"Whether you are Ben or Odin, I want to know why? Perhaps, what value do I have to the Hall of Valor?"
Zero looked at the old man who had met Remut and was now aloof, and asked in a flat tone.
Ben beckoned to Ling and said, "Come here, Zero."
Zero didn't object. He walked behind the old man and looked down at the prosperous city with him.
"You're smart, Zero. That's good, so we can spend a lot less time talking. I'll tell you the answer, but before I do, I want to hear what you think of the city... Asgard." Ben With his hands behind his back, he looked at the blue sky and white clouds reflected by the holographic board outside the fence and said.
"This is the best city I have ever seen." Ling Weiyi said after pondering: "Although it has a strict hierarchy, when I pass by the city, I can feel that it is full of vitality. This is something that other cities cannot Give me the feeling."
Ben nodded with satisfaction, and said, "Your senses are still so keen. Although you have only been in this city for a short time, you can already feel its most original thing. That's right, that is vitality. Vitality doesn't simply come from The material comes from the hearts of the people living in this city.”
"The strict hierarchy is for people to know their position, but in any field, I have reserved opportunities and channels for promotion. In this city, everyone's destiny is not static. Through hard work and Creation, even the lowliest slaves have the chance to change their destiny. Just like the six seats reserved in my main hall, as long as you have the talent, you can stand at the highest position and see a different scenery." Ben blinked Blinking his eyes, he said: "Vitality comes from competition and change. When people see the light of hope to change their destiny, you will find that the people at the lowest level are also full of enthusiasm and creativity, and they are also the foundation of urban development. .”
Zero showed a thoughtful expression.
As Ben said, he just intuitively felt the special vibe of the city. Now that it has been specifically described by Ben, Zero also sees clearly the essence of Asgard that is different from other wilderness cities.
And what made him feel more deeply was Bena's unconventional thoughts. Take the top managers of many coastal cities as an example, none of them wants to hold the center of power tightly in their own hands. Even if there is a relevant promotion mechanism in the city's management system, it will never give the chance of promotion to the lowest-level slaves like Ben.
It can be said that Ben's approach made Asgard so close to those democratic and free cities in the old days.
Of course, there is no complete freedom in this world. This was true in old times, and even more so in turbulent times. Asgard's class still exists, because it is an integral part of strengthening the city's power. But Asgard is obviously much freer than any city in the wilderness. Although it is a city of miracles, Zero feels that it is more like a city of hope!
"Do you know Zero, I am one of the survivors of the cataclysm, and I witnessed the darkest time with my own eyes. It was my youthful dream to build a free and democratic city like the old days. Now, it has A small part of it has been realized, at least in Asgard, I have realized a small part of the so-called freedom that countless people regard as a naive idea. Asgard is the ideal land for me and everyone living in it!" Ben Speaking of this, his tone changed and he said with a heavy voice: "But any ideal can only be realized through suffering, and Asgard is no exception. People who had the same ideals as me back then, but now only I am alone. Occasionally, I feel very sad when I think that those esteemed comrades-in-arms cannot share my current achievements with me. But it is also the same, so I can keep telling myself that the ideal is not easy to achieve, and I need to continue to work hard to be fully Realize our original idea."
Patting Ling on the shoulder, the old man signaled Ling to sit down on the sofa together. He casually picked up a bottle of whiskey on the table and poured it for Zero and himself.
"Zero, one person's power is limited. No matter how hard I try, I can't build the ideal country with one person's strength. This requires many like-minded comrades to join the ranks, such as you." The old man Pointing at zero.
Ling shook his head and said, "As you can see, I'm just a mercenary in the wilderness, and my ability may not be outstanding..."
"No, no, no." Ben interrupted Zero's words, and said meaningfully: "Never underestimate yourself, let alone Zero, you have a huge value that you don't even know. You can't imagine, maybe through you, we Access to another civilization. A civilization that existed, was powerful, and disappeared in the long history of mankind."
For some reason, Zero's heart suddenly beat violently. Ben's words reminded him of the six-* ship found in the bottom of the Great Rift and the unknown civilization on that ship.
"To understand yourself and that mysterious civilization, you must first understand our Hall of Valor and the origin of this city, Asgard." The old man sighed in satisfaction after taking a sip of whiskey. He put down his glass and continued, "You should know about the Dark Council, right?"
Zero nodded.
"In fact, at the beginning of the establishment of the Dark Parliament, it was entirely out of the will to re-excavate human civilization, in order to build an ideal country of freedom, democracy, and find the law for the continued survival of all mankind. My Asgard, but also the parliament The initial ideal is a blueprint, and it’s nothing more than a city built to continue this ideal.” Ben’s eyes showed nostalgia, and even his voice became hollow. Said: "I was one of the core members of the parliament back then. At that time, everyone had no selfishness, and the days of fighting for the same goal were really fulfilling and moving. However, when the parliament first took shape, due to differences in beliefs, Disagreements and contradictions appeared. At that time, the parliament had already begun to grow stronger and had a lot of manpower and material resources. In fact, we were only one step away from realizing our ideals, but the corruption of people's hearts finally changed the nature of the parliament."
"Some people think that we should rely on the resources we currently have to build a feudal kingdom centered on the strong and use the weak and incompetent to enshrine ourselves. This is completely contrary to our original idea, so I and several other people Comrades strongly opposed it. Those who had no choice but to support that idea accounted for the majority, and our opposing voice was quickly overruled. Out of anger, we chose to leave the parliament. However, those who put themselves at the height of gods are afraid that we will lead Using the resources of the council, they actually launched a conspiracy attack on us. Perhaps from that moment on, the council has begun to reveal its dark nature." Ben narrowed his eyes slightly and said: "The former comrade who proposed to attack us is the one who is now Speaker of the Council Oglok the Dark Terror!"