Early November.
Winter had already arrived on the East Coast. Although it had not snowed like last year, thick clouds still blanketed the gloomy sky.
For the residents of Utopia City, today was undoubtedly a sad day.
Their heroes had ultimately failed to return home.
After such a long wait, this was the outcome they received.
Many people found it impossible to accept.
At the press conference.
The spacious venue was packed with people, with reporters from every media outlet gathered together.
Although Wu Changnian, deputy director of the Integrated Management Department, had only just gotten off the plane, the news had already spread throughout the city two days ago. While he was still dozing in the sky, the people on the ground had already arranged his itinerary after landing.
With some time left before the conference officially began, the people present quietly exchanged whispers.
"We spent billions and fought a local war for this... and this was the result?"
"I wonder what the Council was thinking."
"What could they have been thinking? By the time our people arrived, they'd already been dead for months."
"Sigh."
"What concerns me more is that Enlightenment Society..."
"Exactly. Replacing people's memories... just hearing about it gives me goosebumps."
"Was that really an organization of the Blue Coats?"
"I hope there aren't any of those people in the shelters in Cloud Province."
"We shouldn't pin our hopes on wishful thinking. The Council should do something to make sure those people aren't around us!"
The murmuring grew louder and louder.
People were concerned about more than just the Pioneer returning empty-handed, with tens of billions in investments and billions more in budgetary spending going down the drain.
What most people truly feared was the thought-provoking horror of the Enlightenment Society.
If the fruits of their