For that status, they were willing to do anything.
If someone resisted? Kill them!
If someone disobeyed the IPC? Kill them even more brutally!
With these traitors assisting them, the IPC tightened its grip on Penacony.
Then, once the situation was fully secured, they forced everyone to sign a treaty—both the traitors and the 'Hanunue supporters.'
Everyone was compelled to work for the IPC.
The entire cost of the IPC's fleet expedition was to be repaid through the labor of the people of Penacony.
------------------------
"We have to work too?"
"But… but we have led the way for the IPC, we have bled for the IPC!"
"We were promised that by serving the IPC, we could completely shed our identity as Penacony people."
When the contract was signed, this group of traitors could hardly believe it.
Their faces turned pale and red as they stared at the contract, their hands trembling.
However, what responded to them was the sound of IPC employees pulling back the bolts of their guns.
"We have already fulfilled our promises."
"Working in Penacony is also part of serving the IPC."
A IPC elite from the market development department stepped forward, smiling,
"Of course, you are different from the others. Here, you start working at the management level. You enjoy IPC benefits and allowances, and for every seven days of work, you even get medical care."
His persuasion made these people feel slightly better. Compared to those who had signed outright slave contracts with the IPC, their conditions were already quite generous.
The IPC had not mistreated them.
They comforted themselves in their hearts: Perhaps, if they worked hard enough and proved their worth, they could climb even higher.
With such thoughts swirling in their minds, they ultimately signed the same contract as everyone else. Their benefits might be slightly better, but the responsibilities they bore were no less.
In fact, because they were in low-level management, they shouldered even greater burdens.
After this group left, the IPC elite from the market development department sneered and turned away.
"A bunch of idiots."
"Did you really think I would treat you as one of us?"
"Compared to those gun-wielding rebels, you are the most worthless. Your only purpose is to help the IPC attract the hatred of local insurgents."
Ruthless ridicule filled the air.
By assigning these people as low-level managers, they would have to represent the IPC in handling affairs.
And because of their identity as traitors, they were bound to be hated by the Penacony people.
This conflict, along with their fear of being purged, would make these turncoats the most loyal dogs of the IPC.
The IPC might be reluctant to bully the true Penacony underclass because those lowlifes might actually explode in revolt.
But these dogs were different.
The IPC could humiliate and exploit them at will, and they wouldn't dare complain.
On one hand, they reveled in a sense of superiority over other Penacony people because of their "slightly" elevated status.
On the other, they fantasized about becoming "true" IPC employees—real elites—so they worked even harder than the average worker.
The so-called "convert's fanaticism."
...
The IPC elite who had just scoffed at the turncoats now entered the main building of Penacony.
Inside, high-ranking officials from the market development department were gathered, dressed in exquisite attire, covered in jewelry.
Handsome men and beautiful women each held wine glasses, mingling with executives from the six major families.
Compared to the so-called turncoats…
These six great families, who had resisted until Penacony was completely conquered and were only then forced to surrender, received entirely different treatment.
This scene mirrored a description in the game directed by MiHoYo,
"Boss Stone began negotiations with Flower, Fruit, Dog, Bird, and others, hoping to gain their support. Both sides harbored their own agendas, yet had no choice but to cautiously navigate their talks."
The moment the six great families failed, they immediately expelled any members listed on the IPC's bounty orders.
The remaining members were fully prepared to be sacrificed in a IPC purge.
If the IPC chose not to purge them, they could preserve some strength and even assist those still hiding in the shadows.
If a purge did happen, it would only push the hesitant members to fully support the resistance, further strengthening the cause.
The only price was the lives of those left behind.
The elites of the market development department were shrewd and pragmatic.
What they wanted was immediate stability, production, and profits—to offset the cost of deploying their fleet and to recover the IPC's losses since Penacony's independence.
They calculated the pros and cons of purging and chose to cooperate with the families to pacify the ordinary Penacony people.
On one hand, they used contracts and violence to control the people. On the other, they collaborated with the local powers.
All of this was to temporarily stabilize Penacony and quickly transform it from a wasteland into a productive colony.
But once Penacony was fully under control, the six great families would surely be eradicated.
Both sides were well aware of each other's intentions.
Yet, due to the current situation, they had no choice but to cooperate for now.
With bright smiles, they negotiated every detail.
The sheer filth of these political maneuvers left the audience watching in deep dismay.
...
: Who would have thought that Penacony's history would be so real, so gripping...
: The contrast between the families negotiating with the IPC and the fate of those turncoats is just too ironic!
: To these capitalists, the only thing that determines your worth is the weapon in your hand! 777"
: When they realize that crushing you requires too much cost and effort, then they will negotiate with you.
: These brainless turncoats... In Hanunue's free and opportunity-filled society, they couldn't even become real 'winners in life.' What made them think that leading the way for the IPC would make them elites in an interstellar corporation?
: If they weren't stupid, they wouldn't have been turncoats in the first place.
: As if the IPC would ever see them as equals… They're complete morons. Don't they get it? The only way forward is resistance!
: Honestly, I feel a bit hopeless. The situation seems impossible to turn around. The remaining families have already been subdued. Unless some miracle hero descends from the heavens…
...
The audience sighed in frustration, feeling utterly lost about how to resist the overwhelming power of the corporation.
Just as Penacony was on the brink of complete collapse— Mikhail finally returned...