Shadow Empire

Chapter 609: The performing artist in front of the camera and the elderly’s family affairs

In front of an open space in the port area, a middle-aged man with a "protagonist" appearance walked out from the refugee group.

His appearance was quite consistent with the Federation's aesthetic of positive males, with dark hair, a high but not eagle-like nose, thick eyebrows, axe-like cheeks and a charming chin.

Add to that his blue beard and blue eyes, and even if he goes to Valley City to apply for the male lead, there will be a crew willing to take him in.

He walked out of the crowd wearing ragged but very clean clothes and the reporters quickly noticed him.

Congressman Williams did not come and canceled the afternoon event, which disappointed the reporters who were ready to watch the show.

But if they could get some other news material through interviewing this person, perhaps it would be able to make up for some of their disappointment.

But they didn't think this guy could provide any explosive news, he was just a group of refugees.

The guy walked in front of the reporter, and when he was still some distance away, he suddenly raised his hands and shouted, "We are dying, please save us!"

The reporters, who were originally somewhat absent-minded, were suddenly startled and immediately trotted towards the man.

Seeing the reporters flocking in, a smile appeared on the middle-aged man's face.

"What's your name, sir?"

"Hope, Hope Wright."

The reporters wrote down his name, and then they asked, "Can you tell me why you think you are dying?"

The expression on his face was filled with a look of begging for salvation, "People are dying, that's the fact."

"Hunger, disease, anything can easily take our lives."

"I know that we are refugees and not citizens of the Federation, but we are also human beings and we should have the right to live in this world!"

"From the time we arrived in the Federation until now, the local government has not made any arrangements for us, including building simple homes in the New Port area, which were all our own initiative."

"We are like a term that only exists in newspapers or magazines, not real people living in reality."

"People's sympathy seems to remain in the newspapers and not shine into reality."

"Every day, someone in Xingang District dies of starvation in his own tent or in some corner due to long-term hunger."

"Some people will hastily end their short life in painful struggle due to illness."

"Every night, the shrill crying kept me awake, and I never understood why."

"Is it God who has closed his eyes and cannot see our sorrow, or is it the federal sky that has blocked his sight, leaving his pious lamb in this predicament!"

"We need help, humanitarian aid, or anything else. I heard there's an animal protection association in the federation."

"The kindhearted people of the Federation can give those little animals some care and love, so why can't they give us, who are also human beings, some help?"

"We don't have any other excessive demands, we just want to survive..."

Mr. Hope's words aroused empathy from many reporters on the scene. The greatest wealth of the grassroots people is their empathy.

They can empathize with everything.

Even if they themselves live in poverty, when they see the terrible lives of those who are even poorer, deep down in their hearts they can't help but want to help them.

It’s like when they see a rich man losing hundreds of millions of dollars on his investment and sigh - it’s really not easy for this rich man.

It's like the sadness they feel when they see a politician lose an election by a narrow margin, like...

They can empathize with people who are worse off than themselves, and they can also empathize with those who are countless times better off than themselves but have encountered a wealthy and powerful person who people consider to be unfortunate.

Although they are rich and powerful, they may not necessarily live a happy life!

The poorer the people of the Federation are, the more empathetic they are.

Journalists are neither privileged nor wealthy, and they rely more on the resonance and empathy of their readers to gain fame and fortune.

This Mr. Hope hit their G-spot and they felt great.

At the invitation of Mr. Hope, the reporters decided to go to the New Port area, which "urgently needed someone to help them", to take a closer look.

As Mr. Hope said, the federal government just brought them here and then ignored them, as if they didn't exist.

What people need is not truth and facts, what they need is something bloody, something that can hurt their hearts.

Soon they arrived at the New Port area, and the strange smell began to spread. Mr. Hope explained the reason for the odor here, which made "not being able to afford a shower" a small news hotspot.

Mr. Hope took them along a very special route, and not long after they came to an open space and saw that they were burning something.

The flames of the huge pile of fire were as high as three or four stories high, and there were many people around who kept adding firewood to it.

Before they got close, waves of heat hit them. Before the reporters had time to ask why they were burning a bonfire in the summer, they saw several people carrying some corpses and throwing them into the fire.

"We can't afford a cemetery, nor can we pay for cremation. In order to prevent those corpses from becoming the source of the plague, this is the only solution we have."

The reporters took pictures with serious faces. Cremation was a new trend, but it had not been approved by the federal government.

Because the Bible has always advocated burial and believes that burial is the best way to return to the Lord's arms.

The content related to cremation is often related to "purification".

Ordinary people certainly do not need to be purified, only pagans need to be purified, so cremation is not popular, and many believers believe that they cannot go to heaven after cremation.

For the federal people, almost all of whom have faith, these people will not only be burned to ashes after death, but their ashes will also be mixed with other people's ashes. They can't even be put into individual jars and buried in the soil. They will definitely go to hell!
This is already the most severe punishment, going to hell after death!

Then they continued to walk inside and saw many people who were so thin that they were just skin and bones. They were sitting or lying on the roadside. A reporter asked, "Why are there so many people like this here?"

Mr. Hope explained calmly, "They are waiting to die, which will allow them to return to the world faster and more conveniently."

Some scenes in the refugee zone caused a huge shock to the reporters. They had never imagined that people could live such a miserable life!

When they finally saw a woman squeezing blood from her nipples to feed her child, everyone was silent.

The reporters began to take money out of their pockets, hoping that the women would buy some milk powder instead of using their own blood to feed their children.

"Mr. Hope, I don't know how to describe what I saw here today. I believe that everyone who knows what happened here will face you with a heavy heart like me."

"You deserve help. This is the bottom line of human morality. We cannot cross this bottom line."

"I will report this news truthfully and make sure it reaches more people. I will also call on everyone to donate money and materials to help you overcome the difficulties..."

"You are a person with high morals. You will change the people and their lives here. You will warm everyone like the sun!"

The reporter was so well-educated, and what he said was so nice that Mr. Hope almost cried!

He shook hands with every reporter and said, "I'm not doing this to promote myself or what I want to do, I just can't remain silent in this environment."

“No matter what changes will happen in the future, good or bad, at least I have tried for the tomorrow and future of each of us!”

"Thank you, thank you for your patience in coming here with me, seeing with me, and understanding the poor living conditions of the people here,"

"God bless the Union, and God will bless us!"

He clasped his hands together devoutly, and someone took this photo. The bright sunshine illuminated half of his face, and the beautiful side of the city was on his left.

The other half was shrouded in an imperceptible shadow, blending with the misery of the world behind him, forming a very strong contrast and impactful shot. Soon the reporters left here, and the people around who were so hungry that they had difficulty standing up looked at Mr. Hope. He turned around, and the sunlight moved from the left half of his body to the right half.

He smiled as he looked at these miserable people, met their eager gazes, and lowered his chin slightly, "Everything will be fine!"

People inexplicably felt a force rising from the soles of their feet, and they did not realize that they had become pawns in a political game.

But even if they knew, they wouldn't care.

At least the chips could be laid out on a flannel table for the game, and people would keep them alive to protect them.

If they don't become bargaining chips, they can only sit on the concrete and gravel floors, waiting for the period to be drawn with the final stroke.

They raised their hands high and praised Mr. Hope, and all this made Mr. Hope feel a little happy.

This is the foundation and bargaining chip for realizing his future. He will become an extraordinary person, and he firmly believes it!
With the participation of reporters and those tragic photos, this news occupied the front page headline of "Jingang Today" early the next morning.

The reporter who wrote this report used the title "Our Morality is Dying with Our Conscience" and used a wide-angle photo to put together the bonfire used to burn corpses and the people sitting next to the bonfire waiting to die.

The dark picture weighed on everyone's heart like a dark cloud, and heavy rain fell down with lightning and thunder.

“…People are dying, dying in the beauty we have woven. Their deaths are meaningless and will not serve as nutrients to nourish this land. Instead, they will only become the pain in our hearts that will never be erased.”

"Compared to them who need help, we are actually the ones who need help more. Our conscience, our virtues, and our moral bottom line as human beings are wailing and asking us for help."

"We are not only saving them, we are saving ourselves."

"Please lend a hand, for them, for us."

Lance read out the contents of the report, put it aside after reading it, and then took a sip of his coffee with milk.

“Next time if you add milk, you don’t need to add sugar, it’s too sweet!”, he commented, and then looked at the ladies and gentlemen at the table.

Whenever he wanted to enlighten these people, he would find that their eyes were particularly clear, so clear that he could see through them at a glance.

"I… uh, well, there's no morning test today."

The people at the table breathed a sigh of relief. They might have thought this was a little funny at first, but soon they didn't think so anymore.

If someone keeps asking you questions you don't understand, you won't find it interesting anymore.

He asked about other things, things these people knew, and the atmosphere immediately became much more cheerful.

"Our wine is selling well in the Bay Area. The current price is 370 yuan per bottle, and there is still room for further growth."

DeRici couldn't stop smiling as he talked about the sales of these "five-year-old" whiskeys.

The cost of these wines is a little bit more expensive, but only a little bit, about thirty to forty yuan, but it can bring more than eight times the profit!

These wines actually still have some minor flaws, their alcohol smell is too strong, but Lance is trying to solve these problems.

If these problems can be solved, eight-year-aged and ten-year-aged whiskies will become available.

"In addition to this, there is more alcohol available in other areas," he added.

The only big gang in Jingang City is the Lance Family, but there are still many mid- and low-level gangs in every district except the Empire District and the Port District.

It is impossible for him to wipe out all the gangsters because it is impossible to do so.

Even if he expels all the current gangs, a new group of gangs will soon emerge.

The federal society is like a super cradle that breeds these violent groups. As long as a vacuum appears, new groups will soon be born, and there will never be a moment of end.

So instead of thinking about how to find those middle and lower level gangsters every day, it is better to set up rules for them to follow, as long as they follow the rules and make money for him.

Then he can also tolerate these small gangs.

Lance thought for a moment after hearing this, "How many gangsters are there here?"

Erwin gave an unexpected but reasonable number, "At least hundreds."

Some small families may have only a dozen people, and their "territory" is just a section of a street, or a total of seven or eight people run an underground bar.

This is normal, and the number given by Irwin is actually very conservative.

Lance drummed his fingers on the table. "Notify these people. I need to talk to them soon."

"Also, ask Roger to come over..."

Before ten o'clock, Roger appeared in front of Lance. The old man looked more and more energetic.

There is no way, the best "panacea" is actually the money in people's pockets.

There is a reason why poor people are listless and rich people are full of energy.

If everything you encounter every day goes as you wish, you will feel sad and uncomfortable.

But if you worry about one or two dollars every day, get angry, or even have a big fight with your family or friends, it is impossible for you to live comfortably.

Scientists have also been looking for the specific ways in which the mind interferes with the body. They have many theories, but have never found the key.

That's what happened to Roger, now that he had money, even his old brothers were rejuvenated.

"I heard that you've been getting close to a young widow recently?" Lance motioned for him to sit down, holding a cigarette and stomping the butt on the table.

Roger's old face turned red. "We are just good friends."

Lance did not deny his persuasion, "So you had a big fight with your son, for your good friend."

When Roger heard Lance say this, he suddenly sighed, "I also have the right to pursue happiness."

Like most people of that era, his union with his wife was more like two people who needed to take on social responsibilities. They reached an age when they needed to take on social responsibilities, and then they naturally came together and built a family.

As for those people in the past who wanted to talk about love and affection, it’s not that there weren’t any, but they were still a very small minority.

Most people are introduced by others, and then they don’t dislike each other when they get along with each other, so they form a family.

This is also the reason why most operas are about love. If the audience has really had their own love, the kind of deep or colorful love, why would they pay attention to other people's love stories and have some kind of empathy?
Because they don’t have any!

That's why they crave those love stories. Of course, there are also some sadomasochists who like the poor boy to fall in love with the rich girl and then break them up!
This is how Roger and his wife got together. When the time came, they met each other twice and didn't dislike each other. Then, with the arrangement of both families, they got married.

At no time did Roger have any love for his wife, only family affection, that is family, not lover.

And recently this young widow has given him that impulse, so much so that his old brother, who has not been used for quite some time, has become full of energy.

As for why his son quarreled with him, the reason was actually very simple.

His son was worried that Roger would really marry the young widow, and then some of his property would be taken away by her.

He was even afraid that his father could still have children. If another baby was born, half of him would be gone, or even more!

He couldn't accept this.

He doesn't care if their family is still poor and not well off.

But now that I'm rich, I'm less open-minded about some things.

(End of this chapter)