"In the spring of the 67th year of the Constitution, at the ceremony of presenting the Nebula Award to the Medellín parliamentarians, I heard President Pabul say this."
"It is not as good as a lamp going out, the lamp has light, but where it does not shine is darkness, and if you do something wrong, you must pay the price.
Maybe I'm not a full-fledged politician, but I'm a dedicated adherent of federal law.
If I die, you can dig up my grave and see what color it is, and I have the same attitude towards some who have died. ” "At that time, Congressman Medellín had just died in an assassination attempt, and the people did not know that he would be the infamous seed of empire, and that Mr.
Pabur had just become president, full of energy and good ideas to change the world, and I was one of his most loyal supporters, just like you who were reading this newspaper."
"However, as Mr.
Pabur once said, there is a price to pay for doing wrong, and as president of the Federation, each of us has the right to demand that he stand on this side of the moral divide, not to mention that what he has done has long gone beyond the moral line, and we have no intention of supporting any political movement, but we insist that the people should have the right to know the truth."
"Will our accusations affect the war that took place in the Left Sky Star Field, and will our demands make the front-line soldiers shed more blood, I don't know the exact answer, I only know that this war between the Federation and the Empire, if there is some kind of justice surname that can be said loudly, then it can only be that we have a system that is superior to theirs, and the people living in this star field believe in goodness, justice, conscience, and law."
"If the Federation, which is guarded by front-line soldiers, loses these valuable qualities, then what is worth their bloodshed and sacrifice" "Vice President Byron is dead, Colonel Lake is dead, Colonel Simon Jin is dead, Mr.
Senator is dead, many people are dead, and there is no way to confront them, because even if we dig up their graves, all we can get is silence."
"But there are many more alive, who are not judged by law or wrath, who sit indifferently at the top of the Federation, who rule the world from above, and who change the world.
I don't know what color their graves will look like when they are dug up, but we do know that if we don't stop them, the entire Federation will be buried in an icy grave. ” "Bob and Wood wrote in the autumn of the seventy-fifth year of the Constitutional Calendar."
The newspaper office in the capital has long since moved away from the newspaper street that was full of the smell of ink in fantasy, and now it is just a very inconspicuous ordinary building in the western district of the capital, but the eye-catching eclipse moon sign still hangs at the entrance of the newspaper office, although it was burned by the fire back then, it still exists.
In the room behind the giant eclipse sign, Reporter Wood rubbed his leg and looked intently at his report for the fourth time, and although his leg injury recovered very well after the traffic accident, it was excruciatingly sore in cold weather like today.
"I still think that the last paragraph should not be added, the justice of this war cannot be questioned, even if you write it vaguely, it will give the other party a good excuse."
Editor-in-chief Bob sat behind his desk and smiled, gently wiping his glasses, and said, "This is most likely our last article in journalism, and I will have to be allowed to go by any name." ” At this moment, the whole black phone rang, Wood looked at him worriedly, but the expression on his face did not change, he calmly picked up the phone and said, "What does the board say?"
The chairman on the other end of the phone coughed twice and said in a harmonious voice, "Mr.
Li is talking to you." ” On the other end of the phone, Li Xiuzhu, president of Sanlin Bank, unabashedly praised his voice: "Mr.
Editor-in-Chief, you don't have to worry, we will protect your safety, and the special issue will be fully printed." ” After hanging up the phone, Editor-in-Chief Bob spread his hands, looked at Wood and said, "The gold lord of the gold lord also seems to have a big opinion on the political axe. ” As for the boss of the newspaper backstage, it was not a very difficult puzzle for Bob and Wood to decide on what considerations the giant Sanlin Union Bank had decided to choose to support the newspaper in all aspects of its war against the federal political axe.
They didn't want the newspaper to get involved in the war between the political axe and the Seven Greats, and in fact, before publishing the news that shocked the Federation, they had the right to read and edit the newspaper, and they didn't have any contact with the board, so at the parliamentary hill hearing that was urgently held later, in the face of a congressman's aggressive questioning, Bob smiled and did not admit any accusations in this regard.
"In accordance with the Law on the Confidentiality of News and Information and the Citizenship Ordinance, I refuse to explain the source of evidence to the hearing, and in accordance with the Charter, Section 4-27, a news report never has to bear the burden of proof, and if the person who is reported believes that the report has harmed his or her rights and interests with false facts, he can file a lawsuit, please note that this is a private prosecution case, and I am still very welcome to have a lawsuit with him."
A Pabulist activist, who had just been elected to the parliament, angrily took off his boots, slapped the table hard, and shouted at him from a distance of more than ten meters: "According to the Patriotic Act, you must answer questions honestly and without restrictions, or you will be severely charged." ” "I'd love to know what you can accuse me of."
Editor-in-Chief Bob pressed the enraged Wood shoulder, stared at the congressman, and asked in a stern tone: "I have not been prepared to accept the Patriotic Bill since the first day it was passed on Capitol Hill, in fact I have filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court as a citizen, and I believe that this bill is a serious violation of the Charter and should be withdrawn immediately." ” The hearing was temporarily adjourned, Wood brought him a glass of water, looked at the parliamentarians who were whispering around him, and said with a smile: "Tai Zhiyuan's side has also been trying to overturn the case for the Gu Zhong Hao, and has provided information to major newspapers, although it is not as detailed and reliable as ours.
But no newspaper has dared to publish it, why, because they are afraid of death, but to be honest, I am also quite afraid. ” "When you're not afraid of dying, you tend not to die, because if you die at this time, then they can't explain it."
Editor-in-chief Bob said: "But although I won't die, I think I'm sure I'll be scolded." ” The rain fell on the long stone steps in front of Parliament Hill in the cold of late autumn, and it didn't take long for the long stone steps to turn into flakes of ice, making the stone steps slippery.
Editor-in-Chief Bob and Wood walked out of Capitol Hill with umbrellas and walked down the stone steps with each other in their hands on each other's feet.
The two men made their way down the stone steps with difficulty, and were greeted by numerous flashing microphones and stirring insults from the populace, words such as traitors, lackeys, and dog excrement.
"Mr.
Editor-in-Chief, I heard that the Board of Directors of the Capital Special Administrative Region has been secretly receiving financial support from Sanlin United Bank, so does your report today have anything to do with the investigation of those big families by the political axe?"
After all, they were peers, and the way of asking questions seemed to be gentle, while the reaction of the crowd on the periphery was even more intense, they crumpled the newspaper in their hands into paper balls, threw them in angrily, and shouted loudly to kill the lackeys of the evil family.
Under the protection of the police, Bob's editor-in-chief and Reporter Wood were attacked by paper balls denser than raindrops, huddled behind umbrellas, and looked at each other with a bitter smile.
With a thud, Wood cursed in annoyance, "Scold, scold, I'm going to remove Pabur from power just for the sake of my half-crippled leg on a rainy day." ” Editor-in-chief Bob let go of the hand holding his elbow, held the umbrella with difficulty in one hand, reached into the windbreaker with the other hand and groped for a long time, took out a thick tobacco and handed it over, smiled and said with relief: "I think the demonstrators in Southern Science and Technology will definitely not scold us, they love us very much." ” Under the long stone steps of Parliament Hill, the freezing rain in late autumn fell on the black umbrella and crackled, and the angry people threw paper balls, landing on the umbrella or on the body, crackling, in such a miserable environment, the two reporters bent their bodies and began to taste the high-grade coarse tobacco flown in from Naha Prefecture with great taste, and the dark blue smoke and aroma gradually diffused.
The black umbrella was suddenly lifted, and Bob and Wood, who were interrupted, frowned and looked at several officials in black overalls in front of them, and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
"Introduce yourself."
The leader among the officials wiped the drops of water from the hair on his forehead, and said slowly: "Federal Political Axe Joint Investigation Department, Inspector Chen Yijiang, please come back with us for investigation." ” Editor-in-Chief Bob looked at the man with a blank expression, looked at the rain marks on his glasses, and after a moment of silence, asked, "What is the reason?"
Chen Yijiang was slightly stunned, took out the document from his pocket, and read it slowly: "Your report advocates for the empire, sabotages the Federation's preparations for war, and is suspected of treason. ” The silent march has been going on for nearly half a year, and the crowds of demonstrators who oppose the federal political axe and demand the resignation of President Pabul to face the investigation are gradually growing like weeds in the major districts of the federation.
Because of the military control of the capital's airport, 3,000 marchers from the four prefectures around the mountains chose to march from the port capital to the capital on foot, and the crowd walked slowly and silently along the famous high-speed rail line, gathering in towns, holding concerts in the mountains, clamoring in the police, and whistling in beautiful foreign names.
On the way, there will be people who get lost, and this silent march seems absurd and light-hearted, but in fact it is extremely well-organized, and even asks the people involved not to leave a little garbage behind them.
The awkward combination of the grand carnival and the strict political demands made many people choose to leave, but along the way from the capital to the capital, there were many young people who were dissatisfied with the status quo of the federation, or simply wanted to add a touch of absurdity to their life resumes, and the number did not decrease, but became more and more like a snowball.
Late the night before yesterday, the procession entered the territory of Southern Science and Technology, and early this morning, the total number of people has exceeded 20,000 marching troops, neatly wearing black masks, began to walk along the main road of the capital of South Science and Technology or dance silently, except for the sound of footsteps and rhythm, the silence is terrifying.
To be continued: