Seeing that Meng Anping wasn't giving any response, Connor could only turn his gaze to President Zhang and asked somewhat nervously:
"Mr. Chairman, we have passed a resolution to begin withdrawing from overseas operations in three months, and we expect to complete the strategic retrenchment within a year..."
"Ahem!" Ski suddenly coughed twice, "We only need eight months to achieve this goal!"
Connor glared at him. "That's because we have a large fleet; their keels don't have wheels on them..."
"Do you need my advice? Maybe you could equip them with four wheels so they can run faster? Or maybe wings would be a good idea too?"
Before President Zhang could even speak, the two had already started arguing.
Meng Anping, on the other hand, was all smiles. He would stare at whoever was speaking, looking like he was enjoying the show, and all he was missing was a handful of melon seeds.
Zhang Tianyuan and the other headquarters members pretended not to see it, looking down at the materials in their hands, which contained the results of the Joint Fleet's visit over the past period.
From the situation among ordinary people in various countries and regions to official intelligence and even the complex history of the two riots twenty-three years ago, everything is recorded in this thick volume of material.
Zhang Tianyuan and the various branches had already reviewed it.
Those who started the debate have practically worn out this material; every possible point of contention has been attacked. Not only Connor, but even Meng Anping has been criticized.
Otherwise, Meng Anping wouldn't need to attend this meeting today.
After waiting for five minutes, Connor and Ski, seeing that President Zhang had no intention of stopping the fight, finally awkwardly stopped talking.
Zhang Tianyuan then spoke up, saying, "We understand your demands, and we welcome all member states that can have a positive impact to join the Mutual Aid Society."
Connor's eyebrows twitched; the implication being that they weren't the kind of active member states, right?
He quickly replied, "Mr. Chairman, with your support, I'm confident I can shorten the withdrawal time to six months once I return to North America!"
Ski snorted, "Three months!"
Meng Anping stroked his chin and joined in the fun. "A month."
"..."
Zhang Tianyuan displayed the documents in his hand.
"Through this period of investigation, we have gained a basic understanding of the complexities of your timeline, which has caused considerable controversy within our organization..."
Zhang Tianyuan briefly described the internal disputes within the Mutual Aid Society during this period.
Connor and Ski's mood instantly soared to its peak, like riding a rollercoaster. They glanced resentfully at Meng Anping, clearly blaming him for not informing them sooner.
Meng Anping remained calm, pretending not to notice the expressions on their faces.
Better to die for your fellow Daoist than for me.
The more controversy Connor and Ski's past caused within the Mutual Aid Society, the safer he became.
After all, everything needs to be compared. Although they were also involved in the oil riots, their level of involvement was incomparable to that of the two sides led by Connorsky.
They did not intervene in the subsequent water source disturbances.
While it wasn't exactly clean, compared to Connor and Ski, two mushroom tycoons, his side was practically a pure white lotus.
With two others at the bottom and the unspoken rules within the Mutual Aid Society, Meng Anping was quite relaxed.
Even if they were to target specific individuals, it would most likely be Connor and Ski who would suffer the consequences.
Sure enough, after explaining the controversy, Zhang Tianyuan turned to Connor and Ski and pushed two thick documents, each thicker than a large dictionary, onto the table.
Moreover, President Zhang didn't say anything.
The two of them stiffly opened the documents.
Unsurprisingly, it contained all the things they had done over the years.
We won't discuss what happened before the oil riots, but most of the events after the oil riots have been documented.
The events surrounding the subsequent water supply disturbance were recorded with exceptional clarity.
The most detailed account is of a certain continent turning into a wasteland.
The movie's protagonist Max, is still eating lizards on the Australia continent!
Just based on the movie's plot, Zhang Tianyuan will never forget this incident.
Ski the two men looked at the detailed records in the document, their expressions grew increasingly stiff. This matter was essentially the result of a struggle between the two sides.
Connor tried to use some tricks to gain an advantage, but Ski just punched one of Connor's henchmen, who had just come home, to death. Connor yelled "Holy crap!" and didn't even try to save him, abandoning his underling as if he were nothing.
Nothing happened.
Throughout the entire ordeal, the younger brother who got beaten up suffered the most. He already lived in a remote area, and after being punched, even the doctors couldn't get to his house to treat him; he just died...
After this incident, both sides tacitly accepted the outcome, and everyone avoided discussing it. To this day, Australia has become a forgotten continent.
No one will mention that place, and no one is allowed to mention it.
Few survivors escaped from there, and even if they did, they wouldn't make it to Ski and Connor's territory, and no one would go up there to ingest radioactive fallout.
The Mutual Aid Society has suddenly brought this up again, clearly indicating they want to settle old scores with them.
Meng Anping watched with amusement.
But immediately another staff member handed him another document, which contained details of what happened during the oil riots.
Meng Anping stroked his chin, carefully recalling events from over twenty years ago to make sure he hadn't committed any heinous crimes, before finally opening the document and examining it closely.
Beside him, Connor looked embarrassed.
"Sir, about this matter..."
He initially intended to habitually shirk responsibility, since it wasn't him who gave the order, but remembering the Mutual Aid Society's requirement of "taking responsibility," he immediately changed his tune:
I am very sorry for what happened back then.
He was about to stand up and bow in apology, and had even started to move his buttocks when he remembered that the chairman didn't seem to care about such things. He had been on the Joint Fleet for five days and hadn't seen a single person bow. He quickly clamped his buttocks together and remained seated.
Ski quickly followed suit, but in addition to apologizing, he added, "To express our remorse, we will negotiate compensation to improve the lives of the local people..."
Connor glared at Ski, then quickly added, "We'll not only negotiate compensation, but we'll also send people to develop a reconstruction plan for the area!"
Zhang Tianyuan said nothing and turned his gaze to Meng Anping.
Connor and Ski also turned around, a sense of foreboding rising in their hearts.
As expected, Meng Anping cleared his throat and said, "We deeply regret the mistakes we made in the past. To fully express our apology, I believe we should, in accordance with our past responsibilities, take on all the reconstruction work in the affected areas, including pollution control. At the same time, we must ensure that the lives of the local people return to a sustainable state of food security and stability."
"..."
Connor glanced at the less than one-finger-thick document in front of Meng Anping, then looked at the document in front of him that was thicker than a dictionary...
I feel completely numb!
Fuck!
Is this on the same scale?
This is not just a few times the amount!
The materials Meng Anping had largely overlapped with those they had, both dating back to the oil riots. In other words, if Meng Anping committed certain crimes, they must have committed them as well.
In addition to working with Meng Anping to resolve the issues in the areas affected by the oil riots, they also had to deal with the areas affected by the water riots.
This is the real problem!
That's almost an entire continent!
7.692 million square kilometers.
The nuclear contamination, soil pollution, water pollution, air pollution... how is he supposed to clean them up?
And what about those above him? Would he really risk his life to provide them with food and shelter?
If you asked him to deliver warmth, he would be an expert, even capable of delivering hundreds of millions of units of warmth today, and he definitely wouldn't put it off until tomorrow.
But sending them to deliver food and shelter...
He really doesn't know how.
My ancestors never did this.
Connor was numb, and Ski was even more so.
Connor bears at most secondary responsibility in this matter, but they are undoubtedly the main responsible parties.
Moreover, they don't just grow mushrooms on the Australia continent, but all over the world. If that's the case, do they intend to take over all those places?
Connor did a quick mental calculation and felt it was impossible; if they did it that way, they would have areas to be responsible for on every continent except Antarctica.
And the population listed there...
Could it be that they'll have to support nearly half the world's population?
Ski was already frantically winking at Connor.
"President!"
Connor was genuinely trying to decline this time, but as soon as he turned around, he was met with President Zhang's smile.
"I think this suggestion is quite good. What do you two think?"
"If you two take responsibility for the past, many of the disputes within the association can be resolved, which will also benefit your future work."
What do you think about joining the Mutual Aid Society?
This is the result of the great debate within the Mutual Aid Society.
Although they can't satisfy everyone, most members can still accept these two large-scale mushroom growers as long as Connor and Ski take responsibility for rebuilding.
Ultimately, this is a conflict within the Rampage Spacetime.
But the premise is that this reconstruction is genuine, and not just a vanity project.
A monitoring mechanism will definitely need to be introduced at that time.
Before Connor and Ski could express their opinions, Meng Anping spoke up in support of President Zhang's point of view, putting all the pressure on the two of them.
Ski remained silent.
Even a shrewd person like Connor found himself struggling once again.
Ski was also secretly winking at him, hoping he would be the one to take the lead.
President Zhang wasn't in a hurry and waited quietly.
Meng Anping, on the other hand, remained completely unperturbed.
He has nothing to worry about. All they did was get some oil during the oil riots. When it comes to assigning responsibility, he's not even in the same league as Connor and Ski.
All the pressure was on Connor.
Old Connor gritted his teeth and stood his ground, remaining silent for a full minute.
He was weighing the options in his mind.
The more he weighed the pros and cons, the more he felt something was amiss...
For example, someone who keeps giving him meaningful glances!
Damn it!
You son of a bitch!
Ski is the one most responsible, so why is everyone focusing on him now?
Moreover, his actions on the Joint Fleet had already tied him to the Mutual Aid Society. If he returns this time and gives everyone a different result than they expected...
Then every cheer he enjoyed before would probably turn into a bullet flying towards him.
With that in mind, Connor simply made up his mind.
"I completely agree with your opinion!"
After he finished speaking, he met Ski's astonished gaze directly.
Zhang Tianyuan and Meng Anping also looked over at this moment.
Connor immediately went limp; the other guy hadn't even reacted yet.
But after a dozen seconds, he realized the pros and cons and could only lower his head slightly to indicate his agreement to the arrangement.
"The three made a wise decision, and this is what many people struggling with pollution have been hoping to see."
After a slap, it's time to offer a sweet treat.
Regarding your situation of abnormally depleted spacetime resources, our organization has actually organized a seminar with technical experts.
Connor immediately became excited. "And the result was?"
Some experts have suggested that the resources in your spacetime might simply be buried a little too deep.
Zhang Tianyuan made a gesture signifying the loss of the South Korean market.
"A little too deep?"
Meng Anping said, "We have conducted large-scale explorations within an area of 10,000 meters underground, and the results have been quite unsatisfactory."
Connor and Ski nodded in agreement.
After the resources were depleted, they actually conducted a lot of deep drilling, but the results were not just "unsatisfactory," but completely meaningless.
No matter how deep they drilled, they couldn't find any trace of oil or natural gas.
It's utterly despairing.
"Hmm..." Zhang Tianyuan recalled the conference discussion results he had seen earlier, "Geologists compared the geological tectonic changes in your timeline with those in other timelines, and also compared your paleontological development history."
They believe that the oil and gas resources in your timeline may simply be buried deeper.
"For example?" Meng Anping asked.
"For example, at a depth of 15,000 meters or deeper."
Connor smirked. "Mr. Chairman, if it's at this level, the existence of those resources won't make a difference."
They simply can't mine it!
A depth of 15,000 meters...
When they were drilling for resources before, they worked their butts off, but they only reached a depth of 13,000 meters.
This is just drilling.
They simply don't have the technology to officially mine resources below 13,000 meters.
"Heh, you do indeed lack this kind of ultra-deep resource extraction technology, but in other timelines, this technology has actually already been mastered..."
In an instant, Connor and Ski both perked up, their eyes practically radiating electricity.
If such technology truly exists, allowing them to extract resources from their own timeline, it would certainly be far better than importing them from other timelines.
Zhang Tianyuan took a sip of water and calmly said, "Actually, our No. 3 Spacetime has a lot of experience in building underground cities."
"Dungeon?"
"How deep?" Ski asked.
"Rice."