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By the time we brought in the new batch of survivors, which came out to about 200 hundred or so, it was already night. It was also at this time that I got a notification on my electronic AI about another video call from aunty Xinqing -I had just taken my first bite of dinner too…

Even without answering, I could already tell that this call would have something to do with Zuoqiu Xinqing. As expected, I was immediately bombarded by aunty Xinqing half-screaming at me through the holographic display once it turned on.

“Ke! Big news! The whole Gaia is ablaze right now!” Her hands flailed about in a display of unfettered excitement. “That video you sent me this afternoon exploded on the web like a nuke! Committee Member Li’s ship has already sunk, and the other malefactors aboard his ship weren’t spared either… I even heard that the committee member got invited to have a friendly chat with some investigators. That dishonest merchant, Xue Guode… apparently he put on some weight to avoid being recognised, but too bad for him, even an insignificant person like him got tracked down by the investigators…”

Aunty Xinqing continued on like a machine gun, finally pulling out a couple of screenshots for me to peruse. “Ke, look, here are some of the comments from watching Zuoqiu Shanming getting beaten up… I knew it would blow up, but not this much!”

The picture showed an entire hornet’s nest worth of comments flying across the screen. If one did not turn off the comments, nothing could be seen underneath at all. It just so happened that these comments were what I was actually here for.

“All I can say is that I deeply sympathise, and am greatly angered at the same time, by Zuoqiu Shanming’s treatment. Not only did they kill him, they even stuffed him in a food processor… how do you expect me to eat my minced meat buns in the future?!”

“You can’t un-see that! Geez!”

“How cruel, why won’t these bad people just die!?”

“I feel that reporter was asking for it. This clearly wasn’t his fight, and yet he had to stick his nose into it. Well, look at him now: dead.”

“Ah, that person who said Zuoqiu Shanming deserved it was my son. I’m sorry for letting him out of his cage by accident. I should have chained his legs to prevent him from biting others.”

“Oh, he’s your son? Well, why don’t you stuff him into a meat processor? What are you still raising such a stupid son for? To show off at New Year’s?”

“Thumbs up for the food processor.”

“Food processor +2.”

“+10086!”

“Bring that evildoer to justice! Make sure to go through every scrap of his finances!”

“A moment of silence for our hero!”

The comments were mostly in support of the poor reporter, and even if there were commenters who were paid off by the committee member, they were quickly drowned out by a wave of support.

And this wave of support wasn’t going away till the man got his just desserts!

“Li was one of the candidates for chairman. I’m sure even the aliens have their eyes on this case. If mishandled, this might end up being the stick they were looking for to club the Federation.”

If I was being honest right now, exposing that scoundrel Li right now probably wasn’t a great idea, if the goal was avoid having the Federation look bad. After all, Southern Plains just had an actual zombie apocalypse, that’s another stick as well.

Now, there was another scandal involving its most popular chairman candidate turning out to be an accomplice to murder, and arms trafficking…

Regardless, this rogue committee member’s misbehavior was now a matter that affected the entire planet, and not just the council!

And while we were being honest, releasing this video was definitely detrimental to aunty Xinqing. On the surface, she was the upstanding whistleblower… but those connected to Li Shengjin were all the elite of Gaia. Most would have some dirty dealings with the man, and his exposure would undoubtedly implicate them as well. Pull out the carrot, pull out the soil as well. These shady figures would have to protect Li Shengjin, at the very least, for their own self-preservation. Being the culprit for all this, aunty Xinqing was a prime target.

Had it not been for the video blowing up so spectacularly, Li Shengjin would have actually gotten away with it. Unfortunately for him, we acted quickly by just releasing the video to the web.

However, this act could also be seen as detrimental to the council as well. After all, if someone as prominent as Li Shengjin was involved in murder and arms trafficking, how dirty would the entire Federation have to be?

But that wasn’t a question we had to worry about. Our actions weren’t completely a negative either. At the very least, there were some higher-ups in the army who expressed their gratitude to us. Li Shengjin’s trafficking was a threat against their very well-being after all.

With their help, aunty Xinqing was probably going to be fine.

Before ending the video call, aunty Xinqing left behind a mysterious note, telling me to look out for good news in the future. A little puzzled, I closed the video feed and picked up my chopsticks. Yet the moment I did so, a notification from the general rudely interrupted me.

I guess dinner will have to wait…

The holographic display popped up once more, nearly blinding me with a flash from the general’s sparkly bald head. As always, he had on that silly grin.

Because of that whole fiasco with the weapons factory, my impression of him couldn’t be any worse. He himself knew that his little slip up ended up being unpleasant for me. Thanks to that, he was even sillier than usual as he fumbled with an apology, nearly causing me to chortle in the process.

By that point, I couldn’t bring myself to be angry. I wasn’t even that angry to begin with, seeing as he was the reason I stumbled into Zuoqiu Shanming. The fact that we managed to give the poor reporter some comfort, and take out an evildoer in the process, was to be celebrated.

His reason for contacting me was simple: thanks to my exemplary performance, the military was making an exemption by granting me the rank of Colonel, and a medal of bravery.

The rank was immediate, but the medal was… Well, they couldn’t just mail it to me now. In other words, I had to wait till later to receive the commendation and attend a ceremony.

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE