The Immortal Cultivator from ‘Manjusaka, the City in the Sky’ got more and more excited as he talked. Perhaps he purely wanted to buy more time for himself at the beginning, but he was now prouder than ever about the system that originated from the Land of Sins.
“In the first years after Lord Wuying Lan created the notion of ‘slaughter streams’, we hired the professors in renowned universities to trace and investigate twenty-seven mining groups for ten years.
“The result of the investigation suggested that the happiness index soared every year in the community of miners who watched ‘slaughter streams’ for a long time and that the ratio of sluggishness, strikes, and even large-scale riots was reduced year by year. After venting their anger and additional energy in the thrilling shows, the miners were able to work dutifully during the day. The disobedient rogues, after seeing the miserable outcomes of the sinners in the Land of Sins, did not say or do anything outrageous.”
“I get it. You are killing the chicken to scare the monkeys,” Xiahou Wuxin said. “The sinners in the Land of Sins are chicken, and the hominoid miners are monkeys.”
“You… You…” Xin Xiaoqi bulged her eyes, utterly dumbfounded. Despite all the crazy, bizarre things she had seen in the Land of Sins, she could not begin to fathom such evilness in the world. She stammered for a long time, only to come up with no comment on the Immortal Cultivators’ behavior.
“You can say that.” Wei Xiaotian continued smiling. “The test streaming in the mining groups was a major success and significantly helped them to improve the happiness index and the productivity of the miners. Soon, the slaughter streams were introduced nationwide in the Imperium.
“To this day, almost all the miners, especially those who are engaged in dangerous and burdensome labor work, consider the slaughter streams their sole excitant. Some of them even have to watch the streamers kill a couple of people to enjoy themselves before they go to sleep even though they have worked seventy-two hours in a row deep inside the mines without any rest!
“As a result, the society is peaceful, the hominoids feel happy, and the productivity is significantly improved. The civilization of mankind is pushing forward at a higher and higher speed. The most amazing part is that there is barely any cost. Shouldn’t you be greatly complimented?
“Also, the whole streaming business is just, open, and transparent, without any threshold. It is the most direct channel of ascension for the community of hominoids. As long as they make up their mind, any hominoid can participate in the audition of streamers. After they pass the harsh tests, they will be delivered to the training center in Manjusaka for modification. We will reform them with state-of-the-art technology, magical equipment, and drugs. Then, they will be sent to the paradise of sins for games to bring pleasure to people all over the Imperium.
“As long as their style is eye-catching enough, their tactics brilliant and provocative, even a nobody who worked at the bottom level of a thirty-thousand-meter mining hole on a frozen planet can become a star that everybody in the Imperium knows!
“The way out is right here. The Imperium never asks where they come from and is willing to give anybody an opportunity. If they want to distinguish themselves, just pass the tests one after another!
“With such an open and bright path lying right in front of them, what do the hominoids possibly have to complain about? They must waste their life deep inside the sunless mining holes only because they are cowardly and weak! If they are capable enough, they can totally distinguish themselves from their peers and become ‘streamers’! Whining about the injustice of society when it is only because of their own incapability? That does not make sense at all!
“Now, Lord Wuying Lan has a lot of superstar-level streamers under his banner. They are all celebrities whose fame has spread across the entire Imperium and the most awesome role models for countless hominoids. Thousands of hominoid teenagers are trying their best to become the cool streamers. Their whole attention is focused here.
“With the streamers as their heroes, who will even care about the strikes or the armed rebels like in the past? They are long outdated!”
Even the old and cunning Xiahou Wuxin was utterly dumbfounded. With a long sigh, he said, “Your methods… are truly impressive.”
“Lord Wuying Lan is certainly a genius. He is a man who can change the entire Imperium!” Wei Xiaotian said. “The Imperium did not administer the hominoids in such a way a long time ago. At that time ago, our methods were still simple, rough, rigid, and clumsy. The hominoids were even treated like slaves.
“But the truth proved that slavery was one of the lousiest systems with the lowest productivity. It could not exploit the maximum value of the hominoids.
“What is more useful than the thorny whips soaked in venom is the weakness of humanity? It is lust and money!”
“Money?” Xiahou Wuxin mumbled.
“Yes. In the Imperium right now, there are not many slaves in the traditional sense. Most of the hominoids are free people, including the miners who struggle to make a living deep inside the mines. The mining groups even offer them a decent salary. Glittering coins are the greatest stimulus to boost their enthusiasm in work.
“However, the thing about money is that it is just useless paper however much there is when it is not used for consumption. Or rather, it is even more useless than paper and nothing more than a few groundless numbers.
“The resources in the sea of stars are too precious. We certainly cannot allow the hominoids to buy enough assets. But if we refuse to sell any items to them, they will immediately discover the lie of the money and realize that the money in their account is absolutely worthless.
“At this moment, it was Lord Wuying Lan who came up with another genius idea, which was to add a ‘tipping system’ and a ‘betting system’ into the slaughter streams. The hominoid viewers are attracted to purchase all kinds of virtual gifts to tip the streamers with their real money. In such a way, additional money is consumed.
“With ten bucks, you can send a virtual flower to a certain streamer in the slaughter streams, and your name will appear in the system for 0.01 seconds.
“With five hundred bucks, you can buy a shining virtual saber and give it to the streamer. Then, you will have the loud appreciation from the streamer, which will make you feel good in front of all your workmates in the mining area. It is also the only way for the bottom-level workers to receive other people’s attention.
“If you are willing to save your money for a year and a half, with fifty thousand bucks, you will be able to ask a certain streamer to kill in the way that you designate. Your name will be left on the body, and the streamer will sing and declare that this guy has been killed for Brother A from Planet B. Tut, tut, tut. Think about it. A streamer in the Building Foundation Stage or even the Core Formation Stage calls you ‘brother’, and all that it costs is only fifty thousand bucks. What a great bargain it is!
“A lot of bottom-level workers are in the factories with the harshest environments on the most remote planets. They do not have many channels to spend their money, and they tend to have bad thoughts when too much money is saved in their accounts.
“When they are guided to consume the money by way of tipping, they can only stay in the factory dutifully after all their savings are drained in the virtual world. Some of the workers actually volunteer to work overtime for half a year without any rest in order to save enough money however exhausting it is, all for the single purpose of tipping a streamer so that their name will be displayed on the menu for half a second and the streamer will call them ‘brother’ and ‘sister’.
“Some people even tip the streamers with high-interest loans, selling themselves and turning from free folk into slaves. Naturally, they have themselves to blame for their outcome. It is nobody else’s fault.
“As for the betting system, it is the same logic. We often hold many kinds of death matches in the slaughter streams. Sometimes, it is the streamers’ massacre of the sinners in the Land of Sins. Sometimes, it is the mutual brutalization among the streamers. Different ways of betting and odds have been set, too.
“It is true that some people grow rich overnight after a wild gamble. Their identity of a bottom-level worker is removed once and for all, and they can live the rest of their life comfortably. Naturally, the Imperium guarantees the legal rights of those people.
“But a hundred times more people lose the gambles and simply keep on gambling after they do. Mired in the swamp, they are unable to free themselves and end up large debts, turning into slaves of a different sense.
“Tipping and betting. Two approaches at the same time. This is how the world is operated right now.
“In the old slavery system, true human beings directly enslaved hominoids, which was too simple, crude, and ineffective. Now, true human beings enslave money, and money enslaves hominoids. Everything is voluntary. How perfect and harmonious!”
“You…” Xiahou Wuxin sighed in mixed feelings. “You truly have a profound understanding of humanity.”
“Yes. Men are born evil. As long as you grasp the weakness of humanity, you can transform anyone into a real slave,” Wei Xiaotian said genuinely. “In the past hundred years, there were indeed a lot of problems within the Imperium, which caused our external enemies to break in by taking advantage of the weaknesses. The Imperium was caught in a brief low tide.
“However, ever since Lord Wuying Lan promoted slaughter streams, the relationship between true human beings and hominoids has changed significantly. The Imperium is more united with a higher productivity. The contradictions in all areas have gradually calmed down. The comprehensive national power of the Imperium has taken an enormous leap ahead.
“Now, the enemies in all aspects have been crushed by us. Even our greatest nemesis is on their last breath. How could the generals and soldiers in the frontline have achieved everything by themselves? It’s all thanks to Lord Wuying Lan’s hard work!
“In the meantime, you sinners in the Land of Sins should be particularly proud of yourselves when you are lucky enough to be dedicated to our great cause and contribute to the everlasting prosperity of the Imperium as the fuel!
“How about it? Now that you have understood the great significance of the Land of Sins and the slaughter streams for the Imperium, you can finally die without regret, right?