Darkstone Code

Chapter 1457: Chapter 1455: Sometimes Inequality Is the Right Answer!

Old John is a factory worker.

Compared to others’ anger at what the Duncan Clan has done, he is more worried about his job issues.

The factory he’s working at has been shut down due to the involvement of the Duncan Clan.

This makes Old John very anxious; a closed factory won’t pay him anything, and this situation has lasted for two months.

With two months of no income, his savings can still sustain his current lifestyle, but not for too long.

The lack of a savings habit among Federals is a problem; plus, various expenses prevent them from saving much money.

For most single-income families, saving fifty dollars by the end of the month already means living frugally.

Old John worries that if the factory doesn’t resume work soon, he’ll have to sell things to get through this tough time.

Today, he went to the Workers’ Union to register his information, hoping to find another job.

But the Union people told him that too many people have registered over the past two months, and the demand for workers is already saturated. Unless those closed factories start again, only some temporary jobs are available at best.

Even if it’s a temporary job, Old John expressed his willingness to take it, even if the pay is a bit less.

Having some income is better than none at all!

He didn’t head straight home after leaving the Workers’ Union; instead, he returned to his previous workplace, where a large crowd had gathered at the factory gate.

He quickly walked over and learned upon entering that the factory’s former general manager was under investigation for some reason.

And due to ownership issues, the factory would be auctioned off.

This terrified everyone; they didn’t know what the future held, whether the new factory owner would still employ them or not, which made them very frightened!

People discussed aloud, and Old John listened. He wasn’t much of a talker but had his own opinions.

Around two or three in the afternoon, people from the Workers’ Union arrived.

"...We are already aware of the situation here and are in contact with the state government. If the factory indeed gets auctioned, we will arrange lawyers to liaise with the new factory owner and negotiate."

"Rest assured, we will properly ensure that every worker’s interests are not harmed in this transaction..."

However, neither the Union people nor their news relaxed Old John; instead, he felt even heavier.

In the following period, he found that three factories in his city had been closed due to cases related to the Duncan Clan and were awaiting auction.

He hated the Duncan Clan while occasionally doing temporary jobs.

By February, as the weather began to warm up, people finally shed their heavy coats, and new developments in the Duncan Clan case dispersed the clouds over the Federation’s sky.

Previously, many believed the Federation Government might absolve some of the Duncan Clan’s charges, but on February 9th, a "core" member of the Duncan Clan case’s initial trial ended.

He was charged with kidnapping, murder, serious injury, and was sentenced to death.

As he accepted the verdict without appealing, the Federal Supreme Court and four lifelong Chief Justices signed their agreement to execute the final death sentence.

The entire process moved swiftly; theoretically, the death penalty requires a second review. Still, sometimes some things cannot rigidly adhere to dogmatism.

Under such circumstances, the death penalty review passed quickly.

On February 15th, various TV stations broadcasted the execution scene.

A thirty-something male stood in the center of a field with a numb expression, a large haystack behind him. After the brief reading of his crimes, three Soldiers stood before him, raising their rifles.

The simultaneous sound made everyone silent.

Two bullets shattered his head one after the other, and another pierced through his heart.

To the Federals, such bloody scenes are not a big deal.

World War I’s final moments brought back many war scene tapes from all over the world by the Federation’s war Reporter.

Those images were bloodier and more thrilling.

But the stimulus and reflection brought by war are far less than those brought by a Federal being executed.

People remained silent, watching the corpse on the ground.

From the jawline as the dividing line, the upper part disappeared, and blood was everywhere. Even from a great distance or through a TV, people could sense an indescribable something.

Old John also watched TV along with his family. His wife covered the child’s eyes, but the child secretly watched the TV from elsewhere.

The TV’s artificial colors somewhat alleviated the bloody and horrific feeling.

Soon, the broadcast ended and was considered one of the most important pages in the Federation’s judicial history!

No one!

No one could evade the law’s punishment after breaking the law, be they societal elite, celebrity political figure, or anyone!

If you commit a crime, you cannot escape legal punishment; that’s what people felt.

At this moment, no matter how much money you had or your high social status before, those things lost their luster and value.

Someone recalled something Lynch had said before—

In front of the law, everyone is equal!

Yes, they saw it; perhaps this is the true nature of the law!

In fact, the handling of Duncan Clan members also alarmed the entire world.

The world is always moving forward; feudal rule will end someday. When personal rule ends, what really is the rule of law, and whether it’s beneficial to the country, some people always wish to know more.

And this is the best opportunity!

In mid to late February, around the 19th, Old John suddenly received a call from the factory—a public phone booth not far from his house.

He hurriedly went to the factory.

Upon arrival, he found that almost all the workers he knew and didn’t know were present, along with union representatives, lawyers, and City Hall staff.

The factory where Old John worked had several workshops, raw materials, production, assembly...

The supervisors of these workshops gathered together, whispering about something.

About twenty minutes later, the production workshop supervisor stood up, holding a microphone.

"Fellow workers, colleagues, I believe there’s no need for me to repeat what’s happened during this period, you all know very well."

"We previously received news that the factory would be auctioned off to those capitalists, and we don’t know what will happen then."

"But now, the upper policy has had some adjustments, and we have new possibilities!"

"Option one is still as we previously knew, the factory is auctioned, and our resettlement depends on the new owner..."

Someone interrupted him, "Hurry up and talk about the new changes, we don’t want to hear this nonsense!"

The production workshop supervisor glanced sideways at the speaker, who was a troublemaker. He didn’t respond, just smiled.

"The other option is they allow us to raise funds and buy our factory ourselves, and then we take responsibility for ourselves!"

His mood was somewhat excited as he said these words.

Undoubtedly, the management favored the latter more.

If they could buy their factory and be their own boss, wouldn’t it be better?

The City Hall gathered management from the city’s factories shut down due to the Duncan case, discussed with them, and everyone thought it was an excellent choice, so today’s general vote meeting happened.

As his words ended, the entire factory erupted into a buzz; people were voicing their opinions and discussing with those around them about how to proceed.

Indeed, emotionally, everyone was interested in this proposal; at least they wouldn’t be dismissed, right?

Old John also thought it seemed quite good.

As the discussion quieted down, it meant that everyone had made a decision.

"This time I invited everyone here to inform you first, if we are to use option two, then according to the policies given by City Hall and the state government, we need to raise approximately..."

He mentioned a number that kept everyone silent due to its enormity.

Fortunately, this amount wasn’t for one person to pay but for everyone to contribute together.

On average, each person only needs to contribute around seven thousand five hundred to ten thousand dollars.

In truth, this sum exceeded what Old John could afford; he couldn’t come up with that much cash now, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to listen.

When the production workshop supervisor later announced that each person needed to contribute ten thousand dollars, some minor disputes arose.

"Are you chipping in ten thousand as well?" someone asked the management.

The production workshop supervisor hadn’t realized yet, nodding in affirmation, "Yes, everyone needs to contribute ten thousand."

"I know you think this amount is substantial. Actually, it includes our post-startup raw material purchase funds. As long as all the money is gathered, we can start work immediately..."

But the person who asked before interrupted him again.

"If everyone is contributing ten thousand, then who gets to manage the factory, be the manager, the supervisor, or the team leader?"

This sentence, in an instant, brought silence again.

Old John also froze for a moment, then realized the troublemaker had a point.

If everyone was contributing ten thousand, why should they be in management while we do manual labor in the workshop?

This was clearly unfair!

This society can’t tolerate unfairness!

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