Chapter 240: Unified Thoughts and No Looking Back

Chairman Alben and CEO Neo support the president?

That’s obviously a lie. If they truly supported the president, they wouldn’t have rooted themselves in the Progressive Party’s stronghold states. They would have been crushed by the targeted hatred policies there and reduced to the social bottom.

They have always supported the Progressive Party until recently when they switched sides.

The mayor understood Lynch’s meaning in seconds. He glanced at Lynch a few times, feeling some admiration or perhaps a thought, then said, “You should be a politician, not a businessman!”

Lynch smiled quietly and soon turned his attention back to the people surrounded by reporters.

Will people reflect?

It’s an interesting question because people keep making mistakes, even on the same issues. So the question arises: Do humans truly reflect?

If they do, why do some keep falling in the same places again and again?

If they don’t, why do people always summarize past lessons—and where do those lessons go?

It’s a complex question with no easy answer. But those who ask it, and many others, want to believe humans do reflect because they think about the past, present, and future every day.

During the years of economic decline, many have reflected—from the president to homeless people by the roadside. Sometimes they wonder why society has become what it is.

Why has past glory faded and shadows fallen?

What mistakes did we make to bring about this situation?

Such reflection rarely yields useful or universal answers. Mostly, it’s worthless mental wandering. Sometimes they wonder if someone made a mistake.

Of course, they never think they are to blame for the current state.

Nostalgia for the past, worry about the present, and fear for the future unsettle people. Every day they see graphs plunging downward in newspapers and on TV and hear shocking news.

Nothing is good except the rapidly rising unemployment rate.

Until someone points a finger at the president, saying, Look, this person is to blame for our suffering!

Like a still pond boiling over, society erupts. The president looks helpless. People, with doubts, suspicions, and sometimes pity, join social groups blaming the president. They don’t know if it’s right, but everyone does it.

Gradually, this becomes justified, accepted, even trendy—blaming the president becomes the right path and value.

But deep inside, everyone fears that if it’s not the president’s fault, they might keep making mistakes.

People remain uneasy. The more isolated the president appears, the more anxious people feel. Even when a new president takes office, negative emotions transfer to the successor.

This is not good.

The new president risks being seen as a conspiracy’s winner, which he least wants. He should be the hero who defeated the evil dragon, not the next dragon himself.

How to make people accept and believe their actions are right?

Simple—make the president look less isolated. After all, a true dragon always has minions. The greatest dragon in federal history should have some minions too.

If the minions are found, people won’t see this as a sweeping conspiracy. They will believe they are on the right path.

Ordinary people need this, politicians need this, the entire federation needs this.

Will Neo deny it?

He’ll stay silent—if he doesn’t want to stay silent forever.

Under their watchful eyes, social elites hurriedly donate to those they usually find disgusting. Some elegantly dressed ladies even smile with pity, taking photos with the deformed elderly and giving tearful speeches.

Many elderly suffering from illness grow emotionally involved, participating more actively than when Lynch first visited.

They truly believe this exposure will change something.

It won’t. The fervor lasts only briefly. Once some reach their goals and others fulfill their purposes, everything returns to normal.

They still live here, endure pain, can’t afford treatment, and slowly die as if nothing happened.

Oh, maybe their meals improve slightly, and social workers smile a little more during visits—that’s about it.

But those who truly deserve the benefits have already gained them.

The event is a success. That night’s prime-time broadcast is astonishing. Before the program ends, the TV station receives numerous calls, with viewers asking about the people shown, offering information, and a few asking how to help.

Even a cold society has its warm moments.

But some are grim—like old Alben and his son-in-law Neo.

They sit in a palace-like living room. The massive rhino leather sofa took six rhinos to make.

It consists of two single chairs and a long sofa for four or five people. Each sofa’s back features a full rhino head with closed eyes and a sharp horn.

The set costs as much as a person’s or even a family’s lifetime savings.

Yet today, neither shows any pleasure. They have seen the programs and know things are rapidly worsening.

Neo remains silent. Alben, likely due to age and frustration, breaks the silence: “Is it still possible to solve these problems?”

It’s a question but more a hopeful wish. Neo shakes his head.

Before the issue blew up, everything was manageable. Once public opinion stirs and society gets involved, change becomes impossible.

If they don’t act, it’s fine. But if they do, any move will confirm the truth of these events.

In fact, any company linked to chemicals, even just using chemical raw materials, loses some people’s health every year.

It’s normal. No one can guarantee a chemical reaction will be 100% stable or that accidents won’t happen in workflows.

Maybe in labs, but factories… even human sweat can cause chemical reactions in some materials, let alone complex factory environments.When problems arise, covering them up is the most normal thing to do.

Ninety-nine percent of businesses in the federation do this. If treatment costs are below the federal compensation standard, they persuade workers to give up claims while exaggerating treatment expenses and promising to cover all costs.

If treatment costs exceed compensation, they rudely refuse humanitarian care and obligations. After a lawsuit, workers receive compensation far short of their treatment needs, and legally, the cause-and-effect relationship is completely closed.

Every company does this, many even worse than Neo.

The largest chemical company in the federation once had an accident where over a hundred people were exposed to toxic gas for at least two minutes. The gas spread at least ten kilometers with the wind, causing thousands of injuries and deaths, plus massive livestock losses.

Did they handle this any differently under these standards?

Some even say they profited—from insurance companies.

Neo doesn’t think what they did was excessive, but now society’s public opinion targets them, and people believe he has gone too far.

He feels wronged because he can’t speak out. Some things you can understand yourself or let others discover on their own, but you can’t spread them by word of mouth.

In this world, there are countless ways to silence someone, especially those who try to break the rules. They might just begin acting on their ideas and immediately be silenced.

Neo, pale-faced, sighed and lit a cigarette. “Let the Social Relations Department handle this first…” It’s really the only option.

Large companies all have similar departments—sometimes called different names—but their functions are the same.

This department manages relations between the company and the public, maintaining the company’s positive image.

They focus on active social activists, journalists, and columnists. Their job is to spend money and guide public opinion.

Old Alben sighed too. His lips moved as if to ask if turning back was still possible, but in the end, he said nothing.

From the start, there was no turning back.