After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

We demand fairness!

"We want welfare!"

"We want welfare!"

"We need to work!"

"We need to work!"

The sound shook one side.

Zhou Yan secretly slipped back to the municipal government and went to the mayor's office.

Fifteen middle-aged men, all somewhat overweight, sat in the mayor's office. They were all henchmen that Little Yama had found for Zhou Yan.

As soon as Zhou Yan entered, Wei Youde, whom Zhou Yan had appointed as the mayor of Luomen City, shrugged.

"Councilor Zhou, things are getting a bit complicated."

Zhou Yan countered with a question.

What's happening outside?

Wei Youde exchanged glances with the people around him and smiled wryly.

"What else could it be? A bunch of out-of-touch guys trying to use a protest to ask us to redistribute the benefits."

A man with a receding hairline next to Wei Youde explained.

"We had only been in Luomen City for less than a month and had just finished the resettlement of disaster victims and the restart of the power plant. During this period, we conducted a selection process for disaster victims, picking out some people who were highly educated or who were elites in a certain industry to manage the disaster victims, handle miscellaneous items, or do other work."

Zhou Yan nodded without saying a word.

Zhou Yan only had a dozen or so people capable of administrative work under his command. The other three thousand soldiers were all incompetent. They were quite suitable for killing people with guns, but they would probably cause all sorts of conflicts if they were to manage the people. Therefore, it was inevitable to select new managers from among the disaster victims.

Furthermore, if Luomen City were to serve as the base for Zhou Yan's restoration of Dongyang Prefecture's operations in the future, its industrial capacity would also need to be developed. Liu Nanshan and others, who were vacationing in other prefectures, were also preparing technical personnel for this purpose.

But these technicians are definitely not enough; industrial talent must be selected from among the disaster victims.

Wei Youde shrugged.

“These managers are the people we selected who will have jobs in the future. We brought them to our side, gave them better food and better houses, and prepared to rebuild the city of Lomon with their help in the future.”

Zhou Yan understood somewhat.

"Are the discriminatory policies making the disaster victims outside dissatisfied?"

Wei Youde admitted it.

"Yes, most of the disaster victims outside can't even do simple addition and subtraction of three-digit numbers. There are some jobs they really can't do, but they want better jobs, better houses, and to be on equal footing with the talents we find among the disaster victims."

Zhou Yan chuckled.

It can't be called an accident. As a citizen of the Eastern Xia United States, Zhou Yan knew very well that it was normal for people to express their opinions by taking to the streets when they were unhappy and demanding that the government take responsibility for their own willfulness.

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and replied.

"So, shouldn't we find out who the 'representatives' are?"

No group can gather its leaders without a leader. Any march or demonstration needs an organizer or a leader to form a large crowd of protesters.

The subtle point is that the leaders of these marches are mostly not on the side of the people. Zhou Yan guesses that they lead the march because the people want a better living environment and future jobs, and the other disaster victims are just incidental.

Therefore, they mobilized the public to put pressure on the government, and then forced high-ranking government officials like Zhou Yan to negotiate with them. Once the negotiations were successful, they would get the benefits and positions they wanted, and then they would go back to resolve the conflicts they had created.

Wei Youde shook his head.

"The worst thing we can do is to find them and offer them benefits. Once they get the benefits, others will follow suit and protest. Where will we find so many good living environments and high-end jobs for them then?"

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and then made a suggestion.

"How about this, we offer some benefits, such as three single rooms with hot water, or some management positions in the future, and let them compete for them."

Wei Youde said sarcastically.

"As long as the leader isn't stupid, he won't fall for these petty tricks of sowing discord."

Zhou Yan countered with a question.

"What if they really aren't mentally sound?"

Those with good brains were selected by Wei Youde and others to be management personnel and future industrial talents.

Wei Youde shook his head.

"Congressman Zhou, you don't understand. Do you know how our federal government deals with groups that like to protest and are difficult to control?"

Zhou Yan shook his head.

Wei Youde and Zhou Yan's men around him exchanged glances. A middle-aged man with a beer belly smiled and said to Zhou Yan.

"I'm sorry for making a fool of myself, Councilor Zhou, please wait a moment."

A middle-aged man with a beer belly walked out of the mayor's office. Two minutes later, the mayor's office door opened, and two simply dressed middle-aged men, whom Zhou Yan vaguely remembered as being at the very beginning of the protest crowd, walked in.

The middle-aged man selling beer reached out to the two middle-aged men and said something.

"Associate Zhou, the first of these two is Zhang Nuoen, a top agent of the FBI."

Zhang Nuoen was a man wearing a red T-shirt with dark skin. His numb expression wouldn't stand out in any group of disaster victims.

"This is Lin Xu, a top-notch special agent who was recently rehired."

Lin Xu is also an average-looking person who would be easily lost in a crowd.

The middle-aged man with the beer belly reached out to Zhou Yan again.

"Gentlemen, this is our state legislator, Mr. Zhou Yan."

Lin Xu and Zhang Nuoen saluted Zhou Yan.

"Good morning, Member of Parliament."

Zhou Yan pointed at the two agents and asked.

"Who are they?"

Wei Youde, who was behind Zhou Yan, explained.

"These two are the top two leaders of this parade. Without them, this parade could not have been organized."

Chapter Eight: Necessary Evil

Zhou Yan watched a documentary about a gun club in England. The club members spent their days hunting and exchanging tips on using firearms. Then one day, the club's president made a suggestion.

"How about we attack the police?"

The conflict between the army and the people of the Eastern Xia United Kingdom is severe, and even more so among the police.

There was a restaurant where a policeman went in to eat. After eating half of his meal, the restaurant owner came out and said that the meal was free, but the price was that the policeman had to go out to eat.

The reason is that the police are in the restaurant, and other customers are afraid to come.

The conflict between the people and the police in the Eastern United States is evident.

Therefore, the gun club's leader said he wanted to kill police officers, and while the other members didn't quite agree, they weren't surprised either.

Then the deputy minister and a sharpshooter from the club agreed to the minister's decision to go hunting down the police.

The other members, under the instigation of these three bigwigs, hesitantly agreed.

The next day, everyone prepared to hunt down the police, but they were caught by the police who had been lying in ambush.

During the subsequent interrogation, it was revealed that the minister, deputy minister, and sharpshooter who instigated the club members to kill the police were either FBI agents or NSA employees; the rest were innocent civilians who had been misled into joining the operation.

The documentary sparked a huge discussion on the internet in the Eastern United States at the time. Zhou Yan was still wondering if those guys who were planning to attack the police were idiots.

Now, looking at Zhang Ennuo and Lin Xu...

Zhou Yan silently looked at Wei Youde.

Wei Youde spoke with a smile that even Zhou Yan found wicked.

"The core members of this parade are all our people."

Zhou Yan: "..."

Zhang Ennuo, a seemingly honest and simple countryman, clapped his hands and waited until everyone's attention was on him before asking the question.

"Should we proceed according to procedure?"

Wei Youde gave a thumbs up.

"Yes, make an example of someone to warn others. Don't worry about the dead when necessary."

"Wait a moment."

Zhou Yan said in horror.

"It suddenly occurred to me, isn't this a case of entrapment?"

Wei Youde said gently.

"Please call this a necessary evil."

Zhou Yan: "..."

Another henchman hired by Little Yama also responded.

"Sometimes, you have to use any means necessary to achieve your goal."

Zhou Yan: "..."

A hand landed on Zhou Yan's shoulder. Zhou Yan turned around and saw Zhang Ennuo.

Zhang Ennuo smiled憨厚ly, his honest and simple farmer appearance making him appear simple and honest.

"Even without us, these disaster victims would eventually erupt into conflicts caused by unequal distribution of resources. So instead of waiting for them to slowly build up their anger, it's better for us to expose them in advance and bring out their unrealistic fantasies."

Zhou Yan: "..."

"OK OK."

Wei Youde clapped his hands.

"Xiao Zhang, you can go back now. Remember to do a good job."

Zhang Ennuo led Lin Xu away from the mayor's office.

Soon after, the crowd of protesters outside the city hall dispersed.

Out of curiosity, Zhou Yan gave himself the ability to become invisible and secretly followed the marching crowd away.

The marchers were staying in a square some distance away.

Because Zhou Yan already had 500,000 disaster victims under his command, all the empty houses around the government were full. Wei Youde gave tents to those who didn't want to leave, and at worst, a carpet and a quilt, and they slept in the open.

Of course, disaster victims could choose to sleep in other high-rise buildings, but the problem is that the army won't go to those places and won't guarantee their safety. Therefore, most disaster victims still choose to stay together.

The square was filled with tents, and the road leading out from the tents was also full of people living in tents.

With such a dense population, Zhou Yan could smell the stench of urine and various rotten, fermenting body odors as soon as he entered.

Therefore, Zhou Yan understood that the disaster victims wanted a good house with hot water and a toilet.

After Zhang Ennuo returned with more than a thousand people, he made them stand in a line and shouted to them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our march has achieved a phased success, and the government has decided to increase our food rations!"

A cheer erupted from below.

Because work is currently limited, Wei Youde has adopted a system where those who work and those who manage receive higher food rations, while the rest of the disaster victims are given only a loaf of bread and a bottle of water per day, just enough to keep them from starving.

Of course, if problems arise, doctors selected from among the disaster victims will provide treatment. If modern medicine cannot treat the problem, or if there is a lack of medicine, Su Xiaowan and Nine-Colored Deer will step in.

But we haven't succeeded yet!

Zhang Ennuo clenched his fists at his chest, his beard and hair bristling with anger.

"Why should we live in such a dilapidated place? Why can't we even afford to eat? Those experts, professors, and those managers selected by the government can live in single rooms with hot water and eat meat and drink soup!"

"We are all human beings, we are all citizens of the Eastern Xia United States, why shouldn't we have the same living conditions as them!"

"besides!"

Zhang Ennuo is fully in the zone.