People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

"Hmm?" Amiya blinked and nodded. "I didn't mean to blame Dr. Kal'tsit."

"Mr. DiCeopolis's offer is indeed insufficient to cover the inhibitors needed by so many infected individuals, but we can't just stop distributing them halfway through, can we?"

“The bigwigs in Kazimierz don’t care about them. On this land, the infected face discrimination everywhere. We are their only hope.”

"If the losses are due to the rescue efforts, then at least I think they are acceptable!"

Amiya smiled and instead comforted Kal'tsit, saying:

"Besides, we're not completely losing money."

"Didn't Mr. Ernst also give Rhodes Island other orders?"

Kal'tsit pursed her lips, let out a long sigh, and finally a slightly helpless and wistful smile appeared on her face:

"Yes, we have other orders."

"I'm going to Sherag again soon. Can I visit Miss Enya then?" Amiya asked softly.

Kelsey nodded: "As long as Ernst and Enya agree."

Before Amiya could even feel happy, a commotion erupted from the square.

A convoy of more than ten vans bumped along the road into Plot Zero and slowly came to a stop in the square. Many men in suits and sunglasses got out, carrying crossbows and with knives at their waists, looking like bodyguards.

Behind them, the last person to get off the car was a Kuranta man in a gray suit, with a trench coat over it and a red tie.

Who else could it be but Ciarnay?

Charne glanced at the infected gathered in the square, and at the Rhodes Island field agents who came out of the registration booth and were casting wary glances at them, and frowned slightly.

He simply couldn't figure out what Ernst's purpose was in doing this.

Is a group of infected people in Kazimierz really worth the Prime Minister of Sheraco's concern?

What benefit can these people bring him? Their only value is to serve as cheap labor that doesn't require retirement pay, because most of them won't even live to that age.

As for Shelag, it's impossible for Shelag to dig infected people from Kazimierz and bring them back to his own territory. Similarly, if they aren't given travel expenses and provided with vehicles, most of them won't even make it to Shelag before they blow up the road.

But Ernst specifically listed "assisting Rhodes Island in rescuing the infected in Plot Zero" as one of the items on that blank check.

Now that it's been agreed upon, the business association must, of course, keep its promise. Their sense of contract varies from person to person, but at least for Ernst now, these businessmen are considered trustworthy.

It's just some inhibitors and a few people, right? It's something that can be solved with a little money—and it really is a little money—as long as it makes Ernst happy.

As for whether he has some deeper plan, whether this sudden rescue is a prelude to something else, who knows?

Anyway, they're on one side now.

Suppressing the chaotic thoughts in his mind, Charné took the megaphone handed to him by his subordinate and shouted loudly:

"Is the person in charge of Rhodes Island here?"

"I'm here."

Amiya jumped down from the ruins of the square she had just been observing and jogged over to Charne. She looked up at Kuranta in front of her.

Charné's expression froze for a moment.

"You are... the head of Rhodes Island?"

“I am! I am Amiya!” Amiya nodded.

After a moment's thought, Charné decided to temporarily set aside the issue of a medical company employing child labor. Kazimir wasn't without companies that did employ child labor, but to hire such young children and then directly place them in a legal position to take the blame...

All I can say is that even the Business Federation would have to admit they're experts.

However, this company has ties to Ernst, so it's unnecessary to issue him a ticket for such a trivial matter to boost performance. We should focus on completing the task first.

“Miss Amiya, I am the spokesperson for the Business Federation. You can call me spokesperson or just my name – Charne.”

"I am here on behalf of Mr. Ernst."

Amiya's heart had been in her throat. But when she heard Ernst's name, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It's a strange experience, like you know that as long as this name appears, it means things are going well and there's no need to worry too much.

However, despite feeling relieved, Amiya still had doubts.

How could Mr. Ernst entrust the Chamber of Commerce with this task? And what is the Chamber of Commerce's motive for coming here?

Could this also be Mr. Ernst's power? Is Mr. Ernst's power limitless?!

Charne didn't say much; he simply nodded and waved to his men behind him, demonstrating his answer to Amiya through his actions.

The trunk of the van was opened, and box after box of Oripathy inhibitors were taken out. Some were produced by Rhine Life Sciences, some by the local pharmaceutical company Kazimir, and of course, some were available on the market from Rhodes Island.

Clearly, Challne went on a buying spree in order to gather these inhibitors.

That's not all. After the inhibitors were taken away, the remaining drinking water, instant noodles and other cheap food were also unloaded from the car and piled up next to the Rhodes Island registration office, forming three small mountains!

Finally, Charne took a contract from the person next to him, signed his name, stamped it, and handed it to Amiya.

"This is?"

"Anyway, it's not a receipt."

Seeing the young girl in front of him, somewhat bewildered by the series of moves, Charné, unusually, found himself in the mood to crack a joke.

"Mr. Ernst requested an order to help Rhode Island, which does charity work, recover some of its losses."

He smiled, shrugged meaningfully, and handed the pen to Amiya:

“Good things happen to good people.”

Amiya took the pen, glanced through the contract, and then handed it to Kal'tsit, who had approached.

Kelsey had just gotten off the train in Charné and, after explaining his purpose, made a phone call to Ernst, which confirmed that these visitors were indeed at Ernst's request.

This is indeed one of his "strategies".

If you're going to give a speech, you can't just make empty promises.

The Supervisory Commission showed him no mercy, and the Business Federation had indeed given him a lot, so Ernst wouldn't hold back either. Right in front of him, the person who saved him would teach him what it meant to wield the human rights stick!

Just like the "humanitarian speech" that openly and covertly targeted the citizens of Lentinium, this time, the nail in this stick is naturally the residents of Plot Zero.

You can say that this is using the suffering of others as a tool, but a gentleman judges by actions, not intentions. So tell me whether I saved them or not.

Ernst was a politician, not a real philanthropist. Given the story of Zigong redeeming people, what's wrong with him asking for some reward?

Besides, it's still uncertain whether this reward will be a blessing or a curse for the residents of Plot Zero!

Kelsey understood Ernst's thoughts and approved of his plan. She was not a moral saint, otherwise she would not have led the Allied forces to Tuttusa. Ernst's pragmatism was one of the aspects of him that she admired most.

Charné turned his gaze to Kal'tsit. Kal'tsit took the pen, signed the contract without even looking at it, and handed it back to Charné.

Amiya looked shocked.

Why did she hand the contract to Dr. Kal'tsit? Was it so that Kal'tsit could sign it?

She can write too!

She probably wanted Kal'tsit to review the contract, or at the very least, to take it back to her ship, study it, and then make a decision, right?

What if there's a trap hidden inside? What if this is some kind of "Rhodes Island main ship sale contract"? Although Amiya didn't know much, she was aware that businessmen would often put traps in contracts.

Dr. Kal'tsit, you signed too quickly!

Amiya sighed helplessly. She could only hope that the reason she hadn't found any traps when she first glanced at the contract was because there were no traps in the contract, rather than because the traps were well hidden.

As for Dr. Kal'tsit, I wish her well. I won't entrust it to her again next time... At least, before handing it over to her, I'll remind her to take a careful look.

Otherwise, it would feel like Rhodes Island is doomed!

Chapter 445 Go and burn this city to ashes!

Kazimir, Great Knight's Domain Kavaleriaki, Plot Zero.

The environment in the sewer is dark and damp.

The people living here generally have a sense of inferiority. They are the survivors of Block Zero, the remnants of the once glorious city of the Great Knight Territory that has been burned to ashes. Few people who have fallen to this place can still proudly stand up and say, "I am a Casimir!"

People are shaped by society. If society abandons them, they will naturally be molded into the kind of person that society does not want.

The extreme of inferiority is extreme self-esteem, and the end of cowardice is endless extremism. Coupled with the mineral disease, which can be called the "original sin" of this land, as a small seasoning, it is not hard to imagine what this land will cook up.

To be fair, you can't say the Supervisory Council had absolutely no intention of managing this area. In fact, both Russell and the previous Grand Knight Commander had considered reforming Plot Zero. But clearly, they ultimately failed to do so.

Governance requires resources, and this involves a messy question of who will fund it. The Supervisory Commission is already at a disadvantage in its struggle with the Business Federation, so they naturally lack the financial strength to undertake such a thankless task—who will manage so many infected people and the poor? How will they be managed?

This is a typical social problem.

Faced with such problems, some governments are willing to disregard costs, at least for a period of time, to solve them. Other governments, however, build dams, regardless of the devastating floods that follow.

The Supervisory Commission belongs to the latter category; when costs outweigh benefits, they are essentially no different from commercial alliances.

The only difference was that the Supervisory Council was being conservative; Russell simply stationed a significant number of guards around Plot Zero to prevent the chaos from spreading outwards and to restrict the movement of people between plots. It was like building a dam to hold back a flood.

The Business Federation took a more radical approach, arguing that since Plot Zero was so troublesome, it would be better to simply dismantle Plot Zero into the mobile city structure of Kavaleria and destroy it with Originium bombs.

If you can't solve the problem, solve the person who raised it. One side is a player who breeds stagnation, slowly killing their prey; the other side is a speedrunner, believing that a short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one.

It's hard to say which side is better or worse. All I can say is that, thanks to Terra's excellent matchmaking system, the anthropomorphism and abstract operation levels of both sides are about equal!

The problem is, while the upper class remains the upper class, it's the ordinary people living on Block Zero who suffer. When the "flood" accumulates to a certain point, surely one of Marx, Maxim, Malthus—whatever it may be—will manifest itself?

In a makeshift dwelling—far from being a "home"—located within the city's underground pipeline network, one infected person excitedly spoke to another:

"Have you heard? There's a company called Rhodes Island over there in the square, distributing supplies and inhibitors for Oripathy!"

The infected person's reaction was indifferent, far from the surprise she had expected:

"I've heard about it, so what?"

But she still asked hopefully, "Why don't we go and get one?"

The emaciated infected man merely glanced at him and asked in return:

"Can you afford to take it?"

The female infected person hesitated for a moment, then spoke somewhat guiltily:

"...Didn't you say it was free?"

"What's free is often the most expensive. Do you believe there are truly living saints on this land who would give us infected people inhibitors without asking for anything in return, or do you believe they have ulterior motives?"

The male infected man pursed his lips, trying to convince both his companion and himself.

"Our government doesn't care about us anymore, do you really expect some company that just popped up out of nowhere to take care of us?"

"But...the Business Federation people are also here."

The male infected man glanced at his companion, sneered, slung his neatly packed backpack over his shoulder, looked at her, and asked:

"Guess what I'm planning to do?"

The female infected woman then had to look at her companion's attire, which she had been deliberately ignoring. The companion was wrapped up tightly in tattered clothes, leaving only her eyes exposed. The backpack on her back was full of things, making an unsettling dull sound.

Even on Plot Zero, this attire is undoubtedly unusual.

"Where are you going...?"

“The old men from the business association you mentioned offered me a job with good pay, so I took it.”

"Is it dangerous?"

"For those infected, which job with decent pay isn't dangerous? Fortune favors the bold!"

Muttering words of self-comfort, the man took a deep breath and instructed:

"There might be a power outage in the city tomorrow night. Remember, don't go near the connection area between the four cities; it's not safe there. Although I don't think you'll get very far."

"Also, tell those in the settlement to behave themselves. If they want to go to the square to collect inhibitors, let the organization send a representative. Don't let them all rush up there in a swarm, or those guys will find out exactly how many of us there is, and it won't be safe at all!"

He paused,

"Finally, if I don't come back, don't look for me. Wait for me for three days. If I still don't hear from you after three days, then don't wait any longer. Someone will bring the payment."

"If they didn't withhold money from the dead."

He didn't say the last sentence aloud; he just silently repeated it in his mind.

But having said all that, even the most naive woman should have figured something out.

She asked worriedly, "What exactly are you planning to do?"