The Fourth Disaster Begins at the Dawn of the Millennium

But if this poor community had the ability, they would have paid to do so long ago, and would not have waited until today.

Then, someone suddenly had an idea: "There are vigilantes in the community where the Los Angeles Modified Car King lives. To put it bluntly, they are employees of the Universal Group. If they can ask the Universal Group to protect them, why can't we? You see, they behaved very professionally and bravely in the gunfight last night. We can go to the Universal Group to discuss a suitable price and sign a security contract in the name of the community. Next time, if any gang invades our community, the professional team of the Universal Group will beat them up like they did last night!"

"Their professionalism is unquestionable, but... you know, the price of hiring these professionals is not low."

"Why don't you ask about the price first? It doesn't make sense that the community next door can do it but we can't."

A few days later, when Ji Tianping, Cao Boyuan and Zhang Xiatian were modifying a car in the Los Angeles Car Modification King shop, a group of strangers came to visit the shop, which made the three people in the shop look at each other in bewilderment. These people did not drive here, and they were probably not here to discuss car modification business. If they were not talking about driving business, what did these people want to do? Thinking of the recent sneak attacks by gangsters...

Ji Tianping walked a few more steps outside and stood at the door to greet them. As for Cao Boyuan and Zhang Xiatian, they quietly put their hands on the place where the assault rifles were placed.

After meeting Ji Tianping, the other party immediately stated the purpose of their visit: "We are here on behalf of all the residents of the neighboring community. This is my ID. You can also send someone to verify it with us. Sorry, I came to visit you without an appointment in advance, but it is really because of an urgent matter... Since we are all here, why don't we talk right away."

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"We hope to sign a contract with the security company of Universal Group in the name of the community..."

…………

In the chat group.

"Now there is a new business coming to our door. The neighboring community wants to hire us to protect them from crime. The good news is that the price is not bad (compared to the mainstream security companies on the market, it is definitely not good, but it is very good for players. After all, players have the advantage of low labor costs, and they can also open up "new dungeons", trigger new plots, and spawn a lot of new "wild monsters"). If we can take it, we can collect protection fees from the new community in the future, and this model can also be promoted to other cities..."

"So what's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that we don't have a security company. Universal Group has not registered a security company in the United States. We can't take this order, and the employer doesn't want to do a private transaction with us at the risk of the FBI or IRS coming to their door."

"Then...then go register one!"

"But we don't know how to set up a security company. We probably need to hire a professional team to help us with everything related to registering the company, including legal and tax issues. Perhaps the LAPD and the Los Angeles City Government can provide us with some help."

"Of course they have to help, they have to thank us for helping us deal with the mess, and once we formalize operations through security companies, the LAPD can focus on protecting wealthy communities without having to worry about the deterioration of law and order in ordinary communities."

"So, guys, here comes the question, what cool company name should we choose?"

“I’ll initiate a group vote!”

Chapter 38: The Plan Given by the Giant God

The sky over Los Angeles was just turning pale. The hustle and bustle of the city had not yet fully awakened, but an abandoned warehouse and square on the outskirts of the city had already begun its new day. This was the first location of the new company voted by the players, although this so-called new company had not yet been registered.

The driver played by the driving player drove a black Lincoln car and slowly drove into the so-called tactical training base. The base was purchased at a bargain price, and the originally messy interior was temporarily cleaned up by the players and some NPCs. Although the base as a whole has been cleaned up, there are still many old things inside that have not been thrown away because the newly ordered things have not arrived yet.

Sitting in the passenger seat, the manager of the Universal Group, the character controlled by the player Zhang Xiatian, is introducing the "Giant God" Group to today's distinguished guest, a congressman with extensive connections, who is sitting in the back seat of the car:

"The service provided by our company 'Jushen' is called 'Violent Crime Intervention and Protective Emergency Services'. In simple terms, the community pays us and we provide round-the-clock protection for the community. We eliminate all vicious incidents such as home invasions, murders, rapes, robberies, etc. that occur in the community and create an environment that does not breed violence. We use our advantages to prevent those violent criminal activities."

"Our employees will be trained to the standards of professional security personnel. The purpose of our employees' training is to protect the safety of others. This is the purpose and meaning of our company. Our vehicles are uniformly equipped with white flashing lights, black paint and chrome decoration, and our employees will wear equipment with a visual impact."

"This will give people a strong sense that there is a strong police force here to warn potential criminals that this is not a place where you can strike, this is a 'violence-free' community, and when criminals see our staff, they will know that we are not here to play cat and mouse games, we are here for real."

The car continued to move forward, passing through an open square. Some abandoned containers in the square were transformed into temporary shelters and obstacles, and various tactical exercise routes were drawn on the ground with white chalk. Several security personnel wearing camouflage suits, bulletproof vests, tactical headphones and peaked caps were doing morning exercises.

"These are our newly recruited security personnel. They are undergoing basic physical training." The manager pointed to the players who were doing physical training while on standby mode and said, "We have hired retired officers from the Marine Corps as the company's training consultants. They have many training programs and strict standards to ensure that they are competent for a variety of security tasks."

The car stopped in front of the warehouse. The manager quickly got out and walked around to the other side to open the door for the congressman.

"Let's start here, Mr. Congressman." The manager led the congressman to the warehouse door.

The door of the warehouse is made of heavy iron sheets, and it makes a harsh metal friction sound when it is pushed open. After pushing the door open, you can see that the interior is spacious and bright, with high-power incandescent lamps hanging on the ceiling, illuminating the entire space.

"This is our garage and indoor training ground." The manager introduced as he stood at the door. "Our company's motorcycles are placed here, allowing our employees to respond quickly. In the future, we may also purchase assault boats so that we can operate in waters and cover more security areas."

The two continued to walk deeper into the warehouse and came to an area where rooms were divided by plywood, rubber sheets, sandbag walls, and steel plates.

"This is our simulated tactical training area," the manager said, pointing to the area. "Employees conduct CQB drills here and learn how to perform tasks in complex environments."

"These settings are very realistic. In my opinion, your training is not much worse than that of the LAPD in terms of details. In some places, it looks better. You really put a lot of effort into the details." The congressman said, "I can see that you are not the kind of company that wants to make a quick buck, but you really want to do a good job in this security company. I seem to see the creation of a great company in the future."

Manager: "That's right, Mr. Congressman. What you are seeing now is not only the establishment of a security company, but the beginning of the development of a new industry, which is crisis management services. We hope that Giant God Company can lead the transformation of the entire public security protection service model."

The congressman was silent for a moment. "The LAPD and the Los Angeles City Government have a good impression of you. They told me that if your security company can be successfully registered, it will effectively alleviate the growing security pressure in Los Angeles. Gentlemen, let's open the door and talk. The support of voters in the areas where you are going to expand your business is very important to me and some people. As a congressman in this state, I cannot ignore the voices of those voters who 'want a safer environment', otherwise they will vote for others."

"Mr. Congressman, then supporting us is the best decision you can make. Your support will bring the most cost-effective security to your voters. It does not require modifying the LAPD's budget allocation or increasing funding. You just need to urge the state government to complete the procedures for us as soon as possible and leave the community's security to us. Security companies facing market competition are undoubtedly more efficient than the LAPD with administrative burdens, and the services we provide are more affordable..."

"That's right," the MP began to talk about the high efficiency of handing public services over to the market and the benefits of neoliberalization. He cited the example of "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher's frantic sale of state-owned enterprises and cutting public spending, and talked about the benefits of allowing capital to enter the public domain.

The manager played by the player also echoed that the United States, as the world's number one capitalist country, has not gone far enough in neoliberal reforms, although the United States has now outsourced some services such as infrastructure construction and maintenance, public transportation, medical care, garbage collection and treatment, sewage treatment, prison management, and 911 connection to private companies...

However, the privatization of services such as police and fire services is still hesitant and not bold enough. These can be contracted out to some qualified private companies.

The congressman finally shook hands with the manager and said that he would do his best to support Giant God Company to complete its registration as soon as possible, so that it can become a legal company and benefit the citizens of Los Angeles as soon as possible (of course, some large donations that benefit this congressman are not something that would be discussed on the table today. As for whether this money is just "temporarily kept" by the congressman and will be taken back by the players one day in the future, that is another story).

Before the congressman left, he solemnly assured the manager: "As long as your company has no problems with taxation, everything will be fine..."

Chapter 39: The Second Step of the Long March

3348 words

The "workers" (players) of the Huanyu Group are probably the most proactive workers in the world. Without any instructions from the chairman, Lin Dengwan, and the CEO, Lin Dengtu, the "workers" took the initiative to apply for the registration of a branch company for the group...

Because of this initiative, the players have triggered the "Second Step of the Long March" mission of the Universal Group camp. The mission description is:

“The Universal Group, as its name suggests, has always been targeting the entire world. Therefore, it cannot have only one branch, cannot have a branch in only one country, and cannot be involved in only one industry.

The chairman of the group agrees with your decision to start a second company and to establish a security company. A great man once said, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." Although times have changed, this sentence still has guiding significance for our business. The establishment of a security company will allow our business to retain more legal armed forces on the surface, laying a solid foundation for the next step of development. Once the company is successfully established, the group will issue you new rewards and release the security company's development plan for the next year:

reward:

1. The capacity of the pocket in the other dimension has been expanded (you can now put assault rifles in your pocket!)"

2. More player quota

3. When the player chooses "Security Company" as his "branch", he will gain experience by performing combat, defense and other related tasks. 15%

Plan for next year:

1. Global security (opening business in at least 3 countries)

2. Strong troops and strong horses (capable personnel who are dedicated to the combat missions of the security company, the total number of players and NPCs is 1000)

3. Brand effect (security company exclusive task score averages over 80 points)

…………

The registration of "Jushen Company" is still in process. Due to the special nature of the registration of security companies, many government departments are involved in this process. The U.S. Department of Commerce (security companies may conduct business internationally), the Secretary of State's Office, the Business Registration Department, the Police Department, the Tax Bureau, the Department of Labor (to review whether Jushen Company provides their employees with a safe workplace and employee benefits, etc.). No one knows when Jushen Company will be officially established. Maybe next week, maybe next month...

While the process was going through at Giant God, one morning, the bells of the community church echoed in silence. Even the sky was gray, as if mourning the grief of the day. The light from the stained glass windows formed mottled patterns on the floor. The long corridor was covered with thick red carpets. The wooden benches on both sides were already filled with mourners. The residents of the community gathered here spontaneously to mourn the protagonist of the funeral and pay tribute to the vigilante who died in the battle with the gang.

In the center of the church, John's coffin was placed, surrounded by flowers and candles. This time, the pastor played by the player stood in front of the pulpit, bowed his head and prayed. His voice echoed in every corner of the church, saying:

"May our hero rest in peace in the arms of the Lord. He died protecting us and we will always remember his bravery and selflessness."

After the prayer, people began to take turns to walk to the coffin to bid farewell to the sacrificed vigilante. Everyone's face was filled with sadness and respect. They gently stroked the coffin and whispered words of condolence. Players lined up one by one to control the game characters to come forward. There was no weird thing to ruin the atmosphere. Even when the player who was the victim of the sacrificed vigilante controlled the new character to come to the coffin to mourn, the characters in the game were all frowning, but the real players couldn't help laughing.

The funeral continued, and people came to the coffin one by one to pay their respects. A middle-aged woman came over holding a little girl. The woman said softly to her niece: "He is a hero. He used his life to protect us, just like your father and mother used their lives to protect you at the last moment." The little girl nodded and placed a small white flower in her hand on the coffin.

Following closely behind was the boy who had come to the police station to report the crime some time ago. When it was the little boy's turn, he slowly walked to the coffin, took a deep breath, and said something in a voice that only he could hear, then wiped the tears from his eyes and left.

After the funeral, the church bells rang again, and people left the church silently and walked to the cemetery outside. The cemetery is located in a green area behind the church, surrounded by pine and cypress trees. It is quiet and peaceful here, a suitable place for eternal rest.

In the center of the cemetery, next to the already dug grave, the players, as a professional coffin-carrying team, slowly placed the coffin into the grave. During this process, the players also hired a band to play festive music, including all kinds of musical instruments and singing. This seemed a bit out of tune with the traditional relatively solemn atmosphere, but the players had already explained to the people who came here in advance that the volunteer policeman who was burying the coffin had previously instructed his companions that they hoped his burial process would be festive and cheerful, and not too sad.

At the same time, the female teacher who was holding the little girl's hand was talking to Ji Tianping about the two children who had lost their parents:

"The girl's situation is okay. Although she still misses her parents very much, her emotions are gradually calming down. But the boy seems to have a knot in his heart that he can't untie. Many teachers and classmates have reported that his mood changes a lot. He is absent-minded in class and no longer plays with his friends."

"This doesn't sound like a good thing, like being autistic..."

The teacher continued, "Yes, and what's even more terrifying is that on the night when the gangs attacked the community, the patrol found this child on the road. He had a pistol and a dagger on him. When the patrol asked him to go home immediately, he said... he was going to kill the gangs and cut off their heads... This is too terrifying, especially coming from a child like him."

"I can understand the kid's feelings. Let me talk to him, teacher. But whether I can help him get out of his autism depends on luck..."

...............

Tommy's heart knot is that on the night when the gangster broke into the house and killed people, when he heard the sound of his parents fighting with the gangster, he had the opportunity to get a gun from the second floor to save his parents and his sister, but Tommy was too scared. He had only learned how to use a pistol a few times. In such an extremely tense situation, he might not have the opportunity to aim at the gangster with his gun. If he went downstairs rashly, he would be killed by the gangster. So Tommy chose to jump out of the window and ask for help from the community volunteers. Afterwards, the volunteers praised his action as the most correct and brave behavior.

But Tommy would still think many nights: "If I had been able to use a pistol skillfully that night, would I have had a chance to save my family? Maybe Mom and Dad would not have died..."

Since the day his parents were murdered, in Tommy's eyes, nothing was more important than improving his physical fitness, reaction and shooting skills. What was more important than quickly improving his combat ability to protect his family?

So, Tommy cancelled all his extracurricular activities, started to learn from the police and gangster movies played in the VCD, observed the training of community volunteers, and exercised. When his sister was not at home, Tommy would try CQB training in the house with an unloaded pistol. He would imagine what the gangsters would do if they entered his house, and where he should ambush the gangsters...

Tommy believed for a while that if he became as powerful as the community vigilante, he could kill gangsters. When that day came, he might bring a gun and punish the gangsters privately like the plots in superhero comics. However, the death of the community vigilante made Tommy suddenly realize that even the community vigilante who was omnipotent in everyone's eyes could be shot by gangsters...

"Tommy, tell me, what is the purpose of all this practice?"

Facing Ji Tianping, who was wearing a community vigilante uniform, Tommy didn't want to lie. He said, "Sir, I want to protect my sister from any more harm. I also want to avenge my parents. I believe everyone will have the same idea as me when their parents are brutally murdered. But after the teachers and classmates in school knew my idea, they all said that I was a monster. Sir, am I really wrong? Do you even have to persuade me not to do this?"

"No, I'm not here to dissuade you. The feeling of revenge is sacred and necessary in real life. But if you go for revenge alone...boy, how many gangsters can you kill? There are tens of thousands of gangsters in Los Angeles. You are not an invulnerable superhero. You will be injured if you get shot, and you will die immediately if you are hit in the vital parts..."

The little boy was speechless, and then he heard Ji Tianping say:

"Tommy, you want to achieve revenge on your own and protect your family on your own... First of all, I have to praise you. You have shown extraordinary courage and dared to take responsibilities that are not suitable for your age. However, you have to know that fighting alone is far less effective than uniting as one. For example, on the night when we had a gunfight with gangsters, if everyone in the community fought alone, we would never have been able to defeat the gangsters who acted in groups..."

"I know, I know, sir, but the community patrol team doesn't allow me to join," Tommy said repeatedly, "Maybe the community police are willing to accept me as the youngest member of the team........."

"Damn it, we don't want kids who dropped out of elementary school to join the team..." Ji Tianping waved his hand, but then he changed the subject and said, "Our team is applying to register a formal security company. If you can successfully complete your studies, finish college... at least finish high school, then..."

"Sir, of course I can! My grades have always been among the best......"

"Hahahaha, then you better keep it up... Oh, by the way, I heard that you've been suffering from having no place to practice shooting? On weekends, if you have finished your homework, you can come to the community police station and wait for a ride. My colleagues can take you to our company's training base, where all your shooting needs can be met. In exchange, I have only one request, keep your parents' guns at home, don't bring them out, and if you want to play with guns, come to our professional shooting range."

Chapter 40: America’s Moon…America is such a mess

"So, you set up a second company? A security company? To be honest, I am really confused. Which industry is your group company going to focus on? Or does your chairman have no idea what the company should do, so he wants to try everything? Or maybe the second company is just for those employees in your company who love fighting..."

"In fact, it was not the chairman who asked us to open a second company. It was the company's employees, that is, people like us, who got together and took the initiative to open the second branch of the group. The registration process and registered capital were all up to us..."

"Are you serious? It's hard to imagine that a regular company would do all this by its employees... After you set up a security company, are you going to replace the police in the community? I think your next step is to contract out firefighting, garbage disposal, road maintenance and other businesses. Oh, you can also collect taxes directly from the community, since you have contracted out all their public services anyway..."

When the news of the official establishment of "Jushen Company" reached Northeast China, Steven had already arrived in Northeast China by plane and then by train. He met up with his colleagues in the R&D team and began working on the first generation of "smart pressure cookers."

During this period, Steven was still paying close attention to the news of the group branch on the other side of the ocean. The branch in Northeast China would also report the situation of the American branch in the form of a "daily brief" (of course, the content displayed would definitely be different from the original situation, and selective modifications would be made). Therefore, not only Steven could know what happened in Los Angeles during this period, but the staff of the pressure cooker factory could also know the general situation of the American branch.

When Steven talked about these things, he mostly spoke in a teasing tone. On the one hand, he felt that Universal Group was a company that always opened people's eyes, and the actions of Universal Group did not conform to what any professor in his minor management course taught; on the other hand, Steven had to admit that in a place where the government lacked public services, the emergence of a company that could provide public services was already very good, especially when the company's fees were not very expensive and the efficiency was still very high...

Although Steven firmly believes that any action of the company will not be for charity, perhaps this is the competitive strategy of Giant God Company under the Universal Group, to quickly seize the market with appropriate prices and efficient services, so as to gain a monopoly in the industry one day in the future, obtain pricing power, and obtain high returns...

"There must be a lot of people in the United States who hope that you will expand your business as soon as possible, such as my neighbors in the Rust Belt. At least you can make them comfortable for a while..." Steven said bluntly.

The workers at the pressure cooker factory were "greatly shocked" by the news they heard every day, but at the same time, they used the news they heard as their own gossip, adding fuel to the fire and telling others about it. Because what the players did in Los Angeles was already outrageous enough, the workers added fuel to the fire and told others about it, making it sound outrageous.

For example, the night of the fight between the community and the gangsters was described by the workers as a "Battle of Los Angeles". They said that the community vigilantes dug trenches, set up barbed wire, and set up machine guns to shoot, and the gangsters were knocked to the ground one by one; they also said that thousands of gangsters were killed in one night, and the war burned half of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles police were so scared that they dared not even fart...

"Oh my god, is the boss of this joint venture so powerful? He uses heavy machine guns and pulls barbed wire? No wonder the 'Second Brother' gang was completely wiped out. Compared with this boss", the power of the Second Brother is nothing... A neighbor said in surprise after listening to the bragging of the workers in the pressure cooker factory.

"Hey, it's true that all crows are evil. American police are like this too. They are more eager to make money than anyone else, but they hide when they see danger." After hearing this, a neighbor immediately complained, "I told my son not to listen to what some people say, that foreigners are civilized and that foreign security is so good. It's nonsense. It's still just as bad."

"Have you heard from that college student who flew over from the United States? They also have a large area over there, which is similar to our Northeast, with large-scale industry. Later, it became depressed and destitute. There were laid-off workers everywhere (many Chinese workers at that time regarded unemployment as laid-off). Robbery, drug trafficking, prostitution, everywhere. The American college student was able to study because he had a grandmother who was kind to him and drove away all those bad friends who only knew how to fool around..."

"What's the matter? Can you speak English or can they speak Chinese? Can you even understand them?"

"Well, we have domestic college students in our factory too! They can speak English and understand what the foreigners are saying."

"Hey, so it seems that not all Americans live well. Look, they have laid-off workers too..."

The news from the pressure cooker factory is not just a daily topic of conversation, it has also become a channel for NPCs in the two branches in China and the United States to resonate with each other. For example, when Chinese workers heard that gangsters broke into houses and killed people and kidnapped children, they immediately thought of the various past incidents in which they or their relatives and friends had been harmed by the underworld. They empathized with the gangsters and cursed those damn murderers and human traffickers. Everyone also gave a thumbs up to the "players" who rescued children while racing on the road.

Later, when the workers learned that a "player" had died in a gunfight with gangsters, they also lamented that another good man had died, what a pity. Some workers approached the "player" and suggested holding a small memorial service. In the past, when they were in state-owned enterprises, if an employee died for the factory, everyone would hold a small memorial service and select one person to come on stage and talk about the past experiences and contributions of the comrade who died so that everyone could remember him.

"How did you guys come up with this?" The player asked in confusion. It was indeed strange in the player's eyes, why would the workers of the Chinese branch want to commemorate someone from the American branch...

A worker said: "We also heard that some people went to Africa to help people there build railways, and later some people died there. Although they were buried in Africa, the factory in China still held a memorial service for the deceased and called on everyone to learn from the martyrs."

Many workers currently do not understand the concept of security companies, so they regard the communities in the United States as something like "family quarters", and compare the community vigilantes to the security department in the factory. They regard the sacrificed players as security officers who sacrificed their lives to protect the families of the factory workers from gangsters, thugs, and bullies.

When the workers talked about this after dinner, many of them sighed:

"Oh, what a nice boy he was. What a pity..."

"If this happened in the past, the factory would definitely hold a grand memorial service."

"The company seemed to have held an American-style memorial service in the United States, but we were too far away, so we didn't hold one..."