"Let’s hope," Jiang Shu sighed, remembering the dozens of homeless who had died.
"Don’t worry, judging by the current public sentiment, the chances of a heavy sentence are pretty high," Wolf said. "The impoverished class, even the middle class in the DEF district, are following this matter very actively. It’s directly related to them. To appease the anger of this stratum, the judiciary sequence will likely produce a good outcome."
"Hmm?" Jiang Shu caught the implication in Wolf’s words, "Directly related."
"A good number of the homeless are from being unable to afford exorbitant loans and going bankrupt," Wolf shrugged as if he were discussing something mundane. "All sorts of loans, like student loans, some people are still paying them off until retirement. Even the middle class is under considerable economic pressure. The slightest disturbance can result in their houses being confiscated, leaving them homeless, jobless, and turning them into homeless."
He went on, "Many jobs require a fixed address. Without a house, it’s difficult to find work and one can only become homeless. This is also one of the hidden worries of those who are concerned about this incident; that’s why they’re so invested in it."
Jiang Shu understood.
This place was Lonely City, and often, becoming homeless wasn’t something that regular people could control.
Hard work and diligence didn’t guarantee a stable life, especially when, even if people worked twelve hours a day, the value they created was still less than a fraction of others.
The reason they worked might be the same as the reason Special Prison made prisoners work.
And Jiang Shu was also clear about the deeper reasons; perhaps, this was what Clo meant by "class locked by knowledge." In an era of advanced technology, locking knowledge away was difficult, but it was different here.
Lonely City had the Character Card system.
"Boom—" Suddenly, a loud explosion came from outside the police station, and both Jiang Shu and Wolf stood up, looking through the air in the direction of the blast before exchanging looks filled with shock.
"Stay here, I’ll check what’s going on," Wolf rushed out of his office.
Jiang Shu turned to Ding beside him, "I’ll stay put, you go check what’s happening."
Ding: ???
But Ding didn’t hesitate. It followed Wolf’s lead, activating its camera to record everything.
At the entrance of the police station, several police cars transporting suspects from Keyin Company were completely destroyed by the explosion, now engulfed in raging flames.
Meanwhile, a few officers quickly contained the fire with extinguishers.
A crowd had also gathered on the street, capturing this rare scene with their cell phones. It was easy to imagine that soon, news like "Seventh District Police Station Bombed" would appear online.
The Seventh District Police Station swiftly set up a police cordon to control the situation.
There were no casualties; when the bomb exploded, neither the officers nor the suspects were in the cars.
This wasn’t luck, because a letter was found at the scene with just eight words:
"Chen Li onto the list, those who can’t, stop."
Those who can demonstrate their abilities should hold their positions; those who can’t resign.
Placed at such a time, at such a location, the message was clear—if you can’t handle these scum properly, then let me do it.
Across the street, a fierce-looking person stood there with a blank expression, his prosthetic eye emitting a faint blue light.
He was recording the scene here, transmitting it to...
The distant E district.
---
One tall, one short; one muscular, one thin.
One wearing an abstract-style fox mask, the other donning a white with black lines Adidas-style mask.
Fox and Devil Wind walked on the much cleaner streets of E district.
"Everything’s going smoothly," Fox smiled.
"Mm," Devil Wind nodded, not saying much. He saw a homeless man on the street corner.
The homeless man sat in front of a closed shop, with a vacant stare and gaunt features. In front of him, a cardboard sign scribbled with "Please help me."
Devil Wind remained silent, simply walking over and placing paper money in front of the homeless man, enough for a few days’ use.
The homeless man slowly looked up at Devil Wind, his eyes still devoid of color, and without a word of thanks.
"He’s already dead," Fox shrugged.
"But I am not,"
Devil Wind responded.