240. Super Event: Gretorvo Nighsong Unifies Tianhuan
Even though it was already past quitting time, the lights remained on in the Hojo Building. The sprawling complex looked like a world tree ruling the skies—a tree planted jointly by conglomerates and aristocratic clans, rooted in the flesh-and-blood soil of Tianhuan's people, nourished by the labor and lives of five hundred million citizens, eternally thriving, endlessly proliferating.
Fashionable white-collar workers carried their coffees past the turnstiles, laughing and joking. They talked about stocks one moment and futures the next, scarfing down a couple of rice balls before returning to their posts.
Within the Hojo family—or indeed across the entirety of Tianhuan—there was a prevailing "culture of shame." In the workplace, this culture mutated into mocking and bullying those who clocked out on time or settled for base-level wages.
But on second thought, maybe that's not so surprising?
After all, everyone is working hard for Tianhuan's rise. If someone dares to go home right when work ends, aren't they ashamed? They're practically a traitor to their nation and their race and deserve to be reviled.
If all Tianhuan workers went home on time, the nation would likely crumble overnight!
"They're insane. If a country collapses just because no one works overtime, then let it collapse…"
So muttered Yagyū Sōji, an employee in the banking division of Hojo Group, angrily biting into a sandwich while organizing financing documents, brimming with frustration at all the pointless overtime.
"There's nothing left to do, but they won't let us leave. Under the pretext of 'fostering team spirit,' they force everyone to stay behind. It's unbearable!"
In the huge office area, people came and went, each focused on their own tasks. Though they heard Yagyū complain, nobody told him he shouldn't say such things. They simply ignored him, absorbed in their own work.
After grumbling a bit more and seeing that nobody cared, Yagyū Sōji muttered, "If you love trading your life for money so much, why not sell your organs to rich people?"
Even that group insult failed to provoke a response.
For the group, for all of Tianhuan, everyone turned a blind eye to these matters. Even if someone came in with a machine gun and started shooting, they'd stay numb, continuing with their work. Caught in Tianhuan's system, they had become selfish, obedient cogs, concerned only with themselves.
Is this state of affairs right? Yagyū Sōji wasn't sure.
After tidying his papers, he got up to take a smoke break. No sooner had he left his cubicle than a voice came over the PA:
"Unit 2105, Yagyū Sōji, time away from station: 1 second… 2 seconds…"
In that moment, he felt hostile, scornful gazes from every direction. Colleagues whispered and snickered openly, mocking and cursing him.
"That's Yagyū from the banking division, right? Everyone else is working so hard, but he's leaving on his own…"
"No wonder he's 35 and still can't pay his mortgage. Doesn't he feel ashamed…?"
"If you can't perform, don't come to Hojo Heavy Industries' banking division. Just go to the Outside World. Slackers like him are the real reason Tianhuan can't become number one!"
Enough.
Ignoring the rumors, Yagyū headed to the rooftop. Bathed in artificial sunlight, he lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, letting it carry away his worries and exhaustion with each exhale.
"Damn… So, Fuku… when is this world going to end?"
He complained softly. The ID badge hanging from his neck was still ticking away, reminding him he'd been gone 5 minutes and 29 seconds. If he didn't return within a minute, the badge would taunt him sarcastically, listing his mortgage and credit card debts as if to shame him.
Yet he dared not toss the badge. For an employee of Hojo Group, that little piece of plastic was simultaneously an ID, a transit pass, and a bank card. Losing it was almost like losing half your life.
Smoking, Yagyū stared up at the overhead artificial light.
"…In natural science class, the teacher once said 'the sun rises for daytime, the moon rises for night.' But this fake sun never sets. I've never once seen a starry moonlit night."
Day breaks, we move; dusk falls, we rest. It's something ingrained in humanity's genes. When light stays on forever, it's hard to feel the moment one should stop.
Bosses are probably the biggest fans of the artificial sun: perpetual daylight lets them drive their subordinates to work endlessly.
Give it a few hundred years, and humanity will be so adapted to a sun that never sets that they'll never again desire real night or even a break from labor.
And by then… even if Tianhuan becomes number one in the world, what difference does it make?
It just means you're slaves under a different sky.
…The moon.
Cigarette between his lips, Yagyū stared at that never-dimming fake sun. All at once, a powerful longing rose within him:
"…I'd love to see what the moon looks like."
Low-tiering drones like him had no access to records from the old era, but he'd heard some descriptions.
"The moon orbits Azure Star—it's a satellite. From the ground, it appears silvery-white, sometimes a bit yellow or even red. Simply gazing at it can bring serenity. Since ancient times, many legends mention the moon, and in some places they say if you make a wish to the full moon, it will be granted."
Yagyū Sōji exhaled a breath of smoke in a daze:
"If the moon really can grant wishes… let it reform this country, so that we humans can live the lives we're meant to live!"
As soon as he spoke, a gentle breeze drifted by. The artificial sun still glowed a drab gray, bathing the land in a metallic sheen, like nickel plating on everything.
'You have been away from your station for 7 minutes, 08 seconds… 09 seconds… 09 seconds… 09 seconds…'
His badge seemed to glitch out, repeating the time over and over, making Yagyū Sōji feel even more awkward.
"Ugh… what's gotten into me, acting all dramatic at my age?"
Rubbing his head, he stubbed out the cigarette and turned around:
"Changing this country—no way."
He flicked the cigarette butt aside and opened the rooftop door.
Fffff—!
A sudden, violent gust whipped across him, and Yagyū clung to the handle to avoid being swept away.
"The hell… what's going on…?"
Steadying himself, he peered ahead:
Beyond the rooftop door, there was no familiar stairwell—only a burning, desolate purgatory!
The Hojo Building had been cleanly severed by some strange force. The wind howled across the rooftop, leaving only a small section on the south side still intact. As far as Yagyū could see, the streets had been flattened by an unimaginable power. Police cars, armored trucks, and mechs had been crushed into lumps of scrap, thrown aside like sesame balls of twisted metal.
These weapons, once enough to destroy nations, now lay as hunks of industrial waste. The contrast was visually staggering. Yagyū nearly lost his grip. Staggering backward, he was knocked to the ground by sonic booms overhead—an endless swarm of drones and hypersonic fighters stormed the capital's air defenses, but barely past his head, they fell like wingless butterflies, crashing down in destruction.
Most horrifying of all, there was no sign of an attack. The vessels fell and exploded in silence, with no sound at all.
"What… what is this?"
Yagyū Sōji stared at the ruins:
Up ahead, wasn't that the Ring King's palace and the Tianhuan National Assembly Building?
Sssshhh—
While he remained confused, his badge began emitting static. As if hacked, it abruptly switched to a voice feed that rattled off some code words before switching to Tianhuan language for the broadcast:
"Attention all citizens of Tianhuan:"
"This broadcast is to explain the regime change currently unfolding in Tianhuan."
"I am Gretorvo Nighsong, one of the leaders of the Akaban Army. With assistance from forces formerly under Li Aozi, we have successfully captured Tianhuan's capital, Jōan-kyō, and taken prisoner the original national ruler—Ring King, Minamoto Shōichi—as well as the former Prime Minister, Park Jeong-sun. We have held cordial talks, fully exchanging views, and reached an agreement on transferring power."
"Next, our Akaban Army will reorganize and re-elect the nation's government. Until order is restored, we will form a provisional government and ask everyone to cooperate with our efforts."
"The Ring King's 1,700-year oppression of the people is over! Brothers and sisters, the era of the republic has arrived."