Chapter 1210: Chapter 50: Inherent Rights
There are many reasons for the population decline in the Vena Refuge.
Disputes among residents; rampant plague diseases claiming their lives; wandering evil spirits; people fleeing the refuge; or strange, alien tribes attacking the refuge to abduct residents.
After all, to those strange tribes, the Vena Refuge is like an inexhaustible “canning factory” delicacy—only the process of opening the cans is somewhat cumbersome.
But this is not the main reason for the population decline in the refuge: perhaps one-third of nearly a thousand people disappearing every day is because of them, but two-thirds is due to other reasons.
“This is my office and also my residence.”
Mayor Matteus gestured for the guests to explore freely and continued, “The refuge is shrinking every day, but there is still not enough manpower. The most terrifying is the plague, which directly affects the speed at which this broken body of Vena delivers blood to its limbs…”
Before this, the way the Vena Refuge dealt with anomalies and corpses was: to know the situation, arrive at the location, clean up the pollution from the plague curse, and return to handle the next task.
Although the manpower in the refuge was insufficient to protect them, they usually could only collect their remains, but sometimes they could arrive in time—
But since the emergence of the plague, the originally stable situation has fallen into a dreadful vicious cycle.
The handling process became knowing the situation, arriving at the location, cleaning up the pollution from the plague curse, returning with the pollution from the plague curse, and proceeding to the next task. Or knowing the situation, arriving at the location, guarding against the plague, cleaning up the pollution from the plague curse, staying put to clean up the plague, and returning to handle the next task.
The plague brought about by these anomalies or corpses delayed the knights’ cleaning speed, and the postponed cleaning allowed the plague to appear more frequently among the residents. The outbreak of the plague slowed down the knights’ cleaning speed even more…
“Our way to count the population is by the speed of shrinkage… When rooms become vacant, residents will move inward, which barely reduces the frequency of plague and death appearance…”
The only “good news” is that the death population of the Vena Refuge is decreasing… although it can still be viewed pessimistically: the percentage of daily deaths to the total population is increasing.
All of this is written in the letters sent by Mayor Matteus, but nothing in the ruthless or desperate tone matched the detail of the current conversation and sight.
Mayor Matteus’s gaze followed Lu Li who left the sofa and stayed by the window, watching him draw back the curtains.
No scenery, cold rock walls blocked the entire view.
“Over here.”
Mayor Matteus left his seat, walked to the other window, and pulled back the curtains.
In the dim cave, exquisite houses resembling those from the Old Era extended, and the people living here still had the leisure to stroll the streets.
After all, this is the Inner Ring of the Inner Ring, the place where true nobles and politicians reside.
“Is the mortality rate among Inner Ring residents low?” Lu Li asked.
“Yes… unless evil spirits break into the Inner Ring. The most severe death incident was half a month ago when a knight squad brought back a plague causing an outbreak, resulting in 63 residents dying tragically.”
Lu Li had read about this in the newspaper that day.
Lu Li watched the people strolling the “street,” listening quietly as Mayor Matteus’s sigh sounded behind him.
“As long as the old order exists, they will always hold on to rights and interests…”
“You are the mayor, why don’t you expel them?” asked the twisted figure.
“Honorable lady, because they did not choose power, but power chose them,” Mayor Matteus said with a slight bow.
The twisted figure did not understand, so it cast its gaze toward Lu Li.
“Order is established by them and maintained by them. They enjoy privilege due to order and gain order due to enjoying privilege, much like the vicious cycle brought by the plague.” Lu Li explained.
The twisted figure of Elena blinked her eyes.
Lu Li spoke more plainly, “When someone has knowledge, they gain power, and obtaining power makes it easier to acquire knowledge; knowledge continues to feed power, forming a positive cycle.”
If this were a war between people, perhaps people could rely on themselves to gain power, but it’s not.
The Vena Refuge is both fortunate and unfortunate.
It is unfortunate in its inability to prevent its decline, weaker each day than the last; it is fortunate that it has never been invaded by anomalies of an Otherworldly God Level.
If the Evil God and its followers attacked the Vena Refuge, they would have little chance of resistance. By the time reinforcements from the Land of Light arrived, the refuge would have become a paradise for anomalies.
Mayor Matteus ended the gloomy topic and assigned the guest rooms upstairs to Lu Li and his group.
Both Andrea and the Heimgro Number needed time. Even if all the engineers in the Vena Refuge worked through the night, it would take at least more than three days.
In the meantime, Lu Li and his group will stay at Mayor Matteus’s mansion, awaiting the completion of repairs.
However, during this moment, Mayor Matteus invited Lu Li to watch a “drama.”
…
The parliament has not become nominally defunct because Vena Ice-Free Port hid underground.
It still holds quite significant authority, even gaining importance after the dissolution of the Privy Council.
Only the parliament found it difficult to seize the authority possessed by Mayor Matteus, whom the local citizens respect just next to Lu Li.
When Lu Li arrived at the Vena Refuge a few hours before noon, Mayor Matteus summoned the House of Representatives to gather in the parliament hall in his capacity as mayor.
Bark, with still-damp curls, lazily approached the seat in a robe: “Mr. Mayor, what urgent matter requires you to gather everyone?”
Mayor Matteus calmly stated, “It’s still the previous proposal. His Excellency Lu Li will assist us, and his ally worms will soon reach the refuge, developing the deep layers for us.”
“What? Didn’t we temporarily shelve that proposal?”
“Because I think it’s time to restart.” replied Mayor Matteus.
The parliament hall echoed with murmurs and discussions, a few remained silent while the majority exchanged with other members around them and expressed opposition to Mayor Matteus.
Then they looked towards the other end of the round table where Mayor Matteus sat.
Davi Godoy.
A veteran of the parliament, and throughout the entire refuge, no one older than him could be found.
Davi Godoy, wrapped in a blanket, after the hall returned to silence, faced the gaze and slowly spoke in an aged voice befitting his age: “Mr. Mayor, we understand your dedication to this city and refuge, but this city does not belong to you alone, nor to the 20 representatives here…”
“That’s why this needs to be done. There are still 87,000 people left in Vena Ice-Free Port, and in a month or two, the number will be halved—”
Bang bang—
Davi Godoy suddenly impatiently banged on the table, interrupting Matteus rudely.
The members shuddered at his outburst, making the large empty hall fall silent.
“We are the establishers of order, maintaining order is our responsibility. Any proposal from anyone requires the agreement of two-thirds of the parliament…”
Davi Godoy’s cloudy eyes under drooping eyelids focused on the figure on the opposite side of the round table.
“It’s a necessary procedure, Matteus.”