Chapter 574 The Emergence of Flames
Good movies, fun games, delicious snacks, these things that Blanche thought she would always like and never get tired of, are no longer attractive.
What kind of movies and games can be more impactful than what happens in reality? The scene she is seeing now makes her heart silent.
This is a city in the Gravel Star Region, a city with a population of about 5 million, but it looks gray.
The broken cracks on the road surface seem to be older than her grandmother, and the deposition of coal ash powder can be vaguely seen in it. There are towering billboards on the side of the road, and under the erected billboards there are out-of-place old cart sheds, where local workers are sitting and eating noodles.
Most of them are dusty and numb, while the billboards not far away are still playing the other side of the world that is extremely bright and beautiful.
There is nothing to praise in the Gravel Star Region. The only thing that can be said is probably a kind of rare black flint associated with the local coal mines. This kind of black flint can be used to make top weapons and is sold at a high price.
However, the local workers may never have seen these high-priced top weapons in their lives. The only thing they know is that every month, a high-security super-light-speed aircraft will land and take away a suitcase of refined black flint, which is the biggest source of income to support the entire city.
The waste coal soil produced during the excavation process is everywhere. These things used to be good fuel and industrial raw materials, but they are worthless here.
There is no large-scale industry that needs coal mines in the local area. The cost of transporting these cheap minerals is several times the selling price. No one does this at all.
"Mr. Mo Xun, did you bring me here just to let me see these scenes?" Blanche asked a young man with short silver-gray hair standing next to her. He looked a few years older than Blanche.
"Yes, I admit that my purpose is not pure, but what I said is not a lie." He pushed his glasses and came to Blanche's side.
Before he spoke, the ripples of the sound that had been isolated by special means spread out, and their trip today was very sudden. Even the plainclothes accompanying the Tribunal could not be arranged in such a remote area in advance, which gave him and Blanche the opportunity to communicate alone.
"Time is limited. The people from the Tribunal will catch up at any time. I will try to be brief."
"We need you, Lady Blanche. People in many star regions in the northwest regard you as their hope for the future. You also need to see the true and cruel side of the northwest region."
Because of Blanche's previous proposal, the Federal Central Council gave some benefits in order to appease her. This made many people in the northwest star region see hope, and Blanche's reputation spread rapidly in these star regions.
"You are walking in an extremely dangerous field." Blanche is not the naive girl who just entered college three years ago. In the three years of the Golden Flame Flower, even though she was influenced by her surroundings, she has slowly grown a lot.
"I will not agree easily. Not only do I have to be responsible for my own actions, but as you said, I also carry the expectations of many people."
"Thank you for not refusing directly." The young man was not a fool. He could see that although Blanche was angry, she still did not say anything final.
It seems that your plan has succeeded, Yade. This singer still retains some innocence and kindness, unlike those older singers who are completely impervious to temptation.
"I will explain to you in detail why we do this, and the source of many tragedies." He bowed to Blanche, but unfortunately Blanche turned her back and left him with only her back.
...
About a month later, Blanche continued to visit many cities in the northwest star region under the advice of the young man named Mo Xun, and witnessed the decline of one place after another. Most of these star regions are poor, and many infrastructures are still built hundreds of years ago. The local education and medical care are far below the average level of the Federation, not to mention the comparison with the central star region.
"I remember that in some large hospitals, broken arms can be regenerated." Blanche looked at the man eating with one hand at a roadside stall.
"Yes, but you should also know that this kind of medical plan is expensive and not something they can afford. Maybe the money they earn from working for a lifetime with their healthy bodies is not enough to buy back that arm, so even if they know there is such a medical plan, what's the use?"
"Where did the money go?" Blanche looked up.
"The money was taken away by the parent company. Did you see the letter icon on the building opposite? 'Wells' Enterprise."
"Most of the profits from the goods produced here were taken away, and none were left for the local area."
"Normally, when a company makes money, the employees get a good salary, and then use the money to spend locally, or the company continues to invest in the local area, it can slowly revitalize the local economy, but this is not the case."
"Even the employees of the company's branch get very low salaries, which can only maintain their basic needs and cannot support the expansion of the market."
"Why do they do this?" Blanche continued to ask.
"Because they can do this. The local human resources are not valuable. With such a salary, they can recruit good people. Why spend more money?"
"So?" Blanche knew he must have something else to say.
"As for why they don't continue to invest in construction, it's also because these industries have low technological content. Once production is expanded, the number of similar products will increase, and the price will not be raised, resulting in increased costs and reduced profits." "
So they will not invest the money they earn in this place where there is no future. They will definitely look for more suitable business opportunities in the central star field."
"Does the local government agency not care? After all, a lot of profits have been created, but the money has run away." Blanche was puzzled.
"It's difficult. The company's headquarters is not here. If we impose high taxes, they will leave. In addition, the tax rate is not something that the local government can easily change."
"To put it simply, the whole situation is like the source of a river. It all depends on workers to pump water into it, so that water can flow downstream and feed various animals."
"But at present, the workers who pump water are getting more and more tired, but they earn less and less money. The amount of water pumped by the workers has not changed, and more and more people are taking water in the middle, and many animals downstream are dying of thirst."
"If the workers can't make money, they will naturally stop pumping water. The water in this river is getting less and less, and everyone's life is getting more and more difficult."
"Then can we give the workers more money?" Blanche asked.
"No one will give." Mo Xun looked at the silent workers on the street and answered softly.
"There are many people fetching water in the middle, and everyone thinks that they don't have to bear the responsibility of paying the workers."
"Everyone has done it, why should I pay more? This is what many people think."
"Even if one or two people are kind-hearted, it can't change the general trend."
"You ask if this is the case, won't the people fetching water in the middle have nothing to drink? They won't worry about this because they don't live by this river." The young man pushed his glasses and told the truth.
After hearing this, Blanche was silent for a long time. To be honest, she was not good at analyzing such complex economic issues, but she could see that there must be a problem.
"I'm not in a good mood now. Let me be quiet for a while." After saying that, Blanche turned around and left.
In the following months, she began to slowly and deeply investigate the various economic data and local living conditions in the Northwest Star Region, and more and more real data and images made her even more silent and uncomfortable.
"Why?" Even though she became a singer, it has only been 3-4 years. Her life is still relatively simple. The experience of studying in the Central Star Region in the past few years has also made her have a certain good impression and expectation of the federal officials. But the reality now revealed to her is so cruel.
In order to escape this oppressive environment, Blanche returned to the Central Star Region again. She wanted to find other friends to talk alone. Unfortunately, among the singers of similar age, only Orles was there, and the "Blue Bubble" Melulu, who had just enrolled.
Facing Orles, who was born in an elf family and may be the main reason behind the current situation in the Northwest Star Region, what Blanche wanted to say became difficult to say. Should she question Orles? She felt that she might not have the courage. After all, the other party was a famous singer for many years, confident and powerful.
After staying aimlessly in the Academy City for several days, she found the bodyguard "Rin" who had protected her before.
The two met in a private restaurant. Blanche directly communicated with her consciousness and told her about the recent troubles in her heart.
'Rin is also from the Hemu Star Region, right? You have been in the Central Star Region for so long, can you tell me, has the truth always been like this? '
The cold-hearted woman opposite did not answer, but simply glanced at the environment, then shook her head and looked out the window.
Afterwards, Rin took Blanche to an underground shooting range to practice shooting.
"The gun grip should be adjusted like this, then three points in a straight line, and pull the trigger." Rin replaced Blanche with a heavy rifle.
Afterwards, Blanche only felt a shock in her shoulder, which caused her special pain, and the target in the distance was also missed.
"Such firearms are very powerful, and they are enough to tear apart enemies with more and more defensive means. I started to receive training and use them when I was 16 years old. After the first training, I felt that my entire arm was not my own."
"But this was not a painful thing. In the next mission, I was hit by the enemy and my whole body flew out. One side of my body lost consciousness, my eyes went black, and my consciousness was difficult to support. At that time, I thought I was going to die and was extremely scared."
"Afterwards, I was dragged to a safe area by my teammates and then sent to the hospital. My life was saved. I am very grateful to my teammates and said that they kept me alive."
"But that teammate told me that when he saw that half of my body was gone, he was severely stimulated. Such a bloody scene made him unable to sleep for a long time, so since then, he quit the industry and did other ordinary jobs."
"You see, it was me who was going to die, but I scared others."
"Everyone has to face different situations. Whether it is acceptance or rejection, there is nothing wrong. The only difference is that you are willing to do this, you want to do this, instead of relying on various reasons given by the outside world to convince and hypnotize yourself."
"I am still doing dangerous work, and my friend has a life that makes him feel at ease. We don't regret that choice." After answering, Rin handed his hand to Blanche.
"Miss Blanche, are you willing to continue to employ me?" This move made Blanche's heart ripple.
"Of course." This answer made Rin smile under the sunglasses.
What a simple and easy-to-talk child, but it was also because of this that she dared to take the risk and say what she said just now.
If Blanche refused at this time, Rin would definitely be investigated by the court for what she said just now, because her words were suspected of leading the singer to deviate from the image.
Blanche was not like Tilan, who had been guided by military intelligence personnel. Some of her usual actions and conversations were under the surveillance of the court, and she did not realize how dangerous such abrupt actions during the day were. Fortunately, Rin reacted at the time and did not answer immediately, but found another opportunity to answer Blanche's question in an obscure way with metaphors.
In the following time, Blanche also gradually became cautious and careful under Rin's guidance, and gradually learned to conceal her motives for her behavior.
...
On the other side, Tilan also arrived at the southern Prolong star field, which is a star field with many military enterprises.
"Welcome Miss Tilan to visit." A famous local military enterprise sent someone to greet her.
"Hello." The girl nodded and looked at the row of people behind the representative. These people were wearing different badges and seemed to be representatives of many local companies. Is
it so grand? The girl thought, maybe the previous contact made the military enterprise notify the internal staff, otherwise, with her current status, she would not be so welcome by these big companies.
"Please follow me." The reason for Tilan's visit this time was to help the Four Leaf Crystal Star Field find some cooperation projects to restore the local economy. After all, the Four Leaf Crystal has a military foundation, and some industries can also be connected with the military industry.
In the next three days, Tilan visited several large local military manufacturers, including a high-end mecha manufacturing factory.
"The mecha being produced here is the 'Fire Phoenix-A1' type, which is known for its excellent heat output capacity and long endurance." The accompanying personnel introduced to Tilan.
The mecha placed in the assembly rack is very magnificent, about 60 meters high, which is nearly 15 stories high. The mecha is made of 'fire-colored steel' with a gradient of fiery red. This kind of extraordinary material has a strong tolerance to high temperatures and a strong ability to absorb heat energy, and can shuttle across the surface of the sun.
"The main output means of the mecha are the double-barreled Vulcan cannons carried on the shoulders, the two 'rolling slash knives' built into the leg armor, and the 'fire phoenix jet' that is stimulated from the core of the chest after accumulating heat energy and magic power."
"After testing, if it is driven by a Sequence 6 extraordinary person, after the complete accumulation of heat energy and magic power, the 'fire phoenix jet' launched can cover a fire flow basin with a diameter of five kilometers and melt the steel within the range."
A group of people walked on the high platform corridor, looking straight at the huge war machine in front of them. The fighter planes that Tilan had seen in the past seemed to be a child's toy in front of this mecha.
"Can it only be driven by a Sequence 6 extraordinary person?" She heard the description of the staff just now.
"Yes, even if there are conduction and cooling methods inside the mecha, the heat will still penetrate and spread, especially when it is running at full power. The scorching magic power is transmitted throughout the entire body. If it is not a Sequence 6 Transcendent, it is impossible to survive in the cockpit."
"According to our experiments and calculations, the most suitable ones should be Transcendents of the Dragon Sequence or the Light Feather Sequence. Both of them have a much stronger tolerance to high temperatures." "
There are also some auxiliary equipment that can be carried, such as the 'Phoenix Wing' aircraft that can be installed on the back, which can convert the mecha's own heat flow into high-speed jet airflow, giving the mecha a stronger propulsion force."
"There are also ion spears that compress heat energy to create more penetrating shots." The staff took Tilan to the other side, where a rifle made of the same color material was erected on a steel column. It was about 40 meters high and probably had to be carried on the shoulder of the mecha.
"In addition, there are 'shield pedals' that adapt to multiple terrains." The octagonal red shield stood, with jet nozzles on its sides and outer edges. It can fly on its own and be placed under the mecha to facilitate the mecha to gain frontal defense when it breaks into the atmosphere, and to spin on its own in battle to become a blocking shield.
After that, Tilan continued to visit many local military products. The display of these war machines made her feel more deeply the powerful force that the military concealed in peacetime.
If a powerful Dragon Sequence 6 pilot was used to operate the 'Fire Phoenix-A1' mecha not long ago, I am afraid that only one unit would be enough to destroy the former Arpeggio City. After all, it is difficult to dissipate heat underground, and the hell caused by burning can easily kill the residents hiding underground.
Alas, success is due to strength, and failure is also due to strength. It is precisely because the Federation has such a powerful military force that it takes many issues lightly. After all, this is not ancient times, and uprisings can be achieved with a large number of people.
The huge gap between the generations of weapons makes the resistance of many ordinary people a joke. It
is not necessarily that the top leaders cannot see the flames of resistance and dissatisfaction, but that they only see it and feel that they don’t care. After all, who cares about the thoughts of a little bug, unless you have the power to talk to him on an equal footing.
(End of this chapter)
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