He Ao stared at the figure in front of him and was a little surprised. He glanced around and saw that there was no one behind the old foreman. Neither Ivo nor Watson was there. The old man came alone.
"Want to chat?"
The old foreman waved his hand and asked with a smile.
······
"There were people from the Miners' Mutual Aid Association nearby who were helping the miners who were maliciously arrested. I heard from them about a 'passing knight' who saved people,"
The old foreman sat on the edge of the rooftop, looking at the brightly lit city not far away, "I guessed that person should be you, so I chased him all the way."
"I shouldn't have left any obvious traces?"
This is the rooftop of a relatively low building. He Ao sat next to the old foreman and chuckled.
"Talent Sequence 44: Thinker," the old foreman said softly, "When I stand in the crowd, I can naturally feel people's divergent thinking. It's like some kind of wonderful group consciousness. Sometimes I don't need to do anything.
, you can be blessed and realize that something may happen.
"Of course, this kind of prediction is not omnipotent. It is inaccurate most of the time. However, I can logically analyze the one that I think is the most likely among several possibilities. Of course, I will also be lucky to bump into you.
ingredients.”
"Sounds like a prophet."
"Actually, it is not as mysterious as a prophet. This ability can only vaguely sense the thoughts of most people. Only when there are many people with the same thoughts can I sense their thoughts.
"For example, if I stand among a group of hungry people, then what I predict is that there will be many people eating soon. In fact, many people eating will not necessarily happen. There are many factors that affect this. If the surrounding people
Without food, eating would not happen.
"Another example is when I look for you, I rely on looking for your vague figure that people can vaguely 'see'. Although you hide it well, there will always be people who see the 'mysterious figure', as long as enough people see it.
If it's more, I can roughly sense the direction, but everyone's standards are different, so this method has a high failure rate."
The old foreman spoke very slowly, as if telling a long story.
"So you came to me specifically to 'predict' something?"
He Ao looked at the lights in the distance and asked softly.
"You are eager to change this city," the old foreman looked ahead, "and I am the same, but I don't have much time."
In fact, I don’t necessarily have more time than you...
He Ao shook his head. The old foreman must have something to do with him, and he wouldn't waste so much effort just to chat with him.
But just when he was about to get straight to the point and ask the question, the old foreman slowly raised his head, looked at the dim lights in the distance, and slowly narrated,
"I'm not actually a miner.
"My family used to be in poor conditions. I dropped out of school at the age of fifteen. I suffered from chronic malnutrition and was not strong enough. The mines didn't want me, so I had to work odd jobs on the factory assembly line.
"The work on the assembly line is extremely boring. Every day is a repeat of yesterday. I only worked for a week and my mind went blank. All I could think about was how to assemble the parts together.
"We have to work for twelve hours a day. Every night after get off work, we go back to the dormitory, take a shower, fall on the bed, and when we open our eyes, we will go to work the next day.
"I felt like a machine at that time, but my foreman corrected me, 'I'm cheaper than the machine.'
“During depressing days, we would always seize every break to get together and talk about things that have nothing to do with work, such as relationships and life.
"The woman I wanted to marry most at that time was the clerk sitting in the office on the second floor.
"Of course she is not beautiful, but the workers with me think she is very elegant. She is a regular employee, which is a higher level than those of us who do odd jobs on the assembly line.
"Working on the assembly line was very tiring. My favorite thing to do at that time was to squat in the corner of the assembly line and watch her sway her butt as she walked into the office step by step.
"This is the greatest enjoyment in life."
"What happened next? Were you with her?"
"She died. That year there was a factory strike and the consortium sent security teams to suppress us. She died in a stray bullet.
"We never spoke, and she didn't even know my name until she died."
The old foreman seemed to have not told people stories about the past for a long time. He stood up, patted the dust on his pants, and then took out a small mining pickaxe from his waist and handed it to He Ao. It was the one he hung in the room.
Bundle,
"If I die, will you be the next leader of the Miners' Mutual Aid Association?"
"why me?"
He Ao did not answer directly, but asked softly.
"We are the same people," the old foreman looked at He Ao's immature cheeks, "I have a hunch that you will do better than me."
He Ao still didn't reach out to pick up the small mining pick.
"There is a sensor chip in this mining pick, which contains a list of all members of the Miners' Mutual Aid Association, including miner leaders who organize strikes and demonstrations in various mines,"
The old foreman's turbid eyes looked at He Ao calmly, "I think you will need their strength."
He Ao slowly stretched out his hand, but still seemed a little hesitant.
"The list also contains the phone number of Commander Wright of the 108th Division. We have a good relationship. If you go to him with this mining pick, he will be willing to see you."
The old foreman saw that He Ao was still holding the mining pick, and directly stuffed the mining pick into He Ao's arms, laughing and scolding, "Little slicker, old guy, I only have so many things, if I have more, I won't have any more."
After saying that, he immediately turned around and walked towards the corridor.
He Ao looked at the old man's staggering back, stretched out his hand and slowly grasped the mining pick in his hand.
"If I really die one day, remember to collect my body. Don't be like Yaz, who was picked up by the municipal garbage collector."
The old man seemed to have noticed He Ao's gaze. He smiled and waved and walked into the deep corridor.
"By the way, this chip has a password,"
The old voice slowly sounded in the night,
"password is,
"Tomorrow will always come"
——
The old foreman seemed to have predicted something, and it seemed to be a secret that could not be told directly.
Events in the city are becoming more and more complicated.
But being able to realize the complexity proves that He Ao may have gradually come into contact with the deeper secrets of this city.
He Ao put the small mining pickaxe into his windbreaker and walked quietly on the street
Vehicles of the city defense army speeding past, noisy and chaotic crowds, crying children, and homeless people hiding in all directions.
The white snow in the sky fell leaf by leaf.
This is Beicheng District, the place with the most miners in Rock City.
This is Beicheng District, the most desperate place in Rock City.
He Ao casually knocked down two members of the Ice Wolf Gang who were robbing people, and looked up at the big TV in the shopping mall not far away that was broadcasting news.
Since the mayor's speech in the morning, the violent machines of the entire Rock City and the mining consortium have been activated, and they have begun to arrest miners on a large scale and without restrictions.
These miners will be quickly brought to court, and after a simple trial, they will be immediately sent to the prison in Rock City.
The vast majority of federal prisons are private prisons, and the city government or the federal government subsidizes prisons on a per capita basis.
Subsidies vary from city to city. Chenxi City's finance department spends a large amount of government subsidies on these prisons every year. These high prison subsidies not only allow prisoners to live a better life, but also allow the prison to make a fortune.
Private prisons will try their best to obtain more subsidies.
On the one hand, they bribe the judicial organs and courts, demanding more sentences and sending more people to prison.
On the other hand, the media is hired to hype up prison human rights issues and prisoner treatment issues.
Because there are more prisoners, there will be more family members of prisoners outside, and these family members have become an important factor affecting the election of politicians.
In order to attract these votes, some politicians have to promise to increase prison subsidies. Similarly, they will also accept political donations from private prisons and will increase prison subsidies once they come to power.
If accumulated like this, private prison subsidies have become an important financial burden for most fortress cities, and a large amount of fiscal revenue has been eaten up by the prison monopoly consortium.
However, Rock City does not have this problem. Because it cannot collect taxes, the Rock City government is extremely poor.
With the erosion of the municipal government by mining groups, municipal revenue has been decreasing year by year. After the current mayor took office, he reduced taxes, let the market go, and abolished government agencies. The municipal government has not paid financial subsidies for private prisons for a year or two.
But private prisons also have to make money, not to mention that most of the private prisons in Rock City are subsidiaries of mining consortiums.
As a result, these private prisons began to recruit criminals into factories on a large scale, and even built their own factories to create profits for the prisons.
Criminals do not need to be paid, so all the money earned by criminals belongs to the prison, and the prison only provides food and accommodation for the criminals.
As a result, every criminal has a large profit margin.
After He Ao's interrogation, these members of the Ice Wolf Gang said that the private prison was offering a 'reward' for these 'violent miners' at a price of 2,000 federal coins each.
The ‘bounty’ for some young miners is even as high as 5,000 federal coins.
That's why these people from the Ice Wolf Gang are so reckless in arresting people.
Money moves people's hearts.
He Ao cleaned up the gang members and the city defense troops who were arresting people on the street, and then turned into a small handicraft store.
This small shop sells all kinds of small things.
He Ao bought a pure white mask and a black waterproof marker.
k is not famous in Rock City.
Here, K's story was cut off intentionally. He Ao searched on the Internet and could only find very little information about K.
When Yon learned about K, he was in a closed chat group, but he didn't know much about it. The chat group was blocked soon after, so Nell's knowledge of K was also very vague.
He Ao picked up the marker and slowly started drawing on the mask.
He himself does not know how to draw, but Wei'an has been influenced by art since he was a child. Wei'an's painting teacher is an art master who is famous throughout the federation.
He Ao slowly calmed down and immersed himself in the memory of Wei An's paintings.
As the marker fluttered, the mask in his hand gradually changed its appearance. A little bit of darkness, like droplets condensed in the night, fell on the pure white mask, forming a vague pattern.
A strange black-and-white smiley mask appeared in He Ao's hand.
This is K's mask, which is even more grotesque and strange than the original K's mask, and these grotesqueries are filled with a strange blend of evil and bright beauty.
Because the popularity is so low, there is no one selling masks on the street, so He Ao can draw one by himself.
He Ao is very satisfied with his painting skills.
He picked up the mask and slowly put it on his cheek.
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