Some people held public funerals for the dead, while others mourned in private.
Those who held public funerals were the minority. Those who mourned in private were the majority.
Because not everyone could die openly, as Xu Wenju had.
Some people could not die.
Some people were not allowed to die.
Some people should never have been alive in the first place.
Those who died in the great battle included not only renowned figures like Gu Weiyang and Chu Xiaoang, but also relatively unremarkable people, such as the presidents of various merchants' associations and the heads of various families.
These associations, families, and other factions were already minor powers. Anyone they could send to fight outside Sigma District had been a pillar of their organization.
When that pillar broke, the sky collapsed over everyone beneath it.
So their leaders, their pillars, could not die.
Even after hearing the rumors, they had to pretend everything was normal, keep up their social obligations and transactions, and find a way through the crisis.
Compared with these minor factions struggling to keep up appearances, the Bright Sun Merchants' Association truly had suffering it could not speak of.
Because Jiang Hao had "gone missing."
Jiang Hao's disappearance was the official designation given by the United Government.
In the report published by the United Government, Jiang Hao, Guo Jiuxiao, and Hu Yunsheng had all gone missing Outside the Safe Zone.
The three of them had not helped the rebels fight Zone 1, so by rights, the United Government should not have targeted them.
But they had not helped Zone 1 either.
In a situation where everyone had to choose a side, those who helped neither side would ultimately find neither side willing to help them.
After most of Zone 1's people died, the United Government no