Chapter 171: Headlines

Early morning.

Chen Ling pushed open the door, and a scent of plum blossoms rushed toward him. A few magpies on the eaves were startled and flew into the sky one after another.

At this moment, Chen Ling was still a little dazed. Perhaps he had stayed in District 3 for too long, and he subconsciously thought that after opening the door, it would be a street full of wind and snow... But now he suddenly realized that the familiar and drafty little shack could never be returned to.

Chen Ling slept very well, sweeping away the fatigue of the past few days. After waking up at the door for a while, just after passing the arch of the courtyard, he saw a figure sitting in front of the courtyard, reading a stack of newspapers carefully.

Chu Muyun was still wearing that shirt and vest, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, and his reading posture was exactly the same as when he was in District 3. This seemed to be his habit every morning.

"I thought you would sleep a little longer." Chu Muyun glanced at him.

"It's enough, I have things to do." Chen Ling sat on the stone chair opposite him and asked straight to the point, "Aurora City, is there any place that is relatively chaotic?"

Hearing this, Chu Muyun's expression was a little strange. He closed the book, "What kind of trouble do you want to cause again?"

"What do you mean by 'again'? I rarely cause trouble."

Chu Muyun didn't speak, just silently spread the newspaper in his hand on the table. On the most conspicuous and largest layout of the newspaper, a few pitch-black and huge characters instantly attracted Chen Ling's attention—

"Heretic or Justice? The first outsider in a hundred years to crash through the Aurora City gate—Chen Ling"

"'I question Aurora City'—District 3 Enforcer Han Meng challenges the Enforcer system!"

"Twilight Society member reappears in Aurora City! Disaster or salvation?"

"Interview record of District 3 survivors—deciphering the darkness and distortion of human nature of lower-level Enforcers"

"Today, 80% of the layout of the 'Aurora Daily' is about you. The whole city is arguing about your behavior yesterday... In the past hundred years, no one has ever been able to do this." Chu Muyun looked at him deeply. "You are a celebrity in Aurora City now... and you still say you rarely cause trouble?"

Chen Ling: ...

Chen Ling picked up the newspaper and flipped through it page by page.

Chu Muyun was right. This newspaper was almost full of photos of him yesterday: the train rushing out of the calamity wave, crashing through the Aurora City gate, his calm face when speaking in the city, and his elegant curtain call in the fire at the end... The text content was almost entirely related to him.

The only content in this newspaper that had nothing to do with him was that the Star Chamber of Commerce suddenly sounded an alarm last night, and it seemed that something was lost. However, this layout was also squeezed into the very corner, and you couldn't find it without looking carefully.

"What Chen Ling does, what does it have to do with me." Chen Ling pushed up the half-rimmed glasses and answered indifferently.

Chu Muyun's mouth twitched slightly.

Just then, Chen Ling's eyes scanned the article at the very top, and a name suddenly came into his view.

"Who is this Wen Shilin?" Chen Ling pointed to the small characters next to the title and asked.

"Isn't it written above? A reporter." Chu Muyun paused for a moment and then spoke again, "This reporter seems to be a bit famous. He has exposed several dark transactions behind the scenes of Enforcers and has also caused a sensation... In this day and age, there are not many reporters who have the courage to use the right of media freedom."

"Right of media freedom? What is that?"

"It was a bill established by that generation of high-level officials during the creation of the Enforcer system at the beginning of the establishment of Aurora City. The purpose was to use media freedom to check and balance the absolute enforcement power of the Enforcers, which can be considered a kind of supervision and inspection, so that the power of Enforcers or Enforcer groups would not be too inflated..." Chu Muyun smiled lightly. "But facts have proven that under the absolute power gap, the folk right of media freedom is limited. After these hundreds of years, how many reporters dare to use this right?

Not to mention what benefits using this right can bring them, if they offend some Enforcers or Enforcer groups, they wouldn't even know how they died... People are creatures that seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. Who is still willing to do this thankless job."

"Right of media freedom, huh..."

Chen Ling nodded thoughtfully. "Let's talk about business first. Where is Aurora City relatively chaotic?"

After going around in circles, Chen Ling asked back to that question. After Chu Muyun was speechless, he answered helplessly:

"Aurora City is the core of the Aurora domain after all. There are not many places that are too chaotic on the surface. You can go to the vicinity of the outer ring in the west of the city... Maybe there is what you want there."

Chen Ling got the news he wanted and was about to set off. After Chu Muyun hesitated for a moment, he added:

"By the way... your people from District 3 have also been settled there."

Chen Ling's footsteps paused slightly.

……

"What is your name...?"

"Zhao Yi."

"Okay, Mr. Zhao Yi." In the cramped room, a reporter held paper and pen, sitting next to the window. "Let me introduce myself. I am Zhuo Shuqing, a reporter for the 'Aurora Daily'. Next, I will ask you a few questions. I hope you will cooperate with the answers."

Zhao Yi was wrapped in bandages, his face full of fatigue. He frowned and asked, "Didn't you reporters already come to interview yesterday? Why are you asking again?"

"My colleague might have had some misunderstandings in understanding yesterday, so I am here to confirm with you again." Zhuo Shuqing's voice was as warm as jade and sounded very comfortable.

"You mentioned in the interview yesterday that Enforcers in District 3 have a situation of collecting large protection fees from residents, right?"

"Yes."

"How much is this fee?"

"At least three to five silver coins, every month."

"This amount doesn't sound like much."

Hearing this, Zhao Yi frowned subconsciously. Before he could speak, Zhuo Shuqing continued,

"Then, after collecting this fee, have there been any large-scale criminal cases or man-made terrorist attacks in the block?"

"...That hasn't happened, but..."

"Then can it be understood that after the Enforcers collected a small amount of subsidy from the public, they expanded their manpower and updated equipment in a timely manner, strengthened patrols, and thus avoided a series of vicious incidents?"

Zhao Yi was stunned. He stood up immediately and shook his head, saying, "No, that's not it... That is a protection fee! It's not a subsidy..."

Zhuo Shuqing seemed not to hear Zhao Yi’s voice, merely keeping his head down and writing rapidly on the paper. "You also mentioned that when the Third District was attacked by the Calamity, some enforcers not only failed to fulfill their duties but were the first to flee, even breaking into civilian homes to threaten the residents and hide... but in the end, the Calamity in the district was purged, wasn't it?"

"It was purged, yes, but that had nothing to do with them. That was..."

"Then is it possible that what you saw as fleeing and hiding was merely a trap set by the enforcers to counter-attack the Calamity? As for the collateral damage caused to the civilians during that time, it was an unintentional consequence of the struggle against the Calamity."

Hearing this, Zhao Yi could no longer suppress the rage in his heart; his fists slowly clenched!