No slum in the world is as clean as its inhabitants. Whether it is Colombia, a free and open country, or Ursus, which crazily exploits the people at the bottom, the gap in the slums in their countries is not as big as the gap in social systems. Transportation is inconvenient, overcrowded, factories and residences are only one wall away, and unpurified pollutants are discharged through the rivers in the slums into the uninhabited wilderness, allowing Mother Nature to collect all these dirty things. The house is like one small matchbox after another, so dusty that it seems that rubbing it can really make the sticks burn. The poor people living here are just like their houses. There is no vitality of life on their faces, only the same numbness.
If the place where they live is really their own house, maybe you can see their smiling faces instead of only seeing the sunshine on the children's faces. The ownership of houses in the slums is mostly in the hands of those who live in the uptown area, and they have so many title deeds that they need a box large enough to contain them. For those who stand at the top of capital, the rents brought by slums may be insignificant compared with the profits of factories, but they are unwilling to give up these dusty land deeds, let alone sell these lands to those who are kind-hearted. Even if the other person has saved enough money to actually buy a house. Capitalists will raise housing prices to a terrifying price to dissuade those poor people who really want to have a home in the mobile city-state, and continue to squeeze out the little value left in these people.
People in slums are only one line away from homelessness, and whether this line will be broken depends entirely on the wishes of those capitalists. If the real owner of the house wants to move the tenants out of the house, their only connection with the city-state is their identification and their job.
After understanding the sharp gap between rich and poor in this world, Valentine could only express his admiration for Ye Yan's luck and means. As a thief who wandered half the world and a former victorian down-and-out aristocrat, Yeyan's wallet was not empty enough to fight a world war like most people's, and when she just escaped to Longmen, she happened to meet someone A citizen living in the lower city wanted to sell a house in the slums - he was probably a frustrated businessman. Apart from the house in the lower city, this slum house was his only remaining property.
Probably because of the urgent need for money, the house price was not high, but it also exceeded the actual value of the house. Ye Yan had escaped far enough and long enough. When she wanted to find a place to settle down in Longmen, this citizen brought her a pillow.
As a witch, Yeyan learned some information about the house through some small means. She did not engage in tedious operations such as negotiations, but directly found the seller, used her Originium skills to hypnotize him, and successfully bought the property at a lower price. When I left, I took away a stamp from his family and started my own legend in Longmen.
Therefore, Yeyan does not need to worry about high rent and heavy work. Instead, she lives a comfortable life, and even has the heart to adopt a rabbit to help her with housework.
But most residents do not live as comfortably as she does. When they open their eyes every day, they are faced with work, which is boring and cumbersome enough to bend their young and upright spine. When they close their eyes, they are exposed to the expenses of the family and the high rent at the end of the month, which is enough to give them headaches all night long.
"This is probably the fundamental reason why I appear here..."
Valentine sat on a chair, looking at the dozens of rapt audience members in front of him and the eloquent Trotsky on the podium, muttering to himself.
———————I finally remembered this bear————————
There is an old Chinese saying that goes, money can make a millstone push a ghost. After giving the secret lock a large amount of activity funds, the rabbit finally showed the energy she should have at her age to collect information, and brought heavy news to Valentine after disappearing for nearly two weeks.
She found a stronghold for the integration movement.
That day, Valentine was sitting in front of the window basking in the sun and drinking tea. The mobile phone on the table was playing soothing and melodious symphony, right next to the mission target. The slowly flowing notes wrapped around his body, like a pair of soft hands touching his face, with infinite tenderness. The afternoon sunlight just shined into the room through the window, shining on his back and adding a golden edge to the outline of his body. The sunshine is not as hot as summer, nor as bleak as autumn. It is not as warm as spring, but it contains the unique warmth of winter. What emerges from the long cold is that precious warmth that can make people relax all day long.
Just when he was lazily lying on the chair and thinking about who to hit next, a purple whirlwind rushed in from the window behind him, grazing Valentine's hands. The corner hit the bed - if Xing Yihuang hadn't raised his hand to stop the frizzy rabbit in advance, she might have been directly stuck on the wall, just like Franka who was slapped by the thunder snake and turned into a mural that day. .
Don't underestimate the power of heavy equipment, no matter how petite they are; don't underestimate the explosive power of a Caster, no matter how petite they are.
"Boss, boss! I found the base of the movement! It's in the slums!" Ansuo climbed out of bed in a hurry. After nodding and thanking Xing Yihuang, he jumped directly in front of Valentine, still dangling her in his hand. The hook I just used to climb through the window.
"It's an integrated movement."
Valentine calmly put down the tea cup, took out some pieces of paper to wipe off the tea leaves that had just been spilled on him, stood up and walked into the bathroom. When he passed by the secret lock, he pinched the bunny ears that were beating on her head.
It's not very strong, so it's a small punishment.
"I'm sorry, boss..." Ansuo suddenly became quiet. Looking at Valentine who threw his coat into the basin, he lowered his head to apologize. The originally upright rabbit ears also drooped down. The whole rabbit looked pitiful and made people unable to be angry at all. .
"Forget it about apologizing. As long as the information you tell me is worth the money I give you, you can pour a whole pot of tea on me." Valentin waved his hand, with a trembling heart underneath his indifferent appearance.
In order to allow the secret lock to complete the task faster and better, Valentine gave her a large amount of activity funds, which also made his already somewhat shriveled wallet become even thinner. It seemed that a breeze could make Valentine's wallet thinner. The account was blown away.
Valentin felt heartbroken every time he thought of this. Although Rhode Island will reimburse the activity expenses, his operation can be called a black operation. The rewards can only be obtained after the mission is completed. The expenses during the mission can only be borne by Valentine for the time being.
So he basically never went out to eat, and he also asked for invoices for the clothes he bought, which was used as evidence to reimburse expenses. As for the hidden rabbit, Valentine has decided not to recommend it to Rhode Island. After this mission is over, he will directly tie up the rabbit and the lazy cat, and by the way, he can apply for reimbursement from Rhode Island. witness.
I also buy clothes to better obtain information, right? Look at how hard she worked after buying clothes for this little girl. She found the base of the integration movement within a week!
"Where is the stronghold? What evidence is there?"
Valentin mourned the wallet for a few seconds before asking directly, getting straight to the point and not talking about what was there and what was not.
"The base is on the edge of a slum, which is a buffer zone between residential areas and factories, and is home to a large number of refugees from Checheng. A friend of mine was passing by there one time and heard someone inside talking about resistance to oppression and solidarity. The people at the bottom are very similar to the integration movements you talked about."
"Later, I went to him to understand the situation and followed him to the stronghold again. The stronghold was in a very remote location and it was difficult to enter without a guide, so it took us a lot of effort to join them. There were people inside the stronghold who were brainwashing and telling the story They were saying things that would land him in a felon prison, and the audience agreed with those views and wanted to join their organization."
An Suo recalled her experiences over the past few days and recounted them in the briefest words.
The stronghold set up in the slums is in a remote location, and the brainwashing remarks also attract infected people like Ansuo to listen...
The integration movement is gone.
"Do you still remember the location of the stronghold?"
"Remember." Ansuo nodded: "Actually, I found it a few days ago, but I didn't notify you to be safe. Now that I have become one of their members, you will have absolutely no problem following me there."
"In fact, they just asked me to find more 'like-minded friends'. This is also an opportunity to take you to their stronghold."
It seems that Ansuo is not only a reliable intelligence officer, but also a good spy.
Valentine patted her shoulder in approval.
"Okay, then let's put the mission of Longmen aside and let's go to the Integrated Movement first... But before we go, I have to put on makeup."
After half an hour of busy work, Valentin went out with Xing Yihuang and Ansuo. On the way, he bought a hooded coat to disguise himself - it looked like a man wearing a large coat who liked to hide. My little girl went to the factory to find work with her sister and friends.
For this operation, Valentine specially put on a long wig and disguised himself as a girl, although he always hated being regarded as a girl by others.
————————Women’s clothing only has zero and countless times————————
After passing through a maze-like road, Hidden Lock finally led him to the stronghold of the integration movement. This is a very ordinary house, not far from a community school in a slum. Although it is close to a factory, it is not noisy, but the air quality is relatively poor.
But this is a slum and they have no choice.
Standing at the door of the stronghold was a man in somewhat shabby clothing, with a slightly bent back and a slight hunchback. His face was covered with wrinkles, and there was a scar at the corner of his eye that was already scarred. He has a beard on his lower jaw, thick and dark palms, and thick knuckles, probably because he has been working since he was a child. He is a typical image of a slum worker.
"They are the newcomers I brought. They are absolutely reliable and have nothing to do with the guys in the city." An Suo pointed at the two Valentines. The man simply glanced at them and waved his hand to signal An Suo to take them. Go in.
The fact that these people can come deep into the slums proves that they have nothing to do with the Guards Bureau, because those guys will never come to such a place, even if a murder occurs.
"Looks like we're in the right place."
Although he didn't see any DNA helix signs, Valentine's intuition told him that this was the stronghold of the Integration Movement. In this world, the only people who resented the nobles and hated the law enforcement officers and gathered in the slums were groups of infected people. He did not believe that this was a gathering organized by a local infected person in Longmen.
Valentin moved his hanging right arm and made a fist with his hand, signaling Xing Yihuang to get ready for battle.
Although Valentin's own strength can completely deal with a bunch of integrated movement soldiers, he still brought Xing Yihuang with him for insurance, in case a regicide suddenly appeared in the stronghold.
If it was Mephistopheles, Valentine would rush up and pierce his throat with a swift sword the moment he appeared, avenging the entire city.
There were many people in the stronghold, and most of them were already sitting on the benches in the room, chatting quietly like primary school students, waiting for the teacher to arrive. Occasionally some people would argue loudly, but the voices would be suppressed.
The decoration in the room is very simple. There is only a small clock hanging above the podium. There is nothing on the ground except a podium and some old benches. Valentine can even see insects on the benches. Traces of moth. The walls of the room are painted white, with some small cracks spreading on them. They look unsafe, but this is one of the characteristics of slum housing. The ceiling was not clean, and was dusty, but the four corners were unusually neat and tidy, unlike most slum buildings hung with cobwebs. The windows were closed and the curtains were drawn, not letting in any light. There was only one long LED light tube in the whole room, which was fairly bright.
"Come here." Ansuo found a relatively back position and waved to Valentine. After he sat down, Ansuo lowered his head slightly and explained to him in a low voice: "Before every party, we have to listen to a guy talking nonsense for a long time. If I didn't know these people, I would really believe what he said. It’s over.”
"Hmm, criminals are like this. They will draw you a very big cake to attract you to join them, and then you will have a hard time." Valentine responded in a low voice, looking around with his eyes.
This location is very good, very close to the exit. If an accident occurs, they can escape immediately. At the same time, the rows of benches in front are already full of people, there are about twenty or thirty listeners, and there are also a few rows left behind. The chair can very well weaken the presence of the three Valentines.
The people at the back and front are the ones the speaker remembers most clearly, and only the people in the middle and back have the least sense of presence.
Time passed by, and the speaker still did not appear, but the audience did not break out into any chaos. They were still sitting in their own seats and talking quietly, just like what Valentine saw when he first entered the door. No one was sleeping. No one left, no one argued.
If those more heated discussions can be called quarrels, Valentine feels that half of the communication between people in the world is quarrels.
Something is wrong.
The longer he sat, the more Valentine felt something was wrong. This wrongness is indescribable, something that cannot be put into words. Although from every aspect this looks like a stronghold for brainwashing newcomers to the Integration Movement, Valentine has now begun to have doubts about this idea.
I am a non-infected person.
This came from a man who was having a heated discussion with his companions, and Valentine heard it clearly. As an operator from Rhode Island, he is very sensitive to words like infected, so Valentin is very sure that he heard it right, and there is absolutely no way he heard it wrong.
Not only that, he also heard many words such as "capitalist", "nobles", and "proletarians", which made him even more suspicious of the real owner of this stronghold.
Why are these people discussing so passionately but not feeling the slightest bit of hostility? Why don't they look like dead people like usual? What made them discuss so harmoniously? Is the integration movement a promise to them? So why are there non-infected people?
Countless questions flooded into Valentin's mind, and one small question mark after another popped up on his mind.
However, he had no idea of leaving. Although he had many questions, the answers would not be revealed until the speaker arrived. At that time, no matter how much disguise the integration movement put on, Valentine could see the ugly faces under their masks, and he also had precise information to provide to Rhode Island and Longmen. He moved his body and tried his best to find a comfortable position to sit on the bench. Xing Yihuang sat on his left side, his fists clenched and his whole body tense. The hidden lock sat on the edge of the bench, closest to the exit, so that he could run away quickly after the fight started. With her skills, staying here will only cause trouble for Valentine and the other two, so it's better to just run away.
Valentine felt a little anxious inside. He took off his hood directly, revealing his fair face with a somewhat sulky expression. He was in the same mood as those who were discussing in low voices, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the speaker. It's just that the other listeners are waiting with anticipation, but Valentine is a little scared inside.
He began to fear that this speech was not initiated by the integration movement.
I'm afraid even Valentine himself didn't realize that the incredible answer had been formed deep in his heart, and he was convinced of it.
Finally, amidst the expectations of everyone, the speaker arrived belatedly and trotted to the podium. He took off the painter's hat on his head, revealing his brown hair and a pair of small round ears - the characteristics of the Ursus.
This is a Checheng refugee named Trotsky, and Valentin has met him. At that time, Valentine was still the leader of the Howlers. He was also a cannon fodder military policeman in Qie City, the only survivor among the city gate guards.
At that time, Valentin was still an idealist and told him a lot about infected people and society. Although Valentine is still an idealist, at least his eyes are on the present, rather than a future where he can complete tasks quickly and have a happy ending.
Before sending Trotsky away, Valentine gave him a red book.
"declaration".
"Dear old comrades and new comrades, I'm sorry that I'm late. Before I came, I suddenly had inspiration and had a new understanding of a certain passage in the 'Declaration', so I wrote it down. This is also The knowledge I’m going to share with you today.”
Trotsky placed the book he was holding on the podium, and at the same time took out several red booklets and handed them to the audience in front.
"This is the latest printed manifesto. Please old comrades pass it on to the new comrades behind you. Of course, you can also listen to me directly, but I still recommend that the new comrades read the contents of this booklet first."
Looking at the familiar cover and title of the book that was passed to him, Valentine put his right hand on his forehead and let out a deep sigh.
The result he least expected to see came true.
