The Bugra Free State.
Inside a television broadcast studio, House sat behind a long desk dressed in a sharp suit. He squared up a thick stack of news copy, preparing to start today's live broadcast.
"Dear viewers, welcome to *House Daily Observation*. I am your most beloved Mr. House.
"Just last night, the savages of Qingquan City shamelessly detained six law-abiding merchants of the Bugra Free State! Without question, this is blatant banditry... Just look at them! They claim to be enemies of marauders, but how does what they do differ from marauders?
"Just as they once plundered the wealth of Boulder City's residents, they have now extended their greedy claws toward honest, upright folk like us.
"Regrettably, we have no diplomatic ties with them, and poor Mr. Sindisen can only pay the price for his carelessness... They really ought to choose their trading partners more cautiously. Doing business with rogues never ends well.
"We interrupt this report with breaking news. Our esteemed Mayor Audo has stated that, at the request of the Chief of the Great Rift Valley, we will attempt to engage in cooperation with the Alliance on issues regarding the mutant slime mold... Wait, what?!"
Staring at the script in his hand, House—who had been reading by rote just a second prior—suddenly went wide-eyed and nearly fell out of his chair.
Cooperate with the Alliance?
What kind of sick joke was this?!
***
Mr. House's program was by no means popular in the Bugra Free State; among countless similar shows, its ratings did not even register.
Most citizens cared neither for their mayor nor for House's pedantic, sycophantic tone. Consequently, his show found an audience only among the Boulder City inner-city nobles who had fled to the Free State as refugees.
Sometimes Alliance players would watch his show just for laughs, occasionally clipping excerpts to share on the official forum.
Curiously enough, however, on this single day, House's on-air reaction matched that of the vast majority of Free State citizens who happened to tune in.
Whether intentional or not, the Alliance had spoiled the Free State's good fortune more than once. The authorities' official propaganda had painted the Alliance as their nemesis, "the obstacle preventing them from escaping the Great Rift Valley's rule," and as rogues barring their corporations from conducting business in Sunset Province.
And now they were supposed to cooperate with these "rogues"!
What kind of joke was this!
At the scene of the press conference.
Facing a sea of microphones thrust before him, Audo knew he had no good way to explain this to his supporters. He could only bite the bullet and speak.
"...That is the Great Rift Valley's position. I understand your displeasure, but I have no other choice."
Upon hearing his explanation, the press conference erupted into chaos, and emotions flared out of control.
A man wearing a press pass around his neck shoved through the crowd, attempting to storm the podium, only to be stopped by an exoskeleton-clad security guard.
Glaring at the spineless mayor, the man bellowed at him in fury.
"Mr. Audo, do you realize that just hours ago, Alliance soldiers detained our merchants?!"
Audo looked helplessly at the furious young man.
"I know—"
"You don't know anything!" The man cut him off angrily, shoving against the guard restraining him. "You're nothing but a lapdog trotting behind the Great Rift Valley! I'm ashamed for you!"
Before his shout had even faded, the guards twisted his arms behind his back and slapped handcuffs on him, marching him away like a hero amid the cheers and applause of the onlookers.
Fearing bottles being hurled at them, the guards did not dare treat him roughly either.
Watching the increasingly agitated crowd at the press conference, Audo sighed internally, yet he continued trying to patiently explain to this pack of fools.
"...Regardless of whether it succeeds, we must attempt to talk with the Alliance. Otherwise, our electricity rates will spike again next year.
"Or, to put it another way: I doubt any of you want the ad that plays when you open your refrigerator door to go from thirty seconds to forty-five next year."
He had thrown that out casually; whether it would actually come to pass, no one knew.
After all, the Chief had not told him exactly how much energy prices would increase, nor how much of that cost the business owners would pass down to the ordinary sheep.
While Audo struggled to weather the barrage of citizens' denunciations, Sigma sat in his top-floor executive suite in the Flint Group Building, staring gloomily out the floor-to-ceiling window at the prosperous urban sprawl set against the barren skyline.
Just yesterday, he had received an emissary from the Church of the Torch, only for the Great Rift Valley's directive to throw all his plans into disarray.
Although the Free State was practically under the thumb of the Flint Group, even Sigma could not openly defy an order from the Great Rift Valley.
He knew very well that although the Great Rift Valley settlement was far less prosperous than the Free State, the gulf in raw military might between the two was insurmountable.
At the moment, however, what weighed even more heavily on his mind was another matter entirely—
"...Rumor has it that the Alliance Administrator held back-to-back meetings with representatives from both the Academy and the Enterprise, and an envoy from the Legion is already on their way to Dawn City,"
his confidant, Xavier, reported respectfully as he stood before the executive desk.
Pulling his gaze back from the window, Sigma looked at Xavier.
"The Academy?"
Xavier nodded solemnly.
"Yes... And reportedly, the Academy made contact with the Alliance even before the Enterprise did."
Seeing Sigma's brow furrow, Xavier paused for a second before continuing.
"Also by way of rumor, I've heard... the Alliance plans to establish a cross-regional cooperative organization dedicated to eliminating mutant slime mold broodmothers across the wasteland.
"Factoring in their technology for manipulating slime mold fruiting bodies, I suspect they intend to seize this opportunity to expand their sphere of influence outward."
This speculation was entirely reasonable.
If the Alliance truly possessed the ability to control mutant slime mold behavior, then any territory they "remediated" would effectively fall under their jurisdiction.
Building military bases on Enterprise and Academy turf.
They certainly dared to dream.
Sigma gave a cold inner sneer, yet he dared not drop his guard.
Those ancient survivor factions possessed an extraordinary obsession with the mutant slime mold; after all, those things had once brought their world to ruin.
On that point, they were completely different from the ordinary survivors scattered across the wasteland.
If the Alliance forged closer ties with the Enterprise and the Academy, the Free State's room to maneuver would shrink even further.
Nor was that all.
If the Great Rift Valley was also won over by the Alliance, and that old fossil suddenly lost his mind and declared, *Boulder City has joined the Alliance, so you might as well join too,* things would truly fall apart!
Sigma had no desire to surrender the fruits of his years of painstaking labor over a single word from someone else!
Right then, the desk phone rang.
Guessing who was on the other end, Sigma reached out and tapped his wristwatch. Moments later, a pale-blue beam of light rose from the desk.
The figure standing in the holographic beam was none other than Audo, who had been on the press conference floor just minutes ago.
"I apologize for disturbing you at a time like this, Mr. Sigma. I believe you've already heard: the Chief of the Great Rift Valley wants us to pursue cooperation with the Alliance on mutant slime mold matters... Just like before, they leveraged our energy quotas as blackmail. I had no choice but to agree."
Looking at Mayor Audo's deferential posture, Sigma replied in an easy tone,
"You made the right choice. There is no need for us to place ourselves in opposition to the Great Rift Valley."
Relieved that Sigma was understanding, Audo asked further,
"Then what are your instructions?"
Sigma closed his eyes, contemplating for a long while before opening them and speaking in a deliberate tone.
"I have no objections. Proceed on your end according to the Chief's directive. Reach out to the Alliance in the official name of the Free State."
Although the Flint Group's previous encounters with the Alliance had all ended unfavorably, the Free State had never once engaged in formal diplomatic contact with them in an official capacity.
Audo hesitated slightly. "Will... that really be fine?"
Sigma answered succinctly,
"Projecting an eager posture on matters that concern the Chief is not a bad thing. Besides, by engaging them, we can keep tabs on their movements. Even if they refuse to cooperate, it makes no difference; at the very least, we will have done what was expected of us."
"And what about our citizens? The voices of dissent are quite loud," Audo ventured cautiously.
Candidates for Mayor of the Free State were nominated by the Great Rift Valley, but they were ultimately elected by the citizens. Because of the press conference just now, Audo had already lost a vast number of supporters. If he appeared too cooperative, his approval ratings would plummet even further.
His opposition was already screaming to initiate impeachment proceedings to oust him from office.
Aware of Audo's anxieties, Sigma remained unfazed, merely remarking offhandedly,
"Rest assured on that front. I will persuade the opposition on your behalf."
Though it was merely a casual promise, hearing those words caused the tension on Audo's face to melt into a look of profound relief.
"With your word, my mind is at ease!"
Everyone in this settlement knew that Mr. Sigma was the true master of the Free State.
Not only did the Flint Group control the most lucrative businesses in the entire Free State, but it also held direct or indirect control over more than ninety percent of the settlement's media outlets.
So long as this magnate stepped in, Audo had no reason to fear any opposition. Those critics would obediently shut their mouths on their own...
***
While various circles across the Bugra Free State were embroiled in fierce debates over the "Sindisen Case" and "Mayor Audo, the Great Rift Valley's lapdog," the industrial zone arson trial convened in Dawn City was drawing widespread attention from all walks of Alliance life.
The trial opened at noon.
The gallery of the Dawn City Court was packed to the brim, with people standing in the aisles all the way to the back row, drawing attendees from every background.
Originally, the judicial process would not have moved so swiftly, but because the defendant had confessed readily and the chain of evidence was indisputable, various pressures had prompted the trial to be brought forward.
At present, a young man in his early twenties stood in the defendant's box. His features were resolute and he stood with a straight, rigid posture. He did not look like an evil sort, and one could tell at a glance that he had a military background.
And so he did.
His name was Sun Yong, a soldier of the First Corps who had enlisted last year during the Sunset Province campaign. His reason for joining had been exceedingly simple: to follow in the footsteps of that esteemed leader.
Most soldiers in the First Corps were much the same.
Most lacked high levels of education. They were either slaves rescued by the Alliance from marauders or vagrants sheltered by the Refugee Home.
Sun Yong regarded the Administrator as something more precious than his own life and honor. Thus, upon hearing that someone dared slander his beloved leader, anger had overwhelmed his senses.
Now that he had cooled down and thought it through, he knew he really should not have been so reckless.
Regardless of the reason, he should never have vented his fury upon the very people he had sworn to protect.
Not only had he targeted the wrong person,
he had also come close to triggering far graver consequences...
Looking at the youth in the dock, the judge felt a pang of sympathy, but nonetheless carried out his duty with rigorous professionalism.
"Do you understand the offense you have committed?"
Sun Yong nodded.
"I do."
The defendant had pled guilty.
All that remained was sentencing.
The judge sighed and continued,
"Do you have anything you wish to add?"
Sun Yong shook his head.
"No."
The lawyer seated at the defense table cast repeated glances at him, desperately trying to prompt him to say something to seek leniency, yet Sun Yong did not look his way at all.
Wrong was wrong.
He had no desire to excuse his crime; he was prepared to accept the judgment of the law.
Seeing that the defendant had nothing further to offer, the judge prepared to pronounce the verdict.
Just then, a voice rang out from the gallery.
"Your Honor, I'd like to say a few words on behalf of my soldier..."
Wrench, who had originally intended to remain quiet, finally could not hold back. But the moment he rose to his feet, a stern reprimand came from not far away.
"Commander of the First Corps, mind where you are standing! This is an Alliance court of law, not your barracks! No one speaks on his behalf except the defendant's legal counsel."
Wrench immediately whipped his head toward the voice, finding that the speaker was Old Charlie, who was likewise standing in the gallery.
Confronted by Wrench's startled, bewildered stare, Old Charlie met his gaze placidly, without twitching a single brow.
Others might hesitate to speak up out of deference to Wrench's station, but Old Charlie feared him not in the least.
"I—bah! That's not what I meant at all! I'm standing here as a citizen... I'm a citizen of the Alliance too! What's wrong with voicing my opinion?!"
Watching the rough-hewn soldier argue at the top of his lungs, Old Charlie continued expressionlessly,
"You are an Alliance citizen, and I am an Alliance citizen as well! My stance stands firm right here: no one shall compromise the dignity of the law."
Just as Wrench was scratching his head in frantic frustration, unable to out-argue the old man, the youth standing in the dock suddenly spoke.
"Commander, I've already recognized my mistake. I failed the trust of the Administrator and everyone else... I deserve to be punished by the law. Please, don't plead for me anymore."
Turning his eyes away from the dumbfounded Wrench, Old Charlie looked at the young man in the dock and nodded in approval.
The boy possessed good sense.
Though he had strayed off course, so long as he reformed himself well on the inside, there was no reason he could not become a pillar of society once he came out.
A murmur swept through the courtroom.
At that moment, another voice rose that made Old Charlie frown.
"Please wait, Your Honor. I am the affected party... Though I hold no special status, I believe I should be entitled to say a few words!"
A decently dressed middle-aged man rose from the bustling gallery and walked out into the corridor aisle.
Seeing that the bailiffs maintaining courtroom order did not bar him, he smiled faintly and continued,
"To tell the truth, that night terrified me out of my wits. Especially when I saw the warehouse catching fire, it felt as though I could see your battlefield valor reflected in those flames."
Blushing with embarrassment, Sun Yong murmured,
"I'm sorry..."
"No. In fact, the one who ought to apologize... is me."
Wang Tu sighed, turning to face the spectators in the surrounding gallery.
"I am the factory head of Tujia Printing Factory. I am sorry for failing your trust. I did not carefully inspect the newspapers being shipped out of the warehouse, allowing absurd material to be slipped inside. As a result, nobody had a paper to read today and had to come here to pass the time... Afterward, I thought it over for a long while and realized this was actually a tremendous safety hazard.
"Merely spending a few dozen coins was enough to circulate three pages filled with lies across newsstands throughout the entire city. It was fortunate that it was merely paper, rather than a bomb or something worse."
Looking at the whispering crowd, he paused before continuing,
"I spent an entire night reflecting on myself. Over the past year, my mind was consumed with how to expand the printing factory's productivity, how to boost production efficiency, cut costs, and make more money... Yet I consistently overlooked the single most indispensable issue: my factory is not a mere machine. It is a part of this society. The obligations it bears should not be confined solely to production, but also to the social responsibility that rightfully belongs to it.
"Thank you for making me realize this. Before it could cause an even greater disaster, this lesson was hardly a bad bargain for me... Besides, insurance compensated for my financial losses. Moving forward, I will institute an extra layer of inspection at both inbound and outbound storage to ensure similar incidents never happen again.
"Furthermore, I believe this is not solely my problem. I am only an owner of a printing factory. I can rigorously verify every order, but you cannot expect me to determine whether the claims made in every order are true or false. At the very least, we ought to possess a media rating agency, so that good people who tell the truth receive higher evaluations! If no representative is willing to sponsor this proposal, I will do it. If I am elected as a representative, this will be my first bill!"
Applause broke out across the gallery.
Looking at his supporters, Wang Tu gave a nodding smile, then turned back to the judge and spoke with solemn sincerity.
"Your Honor, I know that in a public prosecution case, a settlement is out of the question. But could you please consider that all of us bear an undeniable share of responsibility, and that we have all recognized where the problem lies, and grant him an appropriate reduction in sentencing... After all, this fire caused no casualties; it merely burned some paper.
"I don't believe I am alone in thinking this. If my lack of vigilance causes a young man who ought to be shedding his blood for a greater cause to sacrifice his youth, while I bear no responsibility whatsoever... that guilt would haunt me for the rest of my life."
Even more thunderous applause rang through the room.
His remarks moved at least a portion of the crowd, and even the business owners who had initially favored a harsh penalty softened their stance.
Handing down a severe sentence alone accomplished nothing.
This was not the Middle Ages, where gallows were needed to terrify criminals. Besides, was there anyone on the wasteland who was truly afraid of death?
If the rules were not perfected, the very things they feared would occur time and again, and the contradictions simmering beneath the surface would grow ever sharper. This had only been the beginning.
"Well said!" Wrench clapped with all his might, cheering until his palms were red.
This guy could spin a yarn far better than he ever could!
A true talent!
Old Charlie did not applaud, his expression remaining completely impassive, though when he looked at that printing factory owner, a faint flicker of surprise crossed his face.
He could not tell whether this fellow was engaging in political opportunism.
Yet just now, in a matter of mere sentences, that man had won the goodwill of soldiers, citizens, and various classes alike, all without offending his fellow business owners.
"Order! Order!"
The judge rapped his gavel twice. Once the clamor subsided, he fixed his gaze on the man standing before the bench and continued,
"Under existing law, I should not accept your recommendation."
A trace of regret appeared on Wang Tu's face.
It was true.
Pleading for leniency was the extent of what he could do.
Yet at that moment, the judge paused, then went on,
"However, I must acknowledge that this case presents numerous details that cannot be disregarded, and which our existing legal statutes fail to encompass."
With that, he cast his gaze over the crowded gallery.
"If memory serves, legislation is the duty of the Council of Representatives. There ought to be representatives among you today. I would like to hear your thoughts."
The moment his words landed, the gallery erupted into a flurry of overlapping shouts.
Some called for an acquittal, some demanded a lighter sentence, and others shouted for the prison term to be commuted to community service... The uproarious scene hardly resembled a court of law; it looked more like an open market.
Wrench in particular hollered the loudest, his face flushed with excitement.
Dark lines creased Old Charlie's brow as he watched the unrefined brute, yet he could say nothing. After all, Alliance law granted judges a degree of discretionary sentencing authority. If the judge invited input from the courtroom floor, legally speaking, the action was within bounds.
Though theoretically a judge ought not be swayed by public opinion, in practice, how could one remain entirely untouched?
The laws of the Alliance were drafted by the Council of Representatives, and representatives were drawn from the citizenry; the statutes themselves were reflections of the citizens' will.
Surveying the noisy gallery, the judge was forced to rap his gavel once more, projecting his voice across the room.
"An acquittal is out of the question!
"However, I also agree that the defendant's sentence should be appropriately mitigated... This takes into account the injured party's voluntary forgiveness, the absence of casualties, and the defendant's cooperative attitude in confessing."
Watching the cheering gallery, Sun Yong's face was painted with astonishment.
And when his eyes met the smiling gaze of Wang Tu, a twinge of guilt welled up inside him, and he lowered his head in shame.
At this moment, that guilt cut far deeper into his heart than it had the night before after he had calmed down.
If that man had displayed even a hint of arrogance, or had berated him, or even thrown something at him, Sun Yong would have felt slightly better.
Yet that man, just like himself, yearned for the Alliance to become greater and better. His own self-righteous sense of justice had not punished any wicked person who deserved retribution; it had merely harmed a fellow countryman...
Standing amid the cheering crowd, Old Charlie watched Wrench wiggle his eyebrows at him. With a sigh, at a loss for words, the old man shook his head, turned, and walked out of the courtroom.
He had anticipated that Wrench would show up, and had prepared to play the hardliner to the bitter end to defend the dignity of the law, never anticipating that an unknown nobody would cut in from left field.
Faced with such an outcome, he had nothing left to say.
After leaving the courthouse, Old Charlie recounted the scene verbatim to Chu Guang via his VM, and voiced his doubts with hesitation.
"I don't know whether this was right."
Looking at the somewhat troubled Old Charlie, Chu Guang, who was in high spirits after reaching an intent of cooperation with the Enterprise, smiled faintly.
"This has nothing to do with right or wrong. It is simply their choice."
Seeing Chu Guang's smile, Old Charlie slightly misinterpreted his meaning and asked after a brief hesitation,
"May I take that to mean... you are pleased with this outcome?"
Chu Guang chuckled.
"'Pleased' isn't quite the word, but I am certainly gratified. Of course, that has nothing to do with the verdict itself... Do you remember? The very earliest rules of this land were the three provisions I wrote down on the VM. It contained only three short lines: no murder, no robbery, no theft."
Old Charlie nodded.
"Of course I remember. That wasn't really so long ago."
Chu Guang continued in a relaxed tone,
"Yes, it hasn't been long at all, yet those provisions have now grown so thick that an entire book could scarcely contain them. They have begun proposing solutions to our existing problems, actively stepping up to shoulder more social responsibility... I quite agree with that small-business owner's remark: this was by no means a bad bargain. At the cost of a single minor fire, we gained social progress and averted far greater trouble down the road.
"I am gratified that it did not take them very long to realize that only those who practice self-discipline can attain true freedom."
He was acutely aware that the omnipotent philosopher king Plato depicted in *The Republic* could never exist; it was simply that far too many survivors in the Alliance harbored unrealistic fantasies about him. Fortunately, he possessed a clear-eyed awareness of himself, knowing full well that he was merely an ordinary human being.
All along, he had been guiding the residents of the Alliance to solve problems of their own accord.
Whether it was selecting representatives from diverse professions and later from various social classes, or letting players initiate proposals on the forum, these were things he had consistently pursued.
Even if some proposals were immature, what did it matter?
For certain issues, he himself had no better answers.
When people brought ideas forward and others refined them, things would gradually improve, step by step.
Old Charlie let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
"Perhaps my mindset simply hasn't caught up... Maybe I really should retire."
Looking at the self-effacing old man on the screen, Chu Guang smiled.
"There's no need to force yourself to change. Conservative voices are equally indispensable."
Chapter 652