CHAPTER 564: CHAPTER 462: PREPARING TO SURRENDER

With the full support of the domestic front, the Weather Controller’s upgrade was completed on schedule, and the preparations for the third experiment are proceeding methodically.

As for Lucia, their work on the reconstruction of shelters is progressing smoothly. Out of the five planned shelters, three have been completed, and the construction of the remaining two is nearing completion, only needing some final touches to finish all constructions.

Regarding the treatment of the disease, with medical aid and supplies provided by Flame Country, the infection situation has been effectively controlled, and the infected have gradually received effective treatment. Although the development of the vaccine will take some more time, the overall situation is gradually improving.

On the surface, everything seems to be going smoothly, and the situation in the Lucia Capital is gradually improving.

But beneath the surface, the undercurrents are still surging, as it seems there are always some people who are not content with living a mundane life.

In fact, human desires are never truly satisfied. For ordinary people, being able to eat well, stay warm, have some savings, and not be troubled by various life issues is already a happy life. Even with some life pressures, as long as life is bearable and the family can happily be together, that is enough.

But for some, material living conditions may be secondary, the emotions brought by friends and family are also secondary, and even anything that satisfies their personal needs and desires is secondary.

Only the power, when standing at a high position and ruling others, truly intoxicates them, making them willing to invest everything to obtain it.

Such individuals are not uncommon; around us, there are always those who are willing to do anything to climb higher.

If it were merely before the disaster, when everyone lived ordinary lives, such people would only be considered a bit more opportunistic.

But in the current disaster environment, their scheming and willingness to pay any price completely change its flavor.

Stable social order is seen by them as an obstacle to their climb, and the stability of people’s lives is meaningless unless it is under their rule. The rulers’ measures to improve livelihoods are seen by them as mere pandering...

In the eyes of these ambitious individuals, unless they sit at the highest power to rule everything, no matter how happy the people’s lives are, it is meaningless and only becomes an obstacle to their acquisition of power.

Because only in adversity and suffering do the people need someone to lead them, only then do they hope someone will overthrow the current rulers.

And the ambitious must make use of this sentiment to overthrow the existing rulers and ascend to new power themselves.

An appearance of an ambitious figure even once is unfortunate for the people. However, in the Lucia Capital, various ambitious individuals continuously emerge during a time when everyone should be united against calamity, disrupting everything and making a bad situation even worse.

Even more unfortunate is that as everything seems to be gradually improving, someone once again, out of ambition, wants to create trouble.

However, this time, the person creating trouble is far more cunning than those before.

Previously, at the official banquet hosted by Lucia for the Flame Country people, caviar appeared. This was not originally a big issue; although ill-timed, it didn’t appear to lead to much of a problem.

But with the instigation of those with intentions, rumors spread among the revolutionaries that the officials took food meant for them to feed fish, all so the officials could eat caviar.

Such a rumor is, of course, nonsense, yet it is hard to refute or disprove.

Because caviar indeed appeared at the official banquet at that time, and the officials themselves always had access to caviar supply, although it was indeed reserved for top officials, deemed a highly luxurious and rare enjoyment.

This is not considered excessively outrageous; similar exclusive supplies existed internally in Flame Country, where Chen Xin still received such supplies monthly, including meat, eggs, fresh vegetables, and milk, which for ordinary people, is an extravagant enjoyment in a post-apocalyptic world.

But claiming it deprived ordinary people of their food to obtain these luxuries would be an exaggeration.

Because what animals can eat, people may not necessarily be able to eat.

If one thinks about it, fish feed given to raise fish is obviously not fit for human consumption, nor would it make sense to feed animals with food originally meant for humans.

However, most of the public is often unwilling to think critically and is easily incited and swept along.

With some purposeful pushing, it began as a small private rumor that few believed, but after someone indeed brought out a can of leftover caviar, everyone started to believe the tale.

Even those willing to remain calm and think rationally had to choose to go along with the crowd amid the public’s angry accusations, rather than insisting on the so-called truth.

And thus, less than a month after the previous two disturbances had calmed, a new disturbance was brewing.

The leaders of the revolutionary army naturally noticed this, as intelligence work within the army was now handled by Oleg, an experienced KGB spy. To avoid triggering a larger disturbance, he still timely reported various intelligence to the revolutionary committee.

A few young people within the committee, while brought to leadership positions by the tide, are not ambitious individuals and sought to calm down the disturbance’s signs in light of the situation.

"We can’t allow the rumors to spread, continuing like this will only trigger another riot, and this time we have no chance at all!" Valentine, who has consistently been the "opposition" within the committee, was one of the few rational members.

He could clearly see that the revolutionary army’s ability to suddenly rise in the previous disturbance and achieve its current position greatly relied on the support from forces controlled by former oligarchs and tycoons, and they were merely puppets pushed to the foreground.

Now that the oligarchs’ and tycoons’ forces have been pulled out, the revolutionary army is like a toothless tiger and poses no threat to the officials.

Although the source of the internal rumor couldn’t be traced, the consequences of allowing the rumor to spread were clear to foresee.

The officials probably have long wanted to completely suppress the revolutionary army and, under these circumstances, triggering another riot would only give them an excuse to suppress us.

"Valentine is right; we cannot spark another riot, or we’ll just be giving the officials an excuse to suppress us!" Dalia’s expression was also quite unpleasant at this moment. After thinking seriously, she said, "In the current situation, there is no point in continuing the revolution; I propose we formally surrender to the officials."