Chapter 844: Chapter 844

As he approached his desk, Christos saw a piece of paper on the surface.

"Last week’s electricity bill,"

The man with the ponytail stood up, "The Glorious Palace has always had paper bills, and it just so happened I saw it when it was delivered today, so I thought I’d take a look and brought it over."

Christos picked up the paper, glanced at it, "Why is this bill twice as expensive as before? Did we have any projects last week that consumed a lot of power?"

"It’s said that a storm rose over the Storm Sea, leading to an impact on energy mining, and the entire energy mining market experienced a price increase,"

The man with the ponytail shrugged, "which ultimately caused a spike in the end-user electricity price."

"The first month of the year isn’t even over yet, and there have already been two storms in the Storm Sea, each time the price increases more than the last,"

Christos said with a laugh, tossing the bill onto the table, "What about the other suppliers?"

"They are all the same; all the suppliers raised their prices together."

The man with the ponytail shrugged again, "But now that all electricity companies are directly doubling their prices, they really are becoming more and more shameless. It’s said that they are planning to raise the base electricity price by another 10% next month due to the frequent storms over the Storm Sea."

He looked at Christos, who was standing at the desk, "In these ten years, the base electricity price has nearly doubled."

Christos inserted the hard drive into the computer beneath his desk, displaying the files within as he thought and read through them.

After a while, he slowly picked up the bill on the desk, looking at the ponytailed man, "Do you think there’s a possibility that the electricity price could be capped by the City Government and have them participate in setting it?"

"I’m afraid that’s impossible; such a thing has never happened,"

The man with the ponytail shook his head, "Those energy consortia would never agree to it, like the Rockville Energy Group, who are major ’benefactors’ of the city council."

"Perhaps it’s not that there haven’t been attempts, but rather that those who tried all failed, and now,"

Christos shifted his gaze to the files on the computer, "it’s our turn to take on the task."

Information about United Industries colluding with the Eternal Secret Teachings to sacrifice the entirety of Wint City spread online.

On the same day, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Headquarters held a press conference, stating they were ’very angry’ about the cult sacrifice incident in Wint City and would carry out a thorough investigation, ’showing no mercy.’

Meanwhile, massive amounts of information concerning the Eternal Secret Teachings cult’s coercion of non-believers to death circulated across the entire Federation network.

Dawn City’s Ino Media initiated a half-month special report on the entire case.

That day, United Industries’ stock price plummeted by more than 40%.

Mayor of Dawn City, Christos, announced that Dawn City would provide aid to Wint City.

The Mayor of Rock City, Wright, announced that Rock City would provide aid to Wint City.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation stated it had organized a professional operations team to eradicate the remaining Eternal Secret Teachings cult.

Wint City re-opened for mayoral election.

Former United Industries executive director Jeko and the only daughter of the former chairman of United Industries’ board, Vili Skone, announced their candidacy as a team.

A former Wint City council member who had returned from Vitland also announced his candidacy.

According to Dawn News reporting:

Wint City’s constitution stipulates that mayoral candidates must have resided in Wint City for over thirty years, but there’s no specific residential requirement for the deputy mayor – only that the person must be a resident of Wint City and legally an adult, aged eighteen.

If the Jeko-Vili team were elected, the just eighteen-year-old Vili could become the youngest deputy mayor in the history of the Federation.

After Dawn City announced its aid to Wint City, Vitland, the largest city in the western part of the Federation, also announced its aid to Wint City and was the first to send emergency supplies.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that the ’Eradication of the Eternal Secret Teachings Special Operation’ achieved preliminary success, by precisely eradicating Eternal Secret Teaching strongholds in thirty-seven cities, seizing a large number of cult materials, and arresting many cult members.

The breadth of involvement and range of the Eternal Secret Teachings, which shocked the Federal Central.

The Federal President signed an order, demanding a thorough investigation into all faith-related activities of Eternal Radiance throughout the Federation.

Residents of some of the thirty-seven cities with identified cult strongholds began to accuse various city governments of inaction on the Federation network.

[If the Eternal Secret Teachings could sacrifice Wint City today, couldn’t they sacrifice us tomorrow?]

To respond to the surging public opinion, nearly all major cities simultaneously began investigations into suspected cult organizations within their cities.

Meanwhile, a video resembling a science fiction blockbuster ’Mecha vs. Sky Behemoth’ circulated across the Federation’s Internet.

At first, people thought it was just a movie trailer, but as more witnesses appeared, people realized that it was an event that had occurred in ’Wint City.’

’Sky Behemoth in the City’ became the number one trending topic of the day but disappeared from the trends rapidly.

With the assistance of the Federal Central, the emergency mayoral election in Wint City concluded.

Former United Industries executive director Jeko won the election with 31.3% of the vote, becoming Wint City’s interim mayor, with his running mate Vili becoming the deputy mayor of Wint City. According to Wint City law, the deputy mayor also holds the office of the city council speaker.

Vili became the youngest deputy mayor and city council speaker in the history of the Federation.

That day, Jeko announced the reformation of the City Cabinet, setting about restoring the City Government’s order.

The Mecha destroying the Sky Behemoth video spread widely online, with many expressing admiration and even worship for the mysterious Fallen Angel Mecha driver.

Rumors surfaced that the Sky Behemoth, which illegally entered the city, flouting Federation law, originated from Rockville Energy Group.

Rockville Energy Group stayed silent on the matter.

United Industries’ stock price rebounded slightly.

There were rumors in Wint City that an eerie calm appeared in the Storm Sea outside the city, with vast numbers of sea monster corpses surfacing on the ocean.

Crews navigating vessels through the tranquil sea area filled with bodies discovered a misty region stretching nearly a hundred kilometers.

This misty region was filled with storms and thunder, constantly drawing sea monsters close and then being torn apart by the thunder and storm.

According to the witnessing crew members, not all life is killed by the mist; one had seen previously slain monsters ’resurrected’ within the mist.

Shortly after the news leaked, Wint City’s government announced the sealing off of the tranquil sea area.

However, most people’s attention was drawn by another piece of news.

Wint City’s new mayor Jeko issued his first decree after election, to thoroughly investigate all past transactions of United Industries.

The Federation Tax Bureau declared it would join Wint City Government in investigating United Industries for tax issues.

The Wint City Government announced that several past transactions by United Industries were illegal, suspecting that the acquisitions were made at prices far below market value.

Mayor Jeko called a press conference, stating that due to United Industries’ past sins and violations, they would suspend the mining licenses of United Industries and its affiliated companies and order them to cease operations within a specified time frame, as well as to return the properties gained from illegal transactions.

At the same time, the city government will issue a substantial fine to United Industries, in accordance with Wint City law.

Upon opening of the market that day, United Industries’ stock price continued to decline, reaching less than 10% of its peak value.

Dawn City · Top floor of the Rockville Energy Building

"Wint City Government has made a move against United Industries; it’s clear their target is us."

At the narrow conference table, a middle-aged man in a crisp suit and glasses spoke slowly from the left side.

"It seems that this Wint City Cabinet isn’t ’friendly’ towards us, and their methods are more direct than they were twenty years ago," a somewhat hoarse and elderly voice interjected.

"How did this guy become the Mayor of Wint City? Where were our people?"

Another somewhat younger female voice asked.

"Our candidate didn’t win; the vote count was half," the middle-aged man in glasses replied.

"He’s a waste," the young female voice went on. "So do we need to save United Industries? After all, we’re still their largest shareholders."

"Their mining licenses have been suspended," the man in glasses spoke calmly. "Saving them is pointless now."

"We need to teach this reckless new City Government a lesson first. Wint City’s departure will affect the united energy extraction front we have shaped, and other cities similar to Wint City will also be affected," a new voice in the crowd said. "The people of Wint City are truly foolish to elect such a mayor."

"Speaking of which, have you handled the Eternal Secret Teachings issue?"

The young woman looked towards the man in glasses. "Originally, it was you who persuaded us to ’collaborate’ with the Eternal Secret Teachings. But it seems the ’ally’ you picked is not reliable."

"Endir is a shrewd man; he won’t leave loose ends. We only need to ensure things are smooth with Ains. As long as nothing unexpected happens, there will be no issues," the middle-aged man replied deliberately. "Moreover, cooperating with the Eternal Secret Teachings has indeed increased our production and reduced costs."

"You say that now, but what if—"

The young woman began to speak again.

A hoarse and elderly voice resounded in the silent office.

Everyone fell silent at once, turning their gaze towards the main seat at the conference table.

"We still need to take some ’disciplinary’ actions against Wint City," the white-haired elderly man seated at the head raised his head, looking at everyone seated on both sides of the conference table, his voice slowly rising. "We cannot allow a city to stray from the trend of joint resource development due to its people’s irresponsibility."

Rockville Energy Group announced that due to blizzards and attacks by the Wilderness Wanderers, they had to reduce the caravans heading to Wint City.

"Over two-thirds of the food and over half of the industrial goods in Wint City are supplied through trade routes maintained by Rockville Energy Group. The reduction in caravans will directly affect the prices of goods in Wint City."

"In Wint City, which has just experienced disaster, this is very likely to cause mild famine and panic buying."

Wint City Daily then posted on the Federation network, accusing Rockville Energy Group’s actions as ’an attempt to control Wint City’, forcing the Wint City Government to drop its investigation into ’United Industries’, which holds shares in Rockville Energy Group, and described it as ’despicable methods’ that attempt to interfere with the operation of Wint City Government.

Rockville Energy Group held a press conference in response to the incident, expressing their ’sincere apologies’ to the citizens of Wint City, and showed footage of the caravans that were attacked by the Wilderness Wanderers and the mountain roads sealed by blizzards, indicating that they truly were ’powerless’.

United Industries’ stock price continued to fall.

Rockville Energy Group attempted to reorganize the board of directors of United Industries but faced opposition from some shareholders, resulting in little progress in the restructuring process.

As the matter of the Sky Behemoth event was about to fade away, new information leaked suggesting that Rockville Energy Group had ’deep collaboration’ with United Industries and Eternal Secret Teachings, associated with the sacrifice event in Wint City.

United Industries even dispatched its ’off-book’ Mercenary Corps to assist the Eternal Secret Teachings in achieving their sacrificial goals.

The information also revealed that out of the thirty-seven cities with Eternal Secret Teachings strongholds discovered, fifteen were directly controlled by Rockville Energy Group, while the remaining twenty-two were ’resource development’ cities with some form of ’deep partnership’ with Rockville Energy Group.

Once the information was released, it instantly exploded across the network.

Ino Media of Dawn City announced they had ’received some anonymous information’ and ’will continue to provide in-depth coverage of the Eternal Secret Teachings event.’

Rockville Energy Group held a press conference in response to the ’information’ spreading online, stating that these materials were ’baseless’ and ’maliciously fabricated’, and they would pursue legal responsibility against the publishers of these materials.

At noon, Yiluo Media began a special report on the relationship between Rockville Energy Group, United Industries, and Eternal Secret Teachings, which included a vast array of testimonies from former members of Eternal Secret Teachings and officers of the captured off-book legions.

Yiluo Media also announced the next phase of interviewees, which even included the current Deputy Mayor of Wint City, Vili.

That evening, the Ino Media Dawn City headquarters was attacked by ’Eternal Secret Teachings believers’. Due to early prepared security measures, there were no casualties.

Various public opinions about Rockville Energy Group began to erupt.

After several days of fermentation, more and more information about the collusion between Rockville Energy Group and the cult surfaced, and public opinion grew stronger.

Rockville Energy Group’s stock price plunged as the market opened.

At noon that day, Wint City reported a shortage of goods due to Rockville Energy Group’s ’embargo’.

Anti-Rockville Energy Group protests appeared on the streets of Dawn City.

The Mayor of Dawn City issued a speech, announcing an investigation into the entirety of Rockville Energy Group and its subsidiaries. During the investigation, some of their operational aptitudes would be temporarily suspended, and all purchases by Dawn City Government agencies from related enterprises of Rockville Energy Group would be stopped.

That evening, Rockville Energy Group’s stock price fell by more than 10%.

A protest against the Jeko City Government emerged in the Cloud District of Wint City, but the city government still did not stop its investigation into United Industries.

Rockville Energy Group held a press conference stating that the information circulating online was ’all forged’, and Rockville Energy Group had always been a ’law-abiding, good company’.

Dawn City Government announced it would intensify the investigation into Rockville Energy Group.

Rockville Energy Group’s stock price continued to fall.