Chapter 1892 - 1891: Fall

"I know,"

Christos sighed,

"But judging by the current performance of the Consortium, they are clearly better prepared than us. They are exploiting this time gap in preparation, and this is not a problem that can be easily solved in the short term. Our allies also have their internal forces, and there are interest relationships between these forces."

He turned around and looked at the general behind him, "So how long can Lank City hold out?"

"Maybe just another day or two," the general looked at Christos,

"According to the latest intelligence, all the reinforcements are fighting hard, most of them intercepted halfway.

"The Federation and the Consortium Alliance have dispatched at least two Central Divisions, at least three reinforced Mercenary Corps, and Lank City is just a small city. They are clearly determined to capture Lank City and sever our connection."

At this point, he paused slightly, sighing, "The opposing commander is also very skilled."

"It’s not surprising," Christos smiled, "After all, the Consortium has been cultivating high-quality talents for so many years. If they couldn’t make such brilliant decisions, I would rather suspect they are harboring other conspiracies."

He walked back in front of the electronic map projection and looked at a critical blue node at the bottom right corner, which was being enveloped by a rich red glow.

This node happened to roughly divide the blue area into three parts.

If this node were occupied by the red glow, the area of blue glow would be completely cut off.

Christos took a deep breath, drawing his gaze away, looking towards the northwest corner of the entire map, where at the map’s edge, a cluster of blue glow was flickering violently.

"How is the situation in Wint City?" he asked.

"The situation in Wint City is even worse than ours," the general sighed, "They have been besieged for too long and are almost in a state of disconnection due to their long distance from us. To obtain their accurate internal information, we have to go through Rock City for a relay, but they haven’t transmitted any messages for a week now,"

He glanced down at the map on the ground, "In the Federation’s controlled regions, all sorts of false information are flying around, and we can’t verify what Wint City’s true state is. But according to the current situation, the Federation Army probably further tightened the encirclement. Without help, it’s only a matter of time before Wint City falls."

"And what about Rock City?" Christos asked softly, "The Federation’s attention on them is not very high, so they should be under little pressure now. Can they provide some support to Wint City?"

"The Miners’ Mutual Aid Association is said to have already arranged for a unit to set off for support," the general responded quickly, "But Rock City is too close to the north. For them to reach Wint City, they can only go around through the northern snowfields, and at this time, the snowfields are shrouded in blizzards. This route is likely difficult to traverse, and by the time they arrive, Wint City might have already fallen."

Hearing these words, Christos was silent for a moment. He raised his hand, wiped his cheek, and sighed, "Vislo, how much longer do you think we can hold on?"

"I don’t know," the general raised his head, looking at Christos, "I know that if we start to surrender, it won’t take long before it’s all over."

Christos understood his underlying meaning; he was advising Christos to cheer up and not think about failure.

"I know," Christos nodded, taking a deep breath, "This issue with the command center really needs to be resolved."

He raised his hand and picked up the phone on the desk.

Bam—

But before he could speak, a loud crash sounded at the office door, and the door was suddenly pushed open.

Sett, with a silver ponytail, walked into the office. He glanced at General Vislo, then at Christos, quickly pulled out the documents in his hand, gasping for breath, and hoarsely said, "Lank City has been occupied."

——

Vissen

"This morning, the Federation Army has already breached the key southeastern city of Lank City controlled by the rebels."

"The fall of Lank City means the rebels have lost control over their core territory; their mad and brutal actions have received the retribution they deserve. The citizens of Lank City opened the city gates and welcomed the Federation Army into the city. Now, let’s watch the live report from our front-line journalist."

The huge news screen on the studio turned into a wide, spacious street.

Dense crowds stood on both sides of the street, cheering enthusiastically.

And at the end of the street, the broken high walls and destroyed city gate could be faintly seen.

Several towering armored vehicles slowly drove in from the direction of that city gate, passing through the cheering crowd and entering the city.

"These are obviously coerced ’actors,’" sitting in the off-road vehicle, Geslo raised his head and looked at the content on that news screen, "Look at those people behind the crowds in plain clothes, they are obviously mercenaries, still holding guns in their hands. Many at the crowd’s edge still have red and swollen faces, obviously just beaten."

The streams of people on the street moved back and forth, only a small portion occasionally raising their heads to look at the news screen above them.

They watched the scenes in the news, with no joy or regret in their eyes. The various colored pupils were like mirrors reflecting light, numb and indifferent, devoid of any sparkle.

Geslo lowered his head, "Mr. Christos’s policies are so good, but under the Consortium media’s propaganda, they’ve turned into a man-eating sacrifice ceremony."

His gaze swept over the surrounding crowd, "Sadly, they are all deceived by the Consortium media’s news, like puppets on strings, led by the Consortium, entirely unaware of what happened in Dawn City."

"Before the war," He Ao’s voice sounded next to Geslo’s ear, "Didn’t Christos, this leader of the rebels, publicize his policies?"

"Yes, and quite a lot," Geslo nodded, "At that time, the whole Federation was swept by a wave of following Dawn City. Mr. Christos was truly a famous hero figure in the Federation. Eric shared a lot of videos about Mr. Christos’s policies and videos of ’K’ with me."

He asked somewhat surprised, "Sir, didn’t you know about Christos before? Many people knew about his policies, knew that he was truly working for ordinary people, fighting for the rights of the poor."

"I didn’t pay much attention," He Ao said calmly, "Since you say Christos was so famous, then the war hasn’t been going on that long, why did public opinion suddenly reverse, as if everyone became indifferent to him, is it solely because of the media’s distorted rhetoric?"

Geslo was about to say ’media propaganda,’ but didn’t expect He Ao to say his lines directly.

So his words got stuck in his throat, and after a long pause, he hoarsely said, "These ordinary people are somewhat brainless, once those twisted rhetoric are broadcast, they believe it, blindly and foolishly."

"Well, were the people who believed in the positive promotion of Christos before also blindly and foolishly?" He Ao asked with a smile.

Geslo was momentarily speechless, only able to sigh, "Sir, you’re much better at debate than me, I concede."

He Ao knew he was just speechless, not truly conceding, but he did not continue to press the topic and instead remarked, "Sometimes, the crowd is blindly foolish, but other times, they are exceptionally shrewd. If they get a taste of the sweet benefits, they will naturally remember its source, and even look forward to continuously enjoying such benefits."

At this point, he paused slightly in his tone, "Christos’s policies are good, but for the people of Vissen, it’s just well-promoted. They’ve heard they’re good, but they’ve never seen, touched, or benefited from any of them.

"Then what is the difference between this propaganda of ’Heaven on Earth’ and the Consortium media’s propaganda of ’Hell on Earth’? Essentially, they are things thousands of miles away, unseen and ungraspable, so how can they be trusted?"

Upon hearing He Ao’s words, Geslo rarely fell silent for a moment, seemingly contemplating the meaning of the words.

"However, the city governments of these cities are inherently controlled by corporations, making it nearly impossible for them to implement the system of Dawn City,"

Geslo pondered, "Old sir, I think you’re being sophistic. Without implementing those advanced bills from Dawn City, people here can never enjoy a life as good as in Dawn City. But if one wants to implement these bills, it requires the city’s government support, and the city governments are controlled by the Consortium, so the people here can never enjoy those benefits."

He took a deep breath, "So, the people here can’t experience any benefits and are unlikely to have a favorable opinion of Dawn City."

"That’s my point," He Ao continued naturally, "So do you still think the crowd is dull?"

Geslo was slightly taken aback, then clicked his tongue and carefully pondered the words just spoken.

It does seem to be this way; that’s the old sir’s perspective.

The people are not as foolish as he previously thought, but simply haven’t been touched by their own interests and are indifferent.

He looked up, gazing at the news screen overhead.

At this moment, the live news had ended, and an advertisement for a game developed by the Menshu Group was playing on the screen.

The game is themed around this civil war and is capitalizing on the war’s popularity with frenzied promotion and traffic steering.

Even the war against the Federation and the Consortium, in this deconstruction, has turned into a regular video game.

"But then, isn’t this an unsolvable problem?" Geslo placed his hand on the steering wheel, withdrew his gaze, and said with some confusion.

"If the bills aren’t implemented, we’ll never know the good in those bills," he rasped, "Not knowing the effects of those bills means not supporting Dawn City, so in war, Dawn City cannot gain the support of these neutral cities, which makes it difficult for Dawn City to gain new allies and will lead to quicker destruction."

He already seemed to grasp the idea, "No wonder the Consortium hasn’t restricted Christos’s messages much before, because there is no need, and instead, this reduces the sensitivity of the people in neutral city-states, making it easier to implant new elements later on. This is pure open conspiracy."

He sighed softly, "I suddenly don’t have such strong confidence in Eric’s ’ideals’ anymore."

"You have arrived at your destination." Just then, the gentle mechanical voice of the navigator slowly sounded.

Geslo looked up and ahead, only to see a tall, decrepit old building standing under the desolate sky.

The windows on the inside and outside of this building were mostly broken, haphazardly sealed with plastic sheeting or plastic panels, and the entire facade of the old building had almost entirely fallen off, revealing the gray-white inner walls inside.

Geslo glanced at the structure of the building, then at the in-car map, and pushed open the car door, "Here we are."

He looked up, gazing at the towering old building before him, "Anke told me their home is on the fifteenth floor, room 1505."

As he spoke, he paused slightly, with a somewhat poignant tone, "This building is probably well past its architectural lifespan; it’s a dangerous building."

He looked down, glanced at his wristband, and dialed a number again, "Still can’t get through."

"Then let’s go up." He Ao’s voice sounded in Geslo’s ear.

Geslo nodded. It seemed he was already waiting for He Ao to say this. He put down his wristband and immediately rushed towards the old building.

Anke, after all, was someone Eric wanted him to protect. If he lost the person he was supposed to protect, that would be a bit embarrassing.

And as his thoughts turned over, Geslo had already passed through the door of the old building.

There was no one in sight inside the old building, only three old-fashioned elevators standing in the lobby.

But of these three old-fashioned elevators, only the middle one was still lit, seemingly usable.

Geslo walked directly to the middle elevator and pressed the upward button.

"We can take the stairs." At this time, He Ao’s voice sounded in his ear.

"Stairs?" Geslo raised his head blankly, looking around.

The wide lobby was unlit, had no other pedestrians, and appeared somewhat dark and eerie.

Looking from the elevator to the depths, there didn’t seem to be anything there, no stairs in sight.

"Turn left and go to the end, there’s a small door, push it open, and you’ll see the stairwell." He Ao’s voice continued.

Ding——

The elevator trembled slightly, as if its doors were about to open.

Geslo glanced at the trembling elevator doors and ultimately turned his gaze, heading towards the depths of darkness.

Behind him, in the recently opened elevator door, some shapeless darkness faintly quivered, resembling a mouth that was just swallowing something.

But Geslo didn’t see the scene inside the elevator.

He moved swiftly and soon found the small door, pushing it open.

The old stairwell appeared in his field of view.

"Looks like inside a fire escape." Geslo gritted his teeth, took a step forward, onto the steps, and quickly traversed forward.

He climbed up three floors in one breath, and He Ao suddenly spoke, "Wait a moment."

Geslo stopped without asking much, and after about a few breaths, He Ao seemed to have finished something and said, "Continue upwards."