When someone took the lead in resisting, it aroused the others' desire to band together, since the Qing family couldn't possibly kill everyone, could they?
Only Song Niaoniao stood in the crowd, pulling her best friend aside and reminding her not to speak.
While the celebrities were giving their speeches, she felt like she was watching a huge joke. That young man was a scoundrel! You didn't recognize him earlier because of the mud on his face, but now that you do, how dare you continue to say anything against him?
A rapper with dreadlocks came out and greeted Qingchen with profanities, using single and double rhymes.
Qingye raised an eyebrow: "Slap him."
The shadow soldier approached the rapper and slapped him so hard he spun like a top three times, losing sixteen teeth in half.
Qing Chen said with a smile, "I know everyone is quite emotional, but you may have misunderstood something. Although the rat infestation has been mostly cleared out, the cockroaches are still around. Keeping you in the camp is not to confine you, but to protect you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Qinghui walked out with an embarrassed smile and said, "Nephew, it was your sixteenth uncle who didn't recognize you just now. We're all from the Qing family..."
Qingye: "Slap yourself."
Qing Chen turned and walked outside: "If that Song Niaoniao cooperates with us, don't be too harsh on her."
Qingye understood perfectly.
Qing Chen glanced at him and said in a low voice, "The patriarch's man."
Qingye's expression turned solemn.
...
...
Return countdown: 78:00:00.
evening.
Looking at the endless stream of trucks transporting supplies inside the city's western border gate, Qing Chen felt a surge of emotion.
Only by managing a city can one know how enormous the consumption of urban resources is.
Just to feed these more than six million people, hundreds of supply trucks were dispatched!
Protein bars, vegetables, fruits, meat, milk, eggs—everything you can think of is on the supply list.
Once all the goods are delivered, Qingchen only needs to sign a single word to unload them, and he will not be charged a penny.
Within three months, all goods will be considered donations from the Qing Foundation. After three months, City 10 will have to pay the outstanding amount.
In three months, the Qing Group will pay an astronomical sum of money, while Qing Chen only needs to sign his name or designate someone else to sign.
This means that Qing Chen controls the distribution of resources throughout the city.
Qingchen signed.
He asked, "When did you start preparing this batch of supplies?"
The general manager of the freight transportation company laughed and said, "It was 17 days ago, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to prepare so thoroughly. Of course, with the continuous flow of supplies coming over, the pressure is not so great. All the supplies come from the surrounding production bases and can be transported in 4 hours."
Seventeen days ago, six days before the rat infestation broke out.
Qingchen was once again amazed by the old man's prophetic abilities on Ginkgo Mountain.
The other party had decided 17 days ago that he would take over the city!
At one point, he even felt a sense of powerlessness.
Suddenly, cheers erupted throughout the city. Qing Chen turned around and saw that thousands of lights had been lit up in front of him. The Lower Three Districts were the first to have their power restored!
The refugees in the city embraced each other and wept as they watched this scene.
The lights are now on, symbolizing the return of civilization and the end of the chaotic and disorderly days.
As the evening sun set, a reporter from Hope Media hurried past Qing Chen, carrying a stack of handwritten manuscripts.
Qingchen called out to him, "Hello, are you a reporter from Hope Media? I've heard Xiaosan mention you."
Gao Wen paused for a moment, then replied somewhat shyly, "Hello, I am Gao Wen, a reporter from Hope Media. I would like to write an article about this disaster."
Qingchen said earnestly, "Please don't mention the parent-teacher conference. Please give us as much time as possible, thank you."
Gao Wen solemnly promised, "Don't worry, I will. You don't need to thank me; I should be thanking you."
As he spoke, he continued running towards the Hope Media Building. He wanted to make public everything he had recorded during this time, so that everyone would know that in the context of the Federal Civil War, there was a group of people who saved a city.
...
...
The Northern Battlefield.
A small cocktail party is being held in an aerial fortress suspended above the clouds.
The blond-haired, blue-eyed people chatted in English, raising their glasses to celebrate their victory in their first battle.
The emergence of two overseas air fortresses and ten Class A airships destroyed twelve Class A airships and 41 fighter planes belonging to the Qing and Li families, completely changing the course of the Northern War.
It's just that the Qing and Li families evacuated early; otherwise, the losses would have been even more severe.
This battle forced the Qing and Yi clans to retreat across the board, and for a time they had to rely on ground defenses to stop the fleet from continuing south.
At the reception, a dark-skinned young Asian man suddenly raised his glass and exclaimed, "Cheers! To His Majesty King Roosevelt!"
Everyone raised their champagne glasses.
An Asian young man stood out conspicuously among the white people.
Arthur, a young Asian man, is the leader of the Kingdom Organization, but all members of the Kingdom know that he is nothing more than a manipulated puppet, and the man himself is not present.
At this moment, twelve women dressed in cherry blossom kimonos entered the dance floor, gently swaying their bodies to the soothing music.
A group of white people stood around whistling, and some even tried to lift up the hem of the kimono.
The girls were somewhat terrified, but they could only suppress their fear and continue dancing.
As they danced, members of the Kingdom Organization took them aside to drink.
Arthur asked with a smile, "And what about that friend from the Shindai Foundation?"
“He’s still in his own lounge, saying he’ll be over in a bit,” a white man said.
As they were talking, a young man with black hair and black eyes walked into the party. He didn't look at the plight of the girls in kimonos, but instead greeted Arthur in fluent English.
Arthur exclaimed, "Kamidai, your fluency in English always amazes me."
The young man, known as the Age of Gods, laughed and said, “In my long life, I used forbidden objects to cross the Forbidden Sea and lived in San Francisco on the west coast for a time. I liked it there very much, especially the women.”
Arthur laughed and said, "That won't do. You're not good enough for a white woman like us."
Upon hearing this, the atmosphere at the entire party froze. Everyone silently looked at Kamishiro, wondering how he would react.
Arthur stared intently at the young man before him: "You've only talked your way out of this war; you haven't earned our respect yet."
Kamishiro said softly, "I sacrificed a real son for this war. He had followed me for hundreds of years. This is the price I paid for the war. Moreover, the disaster in City 10 is enough to sever two supply lines in the south, which is why the Qing and Li clans retreated."
Arthur shook his head: "I need you to understand one thing: you need us, not the other way around."
The young man, who had no name but was codenamed 'Kamidai', remained silent for a while, then suddenly smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't touch white women anymore."
“Very good,” Arthur nodded.
What the Roosevelt kingdom needed was a dog, not a partner.
"Tell me about the situation, Kamishiro. What are your thoughts on the upcoming battle?" Arthur handed the waiter his champagne, exchanged it for a glass of whiskey, and took a small sip. His tuxedo was impeccably tailored, making him look like a true gentleman.
Kamishiro analyzed, "There has just been a war within the Federation. The Chen family's air force fleet in the south is not capable of heading north, and the Li family's air fortress is under repair. It will take at least three months before it can set sail... But I do not recommend that you launch a rash attack, because Kamishiro needs time to build supply lines and forward bases. The battle lines cannot be stretched too long in one go."
Arthur asked, "How long will it take to establish a forward base?"
"Two months," Kamishiro said seriously, "This will be your fleet's lifeline as you head south. Of course, your forces are currently not large enough to cross the anti-aircraft lines along the Chunlei River..."
Arthur suddenly shook his head and said with a sneer, "You underestimate our strength. I have studied the history of the Eastern Continent. The military strength of the Eastern and Western Continents is no longer on the same level. Since the nuclear winter at the end of the First Era, there has indeed been no difference between us. We all had to start over. But you encountered the Omnic Crisis in the Second Era, while the Western Continent did not."
Therefore, the Eastern Continent Federation actually started 200 years later than the Western Continent.
Just then, an operations staff officer from the air fortress strode into the reception and whispered, "The President of the Eastern Continent Federation, along with many political figures, has issued a joint statement condemning Kashima and Kamishiro for causing the disaster in City 10, and calling on the Qing, Li, and Chen clans to launch a war against Kamishiro and Kashima as punishment."
Kamishiro was stunned for a moment: "The Federation President is still alive?"
“There are 71 living political figures who issued this statement, and 109 celebrities,” the operations staff officer said, turning on the LCD screen and clicking on the translated video.
The video begins with condemnation from the federal president, vice president, and others, followed by condemnation from celebrities, and ends with a solo performance by Song Niaoniao, who tearfully recounts the beginning and end of the disaster, evoking pity in the viewer.
Song Niaoniao was dressed in tattered clothes and her shoes didn't fit well. Her face and arms were covered in scars, as if she had personally experienced that disaster.
She first condemned the cause of the disaster, and then praised the greatness of the people.
On camera, she even mentioned a young man who saved her from dire straits, and said with tear-reddened eyes that this kind of hero is her ideal type...
Empathy, suspense, indignation, gossip and scandals—she pulled it all out at once, maximizing the video's reach.
It must be said that Song Niaoniao's ability to become a top-tier female star is not only due to her beautiful face, but also because of her excellent acting skills.
The scene shifts to residents of cities 22 and 24 taking to the streets to fiercely protest the atrocities committed by Kamishiro and Kashima.
This war of public opinion has only been going on for two hours.
Arthur looked at Shindai and said with a half-smile, "Didn't you say that everyone in City 10 would die out, and that your rat horde would then invade the Li and Qing clans?"
Kamishiro calmly said, "As I said before, this plan may fail. The most important thing is to launch a war and cut off the two supply lines of the Li and Qing families."
Arthur then asked with a smile, "Didn't you say that City 10 would be cut off from information for at least another half month? I remember clearly that you said they simply didn't have the capacity to quickly repair the city's power distribution plant. Moreover, you promised that all the political figures in City 10 would die, causing the internal system of the Federation to gradually collapse, leading to a situation of warlordism among the Qing, Li, and Chen families."
Kamishiro fell silent. He truly hadn't expected that so many of those defenseless presidents and congressmen could survive.
At this moment, he realized that something was wrong. It was as if someone was targeting his plans, inexplicably slowing down their southward journey!
The fact that neither the president nor the vice president died is too unexpected!
Kamishiro calmly said, "There is no perfect plan in this world, but please believe me, public opinion in the Federation is not such a terrible thing. Kamishiro was able to suppress them back then, and he can do so now. The construction of the forward base is the primary objective, and we will do everything in our power to ensure this."
Arthur remained noncommittal: "Just don't hold us back."
Kamishiro smiled, concealing all his true emotions beneath the smile.
Chapter 700, Physical Title
Return countdown: 72:00:00.