Chapter 157: Karma
Chapter 157: Karma
Chen Mo’s words stirred up a huge wave. Everyone was surprised that there was such a hidden story. The two seismographs closest to the super earthquake were both salvaged, causing Legion Ant Company to be unable to accurately determine the location of the super earthquake.
This was a natural disaster, but also a man-made catastrophe.
If the second seismograph was salvaged by someone because it predicted the last earthquake, as Chen Mo said, then things became a bit complicated.
Who salvaged the second seismograph?
Island Nation? United States?
The reporters on the scene immediately thought of these two countries.
Island Nation had a previous record, so it was the most suspicious. Another country capable of salvaging seismographs in the northeast sea area of the West Pacific Ocean was the United States.
Besides these two countries, they couldn’t think of any other country that would salvage the seismographs.
As everyone waited, Chen Mo spoke again: “This is a very regrettable pity. I hope such regrets will not happen again in the future.”
Chen Mo did not continue speaking further and ended his talk with mild remarks. His goal had been achieved, and the rest was no longer his concern.
The ‘ceremony’ was brief, but it contained a lot of information.
The second seismograph of Legion Ant Company was salvaged, and it was the one closest to this super earthquake. This led to Legion Ant Company’s inability to accurately predict the arrival of the super earthquake.
There was already plenty of news about the major earthquake in Island Nation, and the country itself was not calm.
Now, with Chen Mo revealing this big news, many people couldn’t stay calm. The video of Chen Mo’s speech was quickly uploaded to social media sites in Island Nation.
In an instant, public anger boiled over.
The death toll from the major earthquake and tsunami had now risen to 7,264, with 23,140 people missing.
Because the government salvaged Legion Ant Company’s seismograph, they were unable to accurately predict the major earthquake, indirectly causing this huge loss.
Led by the opposition party, voices criticizing the Island Nation government emerged, blaming the government’s stubbornness for causing this avoidable disaster. Supported by various groups, the protests grew louder and larger.
On international social media, countless opinions emerged.
The topic of Island Nation’s self-inflicted trouble became mainstream!
Chen Mo’s few short words grabbed the headlines of major media outlets and caused a sensation in public opinion.
If he hadn’t mentioned this matter, ordinary people wouldn’t have known and would have thought it was just a natural disaster. Now that it was revealed, many people in Island Nation deeply regretted their past actions.
The act of salvaging Legion Ant Company’s seismograph had indirectly caused this disaster. It was a cycle of cause and effect, and retribution was inevitable.
Who salvaged the second seismograph also became the focus of public attention.
Island Nation Embassy.
Inada Tsunami looked at the newspaper in his hand, his face dark with anger. His visit to Legion Ant Company had turned into a trap, and he never expected to encounter such a troublesome matter.
Chen Mo’s words only expressed personal regret and seemed appropriate, but the information revealed dug a black hole-like pit for the Island Nation government.
He also had troubles; his country had called and scolded him harshly.
From beginning to end, this matter had nothing to do with him. The salvaging of the seismograph was not his fault, and Chen Mo’s words were Chen Mo’s own business. But because he was present, he was blamed for it. Now, he wished he could strangle those media outlets that spoke irresponsibly.
“Ambassador, Legion Ant Company just replied,” Heng Jingyu said as he walked in carefully.
“Speak.”
Inada Tsunami suppressed his anger and forced out a single word through gritted teeth.
“They said the seismograph is damaged and we must pay double compensation before they will discuss the seismograph matter with us.”
Heng Jingyu’s expression showed neither sorrow nor joy. He was relieved that he wasn’t the one taking the blame for this.
He was also unhappy. They only wanted to buy a seismograph to reduce earthquake losses in their country, but because of Chen Mo’s words, they ended up with such big trouble.
“Double compensation?” Inada Tsunami’s veins bulged on his forehead as he tightly gripped the teacup in his hand. “How much?”
“One hundred million dollars.”
Hearing this number, Inada Tsunami felt a rush of blood to his head and almost lost his temper. “Why don’t they just rob us? Is it made of gold?”
He was so angry he almost exploded.
One seismograph for one hundred million dollars? If he hadn’t retained a bit of reason, he would have rushed to Legion Ant Company to confront Chen Mo.
“One seismograph costs fifty million dollars. Other countries who want to buy it also pay this price. They said the manufacturing difficulty is very high,” Heng Jingyu said.
He had learned from staff at other embassies that the price was indeed fifty million dollars, and they had to place an order with delivery within a year.
Inada Tsunami calmed down. After all, it wasn’t his money. If the country wanted to buy it, they could pay; if not, it had nothing to do with him. Being blamed for this matter made him very unhappy, and he didn’t even feel like negotiating with Legion Ant Company.
After finishing the tea in one gulp, Inada Tsunami took a deep breath and called his country.
Office.
Chen Mo and Zhao Min sat facing each other, neither speaking. Only the robot was pouring tea for them, maintaining an eerie silence in the office.
Zhao Min’s gaze made Chen Mo feel uneasy.
“Do I have flowers on my face?” Chen Mo touched his face, breaking the strange silence.
“Is this what you meant by ‘reciprocity’?” Zhao Min asked.
“Kind of. Anyway, speaking the truth isn’t illegal. If I didn’t make the Island Nation pay back with interest, it would be a disservice to them.”
“I somewhat admire your ability to cause trouble,” Zhao Min said with a shake of her head and a smile. “You never told me about the second seismograph.”
“Didn’t you ask me why I wanted to release the earthquake early warning?”
Zhao Min nodded. When Chen Mo decided to release the earthquake early warning, she had already asked Li Lingfeng to prepare for crisis public relations. The warning turned out to be true. She did ask for the reason back then.
“Because at that time, the second seismograph was salvaged again. If we didn’t announce it and let them know the value of the seismograph, they would salvage it again the next time a signal was sent. If this continued, the seismograph experiment would be wasted. Not many people would believe us if we only explained after the fact.”
Zhao Min nodded. If she were in his place, she would also hesitate about whether to announce it. But why was Chen Mo so confident that the seismograph’s warning would be accurate?
“What would you have done if the early warning failed back then?”
“What could I do? Isn’t it normal for scientific experiments to fail sometimes?” Chen Mo spread his hands, looking indifferent. He didn’t believe the technology from the Science and Technology Library would fail.
“You’re really carefree. Can you tell me who salvaged the second seismograph?”
Zhao Min was sure that Chen Mo knew about the second seismograph but found it inconvenient to say.
“United States.”
Chen Mo gave an expected answer.
“I hesitated about whether to reveal that the United States salvaged the second seismograph to create conflict between the Island Nation public and the U.S. government, letting them fight like dogs. But after thinking about it, I gave up. After all, if I said it, the United States would deny it, and I couldn’t provide evidence.”
“Good thing you didn’t say it. Otherwise, the company would face more trouble. If thoughtful people speculate, they might guess that you deliberately brought the matter to light,” Zhao Min said.
“Was it that obvious?” Chen Mo rubbed his nose.
“Very obvious! We’re out of this matter now. Don’t cause any more trouble recently. What we need to do is quietly make a fortune. After this lesson, no one should dare to touch the seismographs anymore.”
Zhao Min glanced at Chen Mo.
“Are you regretting that you didn’t successfully drag the United States into this?”
“You guessed right,” Chen Mo grinned. “But I believe you can’t wrap fire in paper. It will come out eventually, and when it does, I’ll definitely enjoy watching the show.”