Rule Strange: Urban Legends That Don't Exist

At this moment, there are still 13 hours before Victor Corleone's execution.

In Area B of the Mechanical Hive, in the corner of a certain tavern, Thomas Gilbert looked nervously at the TV hanging above the tavern bar. What was displayed on the screen was Victor Corleone kneeling on the ground. Next to him were densely packed pants——

People stood around him, but none showed their faces.

That was Chen Yan's ability, Thomas Gilbert was convinced.

Why didn't Chen Yan just kill that guy? Now let's do this - bet on human nature, can you afford it? !

What if you lose? !

The reason why Thomas Gilbert is nervous is not because he is afraid of "Chen Yan losing" itself, but because he is now completely bound to Chen Yan. If Chen Yan loses, it will definitely lead to It will have a bad influence on Group Z. Such a bad influence will cause the power of Group Z to be damaged, which will further affect the power of Thomas Gilbert himself——

Power, this is what Thomas Gilbert cares about most.

As for the decision to completely bind Z Group and Chen Yan, although Thomas Gilbert regretted it slightly, there was nothing he could do. Who would have thought that Victor Corleone would suddenly pop up halfway?

At this time, there were almost no people in the tavern except for their table and the bartender. At this time, few people would exchange the food distributed by the mechanical hive for wine.

In order to hide his inner nervousness, Thomas Gilbert pushed a mobile phone from the table to the person opposite.

"This is Victor Corleone's profile."

The other party was dressed very thickly, and his scarf and thick hair almost covered his entire face, leaving only a pair of eyes hidden behind the ends of his hair.

This man's name is Michael Badman. On the surface, he is the editor-in-chief of a third-rate newspaper, but secretly, he is one of the administrators of the Mechanical Hive Network Forum.

Thomas Gilbert was just a small-time gangster before the tsunami, and was not qualified to come into contact with a "big man" with such a complicated identity. He met Michael Badman after the tsunami——

After he took over the security authority of a part of the neighborhood, Michael Badman took the initiative to contact him, hoping to "make a friend" with him.

Thomas Gilbert did not accept it readily at first. He only exchanged a few polite words with the other party in a perfunctory manner, and his attitude was only "ambiguous" at best.

Now that Z Group has suffered an unprecedented blow, Thomas Gilbert's social status has been brought to a level similar to that of the other party, so everyone can be friends.

Michael Badman looked at the information on his phone and couldn't help but squint his eyes:
"Well... Judging from this information, Victor Corleone himself is just a pure stevedore. He even failed to pass the identity authentication of the William Adams Group due to some bad habits and could not get an intellectual job. Mechanical Renovation Services Employee Contract.”

Michael Badman looked at the information on his phone, his brows gradually furrowed, and his eyes showed slight surprise:

"Huh? During his physical examination, he was found to have three different strains of sexually transmitted diseases in his body? He had an affair with the eldest princess of several groups such as the Yamashita Group? He is brother-in-law with the director of the Material Management Department ?He once spit from the edge of Area Z into the crowd in Area A?"

Michael Badman was a little angry.

He obviously restrained his anger. He put his phone on the table and tapped the screen twice with his fingertips. His lowered voice showed that he still maintained restraint:

"Mr. Gilbert, do you think our job is to spread these things? Or do you think these things will get Victor Corleone more execution votes? Or do you think spreading these things will get Mr. Chen of joy?"

Thomas Gilbert explained in a very calm tone, as if what he was doing was so awe-inspiring and righteous:

"What Victor Corleone did completely destroyed the foundation of the Mechanical Hive, along with the hope for the future. I can't sit still and wait for death. I can do anything as long as he can die.

You just need to make these things into posts, post them on the forum, and then do some traffic-just like how you usually push advertising posts-to make the posts popular. Even if this thing is completed, I will remember you. Benefits given. "

Michael Badman opened his mouth angrily, but no words came out.

After holding it in for a few seconds, he spread his hands and tried to explain:
"Even people like me who are not involved in politics can understand that Mr. Chen did not want Victor Corleone to die, but to prove that he was [correct] and to gain people's support, so he did this thing!
If the Z Group uses despicable means to obtain the execution ticket, it will be known sooner or later. Even if Victor Corleone dies, the Z Group's rule over the mechanical hive will become unjust and unjust.

Mr. Gilbert, I must remind you that there are only 50 people left in the mechanical hive now. It is not like the tens of millions of people crammed into a small city like Yanan City before - [Human life is valuable now, what people say should be Being taken seriously] These are Mr. Chen’s exact words, and they are also true.

So it’s very important to be honest...I’m not teaching you, and I’m not qualified. I’m just saying that I really can’t do this. "

Thomas Gilbert stared at the other party with very cold eyes.

Michael Badman also responded frankly to such gazes.

In this gradually stiffening gaze, Thomas Gilbert said slowly:

"Mr. Badman, I also want to remind you that your persistence does not make me think you are noble. Now you turn on the recording on your phone."

Michael Badman didn't know what he was going to do. He was hesitant in his heart. He slowly switched to the recording APP page and clicked on the only recording record in it.

The conversation between two people immediately came from the phone's speaker:
‘Let me confirm again, one kilogram each of chicken, pork, and fruit will be supplied every day for a month, right? ’

It was Michael Badman's own voice.

His expression immediately turned bad.

Another voice came out immediately:

‘Yes, Mr. Badman, as long as you put the posts we specify in front - we will check in real time, and if you fail to do so, our cooperation will be terminated. ’

Michael Badman immediately stopped playing.

This time he no longer looked at Thomas Gilbert.

"I will remember you well, Mr. Badman."

Thomas Gilbert did not continue to push him. We are all smart people. Michael Badman must have known what kind of impact this recording could have on him.

Thomas Gilbert said slowly:
"When Z Group becomes the unified company, I will serve as your recommender and recommend you to join the company as the editor of the company's self-media department...maybe the editor-in-chief, or the chief editor...it depends on how much you contribute to the group. ”

Michael Badman sneered at such a promise in his heart, but maintained a little hope. In the face of Thomas Gilbert's good attitude, although the previous conflict did not disappear at this moment, it was no longer so It's important.

Michael Badman put his phone back into his pocket.

"I'm going to do this."

After he finished speaking, he stood up and left the tavern.

…………

this afternoon.

There are eight hours left until Victor Corleone's execution.

Thomas Gilbert was browsing the forum and saw that the post recording the negative information about Victor Corleone had been ranked as the top trending search. He relied on the enthusiastic people to maintain the popularity of the top trending search, and he did not feel happy. , and did not feel grateful at all for people's actions.

People were happy to hear such news and posted a large number of extreme remarks in the post. Thomas Gilbert used his privileged authority to trace the source in the server and found that there was no pattern at all in the voting of people who made extreme remarks——

People will not behave accordingly because of their extreme remarks, or even behave completely opposite to what the extreme remarks represent!
And the majority - the majority of the people who are commenting on the post, they're not going to vote.

——This is what surprised Thomas Gilbert the most. Most people in the forum would not vote, even if such a vote could determine their future.

Even the people in the forum who are concerned about this matter remain silent, let alone those who don't speak in the forum... or even often express their opinions in reality?

If most people don't care about this vote, then what's the point of this vote?

Thomas Gilbert suddenly felt a strong sense of powerlessness in his heart.

He originally thought he could change something. He came from the bottom and knew best what the people at the bottom were thinking. He admitted that he was a bad person and was very self-aware and knew how to deal with people like him——

Bad people are evil, and if good people want to fight them, they have to be even more evil than them!
——Thomas Gilbert’s vision only goes so far.

——This is the reason why he always supports Chen Yan's use of violence.

——The new circle he entered by chance during this period allowed him to come into contact with people he would have never come into contact with in his previous life. What they said and what they did inspired him and made him understand himself. The limitations of one's own vision.

Therefore, when he thinks about problems now, he always tries to use logic to negate his own views in the final stage - just like Chen Yan once said, dialectically speaking his own views.

——He was doing this now, so he remembered that Chen Yan once mentioned the names of those people during a casual chat. He called them the "silent majority".

"The silent majority do not participate in everything. They are very numb to some things that concern themselves for various reasons. Their behavior pattern is not only related to the education they have received and their own cognition, but more to the times. Caused--

They live in society, are influenced by society, and learn everything from society. They have been shaped into what they are now by society. It is not their fault that they are silent. "

——Chen Yan once said these words during a casual chat.

Thomas Gilbert once did not understand that since people are shaped by society, who shapes society?
He asked the question, and Chen Yan explained it. The explanation was very complicated, and Thomas Gilbert only heard a general outline - the initial form of society was shaped by natural conditions, and this shaping accompanied the entire life process of a society. .

The influence of natural conditions continues until human beings rely on nature as little as possible to survive - Chen Yan once said that our current social development has almost reached this level, but it is very different -

Human beings can efficiently transform the world, but the form of society is still very primitive, because only a small group of people can enjoy the convenience brought by the latest technology, and form a unique ecology with power, contracts, wealth, etc., and the entire human race Being supported by society, they were freed from material constraints and even formed a "class democracy" within a certain range, realizing true freedom and democracy within their class.

Are they the light of humanity?

At that time, Chen Yan answered with a short sentence that was very unpleasant and Thomas Gilbert disliked it - "Yes and no."

Chen Yan obviously knew that his answer was disgusting, so he later supplemented his point of view - "Freedom and democracy obtained at the expense of the majority of people are by no means the light of mankind, but more disgusting than any ideology." s things."

In any case, most other people in the human race are still stuck in the nascent stage of social consciousness due to backward productivity - people in this era do not even have a decent sociological discipline.

Chen Yan also said that the biggest reason for their silence is because they have not gained knowledge——

"What can voting bring to me?" is unknown knowledge to them, and they are afraid of the unknown——

They face great fear when facing this knowledge, because not only do they not know what voting can bring for them, but also because they see the truth of the world because of being exposed to such knowledge, and they know how the world is. For cannibals, if you want to survive, you must either eat people or be eaten.

Thomas Gilbert felt confused when he thought of this.

So, what to do next?
Since voting itself has no effect, why should we hold such a referendum?
Since Chen Yan himself already knew that most silent people would not vote, why did he still choose this approach?
What on earth is Chen Yan thinking?
Thomas Gilbert was browsing the forum irritably, and suddenly a post about Chen Yan's identity popped up.

"Finally...it's here."

The opponent's counterattack has arrived.

He clicked on the post and saw a lot of negative information about Chen Yan, including calling Chen Yan a "veterinary surgeon" for teasing him, and labeling Chen Yan as "how can a quack doctor who treats animals manage a mechanical hive well?" The banquet included video evidence of Chen Yan visiting dozens of window shops in the previous afternoon, as well as some unfounded charges.

Thomas Gilbert used to think very hard about calculating the opponent's counterattack, but now he doesn't care about these attacks.

Since the majority is silent, this vote is meaningless.

Chen Yan...

What the hell is he thinking?
……

……

At this moment, the mechanical hive Z area.

The people moved without warning, lifted Victor Corleone up and walked outside.

"What are you doing?! Did you forget the voting time one day?! Don't you want me to see everyone's trial of you?!"

People carried him to the railings under the dazzling light of the Ring of Dominance. Beyond the railings was the empty part of Zone Z, which was elevated to highlight the supremacy of the Ring of Dominance.

"That's almost enough time."

When is enough time?
What was he waiting for with all this time?

Victor Corleone suddenly realized something was wrong. He realized that Chen Yan had other purposes, but it was too late.

"Pay with your life."

People threw him over the railing, so he fell vertically downwards and fell into ketchup on the dusty platform on the ground floor of Zone Z because there were no servants to clean it.

PS: The author is talking about the Periclean aristocratic democracy of the ancient Athens era, nothing else. Don’t get it wrong.