Chapter Eighteen: Another Effect
When it comes to making overly ambitious plans, there are typically two main pitfalls: first, losing patience due to a lack of short-term rewards; second, focusing too much on immediate gains and forgetting the original purpose.
—Wang Luo
August 16, 1993, 10:52 a.m.
40 kilometers west of the rendezvous point, on the outskirts of Grizzly City
“In your previous world, what kind of person were you?” Wang Luo asked Yang Wentian as Zhou Yingxiong conducted his tests.
“Me? A student, not even graduated yet.”
“How did you end up here?”
“I was half-asleep that day, having a dream. Someone asked me if I wanted to play a game, and I said ‘sure.’ When I woke up, I was already here. How about you?”
“I was a hardcore shut-in,” Wang Luo replied.
“Pfft, I have plenty of classmates who call themselves shut-ins. They play games from dawn till dusk, through winter and summer, and never set foot outside. Were you like that too?”
“Maybe a different type... I liked staying at home, didn’t want to deal with people. I worked after graduation, but it was always frustrating and exhausting, so eventually I just quit. That went on for seven or eight years. By some people’s standards, that’s a textbook shut-in, isn’t it?”
“Heh! I’m a loser, a shut-in, jobless, penniless, plain-looking, bad at charming women, poor at adapting to society, and getting older... whew.”
“Though, I suppose I’m still reasonably clever. The books I’ve read, the education I’ve received, and the history I’ve studied still allow me to understand what it means to be human as a collective. I can toss out bait to drive them mad, set the stage so they act according to my designs. All of them are just puppets in the palm of my hand.”
“But my aim isn’t to humiliate them or scam them out of money—I couldn’t do that. The only thing I can do is save them from the disaster of turning into zombies. That’s all.”
“My conscience is still clean. Cleaner than any of theirs.”
At that moment, Zhou Yingxiong finished his first run-through. The woman hurried over, switched on the tape recorder, and the two exchanged a few words before Zhou began jotting notes.
What set him off like this...? Yang Wentian pictured Tang Xiaoxiao in his mind but said nothing.
“Sorry. The frustrations, setbacks, and sorrows of an ugly man aren’t exactly suitable topics for conversation.”
...True enough. “So what’s your next move?”
“According to Philip’s suggestion, we’re going to see the mayor. We need to ramp up the pressure on the company.”
“Does that have anything to do with what we’re doing now?”
---
“No. But in America, mayors are different from TV station owners or mob bosses—their reactions tend to be slower.”
“You go to the TV station boss to spread the word, the mob boss to stir up more chaos. I get that. But the mayor... isn’t he in bed with the company?”
“When a company’s in trouble, ‘collusion’ doesn’t mean much. The mayor uses the company’s money, the company uses the mayor’s power—that’s how it usually goes. Sometimes they’re even more tightly connected, but that hardly matters. At least on the surface, facing public protest, he has to put on a show.”
“A show?”
“Right. At the very least, he has to order some inspection of Umbrella’s facilities.” Wang Luo raised his right index finger, pointing in the air. “The underground lab is an excellent target.”
“You want Umbrella to open up the Hive? To open their underground lab for a government inspection?”
“No, I want the gold-crazed public to do the inspecting.”
“That’s Umbrella you’re messing with. Aren’t you afraid they’ll turn all the citizens into zombies?”
“It’s unlikely... but not impossible.”
Here, Wang Luo hesitated as well. “Because in this case, they’re innocent.”
“Wait... In the original story, the citizens hadn’t done anything wrong and still got turned into zombies by Umbrella’s virus. Now, these people are robbing Umbrella, trying to snatch gold from them, and you’re saying they’ll be fine?”
“The odds of survival are still better than if they did nothing.”
“Can you explain that in detail?”
“Sorry, now’s not the time. Leave the truck here, let’s find another car and head for the mayor’s office. Old Zhou, the experiments are in your hands. The details are in these notebooks—be careful and get through as many as you can.”
August 16, 1993, 12:40 p.m.
7 kilometers southeast of the rendezvous point, Grizzly City Hall, Mayor’s Office
“Philip has something to say to me? Why didn’t he come himself?”
After some wrangling at city hall, the mayor—harried by protests and missing lunch—still agreed to meet the clown-masked Wang Luo and Yang Wentian, recommended by Mr. Philip. His mood, naturally, was far from cordial.
“Mr. Philip is extremely busy. Tonight’s broadcast will be even more sensational than last night’s.”
The mayor shot to his feet. “What is he planning? There was no actual attack on the TV station yesterday—it was all his own orchestrated farce, wasn’t it? I’ll have him arrested at once!”
“And tonight, both the evening news and radio will run similar stories. If you could also make some criticism of Umbrella, it would help your approval ratings.”
“Who are you? Speak up! Shall I call security?”
“If it makes you feel better, you can consider me the mastermind behind yesterday’s TV incident.”
---
The mayor’s next move was to reach for the phone, but then he quickly raised both hands in the air, wary of Yang Wentian’s blade.
“All right, I surrender. What do you want? We can talk this out...”
“I know about your extensive cooperation with Umbrella. Now that they’re in trouble, I want to make it worse—and I’ll need your help.”
With that, Wang Luo produced a box of cash.
It wasn’t much, only half a box—less than what he’d given the TV boss or the mobster, and with no gold included.
“What do you need me to do?” The mayor’s tone was all insincere, eager only to get out of the situation.
“Not much. Won’t cause you trouble or take much effort.”
“Just call Umbrella and tell them that arranging a tour of their underground lab would help clear the air. Yes, the Hive. The time: the morning of the 18th, at eight. Whether or not they agree, you must reassure the citizens, telling them you’ve scheduled a tour to clarify the facts and that you’ve made a great effort to do so.”
The mayor’s expression shifted from the fake smile of “I’ll agree to anything, just let me go” to the calculating look politicians give their opponents. “Is that all? What do you really want?”
“That’s all.” Wang Luo pushed the box of money over. “We’ll handle the rest. Think about it—no matter how much Umbrella supports you, after this, if you stand with them, it’ll be hard to stay mayor. If I were them, I’d find someone else to back. The current police chief, for example, is also close to Umbrella...”
“If I do what you want, will you support me?”
“As long as you perform well. This is America—there are thousands of companies, each with their own interests. Getting too close to any one of them isn’t smart.”
“Very well, then.”
Yang Wentian sheathed his knife, and the two of them left.
“That’s all you said to him?” Yang Wentian asked after they got in the car. “You didn’t even give him much money. It took us a lot of effort just to get into his office.”
“These people act on their own as soon as they see a benefit,” Wang Luo replied, writing in a new notebook. “If I’d told the mob boss to rob Umbrella, he’d have been suspicious. But if I say nothing, he’s ninety percent likely to take advantage of the chaos and do it himself. TV stations, newspapers, radio—they’ll all report on this, because if they don’t, they’ll lose their audience and have no leverage to demand money from Umbrella.”
“But the mayor is different. He’ll do what I ask, because it benefits Umbrella—a clarifying gesture calms rumors and temporarily soothes public unrest. For the mayor, it both meets my request and earns favor with the company. Why wouldn’t he do it?”
“So he’s not worth much, doesn’t need a big payoff?” Yang Wentian took out a bottle of cola and took a swig. “We can also go to that lab ourselves.”
“That, we’ll decide when the time comes.” Wang Luo removed his mask. “It’ll be dangerous over there. For today, our work is done. Let’s find Old Zhou. Once the experiment’s finished, we’ll head back to the hotel and rest.”