"In the spring of the sixty-seventh year of the constitutional calendar, at the ceremony of presenting the Nebula Prize to the Medellin Congressman, I heard President Pabble say this."
"Death is not as good as the light goes out, the light is bright, and the dark is where it can't be seen. If you do something wrong, you have to pay the price. Maybe I'm not a mature politician, but I'm a dedicated federal law worshipper... If I'm dead, you can dig up my grave and see what color it is inside. I have the same attitude towards some dead people."
"At that time, the Medellin Congressman had just died in an assassination, and the people did not know that he would be the notorious seed of the empire in the future. At that time, Mr. Pabble had just taken office and was full of vigor and good ideas to change the world. To be honest, I was also one of his most loyal supporters back then, just like you who are reading this newspaper."
"However, as Mr Pabble once said, there is a price to be paid for wrongdoing, and as President of the Commonwealth, each of us has a right to ask him to be on this side of the moral line, not to mention what he has done. Having crossed the line of morality, we have no intention of supporting any political movement, but we insist that people should have the right to know the truth."
"Will our accusations affect the war in the left sky? Will our demands cause more blood to be shed by the soldiers on the front line? I don't know the exact answer, I only know that this happened between the Federation and the Empire. If there is any kind of justice that can be said out loud in the war between them, it can only be that we have a system that is superior to them, and the people living in this star field believe in kindness, justice, conscience, and law.”
"If the Federation, which is guarded by frontline soldiers, loses these precious qualities, then what is it worth their bloodshed?"
"Vice President Byron is dead, Colonel Lake is dead, Colonel Simon Jin is dead, Mr. Congressman is dead, many people are dead, and there is no way to confront them, because even if we dig their graves, all we can get is silence. ."
"And yet there are many more alive, who have not been judged by law or fury, who sit indifferently at the top of the Commonwealth, ruling the world and changing the world. I don't know what their graves will be when they are dug up. What color, but we know that if we don't stop them, the entire Federation will be buried in a cold grave."
"Bob and Wood were written in the autumn of the seventy-fifth year of the constitutional calendar."
The Capital Daily Office has long since moved away from the newspaper street, which is full of ink in fantasy. Now it is just a very inconspicuous ordinary building in the western district of the capital. However, the eye-catching eclipse sign still hangs at the entrance of the newspaper office. Ablation, but still there.
In the room behind the huge eclipse sign, reporter Wood rubbed his legs and watched his report for the fourth time. After the traffic accident, although the leg injury recovered very well, every time it was cold and cold like today, It will be unbearably sore.
"I still think 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 with a smile, wiped his glasses gently, and said, "This is most likely our last article in the press, and I'll always be allowed to be capricious."
At this moment, the black phone rang. Wood glanced at him worriedly, but the expression on his face did not change. He answered the phone calmly and said, "What did 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: "Mr. editor, don't 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 sponsor of the sponsor seems to have a lot of opinions on the government."
Regarding the boss of the backstage boss of the newspaper office, for what consideration did the giant-style Sanlin United Bank decide to choose all-round support for the newspaper office to fight the federal government, it is not very difficult for Bob and Wood. puzzle.
They do not want the newspaper to be involved in the war between the government and the Seven Great Families. In fact, before publishing the news that shocked the Federation, they, who have independent editorial rights, did not have any contact with the board of directors, so an emergency meeting was held later. Editor-in-chief Bob smiled and did not admit to any of the accusations in the face of aggressive questioning by an MP at the Parliament Hill hearing.
"According to the Press Information Confidentiality Act and the Citizens Privacy Regulations, I refuse to explain the source of evidence to the hearing. In addition, according to Subsection 27, Section 4 of the Charter Regulations, news reports never have to bear the burden of proof. If the report damages its own rights and interests with false facts, you can file a lawsuit, please note that this is a private prosecution case.”
Editor-in-Chief Bob looked serious, looked around at the political figures in the solemn meeting on Parliament Hill, and said, "If Mr. Pabble accuses this newspaper of slandering, even though he is a lawyer and I am a writer of online novels, I would still welcome a fight with him. lawsuit."
A Paburite radical who had just been elected to Congress, angrily took off his boots, slapped the table hard, and shouted to him from a distance of more than ten meters: "According to the Patriot Act, you must answer honestly and without restrictions. Ask or you will be severely charged."
"I'd love to know what you can accuse me of."
Editor-in-chief Bob pressed the irritated Wood's shoulder, stared at the congressman, and asked in a stern tone: "The Patriotic Act? From the first day this bill was passed on Parliament Hill, I was not ready to accept it. In fact, I have filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court as a citizen and I think the bill is a serious violation of the Charter and should be struck down immediately."
The hearing was temporarily adjourned, and Wood brought him a glass of clear water, looked at the members of the parliament who were whispering around, and said with a smile: "Tai Zhiyuan has also been trying to overturn the case for the ancient bell, and has provided information to major newspapers, although They are not as accurate and reliable as ours, but none of the newspapers have dared to publish it. The reason is because they are afraid of death. To be honest, I am also quite afraid.”
"When you're not afraid of death, you often won't die, because if you die at this time, they won't be able to make it clear."
Editor-in-chief Bob said: "But although it won't die, I think it will definitely be scolded."
In the cold late autumn, it was still rain, not snow, that fell on the long stone steps in front of the Parliament Hill. It didn't take long for it to become a piece of ice, making the stone steps extremely slippery. Editor-in-chief Bob and Wood walked out of Parliament Hill with umbrellas, and walked down the stone steps with each other's arms, their movements seemed extremely clumsy.
The two walked to the bottom of the stone steps with difficulty, and they were greeted by countless flashing lights and microphones, as well as the abusive voices of the people, such as words such as traitors, lackeys, and dog excrement.
"Mr. Editor-in-Chief, I heard that the board of directors of the Capital District Daily has been secretly accepting financial support from Sanlin United Bank? So does your report today have anything to do with the government's investigation of those big families?"
After all, they were peers, and the way they asked questions seemed gentler, but the reaction of the outsiders was more intense. They crumpled the newspapers in their hands into paper balls, threw them in angrily, and shouted loudly to kill the lackeys of the wicked family.
Under the protection of the police, editor-in-chief Bob and reporter Wood were attacked by paper balls denser than raindrops. They shrank their bodies behind umbrellas, looked at each other and smiled bitterly.
In the sound of banging, Wood cursed angrily: "Curse, curse, just because of my half-crippled leg in the rainy day, I will also bring Pabble down."
Editor-in-chief Bob let go of the hand holding his elbow, held the umbrella with difficulty with one hand, reached into the windbreaker with the other and groped for a long time. The demonstrators on the side 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 umbrellas with a crackling sound. The angry people threw paper balls and fell on the umbrellas or on their bodies with a crackling sound. In such a miserable environment, these two reporters hunched over their bodies and began to taste the high-grade crude tobacco that was airlifted from Naha State with great taste. The faint blue smoke and aroma gradually filled the air.
The black umbrella was suddenly lifted, and Bob and Wood, who were interrupted, frowned and looked at the officials in black overalls in front of them, and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Introduce yourself." The leader of the officials wiped the water droplets from his hair on his forehead and said slowly, "The federal government's joint investigation department, Inspector Chen Yijiang, please come back with us for the investigation."
Editor-in-chief Bob looked at the dull-looking man and the rain marks on his glasses. After a moment of silence, he asked, "What's the reason?"
Chen Yijiang was slightly startled, took out the document from his pocket, and said slowly: "Your reports are advocating for the Empire, sabotaging the Federation's preparations for war, and suspected of treason."
The silent march has lasted for nearly half a year. The demonstrators who opposed the federal government and demanded the resignation of President Pabble for investigation have gradually grown like weeds in the various regions of the federal government.
Because of the military control of the capital's airport, 3,000 marchers from the four states around the mountains chose to walk from Hong Kong to the capital. The crowd walked slowly and silently along the famous high-speed rail line, encountering towns and cities. They will gather, they will hold concerts when they meet the mountains, they will shout when they meet the police, and they will whistle when they meet beautiful people of the opposite sex.
On the road, there will be no lost people. This silent march seems absurd and easy, but it is actually extremely well-organized, and it even asks the participating people not to leave a bit of garbage behind them.
The awkward combination of grand carnivals and strict political demands made many people choose to leave. However, along the way from Hong Kong to the capital, many were dissatisfied with the status quo of the Federation, or simply wanted to add a touch of absurdity to their life history. Young people of color filled in, and the number did not decrease, but became more and more like a snowball.
Late the night before yesterday, the parade entered the territory of South Carolina. This morning, a total of more than 20,000 marching troops, neatly wearing black masks, began to walk and dance silently along the main road of the capital of South Carolina, except for footsteps. The sound and rhythm, the silence is frightening.