Overturned Tower

After the talk show ended successfully, the barber politely declined Mr. Emperor's invitation to stay for lunch.

Soon after he opened a certain door, he crossed the space and appeared directly in Russell's first-class cabin.

He tightened his tie and walked to the window.

Like a top-like floating island, the high-rise buildings, snow-capped mountains and fields above are bathed in sunlight. The densely packed, needle-like buildings in the lower city are hidden in the shadows.

"This is the happy island..."

The barber sighed.

He once thought that the Happy Island condensed the darkness of the world, a rotten land with prosperity on the outside and decay on the inside, where entertainment was paramount. But after walking around outside and then returning home, I found that the environment here is actually quite good...

At least the people on Happy Island are not like Sogo Island where they are unemployed on a large scale and they can still find jobs; the civilians on Happy Island still have hope, unlike Sun Island where there is a caste system called "intelligence" that has a permanent caste system. Regional separation, people with slightly worse performance will become the test subjects and advertising racks of the strong...

On Holy Blood Island, if people accidentally get into debt, they may be arrested by Ampoule Biomedical for experiments and medicine testing. Ampoule Biomedical even directly conducts some biological experiments locally without permission - such as conducting new drug research in nursing homes and mental hospitals.

Yongquan Island faces two dilemmas, both internal and external.

The security of Yongquan Island is the best, and the level of corporate exploitation is also the weakest. However, the entire island is almost submerged in water, and a large amount of moisture permeates the entire environment, making it difficult for ordinary people to live a healthy life. More than 80% of houses are submerged in water, which also shortens the life of the houses. But this is an extremely suitable environment for aquatic souls, but it faces another problem... that is, most of the aquatic souls are not in a very good state of intellectual development.

Not to mention that there is no positive BUFF, and most of them even have DEBUFF. It's easy to find a job.

If you can't find a job locally, or you simply commit a crime... you won't be locked up. Instead, they will be sent to explore the ocean and radiation-covered land in the name of "free explorer" or "hired exploration team". After exploring valuable oil fields or mines, you must wear protective clothing to mine. Protective clothing can block radiation and curses to a certain extent, and the aquatic creature's strong physical fitness and simple thoughts can delay distortion, weakness, madness and death.

It can be said that the modern life of other empty islands is based on the sacrifice of Yongquan Island.

The situation on Taoyuan Island is one of monopoly by aristocratic families and high housing prices.

Although Russell has never been to that empty island, he has asked about bad days.

Taoyuan Island has many similarities with the land where Russell lived in his previous life...the biggest difference is that it is a land governed by a company.

This results in fundamental differences in many areas.

For example, Taoyuan Island does not have a unified college entrance examination, and its examination system is no different from that of Xingfu Island and Tongshen Island. They have become specialized entrance examinations for each university; coupled with the Sky Island Age, the characteristics common to all Sky Islands - that That is, the Big Seven do not have to pay taxes.

Because the empty island has no country at all. Taoyuan Trading Company itself is a top-floor building.

Instead, people have to pay taxes to the company...

For example, Happy Island's "low-end transaction tax" requires that all products priced below 1 credit point must take a 10% commission and give it to the company. As "a necessary means to maintain prices."

The unique tax on Taoyuan Island is the "real estate transaction tax." If you don’t buy a new property, you’ll have to rent – ​​because second-hand properties are more expensive than first-hand properties.

But if you buy a first-hand house, it is not certain when the house will be delivered...

Taoyuan Island is also the island with the most complete preservation of "family" inheritance, which also means that besides the "company" inheritance line, there is another family line. Just like Haori, Grandma Lan, and Delphinium's mother who used to be called Nanliu Jing... They don't pay as much attention to "code names" as they do to other islands, because Taoyuan Island still has the concept and custom of "surnames" .

This directly resulted in that, although the survival pressure imposed by Taoyuan Trading Company itself was not high, many positions in the company were passed down from father to son, and from father to son. Too much emphasis on "human feelings and sophistication" has caused the flow of human relationships within the same class, as well as the two adjacent classes above and below, to become extremely solidified. It's just like Russell's establishment of the "Relief Society"... except that their exchanges are limited to the people they can contact, which in turn leads to further solidification of resources.

The development of aristocratic families has led to real estate monopoly.

Pieces of land were constantly bought and converted into manors, villas or viewing spots.

The land logic on Taoyuan Island is that as long as you build a building on this land where no building has ever been built, you will also own the land. When trading a building, the land under the building will also be traded; and if you already own a piece of land, you cannot purchase new land, and all land owners cannot hold any non-connected land. . This was the basic rule determined by Taoyuan Trading Company when Taoyuan Island was first established.

But there is a loophole here...that is, you cannot buy new land, but you can expand old land.

The family will then begin to purchase a series of buildings in the surrounding areas along the land they already own. And they were all demolished and bulldozed to create artificial wonders.

Low-yield places such as schools and shops often sell their land to rich people who control adjacent land at a very high price, get a large sum of money, and then go to places far away from these rich people to use it. Part of the land bought warehouses, residential buildings, bankrupt factories and other lower-yielding land, and then bulldozed and rebuilt the buildings. Then wait until the rich expand again, and then sell the land to them.

As a result, the land that can be rented and lived on will gradually be eroded. Taoyuan Island is currently the sky island with the best preservation of terrestrial culture. It is also the sky island with the best environment... and the sky island with the most expensive real estate.

——As for Tongshen Island, it is even more powerful.

Tongshen Island also has the employment pressure and extremely high unemployment rate unique to Sogo Island, the education monopoly and poor public security unique to Xingfu Island, the large slums and racial segregation unique to Holy Blood Island, and the "privilege of some people" unique to Taoyuan Island. 's paradise". And an environment without sunlight and an environment full of moisture are also not suitable for people to live in; at the same time, Shenzhi Heavy Industry will also capture children for experiments like Ampoule Biomedical.

The luxury six-in-one is.

If Chairman Sal hadn't triggered the "miracle" at the cost of his life, at least one-sixth of the people on Tongshen Island would have been killed by now. This means that almost 80% of family relationships are broken, and the entire island will fall into complete shutdown and chaos.

It can be said that it has actually been destroyed once.

But after it fell from the cliff, it was caught in mid-air by a lasso and pulled back alive.

Russell, who witnessed all this with his own eyes, has now returned to Happy Island again.

Even the uncoded people who huddled in the lower city seemed to be a little "happier" - at least they were not like those on Holy Blood Island, where they would be directly hunted down by people sent by the company and captured as test subjects. Tianen Group just made them into petri dishes to draw cards to find demons...

...It can only be said that being worse than others is indeed the eternal theme of cyber society.

And this also made Russell feel sad.

If Happy Island is really the "Gotham" that condenses the darkness of the world, then it would be okay and it would make Russell feel comforted.

Because that means that the only problem Russell needs to solve is Happy Island itself. The suffering he saw was the deepest suffering in the world.

But now the facts are before his eyes.

The suffering he saw was far less than one-tenth of the suffering in this world; the tired and painful people he met could actually be regarded as "happy" people.

Such irony. So desperate again.

Changing one empty island would take up Russell's lifetime, let alone seven.

But it was precisely because of this that Russell completely gave up the idea of ​​changing everything by relying on his own abilities.

He had to unite people...and he had to draw on the power of the crowd.

If the "barber" needs to be the wise, calm, down-to-earth leader, the person who takes charge of the overall situation——

Then "Ultramarine" will stand on the other side, entrusting people's inner passion and ideals, as the "hero" that people expect to see.

The barber's show is over.

Next, it's time for "Ultraline" to appear...

Boom boom.

At this moment, there was a dull knock on the door of the room.

"Mr. Ultramarine...are you awake? We are almost there."

That was Ringo's voice.

When taking the airship from Sun Island, Russell told her that he had to catch up on sleep in the room on the grounds that "I woke up early today and didn't get enough sleep." Wake yourself up when the airship arrives at Happy Island in ten to twenty minutes.

Yes, Russell finally decided to bring Ringo back with him.

But this is not "absconding."

Although Ringo himself said that he did not intend to return to Sun Island, as long as he could leave. However, she could say this when she was impulsive and self-destructive, but Russell couldn't just take her words seriously.

If he really thinks about Ringo, he must think about her - and be prepared for the possibility that she will "go home" in the future. No matter how much she hates this "home", and how much Sun Island doesn't look like "home", it's still the same.

So Russell came into contact with "Professor Chen" as Ultramarine. And assigned Ringo's identity to his own name.

Not as the deputy director of the execution department, but as the deputy general manager of the Sanzhi Heavy Industry Headquarters.

——Although Russell has not yet accepted the name "Thal", Sanshin Heavy Industry gave him a higher status when he left to prevent him from being targeted by Tongshen Island executives who did not know the truth.

This identity is just a false position. The reason why it is "deputy general manager" rather than a higher status is because this status only needs to be modified on the internal website. It does not have to be a post in any field, does not need to actually manage any department, and does not need to be interviewed at all. And no one can interfere with him except the board of directors. At the same time, it will not affect the original staff promotion - it is the general manager who will be promoted to the board of directors, not the deputy general manager, and the deputy general manager will not necessarily become the general manager.

This can be regarded as the highest-ranking vacant position within Shenzhi Heavy Industry.

Although in fact there is still no real power, sometimes just identity is enough.

Originally, Professor Chen wanted to interfere with Russell's decision and wanted Ringo back; but after Russell said that he knew the director of Amirus, Professor Chen changed his mind and said that he needed a higher price; but after Russell revealed his identity , Professor Chen immediately changed his mind again - this time he wanted nothing, and also gave Russell the data of the experimental psionic suit that Ringo was wearing.

He said that this suit has actually developed a newer model and entered the elimination sequence. After three years, update support will no longer be provided - after repeatedly revising it for three versions, they still decided to use the dual energy system and planned to restructure the suit based on this.

——It’s like Party A and Party B had a lot of back and forth and changed several samples, and then Party A decided to go back to the first version.

But for ordinary designers, this is nothing more than producing a few pictures or making a few samples.

However, for "probationers" like Ringo, this means that their future is over.

Professor Chen obviously knew this for a long time.

That's why he sent Ringo out for breeding...because he knew that after Ringo returned, he wouldn't need to accept any more advertisements. The institute has also found a new model - a girl who is equally cute, equally smart, but younger.

Now that the "old system" was about to be eliminated, Professor Chen sold a favor and gave its information to Russell.

In this way, even if Ringo leaves Sun Island with Russell, he can still collect materials on Happy Island to upgrade his suit.

He even graciously reserved a place in the research institute for Lin Ju... allowing her to serve as an "expatriate researcher" to "intern on the island with General Manager Qingqing". When she returns to Sun Island, she will be promoted directly on the spot thanks to this expatriate experience.

no doubt.

If Russell didn't show his identity, Ringo would definitely not get such preferential treatment. There may even be human intervention, or even people being sent to capture him directly...

And even the executives of another empty island, without holding any real power at hand, can easily ask for the research results and permanently take away the employees directly under Thoth Psychic Power.

"It's so ironic..."

The barber murmured under his breath.

Hearing strange noises coming from inside the house, Ringo pressed against the door with caution and shouted: "Ultramarine? Are you awake?"

Hearing this, the "barber" raised his head.

The corners of his mouth raised slightly, and he put his hand on his face.

It was like gently taking off an invisible mask... As Russell's hand left his cheek, the appearance of the "barber" blurred and disappeared in a burst of ultramarine flames. Among the blue flames that floated like flying feathers, Russell wearing the uniform of the Executive Department was revealed.

He walked towards the door, operated the door of the room with his mind, and opened it.

"Just call me Ultramarine?"

Russell smiled and said: "Are you finally not so outspoken?"

"I thought something happened to you..."

Seeing Russell come out, Ringo breathed a sigh of relief.

She sighed angrily and put one hand on her hip: "I said this, obviously it is a hint to confirm whether you are safe, sir!

"If you are being held hostage, you can say, 'Oh, dear Miss Ringo, there is nothing wrong with me.' Once I hear that this is not the tone you usually speak to me, I can just break in through the door. I rescued you!"

"Have you watched too many movies?" Russell complained.

"I rarely watch movies...but many novels have this kind of plot!"

She followed Russell to the hall.

The children Russell brought back from the laboratory on Tongshen Island were all sitting there obediently.

A large number of children with pure white, creamy white, silver, and silver-gray hair and iconic silver-gray pupils, ranging in age from seven or eight to fifteen or sixteen, were sitting quietly in their seats.

They no longer wear white sweatshirts with no decorations and only digital logos like those in the institute, but instead wear fashionable clothes with different styles. White silk and black silk, short skirts and long skirts, small suits and jeans, windbreakers and down jackets... There is no need to consider the temperature or the season. Like a costume model come to life.

Russell purchased these in large quantities from Sun Island, which can best highlight the cuteness of the children.

Their appearance is dignified and cute, and they are all different from each other and do not have any spiritual characteristics on them. The ratio of boys to girls is approximately 1:1.5. They are like balls of fluffy white balls, neither noisy nor moving, sensible and well-behaved. They will also focus on Russell with his appearance, and his ignorant and innocent eyes will make people subconsciously feel fond of him.

——This is a well-behaved state that is never possible for normal human children.

"Remember what we said before? The airship will be arriving soon. Please stay quiet until I introduce you."

The heroic Ultramarine put her finger to her mouth, making a silent gesture.

He squinted his eyes, showed a soft smile, and showed two shallow dimples at the corners of his mouth.

It’s natural to feel happy when you look at these children.

"Remember to act cute and likeable. My lovely children."

He moved all the artificial humans from the entire Tongshen Island.

——Tongshen Island doesn’t want them anymore. But Russell wants it.

A two-in-one chapter of five thousand words!

Because I wanted to end this volume before sixty chapters, I started compressing the number of chapters into two chapters a few chapters ago.

Although it feels a bit self-defeating to finish the chapter like this...but this volume will have more words, so I think you will like it! (Cat shakes his head)