Chapter 965: A Dying Man
Luo Changren's face was filled with barely concealed shock and disbelief. His mouth opened and closed several times, and every time he tried to speak, only airy sounds came out. Finally, unable to catch his breath, he slumped back in his chair with his arms outstretched, rolling his eyes as if about to faint.
Xu Huo casually patted his face. "Not dead yet?"
Luo Changren suddenly sprang up and grabbed his arm, his eyes fixed on him as he gasped for breath, each exhale longer than the last, as if trying to squeeze the last bit of air from his lungs.
"Calm down. Throwing your life away for a few words isn't worth it."
Hearing this, Luo Changren seemed to recover a little, but his face remained pale. He spoke, "Someone once told me that the best way to strengthen a race... was to optimize genes... But he deceived me... and killed so many people..."
"I am a man full of sin... I never planned to survive... Then someone else told me to atone for my sins... I tried every way to atone... But she continued the sin..."
Xu Huo listened without any change in expression. "Then you've lived a pretty pointless life, doing whatever others tell you to do."
Luo Changren choked on his words, then deliberately pretended not to hear. "Once, I wanted to make the base station strong... Now... I only want to save those poor people..."
"Aren't you more pitiful?" Xu Huo looked at him. "You've spent your whole life on these two things and failed at both."
Luo Changren gripped his arm tightly. "You... you are different from all of us..."
Xu Huo watched him perform quietly. After waiting two seconds without a response, Luo Changren rolled his eyes and collapsed.
"He's out cold." Xu Huo said to Gao Zhen. "Find someone to take him away."
Lou Jia came in from outside, pushed the wheelchair, and left.
Only Xu Huo and Gao Zhen remained in the office. This was the real main event.
"I heard from Xiao Yan that you're very curious about the W37 base station incident." As an older woman, she looked at Xu Huo as if he were a promising young man, with appreciation and hope.
Xu Huo was still five meters away from the desk. He asked the visibly exhausted female mayor, "Why don't we sit down and talk?"
"Although I'm old, I can still stand for a while." Instead, Gao Zhen gestured for him to sit.
Xu Huo didn't sit down but instead looked out the floor-to-ceiling window.
The base city seemed less chaotic than before, but the sounds of crying and pleas for help were growing louder. The enforcement team could control the desperate struggles of those trying to survive, but they couldn't stop their final lamentations.
An electronic screen lit up on a building not far from the tree canopy pillar, and numbers began to jump. The initial number was "57," but after less than two seconds, the units digit started to increase.
"Death count?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "How many people need to die in W37 base city this time?"
When he came to the government hall earlier, the enforcement team had already started setting up layered blockade zones. After so many years, even if they couldn't find a cure, W37 should have gained some experience in preventing the spread of the SE virus. In other words, the death toll was largely controllable.
"At least half." Gao Zhen had her back to him, her face unreadable, and her voice emotionless.
"When I first arrived at the base city, I noticed that the area for grain cultivation wasn't very large, at least not enough to feed so many people." Xu Huo said.
In fact, W37 base station not only had a shortage of land but also lacked enough fertilizer for farming. Grain production was definitely insufficient. To support so many people, they had to buy grain from other zones. But this couldn't fundamentally solve the problem, and as the population grew, the burden would only increase, eventually leading to an uncontrollable situation.
Players had absolute control over ordinary people, but they couldn't simply cut this problem in one stroke. Ordinary people were the foundation of evolution. Without enough population, how many players could emerge?
At the same time, the W37 government couldn't openly use bloody means to solve this problem, as that would plant hidden dangers.
"Having the SE virus brought in by players from W11 through outer zone players, causing massive casualties in W37" was the optimal solution for the base government.
"It seems my friends and I are going to take the blame for this." Xu Huo understood why Gao Zhen was willing to see him. It wasn't just about Ren Man; she also needed a way to channel the public's anger at the government's "incompetence."
Although the virus was brought in by players from other zones, the base government's failure to stop it in time was still a dereliction of duty. Blaming outsiders alone wouldn't be enough to end things after so many deaths. Gao Zhen, on her deathbed, was personally handling this matter. First, she would take full responsibility, leaving no major trouble for her successor. The new mayor would only need to comfort the survivors, and W37 would once again be a thriving place with a bright future. Second, at this critical moment, she was using another method to gain some sympathy for the base government.
"You're really putting yourselves out." Gao Zhen smiled. "But I won't stop you from leaving here. You've shouldered the blame for the base government; you shouldn't have to lose your lives as well."
Xu Huo took her words with a grain of salt and changed the subject. "Mayor Gao has worked tirelessly for W37. Don't you think it's a pity to lose your good reputation at the end?"
Gao Zhen looked back at the jumping death count outside the window. "When you live to my age, you understand that people are just grains of sand in the long river of time. Grains of sand are insignificant; there's no need to explain yourself. Naturally, fame and power aren't that important."
"But as a person, of course, I hope that those who remember me will remember my good side."
Xu Huo laughed. This old lady was thinking too beautifully. She did the dirty work herself, let others take the blame, and still wanted a clean finish at the end.
"I suspect that by the time I walk out of this room, you'll probably already be dead." He didn't spell it out too clearly. "Before that, why not tell me the whole story of the SE virus incident?"
"I heard you haven't cleared the instance yet." Gao Zhen suddenly brought up this topic.
"That's right." Xu Huo said. "The living sample I brought was killed by your people at the training base."
Gao Zhen sighed. "Xiao Yan is a good child."
The "good child" she mentioned had already surrounded this office with his people, probably waiting for her distress signal to break in.
"It's hard to keep a one-man show going, but it's different when someone cooperates." Xu Huo said. "I'm not from W37 base station. It's easy for me to just walk away, but I can also cooperate with you to put on a show before I leave. What do you think, Mayor?"
Gao Zhen turned around, her usually kind gaze becoming slightly sharp and carrying a sense of pressure.
"Most people in the world are normal people. Normal people can sympathize, and they will sympathize with those who have suffered the same fate." Xu Huo said. "In this incident, they lost their families, and the base government also lost a great person. I believe this sympathy will dissipate a lot of the anger toward the base government."
"Haha!" The old lady burst out laughing. "This can also be considered a little help I give to the younger generation."
Xu Huo didn't say anything. The old lady's laughter gradually faded, and she asked him, "Are you really willing to help a dying man with his last favor?"
(The chapter ends)