Chapter 244: Cultural Offensive
After his meeting with Anya, Lu Yuan issued a series of new missions to the players on New Hope’s side.
After the Xianyang and Chang'an ships completed their firepower demonstration, they began their next phase of work in a truly peaceful manner.
“Cultural Output”!
On the third day of the Cangyuan Fleet's arrival at New Hope, all media outlets received a message from the Cangyuan Branch, inviting them to visit the two warships.
Bianca, 27, a Polaris TV reporter who first reported the defeat of the Joint Punitive Fleet, was fortunate enough to be among the first visitors to board the ship.
“I must seize this reporting opportunity well; all citizens of New Hope are now full of curiosity about these two warships!”
Bianca thought as she left the television station with her dedicated photographer.
As Cangyuan overwhelmingly defeated the Galan Fleet outside the space station, more and more rumors about these two warships spread like wildfire in “Purgatory” and other nightclubs and bars.
Some people said that they were “precious antiques,” remnants of the legendary Human Golden Fleet that miraculously escaped the apocalypse, and that one ship could single-handedly challenge the main battleships of the Super Democratic Empire.
Others rumored that in the previous battle, Cangyuan’s warships didn’t even use one-tenth of their strength, and if they had gone all out, the nearby space station would have been gone long ago.
Whether these rumors are true or false cannot currently be verified.
But two things are certain.
First, in the Star Alliance space, two forces that completely surpass Galan in all aspects, the Human Exploration Federation and the Super Democratic Empire, have not yet made any official comments on Cangyuan’s appearance.
It is clear to anyone with eyes that they fear this former human T0-level enterprise and have not yet devised a specific counter-strategy.
It's estimated that the heads of their think tanks will be bald within the next few days.
Second, Galan completely played dead.
All victory propaganda teams disappeared overnight, all diplomatic personnel were ordered to shut up, refused interviews, and could only play mute;
The country implemented unprecedented news censorship, all citizens were prohibited from discussing the war, and all news no longer reported war-related information.
A large number of Galan merchants fled New Hope, and at the same time, a large number of merchants from the Free Trade Alliance flocked in, quickly filling the market gaps created by the departure of Galan merchant teams.
In the foreign exchange market, the Galan currency plummeted to one-twentieth of its value before the war, with no signs of rebound.
Investors had given Galan one precious trust, and when that trust, which risked their lives and fortunes, was betrayed, the backlash was devastating.
Now, according to news obtained by the media, major Star Alliance think tanks generally predict that Prime Minister Nadi will continue to seek help from Paradise Island space station,
urgently purchasing a large batch of new battleships,
even if not for revenge against Cangyuan, at least for homeland defense.
And at this time, Paradise Island, unless its head was caught in an airtight door, would no longer accept Galan's settlement in its national currency, and would certainly demand Nadi to pay in star alliance credit points, and would definitely take advantage of the situation to greatly increase prices.
In other words, this upcoming large-scale procurement is likely to exhaust Galan’s foreign exchange reserves accumulated over many years.
If it suffers another major military defeat, then it can be said that the nation's destiny will end there.
Seeing the former second-largest Council Member States of the Star Alliance now in peril, many expressed some concern, but more people expressed, “It’s so damn satisfying!”
This is the day we've been waiting for!
Amidst her myriad thoughts, Bianca arrived at the shuttle boarding gate, where she needed to take a connecting shuttle before she could board the ship.
Cangyuan's two warships had never officially docked, always remaining a few kilometers above the space station, not relaxing their vigilance due to victory.
“Alright, welcome aboard!”
Soon, a Cangyuan employee, holding an unfamiliar instrument, completed a full-body scan of Bianca, confirmed that she had no dangerous equipment on her, and handed her a paper card with the tour itinerary.
Bianca read the contents of the card while boarding the shuttle with the other reporters.
This time, Cangyuan was unexpectedly generous, opening the bridge, crew living quarters, engine room, and even the electromagnetic main cannon for reporters to visit.
However, these were all part of the latter half of the ship visit; before the official tour began, they first had to go to the hangar for a buffet.
“It’s actually for eating—”
Bianca was a little disappointed.
Because her salary wasn’t very high, she couldn’t afford luxury foods much, so eating wasn’t a very pleasant thing for her. Those unpalatable carbohydrate pastes, artificial meat, protein quick meals, and the mysterious cockroach paste—stuffing these foods into her stomach every day was just for survival, without any joy.
Outside the porthole, the scenery quickly shifted, and the silver-white hull of the warship appeared before her eyes.
A few minutes later, the shuttle docked with the Chang'an ship, and reporters boarded one after another.
Immediately after, the shuttle returned along its original route, the Chang'an ship's main engine ignited, and the four attitude adjustment engines located in the ship's belly also started synchronously, propelling the hull to begin flying along a circular trajectory, so that a comfortable artificial gravity of 0.8 G could be generated inside the ship, convenient for reporters to conduct their reports.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the media, welcome aboard, please follow me!”
Yu Gong personally led the way, guiding the reporters towards the empty hangar, which had already been pressurized with air and temporarily set up as a restaurant for the buffet.
“As you can see, the interior of Cangyuan’s warship is significantly wider and cleaner than Star Alliance vessels, and all fire damage control equipment is neatly arranged.” Along the way, Bianca introduced what she saw to the audience, but deep down, she didn't have much hope for the upcoming meal.
This visit was to a warship, not a cruise ship. How good could the food possibly be?
However, to build good relations with the ship's personnel later and get first-hand interview materials, I'll still pretend it tastes great!
Hmm! That's decided!
With such a small thought in mind, Bianca saw the airtight door leading to the hangar open.
Instantly, a rich aroma wafted over.
This, this, this, this!
What’s going on!?
These reporters from the post-apocalyptic era suddenly felt their genes activated, and their primal yearning for delicious food was violently awakened!
In just a few seconds, they went from “this meal is actually optional” to having a ravenous appetite! Turning into hungry ghosts!
One by one, they walked into the dining hall, dumbfounded, seeing various dishes displayed on numerous food carts, all made from ingredients they had never seen in their lives, prepared according to cooking methods they had never heard of, and with an enticing aroma that was indescribable.
Yu Gong turned and smiled at the reporters.
“Please help yourselves, everyone. Once you’ve eaten your fill, I’ll take you to tour the various compartments on the ship.”
Eat whatever you want, unlimited!?
Bianca’s mouth watered uncontrollably, and she followed the strongest, most alluring aroma to a food cart with an open flame.
A player, temporarily called upon to act as a chef, was grilling meat on the food cart.
“This—” Bianca pointed to the incredibly large piece of grilled meat in front of her, “Excuse me, is this rat meat?”
The player looked disdainful.
“This is lamb and beef, dear!”
“Beef—lamb?”
In New Hope, rat meat was already a high-end food that Bianca could only enjoy at a restaurant when she occasionally received a bonus.
As for what beef and lamb were, she had never heard of them in her life.
Maybe they were alien monsters. “Hmph!”
The player was too lazy to explain, skillfully brushing on sauce and sprinkling cumin, then handed the skewer to her.
“You’ll know when you taste it!”
Bianca couldn't wait, but considering her on-screen image, she suppressed her desire and only took a small bite of the grilled meat.
At this moment, from the camera of the equally drooling photographer, Polaris TV viewers were astonished to see that Miss Bianca, an investigative reporter known for her professional skill and high professional ethics, actually cried.
Two lines of clear tears flowed from her lovely big eyes.
Why!
Why must you let me eat something so delicious! What will I do if I can never eat it again in my long life?
Damn it! This is a visiting warship, I can’t just stay here and not leave, can I—.
Can’t I? Can I—
A sense of fear even rose in Bianca’s heart.
Now, recalling those brownish-yellow cockroach pastes she ate almost every day, she was truly afraid that she would develop anorexia in the future!
No, I can’t eat that kind of food anymore—
