Old Foreman.
He Ao stared at the figure in front, a little surprised. He glanced around and saw that there was no figure behind Old Foreman. Ivo and Watson were not there. This Old Man came alone.
"Want to chat?"
Old Foreman waved his hand and asked with a smile.
······
"There are Miners Mutual Aid Society people nearby who are helping the miners who were maliciously arrested. I heard from them the news of a "passing knight" saving people,"
Old Foreman sat on the edge of the rooftop, looking at the city with lights Brilliant not far away, "I guessed that person should be you, so I chased him all the way."
"I shouldn't have left any obvious traces?"
This is the rooftop of a relatively low building. He Ao is sitting next to Old Foreman and chuckles.
"Talent Sequence 4 4: Thought Gatherer," Old Foreman said softly, "When I stand in the crowd, I can naturally feel people's divergent thinking. It's like some kind of wonderful group consciousness. Sometimes I don't need to do anything to deal with it, and I can realize that something may happen.
"Of course, this kind of prediction is not omnipotent. It is inaccurate most of the time. However, I can logically analyze the one that I think is the most likely among several possibilities. Of course, there is also an element of luck in running into you."
"Sounds like a prophet."
"Actually, it is not as mysterious as a prophet. This ability can only vaguely sense the thoughts of most people. Only when there are many people with the same thoughts can I sense their thoughts.
"For example, if I stand among a group of hungry people, what I predict is that many people will eat soon. In fact, it may not necessarily happen that many people eat. There are many factors that affect this. If there is no food around, eating will not happen.
"Another example is when I look for you, I rely on looking for your vague figure that people vaguely see. Although you hide it well, there will always be people who see the 'mysterious figure'. As long as I see enough people, I can roughly sense the direction. However, everyone's standards are different, so this method has a high failure rate."
Old Foreman spoke very slowly, as if telling a long story.
"So you came to me specifically because you 'predicted' something?"
He Ao looked at the lights in the distance and asked softly.
"You are eager to change this city," Old Foreman looked forward, "And I am the same, but I don't have much time."
In fact, I don't necessarily have more time than you...
He Ao shook his head, Old Foreman must have something to do with him, and he wouldn't spend so much effort just to chat with him.
But just when he was about to get straight to the point of asking, Old Foreman slowly raised his head, looked at the dim lights in the distance, and slowly narrated,
"I'm not actually a miner.
"My family used to be in poor conditions. I dropped out of school at the age of fifteen. I suffered from chronic malnutrition and was not strong enough. The mines didn't want me, so I had to work odd jobs on the factory assembly line.
"The work on the assembly line is extremely boring. Every day is a repeat of yesterday. I only worked for a week and my mind went blank. All I could think about was how to assemble the parts together.
"We have to work twelve hours a day. Every night after get off work, we go back to the dormitory, take a shower, fall on the bed, and when we open our eyes, we will go to work the next day.
"I felt like a machine at the time, but my foreman corrected me, 'I'm cheaper than the machine.'
"During depressing days, we would always seize every break to get together and talk about things that have nothing to do with work, such as relationships and life.
"The woman I wanted to marry most at that time was the clerk sitting in the office on the second floor.
"Of course she is not beautiful, but the workers with me think she is very elegant. She is a regular employee, which is a higher level than those of us who do odd jobs on the assembly line.
"Working on the assembly line was very tiring. My favorite thing to do at that time was to squat in the corner of the assembly line and watch her sway her butt as she walked into the office step by step.
"This is the greatest enjoyment in life."
"What happened next? Were you with her?"
"She died. That year there was a factory strike and the consortium sent security teams to suppress us. She died in a stray bullet.
"We never spoke, and she didn't know my name until she died."
Old Foreman seemed to have not told anyone about the past for a long time. He stood up, patted the dust on his pants, then took out a Small Mining Pickaxe from his waist and handed it to He Ao. It was the one he hung in the room.
"If I die, will you be the next leader of Miners Mutual Aid Society?"
"Why me?"
He Ao did not answer directly, but asked softly.
"We are the same person," Old Foreman looked at He Ao's somewhat immature cheeks, "I have a hunch that you will do better than me."
He Ao still didn't reach out to pick up that Small Mining Pickaxe.
"There is a sensor chip in this mining pick, which contains a list of all members of Miners Mutual Aid Society, including miner leaders who organized strikes and demonstrations in various mines,"
Old Foreman looked at He Ao with his cloudy eyes calmly, "I think you will need their power."
He Ao slowly stretched out his hand, but still seemed hesitant.
"There is also the phone number of 108th Division Commander Wright in that list. We have a good relationship. If you go to him with this mining pick, he will be willing to see you."
Old Foreman looked at He Ao but still held the mining pick, stuffed the mining pick directly into He Ao's arms, smiled and cursed, "Little slicker, Old Guy, I only have so many things, if I have more, I will have nothing."
After saying that, he immediately turned around and walked towards the corridor.
He Ao looked at Old Man's staggering back, stretched out his hand and slowly grasped the mining pick in his hand.
"If one day I really die, remember to collect my body for me. Don't be like Yaz, who was taken away by the municipal garbage collector."
Old Man seemed to notice He Ao's gaze. He smiled and waved and walked into the deep corridor.
"By the way, this chip has a password,"
The old voice slowly sounded in the night,
"The password is,
"Tomorrow Will Always Come"
——
Old Foreman seems to have predicted something, and it seems to be a secret that cannot be said directly.
Events in the city are getting more complicated.
But being able to realize the complexity proves that He Ao may have gradually come into contact with the deeper secrets of this city.
He Ao put Small Mining Pickaxe into his windbreaker and walked quietly on the street
City Defense Army vehicles speeding by, noisy and chaotic crowds, crying children, Homeless Man running around for cover.
The white snow in the sky fell leaf by leaf.
This is where North City District and Rock City have the most miners.
This is the most desperate place for North City District and Rock City.
He Ao casually knocked down the two Ice Wolf Gang gang members who were robbing people, and looked up at the big TV in the shopping mall not far away that was broadcasting news.
Since the mayor's speech in the morning, the entire Rock City and Mining Consortium violent machines have been activated and began to arrest miners on a large scale and without restrictions.
These miners will be quickly taken to court and, after a simple trial, immediately sent to Rock City prison.
The vast majority of prisons in Federation are Private Prison, Municipal Government or Federation. The government subsidizes prisons on a per capita basis.
Subsidies are different in different cities. Dawn City's finances spend a large amount of government subsidies on these prisons every year. These high prison subsidies not only enable prisoners to live a better life, but also allow the prison to make a fortune.
In order to obtain more subsidies, Private Prison will do everything possible.
On the one hand, they bribe the judicial organs and courts, demanding more sentences and sending more people to prison.
On the other hand, the media is hired to hype up prison human rights issues and prisoner treatment issues.
Because there are more prisoners, there are more family members of prisoners outside, and these family members have become an important factor influencing the election of politicians.
In order to attract these votes, some politicians have to promise to increase prison subsidies. Similarly, they will also accept political donations from Private Prison and will increase prison subsidies as soon as they come to power.
If accumulated like this, Private Prison's subsidies have become an important financial burden for most Fortress City, and a large amount of fiscal taxes have been eaten up by the prison monopoly consortium.
But Rock City doesn't have this problem, because it can't collect taxes, and Rock Municipal Government is extremely poor.
With the erosion of Municipal Government by mining groups, municipal revenue has been decreasing year by year. After the current mayor took office, he reduced taxes, let the market go, and abolished government agencies. Municipal Government has not paid Private Prison's financial subsidies for a year or two.
But Private Prison also has to make money, not to mention that most of Private Prison of Rock City are subsidiaries of Mining Consortium.
So these Private Prison began to recruit criminals into factories on a large scale, and even built their own factories to create profits for the prison.
Criminals do not need to be paid, so all the money earned by criminals belongs to the prison. The prison only provides food and accommodation for the criminals.
As a result, every criminal has a large profit margin.
After He Ao's interrogation, these Ice Wolf Gang members said that Private Prison was offering a "reward" for these "violent miners" at the price of 2000 Federal Coins each.
The "bounty" for some young miners is even as high as 5000 Federal Coins.
That's why these Ice Wolf Gang people are so reckless in arresting people.
Money moves people's hearts.
He Ao cleaned up the gang members and City Defense Army who were arresting people on the street, and then entered a small handicraft store.
This small shop sells all kinds of small things.
He Ao bought a pure white mask and a black waterproof Mark pen.
k is not famous in Rock City.
Here, k's story was cut off intentionally. He Ao searched on the Internet and could only find a very small part of the information about k.
When Yue En first learned about k, he was in a closed chat group, but he didn't know much about it. The chat group was blocked soon after, so Nell's knowledge of k was also very vague.
He Ao picked up the Mark pen and slowly started drawing on the mask.
He himself does not know how to draw, but Vian, who has been influenced by art since childhood, can. Vian's painting teacher is a famous art master throughout Federation.
He Ao slowly calmed down and immersed himself in Vian's painting memory.
As the Mark pen fluttered, the mask in his hand gradually changed its appearance. A little bit of darkness, like droplets condensed in the night, fell on the pure white mask, forming a vague pattern.
A strange black-and-white smiling face mask appeared in the hands of He Ao.
This is K's mask. It is even more grotesque and strange than the original K's mask, and these grotesqueries are filled with a strange blend of evil and bright beauty.
Because the popularity is so low, there is no one selling masks on the street. He Ao can draw one by himself.
He Ao is very satisfied with his painting skills.
He picked up the mask and slowly put it on his cheek.
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