Chapter 3488

An hour later, the Maldivian navy vessels arrived.

At the scene, aside from the corpses, there was nothing left for them to handle, so the soldiers prepared to transport the bodies onto the ship, first taking them back to the capital, Malé.

Ye Chen sent a WeChat message to Tawana, asking her to remind Bernard Arnault of one sentence.

Upon seeing it, Bernard Arnault immediately said to Tawana: "Miss Svetlana, thank you for your trouble—just tell Mr. Ye that it's rare for him to have use of me; I will certainly give this my all!"

Having said that, he stood tall and proud like a rooster, addressing the commander: "These corpses are all Blackwater mercenaries, and under the witness of netizens worldwide, I will not allow you to handle the bodies in any way that violates procedure; each corpse must be thoroughly investigated for identity. Furthermore, I demand here that the U. S. government take responsibility for this matter. If these mercenaries are truly from Blackwater, then Blackwater must give the public an explanation!"

Upon hearing this, the Blackwater executive watching the livestream nearly spat blood on the spot.

Originally, they had thought to have the U. S. diplomatic department step in to mediate with the Maldives—either have the bodies flown back to the U. S. for processing, or simply send personnel to handle them on site—anything to prevent the corpses from being seized and exploited.

Blackwater mercenaries are largely publicly identified, after all, since Blackwater itself is a mercenary company exposed to public view, known worldwide, and its personnel must register their occupational information in the U. S.

These mercenaries, in reality, were living individuals with their own family circles, social networks, and community activity groups—each person had at least a thousand direct contacts, and hundreds of thousands or even millions of indirect contacts. Once their identities were verified and made public, each person's network would spark a discussion, with people sharing on social media: "So-and-so is his classmate," or "his neighbor," or "his neighbor's brother's younger brother."

Moreover, once online gossip involves an "insider," the bystanders tend to pay even closer attention.

Blackwater's desired approach was to quickly dampen the热度, but once dozens of people's social circles begin discussing it, the热度 surrounding Blackwater will remain high...

At this moment, the Blackwater executives simply wished Bernard Arnault were dead.

Yet, though they hated Bernard Arnault, they could do nothing to him—after all, he was once the world's richest man, with extraordinary influence, and moreover a Frenchman, so no one dares to act against him; for their own people to encounter him today is nothing short of terrible luck from eight lifetimes.

Seeing Bernard Arnault's firm and resolute attitude, the Maldivian military commander said to him: "Mr. Arnault, please rest assured—we will handle this matter according to proper procedure, with absolutely no oversight."

Bernard Arnault nodded and said loudly: "This matter concerns not only me, but every victim present, as well as every concerned netizen watching the livestream—they will all continue to follow this closely. You must disclose the specific progress within the stipulated time; otherwise, you will face accountability from the global public."

Continuing with great seriousness, Bernard Arnault said: "Moreover, you must never forget that this matter concerns the reputation of the Maldives—whether tourists will still wish to come here in the future depends on how you handle this. If handled well, it will be seen as an accident, not deepening public skepticism; but if handled poorly, the public will certainly strongly question your credibility, possibly leading to a collapse of your domestic tourism market."

Tawana also said at this time: "I will also continue to follow this matter to the end, and starting today, I will set aside at least thirty minutes each day to conduct a全网直播 on my personal account, synchronizing with fans worldwide the progress of this matter's handling—I hope you will not let us down!"

If Bernard Arnault represents the world's top aristocratic class, then Tawana represents the global populace.

The influence of the wealthy lies in their money, not themselves—many local tycoons, when wealthy, command the wind and rain in their region, known to all; but if they go bankrupt or collapse, walking the street, people won't even glance at them a second time.

The influence of celebrities, however, lies in themselves—through their works, professional skill, and personal charm, they earn genuine affection from the public; such a star, even if they retire from the entertainment industry, will still have many admirers when walking down the street.

Bernard Arnault and Tawana speaking out together on this matter amounts to complementary strengths.

One has wealth, able to command wind and rain;

One has talent, able to summon a hundred responses with a single call.

The two of them jointly declaring close attention to this matter's follow-up—let alone Blackwater's Alexander, even the Maldivian high-level officials are all nervously breaking into cold sweat.

They know this matter could, in a short time, draw such widespread global attention; if they fail to handle it to everyone's satisfaction, it will be a major blow to their nation's reputation, possibly causing this holiday destination to never recover from now on.

Tourism is the true pillar industry of the Maldives—they will not allow such a thing to happen.

Let alone Blackwater—even if U. S. high-level officials came, they could not conceal or cover up, for they clearly know their country lacks strategic resources and is not a strategic chokepoint; for the U. S., there is nothing to gain, and it could not possibly support their entire population; they can only rely on themselves.

The military commander quickly nodded: "Please rest assured—though our country is small, we still possess a sense of duty and responsibility!"

At this moment, netizens worldwide hold Bernard Arnault and Tawana in special esteem.

Their fearless defiance of power has earned universal admiration.

Especially Bernard Arnault—today, he truly pulled off a grand pretense.

This has left Blackwater in a difficult position—they now fear most that the scapegoat won't take the blame, and that this matter might bring them even greater losses.

For Blackwater, this matter is like cancer: if it's carcinoma in situ, resolutely removing the affected tissue along with some surrounding parts could mean a cure.

But if the cancer has metastasized, even if the lesion is surgically removed, new lesions will keep appearing—going on like this, even if not fatal, it will drain half one's life.

……

Although the Maldivian military personnel on site delayed processing for a long time, Ma Lan and Xiao Changkun remained elated throughout.

This was mainly due to Bernard Arnault's personal promise of a $100,000 reward—their mood was like riding a roller coaster, and by now they were grinning from ear to ear.

Only after the military registered each guest's information and finished processing all the corpses were they allowed to return to their rooms to rest.

It was already late at night, and many were physically and mentally exhausted, so they leaned on each other as they walked back with family.

Ma Lan and Xiao Changkun walked out hand in hand; the sea breeze brought a whiff of bloody smell. Ma Lan closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and sighed: "Oh dear, husband, I don't know why, but I feel the air in the Maldives has turned sweet!"

Xiao Changkun felt similarly, but didn't realize it was the fresh bloody smell in the air; he chuckled: "Mom, coming out for a trip, not spending a penny and still picking up $100,000 for free—never mind the air turning sweet, I swear I feel the seawater has turned sweet too!"

Ma Lan happily said: "Oh dear, looking at it, it's New Year's Eve, and encountering such a good thing—this is a sign of great fortune in the coming year!"

As she spoke, she suddenly recalled something and immediately said with disappointment: "Alas, what a loss! What a big loss!"

Xiao Changkun hurriedly asked: "What? What did you lose?"

Ma Lan exclaimed: "Oh! Churan and her good son-in-law didn't come to the bar tonight! If they had come, we'd have gotten another $200,000 in compensation!"

Xiao Changkun suddenly realized and blurted: "Oh, yeah! Damn it! This is a huge loss! $200,000 slipped through our fingers!"

Ma Lan said: "No way—I'll hurry and call them, see if they can still get up and come register their names; just tell them they forgot to register when they left earlier, and we'll make it up on the spot—maybe we can still squeeze out some compensation."

As she spoke, she quickened her pace, planning to jog back to wake Ye Chen and Xiao Churan.

Xiao Changkun quickly grabbed her, reminding: "Oh, forget it—don't bother them, they've already finished registration, and the headcount is done. If you have them come now and someone notices, what then? We don't even know Maldivian local law—we might accidentally commit fraud. It's New Year's—better not do such a thing!"

Ma Lan stopped, sighed: "You're right—this isn't our own doorstep; better to be careful. Forget it—after all, the good son-in-law can make money, so we don't care about this $200,000."

Saying this, she laughed and asked: "By the way, husband, now that you've got the $100,000 in hand, how do you plan to spend it?"

"How to spend it?" Xiao Changkun shook his head: "I don't know either, and there's not really anywhere I need to spend money—just save it for now."

Ma Lan said: "Saving is useless—I've already figured it out: after we go back, we'll rest a few days, then find a better place to travel!"

Xiao Changkun asked: "Where to?"

Ma Lan gritted her back teeth: "Dubai!"

Xiao Changkun frowned and asked: "Why go to Dubai again?"

Ma Lan said angrily: "Last time it was all your fault—you stirred up those troublemakers, ruined my fun in Dubai. This time I'm going again, and I'll definitely have a good time, spending every cent of this $100,000!"

Xiao Changkun thought of Dubai and unconsciously recalled the last time he set a trap to frame Zhou Liangyun, only to end up lifting a rock and dropping it on his own foot—a painful experience—and his heart sank again.

He was just about to say he wouldn't go this time, when Ma Lan directly warned him: "Let me tell you—last time it was your fault that ruined me; this time you must come with me, and you must make it up to me! When the time comes, produce $50,000 to buy me a gift—just consider it compensation!"