Dragon Quest

"Things were resolved much faster than I expected!"

Walking on the busiest street in Sabine City, one finally feels the desolate atmosphere that follows turmoil.

There were few people on the street, and even those who were were hunched over with their heads down, afraid of attracting the attention of the soldiers on duty.

In just one morning, the city's security was brought under extremely effective control. So far, there has been almost no criminal activity, at least not in places where people can easily see.

Some people tried to provoke the soldiers, unaware of what had happened that morning, and they got what they wanted.

Some people were pinned to the ground, and some who escaped back home were not spared either. Not only them, but their families were also pinned to the ground, which can be considered as fulfilling their wishes.

Unfortunately, they didn't have the courage to shout out such a powerful slogan as "Who will shoot me?" at that moment, otherwise someone might actually have granted their wish!

We are currently in non-regulated hours. From 9:00 to 11:00 AM and from 4:00 to 6:00 PM every day, people can travel in an orderly manner.

It must be done in an orderly manner. If more than three people walk together, they may be investigated by the military. If more than five people walk together, they will basically have to lie down in a row on the ground.

procession?

Demonstration?

That's all over now, because just today, at 8:45 a. m., all channels of the Sabine City Television Station simultaneously broadcast a news report.

The motion to impeach the president has passed the first round of voting and is now proceeding to the second round. If the second round of voting also passes, the president will face the embarrassing situation of being forced out of the Presidential Palace.

This may be the second president in Federal history to be ousted from the Presidential Palace. Like the previous Presidential Palace, he will become a laughing stock in Federal history, the kind that will be ridiculed for decades or even centuries.

The report claims that all the suffering currently being experienced in society actually stems from the mistakes made by the president and his Presidential Cabinet in formulating domestic and international policies, as well as their rampant arrests of political opponents during this period, which have caused panic among the public and triggered this massive strike.

This report is like... after causing irreparable damage to society, it proactively provides a way out for the people and dumps all their major crimes on the president and his cabinet.

Suddenly, the people sitting in front of the television "woke up" and realized that this was the truth, that the culprits were the president and his Presidential Cabinet, and that they felt they had been deceived.

This greatly relieved some people, and at the same time, it provided an outlet for their pent-up frustrations about their behavior over the past month—it was all the president's fault!

This is precisely why a strike that wasn't particularly unusual could quickly sweep across the entire Federal: the top brass was indulging in a policy of "unity of purpose."

If propaganda is only promoted in a simple way, it is difficult for people to be of one mind and to unite. But now they have done it. Whether they really think so or are just trying to find excuses for what they have done, they must stand with the potential mainstream.

This report successfully diverted public attention from strikes and labor disputes to the issue of impeaching the president, and the public's expectation that the president would be impeached further proved that everything was the president's fault!

At the same time, local governments began to accelerate the process of labor-management negotiations, and most places began to implement strict control systems. The attitude of local City Hall towards the public suddenly took a 180-degree turn, which left some people at a loss.

It's like a mother who always tolerates her child, remaining patient with her naughty child until one day the child goes too far and gets slapped so hard he flies away.

Children cry from the pain, but they also learn what respect is through that pain, until they no longer feel pain or the next beating! "Where have all the homeless people gone?"

Lin Qi discovered that the streets were so clean that there wasn't a single homeless person in sight. This seemed unusual for the Federal. Homelessness had become a unique part of the social culture of the Bayer Federation, and to be honest, it was quite disconcerting to see them suddenly disappear.

The Sergeant pursed his lips and explained, "They've been brought together for unified management. What I mean is that they're still relatively free, it's just that someone is now managing them."

Lin Qi nodded knowingly. "I understand. You don't need to explain."

The Sergeant stopped talking. What he meant was that he didn't want Lin Qi to think too highly of the military, or to think that the military was too cruel and inhumane.

Generally, when military control is implemented, homeless people are always the first to suffer.

They would be driven to a certain area and asked to give up all their personal belongings, which were just some cardboard boxes, some worthless but potentially useful trash, bottles and jars, and so on.

Checking these items for safety requires a lot of manpower, and the military doesn't have the time or manpower to do so. So the best solution is to remove them all. As for the homeless people's objections?

No, they won't object; they'll just cooperate. No one can act as tough as usual in front of the Black Hole muzzle of a gun.

For groups like the homeless, who are already considered a hidden social group, if someone were to disappear, no one would notice, and no one would cause trouble over their disappearance.

Today is the second round of labor negotiations, Lin Qi, having nothing better to do, decided to join in the fun.

The auction cannot be held at present. The City Hall will not approve such a request. At the same time, the number of people gathered is too large. At this critical juncture, any accident could become a political incident. For the sake of stability, everything else must take a backseat.

Since he had nothing else to do, he decided to listen in on the negotiations. After all, he was a somewhat well-known capitalist.

When Lin Qi arrived at the venue, he didn't have a seat with a place card. He sat on the edge of the hall, which was actually a nice spot.

People might not notice the young man in a corner, but Lin Qi could see most of the people under the lights and know their identities through Sika.

From the very beginning, the negotiations were fraught with tension. Although the workers had stopped rioting, the problem remained unresolved, so their attitude at the negotiating table was far from friendly.

In order to expedite the resolution of labor disputes, the Labor Union also dispatched several specialists to help mediate between workers and capitalists.

They have understood the authorities' stance, so they intend to restore everything to its original state.

Of course, the workers' representatives also relaxed their bottom line a little compared to the previous time. They could agree to the capitalists' demand for full-time work, which is sixty hours a week, one day off on the weekend, and ten hours a day on other days.

This is actually a relatively lenient working hour. In some other places, the working hours are even 12 hours a day and 72 hours a week.

However, wages need to be increased; 4.5% is a price that both employers and employees can accept.

However, there are still many unresolved issues regarding welfare benefits.

This is a good sign; at least they've resolved part of it. Next time, or the time after that, after everyone goes back and calms down, perhaps someone will make some concessions.

Isn't negotiation simply a process of mutual concessions made step by step until both sides reach a mutually acceptable agreement?

To Lin Qi's surprise, something that didn't belong to the work or the workers was included in the negotiations.

After settling some key issues, as the mayor prepared to announce the end of negotiations that had made significant progress but yielded no concrete breakthroughs, the Labor Union commissioner coughed lightly, drawing everyone's attention to him.

The commissioner pursed his lips, his expression somewhat solemn. "Mr. Mayor, I have another request, but this request has nothing to do with the investors; it has something to do with you."

"Me?" The mayor lowered his head, his gaze passing through the gap between his glasses and brow bone to the commissioner sitting opposite him. He even took off his glasses, rubbing his eye sockets as he asked, "Then we can discuss this. It will be much faster than your discussion."

The commissioner knew the mayor was mocking them for wasting time on trivial issues, but this was actually a strategy to make the capitalists understand that once the workers started to protest, it wouldn't be easy to calm them down.

With this awareness, dealing with problems becomes easier in daily life.

He gave a polite smile and said, "I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your time. This request comes from the majority of ordinary workers."

"That's what you said when you were causing trouble!" someone couldn't help but interject, which earned him a relaxed, disdainful laugh from some of the capitalists.

The commissioner, however, was not at all embarrassed or annoyed. In fact, to some extent, he himself was not Working Class; he was merely a class above the working group. He did not consider himself Working Class, so he was not sensitive to the remark or the impolite laughter.

Of course, we still need to issue warnings, and then he said, "Many of our workers are unable to work or have lost their jobs, making it difficult for them to ensure the normal functioning of their families. Moreover, we all know that the City Hall has stopped issuing Food Stamps for some time, and we hope to resume the issuance and redemption of Food Stamps as soon as possible."

He raised his voice, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation. "This concerns whether people will starve to death, and the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of workers' families!"