, and the report was written by Xiaoyu.

The report mainly describes the listing status of Baiyue Company and the opinions of the expert team of Camp 101, including current problems in the market and loopholes that need to be repaired, etc.

Chu Guang was quite satisfied with this report.

Not only because the report was written even if he had only half a bucket of water in his stomach, he could understand it, but also because he could see the growth of the little fish between the lines of the report.

Thanks to the scholars at Camp 101, the little girl did not waste her talent for numbers and found a career she was passionate about.

Sure enough, it was a wise decision for her to follow Pai to Camp 101 for further study.

After all, if she were with him, she would be able to learn a quadratic function and bulk economics even if she died.

As for the more difficult things, he himself would have to seek professional advice.

Looking at Juanxiu's handwriting on the tablet, Chu Guang sighed with some emotion.

"Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, the little fish has grown up."

Xiao Qi, who was sitting on the pen holder, nodded slightly and said with her cheeks in her hands.

"Yes...it feels like it was yesterday when you taught her arithmetic and literacy."

Chu Guang coughed lightly.

"...That's not even possible."

Although he does occasionally feel as if he is in another world, this guy's insensitivity to time is a bit exaggerated.

With a flick of his index finger, Chu Guang put this report aside for the time being and read the second report.

This report comes from the Social Science Data Collection Office of the scientific expedition team, and was written by Ms. Han Mingyue, who is investigating local cultural and customary phenomena in Jingallang Port.

He was not very familiar with the name. He only remembered that it seemed to be the "little popsicle" discovered by the Thorn Corps in Pioneer City, and it once belonged to Vault No. 288.

The situation in the Great Desert is different from other areas. It has withstood the "big collapse" of the entire space elevator and even the terminal orbital space station. It is the most complex place in the wasteland, and the same is true for the shelters there.

For example, the administrator's log of Shelter 288 was lost, the door opened early, and a series of other accidents. In addition, the various situations that happened to Han Mingyue were quite similar to Heya, and the report on her life experience totaled 5 pages.

In short, something seemed to have happened in a place he didn't know about, and Ms. Han was influenced by Rama, the commander of the Thorn Corps, and became interested in the great migration of survivors that had occurred in the Borneo region.

Her job is not only to investigate what happened in the past, but also to observe the changes that are taking place in Golden Gallen Harbor.

Since they found a lot of good things in the Governor's Mansion in Jingallang Port, the scientific expedition team has always been relatively supportive of her project, and Chu Guang has always paid attention to the reports she submitted.

There are no shelters in Borneo, but there are a large number of survivors.

In a sense, her research filled in the missing manager diaries for them.

[...Under the influence of Baiyue Company, the Jingallang Port authorities used the foreign exchange reserves of Emperor Xilan to build a large number of schools and night schools for adults in the settlements, and promoted a compulsory education bill similar to that of Dawn City. , which has improved the local literacy rate to a certain extent.

Influenced by the increase in literacy rate and the citizens of the South Sea Alliance who went to the area to support education, some novel works of music, painting, and text began to appear in Golden Gallon Port.

Local residents are not only actively pursuing a better life, but are also actively exploring new theories other than "thousands of races and thousands of gods" and trying to criticize and decompose some outdated and feudal traditions and concepts. "Gods do not exist." ” This idea has become popular among some progressives, and that’s what surprises me the most.

Normally speaking, the local conservative forces should be more entrenched than the Kingdom of Lions and Kingdoms of Humps, but the result is exactly the opposite of what I saw. In this "new cultural activity", "look eastward" quickly became the unanimous consensus of the upper and lower classes, just as they had looked westward before. The conservative forces that were supposed to confront the progressive forces did not work at all, but were unexpectedly submissive. After judging that they could no longer resist, the conservatives immediately surrendered.

I think this is not due to some kind of capitulationism or xenophobia, nor is it a true surrender, but more like "tolerance" integrated into the civilized attributes of local survivors.

The endurance of the local survivors is something I have never seen in other settlements. Farmers in Jinchuan Province do not dare to treat their serfs like this, but they are used to it.

Not only that, their "endurance" is as deep-rooted as the "stubbornness" that is rarely expressed in their characters. It is impossible for these survivors to change themselves easily, but they are not reluctant to bow their heads and act like they have changed. .

Just like the old nobles who learned how to dress and eat in the Alliance, they immediately drew a clear line with the Majesty and the Governor who they once loyal to. They are extremely cooperative with your subordinates and try to be more progressive, more diligent and studious than the pro-Alliance faction.

You may think this is a good thing and your people may think it's irrelevant, but I have to say I differ. That hidden power is more like pus hiding in the blood vessels disguised as blood. They are waiting for an opportunity. Once they find the opportunity, they will immediately change their identity and block the original leaky window, allowing them to It's harder for the wind to blow in.

Of course... there are two sides to everything. Even if there are a series of hidden worries, the series of innovative measures implemented by your subordinates in the local area are worthy of recognition, and the results they have achieved are obvious to all.

My research is still continuing, and there may be some omissions. I hope I'm just overthinking.

】

Chu Guang read the report to the end and touched his chin. He originally wanted to reply "Sociology +3", but thinking that it was a report written by an NPC, he finally replied "Read".

His perspective on the problem is different from Fang Chang's, and certainly different from those of the Alliance's scholars.

Of course the problems she mentioned existed and he could see them, but as she herself had already mentioned in her report, the local survivors were spontaneously seeking progress under the influence of the residents of Vault 404, and they were exploring Progress will not change the hidden dangers buried deep in their civilization.

It's not that sitting and talking doesn't hurt your back. This is destined to be a difficulty that the local survivors have to overcome on their own.

Even if Han Mingyue pointed out the problem, it was too difficult for him to do anything.

His players had already done so much that any further step would be too much.

He believed that Fang Chang had actually noticed something.

Xiao Qi, who was sitting on the pen holder, looked at him and teased him playfully.

"Master, you said before that you were not very optimistic about the practices of those players, but they seem to be doing pretty well, right?"

Chu Guang made a helpless expression and stretched out his index finger to turn off the report coming from behind.

"You have been following me for so long, you should know that my judgment is not always correct."

Unexpectedness is the normal state of life, and only gods are omniscient and omnipotent.

If he could really be that great, why would he need so many experts and scholars?

He did all the work by himself.

And it's too early to draw conclusions.

However, what surprised him was that his unintentional words made Xiao Qi freeze there for some reason, and the movement of shaking her calves stopped.

There was a glimmer of hope in those pupils, but it seemed like an illusion.

Looking at it stunned, Chu Guang frowned slightly and tapped its head with his index finger.

"What's wrong? Are you stuck?"

"No..." Xiao Qi looked at him as if he had come to his senses, and then smiled, "Nothing... As expected of the master, Xiao Qi's intellectual plug-in was pounding and almost burned."

After saying that, it swung its calves again and looked at him with full eyes.

Chu Guang made a helpless expression.

It's okay to burn it.

I always feel like this guy is talking more and more.