Life Game In Other World
Chapter 679: "Do You Know ’K’?" (Two-in-One Mega - Vote for Monthly Ticket)

Chapter 679: Chapter 679: "Do You Know ’K’?" (Two-in-One Mega Chapter Vote for Monthly Ticket)

"Why do you ask?"

Sienzi turned to look at He Ao.

"I saw the photo you had in the backroom of your shop," He Ao said calmly, "Are those people standing with you the Ruling Team of Snava?"

Then he paused, "And your name, it seems vaguely familiar, the Deputy Minister of Health for Snava during the ruling period, Sienzi?"

"It sounds like you’re quite familiar with that part of history."

Sienzi looked at the gradually fading image of the park on the television, "Do you know ’K’? Actually, what we did back then was similar to what ’K’ had done, the only difference being he succeeded, while we failed."

As he spoke, he laughed at himself, "Of course, it’s normal that you don’t know, Kajet Consortium blocked all news about ’K’ and forbade anyone from discussing him,"

He paused for a moment, "And ’K’ hasn’t appeared in the public’s eye for many years now, perhaps he too has given up on what he did back then..."

He Ao stood beside him, watching him calmly.

"Back to the main topic," Sienzi shook his head and smiled with a lingering tone, "When Snava found me, I was teaching at Vitland Medical University. He persuaded me to return to Saint Joen City, to join his team and work on medical reform."

"Forcing large enterprises to purchase basic health insurance for their employees, widely establishing basic medical clinics, providing inexpensive and simple medical services."

He Ao took over the conversation slowly, "The medical reforms that I remember are only these two, those medical clinics established by the City Government seem to have all been sold to medical consortia, and it seems that the medical insurance law hasn’t been repealed yet?"

"But in fact, it exists only in name now, as consortia only purchase medical insurance for a select few elderly and core employees."

Sienzi glanced at He Ao and walked over to sit down on the iron bench near the window, "However, this law did indeed allow many people who originally didn’t have medical insurance to obtain it, and they still do to this day,"

He turned his head to look at the city where the lights intertwined with the night, "And this, is precisely why Snava had no choice but to commit suicide, of course, he didn’t tell any of us beforehand."

"I remember at the time of the incident, it was the last year of Snava’s term, where food was scarce everywhere in the city, and the news was full of criticisms against him,"

He Ao too gazed out at the city beneath the night sky, his tone even, "The Congress had initiated impeachment proceedings against him, I remember there was also an officer from the City Defense Army who was killed inside the building of Saint Joen’s largest media, Grain Du Daily, and the City Defense Army had issued a vote of no confidence against the municipal government."

"Yes, that was the most turbulent year I had ever experienced,"

Sienzi looked out the window,

"The truth back then was actually worse than what the outside world knew. Our reform had offended every large consortium in Saint Joen City,

"Especially the city corporate income tax reform, labor working hours reform, pricing limit law for grains, and policies supporting competitive freedom for small grain consortia, as well as the investigation into unfair competition by Kajet Consortium led by Snava, had completely alienated the Kajet Consortium.

"At first, our reforms went smoothly, city tax revenues saw a significant increase, and the continuously rising debt finally halted, giving the city government enough fiscal surplus to support our construction of some public facilities, such as the Central Park and small clinics.

"But things don’t always go smoothly, especially after we antagonized Kajet Consortium,

"Initially, Kajet Consortium had hoped to displace us with other candidates in the next city government election, but Snava’s reforms were increasing his approval ratings continuously. When they realized they couldn’t win against us through election, Kajet Consortium resorted to other schemes."

At this, Sienzi laughed briefly,

"To be honest, the Kajet Consortium, as a super consortium that has only risen in the last decade or so, is not really respected by other old school super consortiums. Among these corporate circles, the Kajet Consortium is called the ’nouveaux riches who picked up gold’.

"But even as ’nouveaux riches,’ it still is a massive super consortium that we couldn’t resist. At that time, we were still young, with our team’s average age not exceeding fifty years, and Snava was only forty-five.

"In a Federation where the average age of mayors was over fifty, we indeed were a very young team. Therefore, we believed that we could change the city, change everything we saw.

"And indeed, we were very young."

Sienzi looked at the standing He Ao, slowly got up, picked up two chairs from the side, and walked over to He Ao and Jia Xi.

"Thank you, Uncle."

Jia Xi took the chair, sweetly said thank you, then placed one chair behind He Ao.

He Ao reached out to pat his granddaughter’s head and sat down on the chair.

Meanwhile, Sienzi sat back by the window, where the faint light spilled from outside, outlining a shallow silhouette against his backlit figure,

"The first to be affected was the city council. Saint Joen City’s council elections are held every two years, a mayor goes through two city councils,

"In the year the mayor is elected, the council is also re-elected, and at the end of the second year of the mayor’s term, which is the midterm, the council is elected again.

"Our experience wasn’t enough, and we didn’t have a deep-rooted party foundation, so at the beginning, we couldn’t completely control the council. However, in the first two years, we managed to control the council through the Ruling Alliance.

"Most bills were passed during those two years of our tenure."

"Were there problems with the midterm elections?"

He Ao asked softly.

The election held at the midpoint of the mayor’s term was known as the midterm election.

"Yes,"

Sienzi’s gaze was deep as if he had fallen into distant memories,

"After the first two years, the Kajet Consortium had already become acutely aware of our threat. Therefore, they tried every means to interfere with the midterm elections, corrupting council members who were not completely aligned with us, or supporting opposition council members to replace ours.

"After this time, although we controlled the council again, we only managed to secure a simple majority—council members from our Ruling Alliance were just over half.

"Of course, this was considered a ’victory,’ but while we were celebrating our triumph, we didn’t anticipate that the Kajet Consortium had already planted a ’bomb’ for us.

"And this bomb became an important hand that toppled us."

"The Speaker?"

He Ao asked softly.

He didn’t know what kind of trap the Kajet Consortium had laid back then, but he knew that the current Mayor Kroter seemed to have been the Speaker of the council during Snava’s second term.

"Yes,"

Sienzi looked up at He Ao, seeming surprised by He Ao’s sharpness, and then he slowly began to speak,

"Unlike us, Kroter is a political dynasty in Saint Joen City. Their family boasts not only five Senators and over a dozen Congressmen, but also a countless number of city council members. At that time, his faction had quite a few members in the city council."

"In the first council, he and his faction were not part of our Ruling Alliance; they were part of the neutral parties in the council."

"However, during the midterm elections, faced with the pressure from the Kajet Consortium, Snava had no choice but to seek more support. At that time, Kroter’s faction became a key force,"

"After lengthy negotiations, finally, he expressed his willingness to support us, but on the condition that the position of Speaker in the new council would be reserved for him. Snava agreed to his terms."

"And that became one of our most regretted decisions afterward."

Sienzi looked up at Kroter, who was now eloquently speaking on TV and had become the Mayor,

"Kroter has no position, or rather, his position depends on who offers him more benefits."

"After the Kajet Consortium decided not to use normal means to oust us from office, he became a sharp knife thrust into our innards,"

"Of course, at the beginning, he did not immediately reveal his true colors."

"The opening act of the ’war’ initiated by the Kajet Consortium was ’food’. At that time, our recently drafted Grain Price Control Act had just come into effect, which stated that the grain price in Saint Joen City could not exceed 20% over the Federation’s average grain price."

"This act was calculated with precision by our hirelings because, without transport costs, the normal grain producers could still make a high profit in Saint Joen City even if their selling prices were below 20% of the Federation’s average grain price."

"Not to mention, the Kajet Consortium’s ’specialty’ was their grain synthesis technology, which had a far higher yield than their competitors, and they were willing to pay their employees wages that were lower than those of regular grain manufacturers."

"This act was a bit too rushed."

He Ao sighed lightly.

Cito, like many others, was an ordinary witness to the events of those days. At that time, more than ninety-five percent of the grain in Saint Joen City came from the Kajet Consortium, and the city government didn’t have the credentials to negotiate with them.

Of course, even without the Grain Price Act, the Kajet Consortium would have found other reasons to make trouble.

"Yes, we were all too young back then,"

Sienzi also let out a long sigh. In the many years of solitude since his retreat, he had revisited the events of that year countless times,

"On the second week that the Grain Price Act came into effect, the Kajet Consortium announced that due to the ’overly low’ grain prices limited by the city government, they couldn’t maintain normal operations, and so they would suspend most of their grain sales in Saint Joen City."

"The entire city’s grain supply suddenly went from normal to less than one-tenth of its previous level, but Kajet Consortium’s factories did not stop running."

At this point, Sienzi let out a bitter laugh,

"The citizens of Saint Joen worked in grain factories, producing a large amount of grain every day, but they themselves couldn’t buy any grain."

"Because those were not the factories of Saint Joen."

He Ao spoke calmly.

"Those were not the factories of Saint Joen..."

Hearing this sentence, Sienzi was stunned.

He mulled over the words repeatedly, and it took a while before he came to his senses, lifted his head, and looked at He Ao as if trying to see the past that this elderly man had experienced from his aged face.

But what was reflected in his eyes were only the wrinkles carved by history and time.

After a brief silence, Sienzi continued,

"Due to the Kajet Consortium’s manipulation, Saint Joen City plunged into an unprecedented food crisis. At first, we tried to purchase grain from other grain consortiums, but those consortiums didn’t want to offend the Kajet Consortium,

"Meanwhile, the Kajet Consortium moved their Mercenary Corps onto the merchant routes of Saint Joen City, ostensibly to protect their own grain exporters, but in reality, these mercenaries were there to interfere with our merchant convoys that went out to buy grain from other cities."

"On the black market, a large amount of unsourceable, high-priced grain appeared, and grain prices doubled or tripled. We tried to crack down on these underground markets to control the prices, but to little effect."

"Because in the normal supermarkets and markets, people simply couldn’t buy any grain."

"The scarcity of grain caused chaos throughout the city, and following that, the Kajet Consortium began to bribe the media. Almost all of the media outlets in Saint Joen City started to attack the city government and the Mayor at the same time, starting with the Grain Price Act, and completely discrediting all our policies and acts."

"Under these circumstances, Kroter, as Speaker of the council, led the first attack on us, manipulating the city council to begin impeachment proceedings against the Mayor."

"And almost at the same time, a plethora of ’moral issues’ involving multiple Cabinet members were leaked, leading to rampant rumors."

"Although we all knew these accusations were baseless, when enough people started to believe the lies, proving the truth became very difficult."

"But at least,"

He Ao slowly stood up and walked over to the window. As he approached, the homeless hiding under the city lights and the shadows of the buildings slowly became visible,

"The people of Saint Joen hadn’t lost faith in you. At least in my neighborhood, despite no longer being able to afford food, though my neighbors and I could only manage one and a half meals a day and worked mostly in hunger,

"Not a single person took to the streets to oppose you."

Sienzi lifted his head and stared blankly at He Ao.

This was the first time he had heard an assessment of those events from the perspective of an ordinary person who had lived through them.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but it was as if something had choked his throat, rendering him speechless.

"Until then, Kajet Consortium’s tactics weren’t enough to deliver a crushing blow to you in a short time,"

He Ao turned to look at Sienzi and continued calmly, "Was the final straw that broke the camel’s back the City Defense Army?"

"Yes,"

Sienzi took a deep breath and stood up, standing beside He Ao, looking at the homeless in the shadows of the night, "The event that caused everything to spiral out of control was when an assassin entered the Daily Grain building, attempting to shoot the editor-in-chief, but accidentally killed a Major from the City Defense Army who was in the building at the time."

"And that assassin was also killed in the counterattack by the City Defense Army."

"Dawn Daily was the media that published the most ’dirt’ on us initially, virtually overnight, all newspapers and news broadcasts were running the story, pointing fingers at us for having hired an assassin to kill the editor-in-chief, ’trying to eliminate opponents through abnormal and extreme measures.’

"The whole incident escalated into a malignancy, a ’criminal’ who ordered a killer to murder could not possibly become the Mayor of Saint Joen City, even those who had originally supported us began to harbor doubts amid the relentless propaganda.

"If it was just that, we could have held on.

"But this incident also resulted in the death of a City Defense Army officer, and the City Defense Army practically declared their distrust in us the very next day, sending us a letter of inquiry, only then did we realize that the City Defense Army had long been infiltrated by the Kajet Consortium.

"The announcement from the City Defense Army almost confirmed our ’hiring of the assassin,’ and at the same time, they also declared the withdrawal of ’protection’ for Mayor Snava, taking back his special security detail.

"And with just the Mayor’s Guard, we stood no chance against the possible Transcendent assassins.

"Of course, the Kajet Consortium didn’t send any killers over, because after the City Defense Army’s stance, our Ruling Alliance crumbled, with a large number of Congressmen flipping to Kroter’s side.

"The previously rejected impeachment vote was reopened for a second time, and predictably, this time, it would succeed.

"That night, Kroter paid us a late visit, offering us a ’dignified’ way out.

"They demanded that Snava and the Deputy Mayor resign immediately, which would allow us to avoid the consequences of impeachment.

"If we agreed, the Kajet Consortium could arrange a flight for us, sending us to Dawn City or Vitland, allowing us to survive.

"If we didn’t agree, after a successful impeachment, the Kajet Consortium could not guarantee our safety.

"In truth, by that stage, we had almost no room to resist.

"That night, several members of the City Cabinet fled by plane overnight,

"It was foreseeable that after we were ousted, Kroter could stigmatize us and logically negate all our bills and policies, then overturn all our efforts, bringing everything back to how it was before we ever arrived.

"And that, was what the Kajet Consortium went through such a big loop to achieve.

"If they hadn’t done all that and had simply cooperated with the City Defense Army to assassinate Snava, a murdered mayor would be pitied, and after Snava’s death, our team would still take over the Mayor’s position, and it would be very difficult to change the legislation we left behind.

"That night, those of us who remained had our last meal together,

"During that meal, Snava talked a lot about the journey we had come on; he encouraged me to run for Mayor back when I was just thirty-six years old, the youngest member of our team. He said the future was in my hands."

Sienzi’s tone became slower,

"After that meal, Snava went back to the Mayor’s residence to rest, while we stayed overnight next to the Mayor’s residence.

"The next morning, at five o’clock, I was woken up, a maid had heard a gunshot and discovered Snava lying in a pool of blood—they immediately sent someone to call me.

"When I arrived, he was sitting on a pristine sofa, blood incessantly bubbling from his chest; he had shot himself in the heart and was beyond saving by then. I approached him, wanting to prolong his life, but he simply took my hand.

"Those who were left arrived one after another, walking into the room, we watched him as he watched us,

"And then he died."

As he spoke, Sienzi took a long breath, "He left behind two handwritten wills, one for the public and one for us.

"The one for the public outlined the slander and attacks he had faced and stated his willingness to defend the constitution of Saint Joen City and the Federation with his life, in defense of justice.

"The one for us expressed his hope that we would make appropriate concessions and retain as many of our accomplishments as possible."

"A mayor who commits suicide also evokes sympathy," He Ao said softly.

"Yes,"

Sienzi gazed out the window, also looking at his own reflection on the glass,

"Snava’s suicide completely reversed the trend of public opinion and also halted the impeachment proceedings that had begun.

"The Deputy Mayor took over as Mayor in accordance with procedure, and Snava’s suicide suddenly became a hot topic throughout the Federation, even Ains sent letters inquiring about the incident, and the FBI even established a special investigation team.

"Under such immense media influence, the Kajet Consortium had to pause their initial moves,

"Although in the end we still had to stop our investigation into Kajet Consortium’s unfair competition, amended the Grain Price Act, and changed most of our policies concerning the grain industry, a great deal of the laws and policies we implemented remained.

"Snava, with his life, tried his best to preserve these things."

Sienzi sighed, "Although many of them were one by one removed by Kroter over his eight years in power, and many, like the healthcare legislation, were only nominal."

"But at least, they remain."

He Ao interjected calmly.

"Yes, at least, the city still holds traces that Snava was here,"

Sienzi turned to glance at He Ao, "Old man, you’re a good Listener, for so many years, this is the first time I’ve told this story in its entirety to someone else,"

He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and finally whispered softly, "Thank you."

"No need,"

He Ao shook his head, "I’ve also resolved my own doubts."

Sienzi looked at He Ao, wanting to say something, but in the end just offered a smile, then he looked behind, "Your cane seems to be fixed."

The roar of the lathe had already stopped unnoticed, and Temok, standing in front of the lathe, took out a new silver cane.

It was still a crook-handled cane, the whole modification seamless, as if cast from some kind of steel in one piece.

But He Ao still noticed the fine, concentric grooves on the handle of the cane.

He Ao and Sienzi walked towards Temok.

"Sir, this cane was made in haste, it hasn’t been colored yet."

Temok looked at He Ao approaching and said apologetically.

"It’s okay,"

He Ao shook his head, "It looks quite nice this way."

"As long as you like it. We are very lucky; the overall material of this staff has reached the limit of D-grade. Ordinary D-grade can’t destroy the staff’s body,"

Temok held the staff, showing He Ao the pointed end, "I made the bottom end sharp for you. It can be used to attack or easily inserted into the ground to stabilize.

"Besides, this staff has a little mechanism,"

He grabbed the staff’s handle, glanced at Jia Xi, who was peeking curiously from the side, "Little sister, could you step aside for a moment?"

"Okay!"

Jia Xi obediently nodded and stepped aside.

"Watch this. Just by twisting this handle,"

Temok gripped the staff’s handle and slowly turned it. The bent part straightened out under the rotation of his hand.

At the same time, as if a mechanism had been triggered, several sleeves hidden inside the staff popped out one after another, instantly transforming the staff into a metallic stick about two meters and thirty-four centimeters long.

"This staff will then become a metallic stick. And according to your specifications,"

He placed the stick down and showed the notches at the top with two small openings, "I’ve left slots here that can fit your Butterfly Knife so that you can combine this metallic stick and the Butterfly Knife into a long spear."

He Ao walked up to the top of the stick and pulled out the Butterfly Knife he was carrying, unfolded it, and inserted it into the notches at the tip of the stick. The blade of the Butterfly Knife fit perfectly with the indentations.

Click—

The lock of the Butterfly Knife clicked into place, fitting securely over the small notches in the indentation.

Temok then handed the combined silver spear to He Ao.

He Ao raised the spear, thrusting it forward, the body of the spear shooting out like a flying dragon, whipping through the air and making a rustling sound.

"A fine spear!"

He Ao exclaimed, then twisted the base, retracting the spear’s tip, turning it back into a staff, though the Butterfly Knife could still be seated on top.

This meant that the long spear could also be transformed into a short spear staff at any moment,

He then withdrew the Butterfly Knife and planted the staff on the ground, looking at Temok, "Thank you, I really like it."

"Not at all, not at all," Temok laughed, "It’s good that you like it."

He Ao, holding the new staff, turned to Sienzi and said softly, "I have to go out for a bit, could you please take care of Jia Xi for me?"

Jia Xi suddenly clutched at He Ao’s clothes.

He Ao squatted down, looked into his granddaughter’s eyes, and spoke gently, "This time, the place where Grandpa is going might be dangerous for Jia Xi."

Jia Xi was unable to resist contamination, and He Ao did not know if there would be something in the Evolution Acolytes’ headquarters that should not be seen.

Jia Xi’s eyes widened as she stared at He Ao.

Finally, she bit her lip softly, slowly releasing her hand, "Then when Grandpa comes back, you have to bring Jia Xi some ice cream."

She looked at He Ao, her eyes glistening, "One vanilla, one strawberry."

"Okay."

He Ao stroked her head, then took out from his pocket the wristband that Eve had remote-controlled, which had accessed the black market account, and put it on Jia Xi’s wrist.

He then stood up and looked towards Sienzi.

Sienzi did not know what He Ao was planning to do, he just looked at He Ao and sighed lightly, "Old man, come back alive."

"Yeah."

He Ao nodded lightly and, leaning on his staff, walked towards the door.

The rusty iron door opened automatically, as the off-road vehicle remote-controlled by Eve was already parked in front of the small gate.

At that moment, He Ao suddenly turned around, looking at Sienzi who had followed him to the doorway.

"What is it?"

Sienzi was puzzled.

"In two months, it will be time for the new mayoral election."

He Ao said slowly.

Upon hearing these words, Sienzi was taken aback and then shook his head, "It won’t be successful. We can’t compete with Kroter, who is supported by the Kajet Consortium in the mayoral election. We need a lot of exposure, and after eight years, people may have already forgotten about us."

He Ao turned his head to look at the night city below, and the shadows of the homeless beneath it, "Why not ask them personally?"

Sienzi followed He Ao’s gaze, appearing slightly absent-minded. "But even if we succeed, it will only be retreading the path we have taken before. Alone, we cannot resist the Kajet Consortium."

He Ao turned back to look at him, "Do you know ’K’?"

Sienzi was startled.

While he was still processing, He Ao had already boarded the off-road vehicle and vanished into the night.

At that moment, Sienzi suddenly realized something, his pupils contracting sharply as he looked in the direction where He Ao had disappeared.