Rule Strange: Urban Legends That Don't Exist

Chapter 1064
"Contract, sir."

Thomas Gilbert believed that he was still moderately humble when facing big shots - just like what Chen Yan had told him in private before.

He watched the person's face, guessed the person's thoughts, and slowly adjusted his words to say the next words - just like what Chen Yan said to everyone in the conference room before:
"He needs to sign a contract with people. The content of the contract stipulates the responsibilities and exchange of interests between both parties. Everything will be executed in accordance with this contract, and he will also become a loyal defender of this contract."

The big man sat down, sitting on Thomas Gilbert's boss chair, with several other people surrounding him, but they were obviously not servants - a servant would not have the toughness of a gang leader. His temperament, just standing there, seemed to freeze the air with his attitude.

"Is he prepared to use violence like this?"

The boss looked at Thomas Gilbert, who was standing opposite the desk like a henchman:
"A relationship maintained by violence can also end with violence, and the use of violence depends entirely on his own subjective will. He has no evidence to prove that his subjective will will not change."

The boss spoke, and the question went straight to the center of the conflict - what does he plan to use to maintain this contract?He is using violence to maintain the contract now. If he is unwilling in the future, this violence can also be used to terminate the contract, and such violence is almost impossible to resist.

The answer to the boss is a simple word:
"Yes."

Thomas Gilbert uttered these words and bowed his head slightly as he spoke, deliberately imitating his humility.

The boss's expression was a little stiff.

Yes, how to use violence only depends on his subjective will - this is the answer to everything the bosses want to know.

"Then there's no need to talk."

Thomas Gilbert had a smile on his face that was almost giving in, and said a rejection so tough that the boss had never heard it before in his life:

"Yes, it is."

Yes - there is no other explanation other than this - this is what Chen Yan emphasized - there should be no concessions on the contract, and there is no room for bargaining.

Things suddenly came to a deadlock, which was something the boss didn't expect before he came here. Before he came, he had inquired about the detailed life of Thomas Gilbert, a "former gang member" with a lot of luck, and wanted to Use this as a breakthrough to test your tone——

Although Thomas Gilbert does not have many people under his command today and does not have strong thermal weapons, he directly controls most of the security information of the mechanical hive and everything that is happening and will happen in the future through higher permissions and keys. The criminal record determines the safety of the mechanical hive to a certain extent.

A status similar to that of the former logistics center security minister Barr Duckrod has allowed this speculative and successful kid to rise like a new star. Such a status and power that comes entirely from luck is almost unsolvable in today's special period - no one is there for the time being. An existence that can replace him.

Before coming here, the boss originally thought that Thomas Gilbert was from a gang, and he would have more or less the habits and gangsterism of gang members. The boss also came from such a background, and he was very familiar with the tempers of gang members, and their temperament. We are also very familiar with our preferences and taboos, so it stands to reason that we should be able to communicate easily——

Looking at it now, this is not the case at all.

His toughness made the boss deny his guess.

The boss was silent, and many thoughts suddenly appeared in his mind.

He came here to make contact with Thomas Gilbert, one of the "core personnel" of the Z Group, and wanted to learn through him some of the truth about the drastic changes in the power behind the mechanical hive. Such a plan may now come to nothing. ——This is not the result the boss wants to see.

A few years ago, before such a huge business was established, the boss would have fought head-on with the violence mastered by Chen Yan.

But now it doesn't work anymore. He can't do that no matter what. He is already over 50 years old, long past the age of being brave and aggressive, and he has a large family. His youngest grandson was just born last year, and now he can call him Grandpa, he is not willing to throw away this beauty because of any conflict.

In addition to his family, his old brothers who are no longer able to fight also need to recuperate. Some of them are even regular customers of the Z Group's intelligent prosthetics company. In the future, the care and maintenance of the intelligent prosthetics will also be difficult. He needs to rely on the company to proceed. Once he falls out... he doesn't want such a bad ending.

Even if he is more ruthless and does not consider those old brothers, what will happen to his employees?Before the severe crackdown in the former logistics center, he received guidance from an expert, reorganized his power, formally registered in the logistics center, and established a formal company. His subordinates became his employees, and they represented Not only themselves, but also the families behind them.

Are so many families going to go bankrupt because of his decision alone?

He is old.

People become soft-hearted when they get older.

Even the most vicious person will have two wrinkles called "amiability" painted on his face by time.

So, he wanted to compromise.

At present, almost all the infrastructure of the logistics center is controlled by Chen Yan. Even the spiral mechanical structure at the bottom of the mechanical honeycomb originally set up for hydroelectric power generation - that completely useless thing - has not been spared.

Even if we don’t talk about food, or even water, heating and natural gas, just electricity - even if Chen Yan just stops the power supply, it will be uncomfortable enough for them.

It’s not like they haven’t considered using violence to forcefully occupy the power generation facilities of the Mechanical Hive. They even dispatched a special force with combat capabilities comparable to the Mechanical Hive Mobile Force. However, it only took half an hour and only cost real money and a lot of time. The team that had been raised with energy lost contact.

[Absolute violence].

——From then on, the boss began to understand the meaning of this phrase.

Since violence cannot achieve the goal, the only option is negotiation - this is what the boss thinks.

Since then, he has been asking around, trying to find a way to meet Chen Yan alone. Just like when the imperial officials parachuted into the logistics center, he was also asking around for information about Fernando D. Magellan.

At that time, he got his wish and met the Governor of the island, and negotiated a deal with the Governor during an enthusiastic banquet - he would support the Governor's rule of the island free of charge, and would mobilize his brothers. He and his employees voted all for the Governor during the election, and what the Governor will pay him is the priority to know and choose the first island chain construction project.

He is a veteran at doing this kind of thing. He also solved problems in this way when he was still on land and in his hometown.

He does a pretty good job every time. Most things like people are the same. Since it can be mutually beneficial and win-win, who wants to create complications?

We are all decent people, and fighting for profit is something only gangsters do, not decent people like them. When they are at this stage, no matter how brave they are in fighting, they will be looked down upon by others in the circle.Three days ago, Chen Yan issued an ultimatum to the big forces like himself in the Mechanical Hive - the big companies, asking them to "hand over resources that do not match their own strength".

It was a provocation, a declaration of war, and in his mind, a business deal.

He knows very well that a condition that everyone can see at the same time "must" have room for bargaining. This is a business - exchanging the resources in one's hands for resources that others do not have. This is always the case. The difference It’s just a matter of loss or gain.

He had been confident of making a fortune before, because most of the rulers who held power looked the same. No matter what they said, the principles of doing business were the same, and the rules that everyone needed to abide by were roughly the same.

The resource Chen Yan needs is "order" or something else, and the people in his hands determine that he just has such resources.

The power he holds determines that he has the right to bargain in this business - this is true for the empire, and it is also true for the logistics center. Now that it is Chen Yan, there is no reason why it should not still be the same.

After coming here today, meeting Thomas Gilbert, and hearing these words from this formerly unpopular gangster, he realized that he was wrong.

Chen Yan is different from other rulers.

he……

He is a lunatic who does not think and weigh with interests as the center!
The warm light in Thomas Gilbert's office shone on the boss's hat, and the brim of the hat cast a long shadow on the boss's face, making the boss's kind expression look inexplicably sinister.

Chen Yan, this damn Asian, this ignorant yellow-skinned monkey who only knows how to kill people, what does he want?
Thomas Gilbert waited quietly for the boss's thoughts, as if the precious sleep time late at night was completely unimportant. He did not flatter and try to exchange the little power in his hands for some "precious friendship" like before. , but just waiting there, waiting for the boss to figure it out, and then leave on his own.

The boss saw his attitude and was convinced of the futility of this negotiation.

He stood up and said:

"I'm done. Let's retreat first. If you have anything to say, just ask. Don't worry about me."

The boss walked straight out of the door. On the way, he patted Thomas Gilbert on the shoulder and said, "Young and promising," and then walked out and left the place.

When the big boss's footsteps disappeared at the end of the corridor, the remaining few seemed to relax a lot. They surrounded Thomas Gilbert and began to launch all offensives against him, including coercion and inducement.

Thomas Gilbert accepted them one by one with a smile, never relenting to Chen Yan's request. He had clearly recognized his greed a long time ago, so he understood that if he wanted to satisfy his greed, he must ignore what was in front of him. This is a small gain.

There are many benefits to having a good relationship with him now. You can know the changes in the administrative orders of the Mechanical Hive in the next few days, and you can figure out the survival plan of the Mechanical Hive in the next few months. This information is far more valuable than their lives. Be precious, because every piece of information is related to the eternal topic of "what we will eat in the future."

Although the warehousing information before the Mechanical Hive is not open, it is not difficult for those who are interested to find out the information. Everyone who comes here hopes to exchange their own resources for more food, rather than in their own After running out of personal food, he could only eat the two simple meals a day that Chen Yan distributed to everyone in the mechanical hive.

They also failed. Thomas Gilbert's damn little bastard's mouth was as hard to pry open as a chastity lock.

They spent the whole night in the office gossiping and telling the truth, and they did not leave Thomas Gilbert's office until dawn. They came back disappointed, unable to get any useful information or any effective commitment from him.

After they left, Thomas Gilbert, who was completely sleepless, made himself a cup of [-] ml black coffee, drank it all in one go, and started to rush to the company.

It's not yet his working time, but he is in high spirits and can't sleep at all. Why not go see how the outpost built outside the mechanical hive during the day yesterday is going, and see if there are any explorer teams. I haven’t come back. If I come back, what kind of news will I bring back?

This is something he is responsible for. It is very important and critical. He will get first-hand information one step ahead of Chen Yan. This information is priceless for today's mechanical hive.

He didn't care if Chen Yan gave him such an important power out of trust, and he didn't care if Chen Yan trusted a little bastard like him because there was no one available to him. In any case...

Anyway, this is where he sits now.

He will use his actions to prove that he can secure this position, and he will also use his loyalty to prove that Chen Yan's trust is worthy.

He entered the temporary outpost, called on several brothers to dress up in cold-proof equipment, and stepped into the snow.

The ice and snow were extremely cold, but his chest felt as hot as a red-hot iron ingot.

Power is something more powerful than an aphrodisiac, which can make people feel more energetic at any moment.

……

……

At this moment, Star Chain.

The lower level of STR-56 Space City, [Dark Zone] is an abandoned area that has been re-occupied.

In an inconspicuous corner, the light ends here, and the space seems to be cut open by a paper knife. One side is illuminated by flickering light, and the other side is shrouded in creeping darkness.

"Much like the wilderness."

Psalm 13, dressed as a corporate employee, made this comment while standing on the bright side of the dividing line between creeping darkness and light.

“After the apocalypse, the boundaries between the deeper world and this world begin to blur.”

Parrett, who was changing into a light space suit, finished putting it on while saying these words, and handed one end of the alloy cable tied to his body to Psalm 13:

"Hopefully I can make it so we can have a lighthouse... and at least be able to get in touch with other survivors and figure out a way to get out of here without having to hang out with those filthy creatures all day long."

(End of this chapter)