Along the way, both of them remained silent like zombie bodyguards following them.
It wasn't until Jiang Zhou escorted the Pluto Deep Dive executive to the side of the flying car with the double-dented logo that Perse Fanny took the initiative to say:
"I checked your information before coming here. It's not easy to come from the lowest level of the street in the resettlement area... I'm glad to see that you finally chose the right stance on this matter. This is especially true for you. rare."
Jiang Zhou shook his head at this compliment.
"Let me tell you, you didn't give us the right to choose."
Although she played the carrot in one hand and the stick in the other hand very well, it could not hide the fact that she was using force and hostages to coerce them.
"You mean, I'm forcing you not to choose self-destruction?"
The other party asked back.
"What a 'self-destruction'."
Hearing this, Jiang Zhou couldn't help but laugh:
"Presumably according to your logic, those innocent people who died under the company's suppression should also be blamed for their inability to dodge bullets, right?"
Fanny, who was planning to get in the car, stopped. She turned around and looked at Liao Qi, her expression darkening slightly.
"I thought you...well, maybe I had too high expectations for you. But have you ever thought that compared to the company's anti-riot operations, poverty is the number one killer here? I count. However, the number of people killed in corporate riots in the past few years is not even a fraction of the number of people killed in gang conflicts in a month.
"I came from the bottom of the notorious Avalon settlement, where people killed people in the street for a krill cake. I understand the dangers of poverty better than you do - it is a continuous, never-ending bleeding hole. Even if the mental index is not Being polluted and poor will slowly turn people into the most terrifying monsters. Compared with the pain caused by the company's settlement, it is not worth mentioning at all."
As she spoke, her eyes flashed amber with excitement.
Why are you so excited...
Jiang Zhou originally didn't want to discuss this topic any more, but after hearing what she said, he couldn't help but become interested.
"Then the question is, who is wholesale poverty?"
he asked softly.
According to the historical data that Jiang Zhou checked in his spare time, the poverty at the bottom of the resettlement area and even the establishment of the resettlement area were all "attributable" to the fourteen super companies in the Olympus Order.
After the "Great Impact", they used the black technologies left over from super-artificial intelligence to bomb each other, destroying 70% of the earth's land into "bad soil" that was uninhabitable. Force the coalition government to build resettlement areas to house war victims. But they have enclosed those livable lands as so-called ecological reserves.
They were also the ones who bankrupted the coalition government after the war, dismantled it, and ultimately actually controlled major resettlement areas around the world, almost controlling the entire human world.
Jiang Zhou even found it hard to understand why, a hundred years later, when humans have countless super-era black technologies, the living conditions of the people at the bottom are not even as good as those of his own era?
Obviously, they only need to leak a little something from their fingers, which is enough to make the people at the bottom live like human beings.
In any case, it is absolutely true that the suffering at the bottom of the resettlement areas is caused by the sins of those enterprises.
Even though Jiang Zhou feels that he is not a person with a strong sense of social responsibility, when he developed the "digital personality" technology, he never wanted such a gloomy future.
"You said that is just history. If you are immersed in history for a long time, you will never reach the future. And when the factory construction is completed, poverty will become the history here."
Fanny regained her previous calmness. She looked up at the scavengers not far away and continued:
"Forget it... there's no point in continuing to rubbish with you, no matter how deep the hatred you think there is between us. In the future, when the people here feel the actual changes, they will naturally appreciate us from the bottom of their hearts. Arrival… This situation has been verified countless times.”
“What about the people who died in the process?”
Jiang Zhou asked.
"They are the inevitable price of history. Perhaps rather than regretting and commemorating, we should be more grateful that those who died cannot speak."
Fanny shrugged, and then she turned around and opened the bulletproof door of the speeding car.
"Poor people certainly don't hate charity from rich people, just like farm chickens never hate regular feed."
Jiang Zhou suddenly spoke.
"What's the meaning?"
Fanny turned her head again and looked at the young man whom she had admired not long ago.
"My father used to be a worker in a sewage treatment plant. After the sewage plant was outsourced to a company, he also experienced the actual benefits you mentioned. But it didn't take long for him to be swallowed up by the price behind those 'benefits'. It’s over. But even today, after Icarus regained control of the sewage plant, there are still many workers who miss the era of corporate outsourcing.”
At that time, Liao Qi's father kept updating his prosthetic body in order to be qualified for that high-quality job and not be eliminated. In the end, he was dragged down by the prosthetic body loan and passed away.
"This will not be allowed to happen under my administration."
Maybe it was because she had searched Liao Qi's files before and found out what happened to him, Fanny answered like this.
In response to this, Jiang Zhou chuckled:
"Then, your behavior will be accurately evaluated as inefficient. At that time, if you are unwilling to make changes, a more suitable person will be replaced to take your place. As you said before - Neither you nor me matter, only the will of the company matters."
Maybe the person in front of him who also came from the bottom of the resettlement area could be trusted, but whether it was based on Jiang Zhou's experience or Liao Qi's experience, it was difficult for him to believe that the company would do personnel things.
"Then since you don't believe that cooperation can be successful, why did you choose to agree?"
After a few seconds of silence, the other party asked.
"As I said before, you didn't give us the right to choose."
Jiang Zhou answered like this, then he thought for a while, and then continued:
"And even if the final result doesn't change, we can get a lot of what we need in the process."
History is always an upward spiral.
He said so.
Before getting in the car, Perse Fanny took one last deep look at Jiang Zhou:
"At any rate, your prediction is wrong, and I will prove it."
"I hope so too."
Jiang Zhou answered.
…………
Red lines like blood vessels lit up at the bottom of the flying car, and the anti-gravity engine ran silently, lifting the flying car as it sped away, quickly disappearing at the end of the gray sky.
Jiang Zhou stood there and stared at the central navigation light strip in mid-air for a long time. It wasn't until someone tapped him on the shoulder that he came back to his senses.
Booker walked behind him at some point.
"I'm sorry for embarrassing you earlier."
He was referring to the matter where Liao Qi was asked to express his position in public.
Booker was apologetic.
"Is this why you believe her, because she also comes from the bottom of the resettlement area? Because you believe in her empathy?"
Jiang Zhou asked with no emotion in his tone.
"Let's consider it...one of the reasons."
Booker answered vaguely.
"So you've been hiding something from us."
Jiang Zhou was thoughtful.
"Something I will tell you at some point. For now, I can only promise that everything I do is for Icarus."
He admitted frankly, his voice very sincere.
And firm.
Jiang Zhou did not continue to ask.
Subjectively, it was good for something, but objectively it was doing a lot of harm to others... He could have questioned Booker like this.
But thinking about it, I might be about the same as Booker now. It may even be worse in nature - after all, what he needs to ensure most at the moment is that his body can leave Tartarus safely.
Accepting the cooperation with Pluto Deep Diving as "Liao Qi", if Liao Qi was still alive, would he really make this choice?
As for secrets... everyone has some secrets.
And no one's secret should be bigger than your own.
"At the following organizational meeting, we will decide where you will go from here."
Liao Qi didn't ask further questions, and Booker changed the topic wisely.
"Do you have any preference for this? They all hope that you can go to the operations team or the security department. After all, your performance in the 'House of Chiron' was really amazing."
Of course, I must start from the deputy position in the beginning.
Booker added.
Jiang Zhou had already made plans for this.
"I want to be in charge of the security of the universal printer."
He said so.
Booker had a "Sure enough" expression on his face.
"I think the leader of the action team, Shen L, will definitely not agree, but this proposal should be passed in the end. After all, the security of multi-purpose printers is definitely the top priority of the organization."
He was referring to the need to use a multi-purpose printer in the future to repair the geothermal power plant on the seventh floor of the resettlement area.
"but……"
At this point, Booker's tone hesitated:
"Actually, you really don't need to take such risks."
In Booker's view, Liao Qi offered to guard the multi-purpose printer just so that he could accept the "Paradox" trial again so that he could become stronger quickly.
This trust made Jiang Zhou feel embarrassed.
But he still said shamelessly:
"Time is not on our side. I need to use all means that can make me stronger in a short time."
Upon hearing this, Booker took a deep look at Jiang Zhou, and then put his hand on his shoulder very solemnly.
"I will help you find the final accessories for Ikaros Depth 2 as soon as possible. I will also help you pay attention to the printing permissions required for Depth 3... This can help you increase your survival rate to some extent."
Jiang Zhou nodded solemnly as well.
"how about you?"
He then asked:
"Are you going to install the Deep 4 transformation permissions left by the former team leader for yourself..."
Jiang Zhou asked this out of pragmatism. After all, God knows how long it will take before he can be upgraded to Sequence 4. And if Booker now uses the depth 4 transformation authority, it will immediately enhance the organization's combat effectiveness.
But Booker shook his head:
"That transformation authority is not suitable for me."
Jiang Zhou was a little confused. He remembered that Booker's mental index was quite high and very stable - at least there would be no problems if he reached depth 4 now.
"This can be considered one of my secrets."
Booker smiled and then said:
"I feel like it's okay to tell you now... In fact, I have an incomplete path to Depth 3. I probably won't make adjustments to Depth 4 until I get the Depth 4 modification list."
"What's the name of the path?"
Jiang Zhou asked tentatively.
Booker coughed slightly, then lowered his voice and said:
"Path of Ascension Perseus."
…………
In the flying car driven by the anti-gravity engine, Perse Fanny looked thoughtfully at the leaden sky outside the window and the ant nest-like buildings. Her thoughts drifted to an unknown time.
At this time, an incoming call screen suddenly appeared on the car window.
Instant quantum communication, encrypted channel.
She answered the phone.
"Ms. Fannie, may I ask about the final status of the negotiations..."
A calm male voice with a hint of anxiety came from the other end of the phone.
"Successful, so to speak."
Fanny murmured, it didn't sound like she was telling someone else, but talking to herself.
"Really?"
A confused voice came from the other end of the phone.
Fanny did not explain, but continued:
"The person named Liao Qi is not as rigid as you described, but he is difficult in a different sense... The arrangement you made to snatch the authority from him at that time seems to me to be superfluous. "
"I'm sorry, I just..."
The man on the other end of the phone apologized immediately.
Fanny did not continue this topic, but asked further:
"However, you called using this secret line just to inquire about the outcome of the negotiation, right?
"The deer is far away."
