Chapter 254: This Time We Must Cure It at the Root!

At 6:00 AM, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

The internet in Longguo had already exploded.

Of the top ten trending searches on Weibo, eight were related to the Tokyo attack:

#Foot-Basin-ChickenAttacksAgain# (Explosive)

#AreOurGarrisonBrothersOkay# (Explosive)

#MechChaosQuellingLiveRecording# (Hot)

#MustBeThoroughlyResolvedThisTime# (Hot)

#Don'tWantMilitaryControlWantProvincialization# (New)

Clicking on the first trending topic led to a live broadcast clip from the news, with the caption: "The ink on the surrender document isn't even dry, and the treacherous attack has already arrived."

The video was a montage of the early morning: the truck crashing into the gate, the fire of the explosion, the mechs rushing out, the rioters being subdued... finally freezing on the moment the rescued officer with glasses saluted.

The number of shares had already exceeded one million.

The top ten comments all had over 100,000 likes:

"Last time the platform was rammed, this time the garrison was bombed, next time are they going to bomb our schools?" (420,000 likes)

"If you don't want face when given it, then don't have face at all." (380,000 likes)

"Suggest sending mechs to flatten them directly, take the whole territory in three days, and permanently solve the future trouble." (350,000 likes)

"Upvoted, military control can't control mad dogs, need a vaccine—the inactivated kind." (330,000 likes)

"I just want to ask: were our soldiers injured? Is the brother in the video who was scratched by glass seriously hurt?" (310,000 likes)

There were hundreds of replies below this one, the latest one from an account suspected to be a soldier's wife:

"My husband is in the garrison unit, just finished a phone call, fortunately it was only a minor injury, already bandaged. He said... please rest assured, people of the motherland, they are fine. But I wanted to cry listening to it."

The replies were uniform:

"Brother, thank you for your hard work!"

"Sister-in-law, rest assured, the country won't let the soldiers suffer grievances in vain!"

"We must demand an explanation this time!"

The fifth trending topic was even more interesting.

#Don'tWantMilitaryControlWantProvincialization#

Clicking into it, the popular post was a long article from a blogger called "Rational Patriot":

"Military control has been in effect for twenty-seven days, yet the right-wing forces in Foot-Basin-Chicken are even more rampant. Why? Because control is just 'managing', it hasn't touched the root."

"Their textbooks are still glorifying aggression, their shrines are still enshrining war criminals, their media is still inciting hatred."

"Treating the symptoms but not the disease is the same as not treating it at all."

"I propose: since they can't learn to be a normal country, then don't be one. Directly make it a province of Longguo, change all textbooks, tear down all shrines, and put all right-wingers on trial."

"This is called: cure at the root."

The comments under this Weibo post were a mess.

Supporters: "Agree! Should have done this long ago!" "Keeping them is a disaster sooner or later!" "After provincialization, we won't even need visas to travel there!"

Opponents: "What about international influence?" "The governance cost is too high, right?" "Easy to incite greater resistance..."

But soon, the opponents were left speechless.

Because someone posted a data chart:

"In the past twenty-seven days, we have spent about 30 million Long coins on stationing troops in Foot-Basin-Chicken (the main cost is integrating the internal compensation resource industries of Foot-Basin-Chicken and repairing damaged buildings)."

"During the same period, the direct losses caused by right-wing attacks in Foot-Basin-Chicken: about 60 million Long coins (frequent organized sabotage in many places and repair costs for the Pearl platform)."

"If we provincialize, the initial investment might be large, but in the long run, the electricity price difference alone could earn it back, and we could collect taxes, completely eliminating future security risks."

"Even an elementary school student can calculate this."

The debate gradually subsided, and a consensus began to form.

Behind the trending hashtag, an emoji slowly appeared: →,

The meaning was simple: the country name "Foot-Basin-Chicken" should be erased from the map.

At 9:30 AM, Longyin Research Institute canteen.

Although it was breakfast time, no one had the heart to eat.

The big screen was playing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference.

The spokesperson faced dozens of microphones, their tone calm but every word like a knife:

"... Within twenty-seven days of the signing of the surrender document, the right-wing forces in Foot-Basin-Chicken have repeatedly incited the public to destroy facilities and property that Foot-Basin-Chicken was compensating Longguo for."

"This time, they even planned a terrorist attack against the Longguo garrison; this is a blatant trampling on international law and a complete betrayal of human conscience."

"We demand that the Foot-Basin-Chicken interim government immediately and thoroughly eradicate all extremist organizations, hand over all participants, and bear full responsibility."

"Otherwise, Longguo will take all necessary measures to defend national interests and the safety of our soldiers."

The five words "all necessary measures" were emphasized.

A foreign reporter on the scene asked: "Does 'all necessary measures' include military action?"

The spokesperson looked at them and said slowly: "Guess."

The live broadcast comments were laughing like crazy:

"Hahaha, this answer is perfect!"

"Guess~ guess right and there's a prize, the prize is you get to eat a missile!"

"Translation: ask again and I'll beat you up."

In the canteen, Wang Hao almost spat out his soy milk: "Who is this spokesperson? The previous ones weren't this tough!"

"Changed," Chen Guang pushed up his glasses, "This one just took office, used to be from the military."

"No wonder," Li Yang stared at the screen, "It's like giving an ultimatum."

Feng Yan sat down with his tray, not speaking.

His phone kept vibrating, all highest-level encrypted messages.

"Brother Feng, what do they say above?" Wang Hao leaned over. ===== CHAPTER 255 =====

The spokesperson faced dozens of microphones, their tone calm but every word like a blade:

"... Within twenty-seven days of signing the surrender document, the right-wing forces of the Foot-Basin Chicken have repeatedly incited the public to destroy facilities and property compensated to Longguo across various regions."

"This time, they have even orchestrated a terrorist attack against Longguo garrison troops. This is a blatant trampling of international law and a total betrayal of human conscience."

"We demand that the Foot-Basin Chicken interim government immediately and thoroughly eradicate all extremist organizations, hand over all participants, and assume full responsibility."

"Otherwise, Longguo will take all necessary measures to defend national interests and the safety of our military personnel."

The five words "all necessary measures" were emphasized.

A foreign reporter at the scene asked: "May I ask if 'all necessary measures' includes military action?"

The spokesperson looked at them and said slowly: "You guess."

The live stream chat went wild with laughter:

"Hahahaha, this answer is legendary!"

"You guess~ Guess right and there's a prize, I'll reward you with a missile!"

"Translation: Ask again and I'll beat you up."

In the cafeteria, Wang Hao nearly spat out his soy milk: "Who is this spokesperson? The previous ones weren't this tough."

"They were replaced." Chen Guang pushed up his glasses, "This one just took office; they have a military background."

"No wonder." Li Yang stared at the screen, "It's like they're issuing an ultimatum."

Feng Yan sat down with his tray and said nothing.

His phone kept vibrating; they were all top-level encrypted messages.

"Brother Feng, what does the higher-up say?" Wang Hao leaned in.