Miss Witch doesn't want to be a diva

Street restaurants.

Lively and noisy sounds filled this restaurant, and many guests who got off work at night gathered here, ordered affordable and delicious dinner, and then got some low-alcohol iced wine to soothe nerves and fatigue with that cool stimulation.

In the corner, the two sat quietly, one was devouring food, the other rarely moved his chopsticks, just watching each other eat.

The young man in black munched on the roasted and fragrant meat, then poured down a big mouthful of cool beer, and waited until the table was in a mess before putting down his chopsticks, rubbing his stomach, and leaning back on the chair.

"Full." He made a contented voice with a relaxed expression.

In this regard, Valk nodded slightly, and then got up to pay the bill.

Putting on the tattered coat, Greed and Valk walked out of the restaurant and walked aimlessly along the street.

The two didn't talk much along the way, and after a long silence, Grid couldn't help but speak.

"Don't you ask me why I was hunted down by the people from the 'Three Finger Workshop' tonight?"

"I want to ask, but I don't want to." Walker shook his head.

"If you don't want to tell me, I will ask, and you will find all kinds of excuses." The two grew up together, and he was very clear about Greed's behavior.

"Oh, you've become smarter and calmer." Grid said a little mockingly, and then his tone became a little more serious.

He looked at the brightly lit shops across the street, paused for a while, and then spoke.

"I took an order to spy on the commercial secrets of the 'Three Fingers Workshop'."

"You." Valk also stopped at this moment, frowning.

"This is a deadly mission." This kind of snooping has always been a taboo for various companies. In the process of defense and protection, they will not hesitate to kill the intruder directly, even if they will lose a lot of money later.

"I know." Grid leaned against the guardrail beside the bridge, watching the hovering cars passing by below.

"But there is only one chance." After speaking, he leaned against the guardrail, closed his eyes and looked up.

"You won't understand how important this is to me." The tone in his voice was very complicated.

"I don't understand, but I know that this will have serious consequences." Walker replied.

"Once your identity is exposed, not only will the other party's company not let you go, but because of file issues, the result may not be imprisonment, but direct execution, and even many people in the orphanage will be implicated and face danger because of you. "

"Orphanage? What do those people have to do with me? I'm an orphan now, do I still care?" Greed sneered, his expression twisted.

"Do you know, Walker, I've always been jealous of you, so jealous, hehe." He covered his eyes, as if trying to suppress some emotions, and said hysterically.

"I know, Pastor Boyce told me that he told me to be careful and not to associate with you."

"Heh, that old guy is really poisonous. If I knew it earlier, I shouldn't have let him live."

"You can't hurt Pastor Boyce. He saved us, raised us, and educated us."

"Uh, yes, that's right, he did these things, but I still hate him." Greed's voice was cold.

"He is always very proud, he is proud that he has helped many people, and he enjoys this kind of respect with peace of mind..."

The North Ninth District is an extremely poor place. It lacks industries, resources, and cold weather. There are only a few mining cities.

The city where the two are located has discovered a rare lapis lazuli mine more than 20 years ago. Unlike ordinary lapis lazuli, the lapis lazuli in this mine is produced from a special magical tide and has some extraordinary properties. So a big fist can be sold for nearly 100,000 federal coins.

This has attracted countless people to come here, taking advantage of the official unblocked or loopholes in defense protection, to steal and dig rare ores.

As a result, the local economy has developed rapidly, although the price is that the law and order are in chaos, gangs and gray field firms are fighting each other, and there are gun battles in the mining area almost every day.

However, this kind of chaos finally came to an end. The giant enterprise "Gray Dust Crystal" bought the entire mining area, and then directly belonged to the security forces of "Gray Dust Crystal" to clean up the entire mining area.

Di belongs to the armed force of a giant enterprise, which is not comparable to that of ordinary gangsters. They not only have many self-defense units, but also have established mecha teams, elite troops mobilized from various star field divisions, and so on.

Some people may say that whether the giant corporations maintain such a strong armed force is beyond the federal laws or out of control, but if you are familiar with history, you will know the ridiculousness of this question.

It was not under the rule of the Federation that giant companies were born, but the giant companies compromised and joined forces with each other to build the Rose Federation.

In that barren era, each of these giant corporations with technological singularities was a small country with their own fleets, spaceships, management agencies, etc., shuttling through abandoned or barren planets, selling their own A unique product with few rivals.

However, this kind of development has a limit after all. The upper limit of the market ultimately determines the upper limit of the enterprise. No matter how good the product you produce, but only 100 people can buy it in the end, you can only earn the money of these 100 people at most.

Why, after many technological revolutions, only the largest country can breed the strongest and most cutting-edge technology companies, because only the largest country has the largest market, can generate enough profits, and can support technological research and development. high cost.

A barren and scattered planet cannot provide a large enough market without the establishment of an orderly and stable country with a large territory, which is something that companies will not do.

As a profit-making organization, or the embodiment of capital, he instinctively pursues profit, because only in this way can this organizational structure continue.

To establish a country is to be responsible for various complicated matters, whether it is to establish order, appease the people, provide education, build infrastructure, etc., all of which require huge investment and are also extremely risky.

From managing a company to managing a country, it is not just as simple as increasing the population, there are countless problems waiting behind, but what is the return? It only wants to sell sugar for 1 yuan, but now you say you want it to invest 1,000 yuan For a buck, do a full upfront build.

This is obviously a loss-making business, so the company will not do it.

Or some people will say that the company can also sell other things, but things are not so simple. Giant companies may only cost 10,000 yuan to produce something they are good at, but the profit can reach 1 million, which is close to a hundredfold return.

If you want to make other products, you need not only to develop from scratch, trial and error, etc., but also to add a competitor in this field every time you add a field, and the final profit is limited, which is far less than the products that the company is good at. In order to create these, A lot of labor costs have to be paid, which leads to more and more bloated enterprises and more and more internal conflicts. In the end, what they may be good at gradually loses their ability to innovate, and finally they are defeated by new industry challengers.

Knowing that the market is limited, these giant companies have no good solutions, so they can only continue to be like this. This situation did not turn around until the "Golden Flame Rose" was born.

Because of these historical reasons, although the Rose Federation is extremely powerful, this kind of strength not only refers to the strength of the federal government, but also the strength of the giant enterprises that build the federation. They have their own armed forces, and even fleets belonging to enterprises.

However, in the era when the second-generation color-level singer "Cobalt Tears" bloomed, she made the federal government actively expand its military during the special period of the civil war, and continued to suppress and reduce the privileges of giant enterprises in the federation. During the harsh internal cleanup of "Cobalt Blue Star Tears", many congressmen who accepted bribes from giant corporations were imprisoned and executed. These finally greatly weakened the political power of giant corporations in the federation, and finally passed a new law, and giant corporations no longer With a fleet, you can only maintain a certain amount of armed forces for ground protection.

————

The topic goes back to the former Black Strontium City. Because of the excavation of lapis lazuli, countless people came here, and because of the restoration of order and stability, many speculators left, leaving only a mess, and many of them were abandoned. Orphans, Walker, and Grid are one of such people.

They lived a very difficult life when they were young, until a pastor with ideals came to North Ninth District, established orphanages and churches, and adopted these children.

"Pastor Boyce doesn't treat everyone equally. He obviously prefers obedient and well-behaved children. It's a pity that I'm not that kind of person." Greed laughed at himself.

"Although he adopted me, he has never had a good impression of me. It's like raising a dog. He feeds me something casually and finishes eating."

"As for you, he was very patient. He not only taught you various knowledge, but also ran around for you, and finally allowed you to obtain a legal resident file in the Federation."

"So, you who have received the grace of heaven, you also want to persuade me that you should live a humble life like a dog?" Greed asked Valk again.

"Even so, you shouldn't..." Valk wanted to persuade him, but in the end he didn't continue, because he also knew that this is actually a road with no solution.

Grid didn't have a tenable legal status, and he couldn't leave the barren and small slums in the North Ninth District, and he didn't have many other options except for some extremely hard low-level jobs there.

The world is unfair, and it is true for many people.

"I started to break free from the dog chain of Pastor Boyce, and went to look for opportunities in complex and dark areas. Although I almost died in the winter night, I also got some money, made a simple identity file disguise, and then left the North Ninth District . " Standing in the night wind, Grid said slowly.

"Pastor Boyce should hate me very much, because I betrayed him and threatened him. If he makes a big mistake in the end, he, the former adopter, will also face some troubles."

"Master Boyce is not as miserable as you think, he just said that he regrets not caring more about you at that time." Walker said.

"Hehe, in front of you, he will show his tender side, because you have fulfilled his desire to become a respected and loving father."

"He has gained psychological satisfaction. The more successful you are, the more people around you praise him, and the more he is immersed in this image."

"You think he is very noble, but in fact he just uses us children to satisfy his lack of self-esteem and spiritual emptiness."

"I have investigated Pastor Boyce's past. He grew up in the wealthy South 2 District, but there, he was just an unknown loser. The girl he pursued fell in love with someone else, and the inherited family business was ruined by poor management. , in his thirties, he still failed to achieve anything, and finally came to the North Ninth District under disappointment."

"Even though his motives are not so flawless, I still respect Pastor Boyce. At least because of him, we survived." Walker shook his head.

"That's you! It's not me!" Grid's eyes were grim.

"I still can't forget his discriminating eyes, that disgusting and contemptuous look down, as if looking at garbage."

"I want to take revenge on him, I must take revenge on him, I must achieve something, and then go back, slap him hard, make him lose face, kneel in front of everyone, and confess his hypocrisy and disgusting performances for so many years."

"You shouldn't spend your mind on these places. If you find a serious job, you can live in peace and stability..." Walker advised again.

"I said, it's you, not me. You haven't experienced that kind of contempt and insult, and you don't understand how tortured and uncomfortable it is to feel humble and begging."

After a heated conversation, both sides fell into silence. Looking at the world under the high bridge with endless traffic, they also understood that they were no longer the children they used to be, and they couldn't convince each other in this situation.

"I'm leaving." Gradella took up his coat, draped it over his shoulders, and walked to the side of the bridge.

"I will remember the kindness of tonight, and if I have a chance in the future, I will repay you."

"Pray, Valk, pray that I will live until the day when I can repay your kindness, ha ha." Greed laughed, which seemed to contain deep self-mockery.

Not long after, the black-shirted youth disappeared at the end of the street, leaving only Walker still looking at the bustling night scene across the high bridge.

On the countless huge screens, various colors and figures swayed, and every signboard was filled with the atmosphere of money, so prosperous, yet so distorted, that people could only sigh silently.

The wheel of history crushes everything in the past, and countless simple things are given new meanings. While people acquire more and more knowledge and theories, they are also faced with more and more choices and confusion.

Being able to live was extremely lucky in ancient times, but in this era, if you can only live, it may also be a kind of pain.

Dignity, freedom, those things that were not discovered and numb in the past, have now slowly penetrated into everyone's heart.

They are advanced and will bring people a good feeling, but once they are not satisfied, they will make people more painful. It is no longer possible to go back to the pastoral era, nor can they bury themselves in the sand like an ostrich and stop looking at the world .

One can only gain this increasingly expensive respect and decency under the coercion of the trend of the times and constantly being involved in fierce competition.