Chapter 3495: I Have Become a Hero

Ye Chen, who was slow to react emotionally, did not understand the true reason for Xiao Churan's emotional breakdown.

He only felt that Xiao Churan had endured Ma Lan's values and behavior for so many years that she might eventually be overwhelmed, and perhaps Ma Lan's recent words were the final straw that broke her.

Thus, he held Xiao Churan in his arms and silently patted her back gently.

Xiao Churan cried for a while, her emotions eased slightly, she wiped away her tears and said to Ye Chen: "Let's walk by the sea together."

"Good." Ye Chen readily agreed, took her hand and walked to the seaside beach, the two walked slowly along the waves without speaking, enjoying this rare moment of just the two of them.

At this time, the Spring Festival Gala was already nearing its end.

Many guests had already left the restaurant and returned to their rooms.

At the same time, on the base island of the Poqing Association.

Wu Feiyan watched the Spring Festival Gala in silence, then said to Wu Tianlin with a cold smile: "Since the Ye and An families let bygones be bygones, their actions have grown bigger and bigger, and this Changying Automobile they've created is truly a thorn in my flesh!"

Wu Tianlin immediately said: "My lord, the Changying Automobile is currently in the development and construction phase; should we arrange some agents to go sabotage it?"

Wu Feiyan waved her hand and said: "I know the An family is in Huaxia, and sending the three great elders there would likely slaughter their entire clan, but I haven't acted because first, I still don't know the depth of that hidden mysterious enemy, and second, An Qishan this old fox is now making large-scale investments in Huaxia; if I move against him, whether I destroy him or his entire clan, the doom of the Poqing Association will come."

Wu Tianlin asked: "My lord, if we don't find a way to do something, the An and Ye families being so high-profile, I worry these people will jump up and down and disturb your tranquility..."

Wu Tianlin's words made Wu Feiyan clench her teeth involuntarily.

Wu Tianlin's words were exactly a thorn in her heart.

She said with eyes full of killing intent and an expression extremely gloomy: "These years, after An Chengxi and Ye Changying died, the An and Ye families have been keeping their tails between their legs, and I have always suspected An Chengxi is still alive, so these years I haven't wiped out both families completely, but instead sent scholars to the An family to gather information, yet I never expected that for twenty years straight, the An family has had no news of An Chengxi still being alive..."

Saying this, Wu Feiyan frowned tightly and said coldly: "If it were anyone else, they'd surely think they were overthinking, or that An Chengxi had already died at the hands of Changsheng Bo, but I have never dared to relax, always feeling she must still be alive and surely doing everything in secret to find me for revenge! Later, I twice wanted to exterminate the An family just to force her to show herself, but she didn't appear, and instead a mysterious person of extreme strength emerged; now this situation has become increasingly complex..."

Wu Tianlin knelt on one knee, respectfully saying: "My lord, if An Chengxi continues to not appear and that mysterious person also has no clues, your subordinate dares to suggest: why not just fight them to the death and break the nets?"

"Huh?" Wu Feiyan countered him: "What do you mean by that?"

Wu Tianlin clasped his hands high above his head and said loudly: "My lord! Your subordinate knows that An Chengxi and Lin Wan'er may hold the secret to your eternal thousand-year life, and your subordinate also dares to say this death-worthy statement: if An Chengxi truly delayed your eternal thousand-year life, why should you still care about the Poqing Association's four-hundred-year foundation? Better to just fight them to the death and break the nets! Even if we really provoke those great powers, so what? At worst we abandon this base; with your strength, my lord, you could go anywhere in this world—who could stop you?"

Wu Feiyan looked at Wu Tianlin, a flash of surprise in her eyes.

The Wu family has enjoyed good days for too long, and many people now fear their own rash actions will bring disaster to the entire Wu family.

Only Wu Tianlin, whose meaning is that it would be better to just drag the entire Poqing Association down with him.

This exactly matches his own intention.

Wu Feiyan has long felt: anyway, I can't get the Hundred-Reversal Thousand-Return Pill, my lifespan is only a few decades left, not finding Lin Wan'er doesn't matter, An Chengxi is a monk who can run but not the temple—if An Chengxi still doesn't show up, what's wrong with me killing her whole family? By then, even if East and West's two great powers want to join forces to eliminate the Poqing Association, so what? When my lifespan is nearing its end, I won't care about anything! If it truly is a doomed situation, killing more people before death is also good!

Thus, she said to Wu Tianlin: "Tianlin, begin adjustments; I will wait at most three more years for An Chengxi, and if she still hasn't appeared after three years, I will exterminate the An and Ye families completely, leaving no direct descendants!"

Wu Tianlin immediately shouted: "Your subordinate obeys!"

……

The first day of the lunar new year.

Bernard Arnault early in the morning took a seaplane to the capital of the Maldives, Male, then transferred to his own private plane and rushed back to France.

Although White Horse Island has already returned to a state of peaceful tranquility, external discussions about White Horse Island have not diminished in the slightest.

World media continue to produce various special reports nonstop, even inviting many experts to analyze the situation in Syria and the role of the American government behind it.

The pressure on the Syrian opposition has suddenly increased dramatically.

Although they are all mud-legged peasants or even terrorists by origin, the situation is now different—after the rebels seized power, they are no longer rebels but the regular army.

The difference between the regular army and the rebels lies in that the regular army now has a state, so they can no longer recklessly launch guerrilla attacks everywhere; they must to some extent maintain their own image, so they dare not continue to strike Hamid, and can only claim abroad that Blackwater's Maque intentionally framed him, that they and Hamid are close comrades-in-arms, and that there is no possibility of them joining others to assassinate him.

However, this claim is useless, as almost no one will buy it.

After Blackwater threw out a scapegoat, although outside doubts did not decrease but increased, they still chose to play dumb, knowing full well this matter cannot be explained, and the more they explain, the more they will be condemned.

The mainstream media of America also remain silent on this matter; America, which daily claims freedom of speech, is merely selectively free—when touching certain special groups, freedom of speech becomes an empty talk.

However, European media's coverage of this matter can be described as working overtime, with drums beating tightly.

The media of England, France, Germany, and Italy have publicly launched heavy attacks on Blackwater Company, especially French media, which is as if celebrating the New Year—one moment criticizing Blackwater Company, the next digging up its old dirt and scandals, the next portraying Bernard Arnault as the most brave and responsible billionaire in the world.

Today, the president will meet Bernard Arnault at the Élysée Palace; although the meeting time is local afternoon two o'clock, many European media arrived at the Élysée Palace this morning to prepare.

And the airport is more than ever a scene of grand deployment.

To capture first-hand footage of Bernard Arnault's return to his country, every media outlet has dispatched a reporting team, setting up long and short guns at the airport runway, waiting to welcome France's hero.

According to the French government's plan, the prime minister receives the plane, the president meets the guest, so the prime minister also arrived early at the airport, preparing to welcome Bernard Arnault there.

To make the welcome ceremony as grand as possible, France arranged for the airport to prepare four remote parking spots in advance; these four spots are used solely for Bernard Arnault's private plane, all invited media wait opposite the parking spots to film, and after landing the plane will taxi to this spot, allowing Bernard Arnault to disembark under the gaze of ten thousand eyes.

At this moment, Bernard Arnault has not yet arrived at the airport, but his familiar media friends have already sent him photos of the scene via satellite network.

When Bernard Arnault saw the scene of the welcome prepared for him, his white-haired self was so happy he couldn't stop grinning.

He couldn't help but laugh and say to his wife: "Ah, I've been called a traitorous merchant for decades, never expecting to turn around and become a hero!"