Chapter 156 - A Story of the War of All Against All
Insane. That was the boy's one-word assessment of the Leader.
He felt that what the man was saying had some truth to it, and in fact, the boy himself agreed with some of his points. Whether it was true or not, the boy also felt that the weak were dragging society down, just as the man said.
The weak loudly claiming their rights using their weakness as a weapon. Every time news of fraudulent welfare claims or excessive complaints was reported, the boy thought he couldn't forgive those who used their weak position to do bad things, and it was a fact that voices criticizing such people were rising on the internet and TV.
But that didn't mean he had ever thought those people had "no value in living." The boy thought that only a small portion of people were doing whatever they wanted by taking advantage of their weak position, and he felt that if the hands reached out to the weak were gone, he would be in trouble if he ever ended up in a similar position.
Above all, the destination of that ideology was "surpassing his father." Was he trying to build a world based on such a mad ideology just to prove he was greater than his father?
So the boy spoke honestly.
"Aren't you out of your mind?"
"Then, conversely, can you say for sure what is right and what is wrong? Murder and looting, which were unbelievable acts for you in a peaceful world, are now being carried out as a matter of course. The people who are still clinging to the ideologies of the peaceful era might be the ones who are out of their minds. In the first place, even in a peaceful world, the idea of survival of the fittest was natural in forms like capitalism and competition."
Capitalists with a lot of money hire workers without money, pay them low wages, and earn a lot of money themselves without moving their bodies.
Companies compete to improve products; companies that gain the support of the people survive in the market, and companies that lose eventually go bankrupt or are absorbed by strong companies.
In exams, students study desperately, get better grades to kick down other examinees, and try to get into the recruited quota.
In job hunting, a large number of applicants flock to popular companies, and once they manage to sit in that chair by pushing aside other applicants, this time a promotion competition within the company begins...
"What's the difference between that and this?"
Saying so, the Leader laughed.
Just because lives aren't directly taken, the survival competition has continued in different forms. If a company loses the market competition and goes bankrupt, the employees on the losing side will wander the streets and might meet an unhappy end.
If one fails in job hunting and ends up working for a company that forces them to work long, grueling hours for low wages, they might eventually die from overwork. Even in a peaceful society, if asked if those who lost the competition could be happy afterward, one couldn't nod in agreement.
"In any case, in current Japan where infected and ruffians roam, strong people are needed to let even one more person survive and to restore society in the future. The weak are nothing but useless eaters of resources. Only those who can fight, or those who can support others with their skills even if they can't fight, have the value to live."
"Are you stronger than the people around you? Do you have the confidence to fight and survive by yourself?"
"I do, otherwise I wouldn't think of this. This gun isn't just for show, either."
If someone protected by the powerful people around them was spouting "survival of the fittest," it would be laughable, but apparently, that wasn't the case. The Leader tapped the automatic handgun housed in his waist holster. Judging by the shape, was it a gun used by the JSDF?
"When I was in America, I used to do shooting. Not target practice, but practical marksmanship for killing people. I don't talk about gun-related things in Japan because the image isn't very good, but I've even won prizes in competitions over there. Even after returning to Japan, I occasionally do clay pigeon shooting. It's still quite useful now."
That means, in other words, he has already killed several people. Whether those opponents were infected or living humans, he didn't know. But judging from the Leader's muscular build, he didn't seem like a frail politician. It would surely be difficult for the boy to win if he had a head-on fistfight with the Leader, and he didn't know if he could win in a gunfight.
"If you're going to lead people, you have to stand at the front first. It's something I learned from my father. Those without power have no qualification to live, but that applies to myself as well."
"Well, good for you."
There are many politicians whose past statements often come back like a boomerang as inconsistency between words and actions, but it's also troublesome to have words and actions match in this way.
However, it would be difficult for someone with power to think from the perspective of someone without power. If he were in a position without power, would he have thought the same thing? Ignoring the boy's thoughts, the Leader continued.
"For that purpose, I used various connections to gather promising talent. Taking advantage of the confusion, I placed several police officers under my command and secured weapons and supplies. From former detectives, former JSDF members, and yakuza to doctors and engineers... by taking in those I judged to have power or useful skills, this Brotherhood was built. The reason we found your location was also because people from the local police cooperated with us."
"They cooperated with you well. Didn't they think you were out of your mind?"
"Humans unconsciously cling to authority and then follow it. Originally, I'm not in a position to give orders to police officers, but they came to follow me of their own accord. The same goes for the others. If it's someone who usually has absolute power, they'll be reliable even at a time like this. They probably think it'll be fine as long as they follow what I say."
It was because there were police officers who knew the area well in The Brotherhood that they were able to grasp the location of the boy and Sato and launch an attack. Local police officers might have pre-listed places where people from outside might flee, or set up lookouts by predicting which routes they would take.
Only people who have lived in the place for many years have better local knowledge. The boy and Sato intended to have thoroughly investigated this town to fight The Brotherhood, but the local residents knew more about this town than that. If it's a police officer, even more so.
"Even though you discard your comrades so easily, how can they keep following you? Won't you be stabbed in the back eventually?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the junkies who attacked us. They're your comrades too, aren't they? And yet you turned them into drug addicts and sent them in as human bullets. You guys don't cherish your 'Brothers,' do you?"
"Ah, those people. They are exactly the weak ones, the valueless existences."
The Leader said so and laughed.
"Those people, whether they were local delinquents or yakuza, I don't know, but they were fools who turned to narcotics or illegal drugs to escape from the difficulties in front of them. Thanks to us finding them when even the drugs they relied on were gone and they were about to go mad, they've been allowed to live until now. They were people who couldn't keep their sanity without drugs, such weak people were being kept alive until now. They were people who originally should have died long ago; they were people with no value in living."
The junkies who repeated reckless charges with just a submachine gun and a ballistic helmet seemed to be disposable human bullets for The Brotherhood as well. The Leader had connections from before and, after successfully meeting up in the chaos, was told the location of smuggled narcotics and illegal drugs by a yakuza executive. He used those drugs to control the people who had fallen into drug addiction and used them as convenient human bullets who would do whatever they said.
Also, by distributing narcotics to those who wanted them within The Brotherhood, he identified unnecessary existences within the group. What the Leader needed were people who were robust in both mind and body and could fight of their own will. Not weak people who could finally fight after escaping from reality and thinning their fear with drugs. Besides, people who didn't know what would happen without drugs were nothing but a mass of risk. He couldn't keep them in The Brotherhood for long.
Severe drug addicts were used as disposable human bullets, and those who were just starting or had mild addiction were removed from important missions and intentionally placed in locations where attacks from enemies or the infected were expected, to be used as pawns. The Leader called this "human resource utilization" and "the right person in the right place."
"I understand well that your comrades are only strong people. But it hasn't been decided that the JSDF or the police have been wiped out. If the surviving units were to find you, would they follow your crazy ideology? Or do you have the confidence to win an all-out war against people whose weapons and proficiency are superior to yours?"
"There's no need to fight. They will follow me of their own accord."
The Leader continued.
"After all, it's a country that misunderstands the term civilian control as politicians controlling and commanding even the way the JSDF uses their chopsticks. Politicians, the JSDF, and the citizens too. The moment a police officer saw me, he immediately asked, 'What should I do?' and proactively sought instructions; they probably unconsciously think that politicians are in a higher position than civil servants. Even if there were surviving units, I could easily take control. If they follow someone else's instructions, they don't need to think for themselves, and even if something happens, it's the responsibility of the person who was commanding, and they don't need to take responsibility themselves. If I say I'll take command, even if it's not the formal chain of command, they will proactively follow my instructions."
"What if a safe zone protected by a large-scale unit was established somewhere in Japan, and ordinary citizens were leading lives no different from before there? What if there was a place where government agencies were functioning as before and politicians were deciding things? Do you think there would be people who would listen to you there too?"
"That's exactly where my status as a politician would be useful. The possibility of such a place existing is low, but let's say I could go there. People who abandoned the citizens early on and fled to a safe place first, versus a politician who personally took up arms in the middle of hell, led a group, saved dozens of lives, and returned in triumph. And, though I say so myself, I was said to be a charismatic politician on TV and was popular. Which one do you think the citizens would support?"
Certainly, if there were such a politician like a movie protagonist, the boy might also support him unconditionally. Regardless of the reality, if there was a person who fought with a weapon himself and saved many people's lives, and that person was a politician, everyone would support him. He's a presence so righteous he could be made into a Hollywood movie.
"After I take control, I'll have The Brotherhood move freely as my hands and feet. Though if I stand at the top politically, a private army group won't be necessary. Because no one wants to take responsibility, they follow the person above without thinking anything. That's the true nature of the people of this country."
"Even in this situation?"
"Precisely because it's this situation. Everyone is exhausted. To the point where they want to entrust all judgments to some other excellent person and not think about anything anymore."
There, the Leader brought his face close to the boy and said.
"Why don't you become my comrade?"
"Huh?"
"You, who have fought and survived this hellish world alone for a long time, have the value to live. You are truly a promising talent for the future. You thought with your own head and acted by yourself. You're different from the irresponsible people who leave even their own life and death entirely to others."
The boy couldn't understand what the Leader was saying. Making someone who killed many of his comrades a comrade? Would he do such a thing? If the boy were in the Leader's position, he would have killed him without even capturing him, considering him a danger factor.
"Certainly, you killed quite a few of my comrades, but it's their fault for losing to you, and it's no reason to blame you. Besides, if I can find such a promising talent like you, that level of loss is within the acceptable range. After finding your base, it would have been easy to charge in and kill you all at once, but because I wanted to talk like this, I ordered them to bring you in without killing you as much as possible. It's very regrettable that the other partner couldn't be brought along too, though."
"Within the acceptable range, huh..."
"How about it? Why don't you make a new world with me? Don't you want to be a chosen existence who remakes this chaotic world and leads the people?"
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.