Three Promises

Duncan's speech reached its climax after he unveiled holographic imaging technology and proclaimed, "Humanity's glory will endure forever."

The audience watching from behind countless livestream screens had no idea what Duncan's words represented, but every one of them felt a shiver rise from the soles of their feet to the tops of their heads when he cried, "Humanity's glory will endure forever."

That slogan seemed almost magical, lifting the souls of everyone watching the livestream to a whole new level.

The wordless shock of that moment would perhaps become a vivid memory for many people.

Duncan had successfully gained a following among casual observers with his speech, but he knew that slogans alone wouldn't make people follow him wholeheartedly.

So he had to set out a great many plans to benefit ordinary people, carry them out one by one, and keep criticizing the corrupt among them. At the very least, he had to seize control of public opinion.

He would bring stability to the uncertain, food to the homeless, purpose to the lost, and faith to those who wanted for nothing!

"Now, here before billions of people around the world, I make three promises!"

In a bar in Texas...

Every patron had forgotten to drink. Their eyes gleamed with anticipation, and during business hours, the noisy bar had somehow fallen so silent you could hear a pin drop.

After Duncan announced his three promises, he didn't continue right away. As time passed, everyone found themselves clenching their fists nervously.

They didn't know whether they were worried about winning or losing their bets, or about the promises Duncan was about to make.

As they waited expectantly, Duncan finally announced his "three promises" on the television.

"First promise: fairness!

"I want every hardworking person in the world to get what they deserve!

"Ordinary construction workers should be able to live in the homes they built with their own hands! Assembly-line workers should be able to drive the cars they put together themselves! Restaurant servers should be able to enjoy a hearty meal at the very place where they work!

"I can promise that everyone who works for the Umbrella Corporation will receive their fair share of the fruits of their labor!"

The bar erupted in commotion. Before it could die down, the second promise came.

"Second promise: safety. Umbrella will build its own cities, and every resident living in them will undergo a rigorous screening.

"There will be no guns, no drugs, and no racism in these cities. Everyone will be able to live in the sunlight, without worrying that someone might pull a gun from beneath their clothes and shoot at them! Your children will also receive the best education in the city. If you work for the Umbrella Corporation, your medical and educational expenses will be fully covered.

"In the cities built by Umbrella, everyone will be free to pursue the happiness they want, as long as they stay within reason and within the bounds of the rules."

The bar patrons drew another sharp breath, exclaiming at Umbrella's enormous ambition!

Gun control had long been an intractable problem in the land of the free. Even if this wasn't gun control across the entire country, a city imposing it on its own would be the first step toward victory.

Once one city took the lead, ordinary people fed up with threats to their lives would surely call for their own cities to follow suit. Then the politicians would have a headache.

"Third promise: peace!

"The Earth's resources are limited. Scientists have been saying so for a long time.

"But what many people don't know is that the solution to our energy crisis is right above our heads!

"The moon contains several elements that can be converted into energy. I'm sure many of you already know that."

The holographic image showed the moon. The vast depths of space and the barren lunar landscape never failed to awe humanity.

Duncan pointed at the surface of the lunar model. A futuristic-looking base appeared at once.

"So, within the next five years, the Umbrella Corporation will complete its lunar landing. Within ten years, we'll build a Space Station and a Lunar Base, and transport the moon's resources back to Earth, so humanity will no longer be held back by energy shortages!"

After hearing those three promises, the audience had gone from being astonished to numb.

The first promise, fairness, seemed easy enough to achieve.

The second, safety, also seemed feasible, given the Umbrella Corporation's immense wealth.

But this third promise sounded like something out of a science-fiction movie. And yet the person making it had a great deal of credibility, making it hard not to get excited.

After talking so much, Duncan was a little thirsty. But this wasn't enough. His promises still weren't down to earth enough. He had to offer something more practical.

And when it came to practical things, what could be closer to people's lives than the electricity they used every day?

"If you think that'll take too long, we have a completely new clean-energy solution that we can offer before the plan is complete. It's nonpolluting and harmless... a cold fusion reactor!"

The holographic image projected a model of the Ark Reactor. On television, Duncan pointed at the model of the cold fusion reactor. "This is the Umbrella Corporation's latest product: a controllable cold fusion reactor. A single standard large-scale cold fusion reactor can supply power to all of New York for a year. It costs only one billion dollars to build, and annual maintenance costs no more than two million. When the fuel runs out, it can be replenished.

"If the cost of the electricity generated by two cold fusion reactors is spread across an entire city, the average household will pay less than one dollar for ten days of electricity!

"We'll first put them to use in the cities built by Umbrella. We'll work with other cities to make arrangements locally in due course. In the near future, once we're using the new cold fusion reactors, electricity prices will no longer be a burden on families!"

Whether they were the crowd of rednecks in the bar or the people watching television, everyone was stunned by Duncan's bold claims.

Passionate slogans and vague goals couldn't compare to concrete benefits.

Ordinary people made up the majority of the world's population. Give them what they wanted, and they'd dare to follow you and give you unwavering support in the court of public opinion.

Electricity bills were such an ordinary expense that hearing someone say they could be free one day was as shocking as learning that a gallon of gas would cost only ten cents.

Then came a wave of joy. Anyone who owned a large house knew how easily electricity could run up a huge bill. It was one of the biggest expenses in daily life.

The cold fusion reactor technology instantly erased all the Umbrella Corporation's negative press among the public. After all, in this world, very few people could get by without electricity.

After deliberately pausing to give everyone time to digest the news, Duncan continued with a smile. "Once energy is no longer a problem, certain people won't need to keep waging pointless wars. Of course, the Umbrella Corporation is a responsible company. We'll help energy companies that lose their revenue transition to new industries, or acquire them at a reasonable price."

Several middle-aged white men in the audience could no longer keep their expressions under control. They were all executives of energy giants. Duncan's cold fusion reactor technology wouldn't bankrupt their companies immediately, but their stocks were sure to plummet.

The Umbrella Corporation really didn't want them to live!

They couldn't beat the Umbrella Corporation with conventional business tactics. Their underhanded schemes had failed to kill Duncan, and now the execution platform built by business and government together had become Duncan's personal stage!

They had lost completely, utterly. The only chance they had left to turn things around was to seize the Umbrella Corporation's means of production.

No matter how civilized modern European aristocrats made themselves out to be, they couldn't hide their history of rising through plunder.

Those aristocratic gentlemen who prized the sanctity of contracts were, of all people, the ones least likely to abide by the rules.

Did anyone really believe they wouldn't resort to outright theft? Really?

They were the sort who rushed in to burn, kill, and loot when they saw they could make a fortune by robbing China. How could they possibly be a bunch of kindhearted businessmen who honored contracts?

As for Duncan's offer to help energy companies transition, they didn't believe a single word of it!

Duncan might have the technology, but he couldn't possibly be trustworthy!

A capitalist's integrity was worthless in the face of profit, so they didn't believe Duncan would actually help them make the transition. Even if he did, he'd surely fleece them in the end.

If they had such powerful energy technology as the cold fusion reactor, they certainly wouldn't care if their competitors lived or died. They'd even kick them when they were down.

They began urgently contacting their network of connections, ready to find people who could steal the technology from Umbrella, or get some lunatic gunman to take another shot at Duncan and continue the plan to break up the company.

Watching the capitalists running around in a panic, Duncan smiled faintly. He picked up three little silver balls from the ground, adding one final bombshell to his speech.

"To protect a fortune like this, do you think ten thousand people would be enough, Mr. Gaplo? The changes Umbrella can bring to this world will inevitably threaten a lot of people's interests. Do you think they can really hold back a pack of wolves circling their prey?"

General Gaplo still looked sternly at Duncan from the stage and didn't answer his question.

"They can't. The military and the police can't either. Only we can protect ourselves. Besides, our private armed forces are entirely legal, and all the relevant permits are posted on our official website. Anyone who has doubts about the Umbrella Corporation can browse through our site!"

Duncan smiled, no longer pressing General Gaplo, and turned to wave at the Umbrella delegation.

The company's senior executives stood up in unison, chests out like victorious roosters, and followed their boss as he left.

The reporters nearby flashed their cameras incessantly. The Japanese reporters in particular fired off shots as if their cameras were machine guns.

Under the spotlights, the Umbrella delegation left the hearing room. The hearing was over.