Chapter 948: Chapter 948

"What are you looking at?"

Christos pushed open the large office door and looked towards Sett, the deputy mayor seated at the desk ahead.

"I’m looking at some data,"

Sett said slowly as he flipped through the documents in his hands,

"When the young deputy mayor from Wint City visited, I asked her for some data from the Wint City government, but back then they were just getting started and hardly had any data. It wasn’t until today that they sent out the first batch.

"You know, they acquired the consortium ’United Industries’, which had monopolized the city’s region, via the city government. They are the only city whose regional consortium is controlled by the city government, so I wanted to see their management and operational data to see what’s different."

"How are they operating now?"

Christos closed the door with his hand and asked in a gentle voice.

"To be honest, better than I imagined,"

Sett leafed through the papers and said slowly,

"In fact, they’re also tackling this kind of thing for the first time and encountered many problems.

"Fortunately, under the guidance of their ’K’, they’ve exercised restraint in separating the company’s business from that of the government and haven’t rashly tried to acquire all the small businesses at once. They still try to maintain the original ecological structure as much as possible.

"This is good, it shows scientific and dialectical thinking. To attempt step by step, although most people understand these principles, as you know, it’s difficult to actually implement restraint.

"The city government employees and the bureaucrats in the Cabinet always find ways to expand their power, but too crude and disorderly expansion can lead to even greater chaos.

"That young deputy mayor, although she seems to be a crybaby, actually has surprising abilities."

"It’s human nature to fight for power, even among government employees and within the Cabinet,"

Christos nodded and smiled, holding the documents as he moved to the other side of the desk, "Those veteran government employees who have been hired for decades always try to interfere with us ’temp workers’ who can only work for a few years.

"A few guys in our Cabinet seem to be completely manipulated by their secretaries. I’ve tried to point this out to them many times. If they still can’t recognize this, then I’ll have to consider bringing in people who are more aware."

Then he paused and pondered softly, "But as I recall, isn’t that ’K’ from Wint City named Yiluo? Only twelve years old?"

Sett paused the flipping of his documents and sighed softly.

The spacious and bright office suddenly became somewhat silent.

"Have you made any new discoveries?"

After a while, Christos let out a sigh, breaking the silence, "About those new attempts in Wint City."

"A bit, but it’s vague. I can’t articulate a clear summary of it right now,"

Sett closed the document in his hands, "To be precise, I’m not sure if their trials are correct. Thinking based on single arguments always leads to significant biases."

"No one can be sure they are definitely correct,"

Christos shook his head, "Making mistakes at the start of something new is a very normal thing. The development of human civilization itself tries to find the correct path through countless errors. Before history passes its final judgment, no one knows if we are on the right path."

He smiled at Sett, "So after so many years of having your thoughts stalled, you finally have some clues? Now you just need more cases?"

"Perhaps running for election with you was the right decision?"

Sett stacked all the documents together, "Other than a slightly higher mortality rate, it indeed makes it easier to come across new things and grasp experiences that I couldn’t imagine in school."

"Risk always coexists with reward. Strictly speaking, there are only two possibilities for a person: life and death. So to an outsider who hasn’t seen someone before, the probability of that person being alive or dead is equal. Therefore, everyone’s mortality rate should be 50% and doesn’t change, right? So shouldn’t your mortality rate have remained the same?"

Christos chuckled, "However, I think maybe you shouldn’t just focus on the data from Dawn City or Wint City. Our ’old friend’ has made so many moves, the ’answers’ he has left us may not be limited to just Wint City."

"A chilling sophistry as a joke,"

Sett put down the document in his hand and spread his hands, "But you’re right, the ’answers’ ’K’ left should indeed not be just one, perhaps I can broaden my view and look at other places."

He looked at the document in Christos’s hand, "Alright, let’s talk about yours, is your bill ready?"

Christos placed the document on the table, looked at his deputy mayor, and smiled, "Now that I have both the City Council and the Glorious Palace in my hands, it’s time to give those ’old buddies’ some ’surprises.’"

"I don’t know about surprises,"

Sett looked down at the prepared bill proposal, "I’m already scared just by the name, I feel like my mortality rate is close to the sum of two 50% now."

He looked up at Christos, "When do you plan to take this bill to the council?"

Christos glanced out the window at the sun slipping down against the sky, "The City Council is at rest today, but we can get the news out as soon as possible. However, we still need to prepare for the media. Should we be able to get it done before dawn tomorrow?

"Linen just ordered many screens and advertisement facilities from me and also sought hacker assistance. Judging from the intel coming in from over there, his situation doesn’t seem too good, so our ’support’ for him also needs to be swift."

"It looks like our ’old buddies’ won’t be able to sleep in tomorrow morning."

Sett also lifted his head to look at the setting sun and smiled.

The bright light mixed with the flowing glow of the setting sun, illuminating the document on the table, outlining the black text on the cover with a brilliant edge,

’Anti-Corporate Monopoly Act’

He Ao stood on the balcony, lifting his head to the crowded high-rises and the colorful neon lights ahead.

These towering buildings shimmered with dazzling colors, connecting the earth and sky, making it difficult to see beyond them to the rest of the city outside the Saint Ilan District.

"Mr. Lin En, do we really need to install so many advertisement screens in Nevus District, Wick District, and Cena District?"

The blond chief of staff stood beside him, looking at the tablet in her hands, gently furrowing her brow,

"Although the items we’re ordering aren’t expensive, and buying those discarded billboards is not difficult, the advertisement industry in Yilan City has declined significantly, we don’t have enough screens in stock to meet our needs."

He Ao shook his head, shifting his gaze away from the distant high-rises, looking at the chief of staff beside him,

"Try to buy up anything available on the market that meets our requirements. I’ve already placed an order for a batch of screens from Dawn City, they will find a company that can supply that many, and they will send the products over as soon as possible.

"Dawn City isn’t far from here; with an expedited order, they should be here by tomorrow morning at the latest."

The blond chief of staff glanced at He Ao, eventually putting away the tablet and holding it to her chest, nodding slightly, "Then I’ll go arrange that."

He Ao nodded lightly.

The blond chief of staff turned to leave but stopped halfway, touching her ear and then turning back to He Ao, "Mr. Lin En, General Scott called and would like to have a chat with you."

He Ao turned completely and, along with the blond chief of staff, walked into the silent office.

As the blonde Chief of Staff’s footsteps receded, he reached out and pressed a button on his desk.

A holographic projection of a man with a tall and straight figure, chiseled features, and dressed in a neat military uniform appeared on the desk.

The Commander of North City, Scott, was probably in his mid-fifties this year, younger than Lin En and Corvey. He was tall with a broad and sturdy build, looking even more vigorous and robust than Lin En and Corvey.

In the projection, Scott looked towards He Ao, placed his hand across his chest, and rendered a military salute.

He Ao nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

"If you wouldn’t take my calls any longer, Mayor Lin En,"

After the salute, Scott lowered his arm and said with a smile, "I might start to think I’m about to lose my job."

Scott was presently the Minister of City Defense in Yilan City. He Ao hadn’t taken his call last night due to his injuries and hadn’t sought him out for today’s Cabinet meeting. Moreover, during the meeting, He Ao had dismissed a great number of Cabinet ministers. These events together gave Scott a normal reason to worry.

Lin En and Scott got along well; from Lin En’s understanding, Scott was straightforward by nature. Even if he spoke in a convoluted way, it was straightforwardly convoluted, candidly expressing his concerns outright.

"Most of the dismissed Cabinet officials were fired for specific reasons, having committed illegal acts,"

He Ao said with a smile, "Today’s Cabinet meeting had nothing to do with the City Defense Army, so there was no need to invite you."

"So, those invited might be problematic, and since I am definitely not, there was no need for me to attend?"

Scott looked at He Ao, pondered for a moment, and then chuckled, "Well, that puts my mind at ease."

Then he glanced around He Ao and asked, "How are your injuries, Mayor Lin En?"

"Not too bad, I can move normally,"

He Ao smiled and then asked in a softer tone, "Those missile guidance systems, have you located where they were fired from?"

Based on the direction of last night’s missile launch, it seemed to come from the north, from the Wick District. He Ao had already asked Tucker to investigate.

Last night’s incident was known by the entire South City Defense Army, and it was highly likely that Scott from North City had learned of it through some channel.

Under normal circumstances, Scott would have already begun filtering out the missile’s origin.

"The enemy has hidden their facilities. From the simulated flight trajectories, it seems they came from the Wick District,"

Scott didn’t pretend to be ignorant when He Ao asked the question; he answered directly, "But when we traced the trajectory back to the launch site, we didn’t find any launch platform, so the missile must have had some hidden pathway beforehand, deliberately confusing the computer and causing a miscalculation.

"The firing ground for the missiles might not necessarily be in the north, in the Wick District; it could also be in the east in Saint Yilan, west in the Cena District, and..."

He paused in his speech but still said, "the south in the Nevus District."

He Ao nodded slightly, "General Corvey is also searching for that missile launcher. Such a large object must leave traces if it ever existed."

"If we can find this launcher, maybe we’ll figure out where these assassins come from. If they have more people in Yilan City planning another assassination, this could help us nip the crisis in the bud."

Scott looked at He Ao, "To get hold of these things, it can’t just be some ordinary organization; it’s very likely a professional Mercenary Corps."

Then he pressed his forehead and said, "Though we’ve been checking all the gates thoroughly, how they managed to get these terrifying war weapons into the city, these madmen."

"There are many ways they could have come in. Something that big doesn’t necessarily need to be brought in whole."

He Ao shook his head, recalling that the Wilderness Wanderer, Ronald, had dozens of smuggling methods stored in his memory.

The simplest method was to break down the missiles and their launchers into parts and have people carry them into the city.

While the gates of Fortress City had strict Gatekeeping, soldiers wouldn’t meticulously search every individual’s belongings. Besides, many Wilderness Wanderers liked to bring strange items into the city; checking each one would take a lot of time.

So smuggling the parts into the city was possible, and then the professionals who had infiltrated the city could reassemble the missile by refueling and adding the explosive components, just like stacking blocks to build a new missile.

However, this method depended on the missiles being sufficiently modular, and the components small enough, that they didn’t require the kind of large truck transport typically needed for missile encasements.

These special missiles required a substantial cost for custom fabrication.

Of course, if the mercenaries were backed by Yiwis Space System, then that would be quite ordinary, considering most of the Federation’s guided missiles were sold by the Yiwis Space System group—they were the manufacturers.

Scott nodded slightly upon hearing He Ao’s words.

He wasn’t surprised by He Ao’s knowledge of the Wilderness; after all, Lin En had also traveled often through the Wilderness in the past.

While nodding, he seemed to recall something and asked cautiously, "My sentries seem to have detected the trail of Yiwis Space System’s Mercenary Corps. Have they come to Yilan City?"

"They are approaching,"

He Ao said slowly, "We currently don’t know their intentions."

"If it comes to a fight,"

Scott instantly tensed up, "The City Defense Army of North City is ready to fight for the protection of Yilan at any moment."

"The Mercenary Corps are still nearing the South Gate; we don’t know the situation outside the North Gate yet,"

He Ao shook his head, "But the North Gate is also critical. Our trade caravans with Dawn City mainly enter through the East and North Gates. If any incident occurs, we must protect the North Gate at all costs."

Scott nodded emphatically, then lowered his head with a slight cough and said slowly, "Mayor Lin En, I heard you visited the South City Command Center last night..."

This guy made no effort to conceal that he had spies placed with Corvey.

"I did, there were some issues last night, but they’ve been resolved now,"

He Ao nodded lightly, looking at Scott’s Projection with a smile, "I also wish to visit North City."

"The soldiers of North City are always ready to be inspected by their Mayor!"

Scott immediately responded, "So Mayor Lin En, when will you be coming?"

He Ao glanced out the window at the dimming sky, "It’s too late today. I’ll stay another day to prepare and visit the morning after next. How does that sound?"

Scott laughed, "Although I said we’re always ready for inspection, when you mentioned ’today,’ you really gave me a fright. If you had come today, I wouldn’t have been able to prepare anything, and those unprepared officers would probably give me an earful."

"You can’t neglect daily training,"

He Ao nodded gently with a smile, "I look forward to seeing the spirit of North City’s soldiers then."

"Of course, Mr. Mayor, you will not be disappointed!"

Scott nodded vigorously.

Then He Ao reached out to end the call.

He turned around and walked back to the balcony, lifting his head to gaze at the darkening southern sky.

Just then, his wristband vibrated. He lifted it to see the message displayed.

It was a new message from "General Corvey," which contained only a brief sentence.

[Yiwis Space System’s Mercenary Corps is currently stationed at the edge of the safety zone outside the South Gate.]