"Buildings overrun with slime mold, swarms of fruiting bodies packed like a tidal surge, and active incubation chambers... Everything before your eyes is the current state of Qingquan City's eastern district."
"The Tide is over, but no one knows how it ended—until our reporters ventured deep into Qingquan City's eastern district to uncover the untold truth!"
The entire newspaper was only three pages long. Chu Guang flipped through it briefly and found that all three pages were devoted to the eastern suburbs of Qingquan City.
The first section revealed where the slime mold fruiting bodies had gone: vast hordes of them had not been eradicated, but had instead been relocated to the eastern suburbs of Qingquan City.
There was nothing wrong with this part.
After putting an end to this year's Tide, the Alliance had indeed transferred the fruiting bodies to the eastern district of Qingquan City instead of packaging and selling them to nearby traveling merchants as in previous years.
Chu Guang remembered clearly that he had issued the order himself.
However, moving to the second section, the content took a strange turn.
This section cleverly pointed the finger at the Alliance authorities. Relying on vague evidence and so-called sources familiar with the matter, it fabricated claims out of whole cloth that the Alliance had used some unknown means to reach a deal with the broodmother in downtown Qingquan City, bending the fruiting bodies to the Alliance's will.
By the third section, the report shifted its focus to the "survivors" of Qingquan City's eastern district.
Several survivors claimed in interviews that Alliance troops had driven them from their homes and threatened to feed them to the slime mold fruiting bodies if they did not comply.
In reality, aside from a handful of reclusive survivors, most of Qingquan City's population had relocated to Dawn City or Boulder City during the Bone Chewer turmoil.
Solitary survivors wandering the wasteland around Qingquan City were already exceedingly rare, to say nothing of the eastern suburbs, which crawled with mutants.
Those "survivors" were probably not real survivors at all, but marauders lurking in the ruins—or simply hired mercenaries.
At the very end of the report, the writer left a thought-provoking concluding remark:
"The bomb has not been defused; it was merely moved from one crate to another. It sits right beside us, poised to detonate at any moment—perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow. A victory bought through compromise is no victory at all. Unless we purge every last trace of slime mold, this war will never end..."
Having read to the end, Chu Guang flipped back to the first page and glanced at the header.
Just as he expected, this was the inaugural issue of the *Qingquan City Daily*.
It was as if the entire paper had been created solely for this sensational scoop, banking on it to break into the market.
Watching Chu Guang's reaction closely, Old Charlie continued with a grave expression:
"I spotted this paper at a newsstand near the Merchant Guild this morning. When I asked the vendor where he got his stock, he scratched the back of his head and said he didn't remember stocking it."
Pausing, Old Charlie went on:
"I then had the Merchant Guild's staff investigate newsstands across Dawn City. Over eighty percent of them were selling this *Qingquan City Daily* of dubious origin, and none of the vendors could explain where it came from... It was as if it had simply materialized out of thin air on their stands."
Chu Guang smiled and said, "That's nothing to be surprised about. Aside from the best-selling *Survivor Daily*, which has its own distribution network, most newsstands in Dawn City have agreements with printing plants. The plant prints the next day's papers in bulk based on each outlet's previous day's sales, then dispatches vehicles to deliver them to the stalls before the morning rush. Someone probably slipped these bundles onto the trucks leaving the warehouse, and from there, the papers naturally ended up across all the stands."
Under this distribution model, the stallholders naturally wouldn't know anything about the paper.
In fact, let alone this *Qingquan City Daily*, outside of the well-known *Survivor Daily* and serialized novels, they probably didn't even know how many different papers were on their stands.
This flimsy three-page rag was clearly appearing on the streets and alleys of Dawn City for the first time, like an unsightly rash sprouting in a dark corner.
Chu Guang could guess their objective without even thinking.
It was nothing more than an attempt to exploit public panic to obstruct the ecological reserve established by the Alliance in Qingquan City's eastern district.
As for deeper motives, the possibilities were manifold.
He was actually somewhat curious: what could possibly warrant investing so heavily and risking the wrath of the Alliance?
Seeing the indifferent smile on Chu Guang's face, Old Charlie was somewhat perplexed, unable to fathom how the esteemed Administrator could still laugh after something so serious had occurred.
Worried that Chu Guang failed to realize the gravity of the situation, Old Charlie couldn't help feeling anxious and said solemnly, "Administrator, you may not realize just how serious this is. Our enemies are trying to weaponize the media to fracture our solidarity. On top of that, the victory celebration is just around the corner. If turmoil erupts now, not only will your personal prestige suffer, but the regional standing and influence of the entire Alliance will take a hit as well!"
Pausing, he pressed on earnestly, "We must act immediately! At the very least, before public opinion boils over, we should recall the papers currently being sold on the market!"
Chu Guang asked casually, "And after we recall them?"
Old Charlie blinked, taken aback for a second, but his mind quickly produced a solution. "We should establish a stricter publication censorship system—or at least prevent similar occurrences from happening again—and hunt down whoever is behind this, especially the publisher of the *Qingquan City Daily*—"
Chu Guang smiled and shook his head.
Folding the copy of the *Qingquan City Daily*, he handed it back to Old Charlie.
"I understand what you mean. The mastermind behind this is clever, but unfortunately, their methods are far from subtle.
"They underestimated the unity across all strata of our society, and they underestimated the trust our residents place in us following a victory. They even made several glaring factual errors in their interviews. That sort of stunt might have worked in old Boulder City, but against us, they'll only make fools of themselves.
"Our supporters aren't so easily duped. What we need to do right now is hold our ground and not lose our heads over an opponent's clumsy tricks. If we go through all the trouble of recalling the papers as you suggest, it will only sow doubt among our supporters... and give whoever is lurking in the shadows a reason to gloat."
Speaking of which, Chu Guang couldn't help wanting to chew out his own *Survivor Daily*.
Those folks were usually sharp enough, having stolen the spotlight during the upheaval in Boulder City last year.
Yet this time they seemed completely blind—such a monumental event had unfolded in Qingquan City's eastern district, and they hadn't reported a single word!
Chu Guang had initially assumed they were still drafting the article. But two full days had passed, and not only had they failed to produce a squeak, they had let a random tabloid out of nowhere scoop them.
As a semi-official media outlet, addressing public concerns with objective and impartial reporting was its job. Otherwise, what was the point of having it?
Was it just decorative?
Chu Guang didn't buy for a second that his residents cared only about the food at the celebration and had zero interest in downtown Qingquan City or the eastern district's ecological reserve.
At most, it was out of trust in him personally—believing he surely had a plan—so nobody had brought it up.
Failing to address the residents' doubts immediately—the *Survivor Daily* would definitely have to take the blame for that blunder.
Chu Guang intended to pay a visit to the comrade editor-in-chief in a little while and ask what was going through his head.
That said,
the *Qingquan City Daily* that had sprung from nowhere couldn't just be ignored and left to spout nonsense unchecked either.
Chu Guang turned to Lü Bei, who was standing nearby, and instructed, "Those photographs were probably taken yesterday. Go check with the troops stationed there and find out who approached Qingquan City's eastern district yesterday and what their identities are... Just make sure to get the full story. Don't take any action for the time being."
It was inevitable that the ecological reserve in Qingquan City's eastern district would draw the attention of other survivor factions. For all he knew, even Legion spies might have slipped into Dawn City.
However, those people were shrewd; they merely observed from the shadows, making no reckless moves that might blow their cover.
What Chu Guang was curious about was who this clown courting trouble was.
This matter had to be thoroughly investigated!
At those words, Lü Bei's expression grew stern, and he snapped to attention with a salute.
"Yes, sir!"
...
Compared to the scientific research cooperation agreement between the Alliance and the Academy, a concocted report was a trivial matter.
Although Old Charlie acted as if facing a mortal threat, Chu Guang honestly didn't pay it much mind.
Put simply,
he didn't believe anyone would fall for that rubbish in the first place.
Anyone who had spent time in Dawn City knew what a dump Qingquan City's eastern district was; practically no one wanted to go there except the players.
Survivors forced to flee their homes...
That sounded utterly ridiculous.
After giving Lü Bei his orders, Chu Guang returned to the shelter to discuss the establishment of a special zone in the Wandering Marsh and academic exchange visits with Yin Fang.
What Chu Guang didn't know, however, was that just as Lü Bei departed for Qingquan City's eastern district with his orders, that very concoction landed on a desk in the Enterprise's embassy to the Alliance.
Reading the "explosive" contents of the paper, Yi Chuan's eyes widened involuntarily, and he stared in bewilderment for quite a while before snapping out of it.
"'...The broodmother previously situated in downtown Qingquan City was relocated to the eastern district by the Alliance Administrator to be kept in captivity, and through sinister forces, its fruiting bodies are being bent to his will'?"
His lips twitched. After finishing that line, he could no longer keep a straight face, shaking his head as he tossed the gibberish onto the desk.
"What kind of garbage is this?!"
A captive broodmother?
He hadn't even known their partner possessed such capabilities!
Ever since the Tide began, the Enterprise had been monitoring its progress closely.
This was not only because the Alliance held significant weight in the Enterprise's strategic roadmap, but also because mutant slime mold was itself one of the core threats across the wasteland.
Now that the Alliance had definitively eliminated a menace that even the Post-War Reconstruction Committee had failed to resolve, the entire Enterprise Council couldn't help but view the Alliance in a whole new light.
However, regarding how the Alliance had resolved the Tide crisis, how they had destroyed the downtown broodmother, and how they ensured the broodmother wouldn't regenerate repeatedly as in the past, the Council still harbored substantial questions, hoping to obtain answers through diplomatic channels.
In particular, the Council had recently considered pursuing deeper cooperation with the Alliance on issues concerning mutant slime mold. Some radical members had even proposed outsourcing the extermination of broodmothers in Yunjian Province to the Alliance.
To supply the Council with more information, Yi Chuan, as the Enterprise's ambassador to the Alliance, had instructed his secretary to go out and purchase some local newspapers.
Instead, the fellow had gone off for half the day only to return with a few sheets of sensationalist nonsense.
Looking at the secretary standing beside the desk, Yi Chuan rubbed the bridge of his nose, nursing a headache.
"I sent you out to buy newspapers reporting on the eastern district of Qingquan City. How did you bring back this trash?"
The secretary looked sheepish.
He also felt the paper's contents were exaggerated, rife with melodrama from the headlines to the body text. Still wanting to defend himself, he gave a light cough and said, "This was the only newspaper on the market with any reporting on Qingquan City's eastern district and the broodmother's whereabouts... All the other papers mentioning the Tide and the broodmother simply cite reports from the *Survivor Daily*."
Yi Chuan paused, surprised.
"Then what about the *Survivor Daily*?"
The secretary's expression turned nuanced as he continued, "The latest front page of the *Survivor Daily* focuses almost entirely on the upcoming victory celebration. It makes no mention of the operational details of the Alliance's battle during the Tide, nor does it mention the ecological reserve in Qingquan City's eastern district. Information regarding this appears to be under a blackout. I suspect Alliance officials pressured the *Survivor Daily* to downplay the news... perhaps for security or confidentiality reasons."
Confidentiality?
Having heard this explanation, Yi Chuan looked even more bewildered.
Why would they keep something like this a secret?
If the Alliance truly possessed a solution to overcome mutant slime mold, survivor factions across the entire wasteland would flock to learn from them. Even the Legion might lower its haughty head... After all, this was an issue concerning the future of all humanity.
Shouldn't a feat like this be proclaimed far and wide with the utmost fanfare?
The secretary continued with an enigmatic expression, "Could it be possible... that the facts are just as described in this report, only less exaggerated? And that this newspaper was actually released intentionally by the Alliance?"
This time, Yi Chuan didn't immediately dismiss it.
He tapped his index finger gently on the desk, musing for a moment before asking, "What's the basis for that deduction?"
The secretary analyzed methodically, "Right now, the entire eastern district of Qingquan City is under Alliance military control. Any survivor who approaches is turned away. An ordinary person couldn't possibly have taken such clear photographs... and even if they did, they would never have made it out with them."
That sounded reasonable enough.
Yi Chuan nodded.
Though he hadn't visited the eastern district himself, the embassy had indeed received the notification of military control.
Yet that was merely conjecture regarding feasibility.
"What about motive?" Yi Chuan looked at his secretary. "What would they stand to gain from doing this?"
"Desensitization," the secretary replied.
Yi Chuan blinked.
"Desensitization?"
The secretary nodded and elaborated, "On sensitive matters, you leak an outrageous, incredible claim first. Once everyone has experienced the initial shock, you come forward to clarify that things aren't nearly as dire as they sound."
A flash of shrewd comprehension lit up Yi Chuan's eyes.
"Threaten to tear off the roof before asking to open a window?"
"Precisely," the secretary agreed. "My deduction is that they have mastered some technology capable of controlling a broodmother... It wouldn't be as simple as mere mind control either. We've conducted tests; mind control is entirely ineffective against mutant slime mold."
Noticing the growing solemnity on Yi Chuan's face, the secretary paused before adding, "Furthermore, if the Alliance authorities chose to desensitize the public to this information, it indicates they are already preparing to go public with it. Otherwise, creating such a smokescreen would be pointless.
"Therefore, my hypothesis is that they might also be using this opportunity to signal openness to cooperation.
"Besides, I heard... that a representative from the Academy appeared near the Alliance Building today—that Class-B researcher who has been snooping around on the sidelines."
At those words, Yi Chuan pushed back his chair and shot to his feet, slapping his right hand onto the newspaper he had tossed aside earlier.
"Submit a request for a diplomatic meeting to the Alliance immediately. I want to speak with their Administrator about this in person."
The secretary nodded.
"Right away!"
Chapter 647