The Scripted Livestream, the Real-World Observation

As soon as Yue Zhongshan appeared, he went to the largest village on the island.

Three hundred Black Armored Guards surrounded the village.

"Everyone, come out!"

Half an incense stick later.

The village elder led the villagers, who knelt one by one in the open space in the village.

"Why not pay taxes to the imperial court? It's only collected once every ten years. Such a great favor, I don't understand, why can't it be implemented?"

The village Great Elder bowed his head and said, "Reporting to the lord, the harvest is supposed to be once every ten years, but now it's been twenty or thirty years!"

"You bastard!"

"Even if we collect taxes for 20 or 30 years, even if you can't afford to pay, does that give you the right to rebel?"

"Do you think you can escape death by rebelling?"

"Whether we surrender or rebel, we'll both die. Why not rebel?" the Great Elder said, mustering his courage.

"Very well, do you think dying from rebellion is the same as starving to death?" Yue Zhongshan said coldly.

"I will not be a starving corpse, but rather emulate the praying mantis with its mighty arms!"

"Today, I will show you what it means to wish for death but be unable to live!"

Then he reached out and pressed down, and thousands of villagers were pressed to the ground as if they were carrying a mountain on their backs.

My body is in pain from every part.

Inside the live stream room.

The audience erupted in cheers.

"Good heavens, are they telling the people to starve rather than rebel?"

"As expected of a feudal dynasty. Unlike us, if one of our companies fails, we can always find another," someone remarked with relief.

However, someone immediately retorted, "Come on, it's just the pot calling the kettle black."

"All crows are black, do you really think the company is some kind of good bird?"

"If it weren't for the fact that the people had firearms, and whoever could mobilize more people won, would the company have been so kind as to grant the people the freedom to move around at will?"

"That's right, things are different now. Now, whoever has the stronger player wins."

"Many companies have now become evil feudal dynasties, hunting down freelancers, seizing talents, Enslavement natives, and conducting brutal experiments. Which of these things is better than a feudal dynasty?"

Gao Linzhi nodded upon seeing this.

One advantage of modern people is that among the majority of the ignorant, there are still some who are clear-headed.

Just as many people believe that the Yongle Encyclopedia is the origin of modern technology, many others are equally aware of where modern technology actually came from.

After all, educated minds always possess some capacity for clear thinking.

"That's right, if we ordinary people want a good life, we must have our own strength, not rely on the heavens above us!"

"Kill these bastards!"

"The Rise of the Casual Players!"

"The common people are the greatest!"

The live stream chat was buzzing with excitement.

In the past, this content would have disappeared long ago.

Now, under the control of the Skyfall Game system, these live streaming rooms have gained maximum freedom.

Any content can be posted.

Once this was discovered, many players' live streams quickly turned into marketplaces for buying and selling, as those in the know understand.

"Let them go! If you're going to kill someone, kill me instead!" a few village elders managed to say.

"Hmph, instead of serving the court properly, you collude with outsiders to rebel against the court and fail to pay your taxes properly. You deserve to die!" Yue Zhongshan cursed fiercely.

"Do you even have an ounce of reason to speak?" the Great Elder retorted.

"It's not that we don't want to pay, but we have to pay for thirty or fifty years at a time, which means two or three hundred taels of silver per household!"

"Even if you squeezed oil out of our bones and scraped us up to sell piecemeal, you still wouldn't get two hundred taels of silver!"

The elders were furious.

In fact, they themselves also exploit the villagers quite a bit.

But at least their exploitation takes into account preventing villagers from starving, ensuring that people can get married, raise children, and allow the village to thrive and multiply.

It should be something that will satisfy the ancestors during the sacrificial rites.

The imperial court, however, completely ignored all of this.

Is the imperial court just blessed with good fortune?

The imperial court isn't stupid.

The elders weren't stupid either.

The elders also knew that the normal taxes set by the officials of the imperial court should be at a level that the villagers could afford by gritting their teeth.

However, the officials who came down from the yamen simply multiplied that number by ten or even a hundred.

What if all the villagers die?

They won't care.

Of course, not all yamen runners were like that.

Some are light, some are heavy.

Most of them were crushed to the point that 30% of the villagers died.

It should take about ten years to recover.

Families here have many children, and there is also a lot of land on the island.

They got married at twelve, had children at thirteen, and had eight children in one family.

Therefore, the deaths of 30% of people are nothing in the eyes of those people.

Yue Zhongshan coldly replied, "Even so, you cannot rebel."

"You're spouting nonsense. The imperial court's regular tax is only ten taels of silver per household, plus local specialties."

"Those local specialties don't cost any money."

"If you work hard in your daily lives, you won't feel the burden."

"If you say the taxes are too heavy, first think about whether you've actually worked hard enough?"

"Do you sleep whenever you're tired? Do you often play cards and drink alcohol? Do you often sleep in late?"

Have you ever gotten up at four in the morning to fish? Have you ever worked in the fields under the stars and moon?

The audience was stunned.

"Is this even human language?"

"Damn it!"

"This man is a complete lackey of the imperial court; it doesn't make any sense at all!"

"It can only understand the sounds of knives and guns!"

And at this time...

Seeing the audience growing increasingly angry, streamer Li Gun felt the atmosphere had reached a fever pitch and it was time for him to make his move.

If this drags on any longer, the audience will start calling him a coward.

And so, not long after...

Suddenly, an Iron-Faced Man appeared in mid-air.

Clearly, he was previously invisible in mid-air.

Now it's time to reveal itself.

As soon as he appeared, he flew through the air and stood in front of Yue Zhongshan.

"How arrogant!"

"You keep mentioning the imperial court, but do you even know the meaning behind its existence?"

Do you know why the imperial court came into being?

Yue Zhongshan looked at the Iron-Faced Man, his expression changing slightly.

This subtle change might go unnoticed by others, but Gao Linzhi saw it clearly.

Goodness, no wonder the atmosphere was so oppressive.

It's all just a script.

Sure enough, the next moment, Yue Zhongshan actually began to answer:

"The imperial court exists under the mandate of Heaven."

"The Heavenly Mandate Black Bird descended and gave birth to the Shang Dynasty; this is a saying you extraterrestrials often use."

"Our imperial court is the same."

The Iron-Faced Man retorted, "Ha! How laughable! Always talking about destiny!"

"The Mandate of Heaven is nothing to fear; what is the true nature of the imperial court?"

"The imperial court was essentially established by the people to organize themselves and resist natural disasters and man-made calamities!"

In ancient times, there were no imperial courts, only tribes.

"Later, the most powerful tribes prevailed, and that's how the imperial court evolved."

"Because as the population increases, so do the natural and man-made disasters encountered."

"Those who organize themselves first and establish large tribes under the imperial court will have a greater competitive advantage."

"They can mobilize more manpower to deal with natural disasters, to stockpile food, and to combat man-made calamities."

"This way they can survive in the more intense competition."

"This is the true origin of the imperial court."

"When ordinary people pay taxes, they are essentially paying for themselves."

"Those taxes are used by the imperial court for disaster relief and to fight against the enemy!"

"However, some high-ranking officials misappropriated it for their own enjoyment!"

"This is a huge mistake!"

"The taxes intended to combat natural disasters and man-made calamities were instead used by court officials for their own benefit; this is the reason for the court's downfall."

"When a dynasty can no longer provide disaster relief, it loses its reason for existence!"

Clearly, the Iron-Faced Man was speaking to the audience.

He wasn't trying to persuade the people of the opposing court.

That's indeed the case.

The audience members shouted one after another, "Well said!"

That's just how it is.

Yue Zhongshan retorted directly, "Nonsense!"

"You've all forgotten the hierarchy and social order!"

"The imperial court is ordained by Heaven and supported by the people; that is only natural!"

"The disaster relief is a testament to His Majesty's benevolence!"

"Heh," the Iron-Faced Man said, "Now let me ask you, have you helped these people fight against natural disasters and man-made calamities?"

Upon hearing this, many villagers' eyes lit up.

The Great Elder mustered his courage and said, "The righteous man is right."

"Not only did they not help us fight against natural and man-made disasters, they themselves were part of those disasters!"

"We were terrified when we heard that someone from the imperial court was coming."

"When we hear of strange occurrences, we are afraid, but not terrified, because we are already used to it."

"The monster won't destroy the village, nor will it demand gold or silver; some people will die, and that's it."

"However, the imperial court is not like that!"

"The imperial court is ruthless in its extortion and blackmail; strange things won't enter homes or ancestral halls, but the court officials have no restrictions whatsoever!"

Upon seeing this, Gao Linzhi became even more certain that it was all scripted.

This is actually an old trick used in live streaming.

After all, in a simple live broadcast, emotions build up very slowly, and a conflict may take months, years, or even decades to fully erupt.

Just like when disaster victims rebel, it takes one or two years of famine, plus several months of starvation, before someone will rise up in rebellion.

The Iron-Faced Man then addressed the crowd, saying, "Tell me, does such a court still have any reason to exist?"

"There's no need for it to exist!" the audience shouted.

Unable to hear the audience's shouts, the villagers remained silent.

But they all shared the same idea.

There's something you can live with or without.

It won't help you when you need it.

And when you're doing well, it comes to exploit you.

You can actually live better without it.

What's the point of having it?

The villagers may be ignorant, but when it comes to their own interests, they all possess the most shrewd cunning of the lower classes.

Before long, they figured it out.

That's right, the imperial court had no reason to exist for them.

"What he said seems to make sense," the villagers murmured among themselves.

"But the imperial court has always existed. Without it, wouldn't the world be in chaos?" Some villagers even spoke highly of the imperial court.

"How much wine did you drink? How many dishes did the imperial court give you?" a villager asked disdainfully.

"Yes, since the imperial court isn't here, we can still eat steamed pork with rice flour and drink some wine."

"Once the imperial court arrives, we'll have to eat chaff and wild vegetables, and it will take us several years to recover."

"Yes, we would eat several times before we were willing to finish a meal. Before the imperial court was established, we would feed the leftovers to the chickens and pigs, and eat the eggs and meat."

"That's right, the imperial court shouldn't have taken it!"

"If it weren't for the imperial court, we could have a proper meal tonight."

After hearing this, the villagers dared to raise their heads one by one.

They looked at the Iron-Faced Man with expectant eyes.

They were shouting in their hearts:

[Overthrow the imperial court!]

We don't want the imperial court!

The Iron-Faced Man seemed to hear their cries and became their mouthpiece.

"That's right, I heard your voice!"

"This imperial court has never helped you, so it has no reason to exist for you!"

"When you were in danger, the imperial court never came; they only knew to come to collect taxes once every ten years!"

"As soon as the strange occurrence subsided, they came; the tax revenue has never decreased!"

Island systems are inherently prone to internal divisions and disunity, especially in their current state.

"That's right, those few government officials stationed on the island, when they encounter anything strange, they hide better than anyone else."

"Yes, they even stole our ancestral hall's quota and never helped us or resolved any of the strange occurrences."

"That's right, if that's the case, then we don't need the imperial court at all!"

"We will be in charge of our own lives!"

"Kill these people from the imperial court!"

Some villagers were stirred up.

Keep in mind that just a few hours earlier, they had resigned themselves to their fate and awaited their deaths.

But now, inspired by the Iron-Faced Man, they have begun to shout.

"Well said!"

"Kill him!"

"This is outrageous!"

"Hmph, in the end, they still rebel. Die!" Yue Zhongshan's eyes turned cold, and he drew his sword to slash at the villagers.

The Iron-Faced Man simply blocked it with a single blow.

Gao Linzhi noticed that an artistic conception had appeared on the opponent's staff; it was the Law of the Rod.

It sounds a bit strange, but that's exactly how it is.

The clash of knives and clubs sent sparks flying everywhere.

"Ah!"

The villagers' heads felt like they were going to split open from the sound waves.

One by one, they collapsed to the ground and rolled around.

The Iron-Faced Man then launched a counterattack.

The two sides went back and forth.

The three hundred armored warriors then stepped forward to surround and attack.

They set up a "Ocean-Sweeping Formation," using the power of the sea and their own mysterious strength to attack the Iron-Faced Man.

Gao Linzhi took this opportunity to carefully study how the Mysterious Energy operated.

He stared at the live stream.

At the same time, a puppet decoy was dispatched to the actual location of the live broadcast room.

He wasn't worried about not making it in time.

Because this kind of battle is destined to last a long time.

As expected, the battle between the two sides lasted for three days and three nights.

After all, this is a script.

They played too fast.

The audience thought it was too easy.

The game was too slow, and the audience found it too difficult.

Gao Linzhi arrived at the scene precisely at that moment.

His Substitute Puppet observes closely.

His Game Character has logged off and entered the real world.

As for the purpose, it was naturally to observe the reactions of modern people offline and to investigate the existence of the operating company.

In a large city.

Business is visibly sluggish.

Along the way, Gao Linzhi saw one "Shop for Rent" notice after another.

The number one lie among the three major lies on the market: prime shop rentals.

The second is "high-price buyback," and the third is "high-salary urgent hiring."

He looked at each shop, as they cleared out their inventory.

The bosses all looked gloomy and under a lot of pressure.

Clearly, it's an alien invasion.

The first thing affected is people's confidence in consumption.

Actually, there are still enough supplies.

After all, the scope of the strange influence is not large.

However, consumer confidence has been severely damaged.

The only thriving industries are the various semi-permanent food industries and the permanent shelter construction industries.

Many construction companies have switched to building underground shelters.

Another booming industry is the gold-related industry.

All I can say is that order still exists for now.