vrcanaries Chapter 391 Ducks Know First When the River Warms
Chapter 391 Ducks Know First When the River Warms
There was no farewell ceremony, and no one knew the specific details of the plan.
Tens of thousands of warp drive spaceships, fully loaded with wealthy businessmen, political figures, and their families, slowly headed toward the starport docking point.
Such a commotion obviously couldn't fool everyone. Many residents of the Ringworld noticed that there were significantly more ships flying overhead today than usual, almost one every two minutes, making a constant rumbling noise.
"What's going on? Is another war about to break out?"
Kelissa sat back on the soft sofa, a cup of coffee in her hand. The sunlight streaming through the glass mirror outside the window shone on her, making her feel exceptionally at ease.
Across the table, her best friend, Kaneda Sonoko, was also enjoying this rare afternoon tea time, holding a cat in her arms.
"Mrs. Bavrian said that these high-ranking officials wanted to run away ahead of time."
Kelissa frowned slightly: "What does that old woman know? Could it be that someone has been gossiping in her ear again, and she's taken it seriously?"
Sonoko smiled and said, "Kareisa, you have a personal prejudice against her. Mrs. Bavrian just runs a clone experience store that provides that kind of service. You don't need to be so hostile towards her."
“Sonoko, you don’t understand. She’s undermining the unity of us independent women. The business she runs is providing sexual fantasies for those stinky men. Although clones can’t really be called human in the true sense, it makes me feel uncomfortable when those men have voyeuristic thoughts about us women.”
"But her shop also offers services targeted at women, and you've been there a few times, haven't you?"
“That’s different. I pay for services with my own money, just seeking fleeting pleasure, but I would never have those kinds of thoughts about human men.”
Sonoko remained silent, knowing that arguing with the other person was pointless, so she steered the conversation back to the topic.
"However, I think it is precisely because Mrs. Bavrian was in this kind of business that her speculation is highly credible. I once read a history of the Crisis Era."
“There was a stripper. One year, she suddenly found that her income had dropped by 70%. For a stripper who relied on tips, this was undoubtedly a huge blow. She began to anxiously think about the reasons and finally came to a surprising conclusion: this may be a sign of an economic recession.”
"Later, things did turn out that way. The financial crisis swept the globe, and now Mrs. Bavrian has come to the same conclusion. I think we should also prepare for it soon."
"After all, ducks are the first to know when the river warms in spring."
Kelissa couldn't help but facepalm.
"Yuanzi, are you sure this is the original meaning of this poem?"
Similar conversations have occurred in many places. Ordinary people are not fools; they can sense even the slightest disturbance.
Coupled with the alerts from a few days ago, everyone had already made pretty much the connection.
"We protest! We want to protest!"
Online, the outcry against the wealthy businessmen and politicians intensified, and some people even infiltrated the Starport to secretly film numerous videos of the businessmen and their families leaving.
This caused an uproar among the public. They were all in the same boat, so why did you run away first?
This is not fair!
Soon, people spontaneously began to take to the streets to march, waving the blue Earth flag of the Earth Alliance and surrounding the Starport.
However, unlike the mechanical Earth, the people of the Earth Alliance are not allowed to use any weapons, but this does not mean that suppressing their protests is an easy task; on the contrary, it is much more difficult.
The logic is simple: if you dare to fire, then this is no longer a simple protest, but a riot, and the police and military can use the pretext of counter-terrorism to shoot and kill all civilians.
No matter how well-equipped civilian organizations are, they can hardly out-equip the government army, especially in a highly centralized regime like the Local Government. So even if the people are given guns, it may not really have any effect, and may even exacerbate the situation.
Moreover, the population of the Earth Alliance is simply too large, with the army and police making up only a small portion.
The tipping point between revolution and protest lies here. If the Earth Alliance does something that truly angers the people, then the protest will directly evolve into a revolution. When you can mobilize more than 30% of the population to oppose the Earth Alliance, then the Earth Alliance's regime will collapse instantly.
Even the police and military themselves might turn against the government and join the protests.
On the contrary, the mechanical Earth saw the Producers utilize a large number of mechanical troops, which became the state's violent apparatus, even outnumbering the general population.
This makes the public protests seem somewhat ridiculous in the face of absolute military deterrence, and no matter how outrageous the Progenitor's actions may be, her mechanical troops will only obey her orders.
This is the root cause of Xinghuo's repeated failures.
"Your Excellency, the crowd has lost control and is continuously storming the checkpoints towards the Starport. The security forces are almost overwhelmed. Should we initiate the evacuation plan ahead of schedule?"
"Okay, let the security forces avoid large-scale clashes with the civilians as much as possible, and try to buy time. How many can be evacuated is up to their own fate. Anyway, we've already collected the money, and we, the local authorities, will do our best to handle the after-sales work."
Bi Yunfeng sat in the president's office in the central hub of the ring, and the person responsible for guarding his safety was Cao Bin.
In this situation, the irrational masses are likely to attack the central nervous system, or to be more precise, to cause trouble among Diaz's hidden old subordinates. Therefore, the only person Bi Yunfeng can trust right now is Cao Bin.
After Rediaz's death, his remnants dispersed and hid in various corners of the Earth Alliance. In the past few years, tens of thousands of high-ranking military and political figures have been arrested and secretly executed.
There was nothing that could be done about it; after all, he had been in command of the army for so many years, and his power had long been deeply entrenched.
It could even be said that at that time, the entire army of the Earth Alliance was under his control, and the army only recognized Raydiaz, not Luo Congmin.
This situation is far more complex than simply a case of someone's achievements overshadowing the ruler. In fact, it could be said that even if Diaz had no ulterior motives, someone would still try to find a way to put that yellow robe on him.
In the past, Luo Congmin might have ignored this matter, because everyone knew that she didn't really care about the presidency. But when Rediaz showed obvious hostility towards the Star Ring Group, Luo Congmin realized that this person could no longer be kept.
Humanity is in a critical moment. Even if the Star Ring Corporation has huge hidden dangers, we should deal with them after we solve humanity's problems.
"I wonder if things are going well with AiAA."
Bi Yunfeng's biggest concern was this: the fundamental purpose of the Ant Hole Project was to allow Ai AA to completely take over the Star Ring Group.
They created a climate of anxiety, forcing Star Ring Group's shareholders to abandon the connections they had cultivated over many years within the Earth Alliance.
All these connections will be gradually taken back into AiAA's hands, and only then can the Earth Alliance be considered completely unified.
"Don't worry, the army I'm giving her is the private army that Luo Congmin left behind back then, and its combat effectiveness is off the charts."
Cao Bin seemed very confident in that unit, which was understandable, since he was the one who designed the equipment for that unit back then. It could be said that he was the person who knew the unit best, besides Luo Congmin.
Bi Yunfeng suddenly thought of a question.
"By the way, let me ask you something. When did Luo Congmin ask you to build this private army?"
"It was probably around the time when Rediaz had just taken over her bodyguard duties."
Upon hearing this, Bi Yunfeng was startled.
"So she started guarding against Diaz so early on? Doesn't that mean she never trusted anyone from the beginning?"
Cao Bin shrugged.
"She probably wouldn't trust anyone but Lin Xuan."