Chapter 3487

Bernard Elno's usual stinginess is comparable to that of Harpagon.

However, he is not stingy with himself, but with others.

The money he should earn, he must not only earn, but earn as much as possible; trying to get him to spend money for no reason is nothing but a pipe dream.

The reason he suddenly decided to donate fifty million US dollars to the Maldivian military today is entirely because Tavana is currently broadcasting globally, and he just happened to hop on this bandwagon, finding his life's highlight moment.

At this moment, the lame Bernard Elno, dragging his injured leg, stands before the Maldivian military commander, his trouser leg soaked with blood that has seeped through, dried, and solidified, giving off a rather disabled-but-resolute vibe.

Especially the French public, upon seeing this scene, admire him immensely, feeling that Bernard Elno at this moment somewhat resembles the short Napoleon of old, as if Napoleon himself had possessed him.

At this moment, Bernard Elno has truly become a contemporary national hero of the French people, making them feel immensely proud.

The reason the French people are so excited about this is mainly because, in recent years, the Gallic Rooster's influence on the international stage has been increasingly weak, with few things or achievements worth showing off internationally.

In 2022, during the World Cup, Mbappé carried the hopes of the entire Gallic village all the way to the final, but in the final stage, the Gallic Rooster was still cut down by Argentina, ultimately finishing as runner-up.

In 2024, the Gallic Rooster hosting the Olympics turned out to be a complete mess due to stinginess, making the already declining Olympics even worse.

In recent years, there have been very few positive news stories about the Gallic Rooster internationally.

But today is different—today France has given birth to a new hero: a disabled-but-resolute tycoon who rescued hundreds from the Blackwater terrorist attack, most importantly saving the music world's heavenly queen Tavana Sweet; this merit alone deserves a statue erected beside the Eiffel Tower.

At this moment, Tavana had a change of heart, approached Elno with her phone, and said concernedly: "Mr. Elno, your leg has been shot; you should really let them send you to Malé for treatment right away!"

As she spoke, she also pointed the camera at Elno's injured leg.

Bernard Elno was so moved he almost cried, thinking, "Damn, finally someone mentioned my injury—I got this from bandits, which is also merit! If you all hadn't noticed, I'd be embarrassed to say it myself!" He added, "Tavana, you're really sharp!"

He suppressed his inner excitement, waved his hand, and said righteously: "This little injury of mine is nothing; don't worry about it. My safety isn't important; the main thing is to ensure the safety of all tourists."

Tavana thought, "This old fogey is really getting into the act—if it weren't for Mr. Ye's sake, I wouldn't give him a chance to show off."

The Maldivian commander beside him quickly said: "Mr. Elno, please rest assured—we are now taking over security here; our navy is en route and should arrive in just over an hour, at which point we will impose strict security on White Horse Island. Please feel free to take our helicopter back to Malé for treatment!"

Bernard Elno shook his head again: "No need—just let the island's medical staff give me a simple treatment for now; once things are settled, I'll return to France."

Actually, he was thinking, "I don't trust your helicopters, nor your medical skills; I'd rather go back to France, or better yet, rush French doctors over here—that's the most reliable option."

The Maldivian commander, unfamiliar with Bernard Elno, didn't realize he was putting on an act, and genuinely believed this man truly possessed noble integrity and great benevolence, so moved he said: "Mr. Elno, your character and conduct are truly admirable! On my own behalf and on behalf of the entire Maldives, I thank you for all your efforts and sacrifices, and I believe our government will surely award you the highest honor medal!"

Bernard Elno smiled and nodded, saying seriously: "No need to thank me—this is just what I should do. After all, I am not only a French citizen but also an international investor in the Maldives, so I naturally will spare no effort in helping the Maldives, and likewise in protecting its tourists. As for the medal, I personally think it's just empty fame—best not to waste people's money and resources on it."

Although Bernard Elno has little interest in medals from such a tiny country as the Maldives, since he is currently being broadcast globally, even a small addition of glory is welcome, and he naturally accepts it gladly in his heart.

However, he also knows that the other party is merely a military commander, and such promises may not be within their authority to fulfill, so his polite demeanor on the surface is also a display of his own grace.

Subsequently, the Maldivian marines began tallying the scene—some registering tourist information, others tasked with disposing of those blown apart by explosions.

The Maldivian military's combat capability and psychological resilience pale in comparison to even the militias of major powers, let alone regular armies.

This country has not seen any proper warfare in recent decades; the last war was when an opposition group hired eighty Sri Lankan mercenaries, landed in Malé, and launched a rebellion.

Don't underestimate just eighty mercenaries—they even left the Maldivian president helpless, ultimately forcing him to seek aid from India, which dispatched over a thousand paratroopers by air to finally quell the situation.

A military that can't even handle eighty mercenaries, when faced with dozens of corpses with brains oozing out, is naturally overwhelmed—these soldiers were almost vomiting while struggling to pile the corpses together, then covering them with island linens.

In the bar, with the help of a translator, Maldivian soldiers registered tourist information one by one. When they reached Malán, he gave his name and nationality, then asked: "Hey, I'm saying—we encountered danger on your turf, nearly lost our lives—aren't you going to give us some compensation or something?"

The soldier shook his head, and via the translator replied: "Sorry, we only handle information registration; we don't know anything about compensation."

Malán grew somewhat angry, saying: "Then let your person in charge come over and explain—we spent so much money to come here, barely got to enjoy it, and nearly died here—you guys owe us compensation no matter what!"

Xiao Changkun chimed in from the side: "Yeah! This experience is terrible—if you don't offer some compensation plan, it really doesn't make sense."

Many nearby tourists also chimed in, after all, everyone paid a high price to come here, only to suffer a disaster for no reason—they deserve some compensation.

At this moment, Bernard Elno hurriedly hobbled over to the crowd and loudly said: "Everyone, don't panic—compensation is something you can rest assured about. White Horse Island will definitely give everyone a satisfactory answer. I can preliminarily promise that we will cover all accommodation costs, seaplane fees, and airfare for entering and exiting the Maldives for everyone who came to White Horse Island this time!"

Malán looked sullen, muttering to Xiao Changkun beside him: "This has nothing to do with us anyway—our expenses on the island are all counted under Ye Chen's friend, the good son-in-law, right? We don't even need to spend money ourselves."

"Exactly." Xiao Changkun also felt a bit annoyed, lowering his voice: "This boss looks pretty rich—just donating fifty million to the Maldivian military—he should at least give us some mental distress compensation, right?"

As they muttered, Bernard Elno had already noticed the displeasure on their faces. He quietly asked the nearby service staff, learned these two were with Ye Chen when they landed on the island, and immediately said: "Additionally, we have preliminarily decided to provide each tourist with 100,000 US dollars in compensation, underage tourists can also receive 100,000 US dollars, and this compensation will be deposited into everyone's accounts before they leave the island!"

Upon hearing this, the scene erupted in cheers and applause.

100,000 US dollars is not a small sum.

The average per capita spending of tourists on the island is only around 30,000 to 40,000 US dollars; now compensating each person 100,000 US dollars per head is indeed quite a good deal.

Mainly, everyone actually wasn't injured—just pure mental distress—yet they're getting this much, which is already quite generous.

Bernard Elno has now gotten into the act of performing—not only does he want to satisfy Ye Chen's parents-in-law, but also to satisfy the broad netizens; compensating each person 100,000 US dollars means, for White Horse Island, this is tens of millions in expenditure.

But he thinks, "It doesn't matter anymore."

Rarely generous once—might as well be generous to the end.

This feeling is like a stingy person with spending power walking into a high-end restaurant, looking at the menu and initially ordering just one or two dishes, feeling the pinch, but after ordering more, gradually developing a "Screw it, life's too short—today I'm just going to eat my fill" boldness.

……

While Bernard Elno seizes the opportunity to wildly craft his persona, the internet on one hand praises him without reserve, on the other hand curses Blackwater as a pile of dog shit.

The White House petition to thoroughly investigate Blackwater has already garnered over three million votes in favor; having reached this point, the U. S. government must respond to the American people on this matter.

U. S. officials are also at a loss—when asked who Blackwater's biggest client is, the answer is inevitably the U. S. government itself.

In every war they've fought in the Middle East, Blackwater's shadow is present—dirty work, grueling labor, all done by Blackwater for them; even the oil stolen and sold in Syria is largely facilitated by Blackwater behind the scenes.

In other words, Blackwater is the U. S. government's close little brother—though not quite presentable enough to show off publicly, privately their relationship with the big boss is very good.

Now, even the entire nation, even the whole world, is calling for severe punishment of this little brother, and the U. S. officials are at a loss as to what to do.

If they were to seriously punish it, they'd at least have to arrest all involved senior personnel, then conduct a full investigation of the company, just to give the public an explanation.

However, this matter itself involves U. S. high-level officials, who wanted Blackwater to inherit Wanlong Palace's legacy in Syria, and by the way, use this opportunity to destroy Wanlong Palace.

But how could the U. S. government possibly admit such a thing? Now, all they can do is pass the buck and find a scapegoat.

Thus, after an emergency internal meeting among Blackwater's senior leadership, they decided to push out a fall guy to take the blame.

The fall guy pushed out is a vice president of Blackwater, and also the one with the smallest shareholding in Blackwater's board of directors.

Blackwater's plan is to have this person come forward to take the blame, confess that all this was his personal collusion with the Syrian opposition, and has nothing to do with Blackwater's highest decision-making layer.

To make the act convincing, they even required this fall guy to turn himself in to U. S. authorities voluntarily.

According to relevant laws, this person's final outcome would inevitably be life imprisonment without parole, so to compensate him, the other shareholders collectively gave two hundred million US dollars to his family.

Although the shareholder was unwilling, he had no other choice.

These shareholders were all veterans and mercenaries in their early years—tough men. When they discussed it properly, if he agreed, they could still offer some compensation; if he refused, he might very well die at home that night, and the next day be framed for suicide to avoid guilt, ultimately still having to take the fall for them.

Thus, the US government immediately announced to the world, claiming the White Horse Island terrorist attack had been solved, the mastermind had already surrendered to US police, and US police were now conducting a thorough investigation into Blackwater Company.

This was merely a smokescreen to deceive the public. They believed that by first displaying a stern, uncompromising stance, then waiting for public attention and anger to gradually fade, they could halt further investigation. After two months, most people would surely lose interest, at which point they would simply declare the incident the personal act of that vice president, unrelated to Blackwater Company, and basically get away with it.

However, Ye Chen had no intention of letting Blackwater Company off the hook.

He wanted Blackwater Company to pay a heavy price, to make them know that Wanlong Temple would never be a target they could dare to dream of annexing.

And now, Bernard Arnault, despite his age, remains vigorous and energetic. Having him clamp down on Blackwater Company without letting go will surely bring them great trouble!