Chapter 996: Spreading Hope

The Silver Government's reaction did not exceed Fang Liangye's expectations.

Their attitude towards "Queen of Diamonds" clearly revealed their apprehension. After all, with the King of Silver currently absent, the one in power was merely a Seventh-Tier Thief Saint, making it far from simple to control the entire Boundless Domain.

"Have they made any moves?"

"Yes!" The young man nodded emphatically. "This morning, after the sanitation workers reported the incident to the church, it immediately lit up. Soon after, a large number of Usurpers rushed out, searching along several streets. Then, several Judgment Enforcers, armed with various weapons, emerged; almost all of them were deployed."

Fang Liangye was slightly surprised by this and couldn't help but ask:

"You are... Cao Jun, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Fang. I just joined the union two days ago!" The young man straightened up, his chest puffed out.

"Where did you get this information?"

"Mr. Fang, have you forgotten? The elderly people strolling in the streets and the shop owners are mostly the grandparents and parents of our workers. As long as we make a few inquiries through the workers in the factory, we can find out what's happening on the streets."

"No wonder..."

Currently, all young people in the Boundless Domain have been conscripted by the Silver Government for forced labor in factories. Only the elderly and middle-aged people with mobility issues are left in the city. With their children sent to work day and night in the factories, they are utterly helpless. Their dissatisfaction with the Silver Government must surely exceed everyone's imagination.

For this very reason, by simply having a few well-positioned young people in the factories who have telephones at home, they can contact their families and obtain firsthand information.

The middle-aged and elderly people on the streets form an intelligence network, as do the factories where young people are gathered. When combined, information spreads extremely quickly.

"Is this the power of the people...?" Fang Liangye couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

In any era, the power of the common people is formidable. Unless the King of Silver violently purges this domain, the people living within it will always find ways to survive. The Human Rights Union is a tenacious vine growing towards the sun in the darkness.

"Mr. Fang, what should we do next?" Cao Jun asked excitedly, his eyes sparkling.

Fang Liangye pondered for a moment.

"Secretly procure all the playing cards in the city, and then deliver them in batches to various factories. We have people in every factory; tell them how to use the cards to create confusion and thoroughly disrupt the Usurpers' senses."

"Understood!"

Cao Jun and a few others turned and left. Each clutched a deck of opened playing cards. Though their hands were sweating with nerves, their eyes were full of hope.

They had been oppressed for too long. The extinction of one district after another, the Silver Government's violent enforcement, and the inexplicable illness and death of their companions had pushed them to the brink of collapse. But now, they could actually deter the Silver Government with just a few playing cards!

They knew what the Silver Government feared. In their hands, these were no longer mere playing cards for entertainment, but weapons for ordinary people to resist tyranny.

The young men left the factory and dispersed, sprinting along the roads into the depths of the smog, making their way to different factories.

This factory complex consisted of over ten factories, and there were four such complexes in the Boundless Domain. They moved through the factory buildings with practiced ease, as if they had been there many times before. Although the uniforms differed between factories, when they appeared, the existing workers in the factories pretended not to see them, shifting their gaze elsewhere.

The young man approached a series of hidden, narrow doors and knocked cautiously:

*Knock, knock, knock—*

"Who's there?"

"It's me, Cao Jun," the young man said, waving the playing cards.

"I've brought a glimmer of hope!"

"Jinx! Why are you here again!"

At the restaurant entrance, the owner saw Jian Changsheng outside through the glass window, his face turning pale with anger.

Jian Changsheng gave an embarrassed smile:

"Uh... Boss, I was hoping you could help me with something..."

"We don't do dine-and-dash here!"

"No, no, what are you thinking...? I'm already full this time," Jian Changsheng gestured with his hands outside the door. "Did you see my two other friends? One wears small sunglasses and acts cheeky, and the other is wrapped in white bandages and acts a bit dopey..."

The owner grew impatient. "Go on, go on, you two are nothing but trouble..."

As the owner was about to close the door, Jian Changsheng slammed one hand onto the doorknob, holding it shut firmly. The owner's eyes widened in fury at this. Despite using all his might, he couldn't move the door an inch. For a moment, he panicked.

"You... What do you want?"

Jian Changsheng held the door open with one hand and slowly walked into the restaurant. He narrowed his eyes, sneering, like a hooligan in a leather jacket with a wolf-tail haircut from a Hong Kong film, ready to demand protection money from the owner at any moment.

However, the next second, he instead pulled several banknotes from his pocket and pressed them into the owner's hand.

"This is..." The owner paused, bewildered.

"Boss, I don't dine and dash. This time, I'm here to pay you back." Jian Changsheng shrugged. "Those two friends are very important to me... Can you tell me if they came here? And where did they go afterward?"

The owner looked at the thick stack of banknotes in his hand, his expression softening considerably. He scrutinized Jian Changsheng for a few moments before speaking:

"That silly white-haired guy came yesterday. After realizing you weren't here, he just walked off in that direction; I don't know where he went... The cheeky guy with the sunglasses came this morning, looking a bit unwell. After finding you weren't here, he asked me to tell you that he's staying under the bridge nearby..."

Jian Changsheng: ...

The nickname 'silly white-haired guy' truly fit Jiang Xiaohua perfectly. Sun Bumian, at least, knew to leave an address after finding him absent. But Jiang Xiaohua just stupidly walked off... Where was he supposed to find him now?

Jian Changsheng sighed helplessly, then turned to leave. "Got it, thanks, Boss."

"Wait."

The owner hesitated for a moment, but then called out to Jian Changsheng.

Jian Changsheng turned back, confused. To his surprise, the owner counted out three banknotes from the stack in his hand and offered them to him.

"This is..." Jian Changsheng felt a bit lost.

"Your wages," the owner said flatly. "No matter what, you washed dishes here for a day. Now that you've paid me back, I wouldn't make you work for free... Take it, find a proper job, and don't try to dine and dash next time."

With that, the owner turned and walked into the back kitchen without looking back, pretending to be busy stir-frying.

In reality, however, there wasn't a single customer in the restaurant besides Jian Changsheng.

Jian Changsheng snapped back to reality, a smile playing on his lips. He shouted "Thanks!" to the owner in the back kitchen, then strode out the door and disappeared at the end of the street.