480: Chapter 480: The Affair Disperses, A Farewell Like Rain.
480: Chapter 480: The Affair Disperses, A Farewell Like Rain.
Christos was preparing for the dical reform in Dawn City.
He had plans to deeply reform the dical sector from two aspects.
For the first aspect, he aid to push through legislation in Dawn City that would restrict the unrestrained rise of dical costs, set a cap for the dical industry, and promote the establishnt of public dical colleges, and for the second, to reform the dical insurance system and promote universal healthcare.
The first aspect would address the root cause, potentially controlling the issue of unaffordable healthcare in Dawn City, but it would have a long implentation cycle and needed to be approached gradually; the second aspect would provide imdiate relief, allowing so people to afford dical care quickly.
Currently, Christos was trying to get the Dawn City Assembly to pass a series of bills he proposed.
Dawn City was almost one of the most important focal points of the entire Federation, so Christos’s actions had already caused an uproar in the upper echelons of the Federation, with countless people watching his every move.
“Danny, do you think he can succeed?”
After hearing the butler recount Christos’s recent actions, He Ao asked softly.
“It’s difficult,”
the butler shook his head,
“Over the past two centuries of the Federation’s history, many mayors and presidents have attempted dical reform, but in the end, their reforms either fizzled out without any result or they themselves died of ‘accidents’.”
“This road is difficult, and even though Mr.
Kristos has beco the Mayor of Dawn City, it is still incredibly challenging to confront the dical Consortium Alliance.”
“As the largest monopoly of the Federation, the lobbyists hired by the dical Consortium are active in front of every Federal Assembly and City Assembly mber’s office,” Lina added softly.
“Passing dical reform bills is even more difficult than passing a resolution to stop the free lunch provided to the assembly.”
After half a year of working at the Nolanka Group, Lina’s perspective and insight were far superior to that of the confused dia worker she once was.
‘The assembly’s free lunch’ is a joke often used by the public of the Federation to describe the difficulty of passing a bill.
The Federal Senate, House of Representatives, and the vast majority of city assemblies provide free lunches for mbers during their working sessions.
When the Federation was first established, human technology was not as advanced as it is now, and the salaries of most assembly mbers were not high.
The free lunch provided by the assembly was one of the few substantial benefits, and no mber wanted to end it.
Therefore, the public of the Federation use ‘stopping the free lunch for assembly mbers’ to refer to bills that are nearly impossible to pass in the assembly.
The opinions of the butler and Lina essentially reflected the views of the entire upper society of the Federation.
Christos was embarking on a mission that was almost destined to fail.
In fact, the Nolanka Group had already tried this and, united in effort without obstruction from the assembly, was now being pushed into a dilemma by the dical Consortium Alliance.
In this world, no one is a fool, and the dical Consortium would spare no effort to protect its own interests.
He Ao narrowed his eyes slightly.
But Christos was still the Mayor of Dawn City, the largest city in the Federation, and he had absolute power in certain areas.
What he needed was just so ‘opportunities’.
After a brief mont of contemplation, He Ao opened his eyes and looked at the butler, “Is Doctor Roger, who ‘treated’ , here?”
“Doctor Roger has gone to Lin City to visit an old friend and will probably be back in a few days.”
the butler said softly.
He had always been paying attention to Vian’s situation and also kept an eye on Roger, who maintained Vian’s bodily functions.
“How long does it take to get to Lin City by transport plane?”
He Ao asked in a low voice.
“If we communicate with the airport there, it would take about two hours,”
the butler replied.
Generally, taking the safe route from Lin City to Kaye City, an airboat would take at least four hours, while a transport plane, being faster, would require less ti, albeit with a lower carrying capacity.
“Arrange the Lin City side, send soone to bring Doctor Roger back tomorrow morning,” He Ao pondered for a mont, then looked at the butler, “Is Mr.
Fiss around?”
Fiss was the captain of the Nolanka rcenary Corps, a B-level Transcendent.
The butler sat up a little straighter, his aged face showing a touch of surprise, “Master Vian, are you planning to mobilize the rcenary Corps?”
“No.
146 Fortress City should be nearly completed, right?”
He Ao spoke with an implied aning.
“That will be a massive erging market, and what the Nolanka Group lacks the most right now is a market.”
“That is the territory of Stars Pharma,” the old butler said hoarsely, “We can’t yet confront such a large consortium among the top ten in the Federation.”
Although the Nolanka Group could dominate Kaye City, within the entire Federation, it could only just squeeze into the ranks of the large consortiums.
To deal with Stars Pharma, a behemoth with a market cap in trillions and influence over several cities, would inevitably lead to a heavy price.
“It’s alright, Danny,” He Ao looked at the old butler, “I have a plan in mind.”
The old butler gazed into He Ao’s eyes and eventually, he nodded slightly.
——
Lin City
When the first light of dawn shone through the window and lit up the soft, large bed, He Ao sat up from under the covers.
He rubbed his brows lightly.
He had spent the entire previous night in the Nolanka Group’s eting room, discussing with the old butler and others how to address the problems Nolanka Group was facing.
After Captain Fiss of the rcenary Corps arrived, he discussed many detailed issues with him.
It wasn’t until the sky was about to lighten that he sent everyone away and had the opportunity to ‘nap’ in the eting room.
However, after switching back to Pete’s body, the weariness from pondering all night was sowhat relieved; at least his body was full of energy.
Vian was always just an ordinary person, incomparable to Pete, who had already beco a C-level Transcendent.
Thump thump—
Just as He Ao sat up on the bed, there ca a knocking at the door.
He Ao slipped on his clothes and pulled open the door to see Roger, who seed hesitant to speak.
Roger clearly wasn’t used to facing such situations.
His social skills were weak, and given the chance to socialize, he would rather dissect a few more bodies.
“What’s wrong?”
He Ao took the initiative to ask.
“A ‘patient’ of mine in Kaye City has awoken,” Roger began, with the topic at hand easing his nervousness sowhat.
He hesitated, then continued slowly, “They want to return to Kaye City as soon as possible, and have already sent a plane for .”
“That’s good,” He Ao said with a smile, “You’ve done what you promised ; it’s ti for you to leave.”
“You…”
Roger lifted his hand, hesitating once again.
“If you want to repay for the research data from the research institute that I gave you, help with one last thing.”
As Roger hesitated to speak, He Ao watched him with a gentle smile.
“Alright.”
Roger watched He Ao’s face, agreeing to the request even before He Ao stated what it was.
He Ao looked up at him and a smile appeared on his face.
······
Half an hour later
“Do you know Vian?”
At the edge of the city road, He Ao leaned against the extinguished light pole, took out a pack of cigarettes, drew one out, lit it, and placed it between his lips.
Speeding vehicles passed in front of him, scattering the long trail of smoke.
“I know him,” Roger stood next to He Ao.
He reached over and pulled a cigarette from the pack that He Ao had not yet put away and put it in his mouth, “Does he have a connection with ‘k’ as well?”
“In a way,” He Ao glanced at Roger, reached out, and used the lighter he brought from the wilderness to light the cigarette for him, “I thought you didn’t smoke?”
“Felt like having one, I used to smoke for a while when I was conducting experints on the addictive properties of nicotine, cough,” Roger held the cigarette with his hand, coughed once, and the pale smoke obscured his face.
His gaze fell on the lighter in He Ao’s hand, “That looks nice.”
“It’s yours now.”
He Ao handed him the lighter and casually plucked the cigarette from his hand, “Once you’ve quit, don’t start smoking again.”
“Why did you suddenly bring up Vian?”
Roger took the lighter from He Ao and turned to look at the busy streets filled with a stream of cars.
“I left so things at his place,” He Ao murmured, holding the cigarette in his mouth.
Roger fell silent.
A yellow autonomous taxi stopped in front of the two n.
He Ao extinguished the cigarette in his mouth and tossed the butt into a trash can, then called out, “Girl, the car’s here.”
“Coming!”
Ennie hurried out, dragging her small suitcase and wearing her coat.
“What took you so long?”
He Ao said with a gentle laugh, looking at his daughter’s rosy cheeks.
“I won’t tell you,” Ennie replied, handing the coat she was wearing to He Ao, who was still in a thin garnt, “Here, the weather forecast ntioned a temperature drop today; don’t catch a cold.”
“So you went to get clothes for ?”
He Ao chuckled and accepted the coat, draping it over himself.
“Guess,”
The girl winked, dragging her suitcase to the back of the taxi.
She placed it in the trunk, then walked to the rear door of the cab.
Smiling at He Ao, she said, “Dad, I’m going.”
“Listen to Uncle Roger while you’re on the road.”
He Ao advised with a smile.
“Mhm.”
The girl nodded vigorously, then she hesitated before pulling open the door and asked in a low voice, “Dad, aren’t you coming with us?”
“I still need to stay here a few more days.”
He Ao said with a smile.
“Then you have to…
take care of yourself, be careful…
not to catch a cold.”
Ennie lifted her head, her face breaking into a smile, “If mom was still here, she’d definitely scold you if you didn’t take care of yourself.”
He Ao watched his daughter’s cheeks and nodded gently, “Okay.”
“Then I’m off,” the young girl got into the back seat, pulled the door shut, and then waved gently to He Ao through the window, saying, “Bye Daddy.”
“Mhm.”
He Ao nodded with a smile.
Standing beside the passenger seat, Roger slowly opened the door.
He took one last look at He Ao, then sat down in the seat beside the driver.
The brightly painted autonomous taxi slowly set off, carrying the two of them gradually towards the distance.
The clouds dispersed, a farewell like a scattering rain.
Only when the taxi had disappeared into the far end of the city did He Ao turn around to look behind him.
The towering Stars Group building stood at the junction of heaven and earth.
He flagged down a taxi and got inside.
——
Inside the silent autonomous taxi, Roger pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the back.
The girl took the paper and wiped the crystal-clear drops of water off her face.
The cab fell silent once again.
——
“Nolanka rcenary Corps announced that in order to better exterminate the exotic beasts and enhance the combat power of the rcenary team, they will conduct a field exercise within the next three days, and the exercise will take place around the newly established No.
146 Fortress City.”
“A spokesperson for the Nolanka Group stated that this action is aid at better defending human civilization and maintaining Federation order.”
“The newly-built Fortress City, due to its incomplete high walls, is highly susceptible to exotic beast attacks and Cult infiltration.
Nolanka rcenary Corps’ exercise will greatly alleviate the pressure on No.
146 Fortress City’s defenses against exotic beasts.”
“According to this report, accompanying the Nolanka rcenary Corps are a caravan of goods-laden rchants.
The Nolanka Group claims these are supplies for the rcenary Corps, but they also assert that the Nolanka Group does not refuse any comrcial transactions.”
“Inford sources say that the Nolanka Group has a significant backlog of goods in its warehouses, and there has been a clear trend of expansion in the past year.
It is highly likely that they have their sights set on the erging No.
146 Fortress City.”
······
“As one of the large consortia ranked within the top five hundred of the Federation, and one of the few that has not gone public, the market estimates that the Nolanka Group can mobilize far more power than what their overt data suggests.”
······
“This morning at around ten o’clock, affected by the Nolanka Group’s move into No.
146 Fortress City, the opening stock price of Stars Pharma fell by 0.5%.
After brief fluctuations, the stock price still showed a downward trend.”
The speeding cab headed towards a road where human presence was dwindling, and He Ao’s gaze was withdrawn from the stream of news alerts on his bracelet.
He got out of the cab and looked up at the towering Stars Pharma building before entering a nearby hotel and renting a room.
After entering the hotel room, he checked the surroundings to make sure there were no caras, then drew the curtains and lay down on the bed.
——
Kaye City
He Ao opened his eyes and gently pressed a button on the armrest.
The electric leather chair straightened slowly, bringing his body to an upright position.
He walked to the head of the eting room and turned on the tablet computer there.
Lina’s avatar appeared on the screen.
“How’s the situation?”
He Ao asked softly.
“Our reconnaissance unit just arrived near Lin City,” Lina replied swiftly.
As He Ao’s personal secretary, she handled most of the information that typically would have been directed to He Ao.
“They’ve just sent a report; they’ve spotted traces of the rcenary Corps moving.
It seems that the rcenary Corps previously stationed near Lin City have been redeployed, heading towards No.
146 Fortress City.”
“Alright, keep watching.”
He Ao also connected with the old butler’s video, and now the three of them ford a video conference.
He Ao simply laid the tablet flat and activated the holographic projection.
“Danny, contact the Nord Consortium, prepare all the necessary docunts, and tell them we need to discuss mortgaging for a loan, borrowing a large sum of money,” He Ao said quickly.
“Alright,” the old butler nodded slightly.
“If we contact the Nord Consortium now, will they be receptive?” Lina asked, sowhat perplexed.
Theoretically, the Nolanka Group and the Nord Consortium are foes.
He Ao had dealt with the directors who were attempting to take the company public and even killed the ’emissaries’ sent by the Nord Consortium.
By all logic, the Nord Consortium should not like the Nolanka Group; to not get turned away would be good enough, let alone receive assistance.
That was Lina’s line of thought.
“No,” He Ao shook his head gently, dismissing Lina’s assumption, “As long as there’s money to be made, they’ll do anything.”
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