He Ao clicked on the pop-up window, and a short video immediately played. He Ao watched the video quickly. The entire video was very short, lasting less than a minute. The main content of the video showed a Floating Warplane avoiding missiles and then using a Mecha to intercept them, exactly the scene from He Ao’s assassination attempt two nights earlier. The video creator had added rhythmic, stirring music to the video and had synchronized each segment to the music, creating a brisk rhythm. Additionally, the intricate maneuvers of the Floating Warplane while dodging missiles quickly immersed the audience in the experience. Even He Ao, watching from a third-person perspective, was quickly captivated by the video. It was undeniably a well-made video. The music chosen was a well-known instrumental rock piece from the Federation, and the key moments of dodging and intercepting missiles were highlighted with slow-motion close-ups, making the entire rhythm lively and eye-catching. However, despite the realistic effects and lighting, the video appeared to be a visual effects composite. The video producer must have viewed some high-definition photos from the scene and used them for model reconstruction, inserting some real photos to a degree convincing enough to blur the lines between fake and real. Considering the price of top-level visual effects professionals on the market, this video must have been quite costly to produce. The video had 1.96 million likes on a short video platform owned by the Menshu Group, which is known for high user engagement. Still, for a video with such high likes, the view count was likely in tens of millions. The viewership from Yilan City alone couldn’t have accounted for such high numbers. The data indicated that the video had spread widely across the entire Federation. Even on a Federation scale, this video was considered a viral sensation. He Ao glanced at the publishing account’s name, which belonged to a small media outlet, then he opened the comment section. The comments included praises like [Awesome!], [Is this real?], [This is more thrilling than a movie!], [Can a Floating Warplane really perform such maneuvers?], [Hold on, how come your mayor of Yilan City is nothing like our useless one?], [Is there a pilot operating it?], [My mom asked me why I was kneeling while watching on my wristband.]. He Ao quickly scanned the top comments and noticed one that had been upvoted to the forefront that simply stated, [Obviously fake, clear special effects.] There were over a thousand replies to this comment, with the top-rated replying reminding the person that the video description clearly stated it was a special effects video. Upon visiting the media account’s homepage, one could view the complete restoration video and the actual photos from the event. Both replies seemed normal, but they looked like an internal marketing ploy—using two minor accounts to stir conflicts and divert traffic to avoid direct responses from the media account, which could cause the platform’s algorithm to restrict its distribution, affecting the data. He Ao opened the media account and saw their official website link on the homepage with a reminder that said [For exclusive coverage on the Mayor of Yilan City, please visit our official site.] He Ao clicked on the website link, and a beautifully laid-out news webpage popped up. The media had featured the assassination news prominently on their homepage. The article’s views were evidently fewer than the video’s, barely surpassing a million. However, this still classified it as a viral article in news terms. He Ao skimmed through the news content. The news wasn’t complex. It was narrated from the journalist’s perspective, detailing how they investigated the assassination, accidentally obtained valuable photos, and recreated the scene of the mayor’s assassination. The story was told in a partly narrative style, accompanied by a complete assassination simulation video. The journalist’s writing style was slightly immature, but the news was straightforward and engaging. Overall, it was a good article, but its virality was likely driven by the highly impactful visual effects video. Of course, relying solely on special effects wasn’t sufficient; the media outlet must have also invested heavily in buying advertising to promote the piece initially, resulting in explosive viral spread. High-quality content combined with aggressive marketing strategies resulted in the article’s viral success. The article’s virality should also bring a surge of traffic to this small media outlet, and to some degree, provided He Ao with significant publicity. Below both the news and the videos, He Ao saw many comments expressing admiration and support. He Ao turned off his wristband and looked out the window at the towering skyscrapers beginning to emerge. It remained to be seen whether the article would continue to exist. Not far amidst the buildings, some construction employees adorned with reflective stripes were working by the roadside, erecting a brand-new billboard featuring the White Jasmine Emblem. He Ao leaned against a stool, slightly closed his eyes, and took a short nap. The SUV moved forward, passing through increasingly prosperous and opulent buildings, and finally came to a slow halt in front of a side door to the White Jasmine Palace. This was a small door used by the staff for daily entry and exit; typically, the Mayor’s confidential itinerary also used this door. The grand main entrance, on the other hand, was rarely used. He Ao pushed open the door of the SUV, and the blond Chief of Staff had already been standing in front of the side door. She quickly said to He Ao, "Mr. Lin En, the billboard installations have already started. Following your instructions, we purchased the land in advance, recruited installation employees, and began installations across the entire city. By this evening at the latest, the first batch of billboards should be completely installed." He Ao nodded slightly, then walked toward the side door with the blonde Chief of Staff, "Has Tucker come back yet?" Tucker had left the free clinic an hour before He Ao. "Director Tucker just returned," the blonde Chief of Staff nodded slightly, "He should already be on his way here." Almost before she had finished speaking, Tucker, dressed in a police uniform, appeared at the end of the corridor behind the side door, looked up at them, then quickly walked over. "Speak of the devil." He Ao looked at the blonde Chief of Staff beside him and smiled. At that moment, Tucker arrived in front of the two and looked somewhat bewildered at He Ao and his companion. "Mr. Lin En was just asking about you; I said you would be here soon, and then you showed up." The blonde Chief of Staff explained with a laugh. "It must be that I sensed Mr. Lin En’s concern." Tucker responded with a slight return to his senses and smiled. He Ao continued forward and asked. "Everything has been arranged," Tucker nodded slightly, "Based on the information from Levis, we found a large amount of physical evidence at Levis’ home. After arresting some people indicated by this evidence, we have obtained complete information. By noon today at the latest, we should be able to wrap this up." "Thanks for staying up late with me." "Transcendents can go days without sleep," Tucker shook his head. Then, looking somewhat worriedly at He Ao, "But you, having just experienced an assassination, shouldn’t overexert yourself." He Ao chuckled and shook his head, "Like you said, Transcendents can handle staying up a night or two. It’s Daisy," he turned to look at the blonde Chief of Staff, "Daisy has also been staying up late these past few days, her dark circles have swollen into bags." "Mr. Lin En, it’s not the first time I’ve had this much work to do." The blonde chief of staff shook her head and smiled, "I’m still okay, you’ve endured more than I have. I managed to get some sleep last night, but you’ve been busy up until now." "Alright, alright, let’s not be too polite here," He Ao smiled and waved his hand, his gaze sweeping over the two, "Take some time to rest when you can." During their conversation, the three had arrived at the door of a small office, an office personally arranged by Lin En, where he usually worked. He Ao reached for the doorknob, ready to push the door open. At that moment, the blonde chief of staff’s bracelet suddenly vibrated. She raised her hand, glanced at the bracelet, her expression changed, and she immediately stepped forward, handing the bracelet to He Ao, "Mr. Lin En!" He Ao lowered his head to look at the news on the bracelet. The news contained only a brief sentence, "Mayor Christos of Dawn City is planning to push the Anti-Corporate Monopoly Act in the council." Upon reading this, He Ao’s gaze paused. "Mayor Christos of Dawn City?" Tucker, who was nearby, also leaned over, looking at the news headline and slightly startled, he said, "What’s the point of him pushing this bill now? Does this kind of bill really have a chance of passing?" "In theory, under normal circumstances, with the Consortium’s interference, such an ’Anti-Corporate Monopoly Act’ would absolutely not pass the Chenxi City Council," The blonde chief of staff shook her head slightly, "But Christos’ Ruling Alliance currently controls the Chenxi City Council, so we can’t completely dismiss the possibility of it passing." "He’s trying to draw our fire," He Ao withdrew his gaze from the news headline, "Dawn City is much larger than us, and its economic and cultural impact on the Federation far exceeds ours. Whether the bill passes or not, all major Consortiums will gather their attention and strength around Dawn City during this period." He turned back to look at Tucker, "Don’t wait until noon, there’s been a change in plans, wrap things up immediately." Tucker was taken aback but nodded immediately. At the same time, He Ao’s gaze also turned to the blonde chief of staff beside him, "Prepare for a press conference, as soon as Tucker wraps things up, start immediately, and let Tucker take the lead this time." "Are you worried...?" The blonde chief of staff seemed to perceive something from He Ao’s words, "We can guess Mayor Christos’ intention, and so can those major Consortiums. Although Mayor Christos’ move is almost an open strategy, which compels a rescue, the Consortium Alliance won’t easily let go and allow us to develop freely. After all, the process from the proposal to the release of the bill in Dawn City is somewhat long-term." She raised her head to look at He Ao, "So they’re likely to try to concentrate their strength and attempt to crush us in a short period of time, thus allowing them to return and deal with Mayor Christos peacefully." Tucker, finally regaining his composure, spoke with a lowered voice, looking at He Ao, "The last counterattack before departure is the most fierce." He Ao slowly pushed open the office door, looking out the window at the Sea of Jasmine Flowers, "From now on, the battles we fight will all be tough ones." In the simple office room, Ini angrily slammed the file in her hands on the desktop, her eyes wide as she stared at the portly man sitting at the desk. A loud sound even ventured out of this small office, causing the employees sitting outside the office door to turn their heads unconsciously, looking this way. "Don’t panic, don’t panic," The portly man raised his hand to signal Ini to calm down, then pressed the door close button, shutting the office door. He then took off his gold-rimmed glasses, picked up the cloth next to him, and slowly began cleaning them while looking at Ini, he continued, "Ini, you are the best employee at our newspaper. Look, tens of millions of views, over a million reads, all these are your achievements," Then he sighed, "That’s exactly why you should consider the newspaper more." "That’s exactly why you want to remove and delete our newspaper’s hottest works, the news with the highest spread, the output we all worked overtime to create?" Ini slammed her hands onto the desk, looked at the portly man, her chest heaving, her face red, and she yelled angrily. "Ah, when I posted that news, I didn’t anticipate the involvement to be this big," The portly man set down his glasses, took a deep breath, "The Mayor and the Consortium have had a fallout, you’re young and might not know, but in the Federation, offending the City Government is a trivial matter, anyone can scold the Mayor, but the Consortium, you can’t even scold them," He shook his head, "Ah, I didn’t want this, I do understand your hard work, but can we really afford to offend the Consortium?" "Can’t afford to offend the Consortium? You didn’t think about possibly offending the Consortium when you posted that news? When you posted the news, did you not think that the friction between the Mayor and the Consortium had already been made public?" Ini tightly held the edges of the solid wood table, "Did someone from the Consortium come to you this morning, how much did they give you?!" "You can’t just say anything," The portly man put on his glasses, setting the cleaning cloth aside, "Everything I do is for the newspaper, for everyone to have a better life," Then his tone paused slightly, he sighed, "How about this, I’ll make you a permanent staff member, plus I’ll add six months’ salary as a bonus for this time. What you’ve done is indeed magnificent, you’re very talented, work for another two years, and you’ll definitely be a manager," He raised his hand and picked up a tablet from next to him, "There won’t be a lack of news for you, look this is the dark material I just got about the City Cabinet. The Mayor isn’t any better, the City Cabinet isn’t clean either. You organize this, release these exposes, and a promotion and pay raise aren’t far off." Looking at the content on the tablet, Ini, her chest still heaving, almost laughed angrily, "And you say you didn’t take the Consortium’s money?" "İni, how are you talking to me?" The portly man’s expression turned cold, then he sighed again, "Ini, you need to understand my difficulties, understand the newspaper’s difficulties, everything I do is for the newspaper, ," He sighed, put away the tablet, and looked at Ini, "Since you don’t want to write this news, I won’t force you. But didn’t you say you had a friend who was involved in yesterday’s attack and turmoil in front of the Mayor’s Mansion? Can you get me an exclusive interview with her?" "Of course, that’s possible..." Ini inhaled, just about to speak, then suddenly paused, her gaze icy, staring at the portly man in front of her, "If I get the exclusive interview, will you publish it?" "You don’t need to worry about that, that’s not your concern," The portly man shook his head, "Remember, it has to be exclusive, we’re the only ones to interview her, make the contract tight, I’ll sign it with her when the time comes." "You want an exclusive?" At that moment, Ini fully understood, her chest’s heaving nearly stopped, annoyed she nearly hissed, "You want to silence her, right? Sign an exclusive to suppress it and then make sure she can never speak out. I see right through you now. The Consortium must have paid you well. How much did you earn this time? How much is your conscience worth? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Or millions? "Or do you not have a conscience at all?" "İni, how are you talking to me!" The portly man looked up at Ini, angrily slammed his hand on the table, "You don’t want to work anymore?! If you don’t want to work, just say it!" Ini grabbed the documents in her hand, furiously flung them at the portly man’s face, "I quit."