THE TRUTH MANSION'S
Chapter 5 [MANSION]

        For generations, the main livelihood in the village was fish ponds. Once, the red tide that occurred getting worse and causing the existing fish ponds to close one by one. Since no tourist center could bring money or a large port to conduct large-scale trade, the villagers were forced to leave their hometowns to find work elsewhere. A company cooperates with the government. They built office buildings, factories, and apartments, which made young people come. The playground in the apartment complex was filled with children, and the yellow school buses drove slowly on the winding small streets. The company made aggressive expansions into the field of information technology and biotechnology, which paid off quickly. The city caught the attention of the world. People began to call the city by the name of the company, not the name of the city itself.

        However, the growth of the company had no effect on the development of the region. Only construction companies that are part of the parent company can survive and continue to build buildings, only distribution companies that are part of the parent company can continue the business, and only financial companies that are part of the parent company can still operate and play money inside the company itself. The various tax advantages and support promised by the local government without a second thought have now turned into a self-defeating poison. In the end, the local government filed for bankruptcy. After a lengthy legal process, the city was sold to the parent company. The city was taken over. That way, a strange city-state was born that should either be referred to as a company or a state.

        The life cycle of the city ended and a new history began, but there was no significant difference. Even before it was taken over, the city already felt like one big company. Most of the residents, who work in the company, remain working in the same place as before, remain in the same school, and still live the same life. However, people who are not company employees are caught in the middle of an indescribable fear. Many of them rushed back to their hometowns. Many also staged large and small scale protests, demanding protection against things that have not yet happened, but which are believed to be imminent. However, they only got the answer that everything they were worried about had not happened so far, so there was no need to dispute.

        The eighty-year-old president of the company delivered a state speech. He said he was just a businessman who knew how to make money, he took over this city to create an environment where people could work freely without restrictions. He sacrificed his youth to build this company and this city, but he did not intend to make this city his kingdom.

        It was his speech that made the small cities nicknamed “Town”.

        Before the city was taken over, the company sold a large amount of stock on grounds to raise funds. People who see value and potential in companies that will soon become their own countries also form investment companies, buy those shares, and gather investors. Most of the investors are residents of Town itself. Once turned into a city, the company was fused with one of the government departments called the Department of Industry and Food. The company disappeared, which then turned its shares into something that was no longer valuable. Airports, railways, public roads, and flats are offered to foreign investors at low prices. The foreign investors are actually members of the president's own family of directors or company executives.