In the name of supernatural powers

Chapter 89 The Ox Cart Problem
The first-tier peak has 49 points of vitality, the second-tier peak has 199 points of vitality, and the third-tier peak has 599 points of vitality.

The entire federation has 308 cities, and therefore 308 municipalities.

There are 30,000 third-order superhumans on federal records, and these 30,000 people need to compete for 300 positions.

As far as Lu Zhao knew, the city's executives were basically all at the top third tier with 500 points of vitality, which was ten times that of himself. One of them was equivalent to a group of strongmen.

Lu Zhao put down his sniper rifle, looking ahead warily, ready to take evasive action at any moment.

"Comrade Lu Zhao, report the situation."

Zhao De's voice wasn't loud, but it was extremely penetrating, completely drowning out the sound of the rain.

Lu Zhao heard it, but he did not continue to approach. Instead, he waited until he heard the sound of an engine behind him and the vehicle carrying the border guards approached.

A border defense company was no match for Zhao De. The power of that flying sword was definitely not something that ordinary weapons could withstand, but with so many people, he couldn't hide the marks when he moved.

Even without his teacher's three life-saving techniques, Lu Zhao was confident that he could prevent the other party from making a move.

This relates to the old Taoist priest's teachings.

In the arena of power, the first thing everyone should do is kick out those who break the rules and let those who follow them take the table. Unless a dominant figure emerges who completely overwhelms everyone else, the rules of the game will continue indefinitely.

There is a balance between violence and rules.

Lu Zhao put away his weapon and ran quickly toward Zhao De. When he was three steps away from Zhao De, he stood at attention and saluted: "Reporting to the city authorities, the special task force was attacked by an unknown enemy, and witness Lü Jinshan was abducted."

As he spoke, he glanced around but did not see Lu Jinshan's body or shadow.

Everything happened so fast that Lu Zhao's attention was completely drawn to Zhao De and his flying sword.

He glanced at the rushing river and probably guessed what was going on.

The person was probably thrown into the river by Zhao De. This was more convenient than killing him directly, as it would both silence him and prevent any evidence from being used against him during the subsequent investigation.

He asked knowingly, "Have you seen Lü Jinshan?"

Zhao replied without changing his expression, "The thugs just threw him into the river, probably intending to kill him to cover it up. I immediately tried to stop them, but it was too late."

This was undoubtedly a blatant lie, but Lu Zhao was too far away to know the situation effectively, and could only get a general idea.

He cannot serve as a witness; he can only be considered a clue.

Zhao De has legally resolved a loophole.

If I were also at level three at this time, then Lü Jinshan would not have died.

We cannot be overly superstitious about violence, nor can we live without it.

Lu Zhao quickly adjusted his mindset and reported on the situation that evening. His verbal report was brief and quick, taking only one minute.

Zhao De nodded and said, "I rushed to the border as soon as I received the news. Although Lu Jinshan's death is regrettable, fortunately there were no major casualties."

As he spoke, he turned back to the car and waved for Lu Zhao to get in.

"This is not the place to talk. Let's go to the task force's location first."

Lu Zhao shook his head and said, "I'm soaking wet, so there's no need for that."

Zhao De waved his hand and said, "It's just a car. Someone will wipe it if it gets wet."

Lu Zhao countered, "What if no one wipes it?"

"That will get moldy and smelly, and then the seats will have to be replaced inside and out..."

Zhao De paused mid-sentence, then suddenly realized what he meant and smiled slightly: "You're not as rigid as I imagined." Blind loyalty.

This is his assessment of Lu Zhao: this person is like a double-edged sword; if you hold him, you can be invincible, but he may also hurt you.

This also applies to Lu Zhao himself.

Zhao De had initially thought Lu Zhao was unaware of the situation, but now it seemed he was equally aware of the Federation's situation.

He knew it, but he still did things his own way, which aroused Zhao De's curiosity.

"A car can't be clean forever, and you can't expect every passenger to bathe and burn incense. As long as the owner cleans it regularly, it will always be clean."

“You’re not the car owner, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

Zhao De sat in the driver's seat, and Lu Zhao, without further delay, took the passenger seat. After the rest of the team arrived to finish up, the car slowly started moving.

The air inside the car felt stuffy due to the rising moisture.

Zhao De glanced at Lu Zhao out of the corner of his eye and said, "Before the Great Cataclysm, only the Marquis of Wu in the Federation had a special car. Officials of the regular rank were all allocated one car per person and were not assigned a special car."

"Later, during the Great Cataclysm, resources became scarce, and the Federation abolished the provision of official cars to officials. Instead, units were required to purchase their own cars and bear the costs themselves. Even Wuhou no longer had a dedicated car."

"But since this new regulation, in effect every federal official can have a car. Previously, the price of a Wuhou's car could not exceed 500,000, but now the minimum price for an official's car is 500,000."

The scarcity of social resources does not make people more frugal.

The problem with the federal system doesn't lie with any one person or group. It lies with the limited social resources that force people to tear each other apart.

“If we don’t change it, the Federation can’t afford such a large amount of vehicle allocation fees. But after we change it, everyone starts to be extravagant again. In the end, it’s because we have fewer resources. In the past, oil could be transported directly from Persia, but now there’s no one left in Persia.”

Lu Zhao could understand the unspoken meaning in the other person's words.

It's nothing new; life is too hard, and nobody wants to live a hard life.

He said, "In order to free up more arable land, the federal government has banned large-scale beef cattle farming and left the remaining grasslands for dairy cows. Even without beef, people can still eat chicken, duck, pork, lamb, and fish."

Zhao De asked, "What if someone happens to like eating beef? You can't take away someone's preference, can you? Will eating a piece of beef kill someone?"

Lu Zhao did not reply and remained silent.

If he possessed the abilities Zhao De hypothesized, he could kill someone to prevent people from eating beef, or he could kill someone over a bus allocation issue.

Vehicles and meat are both resource issues. If you can't solve the problems, then solve the people who raised them.

But that's for the future. Lu Zhao doesn't like empty talk, and silence is his only option.

Zhao De assumed he had taken Zhao De's words to heart and changed the subject, saying, "You've been cleaning up a lot of gangs in the district recently. The task force has jurisdiction over this matter, but it can't do it this way."

Lu Zhao asked, "How should we manage it?"

He knew very little about the State District, and during this brief week of contact, Lu Zhao witnessed the true meaning of a steel jungle.

People of different races and cultures were forcibly mixed together. The basic management structure was a village house, which might be a small, specific settlement or a floor of an apartment building.

They are groups of several hundred people, each with its own "laws" based on its own culture, similar to clan power, where patriarchal law is paramount.

Then, there were armed conflicts between the village houses, with each side fighting over living space, houses, water sources, and other resources for survival.

The gangs were middle management, responsible for maintaining basic order and commanding the village residents to complete the production tasks assigned by the federal government.

If Lu Zhao wipes out a gang, the local people won't thank him; instead, they'll be eager to become the second gang.

(End of this chapter)