How Am I Still Alive?-Chapter 1331 - 1317: Walking Alone

"This is my budget proposal. With just a little expenditure from the municipal government, we can install 24-hour cameras on main streets, high crime rate areas, and official facilities...."

When the budget request, coming from Special Service Team Three to the Bureau of Anomaly Management, and then from the Bureau to the municipal government, the places it passed through went crazy.

"Has this guy gone mad? Installing cameras throughout the entire city? Does he have any idea how much budget that would require.....huh, it’s not that expensive. Is it because camera technology has improved, and because they can be produced domestically? No, this isn’t about the money at all, it’s not about the money!!"

The development of the era turned many impossibilities into possibilities.

In another timeline, they also began using cameras on a small scale domestically around the year 2000, and by around 2004, they started to become widespread.

In the Ancient City of the present day, sitting at the starting point of a new era in 2001, it’s not just the dividends brought about by various domestic and international technological innovations. All sorts of once-unimaginable "advanced electronics" began to be cheap, downsized, and democratized. Furthermore, the inclusion of a large amount of alien technology brought forth all kinds of trans-era products.

When even spaceships had been successfully deciphered, Earth’s technology found itself at a rather delicate intersection.....where medieval carriages and personal rockets capable of reaching the skies coexisted, available to anyone with money and connections.

And because "Craftsmen," these defy-the-heavens beings, existed, it was normal for various magic-modified, handmade products to outclass industrial ones. It wasn’t too surprising to see anything.

Lu Ping’an did not follow the official procedural process to submit his proposal formally.

Because he knew that once the decision-making process began, internal proposals would need to be reviewed layer by layer until they reached some decision-maker’s desk, requiring their "courageous" decision.

Then, even if others granted his face and didn’t reject it outright, finding various reasons to delay for five, six, seven, eight years was all too easy.

But now...

"How dare he, just carelessly submit this and straight up pull out a budget, bypassing the council and government decision-making?"

Actually, such a level of transformation, and even a clear "violation" of citizen rights, supposedly calls for a public announcement and referendum to gather opinions, or at the very least, a council vote.

But in reality, the only one Lu Ping’an truly tried to persuade was solitary.

".....Captain Xia, don’t hesitate. Which is more important, procedural justice or justice of results? I’ve shown you the estimates, and it can cut the crime rate to one-tenth within a year. What’s there to hesitate about?"

The only one who could possibly stop Lu Ping’an was probably Xia Qin.

"...But, this equates to constant surveillance of citizens in public spaces, how will everyone accept this..."

"You speak as if without cameras, nobody knows what you’re doing. Cough, this is a measure of last resort for me. Following normal procedures, whether I submit a proposal to the government or a motion to the city council, there definitely won’t be a result within ten years, and after ten years.....most likely still no result."

Lu Ping’an knew very well what needed to be done to swiftly improve "public safety," having experienced two different timelines.

In another timeline, after a certain point in time, domestic public safety significantly improved.

Beyond the increase in public wealth, a more direct reason was that the "case-solving rate" had also greatly increased.....When nearly every crime led to an arrest and consequent consequences, potential criminals naturally became more hesitant.

In Lu Ping’an’s view, the best deterrent against criminals reducing the crime rate was never "reasoning" or "persuasive education," but the intimidating effects of "crime must be pursued" and "severe punishment including the death penalty."

"...But, but....this seems a bit too much....."

At that moment, Xia Qin also felt somewhat helpless.

In her view, Lu Ping’an was being a bit too radical....She trusted Lu Ping’an, but she found it hard to believe the "data" he presented as categorical.

Having been a police officer for so many years, she had never seen a city with such a low crime rate.

She felt Lu Ping’an was drawing her a pie in the sky, yet she had no evidence.

"....I’m willing to take the blame for this, but I doubt I can handle the fallout."

Lu Ping’an’s plan was actually quite simple and crude, just "I won’t say, I’ll just do."

He simply submitted a budget proposal, and it wasn’t really because he needed the money, but to give a "heads-up" about the action he was about to take.

The "All-City Vision" plan didn’t discuss "whether it was necessary" or "how much value it could bring," but was more like "Ah, I’ve already finished it, now look at the results."

Clearly, this was Lu Ping’an’s "solo act." By now, the council and municipal government must be in an uproar, with countless people cursing him in private as a tyrant, an autocrat.

But to stop him? Those who have watched his action videos and understand him would not have the courage to do so.

"Fang Wen, can you control it?" And the premise of this plan was always that Lu Ping’an had such a "technical support."

"...Unless there is a Mechanic Spiritualist stronger than me, but if he dares to come..."

"Then we’ll kill him." Lu Ping’an’s tone was resolute, addressing the problem by eliminating the person causing the problem.

For a considerable length of time previously, the deployment of cameras and other "advanced technology" had been dared not proceed, mainly because of the existence of Mechanic Spiritualists.

If the entire city was full of such "convenient devices," it would essentially hand the city over to them... but if the strongest local Mechanic Spiritualist was on their side, then there would be no problem.

Lu Ping’an’s actions were no longer just a matter of acting first and reporting later, but of "arbitrarily filing cases, arresting people, killing them," and then saying "I did a good job."

Does it sound like rebellion? In fact, in some people’s eyes, it already was rebellion.

This clear stance of "I’m going to do it, your opposition is ineffective" made calling him a tyrant wholly accurate...

"If I do well, everything can be discussed, but if not... who can pursue a Rule-level responsibility."

Lu Ping’an shrugged his shoulders; he could understand the hesitation and unease of others, because for many, it truly was a "brand new state of living."

But once you really get used to it... If you’re not planning to commit crimes, why worry about those cameras in public places?

As long as they could ultimately reduce the crime rate to an extremely low level, all would naturally be well, and other cities might even follow suit.

"Let’s see in six months’ time, if there’s no problem... no, if the results are outstanding, then continue; if the results are mediocre, we can remove everything."

This was undoubtedly a solo venture, but curiously, this "budget proposal" made the rounds and wasn’t rejected; in fact, the funds were promptly provided.

But Lu Ping’an himself knew that certain departments had been frantically holding meetings and working overtime these days, likely recalculating countless times over this "budget proposal" and what exactly he was aiming to do.

"...What’s being spread outside now is that I, the newly appointed Deputy Director of the Bureau of Anomaly Management, am igniting a fire on all sides upon taking office..."

Xia Qin showed a bitter smile; it wasn’t that she was unwilling to take the blame—she was already accustomed to it. She was truly worried that pushing this so rapidly might lead to adverse social impacts...

"What’s the problem? Nearly a dozen Rule-levels are here, capable of addressing any issue."

Lu Ping’an was quite calm and direct about it.

He knew he was being excessive, but if he really wanted to make the city a bit more comfortable, to curb the rising crimes among the increasing refugees and supernatural incidents, then this might be the most cost-effective approach.

If this were any other timeline, such a low-level governmental solo act would have almost been impossible to succeed... but this world had its own advantages, with each state and city actually possessing a significant degree of "governance rights."

"As long as the outcome is good, everything is OK."

Lu Ping’an was that straightforward; having as much responsibility as ability, since he already had the capacity to shoulder the blame, why pretend to be blind and powerless?

Thus, under Lu Ping’an’s strong-arming, this plan, internally called a "personal tyrant’s obedience test on the ancient city’s government," was indeed implemented. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

On the first day, the crime rate... rose by over 30%.

Yes, it rose instead of falling, as many believed that upheaval was imminent, taking the opportunity before anything was set in stone to destroy cameras, loot amidst chaos, and incite public unrest and riots.

Consequently, starting the afternoon of the first day, Rule-level and Decree-level began working overtime through the night, and by the second day, the prisons were overcrowded, with Lu Ping’an beginning to execute from the "death-penalty" cases to make space.

On the third day, the crime rate dropped by 50%, and Lu Ping’an continued to kill.

By the fourth day, it had dropped to one-fifth of its original rate; some were still being executed, and by the fifth and sixth day, by the seventh day...

"...The crime rate was at 3.4% of the original, and the expected death-penalty cases were less than 1% of the original. Look, how simple the matter is."