"Esteemed officials, please wait here for a moment. It's best to wait until the situation stabilizes before going out." Sergeant Sali saluted, his face solemn, making it impossible to imagine he was performing exaggerated antics for a live stream just moments before.
Then, he led the four military police officers and charged outside without looking back.
The instant the iron door opened and closed, grayish-white light spilled in from outside, followed by a deafening roar of voices, mixed with various unintelligible curses, their original meaning long lost, but the contours of these sounds were sharp and distinct, not muffled.
"What about those guys over there?" Michael called out, but the military police probably didn't hear him. They casually pulled the small door shut behind them. The door creaked and swayed, and the outside clamor and light flickered along with it.
Of course, it wasn't necessarily that they didn't hear; perhaps it was because these officers didn't know how to deal with those four unlucky fellows either, so they simply feigned deafness and ignored them.
"Why now, of all times?" The noise outside continued, gradually increasing in volume. It seemed the sudden demonstration was well-organized.
Michael [Official Michael] frowned, a sense of foreboding slowly consuming his thoughts.
"This shouldn't be happening. Precisely to prevent such issues, I specifically increased the welfare benefits for nighttime overtime these past few days... How could this be possible..."
"Perhaps something nasty has infiltrated." Michael [Duplicate Michael] and Mei were long accustomed to this. Besides, the timing of this demonstration was perfect—both the time and place seemed deliberately targeted at the two of them.
Of course, the possibility of pure coincidence wasn't zero, but both Michael [Duplicate Michael] and Mei were the types to assume the worst of human intentions.
Besides, if this were just a coincidence, it would actually be less complicated.
So, Mei shrugged and suggested, "Waiting here isn't a solution. We still need to go out and assess the situation."
"Uh... maybe..." Michael [Official Michael] instinctively wanted to shrink back, but his gaze met Mei's violet eyes. Those eyes held no joy or sorrow, no mockery or encouragement, seemingly devoid of any emotion, just a blank slate.
And anyone illuminated by the gaze emanating from those eyes would feel their extraneous emotions gradually dissipate, leaving only clarity, free of confusion.
"Okay... Okay!"
"Michael, what do you say?" Mei turned to the third person, but Michael [Duplicate Michael] was still staring at the four unlucky fellows' behinds, seemingly pondering whether to release them or perhaps help them pull their pants up.
Hearing Mei's voice, he nodded without hesitation. His mission was indeed to protect Mei, but a mere demonstration, even with hidden currents swirling beneath, wouldn't frighten Michael.
Even if a nuclear bomb detonated right in front of him, Michael was confident he could move Mei away before the radiation and shockwave hit.
Exiting the Tower and relocking the door, the outside scene unfolded before them.
Night had reached its end, but the sun hadn't officially crested the horizon. The world outside was filled with a desolate, deathly gray light.
The driver and car that brought them were gone. Across the relatively wide asphalt road stood massive, rectangular factory buildings. Workers were likely still gathering, but as far as the eye could see, the asphalt roads between all the factories were already packed with workers.
Their attire was no different from the thugs Michael [Duplicate Michael] had seen earlier: orange short-sleeved shirts with 3D reflective strips, lower bodies clad in either shorts or long pants, invariably tattered. Some wore oversized clothes, sleeves nearly covering their elbows, pant legs dragging on the ground. Others wore clothes too tight, turning the short-sleeve and shorts combo into something resembling spandex and briefs.
Their ranks pushed forward slowly but resolutely. The military police were forced to block the intersections left and right with police cars and armored vehicles. Some officers brought large bags of lime, gravel, water, and barbed wire; Michael [Duplicate Michael] couldn't figure out what they intended to do.
As for the other officers, they formed a human wall along the roadside in front of the Tower. The first two ranks wore full riot gear, holding rectangular transparent riot shields. The middle two ranks held long-handled flails, while the last rank wielded round shields and short batons. Their formation was neither scattered nor tight, maintaining about one person's width between individuals, forming multiple small rectangular phalanxes linked into a single horizontal line.
Sergeant Sali's group of five, after rejoining the main force, also received weapons—two pistols each, one yellow toy-like Taser gun, and one genuine handgun, both holstered at their waists.
They stood on the steps in front of the Tower, hands resting on the grips of the holstered pistols, nervously staring ahead—they were the last line of defense. If any rioters broke through the police line in front, they would need to use Tasers to promptly subdue them. But Tasers could only fire once; resorting to handguns was conceivable.
Besides...
Michael [Duplicate Michael] and Mei exchanged glances. The same thought surfaced in both their minds...
"Guns appearing is never a good sign."
"Mmm... If a story introduces a gun, it must eventually be fired."
The surrounding sounds changed slightly. Michael's [Duplicate Michael's] ears twitched. Using the Authority of the Void and Authority of Sentience to scan the vicinity, he momentarily didn't know what to say—they were surrounded.
Makes sense. The Tower was just the core residential area of a basic unit. Centered around it, countless factories stood between grid-like roads, and people had previously been working in these factories almost exclusively.
After the demonstration began, they naturally converged on the central Tower from all directions. The outnumbered military police were pushed back under their pressure, eventually finding themselves surrounded on all four sides in front of the Tower.
Although it was early July, theoretically well into summer, Third New Heaven City was coastal. The morning breeze carried an endless chill. The military police forming the outer encirclement shivered collectively under its blast.
Occasional sounds of swallowing saliva or weapons clashing could be heard within the ranks, but overall, it appeared silent and solemn, like a smooth, cold ice surface. From the outside, one could only see the pale white layer, completely unable to discern the hidden currents swirling in the water beneath.
In contrast, the demonstrating crowd, warmed by roars whose origins remained unclear, only cared about waving their arms, stomping their feet heavily, shouting, booing, and uttering threats whose specific content was unintelligible.
Some even raised tools used for work, banging them furiously. The sharp, piercing sound rapidly rippled outwards, not gently like water, but like invisible nails, painfully刺痛ing every eardrum caught in its waves.
"Get the City Official out here to talk!" This was the clearest voice Michael [Duplicate Michael] had heard so far, but it morphed continuously as it was relayed, becoming completely unrecognizable by the end—
"Get the City Official out here to talk!"
"Get that dog City Official to talk!"
"Get that dog bastard City Official out here to talk!"
"Get that dog bastard Michael to roll out here!"
"Get Michael to roll out here like a dog!"
"Michael, you son of a bitch!"
How do these people know I'm here!? Michael [Official Michael] was filled with reluctance. He didn't even know the cause of this incident; even if he stood up, he'd have nothing to say!
But even if he did nothing, his attire was simply too conspicuous. He looked neither like the gawking Tower residents nor like the besieged military police. Anyone with sharp eyes could recognize him from the golden hair and green eyes, not to mention the two people standing beside him.
His sleeve was tugged. Michael [Official Michael] turned. A tall but hesitant middle-aged military police officer approached him. Though his face was somewhat unfamiliar, the insignia on his collar clearly marked him as the captain of this area's police force. His face etched with difficulty, he bowed slightly and pleaded:
"City Official, Sir, perhaps you could just step out and say a few words? Or give me the order to suppress them now? But forgive my frankness, this incident has gotten quite big. The police department system shows at least a hundred communities around here have joined in. If force is used, it will involve millions of people and become uncontrollable! So, it's better if you just step out and respond!"
The police captain roughly knew what questions these people would ask. What would happen next, he couldn't say.
For him, with extensive riot control experience, the situation was clear. Right now, these people were still using words to voice their demands. But if their wishes weren't met, if Michael [Official Michael] was clearly here but remained silent, they would inevitably resort to more drastic measures.
And as he said, within just tens of minutes, this demonstration had evolved into a near-riot involving at least five million people. The military police here numbered less than two thousand. If it escalated into violent conflict, uncontrollability aside, the police couldn't even guarantee their own safety, let alone Michael's [Official Michael's].
"So, what exactly happened? Let me understand the situation first, right?"
The police captain pursed his lips. He tried to compress the entire incident into one sentence but failed.
Fortunately, the two unidentified commissioners beside Michael [Official Michael] came to his rescue. The woman spoke:
"You go deal with these people first. As for what happened, let this captain explain it to me."
Michael's [Official Michael's] mouth twitched. Steeling himself, he walked forward. The police captain, finding the woman's voice strangely familiar, looked at the two commissioners who were also looking at him. He rubbed his eyes incredulously, then pulled out his terminal, searched, and finally confirmed their identities.
"Dr. Mei... the First Herrscher..."
The military police thoughtfully provided Michael [Official Michael] with a megaphone, which he found incredibly ironic. Clearing his throat, the megaphone carried his voice to everyone's ears:
"Ahem! Everyone, I am Michael, the City Official of Third New Heaven City. Whatever needs you have, whatever opinions you hold, you can tell me. But I demand that you calm down. I cannot speak to thousands of people simultaneously. So, you must first choose one person to speak with me. Let them convey whatever you wish to say... Come on, I'm right here, not going anywhere!"
His words threw the crowd below into even greater chaos. The various noises, which had subsided slightly upon his appearance, now flared up as if fuel had been added to fire, almost loud enough to shake the factory buildings behind them down.
However, before this, the flames had all been directed towards Michael [Official Michael] on the steps. Now, the flickering flames seemed chaotic, entangled, no longer surging in a single direction. Michael [Official Michael] actually felt somewhat relieved.
Despite his subservience before Michael [Duplicate Michael] and Mei, he was, after all, an exceptionally outstanding member of the entire human bureaucracy. He possessed sufficient skill, cunning, and ability. Otherwise, after his two uncles died in less than honorable ways, he wouldn't have, as an illegitimate son, received the entire family's resources for cultivation—even if his father felt guilty towards him for that reason.
He saw at a glance that the people below him had indeed been forcibly united temporarily by some external influence. But precisely because of this, unlike previous demonstrations and riots, they lacked a leader or leaders with significant authority. They were essentially scattered sand.
When Michael [Official Michael] asked them to nominate one person to speak with him, everyone momentarily lost focus. Most people's first reaction was to volunteer themselves, making it impossible to reach a consensus.
Perhaps due to work relationships, groups of a few, a dozen, or several dozen individuals were closer, causing them to unconsciously form small teams. But what use was that?
The number of rioters, just within visual range, exceeded two thousand, meaning there were at least dozens of "small teams." Even in an ideal scenario, they needed to complete two steps: nomination "within the team" and nomination "between teams." Considering the chaotic scene, it might genuinely take several hours to get a result.
But would they become enraged by this? Michael [Official Michael] didn't think so. Firstly, the crowd's current anger level hadn't reached the point of violently storming the police lines. Secondly, his request was extremely reasonable. Besides, he had already adopted a sufficiently weak posture. If they still couldn't choose someone to talk to him, then it was their own problem.
However, the next moment, with the appearance of a blond man, his mind completely exploded with a "BOOM."
"Dr. Mei, First... Ahem! Mr. Michael, what are you two doing here?" While Michael [Official Michael] walked to the steps and picked up the megaphone, the police captain stood cautiously before Michael [Duplicate Michael] and Mei, his expression suggesting fear that one of them might suddenly turn hostile and devour him.
"Is there a problem with us being here? Or do you think we aren't qualified to be here?" Michael's [Duplicate Michael's] tone was somewhat aggressive, heightening the police captain's nervousness. He momentarily didn't know how to respond.
"Setting other things aside, I ask you, what exactly is going on here?" Mei naturally wouldn't have a pleasant expression either, but with Michael [Duplicate Michael] providing contrast, her tone seemed incredibly gentle. Besides, her words did indeed offer the police captain a way out.
"This... here's what happened. To alleviate the workers' stress during work, the City Official allocated funds to place projection screens at regular intervals in the factory buildings. They usually play movies, TV shows, and occasionally news. Although this reduced their work efficiency, but..."
"Get to the point!" With time being critical, still following the cause-process-result routine, both Michael [Duplicate Michael] and Mei were speechless.
"Yes, yes! Just now, the network signals throughout the entire American region experienced abnormal fluctuations. Then, many City Hall... no, strictly speaking, private information related to the City Official, Sir, was photographed and projected onto the screens inside the factories, and also onto major video websites. It seems to be a special hacking technique; it can't be deleted no matter what. That person also used AI-synthesized voice to read out all those things, and then these people just... just..."
"What things?"
"Ah?"
"What 'private information'? What 'those things'? Speak clearly!" Mei's chest heaved rapidly. The situation was critical, yet this police captain was both verbose and unable to articulate clearly. It was infuriating.
"It's... it's the City Official's dirt from over the years."
"Heh!" Mei scoffed. Before she could say anything, Michael [Duplicate Michael] suddenly grabbed her sleeve.
"Calm down a bit, Mei." Gentle psychic energy, like soothing spring water, instantly washed away the戾气 (hostile/violent aura) Mei had accumulated from prolonged fatigue and exposure to darkness, leaving her feeling cleansed. She silently covered her face, forcing herself to calm down for three seconds.
But the next moment, she looked up in astonishment, having suddenly caught a keyword while recalling the annoying police captain's words.
Coincidentally, Michael [Duplicate Michael] beside her also let out a long sigh. Then their eyes met. Mei opened her mouth and uttered a question the police captain wouldn't understand even if he scratched his head raw:
"The Twelfth?"
"Perhaps." Michael [Duplicate Michael] lowered his eyelids, feeling utterly exhausted internally.
Then, forcing himself, he offered consolation, "Maybe it's not that bad. Just a normal hacking incident?"
Mei pressed her lips together, stubbornly shaking her head. She knew Michael [Duplicate Michael] was afraid she couldn't handle the mental strain. After all, Mei was an ordinary person, hadn't rested all night, and had been exposed to too much darkness, violence, and despair in a short time, evident from her slightly overflowing irritability moments ago.
But to think she couldn't accept reality because of that would be underestimating her.
If she had a choice, she'd naturally prefer to numb herself slightly. After all, the judgment regarding the "Twelfth Herrscher" was still based on her and Michael's [Duplicate Michael's] deduction from limited evidence.
But wasn't there more, stronger evidence—
"Michael."
"Hm?"
"Have we... lost contact with HQ and your original self again?"