Chapter 651: After All, We've Been Old Friends for a Long Time; You Can't Give Less Than to Outsiders, Right?

Chapter 651: After all, we’ve been old friends cooperating for so long—surely we can’t give less than what outsiders get?

Late at night.

Cinderson, in high spirits, had just drifted off to sleep when he was jolted awake by a frantic knocking at the door.

He grabbed his glasses from the bedside table, furrowed his brow, and shuffled out of bed, cursing under his breath as he stomped toward the entrance.

“Knock, knock, knock… knock your damn door! What time is it? Can’t this wait until morning? Damn it!”

At that moment, Cinderson clearly hadn’t grasped the gravity of the situation, nor had he even considered the possibility.

After all, news of the printing house fire hadn’t reached here yet, and the subordinates who had joined the parade hadn’t returned to report.

If word had gotten here, he might have panicked a bit—but only a bit.

Bribing the printing house employees and investigating the source of those newspapers were all tasks handled by his subordinates. He had merely pulled the strings from behind the scenes the entire time.

At most, he’d met them a few times during handoffs.

No matter how resourceful the Alliance’s administrators were, they couldn’t possibly have planted eyes above his head, could they?

He yanked the door open in a fury.

Cinderson was about to unleash a torrent of curses when he froze.

What met his eyes was neither his secretary nor a hotel bellhop, but a row of stern faces and badges practically shoved into his face.

The man at the front, clad in an officer’s uniform, stared at him with icy eyes.

“We’re from the Praetorian Guard. We suspect you’re a spy for the Brugge Free State and involved in inciting sabotage. You’ll need to come with us.”

“Spy… spy?!”

Sweat instantly beaded on Cinderson’s forehead. At the sight of the armed elite soldiers at the door, his soul nearly fled his body, and his voice turned stammering.

“Wait, there… there must be some mistake! I’m just an honest merchant doing business—how could I be a spy—”

The evidence was solid. The officer couldn’t be bothered to waste words; he simply waved his hand.

“Take him away.”

Several soldiers filed in, handcuffed Cinderson in his pajamas, twisted his arms behind his back, and began dragging him out.

“Wait—let go! Aah! Alliance soldiers are killing people! Help!”

A pig-slaughter-like wail echoed through the corridor.

Terrified by the unprecedented scene, Cinderson had tears and snot smeared across his face, and his pants were soaked… though no one had laid a fist on him.

The officer cast a contemptuous glance at this pathetic spectacle.

He was starting to wonder if there might indeed be some misunderstanding in this case—after all, a properly trained spy wouldn’t be this spineless.

But even so, what did it matter?

Even if he wasn’t a spy, what he’d done was no different.

Once they brought him in, he’d be thoroughly interrogated.

Awakened by the screeching cries, doors along the corridor creaked open one by one, revealing heads eager for a spectacle.

Few wastelanders feared death—after all, not everyone came from a well-off settlement.

Seeing the gossiping onlookers, the officer signaled a nearby soldier.

The soldier understood, pulled a warrant from his coat, waved it at the curious guests, and announced loudly.

“This is an arrest warrant issued by the Alliance court. The suspect will face a public trial within seven days. The trial date will be posted at the courthouse!”

“Rest assured, friends from afar—we will never wrong an innocent person, but we will also never let those who disrupt our order off lightly. If you’re curious about his crime, you may apply to observe the trial at the court.”

With the formalities done, he tucked the warrant away and joined his comrades in escorting the thrashing, howling Cinderson down the stairs of the inn.

A similar scene was unfolding at another inn nearby.

Involved in the *Clear Springs Daily* case were not only Cinderson, the mastermind, but also six other merchants from the Brugge Free State.

Such a commotion, combined with the earlier street parade and the massive fire in the industrial district, quickly spread the news across the city.

Since all those arrested were merchants from Brugge Free State, even those merely passing through trembled in fear, unable to grasp what was happening.

Was this the start of a war with their northern neighbor?

Surely not so sudden?

All night long, every merchant from Brugge fretted anxiously, trying to find out what had happened, terrified of being implicated…

…

The long night finally passed.

The next morning, in the editor-in-chief’s office of the *Survivor Daily*, a startled cry rang out.

“All burned to nothing?!”

Upon hearing that the previous day’s printed newspapers had been reduced to ashes by fire, Zhao Yigeng, the editor-in-chief of *Survivor Daily*, blurted out those words and then stood frozen, speechless.

Nothing this absurd had ever happened before—not even when the front line was less than fifty kilometers from the industrial zone!

Luckily, tomorrow’s headline wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, today’s update was likely gone.

Faced with this unprecedented situation, Zhao Yigeng had no idea how to handle it.

Just as his headache was worsening, a knock came at the door.

Assuming it was an editor delivering a manuscript, he reflexively looked up and called out.

“Come in.”

The door swung open.

But at the sight of the man entering, Zhao Yigeng was startled and shot up from his desk with a scrape of his chair.

The secretary standing by the desk was equally stunned, her eyes wide as she stared at the warm-smiling man at the door, her hands unsure where to place them.

Zhao Yigeng spent three seconds quickly tidying his appearance, then forced a hurried but enthusiastic smile at Chu Guang, extending his right hand as he stepped forward.

“What an honor! Respected Administrator, what brings you here? You’ll have to forgive me—I wasn’t prepared at all.”

Chu Guang shook the editor’s hand briefly, then released it with a smile.

“You’re too kind. I just happened to be passing by and thought I’d drop in. I hope I’m not interrupting your work.”

“Not at all! Xiao Wang, brew some tea for the Administrator… Administrator, please, have a seat!” Zhao Yigeng’s face glowed with excitement as he gestured toward the sofa nearby.

“Sure, sure!” The secretary named Xiao Wang hurried over to the teapot, nearly spilling water on the filing cabinet in her haste.

A bit embarrassed by their overwhelming enthusiasm, Chu Guang cleared his throat lightly.

“No need to be so nervous. Actually… I won’t sit down. If I do, you’ll probably have to replace the sofa.”

He said this in a teasing tone, then turned his gaze to the secretary, who had just set the tea neatly on the table, and spoke amiably.

“You’re Xiao Wang, right? Could you step out for a moment? I have something to discuss with the editor-in-chief.”

Both of them froze for a moment.

But Editor Zhao recovered quickly.

Under the frantic signals from his eyes, the secretary named Xiao Wang hurriedly left the office, closing the door behind them as he went.

Out in the corridor.

Xiao Wang soon spotted the guard, who was always glued to the administrator's side, standing there as well, and his heart began to pound.

What on earth had Boss Zhao done?

To make the administrator come all the way here in person...

It wasn't just Xiao Wang, standing in the corridor, who was fretting; the most nervous one was, of course, Zhao Yigeng, standing inside the office.

The excitement he had felt moments ago was now matched by his anxiety.

The administrator's tone always made him feel like he was being called to account, yet after racking his brains, he couldn't figure out what he had done wrong to offend this great man.

Just as he was trembling with unease, Chu Guang slowly spoke.

"I came here mainly to ask you about something. Is there any content in today's newspaper about the eastern district of Qingquan City?"

Hearing it was about this, Zhao Yigeng immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said with a smile.

"No! You can rest assured on that! After receiving the news of the military control in the eastern district of Qingquan City, I immediately notified the editorial department to suppress the relevant reports—"

Chu Guang: "Who told you to suppress them?"

"Ah..." Zhao Yigeng was taken aback by the reprimand, opened his mouth, and couldn't think of anyone to shift the blame to. He shook his head nervously. "No one, actually."

Although the Alliance had invested heavily in the media, it rarely directly interfered with media development, at most setting a scope of operations and letting them handle it themselves.

For instance, although the *Survivor Daily* was collectively owned by the shelter, the shelter had never sent high-level representatives to interfere with the newspaper's operations.

Zhao Yigeng himself was the top man at the *Survivor Daily*.

The decision to suppress the news was made by him based on the documents from above and his own political instincts; the order came from him, and indeed, no one had instructed him to do so.

Still, he didn't see any problem with it. After all, the celebration was imminent, and a funeral would follow shortly after.

Even if they had to report on the eastern district of Qingquan City, it would be better to wait until these two more noteworthy events had passed, wouldn't it?

Besides, it remained to be seen whether the Alliance authorities intended to keep the matter confidential.

Seeing that Chief Editor Zhao had no idea where the problem lay, Chu Guang sighed and patiently continued.

"Military control is meant to prevent unrelated people from entering and encountering danger, which would make the cause of death hard to clarify. It's not just the slime mold fruiting bodies there, but also mutants, and possibly even straggling mutants or raiders! We have enough safeguards to ensure 'Xiaoyu's' safety, but if someone dies inside, even if it's not at the hands of Xiaoyu's fruiting bodies, people will instinctively blame it on her, leading to irrational panic."

"The shelter residents are exploring ways to coexist with harmless slime mold fruiting bodies. The eastern district of Qingquan City will have its military control lifted when the time is right..."

Seeing Zhao Yigeng nodding like a pecking chicken, Chu Guang stopped and said with a tone of frustration.

"I'm not saying all this just to make you bob your head with those few hairs on it; I'm telling you to write it in our newspaper! You need to interview people worth interviewing. The Alliance's Institute of Biology has experts far more professional than me. Then you need to tell our citizens why we're doing this, what the benefits are, what the risks are, whether we've considered those risks, and what preparations we've made for them... But what have you done?"

"If the *Survivor Daily* doesn't cover the eastern district of Qingquan City, does that mean it doesn't exist? If you don't report something, does that mean others won't care? What you don't care about, someone else will care about for us; the people we don't unite, someone else will unite for us!"

Although Chu Guang's words were still restrained, they were nonetheless critical in tone. Under the weight of his prestige and authority, they pressed down on Zhao Yigeng's shoulders like a mountain.

Even though Chu Guang had no intention of making things difficult for him and had even spared his face by sending his subordinates out before speaking.

Seeing Chief Editor Zhao, head bowed like a child who had done wrong, not daring to breathe loudly, Chu Guang sighed and continued in a gentler tone.

"People trust us. What we should do is respond to that trust, not expect them to unconditionally understand our difficulties every time. Besides, if you ask me, there's no damn difficulty here—could it be harder to deal with than the Legion or the Tide? It's entirely some people being clever, voluntarily handing over the ground beneath their feet to others. What's the difference between that and desertion?"

Zhao Yigeng bowed his head with a heavy expression, his face full of regret and pain, wishing he could find a crack in the floor to crawl into.

He knew about the *Qingquan City Daily* incident, but because its content was so absurd, he had never taken that clown seriously.

Yet that was precisely the problem. Since the *Survivor Daily* hadn't reported on the eastern district of Qingquan City, and its subsidiary publications had also remained silent, the *Qingquan City Daily* became the only newspaper daring to speak out.

Fortunately, the other side hadn't been fully prepared either.

If they had been a bit more prepared, adjusted the ratio of truth to rumors slightly, and written something a bit more plausible, the consequences might have been completely different...

The more Zhao Yigeng thought about it, the more terrified he became, and cold sweat unconsciously slid down his forehead.

He had realized the severity of the problem.

When the critical voice fell silent, he lowered his head and spoke in a heavy tone.

"This is a mistake in my work... I'm sorry, I've let down your trust!"

Seeing that he had recognized his error, Chu Guang's anger subsided somewhat, and he continued in a patient tone.

"The person you should apologize to is not me, but all those who believe in you. The battlefield of public opinion is right there; if you don't occupy it, our enemies will rush in. We have first-rate warriors on the wasteland, who step onto the battlefield with lofty ideals, charging fearlessly into death. I don't want them to come home only to read third-rate newspapers, with all their efforts becoming the enemy's joke."

Even the usually arrogant Academy had admitted that their achievements in Qingquan City were an incredible miracle. This was clearly something to be proud of.

What they should be lighting were celebratory bonfires, not their own printing presses.

Even the Legion had never managed to bomb his factories, yet in peacetime, they were set ablaze by their own people.

Chu Guang, who had already calmed down, felt his fists clench again.

Zhao Yigeng looked at him nervously, reflecting on what he had done wrong this time to displease the administrator.

Just then, a commotion came from the corridor outside, and one of the voices sounded familiar, catching Chu Guang's attention.

"What's wrong with the report I wrote?! The safety analysis of the central nest mother is the opinion of Professor He Ya, director of the Alliance's Institute of Biology. Why can't it be published?!"

That sharp voice was like an angry kitten, and Chu Guang guessed it must be that green-haired girl.

It wasn't that he was familiar with her voice, but he knew well that none of his own pen-pushers could produce such a sound.

Sure enough, another voice followed immediately.

"Hmph, the director of the Alliance's Institute of Biology doesn't represent the Alliance's stance."

"But that professor is the most in-depth researcher in this field!"

"I know, but science is one thing, and reality is another. We can't always trust science—"

"What kind of talk is that?! If we don't trust science, should we trust the Great Antlered Deer God?"

"You can always trust the administrator. Oh, why don't you understand? You're a reporter for the *Survivor Daily*; have a little vision!"

"...The *Survivor Daily* I knew wasn't like this."

"So you guys are gone, aren't you? Anyway, before the celebration, don't report news that might cause controversy. It won't matter who you show it to; that's the chief editor's decision!"

"Then when can we report it?!"

"After the funeral for the fallen soldiers... a few days after the celebration should be fine."

"Are you crazy?! Delaying it a whole week—that's not news anymore!"

Seeing Chu Guang's face darken, Zhao Yigeng, who had been listening to the argument outside, also began to lose his composure.

Especially when he heard that line, "So you guys are gone."

The *Survivor Daily* founded by Hal in Boulder City had indeed disappeared, but in the end, the Inner City that had destroyed it had also gone down with it.

That guy really spoke without thinking!

Zhao Yigeng cleared his throat and said, "I'll go explain to the editorial department colleagues..."

But before he could finish, the office door was pushed open, and Dolly, clutching a draft, stormed in.

Following behind her was Yang Yan, her colleague from the same office and also her superior.

She was about to argue with the editor-in-chief when she saw Chu Guang also there. In an instant, both of them froze in unison.

"Mr. Administrator?!"

"You—how are you here?"

Without reproaching either of them, Chu Guang gave a soft cough.

"I don't want to meddle in your dispute, but allow me to interject from a personal standpoint—I will always believe in science, and I recommend you do the same... though this isn't mandatory."

Looking at the stunned Dolly, he continued in a gentle tone.

"May I take a look at your report?"

Haya hadn't mentioned to him that she'd given an interview to the *Survivor Daily*; to her, it was probably just a trivial matter.

And indeed it was.

Just like Chu Guang himself, who initially paid little attention to the *Clear Springs Daily* that Old Charlie brought him—after all, there were far more important things to do.

Moreover, Chu Guang had always encouraged the Bluecoats to set aside their reserve and communicate more with the wastelanders, not to assume the wastelanders knew nothing and thus say nothing.

That was how the bastards of the Enlightenment Society isolated themselves. Humans have a natural reverence for knowledge and experience, but no one likes an arrogant fellow.

Looking up at Chu Guang standing in the room, Dolly nodded dazedly and handed over the draft in her hand.

Chu Guang took it and glanced over it.

It clearly laid out all the issues he had previously raised with Editor-in-Chief Zhao, narrated from an objective standpoint.

And that was what pleased him most.

The *Survivor Daily* wasn't just a channel for the Alliance public to get information; it was also a source for other local newspapers and private media within the Alliance. If a single word was twisted from the start, it would end up miles off course.

"Well written."

Offering a word of praise, Chu Guang handed the draft to Zhao Yigeng.

Seeing Chu Guang's satisfied expression, the latter quickly took the draft with both hands and vowed solemnly.

"I'll have the editorial department arrange it as the headline for the next issue immediately!"

As he spoke, Zhao Yigeng glanced at Yang Yan standing behind Dolly and gave him a wink.

That editor snapped out of his stupor at once and straightened his back.

"I'll contact the printing house right away and tell them to hold off on reprinting yesterday's edition!"

"Not just the headline—such a big matter can't be covered in a single page!" Chu Guang looked at Dolly, frozen with surprise, and continued amiably, "I hope there can be a special issue... at least three columns, to thoroughly clear up all misunderstandings and completely dispel the Alliance residents' concerns about Xiaoyu!"

Hearing this delightful news, Dolly clenched her fists in excitement, momentarily at a loss for how to thank him. Then, a thought struck her, and she seized the chance to ask.

"Wait, esteemed Mr. Administrator, is Xiaoyu the name of the hive in the shelter? I heard it can understand the Common Tongue... Can I interview it?"

Haya hadn't promised her anything, only suggested she seek the administrator's opinion—but meeting the administrator was too difficult.

"Of course. Xiaoyu is quite an interesting fellow; actually, many people have seen it... before it became a hive. By the way, you can bring it some sweets as a gift."

Having said this in a playful tone, Chu Guang turned to Editor-in-Chief Zhao and continued.

"Stop making wild interpretations in the future. Instead of guessing what I think, just do your own job well."

Matters of true importance to the Alliance's collective interests, he would instruct the relevant parties to keep confidential—no need for subordinates to speculate blindly.

Zhao Yigeng immediately stood at attention, straightened his back, and saluted like a soldier.

"Understood! I will keep your teachings in mind!"

"I'm no expert in this field; you should learn more from the journalists who came from Boulder City—progressive voices are progressive everywhere. Alright, I won't linger here. You all carry on with your work; I have my own things to do."

Chu Guang nodded with a smile, then gave a look to Lü Bei standing by the door, and left with that loyal young man.

Next, he had to meet the representatives of the Corporation.

The Institute's representative had already presented him with a gift so generous it was astonishing—he wondered what surprise the Council would bring him...

After all, they were old friends who had cooperated for so long.

Surely they couldn't give less than an outsider?