Chapter 387: Air Tax?!!

Liu Bo had already been waiting in advance at the door of the Meeting Office, his hands hanging at his sides, his figure straight, like an old tree of many years, steady and not revealing his edge.

He did not show any anxiety or unease, merely occasionally raising his eyes to glance at the tightly closed office door.

Lou Duan stood half a step behind him; he had been summoned by Liu Bo, and regarding this, he felt a bit annoyed in his heart, but he was also mentally prepared.

Liu Bo's eyes were half-closed as he asked casually, "Zhao Xing died last night?"

Lou Duan kept his head half-lowered, expressionless: "Mm, the Patrol Bureau says it was an accident."

Liu Bo turned his head to glance at Lou Duan, as if he truly believed it, did not continue pursuing this topic, but instead shifted the conversation:

"The Councilors will question you later; do you know what to say?"

Lou Duan took a deep breath: "I understand. Since the Councilors have asked, the Second Prison matter must produce a definite result..."

Liu Bo raised a hand to cut off Lou Duan's words:

"You don't need to tell me; just remember, once you step through this door, every word you say inside has no chance of being taken back!"

Lou Duan silently murmured "Mm," lowering his head to stare at Liu Bo's spotless leather shoes.

Those leather shoes were polished enough to reflect a person, as if they had never been stained by a single thread of dust, let alone mud and filth.

He cursed inwardly in a low voice: "Old thing, must be a loach, really doesn't stick to a single pot."

The Conference Room door opened at this moment.

Lou Duan followed behind Liu Bo and walked in, his footsteps placed very lightly, afraid of making even a shred of extra sound.

His gaze carefully scanned the Councilors before the round table, face after face either calm, or cold, or concealing unfathomable meaning.

He tried to capture some clues from these expressions, but quickly discovered that each of them was like wearing an impeccable mask.

"It's been some days; does the Second Prison matter have investigation results yet?" the Chief Councilor asked blandly.

Liu Bo stood at one side of the round table, slightly lowering his head, his expression as always calm to the point of near thinness, and his mouth did not utter a single superfluous word:

"There are results. Lou Duan, you report your investigation results to the Councilors."

Lou Duan hurriedly stepped forward, laying out the prepared draft in his heart and telling all:

"After the Second Prison riot, I had people conduct a secret investigation, separately from..."

Wang Xinfa coughed once, his eyes behind the lenses staring straight at Lou Duan, smiling without the smile reaching his eyes:

"No need to detail the process; just give the result. You tell me, the Second Prison riot, these people died, who should be responsible?"

A bone-piercing chill suddenly rose in Lou Duan's heart; from Wang Yiyuan Xinfa's unquestionable questioning, he tasted a somewhat unusual attitude.

"Wang Yiyuan seems not to care at all who the next name out of my mouth is... is it because, no matter who I say, Wang Yiyuan has full confidence to make the meeting result as he wishes?"

Lou Duan's thoughts raced; he subconsciously glanced at the Councilors, discovering that every single person's face was impeccable; you could hardly see their attitude from their expressions, nor could you tell who among them was on the same side as Wang Yiyuan.

Even if you did see it, it might not be real; it's possible it's all an act.

The people in this room are the Nine Districts' top-tier Film Emperors gathered together to show off their acting.

Lou Duan collected his train of thought, spitting out a few names from between his teeth:

"Zhao Xing, Zhou Hu are the principal culprits who instigated the riot; the other few Zone Chiefs should also have participated to varying degrees."

Before entering, Lou Duan had only planned to sacrifice Zhao Xing and Zhou Hu; after entering, he was ghostly compelled to add a few more names, truly sweeping up all the Zone Chiefs of the Second Prison in one net.

Wang Yiyuan's mouth corner curled up in an arc:

"What about the 【Tail Elimination System】 that's spreading like wildfire online?"

Lou Duan made up his mind to sacrifice the tail to survive; since it was so, what difference was there between cutting off one tail and a few tails?

He answered decisively:

"It was several Zone Chiefs joining forces to coerce Prison Warden Qian Huan into signing."

Wang Xinfa looked deeply at Lou Duan, waved a hand, and Liu Bo immediately led Lou Duan out of the Conference Room.

Outside the door, Lou Duan let out a long breath, only then discovering his back had long been soaked in cold sweat, the clothes sticking to his body damp and cold, making him shiver.

Liu Bo patted his shoulder, his face full of a meaningful smile:

"Any thoughts?"

Lou Duan had many doubts in his heart; his voice actually turned a bit hoarse without him realizing:

"They seem not to care what I answer?"

Liu Bo nodded: "Exactly. Our answers don't matter, because the game rules on that table are not the same as we imagined."

Lou Duan's pupils violently contracted, as if he realized something, yet also as if he couldn't think it through completely.

He lowered his voice and asked: "So, where exactly is it different?"

This time Liu Bo did not answer Lou Duan's words; he withdrew his hand resting on Lou Duan's shoulder, let out a long sigh, and paced away.

He also wanted to know the answer to this question, but if he could know it, how would he have lingered outside the door for decades, never able to get a seat at the table?

But some questions' answers, if you don't first get on the table and play a round, you'll probably never see clearly.

Inside the Conference Room.

Wang Xinfa spread his hands:

"Looks like the Prison System has already helped us find the scapegoats; then the next matters will be easy to handle!"

Zhang Deming frowned slightly, half-smiling:

"That's not necessarily so; the Prison System's internal investigation was a bit rash; in between there might be..."

Wang Xinfa ignored Zhang Deming's question, instead turning his head to look at the Chief Councilor, suddenly changing the subject:

"I heard the Upper City Council is preparing to pass a new policy, to levy an Air Tax on the entire Lower City; is there such a thing?"

All the Councilors' faces changed slightly in unison, collectively looking at the Chief Councilor.

The Chief Councilor was silent for three seconds, then nodded:

"What Wang Yiyuan says is correct; the bill has already passed in the Council; the specific implementation documents will come down in a while."

All the Councilors' faces instantly became exceptionally ugly in unison.

Zhang Deming asked with a dark expression: "Specifically, what is the tax standard?"

Chief Councilor: "Counted by head, the tax rate is three points, remitted monthly by each District Executive Government."

The middle-aged councilor frowned: "Equivalent to the Executive Government having to add a fixed 3% to its monthly fiscal expenditure."

Wang Xinfa interjected at the right moment:

"You miscalculated. As far as I know, for this head count, the higher-ups will send people to conduct a unified investigation, and all imprisoned prisoners and Blank Citizens must be included."

The Chief Councilor met everyone's incredulous gazes and silently nodded:

"That's correct. So, for future collection convenience, all Blank Citizens must be registered and filed. Of course, the welfare level of Blank Citizens remains unchanged, but they are allowed to purchase cemetery plots after death. From now on they will no longer be called Blank Citizens, but rather..."

The Chief Councilor paused for a moment, then uttered a brand-new term:

"Gray Citizens!"

End of Chapter