Life Game In Other World
Chapter 393: The Torchbearer (Copy World Ends/Long - Please Subscribe, Bookmark, and Vote for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 393: Chapter 393: The Torchbearer (Copy World Ends/Long Chapter Please Subscribe, Bookmark, and Vote for Monthly Tickets)

May 6, Friday

The property auction led by the creditors of the Mining Consortium took place at the Milani Twilight Auction House.

The biggest selling point of this auction was the series of mines formerly owned by the Mining Consortium.

During the auction process, these mines nearly failed to sell—reportedly, some interested large consortia felt the current attitude was unclear and remained on the sidelines watching.

However, in the final stage of the auction, a dark horse named ’Rock City Mining Co-Op’ emerged and swept up these mines with lightning speed.

Eventually, these mines were sold at 25 percent of the market price.

The land of the original Mining Consortium’s building was given away as a complimentary gift with the auction.

That night, the Mining Consortium flag that had stood for decades on the mines outside Rock City was taken down and thrown at the feet of a cheering crowd.

——

May 16, Monday

Witt stood in front of the roaring construction site, watching as huge unmanned machinery dismantled the last part of the Mining Group building.

With a gentle sway, a massive excavator struck the emblem of the mining mecha on the front of the building.

The emblem of the Mining Consortium, which had stood for nearly a century, fell from the sky, crashed to the ground, rolled once, and came to rest against the gradually collapsing Mining Consortium building, like an ancient yet brand new tombstone.

Soon, chunks of building rubble were spread at its base, burying it as well.

Watching the massive emblem slowly being buried under cement and broken bricks, Witt finally showed a hint of a smile on his tight face. He unwrapped a piece of chocolate and bit into it.

"What do you plan to do with this land in the future?"

A crisp female voice rang out behind him.

"I’ve already donated it to the Rock City government. Rock City doesn’t have a national cemetery," Witt chewed on the chocolate, watching that dust-enveloped spot, "Maybe a graveyard will be built here in the future."

"A graveyard?"

The woman behind him was clearly surprised.

"Bro?"

At that moment, a robust figure ran over—it was Yvo.

He glanced at Witt, then his gaze fell on the professional beauty beside Witt wearing a white shirt, a black pencil skirt, and a high ponytail, "And who might this be?"

"Let me introduce you; this is Miss Lina from the Nolanka Bank," said Witt as he reached out his hand in introduction, "The loan for purchasing the mines came from Nolanka Bank, and the interest rate is far below market rates."

"Yvo, hello."

Yvo stretched out his hand in self-introduction.

"Hello," Lina smiled,

"Mr. Witt speaks too highly of us. We are in business too. Kaye City is undergoing large-scale industrial construction and lacks raw materials; our contract stipulates that the products from your mines must be sold to us first."

"But right now, we don’t have any sales channels at all; even if we have the ore, we can’t sell it."

Witt laughed softly, "Nolanka Bank is indeed different from other financial institutions."

"You flatter us, Mr. Witt."

Lina simply responded with a smile.

The collaboration between Nolanka Bank and the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association was indeed mutually beneficial.

As Kaye City was undergoing mass constructions, offering employment opportunities, the Nolanka Group’s demand for raw materials had soared.

The Federation’s Mining Monopoly Alliance was already discussing raising the prices of certain minerals, aiming to profit handsomely from the Nolanka Group.

Although their price increase was precisely calculated to be within the Nolanka Group’s affordability, it also made the Nolanka Group realize they couldn’t be choked by others when it came to ores.

They urgently needed their own ore supplier, which could serve both as a stable source of ore supply and as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the Mining Monopoly Alliance, greatly alleviating the Nolanka Group’s predicament in the ore sector.

At that time, the Rock City Mining Consortium, which had a rich variety of mineral resources but was facing immense economic difficulties, came into the view of the Nolanka Group.

However, the Nolanka Group would never help those detestable fellows of the Mining Consortium. Besides, the Nolanka Group was only interested in the mines and did not care about the other factories or real estate and other fixed assets of the Mining Consortium.

So, when the Mining Consortium went bankrupt, the Nolanka Group also lent a hand in pushing them over the edge.

But there was a problem. The Nolanka Group couldn’t personally bid for these mines because of the existence of the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association. The actual cost of acquiring these mines would be very high.

Moreover, it was known that the Nolanka Group had recently been short of ores. Rashly participating in the auction could easily lead to other large consortia becoming wary and targeting them, hiking up prices, and resulting in unnecessary additional costs.

In fact, the Nolanka Group simply needed a stable ore supplier that couldn’t be swayed by the Mining Monopoly Alliance.

In this respect, the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association was almost the perfect candidate.

As a mining organization that had once rebelled against the Rock City Mining Consortium, the Mining Monopoly Alliance was wary of them and would not accept the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association.

Nor would the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association join those who had once oppressed them.

Therefore, the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association was bound to become a staunch ally of the Nolanka Group. Managing the mines on their own, they could avoid extra costs. In other words, they could get the mines up and running with the least amount of money.

Of course, this plan was not initially put forward by any investment manager or executive. In fact, like other consortia, the Nolanka Group was very cautious about the affairs of the Rock City Mining Consortium at first.

The northern city of Rock City was not a key area of development for the Nolanka Group in the past, and they had no influence there.

Moreover, the market environment of Rock City had become too complicated after the Advent of the Evil God, so all the executives were worried that investing there would end up being money down the drain, impossible to extract themselves from.

At this time, it was Eve who, after sorting and analyzing, came up with a simple analysis report and found the contact information for the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association.

After contact, analysis, and in-depth investigations, the two parties ultimately finalized the loan arrangement.

Of course, to say there were no emotional factors at play would be impossible.

After all, this was a large investment in a completely unfamiliar area, for a completely unknown entity. If the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association failed or had other intentions, this money could likely be lost as previously anticipated.

The sum was not small; eventually, it was the Elderly butler Danny who decided, and for a very simple reason, "Master Vian would have wanted us to do this."

And this loan affair was personally completed in Rock City by Lina, the secretary of the board of directors.

"Bro, when did you get in touch with Nolanka Bank?"

At this time, Yvo looked somewhat bewildered at Witt. He had never even heard of this bank before.

"They came to us on their own."

Witt answered calmly.

The two did not make an effort to lower their voices, so Lina easily overheard their conversation.

"The Miners’ Mutual Aid Association’s information was automatically pushed to us by the system. According to our artificial intelligence’s calculations, investing in Rock City would be a very cost-effective deal,"

Lina explained with a smile.

"What artificial intelligence, that powerful?"

Yvo’s curiosity was piqued.

"Her name is Eve," Lina opened her hand and a hologram of a little girl in a white dress appeared,

"This is the persona she designed for herself. She is an artificial intelligence written by our chairman. She has very strong learning abilities. You could say she’s currently the strongest artificial intelligence in the Federation."

Yvo felt an unusual sense of pride and excitement from Lina when she mentioned the word "chairman."

"Hello, Yvo."

The little girl in the white dress, Eve, waved at Yvo.

"Hello, Eve."

Yvo also waved back in response.

He looked at the projection of the little girl, and for some reason, he felt like this expressionless mechanical Eve seemed to recognize him from before.

After giving it some thought, he felt it was reasonable for the other party to know him since he had become quite famous.

His mecha battles had spread throughout the Federation.

He had inadvertently become a celebrity, haha.

After the greetings, Eve’s projection disappeared.

"How does Mr. Witt plan to develop this new company?"

Lina turned her head toward Witt and asked softly.

"According to the tradition of the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association, this should be a,"

Witt looked ahead at the Mining Consortium’s building, which was gradually turning into ruins, "a Mining Group belonging to all miners."

Upon hearing his words, Lina was silent for a moment and then whispered, "It seems that no one has ever taken this path before."

"But someone has to try walking it, don’t they?"

Witt took out a new piece of chocolate, slowly unwrapping it.

At that moment, he felt his bracelet vibrate. Lina had sent him a file.

"Perhaps you’ll like this book."

Lina said slowly from behind him.

Witt opened the file, and it was a photocopy of a book titled,

"What Does This World Rely On to ’Distribute’ Wealth?"

----

Two months later

A man in a silver long coat held a bouquet of flowers, walking through the narrow, tree-lined path.

This was a memorial park cemetery, recently repaired.

The man followed the path to its end and saw the only tombstone in the cemetery.

A cold tombstone stood there.

[Nell Roth]

[739-757]

[Here lies a pure soul.]

[He granted everyone in this city the right to breathe, yet he himself lost the breath.]

Underneath the tombstone, bunches of fresh flowers were laid, some already wilting, others still brightly colored.

These flowers varied in their packaging and forms, seemingly coming from many different florists, from many different people over time.

The man gently squatted down, looking at the new photograph on the fresh tombstone.

The young man in the photo wore a gentle smile, his head lifted, looking ahead as if he were gazing at the person in front of the tombstone, or perhaps at the future.

The man placed the flowers in front of the tombstone.

The silent night wind brushed through his hair, sweeping over his clean face.

"Are you his friend?"

A quiet voice inquired from behind.

"Sort of, a friend never met in person."

The man slowly stood up and turned around.

Behind him was a mild-mannered youth in dusty overalls, wearing dust-covered round-framed glasses.

The youth had a miniature miner’s pickaxe clipped to his waist and carried a large tool bag over his shoulder.

"What is this?"

The man quietly asked.

"A few lights are broken, and the maintenance worker left for the day. I had some spare time, so I came over to replace them."

The youth pointed inside the park.

The silver-cloaked man gave the youth a glance and quietly inquired, "May I observe?"

"Of course, it’s not like it’s some secret business."

The youth said with a smile.

Then he walked into the park with his tool bag in tow, and the silver-cloaked man followed him.

They passed one street lamp after another.

The bright light cast two long parallel shadows on the ground.

"Are you a miner?"

The silver-cloaked man glanced at the small miner’s pickaxe at the youth’s waist.

"No, it’s just decoration," the youth said offhand,

"It was left to me by my youngest brother, who had our other brother give it to me. I don’t know why he trusted me so much, but I can’t betray his trust."

As he spoke, he stopped. "Here we are."

The silver-cloaked man looked up and surveyed the surroundings.

Darkness enveloped them, save for the faint glow from a distant street lamp.

They were standing beneath a street lamp that had gone out.

"A thunderstorm hit a couple of days ago, and this park’s lightning protection wasn’t installed yet; these few lamps were damaged."

The youth took out a small flashlight, strapped it to his head, and put on a pair of smart-lock shoecovers before nimbly scaling the lamp post.

He quickly dismounted the broken lamp and took a new one from the tool bag to replace it.

The bright light shone once more.

The youth slid down the lamp post with agility and headed for another extinguished lamp, swiftly replacing the bulb.

The silver-cloaked man looked at the landscape around them. "This area seems seldom visited; perhaps no one would mind if the street lights were replaced a few days later."

By then, the youth had already climbed up the third street lamp; it appeared to be the last one. As he efficiently replaced the old bulb with a new one, he quietly said, "There will still be people who care."

The bright light gradually came on, illuminating the dim, dark path that once was.

The street lamp stood next to a Y-fork in the path, and after the light ignited, an unsteady elderly man emerged from another fork in the path.

He looked up at the youth still on the lamp post, smiled, and gave a thumbs-up before slowly walking away.

"Those who are illuminated will care."

The youth came down from the lamp post and stood at the fork, watching the shuffling elderly man. "Just like someone raising a torch in the night, the light may be faint, but it will always shine on some around them."

"Not only darkness exists in the night but also storms. A frail torch is easily snuffed out."

The silver-cloaked man gazing at the street lamp above also stepped up to the fork in the path, speaking softly.

"But it has still illuminated some people, and among those who have seen the light, there will always be some who will light new torches."

As he spoke, the youth turned his head to look at the silver-cloaked man next to him, only to find the man smiling back at him.

The two exchanged a smile.

Their shadows lengthened in the night, pointing in the same direction yet falling on different forks in the path.

The wind of the twilight ruffled their garments.

On the screens of a commercial building not far from the park, the day’s current events were being broadcasted.

"This afternoon, Mayor Christos of Dawn City arrived in Rock City for a short visit to discuss post-disaster reconstruction efforts with Mayor Wright.

"It is reported that the supplies for Rock City’s reconstruction, purchased and assisted by Dawn City, have departed from various locations the day before..."

Boom—

A clap of thunder ripped through the sky.

It seemed a storm was approaching.