Chapter 194: The Origins of the Otaku Party

It was late February 1630, not long after the Second General Assembly had concluded. The anti-encirclement campaign had not yet begun, and the Pearl River expedition was still a distant prospect. The promulgation of the Common Program, institutional adjustments, the resolution of the Dugu case, and the implementation of the maid training program—the transmigrator group had completed a series of measures before the old lunar new year. The results, while not universally celebrated, satisfied most people. As the old year gave way to the new, it seemed the transmigrator group had shed its burdens and was ready to move forward unencumbered.

However, in Qian Shuiting’s view, this series of changes concealed a greater crisis. In his alarmist words: the ruling faction might, under the guise of the rule of law, institutionalize and legitimize their centralized rule for the long term. If this continued, it could lead to the emergence of an autocratic clique and internal strife and division within the group.

“Is this a new Saturn community?” Qian Shuiting thought to himself as he walked towards the pier where the Feiyun was docked. He stood by the dark water, anxiously lighting a cigarette. The first fleet of armed sailing ships had already been organized, and he could see the sailors on watch. In the distance, the construction site was brightly lit, the sound of pile drivers roaring, and tractors occasionally sputtering their diesel engines. This was the construction site of the naval arsenal.

In the past, seeing all this would only have made Qian Shuiting feel excited and happy. At this moment, however, a strange sense of fear enveloped him. This increasingly powerful state machine was being built. Who could guarantee that it wouldn’t fall into the hands of a small group of people and be used as a tool to oppress them?

He was dissatisfied with the Second General Assembly. In his view, it was merely one ruling faction overthrowing another, followed by a compromise that absorbed certain ambitious individuals, forming a new pattern of interest distribution. On the surface, it seemed that the demands and interests of the masses had been met, but on a deeper level, power had not been dispersed. Instead, it showed a tendency towards centralization and autocracy.

He composed himself, threw the cigarette butt, which was about to burn the filter, into the rippling seawater, and then walked quickly towards the Feiyun.

Among the ships brought by the “Australians” at the Bopu pier, the Feiyun was the second most eye-catching. The “Holy Ship” was awe-inspiring for its immense size, while the Feiyun was striking for its beautiful streamlined hull and gleaming, luxurious paint job.

The Feiyun was originally a luxury sailboat for charter. Since the Qian brothers got their hands on it, they had renamed it after the famous historical sailboat. It was a two-masted vessel with four triangular sails, thirty meters long, with a standard displacement of one hundred tons. It could reach a speed of twelve knots using either its sails or its backup diesel engine, which was about the economic cruising speed of the Holy Ship and the fishing boats. It could even serve as a patrol boat.

The upper level of the Feiyun was a semi-open main cabin with a bar. Below, the galley was in the middle, with a dining room and a living room at the front and rear, respectively. The master bedroom was at the front, with three guest cabins behind it: two with double beds and one with bunk beds. The three cabins with double beds also had two single beds that could be lowered from the ceiling, and all beds could be stowed away in the bulkheads or floor. Thus, the boat could accommodate up to fourteen people, and all four cabins could be converted into ordinary reception rooms. The boat also had an office/library, a storage room, three full bathrooms with showers, and one half-bath, with many storage closets cleverly fitted in. The lowest level housed the engine room, fuel tanks, water tanks, gas cylinders, a generator, a desalination unit, and a UPS backup battery pack charged by solar panels on the exterior. There was also plenty of spare storage space; the smuggled arms had been stored in the lowest level as ballast.

Although the Feiyun’s space was not large, its structure was compact and reasonable. As a party venue, it could accommodate up to a hundred people at once. By fully opening the glass doors at the front and rear of the upper main cabin, connecting it with the fore and aft decks, a party for fifty or sixty people could be held. With its exquisite and luxurious interior, elegant lighting fixtures, large LED screens embedded in the bulkheads, and a high-quality sound system throughout the boat, it was a place of luxury that only a few wealthy people could access even in the timeline the transmigrators had left.

The Qian brothers had been willing to spend a great deal of money to rent this yacht not only for smuggling arms but also because they considered that living conditions in the other timeline would be harsh and facilities lacking. This boat could serve as a floating living base; they had no high hopes for the initial living facilities.

After the transmigration, the Executive Committee, in recognition of their outstanding contribution of bringing a large quantity of arms, allowed the North American branch to continue using the boat. Thus, the Feiyun became the home of the two Qian families and Zhou Weisen.

Qian Shuiting walked to the Feiyun’s gangway. It was already dark, but the gangplank was still down. Since the night attack on Bopu, Li Di had issued a notice to all ships with personnel on duty at night, telling them to raise their gangplanks and close their hatches after dark, and if possible, to arrange for a watch throughout the night.

The Feiyun, of course, could not arrange for a watch, but its berth was very close to the port office, almost under the eyes of the sentries. In the light of the stern lantern, one could see that iron plates had been installed on the glass doors at the front and rear of the upper semi-open main cabin. Some of these glass doors had been shattered during the night attack, and after being replaced, detachable iron protective plates had been added to the outside. Traces of the night attack were still visible on the Feiyun: a dented hull from a cannonball, scraped paint from an arrow… Some vulnerable and exposed parts, including the sails and ropes, had been removed and stored away.

He boarded the boat in a few steps. The door opened, revealing half of Zheng Shangjie’s face. “Come on in! We were waiting for you!”

Qian Shuiting nodded and quickly slipped inside.

The upper level was unlit and dark. Zheng Shangjie locked the door and turned on the emergency light in her hand.

“Everyone’s in the dining room. Watch your step,” she reminded him.

“Why are the lights off? It’s so dark and furtive,” Qian Shuiting felt it was like a secret meeting of an underground party.

“Didn’t you say it? Everyone’s living standards are not high, and the dormitories have electricity rationing. It wouldn’t look good if we were brightly lit.”

“Oh.” Qian Shuiting followed Zheng Shangjie carefully down to the second level. In the dining room, the core members of the North American branch were waiting for him.

“Big brother!” “Old Qian!” the people in the dining room greeted him. Seated there were Qian Shuiting’s wife, Ai Beibei, the head of the pathology and obstetrics/gynecology department at the Bairen General Hospital; Qian Shuixie, Qian Shuiting’s brother, currently classified as “basic labor”—mainly driving and repairing vehicles, which he was good at; and his wife, Zheng Shangjie, who had a silver tongue and had been working at Li Mei’s cooperative since the nationalization of the women’s cooperative.

The last one was Zhou Weisen, a Ph.D. in biology, now working in the biological laboratory, focusing on vaccines.

“Where’s Beibei?” Qian Shuiting was most concerned about his daughter.

“She’s asleep. She had a wild day today.”

Miss Mendoza, whom Zhou Weisen had tricked into coming, was also there. Miss Mendoza’s Chinese proficiency was still poor, and she had no practical skills, which made her basically unemployable in Lingao. She had been reduced to a housewife, responsible for the meals and cleaning for the three families on the Feiyun. As a result, the three families of the North American branch essentially ate strange-flavored Chinese food every day, cooked by this dual master of English literature and Latin.

Besides housekeeping, Miss Mendoza was basically a freeloader in the transmigrator group. After the recent general assembly, she was also counted as an elder, which both Qian Shuiting and Zhou Weisen felt was quite fortunate.

The lighting in the dining room was dim to save electricity. Besides the power provided by the solar panels, most of the boat’s electricity came from the shore-based power grid. To avoid gossip during times of severe power shortages, everyone consciously tried to use as few electrical appliances as possible.

“Let’s start the meeting,” Qian Shuiting said.

At this point, Miss Mendoza said in English, “I’m going back to my room to watch TV.”

She didn’t understand Chinese and couldn’t join the discussion. Zhou Weisen then said, “How about we have the meeting in English? That way, Diana can participate. She’s my wife; she should have the right to know.”

“Alright, let’s discuss in English then,” Qian Shuiting nodded. “Just the few of us. We all know each other well and trust each other like brothers.” Qian Shuiting drank a glass of water.

The so-called North American branch theoretically included all elders from North America, but in reality, its core consisted of only the two Qian families and Zhou Weisen, with Qian Shuiting being the most active.

On the surface, Qian Shuiting was unremarkable. He was a short, fat man with an approachable, common face. He was someone who made people feel safe but did not leave a deep impression. Coupled with his usual low-key, reclusive nature, many in the Senate did not know him. Those who did mostly knew him as Director Ai’s husband. Some firearms enthusiasts knew he was an excellent marksman and very knowledgeable about firearms. Of course, anyone who had lived in the United States for a long time basically knew him, as they had some common ground.

Qian Shuiting had graduated from a university in the capital twenty years ago. With the cynicism of a disillusioned social idealist, he started his first job in an agricultural research department somewhat related to his major. He came into contact with bureaucrats of all levels and various people in real society. Although he quickly figured out the rules of the game, he was unwilling to join, just drifting along. Time and experience gradually wore away his impetuosity, making him more realistic. He eventually chose to escape to another continent. After working for a few years, he arrived at the place he had once dreamed of, but he was no longer as passionate about everything around him as before. Everything happened so naturally, neither hot nor cold, without any waves. He met Ai Beibei, who had just stepped out of one school into another, and then came marriage, work, and the birth of their precious child.

In the following years, the storms of the outside world seemed to have little effect on their lives. He could have continued on this plain path. The arrival of Qian Shuixie made his life more colorful. His brother, nearly ten years his junior, was completely different from Qian Shuiting in both appearance and personality. The tall and sturdy Qian Shuixie gave the impression of being “square”—he had an angular face, physique, and personality. Qian Shuixie and his equally energetic wife had been living a life of happy turmoil since they landed.

Although both had attended university, neither wanted to pursue further studies nor settle for a stable job. Qian Shuixie started out driving a beat-up van, doing renovations, then drove a pickup truck, repairing plumbing, boilers, and air conditioners for people. Finally, he became a truck driver, driving an eighteen-wheeler across North America, increasingly resembling an American redneck. His wife, Zheng Shangjie, brought her talent for sales and promotion to the United States, taking on numerous agency jobs, often holding several positions at once, busy from morning till night.

The Qian brothers’ common hobby was shooting. They started by discussing guns online. That’s when Zhou Weisen appeared, taking them to actually shoot. Zhou Weisen was slightly older than Qian Shuixie and also studied biology. He had started buying and shooting guns while studying in a redneck state, and most of his savings went into his hobby. He later met the Qian brothers at work and took them to shooting ranges and gun shows, getting them hooked one by one.

Their other common hobby was bullshitting about what to do in a post-apocalyptic world, fantasizing about building their own fortresses, starting their own farms, digging deep tunnels, and storing up grain. They gradually transitioned from gun enthusiasts to survivalists. Perhaps finding life too dull, when Qian Shuiting heard about the transmigration from Zhou Weisen, he became surprisingly enthusiastic. He persuaded his wife and child, sold their house, used up their savings, and purchased a large amount of guns, ammunition, and various supplies for the transmigration. He learned to sail and spent a fortune to rent a 100-ton displacement two-masted luxury sailboat to transport the arms.

Perhaps because their luxurious living conditions were too detached from the masses during the initial difficult days, and because this group all had their own female companions when many of the nerds were still single, they were the object of much envy, jealousy, and hatred—especially Zhou Weisen, who had beastly claimed the eye-catching South American beauty.

Although the group was highly praised by the organization for their contribution of transporting arms and enjoyed many privileges, their personal skills and experience did not seem to be recognized. None of them were given much responsibility and were all assigned to specific technical jobs. Qian Shuiting had originally wanted to play a role in investigation and statistics, but he ended up in the biological laboratory with Zhou Weisen, messing with test tubes. As for Qian Shuixie and his wife, they became basic laborers with no specific roles.

To avoid further alienating themselves from the group, at Qian Shuiting’s persuasion and reminder, they all worked hard and silently at their respective posts, and their relationships with everyone gradually improved. At the same time, they stepped up contact with elders who had a background of living in the United States, expanding their social circle.

The Maid Revolution and the Dugu Qiuqiu incident awakened Qian Shuiting’s deepest fear and vigilance against centralized power. The undercurrents in Bairen City before the Second General Assembly made him worry about this “great democratic and victorious assembly” that the Executive Committee and the Senate were touting.

He immediately shared his concerns and the possible direction the group might evolve in with his closest companions. They carefully studied the group’s current system and separately went to understand the actual implementation of these systems. At the same time, they made a preliminary investigation into the Law Club, which they had previously ignored. Qian Shuixie also conducted a secret investigation into the events surrounding the Maid Revolution.

During the Second General Assembly, they had a better opportunity to understand the attitudes of the transmigrators and known groups on various issues. When they were not in meetings, they would exchange what they had seen and heard, discuss corresponding countermeasures, and consider the possible reactions from all sides.

They realized that the Executive Committee still held high prestige due to its efficient work in the initial stage. Any bill they proposed to limit administrative power might be interpreted as dissatisfaction with the current executors and could easily become disconnected from the thoughts of the broader transmigrator population.

Qian Shuiting could not deny that a centralized system was bound to be more efficient in the initial stage. Therefore, any attack on the existing centralized system would only be opposed by the majority of pragmatic elders. After all, at this stage, it was about solving the problem of having something versus nothing. Talking too much about future plans would only be criticized as empty talk.

The Law Society, led by Ma Jia, was active in every corner of the conference, with the aura of their professional background. Their ideas went unchallenged, and their sophistry was enough to deceive many. Qian Shuiting knew that Ma Jia’s so-called Law Club, while ostensibly singing the praises of “ruling according to law” and constantly criticizing the Executive Committee for its many administrative shortcomings, was actually a case of “minor criticism, major help.”

Qian Shuiting quickly determined that Ma Jia’s so-called Law Society and his own group had different political aspirations. He realized that in terms of promoting political ideas, the Law Society had an advantage: most elders lacked a deep understanding of the content of the bills, and many might just be mesmerized by the ornate and complex rhetoric without understanding the potential dangers. If they rashly challenged these bills now, they would surely fail due to a lack of broad consensus. Their demands were likely to be unwelcome by those in power, which could cause a backlash and isolate them. Furthermore, the group had just experienced a period of turmoil, and people longed for stability. Being too insistent on their own views would inevitably deepen internal divisions and make them unacceptable to the broad middle ground, with counterproductive results.

They discussed this issue repeatedly and found that their internal consensus was very strong, while their dissent from the majority of transmigrators was equally obvious. After repeated deliberation and consulting everyone’s opinions, they decided to try to become the parliamentary opposition within the group, pushing their ideas to the entire group in a gradual manner.