Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

Wei Yanwu realized something was wrong. He straightened up, took out his glasses from his chest bag, and began to read the report word by word.

The report was relatively mildly worded. The Victorian company, the Lentinium Morning Post, was mentioned most frequently throughout the article, with numerous phrases quoted. This is quite unbelievable for a news media outlet. Normally, if they haven't secured an exclusive first-run story, they would choose not to report it, or report from a different angle, or even distort the facts, going against the grain to establish their own brand and characteristics. Wei Yanwu had seen more than once inaccurate reports in the Lungmen Daily about the famous intercity idol, Ms. Kong. For example, it was claimed that she wasn't actually from Lupo, but rather a cute little Cartes; that she had a more mysterious identity, worked for a mysterious company; and even that she was sexually undesirable, a lesbian.

What a ridiculous accusation! But even such a false report is still part of the news, and the Lungmen Daily must report it from its own perspective.

However, this time, it started to "quote".

Under what circumstances would a daily newspaper risk its reputation by quoting news articles from another newspaper?

For capitalists, the gains far outweigh the losses; for literary workers, the opponent is a celebrity, and a great, well-known one at that. Copying this kind of thing doesn't count as plagiarism.

"..."

Wei Yanwu silently read through the entire report. It was full of accusations against the emperor, but it was written in the style of a "memorial to the throne," a style only used in the Yan Kingdom's officialdom and even the Yan Kingdom's imperial court. This was a proclamation disguised as a remonstrance, exposing how the Great Yan court turned a blind eye to local rebellions and social unrest in order to protect the face of the royal family!

This writing style... to be honest, Wei Yanwu had never heard of it before! He even tried to find grammatical errors and inappropriate word choices in the article, but he couldn't find a single word!

Even someone as close to the imperial family as him might not... no, he absolutely could not have conceived of or written such an article, but in terms of its literary merit, this article is definitely worthy of being recorded in history.

Wei Yanwu couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of his words and the sharpness of his language. He could curse without using a single vulgar word, yet he could curse with beauty, rhythm, and timeless lines!

It would be even better if he didn't include himself in his insults!

The rebellious officials and traitors mentioned in that memorial are exactly like myself!

Wei Yanwu winced and gasped, putting down the newspaper and trying his best to maintain a calm expression, preserving his masculine dignity in front of Madam Wenyue:

“I don’t even need to look at it to know who wrote this report.”

The Londinium Morning Post is highly regarded by the media throughout Terra; it is very well-written and each report has a different style.

A legendary journalist who criticized current affairs without speaking his mind directly, was objective and fair, fearless of powerful figures, and still maintains a mysterious identity to this day, never accepting any possible commercial cooperation—there is only one like him on this land—Joseph Pulitzer!

Although the criticism wasn't directed at me directly, even though he mentioned it, Wei Yanwu thought that his fame in Terra had probably reached its peak by now.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the peak he wanted; it was more like a reverse climb.

Wei Yanwu smiled helplessly. In fact, he hadn't expected this day to come. After Joseph Pulitzer, this extraordinary man in the secular world, suddenly appeared and his whereabouts and true identity were never discovered by anyone, conspirators and politicians all over the world began to feel insecure.

The unknown is the most terrifying thing. Anyone with ulterior motives harbors a fear of justice, and Pulitzer amplified this fear. He was a traveler of the unknown; you never knew where he would be. He was a righteous enforcer; you could never guess where the execution bullet would come from. He was the scribe of fate; once carefree nobles now feared that his very existence would be twisted by his own hand because of their shameful transgressions. Every report he wrote could, at best, destroy a family, at worst, bring down a nation!

Wei Yanwu had no idea that he might become Joseph Pulitzer's next target. Even the top conspirators and power holders of Terra couldn't escape Pulitzer's spotlight, let alone himself. That's why he had to take the risk and execute the plan several years ahead of schedule, just to launch the rebellion as soon as possible and avoid being targeted by Pulitzer.

This could be considered wishful thinking, but clearly, Lady Luck did not smile upon him.

"Madam, call Mr. Wayne. Ask him to send someone to fulfill the agreement and pick up Chen."

Wei Yanwu gave the order. He had originally thought there was still time, and he could let Chen stay in Longmen for a while longer, which would make it easier for her to take over and control Longmen in the future. But time waits for no one. If Chen wasn't sent away now, it might not be possible to send her away soon.

Wen Yue looked at Wei Yanwu with concern and asked, "And what about you?"

Wei Yanwu laughed loudly, his face radiant, as if he had regained the youthful ambition and lofty spirit he once possessed: "I will do what I should do! Since things have already been exposed, I might as well not hide them anymore. Am I, Wei Yanwu, the kind of person who would surrender without a fight?"

“The person I, Wei Yanwu, owe the most in my life is my brother. In order to protect Longmen, I was forced to kill my brother Edward. In order to protect Longmen, I was forced to give up Edward’s daughter Talulah. In order to protect Longmen, I made Edward’s wife, my sister, remarry and eventually died in sorrow. Chen lost his mother at a young age. I am a sinner.”

A ruthless glint appeared on Wei Yanwu's face. He looked at Wen Yue with a somewhat ferocious smile, filled with deep-seated hatred and regret.

“I did all this not for revenge, but to atone for my sins.”

“There is only one person in the world who is qualified to atone for this sin, and that person is me. There is only one person in the world who has the right to pardon my sins, and that person is my younger brother, the Great Yan True Dragon. He forced me to do all this. If he doesn’t keep using this as leverage to prevent me from atoning for my sins, then I will take back the right and pardon myself.”

A boundless rage, gnashing teeth, excruciating pain, the inability to quell the regicide.

Previously, Wei Yanwu had one worry: Chen. As long as Chen had no home, Wei Yanwu was willing to wait. He had already wronged Edward, and he couldn't wrong Edward's wife, his sister, by pushing her daughter into the fire as well.

But now, Chen is safe. Wayne can protect him, and Wei Yanwu trusts Wayne's promises and character; he is a politician who never achieves his goals through deception.

Now, he can unleash his full potential and take a gamble.

Life and death are determined by fate, wealth and honor by destiny! With no ties left, why not give it one more shot? To reclaim what rightfully belongs to me!

“I’ve already called Prince Wayne,”

To Wei Yanwu's surprise, just as he was about to contact Lateran, the Rat King gently pushed open the door of the tea room and led a group of old acquaintances into the room, his face showing a mixture of excitement and helplessness.

"I'm glad to hear you say these words. Wei Yanwu, over the years, we really thought you had changed."

He smiled, his eyes filled with intense emotion.

"You haven't changed. That's good."

"What are you all doing here?" Wei Yanwu frowned as he looked at the Rat King who had pushed open the door, along with his many elderly friends. Apart from the seriously ill Swire, who was far away in Victoria, everyone else who was still alive and living in Lungmen had gathered in this office.

The Rat King clapped his hands and laughed, saying calmly:

"We're here to tell you that we're all here. We're just scattered all over the place. Old Tan from Jiangsu Province, Old Wang from Shanxi, we're all here, just waiting for you to snap the flag and raise it!"

He paused, looked at Wei Yanwu, and said seriously:

"We brothers haven't changed."

P.S.: Here's an explanation of the issue of legitimacy. Strictly speaking, Wei Yanwu should be the first heir. "Possessor" means a biological brother. In other words, according to the orthodox Chinese inheritance law, Wei Yanwu should actually be the eldest son and the emperor of Yan. So why wasn't he?

Because Wen Yue is a typical example of someone who would rather have a beautiful woman than an empire. Wen Yue was a princess from the Eastern Kingdom, which is based on the Japanese Civil War (Japan really did fight a Civil War, and there were two emperors at the time, but this period of history is not very interesting; it was basically a large-scale village brawl). The Emperor of Great Yan (presumably the former emperor) did not allow Wei Yanwu to marry Wen Yue because their love was free and violated traditional etiquette. Wei Yanwu forced his way into the marriage and was stripped of his right to the throne. As a result, Wei Yanwu left the center of Yan Kingdom and came to the peripheral land of Longmen. However, logically speaking, Wei Yanwu did have supporters, since he was, after all, the legitimate eldest son and crown prince.

His chances of winning a rebellion are actually not low; it all depends on how YJ writes it.

So, Wei Yanwu is actually a negative example of the Wayne template. Wayne didn't dare to marry Theresa formally before everything was completely settled, and I also referenced this setting.

Above the official establishment.

Chapter 175 Rhine Life's Ambition

Victoria, Lentinium, Elizabeth Grand Hotel.

Henry's life is getting better and better. As a subsidiary of Victoria General Medical, the first nationalized company, Rhine Life is enjoying unimaginable benefits. The previous situation of being at odds with the government and single-mindedly confronting it has disappeared. Now, Rhine Life and the Victorian government are one family. Rhine Life completes the necessary production targets according to the indicators given by Lentinium, and the remaining production capacity is used to produce and make money as usual, just like a private enterprise.

Admittedly, those essential indicators aren't profitable enough; in fact, some costs even exceed profits, resulting in losses for every production line. In the past, at Rhine Life Sciences in Colombia, such a production line would have been dismantled that very night. But things are different now. The Victorian government provides subsidies for those loss-making production lines because they produce medicines needed by the nation and society. As a result, Rhine Life Sciences can almost disregard its concerns about losses and can boldly go all out to produce.

This is truly an unprecedentedly good thing.

The Victorian government, of course, wasn't just handing over money to support the company for nothing. GE Healthcare, as the parent company and the largest shareholder of Rhine Life, received annual dividends. This money far exceeded production subsidies. Overall, Victoria profited, and profited handsomely—giving Rhine Life money allowed them to focus on medical research and drug development; Rhine Life met its targets and launched its drugs at low prices, driving down the prices of similar drugs in the Victorian market and benefiting the people of Victoria; and the Victorian government received substantial dividends from sales, making a fortune. This money could then be reinvested in Rhine Life and other industries.

This is a virtuous cycle, and such a cycle can only be achieved when the government has complete control, turning the company into a state-owned enterprise owned by the whole family. In contrast, with privatized enterprises like those in Colombia in the past, the government was lucky if it didn't provide any funding or even increase taxes. The enterprises, in turn, sought to control the government, influence policy, disregard people's livelihoods, and only pursue profits.

Henry now disdains associating with them, and with the backing of the state, he speaks with much more confidence when negotiating business with some private companies in Victoria.

Henry was the most gratified person to see Rhine Life doing better and better. After all, who could have imagined that Rhine Life, when it first moved to Victoria, was prepared to go bankrupt and face certain death? Now, seeing it slowly grow and improve, Henry was overjoyed.

It just so happened to be the six-month anniversary of the move to Victoria, so Director Henry happily organized a team building event, bringing together all the employees of Victoria Rhine Life. They rented a car and went to Lentinium, which was not too far away. The location was naturally the most prestigious Elizabeth Hotel in Victoria, where they paid to book an entire floor.

Henry happily raised his glass and toasted everyone present:

"Thank you all. Rhine Lab's ability to rise from the ashes of desolation to where it is today is inseparable from the efforts of each and every one of you! Cheers, everyone!"

A burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the audience. Director Henry bowed to the cheers, then turned his head to look at his table, scanning everyone seated there.

Hemer, dressed in a light brown dress, and Saria, who seemed unaware that she had bought the wrong clothes, were all present. Saria, with a smile in her eyes, appeared even more mature and composed. Others included the head of the Information Department, Monica, Saria's good friend, and several others who were rarely seen but rushed back to Rhine Lab after hearing about the incident, standing with Rhine Lab and relocating with them—Joyce Moore, Mel Stony, Muirses, and Magellan the little penguin.

They sat around the chairs, and when Henry turned around, they all smiled and raised their glasses.

Henry poured himself another glass of red wine and toasted everyone:

"Thank you even more. If it weren't for you, Rhine Lab might really have collapsed. Thank you!"

"Say such mushy things, that's really not like you, Mr. Executive Director." Hemer smiled and clinked glasses with Saria beside him.

Fiona's life at the orphanage was quite good. She didn't remember many things, but she hadn't forgotten Himer. If Himer hadn't been promoted to administrator and chief scientist of a large laboratory and was constantly too busy, she would have loved to bring Fiona back to live with her.

After the collapse of the Loken Water Tank, a scene of devastation was left behind. The orphans scattered in all directions, but most were taken in by this orphanage. Fiona lived there without facing discrimination. She had reportedly made a friend, a silver-haired, blue-eyed little girl named Felin, supposedly a test subject for Project Rosemary, a spin-off of the Loken Water Tank's god-making project. Felin was much better off than Fiona, a lovely and well-behaved child.

Saria visits the children from time to time, well... she keeps it a secret from Himeru, always saying it's official business. Actually, she's also in charge of the lab, but she's really not good at managing it, so she just dumps everything on Himeru. In order not to get caught slacking off, that's the only way she can say it.

"Oh dear, that was so scary!" The little penguin wiped away its tears and tearfully recounted its tragic experience to Mel and Miss Joyce the White Owl.

“I was at the research station on the ice sheet at the time, and I hadn’t received any regular contact from headquarters for several days. I thought headquarters had forgotten about me.”

Magellan poked his finger in frustration.

"Then I thought, I can't be forgotten, I have to make my presence felt. So I got dressed and ran out of the tent, and made a huge SOS with glow sticks in the wild. I hoped someone would see it and come to my rescue."

Magellan's expression grew even more grim as he finished speaking. Mel, curious, pressed on:

"And then, what happened? Did someone come to rescue you?"

“No!” Magellan shook his head. “The survival instructor told us that if we put up an SOS signal in the wild, passersby might see it, but there isn’t even a bird on the tundra! Nobody even noticed my SOS!”

Mel was surprised: "Then how did you get back?"

Magellan recalled with lingering fear: "I encountered a Sami woman. Her voice was beautiful, but she was completely wrapped in a white cloth, so I couldn't even see her face. She discovered the research station and came to ask me if I had seen anything... the Frostbite. The name itself was terrifying. I said I hadn't seen anything, and she went on and on about some mystical nonsense. I asked her if there was any way to leave the tundra, and she told me to start heading south at four o'clock the next afternoon, not to look back, and to keep walking until I reached a Sami altar. Then she left. The next afternoon at four o'clock, the snowstorm really did stop. I followed the path she had described and indeed found an altar. On the altar were the carcasses of two tundra camels and a large pile of clothes."

“I waited for her there for a long time, but she never came back. I didn’t have much food or water with me, so I had to keep going. I hadn’t gone far when I encountered a group of Sami people. They called me ‘Xuesi,’ and I tried to explain for a long time, but they wouldn’t listen. Finally, I saw a woman come back. Her clothes were tattered. She nodded to the Sami people without saying anything, and they took me to the nearest city. Only then could I find a car to go back to Colombia.”

Magellan's nose tingled as he spoke, and tears welled up in his eyes again.

"Waaah—I thought I'd see you all when I got back! But Rhine Labs collapsed! The buildings are all ruins, and there are armed people everywhere. I thought you were all dead, and I had no home!"

Mel patted Magellan on the back, offering apologetic words of comfort:

"It was our fault. The evacuation was too rushed. Civil war was imminent, and we didn't even have time to move a lot of materials. But your story is amazing! It sounds like it could be published as an adventure book. Are you interested? I know a great publisher!"

“No! I’m not taking risks to make money, I’m doing it for science!” Magellan shook his head.

But Meldor, quick-witted as ever, immediately retorted: "It's precisely for the sake of science that we should share the story and spread science!"

Magellan found her reasoning sound and, unable to argue with her, was caught in a dilemma.

The white-faced owl sat there blankly, constantly scribbling and drawing. Monica saw this and came over curiously, asking:

"What are you doing, Joyce?"

“Record the contents. Save it for future use, adventure experience. You never know when it might come in handy,” the white-faced owl replied emotionlessly, but a slight smile appeared at the end: “Besides, it sounds quite interesting.”

Monica couldn't help but pinch the white owl's cheek; she was growing to like this programmer more and more, who always spoke with a deliberately computer-sounding tone.

"Ahem, everyone, please be quiet for a moment. We'll have time to chat later."

Henry coughed, interrupting the conversation. He clapped his hands and began:

"Since we have such a great opportunity, let's talk about our future project. Everyone, I want to launch a groundbreaking research project! This requires everyone's collaboration!"

Menezes pushed up her glasses: "What research?"

"Research on the [Bloodline]!" Henry said. "I have obtained the necessary permits from His Highness Wayne for this research. It is time to explore one of the deepest secrets of this land—the secret of the so-called [Bloodline]!"

"An ancient, pure-blooded Wendigo and Miss Kattus, who awakened powerful frost abilities due to Oripathy, will receive Oripathy treatment at Rhine Lab. They will also cooperate with us in this research. Ladies and gentlemen, if this research succeeds, our science will achieve a massive leap forward in all aspects! We will be able to turn those with little talent for Originium Arts into spell masters, grant mine workers Oripathy resistance like Wendigos, and ensure that powerful magic is no longer the exclusive domain of a particular race or individual!"