NOVEL WEB Chapter 220: New System.
A genius plan to get every major decision to fall on Linda and the others, yeah because the speech of William was just the surface of everything. He didn't even talk about closing the border, what the government would do next, what the orders would be, or what he actually meant by 'erasing and vanishing them from the earth.'… yeah he did it on purpose even though he said they need to work together he is still a tricky motherfucker and his position to him is worth more than everything, moreover the power that comes with it.
So basically everything was in their speech, in Linda's speech, in Benjamin, Thomas and Stephen… they'll be the scapegoats if anything goes wrong.
And it's not just about the speeches and what's in it but the consequences of the speeches. If after that they can't hold it together and can't do what they promised everything will fall on them.
With that in mind Linda stepped to the microphone and was not stressed, not scared but was utterly disgusted and angry that the so-called president who said he will not do ridiculous things did exactly that… just against them.
But Linda too had a trick in her pocket to make it bad for him, yeah she was ready to do it and say it out loud. For a moment the thousands of people in front of her stunned her, but she knew she needed to show who she really is and deep within him justice is still there, and she needed to deliver her speech in that way… to bring out that justice buried deep within.
"My fellow citizens," she began, "today we draw a line and with it, we say, enough. For too long, the innocent have suffered while monsters have lived in comfort, behind bars paid for by the very people they terrorized. For too long, justice has been whispered behind closed doors when it should have been roared from these steps to every corner of our nation. No more. As of this hour, our justice system is reborn, stronger, clearer, and unyielding in its commitment to true justice."
As she looked at the speech again she saw there was instruction too so she did exactly what it told her and lifted up a document with the presidential stamp on it to the people to see it.
"By the power of Law Decree 54-A, ratified this very morning by President William Jasper, effective immediately." She looked through the word and ...she realized she hadn't read the most important lines, because yeah, the system really was going to be reborn. "... any individual arrested and proven beyond all reasonable doubt to be involved in crimes such as murder, child kidnapping, child trafficking, drug distribution, or any crime that strips away innocent life… these individuals shall no longer face the hollow sentence of imprisonment." She looked up and she raised her voice, almost shouting as she said it. "Instead, they shall be executed by firing squad, publicly, and without exception!"
The crowd's reaction was a mixture of gasps, shouts, some cries, some cheers, they were stunned. They didn't expect something like this to happen, because there was no way… the Union was against execution of prisoners but now… she just said it… and she wasn't finished.
The people acutely saw something in Linda… something that she didn't just read out loud but speaking directly to them… and it was because she changed some parts to sound closer to the people.
"This is not vengeance. This is justice. It is a declaration to the gangs, the mafias, and every criminal who thinks they can poison our streets and prey on our people. Our beautiful nation is not yours to destroy. Our streets are not yours to rule by fear. Our people are not yours to terrorize!" She raised her voice again and the crowd suddenly erupted, into cheers, clapping as the thousands of people were cheering her and she felt it and waited literally 5 minutes until the crew went silent again, to let her speak.
"For years, the world has watched as our prisons became playgrounds for the worst among us, mass murderers entertained by television, rapists fed and clothed on taxpayer money, drug lords laughing and lifting weights behind bars paid for by the suffering of the innocent. No longer."
She again, as the instruction said, picked up another document and held it up to the people.
"By Law Decree 55-B, all inmates convicted of violent, organized, or exploitative crimes, but not sentenced to death, will be transferred to hard labor work, where they will repay their debt in sweat and toil, working in mines, fields, and dangerous construction, performing the labor no decent citizen should have to endure. They will no longer enjoy the luxury of our prisons, they will give back to the nation they betrayed with their crimes and terror with chains in their necks!"
The crowd's voices rose, some shouting approval, others still caught in shock, but all listening.
"You may ask yourselves: 'Is this humane? Is this not slavery?' I ask you to remember the daughters stolen, the brothers shot, the wives sold by smiling men. Was that humanity?"
She once again looked up to the crowd seeing mother, sister, brother, daughter, sons… yeah these were the faces of a broken system, the system that betrayed them.
"Let the world call us brutal, let them call us extreme, we call this justice reborn, and a warning to every criminal walking the shadows with a smile on their face, your time is over. Your days of easy prison and untouchable crime are gone. This land belongs to its people, not to parasites!"
The crowd was still in silent form the shock, but holy shit, this was exactly what they wanted, they wanted to finally see these monsters to finally fucking die.
"But there is an obvious thing that helps to live this life even behind bars… corruption." She looked once again at the crowd and she felt like a clown… talking about corruption when she and those standing in the podium are the most corrupt ones. "With the declaration of national emergency, President William Jasper has vested me with special authority under Executive Directive 72-E, empowering me to establish the Federal Anti-Corruption Agency, a new force charged with rooting out every corrupt official, from the highest ministers to the smallest town clerks. Under Law 73-C, I have been authorized to hunt down, arrest, and prosecute without mercy every politician and government official who has sold their soul to the devil of greed, and this agency is already in motion."
Again, the crowd was stunned, and even the cameramen looked up, as if they had heard it correctly."
"You might wonder if this is how a dictator rises to power, but no, this is how a nation rises to reclaim its soul. Thanks to the courage of whistleblowers like Marco De Luca, Silas Ricci, and Isabella Russo, we have uncovered a web of corruption that ensnares dozens of high-ranking officials who have betrayed us all. Today, we say no. Today, we fight, even if it means standing against our own!
There were no cheers, just more shock to it, she just declared to hunt down the corrupt ones and it was clear who those people were, like even the public knew the most corrupt official out there in the government or state level… she just said to them out loud that they are fucked.
Of course from Linda's side , saying Marco and the other name was just a trick to actually kinda mislead and give misinformation to the people, at least that was what it was in the document, William's plan.
"And finally, I ask you, do not forget the names of the young lives lost to the reckless wars between criminals, the officers who gave their lives in service, the journalists who died telling the truth, the mayor and vice president taken from us.Their sacrifice will not be forgotten. Their deaths will fuel our fight. Justice is served, not by empty words, but by our hands, by our courage, and by our unwavering will!" She pushed the last words, she shouted out loud into the microphone into the thousands of people, into the millions that were watching the televisions into the face of James…
They didn't say a word as she finished her speech, they were glued to the screen because she said it with such an authority that it was unbelievable, that James thought she couldn't do… it seemed really worrying, until Hector started laughing.
"Shit... firing squads and hard labor? What the fuck, are we going back to the 1800s?"
"Well, from a civilian point of view it actually sounds good…" Ramizer said and it was true.
Like if they weren't criminals what Linda talked about, would be sounding good finally, they're getting what they deserve… but shit, they were exactly the ones she talked about.
"At least we're not going to rot in prison." James said with a chuckle but shit, he was worrying as fuck.
Like what Linda said was a direct call for war against them.