Chapter 265: The Federation’s Major Transformation
Xia Fei dove into his experiments on the structure and technology of the nether bell in the lab. Harris, too, had cast his work aside to help Xia Fei with his experiments after he was taught a lesson. There might be flaws with his character, yet his academic skills were unmatchable. Xia Fei was familiar with ancient technology, while Harris had a solid foundation of the theoretical aspect of things; thus, the two were able to complement each other.
It was not simple to conduct experiments on the communication devices of an alien civilization. A week had gone within the blink of an eye. Xia Fei and Harris had yet to set a foot outside the lab since they entered. Apart from eating and emptying their bladders, they did not spend any time for entertainment or rest.
The young scientists were absolutely dumbfounded. They had thought that they were hard working enough, but they felt ashamed seeing Xia Fei and Harris’s dedication. Their efforts were insignificant compared to how driven the two were. In fact, they could be considered lazy in comparison.
An unprecedented work frenzy occurred in the labs of Alpha Base. Everyone was working day and night. The people who were overwhelmed by fatigue immediately got back on their feet at the mention of the two lunatics in B18. Xia Fei had somehow become the emotional support of the labs. The diligence he was displaying showed the young scientists the reason why he was successful.
Harris would spare a few hours every day to visit the other labs and check on the young scientists. He would answer every question they had like a mentor.
He gradually felt the same way he had once felt in the past. A long time ago, when Harris was not so stubborn and crazy, helping other researchers was his daily routine. Everyone took him as their mentor.
Since Harris successfully broke through the seventh brain region, his temper had gotten worse for no reason. The self-proclaimed genius believed that there was nothing he could not overcome, but he was wrong. The mystery of the seventh brain region kept bothering him. It was like an unsolvable mystery, to an extent that Harris began to doubt if he was truly a genius.
There was only a fine line between a genius and a madman. Harris went from a reputable genius to a mad and detestable fugitive because of his mental struggle. Even Harris could not describe what had exactly happened to him.
Lost in finding the truth about the seventh brain region and discontented by his repeated failures, he began to conduct experiments on humans. He was too stubborn to give up when volunteers fell victim to the experiments, one after another. He strongly believed that the Amethyst he invented was the most brilliant gene optimization fluid in the world and that it was the key to humanity achieving success.
He had been lost in his pa.s.sion for many years. After living a homeless and miserable life for some time, Harris finally found his peace. He found his old self in the small lab on Earth. It felt very strange. His mood had greatly improved after he promised Xia Fei that he would treat the young scientists nicely. It was as if the problem of being unable to solve the mystery of the seventh brain region, which had troubled him his entire life, was slowly fading away.
Xia Fei was aware of the change in Harris’s mentality. He decided to give the infamous madman some time to choose the path for himself.
While the people were busy in the labs, Xia Fei’s secret operation did not stop, either. It had been a week since Xia Fei came to this research facility. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Independent, Daily Mirror, The Guardian, The Times, The Herald—these famous newspapers all had the same headline: the scandal of the Earth Federation President Murati.
As Andre mentioned before, no politician in the world was entirely clean. If anyone was determined enough, they could easily find the evidence to prove any officials’ corruption.
Murati had a daughter called Kim Allen. As his single daughter, the woman had been looked after delicately since a young age, but despite the comfortable life, she was addicted to gambling.
Every person with the slightest knowledge in society knew that gambling was rigged most of the time. Unfortunately, Miss Kim Allen did not seem to know it. She spent a month in the Monte Carlo Casino in Morocco and lost seventy million federal dollars.
Luckily, the daughter knew she could not afford to tell her father about it, so she, instead, borrowed money to settle her astronomical debt. An astute construction developer saw it as a great opportunity and generously helped Kim Allen to pay off her debt while offering a hefty sum as additional spending of hers. Three months later, the woman ended up owing him more than three hundred million.
The businessman suddenly asked Kim Allen to pay her loan, and of course, the woman had no money to settle it. The businessman soon revealed his true nature and found Murati, who had just been appointed as the president, and offered him two choices: Pay the debt or make the businessman in charge of the Federal Interstellar s.p.a.ceport project via under-the-table manipulations.
Murati was not one to be messed with, either. He sure had a few tricks up his sleeves to climb to his current position. The financial groups from Korea, which were supporting him behind the scenes, soon dealt with the crisis by feeding the businessman to the fish in the Mediterranean Sea.
Murati promised to give the financial groups from Korea some benefits as a token of grat.i.tude. He basically said, “We’ve been working together for so long. We are like old business partners, so feel free to talk to me if I can be of any help.”
These words were spoken in the parlor of the President’s mansion with high security. It was unlikely that the conversation would be overheard by anyone. The bodyguards had undergone strict training, and the security was top-notch in the federal.
Little did he know that being top-notch in the Earth Federation was not the same as being top-notch in the Pan-Human Alliance. Their mere little tricks were nonexistent in the eyes of the Deathguards. Not only did they record the conversation, they even had a visual recording of the meeting. Murati had no chance of explaining himself no matter how capable he was.
The rest were simple. Xia Fei’s men secretly leaked the recordings to the media all over the world, so the shocking news spread everywhere on one normal day.
Andre seemed very excited on the screen. “Murati is never going to recover from this, and both the financial groups from Korea and Italy are most likely going to be affected, too. I’ve just received news that the stocks of every company that Murati has ties with are in a freefall. Should we acquire them?”
Xia Fei said after a slight pondering, “Samsung Electronics is useful to us. They have a bunch of experienced electronic engineers, and the quality of their products aren’t bad, either, but it’s too early to strike now. Do we have any of their stocks now?”
“Some, not a lot,” Andre said.
Xia Fei smiled. “Oh, there’s no point keeping the stocks. Let’s sell those and spread the news that the big stakeholders of the company are losing confidence and are preparing to let go of their stocks.”
Andre smiled. “Got it. Not only are you planning to acquire the company, you want the stakeholders to lose everything, too.”
Xia Fei nodded. “Exactly. It’s likely that those people behind him are pulling the strings, too, when he tried to conspire against Quantum Holdings. There’s no need to show our enemies mercy. We’ll get rid of them all at once.”
“What about the other financial groups?” Andre asked.
Xia Fei waved his hand as if he was beheading someone.
“Quantum Holdings is now on track, so there’s no need to acquire small companies and a.s.sets without any potential. Let them go bankrupt,” Xia Fei said.
Andre twisted his lips. “Xia Fei, being a businessman is more about maintaining a cordial relations.h.i.+p with others in case of the rainy days. You’re more of an obstinate warrior at heart.”
Xia Fei did not comment on it. He was never fond of the word merciful. He might save an injured puppy and treat its wounds, but he would never show any mercy to his enemies.
Xia Fei continued to a.s.semble the model unit of a communication system after ending the call as if nothing had happened.
Alpha Base was calm and quiet, but the outside world had long descended to chaos. The people were accusing Murati of abusing his power. They could not believe that he was such a cruel person. The Upper House and Lower House had both initiated a vote of no confidence against Murati. Quantum Holdings also arranged members of the Federation to fan the flames. Not only were they demanding Murati to retire from his role as the president, they also wanted the judicial authorities to punish him.
The whole world was rumbling as the Federation found itself in an unprecedented turmoil since its establishment. Now, its reputation was at stake, too.
In just an hour, the Upper and Lower Houses had pa.s.sed the motion of no confidence with ninety-nine percent of votes, demanding Murati to retire at once. The Federation would hold an election immediately to elect a new president.
Murati knew that he was done for. He went back to his house in Nuremberg, Germany with his tail between his legs and shut himself inside.
Twenty-four hours after the president was dismissed from his post, Wu Long, the board member and head of Commerce and Security of the biggest corporation in the Earth Federation, Quantum Holdings, suddenly announced his departure from the company and was going to take part in the presidential election as an independent candidate.
All kinds of news came at once. Wu Long’s speech was on TV. The newspapers had Wu Long’s impressive achievements. More than a hundred experts on talk shows were claiming that the Earth Federation was facing the biggest crisis ever, and only an industrialist like Wu Long could lead the Federation to a new height. After all, the middle-aged man was involved in the miracle of establis.h.i.+ng Quantum Holdings, so everyone was aware of his capabilities.
Most media personnel began to promote a new idea with resources they had at Quantum Holdings’ request, with the idea that only an industrialist like Wu Long could lead the Federation to success, unlike the despicable politicians.
Wu Long was burned out every day going to many places across the world to deliver his speech for his campaign. His face was flushed with masculinity. The company responsible for his image was depicting him as an ambitious, bold opportunist. Even Xia Fei had to pretend that he did not know him when he met him on the street.
The Upper and Lower Houses decided to hold the election in half a month under Andre’s strong influence. The reason was simple: A country could not last for a day without a ruler. Likewise, the Federation could not last for a day without its president.
The candidates were absolutely dumbfounded. The election was happening in just half a month. How could they possibly have enough time to prepare for it?
This was when Quantum Holdings released a shocking statement, which further escalated the unprecedented disorder.