The Price of Opposition

Yet among the common people at the bottom of society, the reaction was even more direct and intense.

In town squares, people held up newspapers printed with the World Government's scandals, and angry cries rose one after another.

A young worker clutched a newspaper tightly, his eyes bloodshot as he shouted:

"How could they treat our fellow countrymen like this!

Are we really supposed to just swallow our anger?"

He raised the newspaper high, as if he wanted to rip open this unjust world.

A woman beside him looked at the newspaper, tears welling in her eyes:

"I heard about it. Those bastards have done so many terrible things behind our backs. They don't care about ordinary people like us at all!"

Her voice gradually grew more agitated:

"They embezzle, manipulate, and have even caused countless people to die!

We can't endure this any longer!"

This emotion spread through the streets like wildfire.

People began gathering, forming an enraged crowd. Though they held no weapons, a silent force permeated the air.

They began discussing how to act, how to speak up for the innocents oppressed by the World Government. Some even started urging others to take to the streets and protest.

Meanwhile, news quietly began spreading through other nations' border regions and those distant, nearly forgotten cities.

Some were shocked when they saw these scandals in the news, but others seemed unsurprised, as though they had long known how this tragedy would end.

They calmly analyzed the situation, calculating how they could seize the opportunity and profit for themselves.

But whether it was anger or calm, fear for the future or a desire to fight back, every newspaper that spread made the world's fractures more apparent.

The World Government, that massive machine which had once been so confident and oppressed