Life Dungeon Game

As long as one's will is not dominated by the other party.

“Neil,” the old foreman turned around and looked at a small pickaxe hanging on the wall as He Ao was thinking, and suddenly asked, “This is your first time here. What do you think of the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association?”

Hearing this question, He Ao paused for a moment, then said softly, "A small group united by hatred."

Upon hearing this answer, the old foreman paused slightly. He looked at He Ao, nodded gently, and then slowly asked, "Do you think the miners' mutual aid association can achieve its goals? Can it take down the mining conglomerates?"

He Ao thought about it seriously for a while, then shook his head and said,

"It is virtually impossible for the miners' mutual aid association to resolve the issue with the mining conglomerates."

A mining conglomerate is not a single person or a small group; it is a community of interests centered around a mine and comprised of all those who make a living from mining and related industries.

It is almost impossible to overthrow the mining conglomerate by relying on a few people to assassinate out of hatred or by violent attacks. Even if the board of directors is wiped out, a new board of directors will be elected. Even if the Ice Wolf Gang is destroyed, a new Fire Wolf Gang will appear.

As long as the foundation of the mining conglomerates remains unchanged, the attacks from the miners' mutual aid association will be like nail clippers cutting nails—they'll grow back, endlessly, until the clippers finally break.

The old foreman turned his back and reached down to take the small pickaxe off the wall.

Nowadays, the entire federal mining industry uses mining machinery, and pickaxes are rarely used anymore.

The small pickaxe that the old foreman took off looked more like a souvenir. It was made entirely of metal, with a black pickaxe head and a wood-like texture on the shaft.

He Ao's words were rather harsh; he almost denied the significance of the miners' mutual aid association and the goals that its members had worked towards for nearly a decade.

But this is indeed the truth. Over the past decade, the miners' mutual aid association has not only failed to harm the mining conglomerates, but has also watched as their power has grown stronger.

Mining conglomerates are becoming increasingly ruthless in their actions.

The old foreman stared at his hands

The pickaxe suddenly asked in a hoarse voice, "Child, what do you think the mutual aid society is lacking?"

He Ao didn't actually have much affection for the miners' mutual aid association, but the old miners had saved Fourth Brother and even sent him to study at the Federal Military Academy.

From Nell's perspective, this is a significant gesture of goodwill.

Moreover, He Ao will probably need to rely on the Miners' Mutual Aid Association to complete the main quest.

He thought for a moment and then shared his thoughts.

"The Miners' Mutual Aid Association is an organization built on the hatred of miners who have lost loved ones towards mining conglomerates. The common hatred and common enemy give the association a very high degree of cohesion and also make it a highly effective fighting force."

However, hatred leads to destruction and devastation. Most people are not aware of death; they simply want to live and hope that tomorrow will be better.

Hatred fueled the mutual aid society, but it also ensnared it, making it difficult for it to grow and gain acceptance among ordinary miners whose lives were not so hopeless.

The old foreman looked up and glanced at He Ao in surprise.

He knew Nell's identity and the fact that almost Nell's entire family had been driven to their deaths by the mining conglomerate.

In theory, Neil's hatred for the mining conglomerate was among the highest in the entire mutual aid society, but the old foreman heard a rational analysis.

Although he could sense that He Ao was suppressing a volcano as he spoke.

But the child was not ultimately swayed by hatred and lost his reason.

“We have fought with hatred for many years,” the old foreman said, sitting in his chair and looking at Heo. “The mining conglomerates are so powerful that if we give up our hatred, we will lose the power to fight them.”

"The flames that destroy palaces often start from inside the palace; magnificent buildings often collapse on fragile foundations."

He looked back at the old foreman and felt that the old man seemed to be guiding him to express some opinions.

"The hatred cannot be put aside. Although the mining conglomerate and the interest community surrounding it are powerful, this fortress is not without weaknesses. The people who rule the fortress are constantly tearing down its foundations to decorate their magnificent palaces on top of it."

The shareholders of mining conglomerates, acting as rent-seekers, exploit the lowest-level miners through brutal methods, constantly reducing 'costs,' driving up stock prices, and reaping excess profits.

Mutual aid societies actually originated from oppressed miners, but the members were among the most desperately oppressed miners.

He paused for a moment, then said, "If the mutual aid society really wants to overthrow the mining conglomerate, it would be best to go back to the miners, seek the help of the oppressed miners, and build consensus among the majority."

They are the cornerstone of the entire mining conglomerate; only by uniting their power can we possibly destroy it.

The old foreman stared at He Ao, his eyes gleaming. "The mining conglomerate controls most of the city's defense forces and also has its own mercenary corps. The miners' demonstrations and strikes are suppressed every time, and each time it's more severe than the last."

He Ao realized the problem almost immediately: "The more the powder keg is compressed, the more terrifying the destruction will be when it explodes."

then

He grasped the key phrase in the old foreman's words: "Most of the city's garrison is under control? That means there's still a portion of the garrison outside the mining conglomerate's control?"

The old foreman's eyes practically gleamed as he looked at He Ao. He opened his mouth, about to answer He Ao's question, when the door was suddenly pushed open, and a young man looked at the old foreman with a face full of anxiety.

"Old foreman, look, look! Look at the mayor's speech!"

"Don't rush, speak slowly."

The old foreman reached out to comfort the young man, then raised his wristband.

At the same time, He Ao also raised his bracelet.

The mayor's speech is currently being broadcast live throughout the city of Rock.

As He Ao opened the live stream, a middle-aged man with a gentle face and dressed in a neat suit appeared in He Ao's field of vision.

"...The city of Rock has stood on this ice field for over seven hundred years, and in those seven hundred years, there has never been a horrific event like yesterday."

“I have met Mr. Vincent. He is a humble, polite, and compassionate entrepreneur who donates more than five million dollars a year to the Rock City Charitable Foundation. These donations become the source of free food for the homeless on the streets and a pillar for children from poor families to go to school.”

"And this virtuous gentleman was attacked and killed by a group of crazy and violent criminals last night."

"This group of vicious criminals not only brutally murdered Mr. Vincent, but also brazenly attacked Mr. Frank, the chief of staff of the city's defense forces, who came to persuade them to surrender."

"A hero who diligently protected our city and shielded our lives from the claws of monsters lost his young life."

"As the mayor of Rock City, I didn't sleep a wink last night. It is my responsibility, and the responsibility of the city hall, that such a horrific and insane criminal has emerged during my term."

"Here I stand, before the people of Rock City, before the mayors of Rock City over the past seven hundred years, and I swear with my life that I will bring these filthy and vicious criminals to justice and let the people of Rock City return to a safe sky."

On the screen, the mayor delivers a passionate speech to the camera, accompanied by enthusiastic applause from all around, but no one is actually in sight.

“Vincent was the only person who could stop the mayor from seizing power in the mining conglomerate. Now that Vincent is dead, the mayor has complete control of the mining conglomerate.”

The old foreman looked at the bracelet carefully and said softly.

“He must have learned about the Mutual Aid Society’s plan through some channel,” someone at the door chimed in. “So he played along, guiding the Mutual Aid Society to kill Vincent or eliminate Vincent’s forces, and then shifting the blame onto the Mutual Aid Society. He killed two birds with one stone: he eliminated his enemy and had a legitimate reason to purge the Mutual Aid Society.”

He looked up and saw Ivo standing at the door. He was wrapped in some torn bandages, and it looked like he had forcibly torn them off and run over.

But He Ao wasn't tied very tightly; with a little force, it could still be pulled open.

However, Ivo's ability to analyze these things made He Ao slightly take notice, giving him the illusion that Ivo's intelligence had once again taken over the high ground.

However, it's within a reasonable range. The old foreman set the stage, and Ivo himself guessed yesterday that he was being used as a tool to kill. Combining these factors, it's not difficult to connect the dots.

“The situation is probably worse,” the old foreman shook his head. “He will probably use this as an excuse to mobilize the city’s defense forces to carry out a purge of all the miners, eliminating those with a history of resistance or those who are currently resisting.”

"He's crazy?"

Ivo was a little confused.

"He's not crazy."

He Ao said calmly.

He stared at the mayor in the video.

Although the temperament, makeup, and movements were completely different, a face still appeared in He Ao's mind and overlapped with the mayor's face.

In the video where the fifth sister risked her life to retrieve the chip, she was the 'supervisor' who spoke with Locke and ordered the massacre of the miners.

In that instant, He understood why the video was named 'M': 'M' is the first letter of the word 'Mayor' in the Federal language.

Chapter 374 The Mayor of 'Justice' (Two chapters combined, please subscribe)

In fact, Nell had a vague image of the mayor in his memory, but the image was not clear. At first, Heo thought that the video was about a recent event and that the mayor was a middle-aged man, so he did not think in that direction.

Moreover, the current mayor and the official in the video have completely different behavioral styles; one is gentle, and the other is fierce.

At first glance, they look like two different people.

However, He Ao had already used his hyper-memory to quickly memorize all the details of that video.

Therefore, he immediately recognized the mayor as the head of the mining conglomerate that had ordered the massacre of miners.

The mayor was a senior manager in the mining conglomerate at least ten years ago, which contrasts with his current position as the head of the mining conglomerate.

He Ao glanced at the old foreman.

Locke was the foreman's son.

Judging from that video, the mayor was somewhat dissatisfied with Locke when he was in charge.

Judging from the methods the mayor has employed, it is highly likely that he drove Locke to his death.

I just don't know if the old foreman knows about this.

At this point, He Ao also understood the significance of Vincent collecting this video.

This video is evidence of the mayor's brutality. While the mayor was physically assaulting Vincent, Vincent was also gathering evidence detrimental to the mayor.

Although both men worked for the mining conglomerate and held real power, they each harbored their own ulterior motives.

While this video may not have a decisive impact on the mayor, it can severely damage his authority if necessary.

Judging from the current situation, the mayor still wants to maintain his image of 'justice,' otherwise he wouldn't have given such a speech via live video broadcast.

Interestingly, although his live stream received applause, he didn't have any viewers.

In contrast, Christos, despite frequently facing assassination attempts, always stood at the very center of the crowd, standing with his supporters.

Being elected mayor implies a certain level of public support.

The mayor of Rock City clearly did not trust his supporters.

Extending from this point, we also found the reason why Vincent was able to use the power of the entire conglomerate to suppress that video.

This video also touched upon the mayor's interests.

Vincent himself did not have enough power to communicate with the communications consortium to block the videos and documents stolen by Fifth Sister. His first thought was definitely to capture Fifth Sister and interrogate her to find out the whereabouts of the videos.

Based on what He Ao has learned so far, Vincent did exactly that in the beginning. Fifth Sister, Eldest Brother, and Second Sister all accepted his interrogation. However, Fifth Sister misled Vincent, directing the target to a group of 'desperate criminals'.

The outlaws Vincent mentioned are most likely the miners' mutual aid society.