chsdbacks Chapter 221 The Justified March
Chapter 221 The Justified March
Chapter 221 The Justified March
Tonight, all the people of Paris felt a strong tremor. They all saw a dazzling light in the direction of the 20th arrondissement. While everyone was filled with anxiety, they discovered that the authorities had responded to the scene with sirens blaring at top speed, and the sound of the sirens brought them a sense of security.
It is the heart of France, and even the slightest disturbance here can be a matter of life and death.
Not to mention that the area where the explosion occurred was the head of France's secret service, the source of all intelligence.
After receiving the alert, local authorities reported it up the chain of command, eventually reaching the Prime Minister, who then personally called the President, claiming that they had suffered an extremely serious intrusion incident.
During the phone call, the Prime Minister explained in detail that the General Directorate for External Security had not been involved in any explosive-related work recently, and that all facilities within the General Directorate had undergone thorough inspection and protection, so there was no possibility of a sudden explosion. Therefore, the violent explosion tonight must have been the work of special agents from other countries!
After his initial outrage, the president finally calmed down and, on the surface, trusted the prime minister's explanation and offered gentle advice, suggesting that the prime minister not be too saddened and to do everything possible to salvage the disaster and prevent secondary explosions and subsequent radiation contamination from explosives.
But in his heart, he scoffed at the explanation and didn't believe it at all. He believed that it was because too many officials on this line, in the spirit of advancement, were sending money to their superiors and pocketing it, leading to a severe shortage of funds, expired equipment, and aging wiring, which resulted in the current tragedy.
He hung up the phone and threw it away violently, smashing the expensive oil painting by a famous artist that was hanging on the wall.
"A bunch of bastards! That's the General Administration of External Security! They dare to embezzle that kind of funding!"
He was furious and resolved to respond to the public's call to expel these scoundrels when public anger was rising.
France operates under a dual political system: the president, responsible for military and national affairs, is elected by the people, while the prime minister, responsible for administrative matters, is appointed by the president. However, without just cause, the president cannot arbitrarily dismiss a prime minister, or even any minister.
"Damn it! I have to go to the scene." He changed out of his pajamas, put on leather shoes and a suit, hurriedly arranged for guards, and ignored everyone's advice to go to the scene of the incident himself.
Perhaps because the impact of this incident was so severe, various departments that usually slack off suddenly came together to cooperate. When he arrived at the scene, it was already surrounded by people from all departments.
He was surprised to see the high-ranking officials of the Foreign Affairs Bureau and their director, whom he thought had died long ago, in the medical vehicle!
"What exactly happened?" he asked the person next to him.
The person he was questioning had been there for a long time and was very familiar with the situation, so he was even more confused. Now, upon hearing the president's question, he immediately replied, "Although the scene was horrific, no one died in the line of duty. No one remembers what happened; they only know that when they woke up, they saw medical personnel."
There are two key points in this sentence: first, no one remembers it; second, the scene was terrifying.
The president frowned. "What did the doctor say?"
"Everyone is outside the safe distance of the blast radius. The doctor judged that the amnesia may be due to excessive shock, or it may be—drug-induced hallucinations." The person reporting the situation cautiously looked up, hoping not to see lightning on the president's face. After all, if word got out that the entire intelligence agency of a country was on drugs, everyone would better resign and apologize as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, of all the possibilities, this last one is the most likely, because the shock is so great that it's impossible to explain why everyone is outside the safe zone.
Only the latter explanation can account for why things turned out this way—the people in charge set fire to their own homes and then left. After evacuating to a safe area, perhaps someone suggested it, or perhaps someone had a sudden lapse in judgment, but in any case, they detonated some explosive materials, causing this tragic scene.
"After the on-site investigation, is this conclusion reliable?" The president's face showed no emotion, but his hands were clenched tightly together, his knuckles were white, and the veins on his wrists were bulging.
"————" The person who answered moved their lips a few times, then stopped speaking and just lowered their head.
Such a performance carried more weight than any words, igniting a fire within the president. He truly wanted to cause a scene, but there were too many people present.
In such situations, displaying power, berating subordinates, and demanding accountability may seem satisfying to watch, but it greatly diminishes how others perceive a top politician.
The most urgent task now is to put out the fire, rescue people, and ensure safety; everything else is secondary.
He kept telling himself to stay calm, but anger was anger, and he felt that if things continued like this, sooner or later he would be driven to his wits' end by these incompetent teammates: "How is the emergency treatment going?"
"The fire is under control."
In reality, when they arrived at the scene, there were only charred traces left by the fire, and not a single spark could be seen.
"All the injured are receiving emergency treatment and are not in life-threatening condition. This incident will not result in any casualties."
In reality, when they arrived at the scene, they found that there were no injured people at all; everyone was unconscious on the ground, and apart from amnesia, they were just like normal people.
"The only concern is the impact on public opinion. When our various departments arrived at the scene, we could see residents looking out of their windows. I personally think that the whole of Paris may have felt the impact of tonight's violent explosion."
There was no way to claim credit for this, nor could he offer any good news; he could only state the facts.
"Public opinion—I understand. You can go ahead and get busy." The president breathed a sigh of relief. He knew there was no time to rush things. No matter how much he wanted to kick those parasites out of the team, or how much he wanted to dismiss a few ministers who disagreed with him, maintaining stability and preserving the government's credibility was the priority right now. He could settle scores later, or he could rely on public opinion.
As he pondered the situation, he ventured deeper into the accident site. What came into view was a stretch of scorched earth spanning one or two kilometers, and a bottomless pit deep within the earth.
Only the wind was hot. It brought a sense of oppression, a touch of life; everything else was deathly still.
"What did they order? A tactical nuclear weapon? Does the General Administration of External Security have this kind of equipment?"
Seeing this scene, all thoughts about the political climate and public opinion shifts came to an end, leaving only curiosity about these subordinates who appeared to be intelligence agents but were actually explosives experts.
the next day.
The people in the old revolutionary base areas spontaneously spread their stories from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred.
Day three.
Some people started giving speeches in the streets, claiming that their safety needed to be guaranteed and that the current government was incompetent and unable to protect the people's safety.
The relevant departments kindly advised these speakers to leave, while reporting the situation to higher authorities and awaiting instructions.
Day .
As the saying goes, it's easier to stop the people from speaking than to stop a river from overflowing. If you keep blocking the mouths, it means that a massive protest is bound to happen.