Chapter 545.5: What Would Bore Do?

Kent looked completely bewildered.

Just a moment earlier, he had felt like he was on a roller coaster, especially when the worker beside him uttered the first half of the name.

“We got a set of law that everyone must obey, and yet you say we got nothing. Maybe, in your heart, you don’t think that’s important at all.”

Kent’s face flushed red with anger. “Isn’t that the truth? The whole settlement is in chaos! It’s all because of you that I lost my job! If that idiot Spielberg hadn’t insisted on going against everyone, if you hadn’t chosen to trust some damn Bore and listen to what a little girl had to say, we wouldn’t have ended up begging our neighbors for food!”

“Believe whatever you want. And you’re right, begging isn’t good. We’ll repay that favor,” the worker sighed, not intending to explain much to him, and continued, “Lorette said we can’t possibly convince everyone. That’s just how life is. There will always be people criticizing us from all kinds of angles, but that doesn’t matter. They can say what they want, we’ll do what we have to do.”

“He told us to keep an eye on him. If one day he starts speaking for the people who bully us, we’re supposed to punch him hard and spit in his face. That’s what really matters.”

Looking at Kent, who was so stifled he was nearly suffocating, the worker joked, “You should leave. This place isn’t for you, really. You’re not even as good as your Lord Vega. At least doing business involves risks, and he still has to lick Lord Sid’s boots from time to time. You’re not as good as Elisa either. Just standing up, she’s already taken risks you’ll never take in your entire life. And what did you do last night? Cry under your covers?”

“And now you sit here holding a bowl, sneering to yourself about how peasants can’t accomplish anything and we just swapped one batch of lords for another. You’re probably thinking what does a little girl know too. Right, you’re definitely blaming all of us for you losing your job. That’s right, you’re right. We harmed you. We’ll be finished tomorrow. Run while you can.”

“How about Red River Town? There you can use that endless strength of yours, huffing and puffing for 24 hours straight. You won’t have to worry about anyone stopping you from making money. They’ll even kindly help keep the mutants and marauders outside for you.”

Smiling, the worker patted him on the shoulder, finished the porridge in his bowl, and got up to return it to the kitchen.

In a bit, he still had to go help out at the Worker’s Union.

They had united, and they had won.

As such, they would continue to stay united.

As for the future... They would talk about it when it came!

If Lorette didn’t do a good job, they would just beat him up!

...

On the other side, a sign hung at the New Alliance registration office. On it were written two lines, “Leniency for confession, severity for resistance.”

Some inner-city nobles and their lackeys were lined up here as well.

Those who wanted to stay with the New Alliance could confess their crimes there, find the victims with the New Alliance’s help to apologize, and request lenient treatment.

The New Alliance would blur their faces in the newspapers. Sentences were capped at 20 years. With a good attitude, three to five years would allow them to end their sentence. After serving their time, they could start over, and good behavior could earn them sentence reductions.

Of course, they could also choose to keep their secrets buried in their hearts, hide like rats, and pray that no one would someday point at them with evidence.

The New Alliance staff did not discriminate against them, but the look they shot at those who approached was as if they were looking at human trash. It was frightening enough.

House had not wanted to go over, but when he saw the New Alliance soldiers at the city gate, he couldn’t help shuddering. In the end, he steeled himself and walked over anyway.

People left the line from time to time, and others joined. Finally, it was his turn.

House dared not delay. Following closely behind the grimy noble who stood up ahead of him, he rubbed his hands nervously and sat down at the wooden table.

The staff member flipped a page of the densely written papers, handed him a cup of hot water, and said without expression. “Speak. Who did you kill? How did you kill them, how many, how old were they.”

“I-I didn’t kill anyone, I swear to the gods!” Startled by the blunt opening, House immediately raised his right hand and said shakily, “Absolutely not!”

By the Great Stag God above!

He couldn’t help glancing at the noble who had just been taken away by the New Alliance soldiers.

What on earth had that guy done?!

The staff member froze for a moment and stared at the man in front of him with a strange expression. He looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen him.

The New Alliance soldier standing nearby was the same, frowning as he looked him over twice. “Hey, you look kind of familiar... Where have I seen you before?”

“I’m House!” Afraid that if he stopped talking it wouldn’t count as turning himself in, House forced a pale smile onto his face. His hunched body seemed to shrink even smaller.

“I... I’ll confess everything! But please give me a chance to explain and atone for my sins!”

Before the staff member could speak, House gulped once and continued, “You know, when someone keeps saying nonsense, it actually means they know the answer deep down. Ever played the riddles in the newspapers? Getting everything right isn’t easy, but getting everything wrong isn’t easy either.”

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. I cursed your administrator, and I cursed you too, but I... I don’t truly hate you from the bottom of my heart. I even couldn’t help applauding your courage. But I had no choice but to speak for the lords.”

“My logic might be a bit confused, but it’s okay, you might not understand, but your administrator will definitely understand what I mean. The reason I cursed you so fiercely was just to make you attack sooner, to shut this casino down sooner. After all, with Lord Sid in charge, this place was beyond saving. But if your administrator took over, there would definitely be a way! Look, you really did attack! I actually deserve some credit for this!”

Everything came from the depths of his heart.

Ever since he learned what kind of organization the New Alliance was, he had never doubted that the administrator was a genuinely good person.

In the entire wasteland, there were actually good people other than idiots!

If he were truly a corrupt merchant, he could have simply avoided slamming on the accelerator, walked arm in arm with Malvern, worked together behind the scenes, and kept the debt game going, turning the savings of the residents negative. When that happened, those people would really have been finished.

The lords could go enjoy themselves in Ideal City, while the poor wretches would have to work for the New Alliance forever, until death, living off its charity, never able to rise up again. The number of lords sitting on their heads would have grown hundreds of times.

If it were the Bugra Free State in the north, Mr. Sigma certainly wouldn’t have restrained himself. But the administrator had done so, even generously pulling them onto the same side... That was what shocked and astonished House the most.

That man truly intended to end the Wasteland Era!

He truly regarded the survivors of Boulder Town as survivors too!

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Praise the New Alliance!

Praise the administrator!

Ever since he heard that the administrator had called Worker’s Daily the voice of progress, Hoss had been certain he hadn’t misjudged him.

After all, he was one of the few people in this casino who was awake!

Besides, even that half-baked Spielberg could be invited as a guest. If it were him instead, the administrator would surely treat him as an honored guest!

Several staff members and soldiers looked at each other.

At first, they kept straight faces, but when House said that he also deserved some credit, they finally couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

House stared at them blankly, not understanding what they were laughing at.

He had finally worked up the courage to sit here and confess his crimes, and those people were treating him like a joke!

His face grew redder and redder. He clenched his fists, but did not dare to act, only hiding them in his sleeves. “You people... What do you want? I can explain everything to the administrator in person...”

The staff member did not explain, laughing so hard he was nearly out of breath. “Are you here to amuse us? It’s not that I look down on you, but the people registering here all have blood on their hands. We don’t have time to listen to jokes, even if yours are halfway decent.”

Another staff member held back his laughter and teased, “If you think you’ve done something meritorious, go brag to the Worker’s Union or the militia. They’re the ones who actually carried out the uprising. Sorry to disappoint you. We never considered you a threat at all. If it weren’t for the fact that we’re all from the same hometown, we wouldn’t even have bothered to come here.”

A soldier in exoskeleton reached out, lifted the dazed House from the table, and led him outside.

The soldier patted his shoulder and looked at him with disgust. “Get lost. The administrator can’t be bothered with you, though I would really like to give your ass a kick. If I weren’t on duty, I’d have done it already.”

The New Alliance had its discipline. At the very least, while wearing their uniform, he couldn’t beat someone up. It wasn’t worth tarnishing his honor for a clown.

The soldier returned to his post.

House stood on the street, utterly lost.

Looking at the truly evil people lining up to confess their crimes, for a fleeting moment he almost wished he had been arrested by the New Alliance soldiers and thrown into prison, maybe even beaten up.

Indifference was the greatest insult. It turned out they couldn’t even be bothered with him!

Even Worker’s Daily, founded less than a year ago, could be considered a progressive voice, while the broadcasts he had shouted for over a decade hadn’t earned so much as a glance.

What had he even done with his life...

“He doesn’t want me...”

Life suddenly seemed to lose all meaning.

Like a walking corpse, House wandered away with vacant eyes.