Vitinya rubbed her chin, her eyes wandering.
"I don't think now is the ti to think about these things."
Tang Jin leaned casually against the marble column and said softly, "What I imagine is, if Shen Ye chooses to forfeit for so unknown reason, then you and I will have to face our little junior sister in excellent condition ahead of ti."
"I know what you're thinking, it's nothing more than wanting to see Shen Ye defeat the little junior sister in the ring, or at least exhaust most of her physical strength. That way, even if you face her, you can easily subdue her without causing her to be hurt."
"But I must tell you, you'd better put away this idea quickly because our little junior sister is not the kind of person who would give up halfway. She has only two paths in the ring: to win, or to die."
Vitinya snorted softly but didn't voice any opposition.
He knew Tang Jin was right.
...
And at this mont, what about Yun You facing Shen Ye?
Faced with such a sudden apology, what exactly is she thinking?
The little girl hasn't spoken for a long ti, but...
The face hidden under her mask slowly twisted into sothing distorted.
She had simulated many scenes in her mind of confronting her enemy. The other party might justify their actions or mock her foolishness and naivety. After all, this world is inherently unfair and irrational. In the eyes of those who treat life with contempt, those killed are as good as dead because of their weakness, and being weak in Nest City is tantamount to original sin.
Yun You doesn't care about her enemy's mockery. Since the opponent is already the scum of the scum, reasoning is aningless; just kill them with their own warped logic. That's how Yun You's dealt with Yang Lie and Hikamu before.
But now? Just when she was planning to return Shen Ye's own thod of massacre to him, this guy chose to bow his head and apologize?
What on earth is this supposed to be? Is Shen Ye a good person? Does he have his own unavoidable hardships?
"What a joke..."
Yun You felt her entire body trembling, her teeth numb with an extre fury.
"What does this an? Why are you apologizing?"
"Can an apology offset the cris you've committed? Can an apology bring back the dead?"
"What dreamworld are you living in..."
The girl clenched her fists, her nails deeply embedded in the flesh of her palms, letting one drop after another of bright red blood drip on the ground.
Since the massacre incident, she had never felt such a furious emotion.
It was the feeling of unleashing all your power in one punch only to have it hit soft cotton.
How she wished Shen Ye could be just like Yang Lie and Hikamu, a complete villain, at least pretending to be one on the surface, so she wouldn't hesitate or have any burden when taking action.
Yet now, what does it co to?
She's waiting for Shen Ye's answer, curious to see what insane logic he will spew.
"In fact, my apology is not ant to gain your forgiveness."
Shen Ye slowly stood up, let out a long sigh.
Then he suddenly shifted the conversation, replying, "Miss Wu Ming, do you know my campaign motto and political platform as a mayoral candidate?"
At these words, Yun You was imdiately puzzled.
Shen Ye's political platform?
To be honest, she really hasn't paid attention to this kind of stuff.
On one hand, it's because she truly doesn't understand this area of knowledge, and on the other hand, she hasn't had the leisure to study governance, so she doesn't know much even about Mokaka's platform, let alone Shen Ye as his competitor.
Moreover, what does this have to do with Shen Ye's previous words and that apology?
"Actually, my political platform has many similarities with the one you support — Mokaka's."
Shen Ye didn't care about Yun You's thoughts, instead speaking for himself...
"Economically, we both support limiting big corporations' monopoly in the lower realm, encouraging Lower City residents to self-organize family-type workshops to produce affordable daily necessities to subsidize household expenses, and offer various tax-free policies to support their developnt."
"This is one part regarding the civilians, while the other part is to increase the commodity tax of giant enterprises from ten percent to thirteen percent. Although it seems negligible and doesn't appear as exaggerated as Mokaka's advocacy of thirty percent, it'll at least increase the Lower City's finances by tens of billions annually."
"In terms of people's livelihood, both I and Mokaka support building a comprehensive public health and education system benefiting all Lower City citizens, restoring compulsory education and free dical consultation policies from years past, without any threshold or opportunities for profiteering by others."
"As long as soone is diagnosed with a disease, they can get treatnt at a clinic; as long as a child reaches enrollnt age, they can receive a reasonably acceptable education."
"With regard to law and order, I will be stricter than Mokaka, all the gangs in the Lower City and the Cartel Group are my targets for crackdown. I will eliminate these parasites feeding off the bottom layer civilians with the strongest thods."
At this point, Shen Ye's voice noticeably chilled, but it soon returned to its previous calm state.
"My goal is to ensure people in my city can eat their fill, wear clothes without patches or holes, live in houses complete with lights and water rather than dwelling in drains like rats, and when they're out, not worry about being affected by gang conflicts."
Shen Ye hamred his chest heavily as if taking an oath and spoke solemnly, "This is my political platform."
"..."
Yun You didn't speak, but a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.
She initially thought Shen Ye was like those forr Lower City mayors, outwardly showing concern for the state and its people but inwardly just aiming to fill his own pockets and siding with giant corporations.
Let alone the Lower City mayor, the majority of Middle Upper City mayors were doing these things.
Because of this, such mayors could accumulate wealth comparable to Nest City's old nobility who spent centuries acquiring it in just a few decades of their term. Every mayor's death or voluntary retirent spawns a new erging prestigious family in Nest City.
But Yun You truly didn't expect Shen Ye's platform would be like this, seemingly walking a path identical to Mokaka's with rely slight policy differences.
However, upon closer thought, Yun You found it reasonable.
Although Shen Ye had the support of the Collection Clan, gaining considerable votes through publicity and investnt thods, practically, he also truly had his own demographic base with civilians willing to trust him.
If not, during Mokaka's overall advantage, he wouldn't still hold at least about thirty percent of the votes.
He lost to Mokaka, but it wasn't a rout; it was an honorable defeat... Without Yun You's intervention, both sides would have had a hard ti distinguishing who prevails. Mokaka's advantage might be slightly greater, but either's victory would've been possible.
This speaks volus of the truth behind his words.
"So what exactly are you trying to prove?"
Yun You tilted her head and asked, "Prove you're also a good official serving the people? Prove that no matter how much cri you've committed in the past, those you've hurt can't find opportunities to settle accounts with you? That would truly be invincible; as long as I have a virtuous heart, I should be forgiven no matter how many wrongs I've committed, is that what you an?"
"No."
Shen Ye shook his head gently.
"I only want to say that people are complex; humans, this species, are hard to sum up with a few words."
"I want to be a good person. I want to be a respected mayor, using my abilities to improve people's livelihoods, benefiting more individuals."
"But I must do so evil deeds to achieve this goal, and the massacre event a year ago was one of them."
"I am clearer than anyone else that incident was wrong. Almost every night I dream of those burned to death by coming to claim my life, but Miss Wu Ming, I had to do it."
"If I could return to the past with my current mory, I would still do it; this is a choice I will never change."
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