What Is a Blessing?

"Yawn, finally got everything sorted out. That was exhausting..."

"Good thing everything went fairly smoothly. I'm not good at dealing with unexpected variables."

Freshly awake, Lin Feng rubbed his bleary eyes and laboriously climbed out of bed.

After becoming a Wallfacer and announcing his Macro-Electron Storage Plan, he had spent nearly a week finishing every arrangement that needed to be made.

The first thing he did after finishing was sleep from one morning until the next.

As he ate the breakfast prepared by the servants and read that day's newspaper, the front-page headline stood out in enormous print—No One Understands Wallfacing Better Than Me!

Newspapers from multiple outlets all said virtually the same thing: a tyrant of the new era, the arrival of another dictator, the United States facing a future of ***ization, democracy's halo gradually fading, freedom ceasing to exist, and so on.

In short, according to those newspapers, everything Lin Feng did was wrong—including being born. Even the air he breathed was polluting Earth's environment.

Lin Feng felt nothing about it. Looking at the photograph of himself at the press conference podium, he recalled the events of the past few days.

All of it had been his plan, a plan five full years in the making.

The plan was divided into two steps.

The first step was to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys. After becoming a Wallfacer, there would definitely be people unhappy with him. Especially since he had once been such an unknown nobody, people would inevitably pick at him and cause trouble. Therefore, he had to display his "dictatorship." It was the disguise he adopted after becoming a Wallfacer; he had to act like one.

Don't be fooled by the fact that no one had gone after Luo Ji. Rather than a Wallfacer chosen by humanity, Luo Ji was more like a Wallfacer chosen by Trisolaris.

Trisolaris had specifically named him for assassination. That special status had drawn the attention of those holding the highest power in human civilization. Lin Feng could not compare with him. Neither Trisolaris nor humanity's upper ranks had paid attention to him before.

The second step was to announce the Macro-Electron Storage Plan. This plan had merely been a wild idea of his. In theory, it seemed feasible, but whether it would truly work was something even Lin Feng could not guarantee. It had never happened in the original story, and before becoming a Wallfacer, he had not possessed the resources to conduct any experiments.

No matter how inadequate Sophon might have been compared to Trisolaris, it was still currently the most cutting-edge military technology on humanity's side in the world of Trisolaris. Like nuclear weapons, it was extremely dangerous—something no amount of money could get one's hands on.

Still, even if it proved unworkable, it would not be too bad. The purpose of the Macro-Electron Storage Plan was to ease humanity's internal strife during the Great Depression.

The Macro-Electron Storage Plan called for the construction of tower-like structures across the world.

So the question was, who would build them?

Construction workers, of course!

Jobs around the world would increase as a result, and unemployed people could earn an income by selling their labor.

Once those people earned money, they would naturally spend it, which would in turn drive employment in every sector across the globe.

That was Lin Feng's true purpose in devising the Macro-Electron Storage Plan. The plan would have an effect similar to work relief programs.

Furthermore, electricity problems in impoverished regions would be fundamentally solved. Even if the Macro-Electron Storage Plan failed, the towers could still generate power using Earth's Electric Field with absolute certainty. Since they would be distributed around the world, there would be no need to worry about transmitting electricity over long distances through high-voltage lines like nuclear power plants did.

When humanity entered the Great Depression, at least there would be no need to worry about household electricity.

"Would jobs and energy alone be enough? Maybe I should implement the 007 Work System? If everyone were too busy to breathe, collapsing into bed the moment they got home, naturally they wouldn't have so many random thoughts."

Thinking of humanity during the Great Depression, Lin Feng could not help but ponder deeply. Solving employment and energy problems could not guarantee that humanity would avoid a Great Depression. There were issues such as food, environmental pollution caused by the unchecked use of nuclear rockets, ETO's manipulation of public opinion...

All these problems had only one root cause: the human heart. People's hearts were too easily unsettled.

That was why Lin Feng thought of the 007 Work System. As long as the people at the bottom all worked 007, their hearts would settle down. They would be too exhausted, with nothing but work and rest, and would have no time to think about unnecessary things.

As for the psychological pressure accumulated from busy work, it could be resolved by promoting cultural products such as "pacifier entertainment"—for example, real-time competitive games that could be played in a single short round, videos that could make people laugh without requiring any thought, or dances and music that could calm them down after only a few minutes.

That's right! What did the lower classes need brains for? Being obedient little cogs was enough!

"Mm, that's what I'll do. I'll tell the United Nations later. If I use the Dark Forest Crisis as an excuse, they probably won't object..."

Just as Lin Feng was thinking, the phone on the table rang.

Your wage slave is calling... Your wage slave is calling...

Lin Feng glanced at the number. It belonged to an employee from his company before he had become a Wallfacer. After becoming one, to avoid trouble, Lin Feng had chosen to transfer away his company shares.

"Hello? Who is this? Don't come to me about company matters. I've already sold my shares and am no longer your boss. If there's a problem, go find the actual holder of the company shares."

"Hehehe, Mr. Taylor, you are exactly who I'm looking for."

Lin Feng raised an eyebrow and calmly used another phone to call the CIA.

"Who are you?"

Lin Feng demanded. He intended to stall for time so the CIA could pinpoint the other party's location through the call's IP.

"You need not concern yourself too much with my identity. I am merely an ordinary messenger delivering a letter to you."

"The letter has already been sent to your email. I hope you will take a look."

With that, the caller hung up before Lin Feng could say anything else.

Setting down the phone, Lin Feng quickly logged into his email on his phone and checked the messages he had recently received.

Just from the email's subject line, Lin Feng knew who the sender was.

Traitors of All Humanity!

ETO!

This email was their declaration of challenge to Lin Feng!

The email's general meaning was that one month later, ETO would publicly livestream the breaking of his Wallfacer Plan in front of Lincoln Memorial Hall.

Lin Feng could choose not to attend, but then they would release everything publicly on the internet and list all the evidence they had gathered.

"The troublesome bastards have finally arrived..."

Lin Feng stared gravely at the email and muttered to himself.

Eight days later, on Washington Street, an enthusiastic crowd formed a striking sight as they held high banners opposing 007 and shouted loud slogans.

"Oppose 007!"

"Firmly protect wage workers' rights!"

"Respect labor laws!"

The crowd swept through like a locust plague. Even the street thugs who usually bullied people around had tucked away their fangs and cowered in panic in dark alleyways.

Inside a coffee shop by the street, two men watched the marching protesters outside the window.

"The number of protests like this has increased."

One of them, a thin and pale-looking man, sighed.

The other took a sip of coffee and answered as if it were nothing unusual.

"It's like this in every country, not just the United States."

Only Wallfacers possessed the influence to mobilize every nation to do the same thing.

There were four Wallfacers. Luo Ji lived in seclusion, Bill Shiens was still tinkering with brain technology, Manuel Radias had no interest in this matter, and only Lin Feng, the replacement, remained.

"Feng Taylor's demands... What exactly is he doing this for?" the thin, pale man asked.

Rather than asking about something, the question was more like confirming something.

"Von Neumann, you suspect his true purpose?"

The man sitting opposite him paused with his coffee halfway to his lips and stared seriously at the man across from him.

Von Neumann also raised his coffee, took a sip, and replied, "A Wallfacer must deceive the entire world. Whether it is the Lord or humanity, both are targets he must deceive."

"Beethoven, I don't believe the Macro-Electron Storage Plan he announced is his true purpose."

"If he hadn't held that press conference, I might not have dared to jump to such a conclusion. But he is too young. Young people are always impatient. His actions were meant to quickly tell everyone that his Macro-Electron Storage Plan was 'real.'"

The man opposite Von Neumann nodded.

"But until now, he hasn't revealed any flaws."

"Sometimes, the answer is right in front of you. You simply refuse to believe it is real."

"You mean Feng Taylor's plan is his genuine strategic intent?"

"It is false, and it is real."

Von Neumann shook his head, then nodded. He took another sip of coffee and continued.

"One month from now, Feng Taylor will suffer a crushing defeat."