Chapter 873 - 892: These People Are All Only Worth 5 Star Coins

"On this road in front of the Delicious Factory alone, there are forty thousand people. This is only a fraction of the entire queue for the outreach program. If my estimates are correct, over half a million people came to line up. The crowds thinning out further back is simply because those at the tail end felt there was no hope and chose to leave early."

Even if some had left early, there were still so many people remaining. The sheer thought of forty thousand people queuing up in this kind of environment was unimaginable.

As the screen shifted, the camera zoomed in.

"In this line, there are people of all ages. Some came alone, while others brought their entire families.

"I have been providing free medical consultations here for over a week, and it’s quite common to see whole families arriving together.

"Take a family of four, for instance—all suffering from radiation sickness. If we go by what that one netizen said about them loving to save money in hopes of sending their children to the outside world..."

Wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse? What was the point of saving money if the children were dying? If the whole family was about to kick the bucket, were they going to take those savings to their graves?

"There are also many here who have lost their parents and remain unmarried. They are in the prime of their lives, with no elderly or young dependents to support. Logically speaking, they should have plenty of money to spare, yet despite being severely ill, they haven’t gone to the hospital."

The camera panned over the crowd. The people looked universally similar in their suffering. The drone flew at a rapid pace, and within just ten minutes, the audience had viewed the entire forty-thousand-strong queue.

The camera robot then refocused on Jiang Qiuqiu. "This is what I want to show you all.

"I share the same doubts as the eagle-eyed netizen who brought this up.

"The majority of the people here are suffering from radiation sickness. An illness like this is typically contracted from spending extended periods in radiation mines.

"According to Federation labor laws, the hourly wage for working in such radiation mines cannot be lower than thirty-five Star Coins. Furthermore, the baseline pricing for medical equipment in hospitals cannot exceed two hundred Star Coins. Theoretically, it should be impossible to have this many sick people here.

"Moreover, at thirty-five Star Coins an hour, the scenario of an entire family going to the mines would never happen."

Based on the standard cost of living, if just one person in a family of four worked intensively, it would be enough to support the other three.

"Yet, the reality is that all four members of the family have contracted the exact same illness.

"Additionally, every single person here is dressed in rags."

It was truly everyone. Among the tens of thousands of people, not a single one wore anything remotely presentable.

"This forces me to question and wonder exactly how Q3 is paying its workers.

"Are the wages here meeting the baseline? And if not, just how big is the discrepancy?"

In the live chat, some viewers urged Qiuqiu to ask the workers below. She shook her head. "I won’t ask questions like that on camera."

The people below were already miserable enough. If she were to ask such a question on a live stream and someone answered honestly, it would inevitably cause a massive uproar. The chain reaction from such a wave would be immeasurable. Since the people behind this operation couldn’t target her directly, they might fly into a rage out of humiliation, and an innocent life could be lost as a result.

"I did ask privately, but the answer I received was chilling."

[How much?!]

[Juju asked? What’s the number?]

[20?]

[It has to be at least 15, right?]

There were many guesses, with fifteen seemingly being the absolute bare minimum the audience could imagine. Some older viewers, considering the harsh reality, guessed ten. In truth, if they had been earning ten, their lives wouldn’t have been reduced to this state.

The reality was—

"They told me it’s only five Star Coins an hour.

"Their daily workload is capped at ten hours. No matter how long they actually work, they are paid for a maximum of ten hours. The mine covers one meal a day, but no lodging."

She spoke those words softly. Yet, they landed on everyone’s hearts with the crushing weight of a thousand tons.

Five Star Coins?!!