"A year ago, the people of Yilan chose Lin En to be the mayor of this city." The slightly gaunt Lante stood in the drizzling rain, behind a solid wood podium. In front of him lay a coffin, just placed on a mechanical platform, draped with a flag adorned with White Jasmine Flowers. The petals of peach and plum blossoms followed the raindrops, brushing over the damp flag. "Throughout his life he pursued many careers; he was a columnist, a doctor, and served as a council member in the city council, a cabinet minister, and even became the council speaker," With his calm voice echoing through the microphone and hidden speakers into everyone’s ears, Lante watched the dense crowd in front of him, "Finally, when he realized that none of this could achieve his ideals, he decided to make a run for mayor. "He ran for mayor four times, failing in the first three, and the Yilan Morning Post once mockingly called him ’the perpetual mayoral also-ran.’ "But we all know his failures were not because of lack of ability, but because he chose a path that was almost impossible to succeed on. "His enemies were not just his electoral opponents, but the two major conglomerates that had controlled the city for over a hundred years, their tentacles spreading across all sectors, their servants stretching from the White Jasmine Palace to the Southern District. "But we all know, even when facing such powerful adversaries, he ultimately succeeded. "Eventually, the people of Yilan, through their own efforts, propelled the mayor who truly belonged to them into office." That calm voice carrying historical weight echoed under the silent curtain of rain, as the crowd raised their heads, gazing at the white-haired figure delivering the eulogy, at the quiet coffin in front of him. Raindrops fell gently on the soil, creating a soft rustling sound. "Compared to the average age of forty to fifty for first-time mayors in the Federation, he was indeed quite aged, but history has repeatedly shown that heroes do not confine to age. "When he stood at the place that was meant for him, it was destined that he would shine a light so bright, that it would dim the very fate set against him. "Opposition, impeachment, assassination, rebellion, sieges, Evil God’s Advent, he faced turbulence and backlash the likes of which Yilan City had not seen in eight hundred years. "Any ordinary mayor, merely facing one or two of these challenges, would most likely retreat and yield, "But when faced with threats that could overturn the city and destroy everything, he exhibited exceptional skill and genius-like action. "In the turbulent waves, he captured the sails of Yilan City; in the stormy weather, he seized the reins of the era. "The victory cheers of war spread from South City to North City; the tales of the retreat of Evil God spread from Storm Sea to the northern ice plains. "There is an old saying in Yilan City: gold must be placed in the fire to reveal its glowing hue; sailors must be in the storm to manifest their extraordinary abilities. "The more dangerous the circumstance, the more it reveals the talent and ability of heroic figures. "Even Kopes Mining and Evis Spatial System must admit, the very storms they created ended up forging the brightest brilliance in Lin En. "He wasn’t just a great politician, but also a military genius. Even if he only left behind one military tactic case, I think it would be enough to be enshrined in the textbooks of the Federal Military Academy. "In the long history of Yilan City, many mayors have left their mark on the position, a marvelous resume that became the main topic of conversation in their dull later lives. "But some people are different. The position of mayor of Yilan City doesn’t leave an imprint on their lives; rather, they leave a permanent mark on Yilan City." Lante lifted his head, gazing at the dense crowd in front of him. "We can hear the clinking, that’s the sound of new hospitals being built; we can hear the whirring of gears and motors, that’s idle factories being restarted. "We all know that a brand-new era has already arrived, the era of Lin En, and also the era of all Yilan people." His voice gradually rose, resounding in everyone’s ears, "The flesh of a person may perish, but their spirit will never fade, "The united people of Yilan are present here today, and will forever be, "A year ago, the people of Yilan entrusted this city to Lin En, and now, he has returned this city, revitalized, to us, and we will continue along the path he has guided us. "The road ahead is surely fraught with crises, but the united people of Yilan will ultimately triumph! "I now declare, according to the resolution of the Yilan City Council, Lin En is awarded the title of permanent honorary mayor of Yilan City, with his immediate family members to receive the same treatment as those of a mayor." He raised his hand, shouting loudly, "Long live Yilan! Long live Mr. Lin En!" "Long live Yilan! Long live Mr. Lin En!" The white banners were held high as the roaring echo like tidal waves surged throughout the city, with even the scattered raindrops in the sky trembling in this tsunami of sound. Surrounding the coffin, the military band played a lingering tune, the mechanical structure supporting the coffin opened below, revealing the pre-dug grave, and then the entire mechanism began to slowly descend. Standing at the forefront of the honor guard, Christos turned around to look at the surging crowd, his gaze far-reaching. And the red-haired girl standing right beside the coffin just quietly stared at the slowly sinking coffin, her hands clutching a crumpled packet of gummy bears. In the passionate crowd, two men in suits looked through the gap between people, at the slowly descending coffin, the man on the right spoke softly. "But not in the way we wanted." The man on the left gently shook his head. "We have to think of other methods." The man on the right sighed. "When power is transferred, there is always a problem with uneven distribution." The man on the left followed with a light sigh. "But should we just let their funeral go on smoothly?" The man on the right pondered. "All the connections we had here were basically uprooted by that old geezer, Lin En. We can’t find anyone now," The man on the left glanced around, propped up his chin, and thought, "But, as long as there’s money, it’s not necessarily impossible..." At that moment, a hoodlum-looking young man approached them and asked, "Excuse me, sirs, do you work for the consortium?" The man on the left was slightly taken aback, looking at the youth with a hint of wariness and confusion. The young man cautiously came closer, looking at the two wary men and whispered, "I’ve lost everything recently and am looking to make some money, but I can’t find a way to earn it." The two men glanced at each other. "How much money do you want?" The man on the right asked in a low voice. The youth hesitated, then quickly changed from one to two, and finally stretched out five fingers, "Fifty thousand!" The men on the left and right exchanged glances, "You sure are greedy." He swept a look over the cheap clothes on the youth and the faintly visible tattoos on his arms, speaking in a gentle tone, "You’re alone?" "We’ve got plenty of brothers, all around here," The young man hesitated, then looked at the two men, "But my brothers all want the same price as me, and the money must be given to me first." "You want a cut, huh," The man on the left looked at the youth and smiled, "That’s fine, as long as you’re willing to work, we can negotiate the price." The youth looked at the two men and asked softly, "Are you two really the lords of the consortium?" Then, to their questioning and wary looks, he explained slowly, "You know, us street brothers, we won’t take risks without seeing real money, maybe you two could pay in advance..." "You doubt we have no money?" The man on the right scoffed, pulled out a black electronic identity card from his pocket, and showed it to the youth, "Evis Spatial Systems Special Operations Division." The youth carefully leaned forward, looked at the identity and position information on the card, along with the emblem of overlapping triangles, and said in a slightly elongated tone, "You really are the lords of the consortium." Then he saw the two men’s somewhat disdainful gaze and smiled sheepishly, "Please wait a moment, sirs. I’ll call our guys." Immediately, he took a half step back, pulled out a baton from his back pocket, glanced over the excited crowd, and shouted, "Brothers, we’ve got consortium dogs here!!!" The shouts around him suddenly fell silent. In the moment the youth sounded off, the two men prepared to flee but were blocked by the reacting crowd. The man on the right didn’t even have time to put away his identity card. Subsequently, amid clanging and howls of pain, an even louder commotion rose within the closing crowd. The nearby guards hurriedly pushed through the crowd. Amidst this restless noise, the pitch-black coffin completely sank into the grave, and the prepared mechanical structure began to cover it layer by layer. The red-haired girl, who had been watching the coffin and hadn’t shifted her gaze, calmly observed as the layers slowly covered the coffin. She gently opened a bear-shaped gummy candy in her hand, twitched her nose, and put the soft candy into her mouth. Scattered raindrops passed through her hair strands, spread over her cheeks, and the bitter drops seeped into her lips as the girl slowly chewed, blending with the sweet soft candy, melting in her mouth. Yilan City Deputy Mayor Lante took the oath of office of Mayor under the witness of Honorary Speaker Levi. Lante retained nearly all of the administrative team from the previous Mayor, Lin En, and indicated that he would continue to govern in the direction set by Lin En. The new city government announced further tax investigations into the two major consortia, reclaiming or confiscating a large amount of municipal property illegally occupied by the two consortia. This included a large number of city-owned factories and mining sites. Surrounding cities of Yilan City announced the end of the trade blockade against Yilan City and the resumption of commerce. Montshanto Grain Industry Group declared that a large shipment of grains would soon be transported to Yilan City to be sold at a discounted price, in an effort to alleviate the grain crisis in Yilan City. Reports suggested that during the nearly one-week blockade, Montshanto’s market share in Yilan City had drastically decreased, with over 45% of the grain market taken over by Nolanka Group from Kaye City. Insiders revealed that its market share was continuing to dwindle. On the same day, Montshanto Grain Industry announced the dismissal of several hundred management employees responsible for Yilan City and its surrounding cities, as well as one executive director. Lawsuits were filed against these employees for damages. Mayor Christos concluded his one-week visit to Yilan City and returned to Dawn City with a large number of orders. At noon on the same day, he held a press conference, displaying a large number of bills brought back from Yilan City, and stated that he would use Yilan City’s "Anti-Corporate Monopoly Act" as a reference to revise Dawn City’s Anti-Corporate Monopoly Act. He also stated that the Anti-Corporate Monopoly Act would be the focus of his forthcoming work. Several large consortia headquartered in Dawn City or with operations in Dawn City issued statements one after another. They claimed that Mayor Christos’ actions had extreme disrupted the free market and financial market, diminishing the vitality of the market in Dawn City and the Federation, constituting a serious violation of the Federation’s order. The major consortia individually urged Mayor Christos to cease his actions immediately, to contribute to protecting the Federation’s market environment. Glorious Palace responded that it would not change its original plan. On the same day, the Federal Central Army arrived near Yilan City. After over a month of unresponsive investigations, the Yilan City Police Department released a multitude of documents before the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation could, detailing evidence of collusion between Evis Spatial Systems, Kopes Mining, and the Evil God organization, as well as their attempts to subvert the Yilan City government. The Federation was in uproar. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Yilan City Police Department held a joint press conference to disclose more information and documents. They arrested a significant number of consortium executives and board members on charges of endangering the security of the Federation. The Federal President summoned the chairpersons of the two consortia’s boards of directors. Dawn City and Vitland City sent inquiries to the two consortia while issuing documents that prohibited the consortiums’ Mercenary Corps from appearing within a hundred kilometers of the cities’ safe zones. Security investigations were conducted on all the consortia’s caravans. The stock prices of the two consortia plummeted on the same day. Under continued public opinion fermentation, several dozen city governments sent inquiries to the two consortia in succession and initiated security investigations. The total stock price of the two consortia fell by more than 35% for the week. The story of the legendary Mayor Lin En spread widely as the events unfolded, and followers from other cities continuously came to Yilan City to pay their respects to Mayor Lin En. To avoid excessive numbers of worshippers damaging the cemetery environment, the Yilan City Government had to adopt a reservation system to limit the number of worshippers. Nevertheless, the stream of visitors coming to pay homage remained uninterrupted. Reports claimed that Mayor Lin En was also a believer of the legendary Divine Being K, but this information was not confirmed. Top floor of the Yilan City Council Building The white-haired figure sat at the bar, shifting his gaze from the city under construction back to the text he had just mimicked. The Federal Central Government announces the final decision on the penalties for the two major consortia. Both consortia will have one of their Mercenary Corps licenses permanently revoked, reducing the number they are allowed to own from three to two. The operating regions of the two consortia’s Mercenary Corps must not exceed the areas that the Federal Central Army can reach within a day’s time, and they are to be regularly inspected by the Federal Central Army to ensure that their equipment count and personnel numbers do not exceed the federal regulations. Additionally, each of the two consortia is fined 100 million federal coins. The two consortia’s cumulative stock price plummeted by nearly 50%. Following strong recommendations from the city governments of Yilan City and Dawn City, the Federal Central Government awarded the Nolanka Group with the qualifications for a second Mercenary Corps. This increased the maximum number of Mercenary Corps that Nolanka Group can establish from one to two. That evening, Nolanka Group announced that it would take over the Evis Spatial System’s factory left in Yilan City, producing some military and heavy industrial equipment. At the same time, the group also stated that, after the test of Yilan battlefield, the Cain Type light Mecha produced by Nolanka Group, known for its high mobility and low cost, had been widely recognized. More than fifty cities and ten Mercenary Corps have reached procurement intentions with Nolanka Group. Yilan City’s first Qiming Hospital construction was completed, with Miss Lin Na, the only daughter of Mayor Lin En, attending the hospital’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. Once fully operational, the hospital will become the largest affordable medical facility in the eastern part of the Federation. Analysts have suggested that the presence of this hospital could potentially reduce medical prices in Yilan City by over sixty percent. Dawn City’s vote on the "Anti-Corporate Monopoly Act" encounters resistance in its first city council vote. Mayor Christos held a press conference, declaring that he was prepared for a tough battle and prepared to fail three, four, or even a dozen times. Regardless, he was determined to get the act passed. Influenced by Dawn City and Yilan City, legislators in major cities across the Federation began to attempt pushing for similar anti-monopoly acts. Nord Financial Consortium, along with the top twenty consortia of the Federation, held a press conference stating: The so-called "Anti-Monopoly Act" is a clear intervention in the free competition market, it’s unethical, irrational, and an oppressive act that contravenes the spirit of federal law. If necessary, the major consortia may take joint action to resist the brutal oppression by Dawn City’s City Government. Nord Financial Consortium will fight to defend market freedom and the Federation’s economy with all its might, along with other consortia. "The main area of the Southern District has been rebuilt. The redeveloped Southern District will be a large economic area integrating factories, shops, schools, and hospitals." "Residents who lived in the Southern District before, those with property can be allocated a corresponding property free of charge, those without property, as long as they hold a working proof from the nearby area of the Southern District, can obtain their own apartment rent-free or at a very low cost." "Of course, citizens in other areas do not need to worry, most of the Nevus District and Cena District are also in the next stage of the city government’s redevelopment plan..." Watching the red-shirted host’s excited and enthusiastic introduction on his bracelet, Corvey, seated on the chair, put down his bracelet and turned his gaze to his surroundings. The sunrise ascended from the end of the sky, brand new and magnificent buildings stood tall under the fiery sunlight, the warm glow shining on the faces of passersby filled with smiles. "Just a couple of months ago, this place was filled with broken houses, stinking ditches, people wearing dirty clothes, walking wearily through these streets, either dying in factories or mines, and if lucky, in gang shootouts," The elderly lifted his hand, picking up a bottle of liquor from the next table, watching the passersby, "When I was a child, it was , my nephews and nieces were , and it’s been for decades, then suddenly everything changed, still getting used to it, but," He lifted his head, looking forward. In the distant shopping street, a little boy and his mother were hanging a brand-new ’Wills Bracelet Repair’ sign at the door of their narrow shop with the help of neighbors. Children, dressed in new clothes and laughing, ran past below the ladder, "They don’t have to live anymore." "The sunlight is really nice, old pal," He looked up again at the bright morning sun, while the scattered clouds brushed past the sunlight, stretching their bodies in the diffused light. The elderly turned his head back, gazing at the empty seat next to him, and the two empty glasses on the low table between the seats. He lifted the bottle, his cloudy gaze fixed on that empty seat, slowly pouring the sunlit, fiery liquor into the crystal-clear glass next to that seat, "You did it, old buddy, you did it."