Darkstone Code-Chapter 870 - 868: Tribute to the Stars

In the evening, Lynch sat in the living room watching TV after dinner.

He knew the essence of television programs was to numb the people at the bottom of society, increasing their laziness and fear while incidentally plundering their final value.

But occasionally watching it wouldn’t affect him; in fact, he found it rather interesting.

He was watching an inspirational program that started at eight o’clock, a time when the vast majority of the Federation’s people had just finished eating and were sitting on the couch with junk food, ready to pass the time.

This is the so-called "golden time," when TV stations schedule their blockbuster programs to attract ratings between eight and ten o’clock.

Which production team has status, and which program hosts have influence, can be inferred from when their programs are aired.

The program Lynch watched was all about stories highly suited to the current political and social environment of the Federation, stories of ordinary people transforming into the middle class or even becoming perceived as wealthy.

Inspirational content was exceptionally popular; movies were hot, TV dramas were hot, and even reality shows like this were hot.

Watching the protagonist on TV—very much in line with the public’s definition of "middle-aged man"—talking about his own story, Lynch found it amusing.

This guy used to be just an ordinary worker and was unemployed; he only found a new job last year.

He quickly discovered during his work some issues, realizing many similar companies lacked professional staff in certain specialized positions, which often led to problems.

So, he seized the opportunity and started his own service company, initially with just him and his coworkers.

From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, society’s development accelerated again, and many large, medium, and small enterprises emerged with a huge market demand.

They collaborated with the Workers’ Union, found enough skilled but currently unemployed workers, signed them to their company, and provided professional services to those big companies.

Soon he earned his first hundred thousand, the first million in his life, and now he is striving for more wealth.

Doesn’t it all sound inspiring, giving one the idea and impulse of "If I start a business, I too can succeed"?

This is why the program is currently so popular.

"It always teaches people how to find opportunities, how to succeed!"

This was the evaluation of the Federal Times, which was quite high, but in reality, it’s just a capitalist game, a wonderful lie, and even deeper brainwashing.

Not to mention whether the success obtained from past program content is replicable, just from the episode Lynch watched, he knew it wasn’t.

It’s like his second-hand commodity auctions; these businesses are quite limited and can only succeed at certain stages of social development, not anytime.

Now the transaction of second-hand goods has started to boom again; people have emerged with material needs, but without much money, second-hand goods become the best choice.

The second-hand exchange in the entire York State was revitalized three years later, generating significant profits flowing into his account every day. Of course, from his current perspective, these profits aren’t that important, but it’s still an income.

These non-replicable successes actually provide no guidance to the ordinary class when broadcast; if ordinary people believe the stuff on TV and go started a business, they would soon choose to jump off a building or go live in the park with the homeless.

Since it holds no guidance value and meaning for entrepreneurship, it’s not a program providing life and work value to everyone; it’s an entertainment program, not a magical wealth guide or something like that.

The program continuously instills a terrible notion in people—"The reason I succeeded is that I solved troubles for capitalists and provided them with excellent service."

Capitalists have used two hundred years to mold the Federation and its people into what they desire; in every place, people’s worship and longing for capital is stark.

Do you have different views?

No worries, from entertainment programs to political news and all societal culture, they convey this dreadful concept to society.

If you want to succeed, you must realize self-worth by providing services to capitalists!

How terrifying this is!

The TV program that seems interesting and inspirational to others appears to Lynch as painfully stark images, figures blindly propagating the slogan "Capital above all," numb from constantly offering "everything to capitalists."

In a society brainwashed continuously by capital, it has long become pathological and abnormal.

The merchants manipulate whether the President can win elections and stay in office, control whether national laws and policies can be passed, and determine ordinary people’s work and even their families and joy.

This is a brutal, stark, pathological, cold society.

This is the essential nature of a capitalist society where everyone is exhausted to the last drop of blood and then discarded into the waste disposal plant.

Over two hundred years, everything here has solidified, making change hard to come by, even if Lynch wants to change it, it’s a difficult task.

Only by integrating with them and becoming the most successful one among them can one earn the right to redefine everything here...

At this moment, a sound of something falling to the ground came from the far corridor, pulling Lynch’s attention back from his boundless thoughts.

He glanced over, vaguely hearing Penny seemed to be getting angry?

He stood up; besides himself, there were two girls in the house. Sometimes Penny’s temper wasn’t great, he knew this from the very start. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

This is quite normal; in a middle-class household without any worries, protected layer by layer by the company, seen as the future hope of the company, it’s inevitable she’d develop some bad temper.

She might not know that sometimes her bad temper is more hurtful than a knife; Lynch may not be much, but he does have some personal boundaries.

He turned off the dreadful TV program, stood up, and walked towards the distance.

He saw Penny standing at the activity room door, hands on her hips, eyebrows raised, seemingly very angry.

"What happened?" Lynch asked calmly as he walked over to her.

Perhaps the TV show had led him to think of too many things; although externally he looked no different from before, he possessed a somewhat different air.

Like an Abyss, the depth unfathomable, just standing on the edge to glance, one’s legs felt weak.

Also like towering mountains making one look up but unable to see the summit, an uncontrollable feeling of insignificance growing within.

Penny swallowed a lump in her throat, suddenly feeling a bit cowardly as the pressure Lynch gave her was a bit much.

She previously thought that the so-called "air" was fabricated by screenwriters, something imagined to fool viewers, but at this moment, she wasn’t so sure.

"She... knocked something over," Penny quietly recited her lines, but upon remembering she hadn’t done anything wrong and it wasn’t really a wrong thing, her courage surged again, "Yes, she’s a bad girl, we need to punish her!"

Listening to this, Lynch found it both amusing and ridiculous; was it necessary to punish someone just for knocking over something small?

He planned to use some small stories to tell the girl in front of him the power of forgiving others could change one’s soul.

However, standing beside the girl, he happened to glimpse the room’s view, pausing slightly.

The maid couldn’t see anything but could vaguely feel a scorching gaze moving over her body, making it very uncomfortable.

Penny noticed Lynch’s expression freeze and pursed her lips proudly, her psychological change barely needing a word and a half to describe—

Humph (half a word)!

Man (one word)!

Just as she prepared to join Lynch in cleaning up the bad girl, Lynch suddenly looked at her, "I think you also have a responsibility to bear, so you also need to accept punishment."

Saying that, he took her hand, leading her into the room; the girl froze for a moment and then struggled, "Hey, hey, what’s this got to do with me, we’re on the same side!"

"If one person makes a mistake, everyone must be punished!"

"You too must be punished!"

Listening to Lynch’s voice, the maid suddenly felt less tense...

Slap!

Penny: Woo woo woo...

The maid looked at Penny: Woo woo woo...

...

Lying in the bath on the terrace of the third floor, with hot water continuously pounding against his body under the pump’s effect, washing away his fatigue.

Holding his drink, the stars shone brightly for him at this moment.

He looked up at the shimmering stars, completely different from the ones in his memory, but soon enough, as technology developed, these stars would be obscured by smog.

It’s the best and also the worst of times under the firmament.

He lifted his drink as if inviting the sky to drink with him!

Life is genuinely swift; you think you are still yesterday’s self, unaware you have become tomorrow’s self, realizing it only when time leaves you very little face.

No matter the past or future, the present is when one should strive!

With a splashing sound, the girl rose from the water, droplets flying in tandem with the myriad stars!

The next day, the maid successfully obtained a long-term contract from the community service company, lasting a full three years.

During these three years, besides the monthly paycheck, the most crucial is the community service company would pay for her Federal Social Security!

Simply an Social Security makes people crave work immensely, even willing to endure pressure far beyond the scope of the job just to secure employment!