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Chapter 41: There's an Outlier Among Us!
In a short span of over three hours, after Lynch had his midnight snack and lay on his bed feigning weakness, the doctor from the emergency center applied something unknown to his face, making him appear quite feeble.
When he was wheeled out of the emergency center, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, including the Director of the Sabin City Federal Tax Bureau, who had been waiting here all along, feeling a sense of relief only at this moment.
As long as Lynch didn't die, the issue wouldn't escalate to an irreparable extent. In truth, whether it was him or higher-ups in authority or management, how could they not know about certain issues existing beneath them in the line of work?
As long as the issue didn't get out of hand, those above would simply turn a blind eye, pretending not to know anything. Everyone understood that if frontline work strictly followed regulations, hardly anything could be accomplished.
Appropriate delegation of power or even bending the rules wasn't considered excessive. As long as they could fulfill their own tasks and responsibilities, everything wouldn't be a problem.
The Baylor Federation had faced hundreds of conflicts due to enforcement standards every year. Perhaps there were more in the previous years, but that hadn't stopped law enforcement agencies across regions from acting, nor had it led to these law enforcement officers being confined by their superiors.
However, if Lynch died, handling the matter would become extremely difficult. Any effective and healthy system inherently had an internal cleansing process to eradicate corrupt elements, and the federal government was no exception.
The "Supervision Department" in the Baylor Federation was such a unique unit. Within this department were many subsidiary branches, some of the more renowned ones being the "Bureau of Investigation for Official Misconduct(职务犯罪调查局)," the "Disciplinary Committee(纪律委员会)," and the "Anti-Infiltration Investigation Office(反渗透侦查办公室)."
Once public opinion started boiling, some of these individuals would quickly appear in Sabin City, conducting investigations into excessive enforcement standards and potential acts of occupational crime. At that point, it wouldn't just be Michael who would face misfortune.
A mere team leader of an investigation team couldn't bear this "weight" alone. There had to be a higher-ranking individual accompanying them for dismissal, most likely someone at the director level who was aware but didn't report the situation.
Fortunately, Lynch regained consciousness, indicating the situation wouldn't spiral out of control, disregarding the string of medical bills he would soon face.
Lynch conversed with the doctor, facilitating their simple cooperation this time, where the doctor's actions here weren't considered a major fault.
In the Baylor Federation, medical structures were controlled by medical conglomerates. In other words, hospitals were akin to shopping malls under the control of capitalists wearing the outer layer of medical conglomerates.
What they sold was the concept of health. To obtain it, one had to pay. Doctors and nurses were the salespersons here, not necessarily working to save lives, despite always portraying themselves as such.
From the outset, their aim in acquiring medical knowledge was to enter hospitals as doctors or nurses, becoming part of the high-income group.
Their primary job essence was to generate profits for these conglomerates. So, why would a doctor refuse a risk-free collaboration to earn a substantial commission?
Of course, this was why whenever the President mentioned healthcare reforms, they would garner public support. The exorbitant treatment costs and indifferent attitude of hospitals were something most people hoped would change, but actually achieving it was exceedingly difficult.
It was akin to asking those big capitalists not to make money. They weren't philanthropists. Even if they were, they needed to first extract enough from the commoners before having a charitable heart to offer to others. This was almost impossible.
In any case, news of Lynch being violently threatened by Michael and sustaining serious injuries quickly spread. Despite Michael's cooperation with the police investigation at the station, he was surprised by the severity of Lynch's injuries.
Several policemen hesitated but eventually handcuffed and shackled him, which, in the police station, was considered the highest level of 'hospitality.' Simultaneously, it indicated that Michael might be implicated in a first-degree murder, potentially as the aggressor, if Lynch were to pass away suddenly.
The series of changes didn't alarm many residents of Sabin City. Even as dawn broke, they might not be aware that a person named Lynch, investigated by a certain Michael from the tax bureau, was hospitalized and a risk notification had been issued.
For most people, life went on as usual, just like for Michael Junior.
After waking up in the morning and having a less than appetizing breakfast, he joined everyone else in the prison's "workshop." Sometimes, everything about the Baylor Federation was perplexing.
Prisons were evidently structures of national significance, but within the Baylor Federation, there were many private prisons. The power of capitalism truly infiltrated everywhere, even turning prisons and inmates into profit-generating factories in the eyes of some individuals.
Fortunately, the Sabin Prison wasn't a privately owned facility. The number of inmates in this small city wasn't overwhelming for the Sabin City Hall to feel financially strained, so they could still afford these expenses.
The incarcerated individuals here didn't just sit idle all day. They had to work, but this labor was more like a result of... contemporary policies.
In the past, the primary reason why ex-convicts often returned to crime upon release was because they lacked skills to swiftly integrate into society, earn enough for survival, or possess alternative job abilities. To address this, after years of debate, a thing called the "Prisoner Skill Training/Employment Guidance Act" was passed. Every inmate had to acquire a set of skills during their sentence.
Since the implementation of this act, it birthed numerous new issues, leading to even more problems being generated to solve the initial ones. But those were inconsequential.
What mattered was that Michael Junior sat obediently in front of a sewing machine, starting to sew as per his "mentor's" instructions. This was the employment skill taught in the Sabin City Prison.
By employing a mentorship approach, the incarcerated individuals were enabled to proficiently acquire sewing machine skills. If they were interested, they could also self-study related mechanical repair content. This way, upon release, they would have acquired a valuable skill set, whether they chose to work as laborers or pursue other paths.
Typically, newly incarcerated inmates were placed in the beginner's group, where the prison authorities assigned experienced inmates to mentor them. They would continue to guide them until the newcomers could independently make their own piece of prison clothing, marking a successful transition.
At that point, they could choose to bask in the sun, exercise, or work here. For every completed sewing task as per regulations, they would receive monetary rewards.
These rewards would be either given to them upon leaving the prison or used for consumption within the prison.
Once seated, Michael Junior's mentor didn't ask him to start working immediately. Instead, he glanced towards the door and casually remarked, "We have newcomers today. You've been arranged to be in the same group with them..."
Michael Junior had no issue whatsoever. He had gradually adapted to life inside and didn't find it as dreadful as others made it out to be. He believed he could smoothly and safely complete his sentence here, even without Michael's assistance.
Not long after, several newcomers were brought into the workshop, all heading towards where Michael Junior was seated. Because they were newcomers, it wasn't troublesome to have them all follow the same learning pace.
Just as everyone was preparing to begin their session, a person who had been staring at Michael Junior suddenly exclaimed loudly, "Hey, I know you! Your dad is a guy with the license!"
For a moment, the entire workshop fell silent. Michael Junior swallowed hard, feeling that something was amiss in the atmosphere here, even his friendly "mentor" of the past few days had a change in the way he looked at him.
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