NOVPUBChapter 141: Chapter 140 Conspiracy and Counter-Conspiracy
Chapter 141 -140 Conspiracy and Counter-Conspiracy
Shandela remained silent.
A moment later, she exhaled deeply, “I have already received yesterday’s contract, but I still hope you will reconsider, not just limiting the cooperation to supplying medicine.”
“You still want to add nominal conditions?”
“Otherwise, the Earl won’t agree. You’ve seen the situation today… regardless of whether the explosion was caused by Gate of Destiny Company, there’s bound to be an overwhelming amount of propaganda pinning the issue on you…”
“Excuse me for interrupting.” Chaoyang suddenly raised his hand, “If I’m not mistaken, the primary duty of the city guard should be to maintain urban stability and protect the taxpayers who have traveled thousands of miles to the New World, right? Especially after the strikes in various police stations, the issue of safety has also fallen onto you.”
Shandela already realized what he was trying to say.
She wanted to stop him, opened her mouth but couldn’t find the right words.
“Knowing that someone is against Gate of Destiny and Yeni Temple, your first thought is to separate the company and the temple and bring them under the lord’s name? When those people have taken such a heartless approach and openly used explosives to indiscriminately kill ordinary people, you can’t bring them to justice?” Chaoyang’s tone grew sharper, no longer polite, “Even in the New World, such an act would be enough to send the perpetrator to the gallows. Why are you not investigating who was behind this? Previously, your city guards executed many, but to me, not even members of a Heretical Cult would be mad enough to go to this extent.”
“How dare you speak to the Commander in such a disrespectful manner!” Woody could not help but say, “The moment she learned of the explosion, she immediately summoned—”
“Enough, shut up!” Shandela stopped her deputy from continuing, “An action that serves no purpose can’t be considered a merit, and if it’s of no help to the current trouble, I don’t think Mr. Zhao would care what the city guard did.”
She looked at Chaoyang, “The explosion scene is quite chaotic. The flames have destroyed many things, but by tomorrow at the latest, we should be able to clean up the site. I will definitely investigate this matter to the end and bring the real mastermind to justice! Woody, let’s go.”
The two stood up and left the temple without looking back.
The crowd outside had been dispersed quite a bit by then, and Shandela instructed her subordinates, “Leave two people to stand guard here, don’t let the public gather again, understand?”
“Yes!” Two cavalrymen stepped out and answered.
She mounted her horse and led the remaining subordinates from Fafu Street to the neighboring Fenggu Street, where the traces of the explosion’s devastation were everywhere, the ground covered with broken stones and glass shards, and the roadside trees blown askew. As an excellent graduate of the military academy, she knew this kind of power was not something trifle that could cause, it was more like a large amount of explosives had been concentrated and released.
Shandela dismounted her steed and fiercely punched the ground, instantly fracturing the cobblestone road, and at the center of the cracks appeared a deep hole covered with mud.
“My lady…” Woody had never seen his superior so angry before.
“I have no evidence,” Shandela said in a deep voice.
She indeed heard rumors at the noble’s ball about targeting the new pharmaceutical company and demanded representatives from the four major companies to see her immediately after the explosion. But as a result, she couldn’t charge them with “ballroom rumors” nor could she force them to admit that they were behind the explosion. In fact, these companies didn’t even send top managers like a director; they all sent agents or sales managers.
When questioned by her, these people all denied any involvement, claiming their companies would never do such a horrendous thing, and collectively tried to pin the explosion on the Gate of Destiny Company.
Shandela had to admit that Chaoyang was right in one aspect: creating explosions in the streets openly was not far from what a Heretical Cult would do. This time it was a small street like Fenggu Street, but what about next time? If it were Fafu Street or Central Avenue, how many would die from a deliberate explosion?
But precisely because the nature of the incident was so vile, she couldn’t easily investigate the four major companies—because the city guard needed evidence for action! Without evidence, the lord wouldn’t agree to her doing anything against the four major companies because Magnificent Castle also relies on their taxes, or rather… the gleaming facade of this city is built on their trade.
“First, find out what caused the explosion,” Shandela said to her aide after a moment of silence. “Also, ask the nearby residents to see if there are any surviving witnesses. And…”
She suddenly leaned closer to Woody and whispered in his ear, “Keep an eye on the soldiers within the town defense forces to prevent anyone from secretly destroying evidence.”
The latter couldn’t help but shiver.
“Understood?” Shandela backed away and asked in a normal tone.
Woody saluted, “Yes, this subordinate will do his best!”
…
The Yeni Temple was still brightly lit at night. To obtain enough light, the nuns even dismantled some old bed boards, set them on fire, and placed them in metal barrels, creating movable bonfires. Although the flames were highly unstable, they provided enough light for washing medical instruments and changing bandages.
Jenny hadn’t rested for a moment. She had received a gash on her forehead, which after a simple stitch and dressing, she returned to work. Her only worry was the massive consumption of medicines, particularly the antibiotics that needed to be mixed on-site—of which the temple didn’t have many in stock.
Unfortunately, the manufacturing site for the Gate of Destiny had been affected by the explosion, with half a shed burned down; it was likely that the medicines were damaged too. She found Zhang Zhiyuan to ask if there were any temporary substitutes for antibiotics. However, he took her to a small room underneath the temple, pulled back the waterproof cloth covering a cardboard box.
In the box, bottles of penicillin powder were neatly arranged.
Jenny was momentarily stunned.
“Don’t worry, all the produced medicines are here. Also, the new factory for the Gate of Destiny is being installed, and it won’t be a few days before we can start production. Our actual loss is just the rental fee of the shed and some pipe equipment, totaling roughly a hundred Serir,” Zhang Zhiyuan said with a smile.
“Did you all know this would happen…”
He nodded, “Paradise…I mean, Mr. Zhao has done more than you think. If we couldn’t handle even this little trouble, that would greatly underestimate our boss.”
In the past, Zhang Zhiyuan would have never referred to an official from the Paradise game as ‘boss’, but after accepting the new trade conditions, he suddenly found calling the other party boss wasn’t so objectionable.
“So Earl Chaoyang had already made arrangements!” Jenny’s expression instantly became much more vivid.
“As for you…your actions today were quite courageous, but obviously a bit rash. You are now the person in charge of the temple, so better treatment of the wounded is what you should focus on. Public opinion, pressure from the populace, or attacks lurking in the shadows—we will deal with all that. Understood?”
“Mhm…” The girl lowered her head slightly and responded softly.
Zhang Zhiyuan reached out and touched the bandage on the top of her head, “Does it still hurt?”
“Hehe… much better,” Jenny said with a happy smile, a completely different look from when she had stood in front of the temple’s main gate.
“Cough cough cough cough—” Suddenly, a long string of coughs came from the shadows.
Then Cui Zhen’en emerged from behind a stone pillar and said in a strange voice, “Mr. Zhang Qiang, we have work to do.”
