Chapter 853 - 132: Refusal

Elliot did an excellent job! Beyond Sevens’ imagination!

"This is not just the cry of Foxstone workers, but for the great king of England!"

"Suppose there’s a major accident in Foxstone’s production; then the Channel Tunnel must shift its capacity from other factories, which will undoubtedly disrupt the normal production plans of those other factories, and the consequence—"

"The consequence is what’s happening in Factory No. 2! Sylvan used to be a normal person, a responsible engineer, it was incompetent management that drove him insane. If the European Tunnel Company can’t adhere to basic production regulations, can’t complete production tasks, then let them bugger off!"

[European Tunnel Company? I know it, trash company, the salary is so low it can’t cover prosthetics maintenance fees, every few days there’s overtime #trashcompany]

[Without workers, what does the European Tunnel Company use to get work done? We should unite, just like His Majesty the King led us in defeating the Martial Law Bureau! #workerunity]

[The Su Federation factory next door treats its workers much better. Only 60 hours a week for regular work, mandatory overtime is only 16 hours, guaranteed three days off each month, and they have insurance when buying Jilafa prosthetics! #JilafaIndustry]

[Russians? Can the Russians manage their own Siberia? If you want to go work in the tundra, go ahead? The European Barrier doesn’t restrict immigration!]

[Why don’t you say the Night City companies are good? And Jilafa, that crappy machine would smash your head if anything goes wrong! #subparengineeringmachinery #JilafaIndustry]

[Haha, a bunch of idiots, it’s a blessing to have work...#This is the toughest economic year in 20 years]

The news spread even faster than Sevens envisioned!

In just one day, the entire internet was discussing this matter, and media companies are always chasing after high viewership:

Any information needs to be read to have meaning; if it lacks views, it fails to meet the foundational logic of the whole system’s operation—

All of Europe operates based on the European Barrier, and subtle shifts in thinking require sufficient information bombardment. Under this logic, if something can capture people’s attention in a short time, it will surely continue to spread as a carrier of other information...

"The entire European Union knows about this!" Sevens said while walking, "The biggest news over the years was Night City’s nuclear explosion event, but after so long, the public has grown tired of it.

Media groups see this news like sharks smelling blood; they will spread this message to every corner of the European Union..."

As he spoke, he paused for a moment, causing Elliot to feel puzzled, but Lille helped finish his train of thought:

[Lille: Although the opinion of rogue citizens is not important, satisfying their small demands doesn’t hurt.]

[Lille: Since the European Tunnel Company can’t suppress this matter, switching to a different company for this task isn’t a big problem.]

Elliot listened and widened his eyes, taking a sip of...water.

[Elliot: But I actually feel pretty good, right? Without the European Union, wouldn’t we be mowed down by machine guns by the company?]

[Johnny: Without the European Union, the factory wouldn’t have just been evacuated, it would’ve been blown up.]

Johnny’s hologram appeared on the rooftop of the new factory.

The internet was abuzz, and in reality, this little factory was also bustling.

The company wars have been fought enough times in this world, and though espionage and unethical competitive behavior are level five major crimes in the European Union, it doesn’t mean people wouldn’t take the risk.

In fact, the harsher the sentence, the more stringent the enforcement appears.

Outside this little factory were heavily armed police; drones swept overhead one after another, below...

Below, the workers ate full meals and drank enough drinks every day before happily going to work—

Yes, they did have to work.

[Elliot: It’s this extravagant?]

[Johnny: Trust me, I understand Night City, and I understand your great teachers... one really understands, the other one not so much.]

"Uh... Sevens, what do we still need to do afterward?"

Sevens smiled and nodded, pulling out a small chip from his clothes:

"It’s more or less decided to change the Channel Tunnel’s contract proportions, as for the European Tunnel Company... Though this place is a small city, it’s not some place where they can do as they please.

When you ran back to sing praises for the king, they were done for.

So now I want to formally invite you to become... Foxstone’s general manager for the Northern Construction Group."

"Ah?"

[Lille: Ah, what’s ’ah’, pull yourself together, get rid of that porcine expression!]

It’s really not to blame Elliot; his 28 years of life had been spent either as a small soldier or a little troublemaker; how did he suddenly become a city branch manager of a company?!

Seeing Elliot like this made Sevens smile even more brightly: "Inside the chip is this time’s... operating budget, a total of 600,000 Euros. The Northern Construction Group will immediately start creating a factory in Foxstone to cover the Channel Tunnel’s production needs.

You’re an experienced worker, you have a bunch of capable workers at your disposal, and just a little funding can get production started.

If you feel you lack professional or managerial experience, there are corresponding learning courses inside the chip.

Meanwhile, their company will provide you with a company agent-grade prosthetic implant surgery package, if you accept this invitation, you can assume the position now."

"Now?"

With Lille’s reminder, Elliot’s expression became more reserved, but still quite surprised.

"Yes, now." Sevens glanced at the workers inside the factory, signaled Elliot to follow, they walked to a more secluded spot, "The material shortage for the Channel Tunnel truly exists.

Here’s only our own people, so I’ll say directly: The typhoon interfered with the tunnel’s operation, but the British... government is unwilling to allocate more funds.

I’ve tried my best to help you obtain an agreement for the delivery of 2.4 million Euros’ worth of goods within 50 days.

Honestly, it’s quite challenging, you might need to prepare yourself mentally."

What mental preparation?

Elliot nearly blurted out, but Lille quickly held him back with an explanation:

[Lille: These funds aren’t enough; it seems like the king and European Union are not planning on increasing expenditures, merely allocating project funds.]

[Elliot: Ah? But dealing with such a big mess, without increased spending how can they keep up with demand?]

[Lille: Labor is like water in a sponge, squeeze a bit and you’ll always find more. They want you to use your charisma to boost morale; people can be inspired by overtime pay, or by touching stories.]

[Elliot: My charisma? I...]

[Lille: You’re now the core of the storm. If you want to stop this storm, you can indeed try to boost production capacity with your residual heat.]

[Lille: But, refuse him.]

Elliot’s eyes suddenly shone with an eerie light: it wasn’t that he suddenly had a terrible idea, but his mind simply froze.

This manager, saying ’I don’t want to do it’ is a lie;

But deceiving his fellow workers who charged out with him, exploiting their expectations of him, squeezing them and sending them to work in a place possibly worse than the European Tunnel Company?

He certainly resists that as well.

So he suddenly entered a familiar state:

[Elliot: Come on! What should I say! Come on! My great brain!]

[Lille: ...hopefully in the future you don’t use this presumptuous attitude to let me control your speech and behavior.]

So in Sevens’ eyes, Elliot seemed like someone deeply scheming, with eyes glowing with peculiar light, his expressions waxing and waning under the dim lights...

"I won’t do it."

Sevens was stunned, Elliot took the chip, placed it on the railing between the two of them, and slowly said:

"Foxstone is tiny... compared to this public opinion sweeping across Europe, it’s small."

Sevens’ expression suddenly turned extremely colorful.