Interstellar Number One Farmer: I Only Want To Farm!-Chapter 166 - 56: Imminent Evacuation

They got off the vehicle chatting noisily, passed the gate of the military administration building on their way to the cafeteria, and heard a group of people shouting.

"Why have you locked down the city and won’t let us out? Do you know how much money we lose for every day we’re not working?"

"Protest! Protest! Give us a reason, you can’t make decisions arbitrarily."

"We’re covering the mercenaries’ fees ourselves, and now that we can’t work, where will the money come from each day?"

"You’re only concerned with your official image, without regard for the lives of us merchants."

"Either lift the lockdown or compensate us."

The riot soldiers held up shields, expressionless, blocking the outsiders without speaking.

They couldn’t express their grievances, even though they had said there were many Insect Men outside. Yet, the merchants focused only on immediate profits thought the Military Department wanted to monopolize the resources.

What were they thinking? If the Military Department intended to monopolize, they wouldn’t have initially given the mining rights to the merchants.

As the number of protesters grew, Hu Ping timidly approached a guard to ask, "Has the city been locked down? Why?"

The soldier nodded, his expression grave.

Answered, "Insect Men."

The students had been outside almost the whole day and should know the situation outside was not optimistic.

A few days ago, due to bad weather, the mining companies had already delayed progress.

Both the government and the Military Department could understand their feelings.

But no matter how urgent, they couldn’t let them go out unchecked.

The crowd was furious, and a public relations person stepped forward to persuade them. He seemed somewhat young, and his tone was as gentle as possible.

"Please calm down, we’ve discovered many traces of Insect Men. If you go out now, it would be very dangerous. If you went out now and we had to rescue you later, you wouldn’t want to be caught in a perilous situation, right...?"

The more he talked this way, the less the mining companies could empathize.

His words sounded increasingly like empty platitudes, seeming more like dismissive excuses.

Isn’t Huangyang Star always dangerous? They came here risking their lives purely for the profit.

The people from the Military Department couldn’t provide accurate data, making it hard to convince the mining companies.

The mining companies wanted to make money, the miners also needed work, and if they didn’t work soon, they would starve.

Despite the efforts of the public relations person, he couldn’t argue against these merchants.

Beside the instructor, Su Xiaocai said, "Has anyone returned from outside?" The adverse weather, a large-scale disaster, occurred two days prior.

The mining companies remaining on Huangyang Star all had some capital; they didn’t lack Mecha and mercenaries, having a certain capacity for self-protection.

It’s been two days, did anyone who stayed outside return?

"What if not a single one has returned?"

Su Xiaocai slightly hinted, and the instructor immediately realized, striding forward past the public relations, asking the gathered crowd, "Do any of you know any miners or workers who went out and haven’t returned?"

Several faces of the mining companies changed, feeling guilty.

They didn’t go out themselves, naturally avoiding many dangers, if their men disappeared, they could just reorganize and send more out.

Soldier: "You must speak the truth, has anyone returned?"

The angry crowd suddenly fell silent, unconsciously expressing fear.

"Where are those few highly-paid mercenaries?" A protesting miner questioned the nearby merchant.

"Isn’t it strange they haven’t returned?" The merchant’s voice grew louder. "Which miners and mercenaries would return after just two days outside? They signed agreements requiring them to mine a certain amount before returning."

Finally, the public relations person realized how to control the situation, "Then what about those who have been out for over a week? Have they returned? Have they contacted any of you?"

Most miners and mercenaries were alone, no one really cared about them if they didn’t return, nor did many notice.

But when attention was drawn to them, their presence felt surprisingly intense.

Many familiar faces were indeed missing.

Continuous questioning left the protesting crowd speechless.

"None have returned, right. Anyone still daring to go out, we respect that."

The public relations side was no longer passive; the attitude hardened, demanding those protesting here register information of any missing subordinates first.

The mining companies heard this and immediately slipped away from the crowd.

Huangyang Star has a unique law, if the miners and mercenaries under a mining company with development rights are missing for more than a month, it is treated as a fatality.

They have to compensate the family and pay a search fee.

The search fee is a form of guarantee, if the person is found, the money would be awarded to whoever found the missing person.

Many mining companies wish to evade this fee and would conceal missing person cases.

Now, being forced to pay this amount seemed to carve out their heart.

Thus, the protesting merchants dispersed like birds and beasts.

The remaining miners were inconsequential.

Soon, the door to the military administration building was empty.

"Master, I believe you’d also be excellent at public relations." Always hitting the sore spots, making people uncomfortable yet unable to refute.