Darkstone Code
Chapter 215 - 0213 Hero Fights Evil Dragon

Chapter 215: 0213 Hero Fights Evil Dragon

"Things are resolved much faster than imagined!"

Walking on the busiest street of Sabin City, one can finally feel the bleak atmosphere called post-chaos.

There are hardly any people on the street, and even if there are, they hunch over, heads down, fearing the attention of those patrolling soldiers.

In just one morning, the city’s security has been effectively controlled, and so far, almost no criminal activities can be seen, at least not in places where the public can casually gaze upon.

Someone tried to provoke the soldiers, unaware of the events that occurred in the morning, and as a result, they got exactly what they wanted.

Some were pinned to the ground, while others who fled home were not spared; not only them but their families were pinned down as well, thus fulfilling their wish.

Unfortunately, at this moment, they lacked the courage to shout slogans like "who will shoot me dead," which would be truly shocking—there might actually be someone who would oblige!

It is currently a non-controlled time, from nine to eleven every morning, and from four to six in the afternoon, people can travel in an orderly manner.

It must be orderly, as walking in groups of more than three might result in being investigated by soldiers, and groups of more than five are basically expected to lie on the ground in a row.

Protests?

Demonstrations?

These have already ended, because today, at eight forty-five in the morning, all channels of Sabin City TV broadcasted a news report simultaneously.

The proposal to impeach the President has officially passed the first round of voting and is proceeding to the second round of voting. If the second round also passes, then the President will face the awkward situation of being driven out of the President’s Mansion.

This may become the second President in Federation history to be driven out of the President’s Mansion, just like the previous one, becoming a joke in Federation history, one that will be laughed at for decades or centuries.

The report claims that all the current societal suffering is actually due to the mistakes made by the President and the President’s Cabinet in domestic and international policymaking, as well as their rampant arrest of political opponents, causing the public to feel panicked, thus triggering this massive strike.

This report is like...providing the public with a step to walk down after causing irreversible damage to society, while dumping all their major crimes on the President and his Cabinet.

Sitting in front of their TVs, the public suddenly "realized" that the truth was like this, that the real culprits were the President and the President’s Cabinet, no wonder they felt deceived...

This greatly relieved some people, while also providing a channel for venting their past month’s actions—turns out, it was all the President’s fault!

This is precisely why the initially unremarkable strike could quickly sweep across the entire Federation: the government high-ups are indulging, and they need "unity of the people."

If it were merely spreading simple propaganda, it would be difficult for people to be united or grouped together, but now they have achieved it; whether they truly think so or are just eager to find excuses for their actions, they all must stand with the potential mainstream.

This report successfully shifted the public’s focus from the strike and labor-capital conflicts to the impeachment of the President, and they look forward to a successful impeachment, further proving that everything is the President’s fault!

Meanwhile, local governments began accelerating labor negotiations, with most areas implementing strict control measures. The local City Hall’s attitude towards the public suddenly reversed 180 degrees, leaving some people at a loss.

It’s like a nurturing mother who’s always patient with mischievous children, until one day they act out too much, and she sends them flying with a slap.

The children may cry from the pain, but they will also learn what respect is from it until they no longer feel the pain of the next beating!

"Where have all the homeless gone?"

Lynch noticed that the streets were so clean that not a single homeless person was in sight, which seemed un-Federation-like, as the homeless had already become a part of Bail Federal’s unique social culture. Suddenly having them disappear felt somewhat unsettling.

The Senior Soldier pursed his lips and explained, "They’ve been gathered and are now being managed uniformly. I mean, they are relatively free, just that someone is managing them now."

Lynch nodded knowingly, "I understand. You didn’t have to explain."

The Senior Soldier stopped explaining, meaning not to let Lynch view the Military too harshly or think they were too cruel and inhumane.

Generally, during military control, the homeless are always the unluckiest group.

They are driven to designated areas and required to relinquish all personal belongings, which are essentially cardboard boxes and various worthless items that might have some use, such as bottles, cans, and so on.

Checking if these items are safe would require a lot of manpower, and the Military doesn’t have the time or personnel to inspect them, so the best approach is to remove them completely. As for the homeless having qualms?

No, they won’t have any objections; they will only be cooperative. No one can act tough as usual under the black muzzle of a gun.

A group like the homeless, already considered invisible members of society, if someone disappears, it won’t cause much awareness, let alone stir trouble.

Today, a second round of labor negotiations is to be held, and with nothing to do, Lynch decided to join the commotion.

The photo auction currently cannot be held, as the City Hall won’t approve such a request, and gathering too many people at this special juncture might turn into a political incident if any unexpected situations occur. For the sake of stability, everything else has to be sidelined.

With nothing else to do, attending this negotiation, after all, he is somewhat of a small-time capitalist.

Upon arriving at the venue, Lynch didn’t have a seat with a card, so he sat at the edge of the hall, which actually wasn’t too bad.

No one notices a young man in the corner, but Lynch could see most of the people under the lights and identify them through their cards.

From the start, this negotiation was full of tension. Although the workers had stopped making a fuss, the issues hadn’t been resolved, so their attitude at the negotiation table wasn’t very nice.

To quickly resolve the labor issues, the Workers’ Union has also sent a few special envoys to mediate between workers and capitalists.

They had realized the authorities’ stance and intended to revert everything back to normal.

Of course, the worker representatives’ bottom line was slightly more lenient than last time. They agreed to the capitalists’ demand for full-time work, which consisted of sixty hours weekly, one day off on weekends, and ten hours of work each day.

These are relatively moderate working hours. Other places even enforce twelve-hour workdays and seventy-two-hour weeks.

However, wages had to increase. A 4.5% raise was a rate both labor and capital could accept.

The sticking issue was employee benefits, where many conflicts remained unresolved.

This is a good sign, as at least some part of the issue has been resolved. Maybe next time or the time after, after everyone goes back and discusses more calmly, someone might make a concession.

Negotiation is, after all, a process of making concessions step by step until both sides reach an acceptable agreement.

What surprised Lynch was that there was one issue unrelated to work or workers brought into the negotiations.

After resolving some main issues, as the mayor was about to announce the end of the negotiation that had made significant progress but no breakthrough, the Workers’ Union envoy cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s focus onto him.

The envoy pursed his lips, his expression a bit solemn, "Mr. Mayor, I have another request with me, but it has nothing to do with the capitalists; it concerns you."

"Me?", the mayor lowered his head, glancing through the space between his glasses and brows at the envoy sitting across from him, and even took off his glasses, rubbing his eye sockets, as he asked, "Then we can discuss this; it will be quicker than your discussions."

The envoy knew the mayor was mocking them for dragging out discussions over trivial issues, which was a strategy intended to show capitalists that once workers cause trouble, it’s not easy to settle.

With such awareness, addressing some issues in regular times may become easier.

He politely smiled, "Apologies for having wasted too much of your time. This demand comes from many ordinary workers."

"You said that while causing trouble too!", someone interjected, sparking relaxed, disdain-filled laughter from some capitalists.

The envoy was entirely untroubled by this. Essentially, he was not part of the working class; he stood on a strata above the worker populace, and he did not consider himself part of the working class, so he wasn’t sensitive to those comments and impolite laughter.

Nonetheless, a warning was due, and then he said, "Currently, many of our workers cannot work or have lost their jobs, struggling to ensure their households run properly. We are all aware that the City Hall has stopped issuing food stamps for a while. We hope food stamps can resume distribution and redemption soon."

He emphasized his tone, indicating the severity of the situation, "This relates to whether someone might starve to death and the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of workers’ families!"