"What does Miss Hexia Tilan think of the current federal situation?"

"I don't quite understand it." The young woman is not naive, and naturally won't easily reveal her true thoughts, only claiming that she doesn't understand the complex situation of the Federal Upper Echelon.

Seeing that Tilan was not quick to loosen up, the other party wasn't anxious either, but instead slowly recounted the ebb and flow within the Federation over the years.

"After Her Highness Emuralin ended the civil war, with the fall of many conglomerates and gate valves, opportunities re-emerged in many fields and industries, and for decades after the war, there was a phase of restoring production, with the economy rising steadily."

"That period is probably a history that everyone likes, followed by the era of the 'Echo Seeker' Pirit, 'Azure Faith Bamboo' Elradia, and 'Silver Key Engraver' Tyshina Sha, these three Sunlit Level Songstresses. During their tenures, although the Federation didn't reach the splendor of Her Highness Emuralin's time, at least they maintained a general sense of fairness and stability within the Federation, and each power could find them as intermediaries or witnesses to prevent any party from breaking promises."

"Then, for nearly a hundred years, the period of Sunlit Level Songstresses came to an end, and the voices within the Federation gradually diverged, making unity difficult, with the economy slowly entering stagnation, and all sectors seeing no new breakthroughs, while conflicts accumulated more and more."

"Although some say we as vested interest groups have no qualification to speak this way, I must still say that if the entire environment deteriorates, we, as large asset holders, also find it difficult to achieve positive returns."

"In the past, an investment of 100 dollars might yield a return of about 30 dollars, but now an investment of 100 dollars might not even bring back 3 dollars."

"People might think that it's all the giant enterprises doing evil, monopolizing and suppressing, but the reality is that even as the captains of enterprises, we cannot fully control this big ship." M|V|LEM*PYR is the home of this chapter

"Corruption involves not just the officials of government organizations, but also senior personnel of large companies, middle managers, frontline staff, etc., with everyone extracting nutrients from the company through various means. They are more daring and direct, and this behavior is covered up in many ways, making it harder to detect compared to the heavily supervised government organizations."

"They fabricate data for business metrics, deliberately block messages unfavorable to themselves and report upwards, and use company projects to accumulate personal fortunes, and so on."

"The entire moral decline in society results in the trust in all sectors shattering, and things that originally required only 10 dollars in costs now need an extra 10 dollars to develop complex supervision processes, hire specialized audit personnel, and so forth."

"Investigation, design, production, promotion, sales, after-sales, in each stage, deception and falsehood exist. However, the company's owners are only a few individuals, and even if each one is a genius, they can only manage when the company is relatively small. Once it scales up, various problems inevitably arise."

"Thus it has been for thirty years until the building begins to collapse." He raised his glass and sighed as he drank it down.

Tilan looked at the dance floor in the banquet, just quietly listening to the other's accounts without speaking in response.

She wouldn't naively utter black-and-white statements, nor simply declare that justice would triumph over evil and happiness would come with defeating an enemy.

The human heart, morality, economy, civilization—these seemingly distant words are intertwined in myriad ways.

It's hard to imagine that in a nation full of decay and injustice, the economy could develop healthily and rapidly, and civilization strides forward. Conversely, if a country maintains a just, open atmosphere and upholds moral standards unrelentingly, it will quickly accumulate wealth because everyone's contributions will be seen and rewarded, encouraging more participation in this fascinating world.

Tilan closed her eyes, then opened them, picking up the wine glass from the table.

"So, what do you intend to do, save this era falling into darkness?"

The other party nodded slightly then shook his head: "Even as the president of a major conglomerate, I dare not make such lofty claims. Reality is not a game where commands from a leader are automatically executed by subordinates."

"They have other ideas, they may be bribed by people from other companies, they may just go through the motions to avoid trouble, or they might not understand the strange orders, and then proceed with their own ways."

"Capital seeks profit, and in a group entirely chasing profits, this very pursuit makes it impossible to control subordinates, since employees find it easier and more convenient to pocket the company group's money themselves."

"Therefore, even enterprises solely focused on making money must expend energy cultivating so-called 'corporate spirit' and 'beliefs.' Sometimes, it seems ironic that the larger the interest group, the more they require 'spirit,' 'culture,' and 'trust,' elements unrelated to profit, to maintain stability."

"I know these words sound a bit hypocritical, but I genuinely hope this era becomes better. We've already enjoyed the best material conditions and resources in the world; many things ordinary people envy and aspire to are no longer fresh or satisfying for us."

"The success of a career, the recognition of people worldwide, the enduring reputation, those things that ordinary people find 'illusory,' we have slowly come to value."

"I hope Miss Hexia Tilan can view us differently, and give us a chance to be trusted once more."