Chapter 282: Order
White, pink, and gold, these bowl-sized lotus flowers swayed in the wind, a beautiful sight. Beneath the emerald-green lotus leaves, various colored koi could be faintly seen swimming. With a flick of their tails, ripples spread across the On the Water Surface.
On the grass near the Lakeside of the Lake Heart Island Manor, a faint white mist permeated the air. At the very center, enveloped by the white mist, a three-inch tall, tender green apple tree sprout was slowly growing, absorbing the spirit mist. Transparent dewdrops occasionally dripped from its two emerald-like sprout leaves.
A plump Big Orange was squatting beside the apple tree sprout, extending its tongue to carefully lick the dewdrops falling from the tender leaves.
Lane, who had just rushed back from the Underworld, arrived at Lake Heart Island Manor after getting off the aircraft. A figure outlined by white mist was already waiting by the Lakeside rattan chair.
Lane reported to the white mist figure, "Boss, everything went smoothly in Hell. That Abyss World has largely been taken over, and the Dark Council's manpower is currently being reorganized in the Underworld!"
"Weapon Manufacturing Department, the construction of the first Great Tang Ship is basically complete and will be officially commissioned in another three months!"
The figure outlined by white mist maintained a posture with hands clasped, listening to Lane's report on the expedition to the Hell Dimension, as well as various data, configurations, and firepower regarding the construction of the Great Tang Ship by the Weapon Manufacturing Department. Regarding the trip to Hell, the artifact spirit of the Demonic Heaven Blood Transformation Blade, Blood Daoist, was essentially his second Split Soul. Tang Song knew some matters more clearly than Lane, but he wasn't very familiar with the progress of the Great Tang Ship.
Regarding the Great Tang Ship, his idea was to reverse-engineer and integrate the alien technology purchased from Elder Mandel.
This was like a certain country years ago; although they started by reverse-engineering, crossing the river by feeling the stones was also a shortcut.
He hadn't expected the Weapon Research and Manufacturing Department's construction speed to be quite fast. It seemed they had quickly grasped the scientific research technology that Elder Mandel had brought back.
After a long while, he praised, "Well done. Tell the Finance Department to give the Weapon Research and Manufacturing Department two years' extra salary as a bonus this quarter!"
Rewarding merit and punishing faults, Boss Tang, although he had always been a hands-off Boss at Tang Group, was deeply versed in the art of management.
Back when Yuan Datou trained troops at the small station, the most important point was paying salaries, paying full salaries! "Yes, Boss!" Lane silently noted it down.
"Right, Magneto contacted me through Wanda. It seems there was an incident at Leon Military Base. Professor Charles seems to be in trouble. I'm at a critical juncture right now and it's inconvenient for me to act!"
"Boss, Kane has already taken people there. He just returned from Hell and is still holding the Ghoul White Bone Banner. He can handle this matter!" Lane quickly said.
Tang Song acknowledged with an "Mm" and then instructed, "Red Queen, list the public opinion direction regarding Tang Group on the internet during this period..."
"Okay, Boss!" After a clear, young girl's voice, a light screen appeared in front of the rattan chair, displaying various smear reports about Tang Group from around the world, on the internet, and in the media.
A certain social media website in the Federation published "evidence" suggesting Tang's Arms Company was involved in providing firearms to certain free Organizations in the Middle East. These documents, marked with bolded marker pen and bearing the top secret marking, were reportedly leaked from within the CIA. Once exposed, they instantly went viral online, igniting a public opinion storm across the entire network.
Although most of the content in these documents was obscured and illegible, the mere presence of the top secret marking and the accompanying explanation, involving arms orders worth nearly 200 million US dollars, was enough to send netizens into a frenzy.
Less than twenty-four hours after the firearms incident, Sydney Media published a news report: A collapse occurred in Tang Mining Company's mine in Sydney, burying over thirty miners! Tang Company Higher-ups bribed Senior Government Officials in Sydney to abandon a sky-high price rescue, with each miner's Family Member receiving less than fifty thousand US dollars in compensation.
This inflammatory headline, coupled with a photo allegedly showing a bald Middle-aged Man from Tang Group Higher-ups shaking hands with a Senior Government Official from Sydney Government, instantly brought a wave of curses upon Tang Mining Company.
Appellations like "blood bread eaters" and "Black-hearted Capitalists" were all pinned onto Tang Group.
The Washington Daily News in the Federation reported that Tang Biomedical Company was suspected of smuggling rare protected animals in the Federation and conducting cruel vivisection on these animals.
(The video illustration showed a chimpanzee being given an injection, and some Animal Rights Activists holding banners at the entrance of Tang Biomedical Company.) The Sun in the UK published a major exposé on the true identity of the Behind-the-scenes Big Boss of Tang Group, suspecting him to be a Gang Leader. The eye-catching headline was accompanied by a side profile photo of Boss Tang.
This article subtly hinted that Boss Tang's make a fortune was not honorable, and the wording in the article had a strong undertone of inciting racial conflict, suggesting that Tang Group's rise in the Federation had stolen job opportunities from white people and Black People.
At the same time, The Sun also smeared Tang Group's subsidiary entertainment company, suggesting it was used by Boss Tang to select concubines in Hollywood.
The Biotech Company was involved in human experimentation, the Finance Department was exposed for manipulating stock price, and some people even reported Tang Group to Congress for engaging in power-money deals and interfering with elections in multiple Cities in the Federation.
The intensive public opinion storm propelled Tang Group to the top of trending topics in over a dozen countries, with curses and accusations almost boiling over on various social media platforms.
Tang Group's stock plummeted almost immediately.
"Boss!" Lane looked at the news broadcasts and online headlines, quickly realizing that someone was deliberately targeting them.
Tang Song waved his white mist-formed palm: "Not long ago, High-level Staff from the Church and some top Families/Clans and Plutocrats from the Freemasons held a secret meeting in the Vatican. The main theme of the meeting was 'Down with Tang'! The public opinion war is just their first step!"
"The Church?! Boss, isn't the Sacred Shield Brotherhood with us?" Lane was a little surprised. After all, the Boss's relationship with the Sacred Shield Brotherhood had been very close these past two years.
Especially under the Boss's Silver Bullet offensive, if the Boss hadn't been cultivating his character these past two years and had no intention of being some chairman, he might have already become the chairman of the Sacred Shield Brotherhood by now.
"The Church is the Church, and the Sacred Shield Brotherhood is the Sacred Shield Brotherhood. This time, the Sacred Shield Brotherhood's plan went wrong, they messed up. Heh, who would have thought that at the critical moment of the Papal election, a Holy Descent Angel would appear!" Tang Song shook his head.
An Angel, Michael, an acquaintance he had met in Knowhere. He actually appeared on Earth. Was it because of the Power Stone? Tang Song's white mist fingers toyed with a few patina-covered copper coins. He casually scattered them on the ground, and five Great Five Emperors Coins rolled onto the grass, forming a Plum Blossom formation.
Tang Song's white mist fingers moved, and the five Great Five Emperors Coins on the grass emitted soft chimes.
"Lost Heavenly Mountain?" After a long while, Tang Song's expression became somewhat strange after calculating the reason for the Archangel Michael's descent.
If he remembered correctly, the continent Michael was searching for, which he had brought back from Knowhere, should now be in Hell!
That Abyss World sealed by the Demonic Heaven Blood Transformation Blade.
Even though the Demonic Heaven Blood Transformation Blade had integrated the Origin/Source Power of this Hell, the transformation of this Abyss was not something that could be achieved overnight.
A Blood River flowed around the Abyss World, converging into a vast Blood Sea in the central Depression of this Abyss World.
In the center of the Blood Sea, a continent rose and fell in the bloody waters. Amidst the terrifying, blood-sucking, strange tsunami sounds, blood-colored shadows continuously flew up from the continent, flapping their blood-colored wings and flying to various parts of the Abyss! The Lost Continent, having absorbed the energy of Hell, no longer bred Angels, but bio-weapons named Asura by Blood Daoist.
At the Artificial Lake Manor, Red Queen continued to play the various smear campaigns and exposures against Tang Group on social media across the internet during this period.
Under the impact of herd mentality and the Hate the Rich sentiment, the comments on the Western world's network were almost unilaterally calling for a boycott of Tang Group.
Ignorance is fearless. In some areas, some Black People who didn't know Boss Tang's true identity even formed groups to conduct Zero-Dollar Shopping (Looting) at some of Tang Group's subsidiary enterprises/companies.
Conversely, netizens in countries like Japan, South Korea, and China expressed great enthusiasm for an Eastern person achieving a status comparable to Plutocrats in the Federation.
"Those years I was a Gang Boss in the Federation!" "This is a real-life Godfather, right?"
"What's a Godfather? Haven't you heard? Even this Federation election had his influence behind the scenes!"
"So our great China is reverse-colonizing, taking over the Federation, dog head for self-preservation!"
"Chinese Tang is awesome——"
"Truly inspiring, I suspect this big shot definitely possesses some kind of superpower!"
"Upstairs, you mean 'Money Power', right? Tang Group's current stock price is over a trillion!"
"Hollywood concubine selection, this is emperor-like plot. Do you think Chinese Tang has slept with *, , they are all my goddesses."
"Upstairs, I checked. Although Tang Entertainment Company has only been involved in Hollywood for a few years, they are financially strong. They have a presence in several recent big productions. Unfortunately, your goddesses also participated. Given Hollywood's nature, your goddesses might have already been by Chinese Tang."
"Ahhh, Chinese Tang, damn him!"
Below the video, Boss Tang couldn't help but laugh at the comments, feeling a sense of returning to his days of surfing the internet.
However, not all comments were this silly.
Some comments demanding Tang Group get out of the Federation made Boss Tang very unhappy.
"Lane!"
"Boss!"
"Since they're all saying we're a Gang, let's show them a gang's attitude and do what we should do. Red Queen has compiled a list of the Plutocrats who participated in the 'Down with Tang' meeting in the Vatican, and those talkative Media Higher-ups. Notify the High Table and Sloan, I want to see them in the newspaper!"
"Yes, Boss!"
"Boss, what about the Church?" Lane hesitated slightly.
"Isn't the Great Tang Ship already built? Let's take it out for a spin and fire a shot at the Vatican!" The white mist forming Tang Song's body slowly drifted towards the center of the lake.
"I've calculated that our allies are not in mortal danger. Rescue them and give the Vatican a new master!"
Seeing this, Lane quickly said, "Bombard the Vatican, Boss, isn't that a bit too much of a commotion?"
"Too much of a commotion?" The drifting white mist stopped, and that patch of white mist turned back to look at Lane: "What do we need to fear now? Hmm, are you worried about public opinion? Go find Obama, get a Presidential Order, and say that the accomplices of the Bandits who destroyed the Federation's Stargate are hiding in the Vatican! We will solve the matters!"
"Yes, Boss!"
Leon Military Base, the core area was rumbling with artillery fire.
Within the Military Base, Airships, Spaceships, Battle Vehicles, and even Rail Cars used for transporting ore, all transportation tools were intensely evacuating large numbers of Research Personnel and valuable equipment out of the Base.
Preparations were being made for potential heavy firepower attack later.
At the Base's core, near the Space Gate, a Black-scaled Flood Dragon as thick as a water vat was coiled around a white light and shadow tens of meters tall. The two were fiercely engaged in combat.
The white light and shadow erupted with countless light swords, continuously hacking at the Flood Dragon's body. The scales on the Black Flood Dragon's body were covered in water-like ripples, blocking these light swords.
The body of this Black Flood Dragon was tightly wrapped around Michael's light and shadow. Under the Mystic Light emitted by the Black Flood Dragon's scales, the illusory light and shadow was forcibly turned into a physical form.
Held tightly by the constantly constricting Flood Dragon body, it was squeezed tighter and tighter. At the same time, the Flood Dragon's claws gripped the wings on the back of the white light and shadow, and a mouthful of sharp teeth bit into his neck.
The neck area of the human form light and shadow turned pitch black at a speed visible to the naked eye, and this blackness was spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Michael pushed outwards with his hands, trying his best to avoid being strangled by this black giant python. Within his Sacred Soul, the bone-chilling severe pain and gradual soreness/numbness caused his hands to gradually lose strength.
What kind of snake is this? Even the snake venom of the Viper in the Garden of Eden couldn't infect a Sacred Soul representing holiness!
Michael's consciousness gradually blurred. Vaguely, he saw the huge black python opening its gaping maw and devouring him.
Michael's blurred consciousness felt some regret. Not long ago, unable to break through the Dragon Jewel's Energy Barrier for a long time, he had thought of pulling off the Beast Hide Scroll first to see what it was about.
He hadn't expected a Little Black Snake that looked like a decoration on the beast hide to suddenly lash out and bite him. He was clearly in a Sacred Soul state, but the black snake's bite was so poisonous it instantly took half his life.
Then, this black snake immediately grew into a black python, coiling tightly around Him.
The scales of this black python were unreasonably hard; even His Holy Light couldn't pierce them.
He repeatedly changed forms, trying to use the ability to etherealize to avoid the black python's entanglement, but he hadn't expected this black python could also etherealize into an energy form.
If Xiao Hei knew that Michael called it a black python, it would immediately spray a mouthful of venom onto Michael's face to make Him sober up.
He was a Flood Dragon, a Black Flood Dragon about to transform into a True Dragon! Above the Cosmic Cube, using the power of the Beast Hide Scroll, Xiao Hei continuously absorbed the power of the Space Gem, and had already transformed into a four-clawed Flood Dragon, possessing not only the ability of water control and wind control.
Because he absorbed the power of the Space Gem, he gained the ability to control space.
Therefore, even if Michael etherealized, he still couldn't avoid Xiao Hei's strangulation.
"Can someone tell me what these two creatures are? A white Angel and some kind of serpentine extraterrestrial life form? Which one is the Intruder!"
Tony Stark, who had arrived with reinforcements after receiving the information, flew in mid-air, looking at the two sides fighting around the Cosmic Cube, somewhat taken aback. He immediately had J.A.R.V.I.S. connect to the Base's communication system.
(end of chapter )