Chapter 195: I Told a Monstrous Lie

Facts proved that not only would the intelligence she provided be questioned one by one, but she would also be required to provide evidence.

Liu Mu leaned back against her chair; whether it was the peace gained from the 'Growth and Hope Flower', the sense of happiness from her family and partners, or even the sense of achievement from being praised by the masses on her way here, all of it had vanished into thin air after an hour-long meeting.

Seeing Liu Mu's expression growing increasingly unsightly, several ministers became even more smug.

"The Acting Chief is young, after all, so everyone should be understanding. If you ask me, you should go and bring Yang Siling back first; that way, everyone will have a backbone, right? Or is it that the Acting Chief enjoys the current power and doesn't want to go? Using an iceberg as an excuse is just excessive; this is the subtropics, after all."

Zhang Qingling, the former Internal Affairs Minister of the Barrier who now only oversaw military internal affairs, had long been dissatisfied. Calling it a transfer was essentially a demotion; Liu Mu had given the greatest power to Jiang Wenjun and all material allocation to Qin Han.

Yet even so, Zhang Qingling had not given up; he had already won over a group of mid-to-high-level officers in the military, and once the timing was right, he could seize control of the Haicheng Barrier with a single wave of his arm.

When that time came, he would cut off all contact with the outside world, become the supreme ruler of the Haicheng Barrier, and trample everyone under his feet!

Zhang Qingling was an ambitious man who considered himself unlike that fool Jiang Hanzhong, who flaunted his ambition without having the strength to back it up; he had endured, as long as...

"I won't go; I nominate Minister Zhang to go," Liu Mu said, laughing in anger. Given the current situation outside, not to mention the question of whether they could even reach the people, as long as the General Command hadn't lost their minds and didn't want Yang Shuo to die halfway, they wouldn't have him return at this time.

Zhang Qingling hadn't expected Liu Mu to suddenly nominate him and immediately retorted, "You've got to be kidding. As the Acting Chief of the Barrier, you want me, a civilian staff member with no strength to truss a chicken, to go out and take risks? It's clear you just don't want to pick them up!"

"You're right, I don't want to go pick them up," Liu Mu tapped her fingers lightly on the tabletop and leaned forward, "That's why I'm recommending you. How about it? Who agrees and who disagrees? Raise your hand if you disagree. I'll say this first: whoever wants to go themselves should disagree."

She was the first to raise her hand, and the scene fell into a deeply awkward silence.

They were actually well aware of the situation outside and the iceberg collision Liu Mu mentioned; all the fuss was nothing more than a struggle for power.

Those allied with Zhang Qingling exchanged glances; of course they disagreed, but for a moment, no one dared to be the first to raise their hand.

Zhang Qingling hadn't expected Liu Mu to be serious rather than just blowing hot air, and that she would actually make them vote. He didn't doubt the people he had roped in, but the fact that none of these guys were willing to be the first bird still annoyed him a little.

Once he was in power, he would definitely deal with them properly! Didn't they know that the top priority was to make Liu Mu go pick them up?

Whether she died halfway or she died on the road with Yang Shuo, it was the best outcome for Zhang Qingling.

"Look, no one disagrees," Liu Mu knew exactly what this old brat was thinking; he thought he was hiding it well, but he came to cause trouble at every meeting.

"Who says so!" Zhang Qingling was a bit anxious. These dead-weight accomplices—did they think they would have it easy if he went down? They hadn't seen the ruthlessness of the woman in front of them at all.

"I disagree!"

Amidst their respective schemes, an officer sitting at the far end of the long table stood up. "I do not approve of sending civilian personnel to take risks; this is an insult to soldiers!"

The officer had a handsome square face; apart from lips that were overly thick, his other features matched his facial contours well. After standing up, his posture was also tall and strong from long-term training.

"One. Any others?" Liu Mu didn't have any extra emotions because of this person's appearance; she only swept a glance at him with a mocking look before looking away.

"I also disagree. Minister Zhang still needs to coordinate military internal affairs and cannot leave the Barrier."

Another person stood up—a middle-aged man, still wearing a military uniform and sporting a pair of rather sophisticated gold-rimmed glasses.

Liu Mu remembered this person; he used to be with Jiang Hanzhong, but now it seemed he had submitted to Zhang Qingling.

"Two. Continue."

Seeing that her expression hadn't changed at all and that others were now shielding them, the rest of Zhang Qingling's faction stood up one after another.

"Three, four... eight. Only eight? That's not enough. Is there anyone else?"

Liu Mu waited, but no one else stood up. She rose to her feet. "Eight people. Do you have drivers among you? Uncle Jiang, please have them depart within an hour."

"Liu Mu!" A flash of panic crossed Zhang Qingling's thin, narrow face as he slammed the table and shouted angrily, "We make up half the number; we have the right to oppose your decision. This isn't your personal fiefdom!"

Liu Mu stretched her body. Qin Han, fearing she would just finish these people off, took the trouble upon himself. "According to the latest data received, the surface temperature has already dropped to -22℃. At such temperatures, even in peaceful times, people cannot stay outside for more than two hours even with sufficient protective measures."

"May I ask, Minister Zhang, how long can you hold out? Before Yang Siling left, he handed full authority over the Barrier to Liu Mu. Does this need to be reiterated at every meeting?"

"Qin Han, I see you're just in cahoots with her, not wanting Yang Siling to return so you can seize power!"

Zhang Qingling immediately retorted, his tone as firm as if he were exposing some massive conspiracy. "I'm right, aren't I? Liu Mu, isn't your only skill killing people? What, are you going to kill everyone present so you can become the dictator of the Barrier?"

Since the mask was already off and Liu Mu wasn't willing to leave on her own, it didn't matter if he, Zhang Qingling, launched the first coup of the Haicheng Barrier.

"Killing you all is a pretty good idea," Liu Mu rested her hands on the conference table, her eyebrows slightly raised. "However, I have a better one. You all must have stayed in high positions for too long, living such comfortable lives that you don't know the suffering of the people, which is why you're bickering with me at such a critical juncture."

"You don't need to go pick them up either; just go up to the surface and cool off." Liu Mu shouted toward the door, "Come in! Take them all to the surface; kill anyone who resists on the spot!"

As her voice fell, a squad of armed soldiers rushed in, led by none other than Luo Sanlin.

Time was so precious; how could Liu Mu possibly waste it on them?

"You dare? I am a ministerial-level official!" Zhang Qingling, of course, couldn't let himself be taken away just like that, and immediately slammed his work ID onto the table. "You, an acting official, don't have the qualifications to touch me."

"Touch you?" Liu Mu sneered, also slamming her hand onto the table, only this time she was pressing down on a knife. "I've listened to your old turtle-bastard nonsense enough. I'll just chop you down with one stroke and see who dares to say a word against it. A bunch of idiots—I try to talk nicely and you don't listen; who the hell do you think you're putting on airs for?"

"Drag them all out! If anyone dares to say one more word, I'll cut out their tongue!"

For a moment, the room was deathly silent, with only the people Luo Sanlin brought in taking action.

He had brought the Guard Company that Yang Shuo had left in the Barrier, which took orders only from Yang Shuo himself and Liu Mu, whom Yang Shuo had appointed.

In other words, they only recognized the person, not the logic, and certainly not the rank.

Forced by Liu Mu's aura, the few who had stood up later were already filled with regret; no one had expected that this woman, Liu Mu, would dare to be for real.

Zhang Qingling's narrow face was almost twisted; his right finger pointed at Liu Mu, trembling uncontrollably. He was so angry he couldn't speak, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Seeing that he was about to faint, Luo Sanlin grabbed his arm. "Come on, send Minister Zhang first!"

"This is murder! Liu Mu, you dare to touch military personnel, the consequences you..."

The angry rebuke of the soldier who had stood up first came to an abrupt end. His right hand, which had been reaching for his gun, fell to the ground along with the weapon, and blood splattered onto those sitting nearby.

Liu Mu's hand was already empty; the knife that had severed his wrist was embedded in the wall behind him, and residual blood snaked down from the crack.

The soldier was a tough guy; he didn't even let out a groan, only clutching his severed wrist with a deathly pale face.

"The last person whose hand I cut off mutated into a monster. Do you want to try that too?"

Liu Mu blew on the hand she had used to flick the knife; the instantly erupting murderous intent made everyone silent as cicadas in winter. Only Luo Sanlin, seemingly unfazed by that fear, had the Guard Company take the people away one by one.

The conference room door closed again, leaving only half the people, and it felt suddenly empty.

"Alright, let's continue discussing how to deal with the iceberg collision."

On the wall where the knife was embedded was a map of the Southern Province and the surrounding seas. After calculations by Heitao A, the iceberg's location and direction of movement were roughly marked on the sea.

"As it stands, a direct collision with the Haicheng Barrier and the Shengli Group is unlikely, but some parts might enter the nearby waters. Clear the ships at all docks and any movable equipment once more. How is the situation at the salt field?"

The salt field was nominally under Zhang Qingling's responsibility, but the actual production was being carried out by others.

Very quickly, the deputies of the department heads who had been taken away were all called in.

The person who came from the salt works was a middle-aged man wearing an adventurer's hat; the skin on his face was dark and covered in many fine, cracked lines, clearly marking him as someone who lived by the sea.

"The salt produced in the last few months has already been transported to the underground warehouse, enough for all of us to live on for eight to ten months."

"Also, if the seawater hasn't completely frozen over, we can continue to produce salt using the boiling method, ensuring there won't be any problems with the group's internal usage."

"Very good. Salt and supplies will also be allocated according to population." Liu Mu no longer brought up the matter of bringing Yang Shuo back, first making arrangements one by one for the Cold Wave.

Salt, food, daily necessities, medicine, and so on must all have distribution standards set, especially the last item: medicine.

Within the Barrier, there were also some people who were chronic patients needing to take medicine every day; the medicine that could be kept among the populace was very scarce, with the main source still being the support from the General Command that seemed to have everything, and...

Speaking to the end, Liu Mu's gaze fell once again on the low-profile Qin Han; this guy kept things truly tightly under wraps.

As the boss of the Southeast Three Provinces, Yang Shuo must have also hidden quite a lot in terms of supplies, but he just wouldn't bring them out, or would only bring out a small portion, mostly just closing his eyes and asking the higher-ups for more.

Sigh, it was just standard operating procedure within the system.

Thus, Liu Mu spoke up to let the others leave first, keeping only Qin Han behind.

Qin Han almost immediately thought of what Liu Mu was about to do, looking imperceptibly at his old comrade beside him. Jiang Wenjun straightened the documents in front of him on the table, as if he hadn't received Qin Han's plea for help, and followed the crowd out.

The conference room was soon left with only the two of them; seeing Liu Mu tapping her fingers on the table without saying a word, Qin Han had no choice but to speak first, "Chief, do you have other considerations?"

Liu Mu finished her contemplation and lifted her eyelids; in her eyes was a kind of despair that the end of the world was imminent and she was completely helpless, "Uncle Qin, I just told a massive lie; the Haicheng Barrier... cannot be saved."