Chapter 654 - 407: Everyone Is Selfish (Part 2)

At this moment, Sikinkov learned of Su Mo’s arrival and quickly came out to greet him. These two brothers, who had forged a deep friendship in past years, shook hands forcefully and bumped shoulders.

Sikinkov said excitedly, "The Iron Sun battle was a great win, an incredibly beautiful fight!"

Su Mo shook his head with a smile, "It had little to do with me. It was mainly because the Wolf Assault folks were resilient, enduring the entire battle without collapsing. Then Dongzai took down Asou Ichirō instantly, which is why we won so quickly."

Sikinkov laughed heartily, "After all these years, what surprises me most is still Dongdong, that girl. Back then, she was a street hooligan, and now she’s become the pillar supporting everyone."

"Just a few days ago, a subordinate told me he had arrested Dongdong years ago, took away her bionic arm, and she spat all over him... who knows if it’s true or if he’s bragging, haha."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two got down to business.

Su Mo asked, "How are things here in New Moon City?"

Sikinkov replied, "The power takeover went smoothly. The prosthetics your engineer, Future, crafted based on the ’Human Document’ are absolutely amazing in quality, not inferior at all to the genuine products from the Iron Blood Alliance."

"The Blood Code Compound and Blood Circulation Factor are the same, making rapid progress when cultivated by carriers."

"After the Anti-Violence Fourth Section took down the Upper Court Guard, the city is completely under our control, but..."

He sighed, "Things aren’t as optimistic as imagined. New Moon City has over 30 million people, that’s over 30 million mouths to feed."

"Strategic material reserves have long been depleted. Converting various military production lines to civilian use takes time, and city reconstruction is not a matter of a day or two."

"Moreover, in such times, human nature becomes more unpredictable. Don’t be fooled by everyone’s unity during the execution of Charles; as soon as the fervor dies, petty theft, robbery, and looting emerge... altogether, it’s chaotic."

Su Mo smiled, with a trace of profundity in his eyes, "Humans are the same everywhere, with both good and bad sides."

"Governing a city is already so difficult, what about governing a world? Sometimes it’s really unimaginable."

Sikinkov joked, "Hey, don’t start celebrating like Zhao Yiming with champagne at halftime; we haven’t achieved overall victory yet."

Su Mo burst into laughter after hearing this.

Sikinkov continued, "What are your plans on your end? Is there anything you need from me?"

Su Mo shook his head, "Don’t worry about the battle; just leave it to me. You just manage New Moon City, resume production as soon as possible, organize the city’s reconstruction, and prevent any further major setbacks here."

Sikinkov: "No problem, I’ll take care of it."

Ending the meeting with Sikinkov, Su Mo began his journey back to Edge Mansion.

Most of the Edge Mercenaries had already gone to Iron Sun, but the mansion still had plenty of personnel on hand, all of whom were trusted elite members.

On one hand, one cannot ignore the threat of decapitation tactics.

Although New Moon City is far from the front lines and Edge Mansion’s defense system is well-equipped, there’s no guarantee the enemy won’t send small secret teams to attack here.

If such a thing happens, someone needs to protect the safety of the companions in the rear; even if they can’t win, they must cover their withdrawal immediately.

On the other hand, to put it bluntly, it was mostly to defend against those "close by" in New Moon City itself.

When Su Mo returned to Edge Mansion, a crowd had already gathered outside, estimated to be several hundred, all refugees displaced within the city.

Mercenary Guards armed with weapons blocked the entrance, while KK was anxiously speaking to them about something.

"It’s really not possible; those resources are for our own internal use and can’t be distributed."

"Please, give us some food, we’re really hungry!"

"I understand your situation, but we have our own people to take care of."

"You have so many resources; giving us a little won’t matter!"

"It’s really not possible..."

"Please! Just consider it a good deed!"

During the time KK was surrounded by the crowd, Su Mo made his appearance.

"Big brother!" Seeing Su Mo return safely, KK felt a great relief and joy.

Su Mo walked up the stairs, glanced at the refugees below, and asked KK, "What’s going on here?"

KK lowered his voice a bit, speaking helplessly, "Our mansion has always had reserves of supplies, and these people want us to distribute some to them."

A woman below, holding a child, pleaded, "Director Su, we know you’re a good person; please give us some food!"

Su Mo shook his head, "Sorry, I can’t give you any."

The woman asked anxiously, "Why? You clearly have so much."

Su Mo: "If I give supplies to you, once word gets out, a whole swarm of people will come asking me for it. Then what do you say, should I give or not give?"

"If I give them away, I wouldn’t be able to provide for everyone even by distributing all the resources in the mansion."

"If I don’t give, they’ll accuse me of favoritism, harbor resentment without cause. I don’t want to be a good person who ends up being scolded."

The refugees were quick thinkers; someone took the lead and shouted, "We’ll keep it a secret, and absolutely won’t tell! If anyone lets it slip, they’ll curse their whole family! Everyone agrees, right?"

Regardless of whether they made a genuine oath or were being perfunctory, the refugees responded collectively, assuring not to let the word get out.

Su Mo smiled helplessly, "It’s still not possible. As KK said, these supplies are our reserves. We have our own people to look after, and at the moment, we can’t provide more help to others."

"But we’re really hungry!" The woman directly used her child as leverage, "Look at my son, he’s so hungry there’s no flesh left on his face; please, help us."

Su Mo still shook his head, "The City Council has set up aid points to distribute relief food, with a fixed daily amount for each person. While it might not be enough to fill up, at least it prevents starvation."

"Sorry to say this - but please bear with it for now; don’t ask for too much. For the time being, surviving is good enough."

After speaking, Su Mo didn’t continue to converse with the refugees, heading inside the mansion with KK, leaving the Mercenary Guards to hold the entrance.

Seeing Su Mo walk away like that, the woman became anxious and blurted out, "How can you be so selfish!"

Su Mo stopped where he stood.

The previously noisy scene suddenly fell into silence, leaving only some faint whispers.

Someone quietly tugged at the woman’s clothes, softly reminding, "Director Su is helping us fight a war; how can you say that about him."

People around them chimed in.

"Yes, what you said isn’t right."

"Helping is a favor; not helping is a duty. How can you call it selfishness?"

"You should apologize quickly."

Were these words sincere?

Or were they simply concerned about offending Su Mo?

It’s hard to say.

The woman realized her mistake, lowering her head to apologize to Su Mo, "I’m sorry, Director Su, I was too anxious and spoke without thinking..."

Su Mo turned to look at the crowd.

The crowd had imagined many scenarios.

The worst would definitely be Su Mo getting angry, saying how hard it was fighting the war up front, and then getting scolded by them afterwards.

If that’s the case, there’s nothing more to say, quickly disperse. Being scolded is not a big deal; the real trouble would be if he quit in anger, leaving them in jeopardy.

There’s also a possibility the woman’s words might successfully change Su Mo’s mind, and he’d agree to distribute supplies after all, which would be ideal.

However, Su Mo’s response was somewhat unexpected.

He wasn’t angry, nor did he consent, but just gave a bitter smile to the crowd: "To be honest, there indeed are sufficient supplies inside Edge Mansion. Secretly taking some out wouldn’t have any severe consequences."

"The main reason I’m not giving them, is I want to maintain the living standards of my companions. Even in such turbulent times, I want them to live with dignity, not in a sorry state."

"This lady is correct; what I’m doing is selfish."

"But humans are inherently selfish; in any situation, they prioritize themselves and those close to them. That’s why there’s so much injustice and suffering in the world."

At this point, Su Mo’s smile became complex, and he said softly, "I’m not a god; I’m just an ordinary person."