The First Order

Throughout this storm, what disappointed the Hope Media reporter the most was that he had captured many photos of the escapees so that everyone would pay more attention to them, as well as the disaster itself.However, that was quickly forgotten, and it made the reporter a little sad.After the Wang Consortium directed the blame at the Qing Consortium, everyone started waiting for the other consortiums to react. However, the other consortiums seemed to have suddenly lost their voices as they maintained silence over the matter.

The reporters who wanted to interview the higher-ups of the Kong Consortium and Zhou Consortium were also blocked from doing so.

Actually, it wasn’t as though everyone was fucking stupid or something. Forget that you, the Wang Consortium, had suddenly joined the fray, but why did you have to drag the rest of us consortiums in as well in front of the reporters? The Qing Consortium really did have fucking nuclear bombs, alright?!

Moreover, they could not understand why the Wang Consortium would dare to jump into the fray when they knew the Qing Consortium had nuclear weapons. Were they not afraid of death?

Or could the Wang Consortium have something that bolstered their confidence? If they did not, the Wang Consortium would seem a little foolish with their accusations.

Before these questions were answered, they could only remain silent.

In recent years, the Zhou and Kong Consortiums were starting to feel pressure from the Wang Consortium. Otherwise, Zhou Shiji would not have taken the initiative to befriend Luo Lan.

However, after the nuclear bomb was dropped, the entire political situation was turned upside down. Suddenly, everyone could not tell who was friend and who was foe.

Or to be more accurate, other than themselves, everyone else was an enemy. It was just that they could not tell who the more threatening parties were.

Regarding the nuclear bomb, the Zhou Consortium felt very complicated. The Experimentals proved to be a very troublesome matter for them. If it weren’t for this nuclear bomb, they would not even have known how to deal with it.

They would have been unwilling to bomb their own Stronghold 74, but the Qing Consortium had helped them solve that dilemma.

Everyone understood the Qing Consortium had only launched their nuclear bomb after the situation was deemed beyond saving, and from the looks of it, they did not want to cause any civilian casualties either. But by dropping the nuclear bomb, everything in the vicinity of Stronghold 74 was as good as destroyed.

Since the Qing Consortium was bold enough to use a nuclear bomb to deal with the Experimentals, why didn’t they use it against the Experimentals while they were in their territory?!

Therefore, Zhou Shiji felt he needed to put aside his ties with the Qing Consortium for now and wait for the situation to become clearer.

The days passed, and the reporters from Hope Media went all the way to the Qing Consortium to ask how they viewed this matter and whether they would give up their nuclear weapons.

In the end, the Qing Consortium’s answer was completely unexpected. The Qing Consortium’s spokesperson questioned, “The nuclear bomb wasn’t launched by us, so why is the Wang Consortium pointing fingers at us? Have consortiums these days started fabricating lies?”

The reporters were stunned on the spot. Just as everyone in the world was thinking this was the Qing Consortium’s doing, the Qing Consortium actually denied it was them.

Thinking back, it did seem like there was no evidence pointing to the fact that this was done by the Qing Consortium.

The various consortiums were also left speechless. Everyone knew full well that the nuclear test sites in the Central Plains had been destroyed by the Saboteurs, and only the Qing Consortium was still equipped with a nuclear capability. However, it was also true that they did not have any evidence of that.

It was obvious the Qing Consortium was intent on denying responsibility for the strike. Who knew if they were trying to stall for time, or if they were just trying to plunge the situation into even muddier waters.

Before everyone could figure out what was going on, Luo Lan, who was currently visiting the Kong Consortium, actually started accepting public interviews.

Logically speaking, Luo Lan should really have been leaving the Central Plains and returning to the Qing Consortium’s territory. Even Zhou Qi was trying to persuade Luo Lan to leave quickly.

If the consortiums were to issue a joint arrest order for Luo Lan, Zhou Qi could not protect him!

But not only did Luo Lan not leave, he even flamboyantly accepted the interviews. How infuriating!

When Luo Lan faced the reporters, he said in a heavy tone, “Don’t be accusing our Qing Consortium so easily. Just because the Wang Consortium says it was us who launched the strike, does it really mean we did? A lot of people know the Saboteurs have been trying to destroy our nuclear test base in the Southwest, yet they still haven’t found it, have they? But how are they going to find it when we don’t actually have any of those? The Wang Consortium had better not falsely accuse us like that.”

The reporters were dumbfounded. “Then what’s your opinion on this matter?”

Luo Lan sounded even more depressed and nearly cried. “Whoever did it, I feel it was a really good move. According to the Hope Media reporters, Stronghold 74 had already fallen to the Experimentals at that time, right? That means that no matter whether there were any survivors, the Experimentals would still tear them apart. Our Qing Consortium has fought quite a few battles with the Experimentals before. Back when the Li Consortium’s stronghold was attacked by the Experimentals, our Qing Consortium also suffered heavy losses when we went over to reinforce them. It’s a pity the Li Consortium did not manage to withstand the attacks of the Experimentals. In order to let the Li Consortium’s residents continue living in peace, our Qing Consortium took control of their strongholds.”

Based on what Luo Lan had said, they had only taken over the Li Consortium’s strongholds out of a sense of justice. They had wanted to support the Li Consortium’s fight against the Experimentals, but the Li Consortium was unable to hold on. In the end, it was all the Experimentals’ fault!

His “compassionate” tone made him sound just like a good Samaritan.

Luo Lan said as he wiped away his tears, “No matter who blew up Stronghold 74, I, Luo Lan, will be the first to thank them for taking revenge for the residents of the Southwest and for taking revenge for the residents of Stronghold 74! They’ve even eliminated a future threat for humanity as well!”

Then Luo Lan bowed deeply to the camera and said, “Thank you all!”

The reporters were all dumbfounded. When the consortiums saw the reporters’ articles, they wanted to scold Luo Lan for his shamelessness!

A member of the Kong Consortium who was standing beside Luo Lan said with a smile after the reporters left, “Boss Luo, you show no fear in the face of danger. After such a brouhaha, you can still act as though nothing happened and remain a guest at our Kong Consortium. I’m really impressed.”

This was not a lie, as he really admired Luo Lan from the bottom of his heart. Disregarding everything else, he would have to give Luo Lan a perfect score just for his acting chops and courage!

The people from the Kong Consortium did not ask whether the Qing Consortium had any nuclear weapons. They had never depended on evidence to judge others. Everyone already knew this was done by the Qing Consortium after all, so there was no need for them to probe further.

However, Luo Lan narrowed his eyes. “This is only the start. It’s not like I’ll only be a guest here at your Kong Consortium, I’m also going to be visiting the Wang Consortium in a few days. Let’s see who dares to lay a finger on me.”

After the Kong Consortium’s people left, Luo Lan immediately lay on the sofa and asked Zhou Qi, “I’m feeling really panicky now. Do you think they’ll really tie me up?”

Zhou Qi did not know whether to laugh or cry. “Since you’re so worried, let’s hurry back to the Qing Consortium. Whenever you were out the past few days, the people in the stronghold have been pointing and talking behind your back. I reckon that once you go to the Wang Consortium, you’ll be met with people throwing rotten eggs at your head! You must know the Wang Consortium’s official media outlets have started painting the Qing Consortium as the villain now.”

“I can’t leave.” Luo Lan stood up and looked out the window. “The Qing Consortium is on the cusp of a political storm. Qing Zhen still needs someone to stir up trouble in the Central Plains to buy him some time, so I can’t leave yet!”