"What do you think they want to tell us?" a man wearing merchant robes asked the person beside him.
"I have no idea," the other person, a woman wearing a fancy dress, said.
Right now, over 5,000 people, almost half of the city, were gathered in front of the megastructure to the south.
They were all looking up at a balcony about a hundred meters up at the megastructure.
People from all parts of the city were there.
A couple people from the Dregs.
People living in the Outer City.
People living in the Inner City.
And even a few people living in the upper layer were here.
"Quiet!" came a loud shout from the Expert standing on the balcony. The shout echoed throughout the entire city.
All the talking stopped, and everyone looked up at the Expert.
"Introducing the new Governor, Aria Light!" he proclaimed as he walked to the side.
"Oh, we have a new Governor now," someone in the crowd said to the people beside him.
"Shut up! I want to listen." a guy beside him said.
Next, a beautiful woman stepped out from behind the Expert.
She wore the beautiful white robes of a Governor, and she looked at the gathered people.
"Ah, it's Kugelblitz's CZE. Seems like Kugelblitz will get an even stronger hold over the city. I'm not complaining, though," someone from the upper layer muttered.
Aria looked over the gathered people, her white uniform making her seem like an angel standing above the masses.
"My name is Aria Light, and I have been chosen as the new Governor of Crimson City," Aria said slowly. Her voice echoed throughout the city, and the rhythm of her speech made people subconsciously pay attention.
"The old Governor, Markus Julius, has been deemed as corrupt by Aegis and will not return to this city."
Some whispers started in the crowd.
Some of them were quite surprised, but others were not surprised at all.
Someone had to take the fall for the incident with Anatomy.
The elite of the city believed that Markus had been made into a scapegoat.
After all, he had run the city beautifully, and they had never complained about him.
"Markus Julius has forgotten what it means to be a Governor," Aria continued. "A Governor is a servant of Aegis. Aegis is our strongest and last defense against the Specters, and Aegis' prosperity and survival represents prosperity and survival for the human race."
Some of the less educated people were not entirely sure what Aegis was, and they were a bit annoyed about Aria's words.
They had enough problems here!
Why should they help some kind of organization that they hadn't even heard of when they could barely survive here?
"The Governor is a servant of Aegis, and every city in the world exists to provide Aegis the resources to protect humanity. Without Aegis, the most powerful Specters would have already killed all of us," Aria explained.
"However," Aria said, "Aegis also believes that a healthier and happier population has a greater well of resources to draw from. Taking the last veggie cubes from a poor person is more difficult than taking a loaf of bread from a bread hill."
"What's bread?" someone from the Dregs asked a person beside him.
"Some fancy food, probably," the other person whispered back.
"What's a Veggie Cube?" somebody from the Inner City asked the person beside him.
"Some disgusting food, probably," the other person answered.
"This city has about 12,500 people," Aria said. "Around 2,000 of these people live in an area that is referred to as the Dregs."
As soon as Aria said that, the mood in the audience shifted.
The Dregs had never officially been acknowledged.
The government had always only referred to the Outer City as a whole.
After all, everyone in the Outer City had to pay taxes. It was just that the real people of the Outer City had enough money to pay it every month without issues.
Because of that, the actual blood tax was only really a thing for the Dregs.
50% of the people in the audience were not happy to hear that the Dregs were mentioned.
They didn't want to think about the disgusting filth that lived in that degenerate part of the city.
Most of the others were interested.
And the people of the Dregs were actually shocked.
Someone from the government referred to them!
That had never happened before!
The only time the government interacted with the Dregs was when the tax collectors came with their mosquitos.
"This city has been relying on the weakest of us to carry the strongest of us," Aria said. "A city built on relying on the weak is bound to fail."
"It is time that the ones with the power to protect the city do their job and make this a place in which our future generations are happy to live!"
"A real human city is supposed to improve with time, and the old ones should look at the good ones and think about how easy the new generation has it compared to them. We are supposed to build our future for our children! Not for us!"
The more Aria spoke, the more their opinions split into two extremes.
The people of the Outer City were very happy to hear her words since they felt like they were finally being heard.
Meanwhile, the ones living in the Inner City were not as happy.
The city was already demanding 50% of their income as tax! That was half of all that they made!
Did they intend on taking even more?!
The rich looked at the poor, who only had to pay a measly 100 credits.
This was so unfair!
The people of the middle and upper layers became quiet and looked at their new Governor with furrowed brows.
If the Governor decided to grab even more from them, they would cause trouble.
A city is nothing without its people.
They were the ones that controlled the economy of the city.
Many of the people from the upper layer looked at each other with furrowed brows.
"This is the philosophy of the Liaison," Aria said.
"Wait, what?" someone from the upper layer uttered as she looked back at the Governor.
The Liaison?
So, this wasn't the Governor's philosophy?
"Two months ago," Aria explained, "Aegis made the decision to start a program about transforming their cities. This transformation is founded on the principles I just shared with you."
"Crimson City is going to be the first and only city to undergo this transformation for now. Depending on the results, things might or might not return to how they used to be."
"To oversee the transformation, Aegis has created a new position."
"The Liaison."
"The Liaison ranks higher than the Governor, but the Liaison is not strictly the Governor's superior. The Governor and the Liaison are supposed to work together to actualize Aegis' plan for the city."
The people from the middle and upper layers grew suspicious.
There was a new guy in the city that outranked the Governor?
This might make things more troublesome.
"The Liaison for our city has already been chosen, and he will join me in creating a better future for Crimson City."
Aria stepped to the side.
"Introducing the Liaison for Crimson City."
"Nick Dusk!"
The next moment, Nick walked out from behind Aria with a serious expression.
Naturally, he was already wearing his Liaison uniform.
Some of the people in the audience became shocked.
They knew this guy!
"My name is Nick Dusk," Nick said with a deep voice. "Until recently, I have been referred to with the name Nick Nick."
Some people felt the urge to laugh at the name, but for some reason, they didn't feel like laughing.
As soon as Nick spoke, the atmosphere seemed to become very heavy.
When Aria spoke, the aura was inspiring.
Many of the normal people felt like things were looking up and that what she said was right.
However, as soon as Nick said something, they felt like they were standing in front of a scary individual.
They did not feel like laughing.
They felt trepidation.
"I used to be Dark Dream's Chief Zephyx Extractor before it merged with Solace to become Sky Dream."
"I was born and raised in the Dregs, and I have made it my life goal to never have anyone go through these things that I've needed to go through."
"Markus Julius has used the pain and misery of the Dregs to create a utopia for a select few lucky individuals."
"He has benefited from the suffering of a great number of people."
"His conduct is like a Specter's."
"That is not how humans are supposed to be."
Nick put his hands on the railing of the balcony and looked at the gathered people below him.
Nick's eyes were narrowed, and even the distant people could feel his rage.
"I will not allow a utopia to be built on the screaming and suffering corpses of the unluckiest of us."
"Being born in the Dregs means being born into a situation in which escape and ascension are almost impossible."
"I have had enough luck to be granted an opportunity, but almost everyone else hasn't."
"I will make it so that everyone gets an opportunity."
"But, naturally, only the strongest and most intelligent ones will be able to realize it."
"But you WILL get an opportunity!"
"And even if you miss the opportunity, your life will not be as horrible as it is right now!"
"I swear that on my life!"