Chapter 153: What a Load of Bullshit Gratitude
The medicine Barry had bought for his mother with borrowed money was also confiscated by the Soldiers.
He explained to the City Soldiers that his mother had been taking this medicine for several days, and if there were any side effects, they would have appeared long ago.
His mother was getting healthier and stronger each day, which proved the medicine was harmless.
However, the other party refused to listen and even threatened to resort to violence.
“Do you want to come with me?”
His younger sister, with a red headscarf tied around her head, came up to Barry, her fists clenched tightly, a look of grim determination on her face.
“Let’s go!”
Barry took her and walked out the door.
“We’re going to find the City Lord and demand an explanation!”
They joined their neighbors’ group in the alley, and the procession moved onto the street, merging with citizens from other residential areas to form a wider flow of people.
Many such streams of people eventually gathered in the square in front of the City Lord’s Palace.
The area had long been on full alert, surrounded by Soldiers, with searchlights from patrol vehicles shining on the crowd.
There were also several Apollo Soldiers in power armor on the high points of the buildings, seemingly overseeing the situation.
A barbed wire fence was hastily erected on the grand staircase of the palace, blocking the path to the interior.
“We need the special medicine!”
The public’s petition had begun.
“By what right do you confiscate the medicine we bought? This is illegal!”
“The order to confiscate the evil medicine was personally issued by the City Lord! The Council of Elders has agreed, so there’s no need for prior legislative approval!”
The Captain of the Soldiers stood on the grand staircase behind the barbed wire, holding a megaphone, addressing the petitioning citizens from above, with over twenty fully armed Soldiers behind him.
“Moreover, the situation is urgent, so extraordinary measures are being taken! This is to prevent citizens from being poisoned by the evil medicine! It’s to protect the wealth you’ve all created from being destroyed by collective foolishness and ignorance! This is all for your own good!”
“Bullshit! How do you know the medicine has side effects?! Where are the cases? And where are the research reports?!”
Ye Xing, disguised as a common citizen, blended into the crowd and questioned loudly.
“Exactly!”
“Where’s the evidence? Show us the evidence!”
“No evidence means it’s all made up!”
“The City Lord lied!”
Cheng Yun’s subordinates shouted back in timely response, and the public, spurred on by them, also began to voice their doubts.
Faced with such professional questioning, the Captain of the Soldiers naturally couldn’t answer and could only feign ignorance.
The City Lord’s secretary rushed out to save the situation.
“Citizens, our medical experts are currently developing an antidote that can neutralize the side effects of the medicine. As soon as it’s developed, we will return both the medicine and the antidote to you. Please be patient and wait a while!”
“So, when will it be ready?”
Someone asked.
Heh heh, a delaying tactic, alright, at least they have some brains.
Ye Xing, mingling in the crowd, thought to himself.
“What you should be doing now isn’t developing some antidote, but opening the city gates,” he continued to shout, “so that Cangyuan can enter the city and sell more medicine to us. Otherwise, even if all the confiscated special medicine is returned, it still won’t be enough for everyone in the city!”
The crowd expressed their agreement one after another.
“That’s right!”
“Open the city gates!”
“What’s the point of this lockdown anyway?”
The secretary snatched the megaphone from the Captain of the Soldiers.
“The city gates absolutely cannot be opened! Everyone go home immediately. Whoever goes home first will have their medicine returned first. If you’re still not moving after 5 minutes, you’ll never get your medicine back!”
Cheng Lei clenched her fists, her heart filled with anger.
She knew this was a consistent tactic of the City Lord: first, seize the rights that citizens should have, and then, it becomes easy to control their behavior by restricting necessities.
Under this governing mindset, regardless of whether productivity is developed, people must live in suffering.
Suffering for the sake of suffering; suffering is the cornerstone of rule.
Sure enough, the gathered crowd began to whisper, their resolve wavering.
“In that case, maybe we should leave first?”
“How about we withdraw and wait?”
“Cole absolutely cannot be trusted!” Suddenly, a resonant voice boomed from the back of the crowd.
“If he can truly produce some antidote in such a short time, it means he understands the principles of the medicine perfectly. So, why didn’t he produce this medicine in all those years past? If even Cangyuan can’t handle the side effects, how could Oasis City possibly handle it? How could Apollo, Cangyuan’s defeated opponent, possibly handle it?
“I haven’t even heard of any related research and development work. Have any of you? Many nobles and successive City Lords of Oasis City have died from cancer. Oasis City simply doesn’t have the capability to research and develop special medicine! Neither does Apollo!”
It was Cheng Yun who was shouting.
In truth, if one were to nitpick, there were slight logical flaws in his words. However, his personal prestige and aura perfectly masked this point.
“It seems—he has a point!”
Cheng Yun continued.
“Citizens! We have reached the most crucial step. Please do not retreat. We must not retreat even one step!
“Yes, I admit, if you lead the way home now, Cole will indeed send someone to return your medicine, along with a bottle of so-called ‘antidote.’ Who knows what’s in it? It might just be sugar water! All along, he has relied on such despicable methods to sow discord among us!
“But what then? After going home, you won’t get the rights you deserve. Your income won’t increase, your living conditions won’t improve, and your working conditions won’t improve! You will temporarily cure your own or your family’s illness.
“But, without technological assurance, who can guarantee that the disease won’t return in a few years?”
As he spoke, Cheng Yun had already pushed his way from the back of the crowd to the very front.
“Cole!”
He pointed towards the palace’s main entrance; he knew the people inside could hear him.
“You and your family are extremely incompetent, lazy, and muddled rulers! Everyone in Oasis City knows this perfectly well; they just don’t dare to express it. Tonight, I will speak for them!
“If you still feel a shred of guilt towards this city, open the city gates and give the citizens a way to live!”
“Enough! Shut up!”
The City Lord’s voice boomed from the broadcast speakers throughout the city’s streets and alleys, drowning out everyone else.
“I’m incompetent?! I’m muddled?!
“Wake up! Your miserable lives have nothing to do with me. You’re living poorly because all of human civilization has failed! This is the apocalypse, the apocalypse! Do you understand?!
“You were originally doomed to die in this godforsaken Desert, but my ancestors saved all of you! My family provided you with shelter, water, food, job opportunities, and safety, all more precious than gold!
“Yet, not only are you ungrateful, but tonight you gather at my gates and even incite a riot! Do you think you’re noble and amazing, do you think I’ll look at you with respect? I’m telling you, you’re just a bunch of ignorant, foolish thugs!”
“No, we are not thugs!”
Finally.
The first ordinary person who dared to openly challenge the City Lord appeared. Fili pushed his way to the front of the crowd.
“I—I am Fili, a City Soldier. City Lord, I absolutely cannot agree with your statement!
“You are the city’s administrator, and the citizens also have their own jobs. We simply have different divisions of labor.
“The citizens have dedicated their lives to this city. The palace you live in was built by them, and every meal you eat has passed through the hands of more than one citizen.
“We owe you nothing!
“In your position, you fulfill your duties. Under this division of labor, as the ruler, providing us with enough food, housing, and safety to sustain ourselves is not a gift at all, but the absolute minimum professional ethics!”