"They were actually... really all dead..."
Not long ago, Mamoru Shirogane had reported the situation remotely, saying that Team Member Qi Ming had dealt with every alien and they could no longer endanger Earth.
Chief of Staff Gondo at Sea Base had thought it sounded like a dream and immediately insisted on coming to see for himself.
After personally arriving at the scene and seeing the corpses strewn everywhere and the utter devastation, he fell silent.
Even Reika Saeki, usually as cold and hard as Nagi Saijo, was stunned. "One person did all this? This is simply..."
Chief of Staff Gondo said, "Simply an alien slaughter machine!"
He looked around. "Where is Team Member Qi Ming? I want to speak with him personally."
Faced with such terrifying achievements, Chief of Staff Gondo could no longer sit still. He wanted to recruit Qi Ming himself.
At that moment, a commotion rose in the distance.
"Reporters. A whole lot of reporters heard the news and came over."
Chief of Staff Gondo frowned. "These reporters run faster than anyone at the slightest hint of a story. Get the press officer here, now."
Qi Ming, having heard the commotion, came out as well. Seeing so many reporters, he immediately used his PDI Communicator to privately message Emi, telling her to have Lucia stay in the car and not come out.
"My God, that man is... Is he a Defense Team member too?"
"Look at the gun on his waist. That's Defense Team equipment!"
The reporters immediately surrounded Qi Ming, their cameras and microphones aimed at him.
They believed that even if Qi Ming did not say a word, countless female viewers would pay just to see that face of his. Newspaper and magazine sales, television ratings—none of that would be a problem.
Qi Ming froze because he spotted the "three reporters" from Ultraman Gaia among the crowd.
News director Kenji Tsurugi, cameraman Norifumi Inoue, and female host Reiko Yoshii.
Wonderful. They added a trace of life to this hellish world.
But there were people from hell here too. That scumbag reporter, Hirukawa, had come as well.
He stepped on countless reporters' feet and forcibly squeezed his way in front of Qi Ming, looking ready to shove the microphone into Qi Ming's face.
"Sir, as a Defense Team member, you achieved results so much later than the Defense Force. Were you letting the line run long to catch a bigger fish?" Hirukawa asked.
Chief of Staff Gondo's expression changed drastically when he heard the question. It was a trap question with two prongs.
If they denied it, that would confirm the claim that "TPC is inferior to the Defense Force."
If they said they had been letting the line run long to catch a bigger fish, he would surely seize on the victims killed by aliens these past few days, pin those deaths on them, and steer public opinion into attacking TPC for disregarding civilian lives to achieve its goals.
This man's intentions were far too malicious!
"Tell Qi Ming not to answer. Before the press officer arrives, he must not say anything," Gondo said quietly, but the order clearly could not reach Qi Ming through the layers of reporters surrounding him.
Kenji frowned, disgusted by Hirukawa's behavior, and was about to speak up for justice.
Qi Ming spoke with an unchanged expression. "TPC has always regarded protecting the public and safeguarding peace as its highest priority. Guided by that spirit, we dared to face those savage aliens head-on and eliminate every last one of them."
No matter what they asked, he only needed to state his own position.
Hirukawa was taken aback. Qi Ming looked very young, and Hirukawa had thought he would be easy to exploit, someone he could guide into saying the few key phrases Hirukawa wanted to hear.
Yet there was not a single opening in that response.
Hirukawa quickly resumed his fake professional smile and continued questioning him. "It seems you were confident from the start. Then why didn't you announce your operation plan earlier and reassure the panicked citizens? Is there some inside story that the general public does not know?"
Qi Ming said, "That is not the point. The point is that we dealt with multiple aliens while keeping losses to a minimum. We acted in the suburbs, with zero casualties and no property damage to the public. Don't you think our results were extremely fruitful?"
If they kept asking that question, then answer, "That is not where the issue lies. I believe the real issue is..." and continue stating his position.
Hirukawa's face alternated between green and white. He knew that the young man before him had seen through his tactics.
He could not keep asking loaded questions either. If it became too obvious that he was deliberately making things difficult for Qi Ming, every female viewer in Japan would blacklist him.
Chief of Staff Gondo and Reika Saeki, standing nearby, were greatly enlightened. They had never expected this man to be not only formidable in combat, but also skilled at handling the media!
Meanwhile, the Defense Team members all wore strange expressions.
Yamanaka said, "Why do these words sound kind of familiar?"
Emi remembered very clearly. "This seems to be the 'response formula' Team Member Qi Ming mentioned when the captain was put on the spot by reporters during a previous TV appearance."
At that moment, Qi Ming's face hardened as he looked at Hirukawa.
"I believe the public feels uneasy because certain unethical media outlets are exaggerating the facts."
"This reflects our society's unhealthy values. I hope the industry can reject reports that completely lack professional ethics."
"I believe the authorities must apply pressure and make certain unscrupulous reporters take responsibility for their biased reporting."
Chief of Staff Gondo and the Defense Team members were astonished once again.
After taking every move his opponent had thrown at him, Qi Ming had actually counterattacked!
Monday had arrived. This was the final week of our new book period.
Whether we could break into the top ten of the overall new book rankings depended on this final week!
Please vote, please send tips, please keep reading! There would be extra chapters tomorrow!
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