Life Game In Other World
Chapter 306: Farewell, Christos (Please Favorite, Subscribe, and Vote for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 306: Chapter 306: Farewell, Christos (Please Favorite, Subscribe, and Vote for Monthly Tickets)

"Good morning, and welcome to the Voice of Dawn... Tomorrow morning at nine o’clock, the Mayor’s inauguration ceremony will be held at the Glorious Palace. The new Mayor Christos will take the oath of office during the ceremony... Citizens who are interested in watching may attend in the square in front of the Glorious Palace..."

In the autonomous taxi, the radio was broadcasting today’s news as He Ao turned his head to look at the apartment building that was slowly receding into the distance.

Before he left, he had cleaned Joey’s room and logged in to Joey’s bank account once again.

There was probably a little more than twenty thousand federal coins in the account.

The property tax rate for the house that Joey’s parents had purchased was 2%, which is considered on the lower end in Dawn City. Joey would need to pay a little over eight thousand in property taxes each year, and these savings would be enough to cover for a little more than two years.

Before He Ao made proper arrangements for Joey’s departure, which included submitting a withdrawal application to the school and sending farewell texts to all his classmates whom he knew well.

Joey had no debts to his name, nor did he have any relatives in this city.

Apart from Roger, no one knew of Joey’s death; without a body, without a death certificate, Joey was still ’alive’.

After all, there were not a few who left Dawn City for other cities; as long as He Ao paid the property taxes on time, the city hall would not bother with whether or not this person was dead.

He Ao withdrew his gaze and refocused his attention on the bracelet in his hand.

It displayed the statements and potential inclinations of several high-ranking officials or politicians in Dawn City who had the clearest attitude towards the Wilderness Wanderers, collected by Eve.

As the fringe population of the entire Dawn City, the Wilderness Wanderers did not, in fact, receive considerable attention.

The most frequently found statements were claims by some city council members that Wilderness Wanderers were causing trouble in their constituencies, leading to security concerns, and that they intended to submit bills to expel them.

Then He Ao glanced carefully at their records, most of whom were those whose constituency support rates were dropping, whose positions as council members were shaky, or simply those looking to make a name for themselves.

In their constituencies, crimes committed by Wilderness Wanderers were minimal; most were related to gang members.

These council members would not form the main resistance against Wilderness Wanderers, but were instead like weather vanes.

Those most firmly opposed to the existence of Wilderness Wanderers were some senior officials within the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Dawn City Police Department.

They believed that the presence of Wilderness Wanderers disrupted social order, that they did not abide by the laws of Dawn City, and that entry of Wilderness Wanderers into the city should be prohibited.

They were the ones who had direct contact with the Wilderness Wanderers.

Their opinions were actually normal; some Wilderness Wanderer families took on tasks within the city, helping gangs smuggle contraband.

But any group has its good and bad individuals.

Not to mention that most Wilderness Wanderers who came to the city were merely honestly selling furs.

From a fundamental standpoint, even if all Wilderness Wanderers were banned from entering Dawn City, other Mercenary Corps or traders would replace them in the ecosystem, continuing the smuggling of contraband into the city.

The root solution to this problem is actually to control the sale and spread of contraband from its source.

But that’s a difficult endeavor.

The law enforcement officials lack the capability, so they generalize from one point, holding up the entire group of Wilderness Wanderers as targets, pushing their own inadequacies onto the issue of Wilderness Wanderers entering the city at will.

This problem is obviously not something they can change, which creates the illusion that it’s the fault of those who let Wilderness Wanderers into the city, not theirs.

Scapegoating and passing the buck are Talents.

However, these people are not easy to deal with. To have them acknowledge Wilderness Wanderers equates to making them admit their past mistakes, which would undermine their authority, and unless there’s substantial pressure, they’re unlikely to change their stance.

There are also those who are more favorable towards the Wilderness Wanderers, such as Commander Noan of the Southern Army of the City Defense Army.

In the few interviews he’s had, he often showed sympathy for Wilderness Wanderers. Due to his advocacy, the control at the gates of South City towards Wilderness Wanderers tend to be more lenient compared to North City.

He Ao brought Penny into the city through the South City gate. At the time, Penny even remarked how easy it was to enter the city.

However, He Ao’s decision to enter from South City wasn’t because he had heard of the reputation of the South City commander. Rather, Ronald’s camp itself was located south of Dawn City, so the Southern gate was the nearest and the camp always used it to enter the city, leading Ronald to always assume that entering the city was this easy.

Some things that are taken for granted may in fact be abnormal.

In total, Dawn City has eight city gates located at the east, west, south, southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest.

The East Gate and West Gate are usually closed, while the three gates of South City—in the southeast, due south, and southwest—as well as the three gates of North City—in the northeast, due north, and northwest—are open all year round for traffic, making a total of six gates.

In contrast to the South City commander’s friendliness, the North City commander was somewhat strict. Wilderness Wanderers entering through the three North City gates were subject to strict inspections, and some even had to be quarantined for a day or two before they could enter the city.

Overall, the public perception of Wilderness Wanderers throughout both Dawn City and the entire Federation was rather negative—with most people indifferent, a small portion ostracizing them, and very few expressing goodwill.

This meant that if He Ao wanted to achieve his goal, he would need to change the city’s perception.

With a soft beep, the driverless taxi stopped by the roadside. He Ao lifted his head, and the huge signboard of Ino Media’s building came into view.

He raised his bracelet and dialed a number.

"Hello, Christos," he said.

The call was quickly answered.

"Interested in having a chat?"

"Who is this?"

He Ao, looking at the silver short sword in his hand, replied, "K."

——

In a plain yet elegant reception room, He Ao, wearing a mask, met with Christos again.

He was still dressed in a sharp silver suit and was the very picture of vigor.

"Long time no see."

Christos placed a cup of coffee in front of He Ao. "Instant, hope you don’t mind."

"How have things been recently?"

He Ao took the coffee and set it on the coffee table in front of him, next to the silver short sword. Although many now wore the mask of K, the only one who could produce the silver short sword was He Ao himself.

"Thanks to you, I won... To be honest,"

Christos paused and said softly with a smile, "I’ve always been all talk, and then one day I actually got to step onto the stage to realize my ideals, and I got a bit nervous."

"Everyone gets nervous," He Ao shrugged. "If I were in your shoes, I would be nervous too."

"What brings you here all of a sudden today?" Christos asked softly.

"I have some questions I’d like to consult you on,"

He Ao looked at Christos. "Is it difficult to allow Wilderness Wanderers to stay in the city legitimately?"

After pondering for a moment, Christos sat down in front of He Ao and replied, "Very difficult."