bacchusnovels Chapter 532: The Election Settles
Chapter 532: The Election Settles
[TN: Here this week chapters see you guys in two weeks]
Returning from the wretched Pacifica to Manhattan, New York, Leo had just stepped out of his home, preparing to head to the company.
In the Cyberpunk world, Leo had basically decided the direction of the mayoral election:
In the original plot, Rhyne died, and died under unclear circumstances. Based on the information Leo currently had, Rhyne would have been killed by multiple companies working together no matter what.
Peralez and Holt would compete, and depending on whether protagonist V told Peralez the truth that he was being controlled, the election would have two outcomes with the same result but very different details:
If V chose to obey the mysterious message received during the investigation and did not tell Peralez that he was being mind-controlled, Peralez would win the election with 70% support.
If V chose to tell Peralez the truth, telling him that everything around him, including the thoughts in his head, could not be trusted, Peralez would become paranoid. In the end, although he would still win the election, the result would be 49.3% to 47.8%, an extremely narrow margin.
But either way, Peralez was better than Holt, and Rhyne was obviously better than Peralez. That superiority mainly showed in political skill:
Peralez also understood alliance-building, but he could not shake certain fabricated thought patterns fixed into his head. He was too idealistic, and could never beat Rhyne. Clearly Blue Eyes had anticipated this too, otherwise there would have been no need to kill Rhyne.
But either way, both of them were definitely better than Holt, who had openly jumped out as Arasaka's dog. Now both of them had been forced onto Burger King as their backer—
Though compared to megacorps, this backer still had a lot of improving to do.
All of that could be handled remotely.
And in the Marvel world, the presidential election had also settled.
In the lab, good news was being broadcast on the television:
"The presidential election has settled. Secretary of State Barnes is set to become the next president."
James Buchanan Barnes, in most Marvel series Captain America's childhood friend, nicknamed Bucky, a World War II veteran. In most Marvel settings, Barnes vanished in combat, was captured and brainwashed, injected with super-soldier serum, and became the Winter Soldier.
But here, the one frozen was Captain Carter. The one who vanished in battle was Steve Rogers. Barnes was the current Secretary of State, the main candidate backed by Roxxon Energy Corporation, and a genuine nearly one-hundred-year-old man.
Though old, Barnes in the news photo still looked vigorous, his eyes bright and sharp. Judging from his recent speeches and appearances, he had not shown any digestive-system mishaps either. If his age were not emphasized, one might think he was only in his sixties.
"This nearly centenarian next president appears ready to welcome his first presidential term. It must be said, he looks to be in excellent condition.
"If all goes well, Mr. Barnes will celebrate his hundredth birthday during his first term.
"Many citizens see him as a representative of the hard-liners, believing this World War II veteran should bring us victory in another world war. However…
"They say those who have experienced war do not wish for a second one. Perhaps only tonight's victory speech will reveal his true thoughts."
Considering the election results had come out in the early hours of the same day, the victory speech was scheduled for this evening. By convention, Barnes would thank his supporters and campaign team, look toward the future, and briefly outline future policy directions.
The speech location was usually campaign headquarters, representing his support team, his sponsors, and every interest group he represented.
But in practice, the location could also be somewhere symbolic—
If Barnes chose to give the speech at Roxxon Energy headquarters in Houston, that would mean Leo had been played by this hundred-year-old bastard and could immediately pack up and prepare to leave America.
But if the location was somewhere else, Leo would clearly sense that this old soldier had no intention of following Roxxon's wishes and beating up the whole world.
And the location of the victory speech was…
"The victory speech will be held at 8 PM tonight. Citizens can hardly wait to hear what wisdom this president spanning a century can bring us to resolve the world's current predicament.
"This speech will be held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. It seems this president does not merely wish to communicate with voters, but is also impatient to communicate with the world.
"The only question is whether those words will come with sugar, or a stick."
The United Nations Headquarters was in New York City. Beside it was the United Nations Park, built after World War II, where many anti-war rallies had been held.
This place… was indeed subtle. It sent Leo a very positive signal, while also not making Roxxon immediately suspicious.
After all, Barnes had fought in World War II. This place carried commemorative meaning for him. If it were another president, Roxxon would become suspicious.
And so Leo opened an encrypted channel and began contacting Barnes.
[Leo: Congratulations, Mr. Barnes.]
[Barnes: Don't rush to congratulate me. I shouldn't end up getting shot like President Kennedy, right? I hope you people really do have the strength.]
[Leo: How could that happen? New York is very safe. Besides, the company recently made some small progress in vehicle development. You'll know when the time comes.]
[Barnes: Roxxon is going to explode with rage when the time comes. I mean really explode.]
[Leo: Relax. That's exactly why a president needs a support team. We've recently made some new breakthroughs in vehicle development.]
After getting the information, Leo immediately headed to the company without stopping.
Atlas Group had a lot of new real-combat data to receive, and it also needed to upgrade its cross-dimensional industrial production system.
Going to Dogtown was something he would do as himself. The greatest benefits would never be fully taken by a mere merc.
Cyberware needed upgrading, vehicles needed rebuilding, the industrial system needed upgrading into a presentable scale, and…
Counting the time, Captain Carter and Frank should soon arrive in New York.
It was time to see what breakthroughs vibranium could bring them.
Leo silently thought in the car, looking at the crowds marching on both sides of the street.
The atmosphere on the streets was somewhat gloomy, because on the surface, although Barnes's stance was not as clear as former President Ellis's, and although he had repeatedly tolerated Roxxon Group, he had also been very close to the energy groups and military-industrial groups.
There were even claims that he was a veteran, that he had benefited from war, and so he would definitely start another war.
Honestly, by this point the situation had already gone out of control. When confrontation grew increasingly intense, this kind of thing happened: the left thought those who claimed to be left were not left enough; the right thought those who claimed to be right were not right enough; and everyone frantically slapped every hostile label onto others without restraint.
Barnes was indeed part of American politics, and he did need to bear responsibility for the current situation. But to say he was some war fanatic was not necessarily true.
Society was far too complicated. If a gang kid raped and killed an ordinary student, Leo could shoot him on the spot without any other choice.
But when magnified to the entire society, a war, a financial storm, a subprime crisis, a data fraud scandal, a single arbitrary decision by power…
All of them could trigger avalanche effects. The consequences were far more severe than individual crimes, and… far harder to hold anyone accountable for.
It was simple to reason backward from the result, but now Leo stood at the mouth of the storm.
[Little Octopus: Big brother, you seem a little melancholy. Every time you come over here, you get a little melancholy.]
Little Octopus suddenly appeared in front of Leo, several tentacles propping up its head as if imitating "The Thinker."
It was an AI, and could read all of Leo's body data, but thoughts and memories could not be read. Or rather, they could not be read secretly.
Then it immediately raised all its tentacles, put on steel armor, equipped cyberware, and grabbed a weapon in each tentacle. The whole octopus looked like a crazed cyberpsycho.
[Little Octopus: Why not just rat-tat-tat! Jie jie!]
Leo grabbed its data body back and opened the door to get out.
[Leo: If we can do better, then we work to do better. It's not like I'm some murder demon.]
[Little Octopus: But even the most famous murder demon in this world has a kill record far below yours! Even if we factor in battlefield performance—]
[Leo: We're not considering absolute values here! We're considering being above the average line!]
Little Octopus sat on Leo's head, its soft body slowly slumping down. Compared to an octopus, it looked more like a slime monster. As it entered low-consumption mode, it vanished from Leo's field of vision.
[Little Octopus: Fine. There's a woman at the company's back entrance. She's been waiting a long time. Looks like she's hiding from something. She also has a bodyguard.]
[Leo: Natasha?]
[Little Octopus: Seems like Stark Industries' former executive assistant and security chief. They recently laid off a lot of people. External judgment is that they want to avoid overlapping with our business points.]
Then that would be… Tony's original lover, Pepper Potts, and his original head of security, Happy Hogan.
What were they here for?
[Leo: Let them sit for a while. I'm busy.]