In two minutes, Han Xiao read through Serbia the Fifth’s plan. He passed the files to Rossellin then nodded. “Looks like you don’t plan to seek the opinion of the Godorans.”
“Although this plan is beneficial to the future of the civilization, the free will of most people will only be a burden. This plan can only be carried out without seeking approval from everybody.” This meeting was off the records, so Serbia the Fifth was more direct.
Rossellin read through the file very quickly. With a calm and reserved look, she slightly nodded and said, “I understand your request. Are you sure there’s no need to plant something else in the minds of your people?”
Serbia the Fifth wiped the cold sweat from his brow and said, “No, no, eliminating discrimination is enough.”
“Okay, if it’s just eliminating discrimination, it’s easy for me.”
Rossellin gave Serbia the Fifth a mysterious smile that made his heart shake a little.
To outsiders, Rossellin was not as casual as when facing Han Xiao. On the way, Han Xiao had told her to maintain her standard and not scare Serbia the Fifth with her real colors. Rossellin looked at Serbia the Fifth with an elegant smile and explained her plan.
“Black Star has already told me the situation. To my understanding, there are three fundamental causes to the bloodline conflict of Godora.
“One, the pureblood traditional concept passed down through the years. In the galactic environment, only a small fraction of the purebloods still firmly believe in this concept. I call these people the Diehards, and their minds are the hardest to change.
“Two, discrimination caused by biological differences. This comes from the instinctive disgust of an intelligent life when seeing a deviant form. Many of the purebloods don’t want to discriminate against the hybrids, but when they see them, they still uncontrollably feel a sense of disgust. This is the cause of discrimination for most people. In order to change this, I think the key point is the aesthetic sense.
“Three, the hatred accumulated from the large number of conflicts caused by many years of discrimination. This is considered a historical problem. Plus, due to discrimination, the average societal position of purebloods is higher than the hybrids, so the purebloods have more power in various industries. This can be seen as a class conflict. I can temporarily suppress this type of hatred, but if you people don’t change the current situation, after a long time, these conflicts will happen
again.”
Serbia the Fifth had a headache just from hearing these problems.
In his eyes, every single one of these issues was close to unsolvable. He could see how extremely difficult these problems were just from listening to Rossellin talking about them. He once again started to doubt the feasibility of this plan.
As if Rossellin saw through his worries, she calmly said, “On a more positive note, it would take at least decades to make these problems less severe with normal methods. However, now that I’m here, I can make this process thousands of times faster. The first two points are the main causes, and as long as the problems with the Diehards and the aesthetic sense are resolved, the class conflicts will gradually be reduced.”
Serbia the Fifth took a deep breath, stood up, and bowed deeply toward Han Xiao and Rossellin.
“I’m counting on you!”
It was a normal morning. The warm yellow sunlight woke up the asleep city.
In a commercial square filled with tall buildings on the Godoran mother planet, hovering vehicles shuttled between buildings. People that equipped flying runes rose and landed on the open-air platforms that extended from the tall buildings. It was a boisterous and hectic scene.
This time, at a hovering public bus station on an open-air platform, there was a long queue. It was rush hour for the working class in the morning. These Godorans heading to their jobs were waiting for the public transport.
The production of a Star System civilization was more than enough to feed lazy shut-ins, but as the capital of a civilization, the mother planet had maintained vigorous vitality. Those that resided on the mother planet were all willing to work hard, unlike those at the edge of colonial planets that all stayed at home and had no concept of ‘working’.
Rudy was in the middle of the queue. His outfit looked decent, like an elite of society. However, unlike the Godorans around, he did not have protruding ears, and his ears were spiral shaped holes. He also did not wear a ponytail or any ornaments on his hair because he did not have hair. His facial organs were also further apart from each other.
He was the only hybrid in the long queue.
Rudy could feel the strange looks with suppressed disgust coming from around him. He had a normal expression on his face and looked straight ahead, as if he was unaffected. But in his heart, he wished that the hovering public bus would reach the station soon so that he would no longer have to endure this treatment of being watched by so many people like an animal in the zoo.
Rudy was sixty-three years old this year. By Godoran standards, he was middle-aged. He was a very senior employee of a huge business, and his income was rather high. Supposedly, he should be middle class in the society, but his appearance had given him obstructions everywhere. He knew that his current position was the highest that he could achieve, and he would never be promoted again.
His most hated thing each day was going to work, not because his job was tiring but because going to work meant he had to socialize and endure all kinds of strange looks. He had been enduring a huge amount of mental stress every single day, but he could not express any of that emotion on his face. In the countless times he woke up in the middle of the night because of that stress, he would just sit there and stare into the darkness, thinking that he might as well quit the job; why should he put himself through all that?
But every time he saw his sleeping wife beside him, he would put those thoughts away.
His wife was a beautiful pureblood. Back then, his wife had ignored her family’s opposition and married him, a hybrid. She had blessed him with two children. Even after being married for so many years, her family had never accepted him, but his wife almost never complained. For the sake of his family, Rudy did not dare quit his job; he could only let his anxiety and irritation be vented out silently during the times he puffed.
To him, life was a pool of still water, a gray silent film that played on repeat every day, only starting to have colors when he got home and saw the smiles of his wife and children. Rudy had no expectations for the future anymore. Maybe not being able to see his path ahead was good for him; a life that he could see the end of would be terrifying.
Rudy smiled self-deprecatingly. He overheard the conversation of the two people behind him who had suddenly started chatting.
“Have you heard? The DarkStar leader was captured some time ago, and the DarkStar organization has been deemed to be completely eliminated.”
“It’s been half a month. Of course I’ve heard.”
“Hehe, there are reports that say the DarkStar leader’s trial has ended, and he’s locked up in Rainbow Prison.”
“I did not know that. Tell me more…”
Listening to the clearly deliberate conversation behind him, Rudy could only act as if he could not hear it.
Due to DarkStar’s existence, the hybrids received even more hatred. After the DarkStar organization was destroyed, purebloods had mentioned DarkStar around him more than once, on purpose or otherwise, as if it was some kind of mockery.
Rudy did not agree with DarkStar’s philosophy at all; a hybrid that yearned for peace like him even hated DarkStar’s actions. However, to the purebloods, it seemed that every hybrid admired DarkStar. DarkStar’s ending meant the failure of the hybrids, so they could put on the looks of victors and feel superior.
At this time, a projected screen appeared between the tall buildings, attracting everyone’s attention.
Serbia the Fifth appeared on the screen. He sat straight and faced the camera with a serious face, as if he had something important to announce.
The same scene appeared on every colonial planet of Godora. It was an announcement for the entire civilization.
Serbia the Fifth slowly spoke.
“Today, on behalf of the Godoran government, I’m going to announce a very important decision. In order to avoid tragedies similar to the DarkStar incident in the future, we have decided to accept help from the Purple Crystal Civilization to use an unorthodox method to solve the bloodlike discrimination problem that has affected us for a very long time…”
Serbia the Fifth read the long script that he had prepared beforehand, describing the situation as the Purple Crystal Civilization suggesting to help and him deciding to accept their help after careful consideration. He sugarcoated the terms and words used to reduce the objection of the people as much as possible.
However, all the Godorans were still petrified by this news and were all unable to speak.
Only after the news had ended for a few seconds did a deafening uproar start.
“This is too sudden. There were no signs at
all!”
“This is brainwashing!”
“Why does our perception have to be changed? Free will is inviolable! Has Serbia the Fifth lost his mind?”
“Will there be any side effects?”
“This is the Purple Crystal Civilization’s idea? Then maybe it’s reliable.”
The Godorans around discussed the issue loudly and reacted in various ways, mostly with shock and disgruntlement.
Rudy did not take part in the discussion. His eyes were wide open, and his face was filled with disbelief.
At this moment, he felt that as if his heart that had been numb for a long time had finally started beating vigorously again.
He seemed to see a tint of light in his dark future.
On this day, people from every industry started to use their relationship network to inquire more about what the government meant. The people were flustered.
No one was willing to let someone else change their thoughts, even if it was a huge good deed beneficial to the collective. As expected, this caused backlash due to individual willingness. Serbia the Fifth promised subsidies, reduced taxes, and all kinds of benefits for those who accepts the ‘Discrimination Transformation’ plan; however, he did not give them the option to reject.
There was outrage, and protests appeared one after another. Serbia the Fifth’s plan had shaken the entire society, but he was determined not to change his mind.
With Purple Crystal’s interference, the internal resistance was suppressed forcefully. The government started to operate to his will.
The upper class of society was basically controlled entirely by purebloods. These people had a lot of power, and most of them were Diehards. They did not receive any information beforehand either. Although they hated Serbia the Fifth’s plan, they did not immediately stand out to oppose it but stayed calm and observed the situation.
Purple Crystal’s name helped Serbia the Fifth not receive more objections; the reputation of a Star Cluster civilization had the Godorans slightly under control. Even though Serbia the Fifth’s actions were almost like those of a dictator, many Godorans believed that this was the Purple Crystal Civilization’s decision.
Due to many factors, Serbia the Fifth was able to forcefully execute this almost insane plan.
Seeing that they could not change the government’s mind at all, the attention of all the Godorans was focused on the first test area of the ‘Discrimination Transformation’ plan announced by Serbia the Fifth. It was the Colonial Planet Gautin.
A planet with extremely low importance, filled with jobless shut-ins, was a perfect place for the test. Even if the results were not good, it would have a very limited impact on the entire civilization.
In Rainbow Prison, the DarkStar leader sat at the corner of his cell. It was pitch black, and he could only hear his own breathing in the dark.
His trial had ended. Godora and Purple Crystal had both gotten what they wanted, so he was locked up and would be spending the rest of his life in prison.
The hope that supported his belief was destroyed. It was as if the DarkStar leader had lost his spine, and his heart was numb and emotionless.
The Rainbow Prison could shatter the belief of DarkStar members. He did not know if he could hold on to his own belief in the future, but he did not care anymore.
Clank!
The narrow feeding window at the bottom of the cell door opened. A plate of food and a beam of light entered the cell.
“Recently, Serbia the Fifth announced a plan to brainwash all Godorans to eliminate discrimination for hybrids. Did your DarkStar convince him and make him betray us?”
The prison guard outside the door suddenly spoke with a sarcastic tone. He then closed the feeding window and left.
In the dark, the DarkStar leader suddenly opened his eyes. His numb eyes were filled with shock. He was absolutely confused.
Brainwashing the entire civilization?
What the hell? Could it be that we have the same belief but you’re much smarter than me?
You should be the one leading DarkStar!
