"Oppose media control! Support freedom of speech!"
"Oppose virtual reality invading the real world! Let physical industries develop!"
"Oppose dictator Feng Taylor! Return democracy to the world!"
Large-scale marches and demonstrations erupted in multiple cities across the United States. People held high flags and banners proclaiming their demands as they streamed toward city halls in groups.
Traffic jams appeared on roads everywhere, paralyzing the cities' transportation systems.
It was happening in every country, only to varying degrees.
An event of this scale naturally made the front pages of the next day's newspapers.
As he ate breakfast and read the demonstrators' slogans in the paper, Lin Feng could not help feeling puzzled. He turned to ask the maid about CIA's investigation.
"Why is the backlash so intense?"
In Lin Feng's memory, the only time such a huge uproar had occurred was when they had proposed implementing the 007 Work System.
The center of society was shifting from reality to the internet. Workers should not have suffered any loss of benefits, so why were so many people opposing it?
The maid replied, "According to our investigation, physical industry owners account for 70% of the opposition. Another 20% consists of media outlets, associations, schools, and similar groups. The remaining 10% are civil rights activists."
Lin Feng thought about it and suddenly understood what was going on.
Physical industry owners were likely worried that once the center of human society shifted into the virtual network, their physical assets would rapidly depreciate. Landlords with multiple properties, speculators who had bought real estate hoping to sell it at a higher price, property developers, and everyone else connected to physical industries all deeply resented Lin Feng's plan.
In their eyes, he was throwing the share of profits that should have belonged to them into the internet.
Social institutions and groups such as media outlets, associations, and schools were speaking out because they were likely worried about future generations' education. If the center of human society moved online, education would move online too. That meant even private schools for the wealthy would see their children's education affected.
The wealthy could not care less about poor children's education. They might even applaud if those children received no education at all—no one disliked stupid fodder. But if such an education policy affected their own children, then they could get the hell out as far as possible.
Lin Feng could understand why these people spoke up. These were social issues that his plan would inevitably encounter, and he had long been mentally prepared to face them.
But there was one group among the opponents that Lin Feng could not understand.
Civil rights activists?
What the hell were those?
"What exactly are these civil rights activists you mentioned?" Lin Feng asked curiously.
"They are groups funded by Wall Street. Sometimes, they can be used to help legislators and candidates gather votes," the maid explained.
"Oh, those people..."
Lin Feng finally understood. Civil rights activists were simply a more refined term for them. To put it bluntly, they were the real-world version of online trolls, the sort who manipulated data.
These people served as the link between politicians and capitalists, at least in the United States.
Through them, capitalists could recommend politicians whose interests aligned with their own, helping them become legislators or presidents.
Politicians also needed capitalists to do this. The support of capitalists might not guarantee victory, but it could greatly increase their chances of winning. It was like doping at the Olympics—even if you thought you would definitely win, if you did not use it while others did, you would still be at a disadvantage.
In turn, these real-world trolls and data manipulators could earn piles of cash, creating a win-win-win situation for all three sides.
This positive cycle allowed the chain to persist and continue growing throughout the United States.
However, civil rights activists generally had backers behind them. Without cash flow to support them, how could they possibly have the courage to oppose Lin Feng?
"Then who is behind them? Who's causing trouble?"
"Financial groups, including Wall Street," the maid replied.
"Them?"
Lin Feng froze. He looked at the maid with an odd expression and asked, "As far as I can tell, my plan shouldn't affect them. Their assets are all virtual assets, so why are they jumping out to oppose me?"
Lin Feng could understand physical economy capitalists opposing him, but he genuinely could not understand why these people who played with finance and stocks were opposing him.
His plan did not conflict with their interests.
The maid replied, "They probably want to discuss the division of benefits with you."
Lin Feng asked in confusion, "Benefits? What benefits?"
How did he not know he had any benefits to divide?
Could it be his plan?
That should not be it. It was merely a shift of society's center into the network, making humanity's daily use of the internet routine. How did that become related to finance?
"Your current plan."
The maid answered with certainty and explained the connection to Lin Feng.
"Your plan is to pull the center of human social interaction from reality into the virtual network. This means an expansion of the virtual asset market, which is good news for financial capital centered on virtual assets."
"However, there is more than one financial capitalist. Every country has them, and this new territory will make those financial capitalists compete until their heads bleed."
"The people on Wall Street, and even financial capitalists around the world, all want to gain the upper hand in this competition. They need to establish contact with you first so that you will give them the largest slice of the cake."
Oh, so that was what was going on. Lin Feng understood the full chain of events.
Financial capitalists did not truly want to oppose him. They wanted to use their opposition to attract Lin Feng's attention. What they really wanted was to establish contact with him and negotiate the division of benefits after the virtual capital market expanded.
Based on the principle of first come, first served, whoever established contact first would naturally be the biggest winner and claim the greatest benefits from the virtual capital market. That was why all the financial capitalists were desperately opposing Lin Feng.
Moreover, opposing him could also give them more leverage in negotiations. These financial capitalists had calculated things well.
"This wave of opposition—are they the ones pushing it from behind the scenes?" Lin Feng asked.
The maid shook her head. "They do not have that kind of courage. They are merely following the tide, hoping to attract your attention. As long as you make any indication, they will immediately step forward and become the dam holding back this wave of opposition."
Financial capital was not the main body of the opposition. It accounted for only 10%. The real opponents were those in physical industries. Their assets were genuinely shrinking, so they must have hated Lin Feng enough to grind their teeth.
Without this wave as their foundation, financial capital would never have dared to jump out.
"Should I agree?" Lin Feng asked.
The maid replied, "I'm sorry, Mr. Taylor. I have no right to decide for you. However, based on my understanding of you, you probably will not agree to their request."
"You have always hated financial capital."
Now that the maid had voiced what he was thinking, Lin Feng did not deny it.
"That's right. I hate financial capital. At least physical capital has industries corresponding to its funds. What does financial capital have? It is nothing more than a game of money making money."
"Tell those people that if they do not want to be eliminated, they should get out of the stock market as soon as possible and invest all their money in manufacturing game pods for physical industries, or in developing virtual games."
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