67's Guidance

Having negotiated the future division of Dogtown's interests, Carl and Hanz had tacitly begun treating Hansen as though he did not exist, even though he was still stubbornly resisting the New American President without showing the slightest sign of decline.

Because anyone with eyes could see that Hansen had only two paths before him:

Either submit to New America—then he might live, but Dogtown would no longer belong to him;

Or continue resisting—to be frank, his chances of victory were slim. Once he failed, death would be unavoidable, and Dogtown would still change hands.

In theory, there might have been a third path: Hansen truly defeated Rosalind Myers. But that road was covered in thorns, far from easy, and even if he made it to the end, it might not lead anywhere.

No matter what, once the New American President fell in this game, the resulting chaos would be enough to overturn all of Dogtown. By then, even if Hansen survived by some stroke of luck, Carl and Hanz would only need to give things a gentle push—

Dogtown would ultimately still be Dogtown—only when it was truly in their own hands could they rest easy.

Originally, Carl had not planned to wade into these muddy waters. He had merely happened to accept a job that led him into Dogtown in search of clues, and happened to have this conversation with Hanz. After giving it some thought, he suddenly found the town before him somewhat unpleasant to look at.

After all, the chaos and oppression he had witnessed upon first entering Dogtown remained deeply etched in his memory.

Compared with the newly transformed Pacifica, Dogtown increasingly resembled a stubborn scab—hardly a serious threat, merely a trivial ailment, yet impossible to ignore when it was always right before his eyes.

Carl