How Could They Slander an Innocent Person Out of Thin Air?!

That evening, at the strong request of the delegation, Roger changed the itinerary and took the group to Stephenson's most famous Hot Spring for a treat.

Xu Nan originally wanted to take this opportunity to ask Roger about the parade, but Roger seemed to be very busy. After bringing them over, he excused himself and left.

They've probably gone to deal with the aftermath of the protest.

The entire delegation, except for Xu Nan, was quite happy. Everyone was enjoying the wonderful Hot Spring. The only strange thing that caught Xu Nan's attention was that although these people were ostensibly soaking in the hot Hot Spring, they actually spent half of their time in the toilet, as if they were hiding something from him.

Although everyone outwardly respected Xu Nan's position, and there weren't any melodramatic scenes of subordinates contradicting their superiors like in online dramas, Xu Nan still felt a sense of loss, as if she had been sidelined.

However, his dilemma didn't last long. Stephen Sang's Hot Spring were indeed wonderful, and after soaking for a while, he felt all his worries disappear.

Who cares what happened to Stephenson? I just need to follow the rules.

If things drag on any longer, I might as well go back to Earth through Lost Paradise and get down to business!

That night, Xu Nan almost fell asleep in the Hot Spring pool.

After he emerged from the pool, still feeling quite refreshed, he was told that all the other members of the delegation had obediently returned to the Great Coast Hotel to sleep.

He walked out of the Hot Spring hotel alone, and in the night breeze, he saw the faint, pale green aurora.

He suddenly became more lucid.

It seems that Stephenson's most famous Alchemy Workshop is right next to this Hot Spring inn.

It's a rare opportunity to come here, so it seems a bit wasteful not to go and take a look, right?

Anyway, I have Roger's permission, so it's okay to just pass by and take a look, as long as I don't touch their core secrets!

With this thought in mind, Xu Nan immediately perked up and hurried towards the Alchemy Workshop area.

Even in the middle of the night, Stephenson is still quite lively. The mages and alchemists here basically don't know day from night. Perhaps they don't have the expertise of the Wise Men Never Sleep, but they are willing to dedicate their lives to knowledge, so they sleep very little.

He wandered through the exhibition areas of each Alchemy Workshop, marveling at the imagination and inventiveness of Stephenson's alchemists.

Many things were things that the sorcerers of Lost Paradise had never even considered.

This is just the exhibition area open to the public; their internal technical knowledge is probably even more astonishing!

No wonder the sorcerers in Lost Paradise couldn't forget Stephenson.

Tired from wandering around, Xu Nan randomly picked a bar and ordered a drink. Coincidentally, a couple at the next table were discussing what had happened to Jin Bai. Xu Nan's heart skipped a beat, and she began to listen in, pretending not to care.

"I heard that the Council of Elders very angry about the parade. Mr. Roger, one of the Eight Leaves, personally drove it away. But I don't think the people from the Alchemist Association and the Artisan Guild will give up. After all, they believe that cooperating with Lost Paradise is the biggest symbol of Stephenson's fall into depravity."

The male mage idly fiddled with the mechanical watch in his hand, seemingly indifferent to what was going on.

The female mage took a sip of strawberry juice and said with some disdain, "Stephenson has long since fallen from grace. Although I also hate those self-proclaimed Public Opinion Representative, it would be a great achievement if we could actually drive away those stinking sorcerers."

Xu Nan thought to himself, "What did I do to offend you? Did I eat your rice? What's with this stinky warlock?"

Male mage. "I think it's a bit difficult. Cooperating with Lost Paradise was the tone set by [Red Windmill]. The reason the protesters dared to protest is only because they vaguely received instructions from [White Tower]..."

The two chatted intermittently. Although Xu Nan couldn't fully understand everything, piecing together all the information, he seemed to have grasped a lot of it.

Stephenson Sand held two opposing views on the collaboration with Lost Paradise.

One possible official stance is that of Ansu Li. After all, this was orchestrated by Ansu Li and Luo Mang, whose Red Windmill organization wielded considerable influence in Stephenson. It was through pressure exerted in the lower house of the Council of Elders that Stephenson's cooperation plan with Lost Paradise was approved by vote and ultimately put into implementation. Roger, the leader of the School of Shaping, one of the Eight Leaves, was one of the representatives of this group.

The other type is those who are extremely resistant to cooperating with Lost Paradise.

Most of them were civilians from Stephenson, mainly lower-level alchemists. This group seemed to have been instructed by Launs, the master of the White Tower, one of the two giants of Stephenson, and they held a march and protest under the organization of the Alchemist Association and the Artisan Guild.

Today's march is just the beginning; there are reports of strikes and other similar events to follow.

Of course, there are many others like this couple who stand still, but Xu Nan found that the monks here generally have a distorted view of Lost Paradise.

Many people resent Lost Paradise's breach of contract back then, since the mages here all believe to be the legitimate heirs of the Arcane Empire.

It seems that this is the root cause of the problems affecting these negotiations.

Roger wasn't unwilling to negotiate with Xu Nan, but faced with the somewhat heated public opinion, he couldn't act arbitrarily, after all, Stephenson was a recognized democratic system.

Even the powerful Ansu Li cannot cover it up with one hand—at least, on the surface.

That's why he kept postponing the long-awaited negotiation meetings and the signing ceremony of the White Paper.

At this moment, the bald monk must have been in a very difficult position.

Ansu Li entrusted the matter to him, but he clearly had no experience in handling such matters, and a forced expulsion would only provoke a greater backlash.

Xu Nan thought about it and realized that although the matter would eventually be resolved if he simply distanced himself from it, it was simply too much of a waste of time.

Moreover, he knew that the Supreme Council and Mr. Luo Mang were watching his performance.

By cramming a bunch of incompetent teammates into the delegation, perhaps they're trying to give Xu Nan a tough test, to see if he can successfully complete the signing of the White Paper under such conditions?

Given this, Xu Nan decided to take action.

After all, the world he lived in had a wealth of experience with this kind of thing.

That evening, Xu Nan went directly to visit the Magician Tower of the bald mage Roger.

This behavior was actually somewhat impolite, but Xu Nan was too lazy to make any attempt to cover it up. Instead, after finding the bald-headed monk, he got straight to the point.

"... Is this the reason why you postponed the negotiations?"

Xu Nan stared at Roger.

Roger gave a wry smile, "It's mainly because of these reasons, and of course there are some other reasons as well, but these are all scandalous things within Stephenson's organization, so please excuse the embarrassment to our friends in Lost Paradise."

Xu Nan thought to himself that his subordinates wouldn't be laughing at all; they were quite content with having public funds for food and drink.

Xu Nan carefully considered his words and said gently, "Although this may seem a bit presumptuous, I do have some immature suggestions. If Mr. Roger doesn't have a better solution for the time being, you might as well give it a try."

Roger's eyes lit up.

As the leader of the School of Shaping, his forte is creating fireballs and smashing hailstones; he simply cannot master the scheming and power struggles of this kind.

By entrusting him with the task of negotiating, Ansu Li was practically putting him in a difficult position.

But he can't exactly take action against the protesters, can he?

Roger was thinking to himself, "If only these people in the parade were monsters... I could just unleash a bunch of spells and they'd be done with it."

"I'd like to hear the details," Roger said earnestly, looking at Xu Nan.

Xu Nan didn't hold back, and said with great enthusiasm:

"The strike by You Xiao is nothing more than a matter of unmet interests. These troublemakers actually know in their hearts that the cooperation between Stephenson and Lost Paradise was personally arranged by Ms. Ansu Li and my mentor, Luo Mang. It is an inevitable trend!"

"But why do they still do it? Most people just want to gain more benefits."

"In that case, we just need to attack their vital points!"

"As for the protesters, Your Excellency can privately invite the organizers separately, using incentives to win over some and intimidation to intimidate others. Once you deal with the ringleaders, they won't be able to organize anything."

"Of course, I have some more specialized methods that I may use..."

Xu Nan talked non-stop for half the night, Roger was simply amazed, as if he had heard a completely new theory of magic.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Xu Nan!"

"There's actually such a way? I'll get someone to do it right away!"

Roger ran off excitedly without looking back.

Xu Nan stretched and went back to the hotel to rest.

The following morning, good news came one after another.

The larger-scale protest march that was originally scheduled to take place was temporarily canceled due to some terrifying rumors.

In the afternoon, some of the leaders who had originally participated in the march changed their minds and openly declared that they believed cooperating with Lost Paradise would help Stephenson's progress—of course, these people were pelted with a lot of eggs, but compared to the benefits they gained, it was nothing.

Before the wave of resistance could even take shape, discordant voices had already emerged within the ranks, and the marches and strikes were destined to be aborted.

Especially after the Alchemist Association and the Artisan Guild, who were the staunchest opponents of the Lost Paradise, were exposed for accepting huge bribes from unknown forces, a crisis of trust erupted among the protesters. They began to argue amongst themselves, and an atmosphere of suspicion began to permeate the ranks. Everyone had their own ulterior motives and lost their initial firmness. Many people began to anxiously take sides, fearing that their previous actions would harm their interests.

Xu Nan witnessed the entire process and felt a great sense of accomplishment. The experiences from Earth were still very useful in this other world, demonstrating that many things are similar.

In the evening, Roger greeted Xu Nan and his party with a beaming smile.

"Thanks to Mr. Xu Nan, the matter is almost resolved."

"Those troublemakers are leaderless and suspicious of each other. I think we can proceed with formal detailed negotiations and sign the agreement tomorrow."

"Tonight, we have prepared a sumptuous feast to entertain you..."

Roger hadn't finished speaking when suddenly, a series of piercing sounds came from outside:

"We're arresting spies!"

"[Aurora Treehouse] has caught another spy! Everyone, go check it out!"

"Damn it, are we at the hands of another corporate spy trying to steal our knowledge?"

Roger's expression suddenly turned grim.

Upon hearing this, the group gathered around.

Many people gathered around and saw a thinly dressed but very handsome man tied to a pillar.

The crowd was buzzing with discussion:

"This person attempted to steal the Aurora Treehouse's internal alchemy data and has been arrested!"

"He's definitely a corporate spy who's infiltrated from outside, haha..."

"This guy is quite handsome. Could he be from Lost Paradise?"

Whispers drifted through the crowd.

In an instant, everyone made the connection, and many people firmly believed that the spy came from Lost Paradise.

Xu Nan's face darkened. This was clearly someone stirring up trouble!

Roger waved his hand. "Please step aside for a moment, I'll handle this."

Xu Nan shook her head. "It's alright!"

"A clear conscience fears no accusation! We in Lost Paradise have no such people, nor would we do such a thing! I want to see what kind of shady dealings are hidden behind this!"

The slightly overweight sorcerer next to him looked a little embarrassed and couldn't help but mutter in admiration, "Mr. Xu Nan really has a thick skin!"

Before Xu Nan could react, Elder Sister Book Luna, stood with her hands on her hips and launched into a tirade:

How can they slander someone's innocence out of thin air?

Xu Nan was pleased that there were still people with sound values on her side.

The next second, he heard a barely audible complaint:

"This person isn't even on our list of 1,600 industrial spies that we sent to Stephenson!"

...!