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Chapter 259
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The Guardian's Return Chapter 260
"You should get Michael to ask the other villagers about it, and I'll call James over," Stephen said to George.Stephen could not help but feel relieved. Having a partner to work with made things a whole lot easier. If it had just been him, he would have not thought of such a clever solution. While Ethan might have been able to outsmart him before, he had George working with him now. Even if Ethan were to step in, he would have to leave in defeat! Soon, James arrived.Stephen asked sternly, "I just received complaints from the villagers saying that the compensation you gave them was too low, only 6,000 dollars per square meter of housing and 30 thousand dollars per 666 square meters of land. Is that true? James immediately refuted, "Who said that? Such accusations! I gave them 10 thousand dollars per square meter of property and 50 thousand dollars per 666 square meters of land." Stephen narrowed his eyes as he asked, "Is that so?""I swear it’s true!" James answered.Steph
The Guardian's Return Chapter 261
"You're lying! The mayor clearly gave us 6 grand, and we were never a criminal organization," one of the villagers protested."Our children sacrificed their lives to protect Riveria!" another added. "Those weapons were meant to fight our enemies."Having already given his warning, Michael did not want to deal with these people anymore. He spat dismissively, "Just leave. Everyone's busy. Don't act entitled after getting what you were given."Lucas was thunderstruck, unable to believe the outcome. The mayor had taken their village away, and now Stephen Quinn refused to meet them. With this, it meant that they no longer had a place to live.Warm tears rolled down old Lucas’s cheeks. He never imagined that after all the sacrifices their entire village, including his own family, had made for Riveria and Celestial City, this would be their fate."Children, everyone, I've failed you!" Lucas cried out. Then, in full view of everyone, he slammed his head against the wall.Bang!Blood i
The Guardian's Return Chapter 262
Michael panicked. As someone close to George Lowe, he knew very well whether these stories were true or false.If the lies were exposed, it would be a massive blow to the tourism industry around Azure Cloud Mountain and Crystal Lake! It might even affect the food court.He hurriedly called for security to disperse the crowd, then rushed off to find Stephen Quinn and George Lowe."We have a problem!" Michael burst into the office.Stephen and George frowned. For over a month, they had been receiving streams of good news. Celestial City's GDP had recovered to 2 trillion dollars, which was not far from its peak of 2.5 trillion.Hearing "we have a problem" now seemed like bad luck."What's all the fuss about?" Stephen said coldly. "Calm down and explain."Michael was nearly out of breath. "The village chief of those villagers who came seeking justice... He just slammed his head against the wall outside!"Stephen's heart skipped a beat, but then he thought about how these villages u
The Guardian's Return Chapter 263
Taking advantage of the crowd, someone shouted, "Did you make up the legend of Crystal Lake?""Did you really take away their village and leave them homeless?""Aren't you the Grand Marshal's mentee? Aren’t you aware of those who shed blood and sweat for Riveria?"Stephen felt his face burning with shame.Each question was like a sword piercing his heart, or a slap across his face.He could not bear to look at anyone. He could only hurry back to the office with George, seeking refuge.Stephen sat restlessly, taking out his phone to browse the web. Online, he saw that Celestial City's affairs were already trending.[Shocking: Village chief who has shed blood and tears for Celestial City, whose wife and children all sacrificed themselves, is driven to suicide by Stephen Quinn!][Breaking News! The legend of Crystal Lake is fake!][Riveria's biggest scam: The Crystal Lake legend!]Clicking on these posts, he could see many on-site videos of villagers kneeling and revealing the t
The Guardian's Return Chapter 264
Many who had eaten at the risotto restaurant immediately went to the hospital for check-ups, fearing they might have fallen ill."Compensation!""Refund!""Execute them!"The entire internet was enraged. Everyone had been deceived, moved to tears by a recently fabricated story, and even swindled out of a significant amount of money.Tourist numbers in Celestial City dropped by 30% in just one day. The decline did not continue only because all plane and high-speed rail tickets for that day were sold out. Many people could not leave immediately.Numerous food businesses approached Stephen, saying, "What a massive scam. You've played us all for fools.""A Celestial City like this isn't worth staying in!"They all wanted to pull out of Celestial City!Companies that had reserved office space in the business district demanded refunds. However, since the mayor had transferred all the money out, where would they find the funds to issue refunds?The food court's customer traffic also
The Guardian's Return Chapter 265
Celestial City's population began to decrease, and its reputation started to deteriorate.However, Stephen and George did not notice any of this yet. They were still overwhelmed by Lucas's suicide attempt. They sent people to investigate the truth.The results showed that everything the villagers said was true. Not only were they not criminals, but they were also heroes who had made great sacrifices for Celestial City years ago.However, they had slandered these very heroes, calling them criminals and leaving them homeless!This was an extremely grave issue!"Where's the mayor?" Stephen demanded. "How did he conduct his investigation to cause such a mess? We can't let him escape!"The assistant replied, "We've been watching him. So far, he's been staying at home with no signs of leaving. He can't run away."Stephen breathed a sigh of relief. If the mayor had not fled, it meant he was not trying to deceive them. He must be thinking of ways to resolve this too."Let me report thi
The Guardian's Return Chapter 266
If this got online, Stephen would become the public enemy every netizen despised. “The village chief, Lucas, is still in the ICU, unconscious.” Simon prayed hard for Lucas’s well-being. If Lucas survived, he could help speak up. If he died, then there would be no way to explain himself. “It’s not just that.” Someone else said, “The legend of Crystal Lake was identified as a hoax. This impacted the tourism in the city. The food that was labeled a cultural heritage was also revoked.” Celestial City’s tourism was not fully developed in the first place. Not many people knew about Azure Cloud Mountain, let alone Crystal Lake. Most of the people only noticed Azure Cloud Mountain and Crystal Lake because of the beautiful story. Unfortunately, it was not some ancient tale but a made-up story forged recently. The people felt cheated. On top of the pricey food and underwhelming taste, people stopped going to Celestial City. “Celestial City’s deceptive move leaves a bitter taste
The Guardian's Return Chapter 267
“Huh!?” A bad feeling rose in Stephen’s heart. He shouted at his men, “Open the damn door!” “We don’t have the keys.” “Then, ram it down!” he shouted. Unfortunately, ramming down a heavy-duty door with an electronic lock with mere muscles was nearly impossible. They had to contact a locksmith and spend twenty minutes to break in. Stephen rushed in and saw the mayor sitting on the couch in the living room with a smirk.“You bastard!” The mayor was at home from the start, and the call was merely a prank. Stephen was infuriated. He strode forward and raised his hand for a slap. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out, “We meet again.” Stephen froze. He widened his eyes to have a better look at the mayor and to his surprise, this ‘mayor’ looked strange. The ‘mayor’ seemed thinner and his facial features looked more defined. More importantly, he recognized the voice. “You’re not the mayor! You’re the one who abducted Richard!” It was the man who had pointed the gun at
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The Guardian's Return Chapter 876
Hearing Stephen’s positive response, the people in Riveria calmed down slightly.“I hope they can recover the money soon.”“I took out a loan on my house to invest. If we don’t get it back, my family is done for.”“Let’s believe in Stephen. No matter what, he was the Grand Marshal’s mentee.”“He did a good job running Riveria before. I’m sure he can do it again.”“Yeah. This is just a minor issue compared to before.”Most people expressed their trust in Stephen. They could tell that he was far more worn out than before. His hair, which had shown signs of turning black again, had faded back to white again. Some people even felt sorry for him.However, there were others who doubted his abilities. The scammers had fled abroad. Would Stephen be able to catch them, and even if they were caught, could the money be recovered? What if the scammers had laundered the money by auctioning off artwork?They voiced their concerns online. Some people agreed, understanding why they were worrie
The Guardian's Return Chapter 875
Stephen looked at the contract. Other than the high price, there were no other problems.However, the high price was a humiliation for both Stephen and the whole of Riveria.He wanted to refuse and even curse them, but he had no leverage against the other party and was completely passive in this situation. If he did not agree, the crops and livestock in Riveria would be finished.Stephen closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Even though he knew that many people would hate him, he still signed the contract.“Pleasure doing business with you.” The foreigners took the contract and chuckled. With that, they left.The meeting room was silent, Stephen being the only one left. He slumped into his chair, uncertain if he had made the right decision.Half an hour later, his phone rang, snapping him back to reality. He had more work to do.Many people in Riveria had been scammed into buying virtual currency, losing over ten billion. Stephen had to give the people an answer.“How did the
The Guardian's Return Chapter 874
Stephen had no choice but to use a translation device, continuing the discussion while they mocked him.Despite his utmost sincerity and effort, they refused to lower their price at all, confident that they had Stephen cornered.His only option was to take money from the Quinns and pour it into developing the medicine. However, he knew the Quinns well. There was no way they would take out billions at once for something like this, especially when there were other diseases to deal with as well.They were no match for Ethan, but the Quinns were nothing to them, let alone Stephen.“We’ll get to the point.”They spoke in Stephen’s language to make sure that he understood. “You’re not good enough. Only Mr. Rivers can manage Riveria. You can’t even protect the people around you. How do you plan to protect Riveria?”Stephen’s expression soured. He knew that they were telling the truth. He had no way to refute, and being stubborn would only make him look more ridiculous.“I’m not as good
The Guardian's Return Chapter 873
Stephen felt that he could come up with a solution that could save both Riveria and protect the Quinns.However, did such a solution really exist? He was not confident.“I’ll go back to my room first.” Stephen walked away.Back in his room, he sat at his desk, deep in thought.“A perfect solution...”Stephen could not think of one. The more he tried, the more his mind uncontrollably drifted back to the past.“No.” He shook his head. “I need to focus.”However, his mind and body had deteriorated from the multiple tragedies. His hair had turned grey, and he struggled to maintain focus.Stephen sighed and planned to think of a solution later. Now, he needed to address Riveria’s current problems.Crops and livestock were falling ill. He sent people to investigate the cause, but research required massive funding. Replacing the crops and animals with new ones would not be easy either.At that moment, foreign corporations suddenly announced that they had the right medicine to cure t
The Guardian's Return Chapter 872
In the past, George also thought that Riveria would not collapse even without Ethan. With himself and the Quinn family, Stephen could still bring Riveria to new heights.Now, he understood.What the former governor, Liam, and the others said was true: Riveria would fall without Ethan.Neither the Lowes, the Quinns, nor even all the families in Metropolis combined, could manage Riveria.Without Ethan, Riveria was doomed.Stephen lowered his head. If it were in the past, he would have laughed if he had heard such words, thinking it was a joke.How was he inferior to Ethan? Whatever Ethan could do, he could do too, and better at that!Now, he could not laugh.He realized the truth too.The first city’s downfall was a coincidence, the second was due to negligence, and the third was an accident, but what about the fourth? The fifth?He could come up with a thousand excuses, but it would not change the truth.The reality was that he was far inferior to Ethan. Only Ethan could save
The Guardian's Return Chapter 871
A large number of people from Riveria poured into their cities. It was already difficult to find a job, but now that a bunch of outsiders were coming to compete for positions, employment was even harder.Furthermore, after arriving in a foreign place, many of those outsiders strayed and turned to robbery and theft. Some even slept on the streets, occupying public facilities and disrupting everyone’s daily lives.People from the surrounding cities of Riveria found it unbearable. They began cursing Riverians on the internet.Meanwhile, in Riveria, people had endured enough grievances in their daily lives. Their living conditions were far from satisfactory, and they held in a lot of frustration.Now, people were scolding them online, calling them beggars and telling them to go back to Riveria and wait for their death.How could they tolerate that?They immediately retaliated online. The arguments escalated, growing more intense by the day.Eventually, people from Riveria even trave
The Guardian's Return Chapter 870
Many crops had fallen sick in Riveria. The corrupted grains in Breeze City and destroyed fertile land had already dealt a huge blow to Riveria. Now, with more crops falling ill on a large scale, grain production had decreased, and fruit yields had dropped drastically. There was a problem with the livestock as well. An unknown disease spread and the affected livestock would basically end up dead, with no way to treat them and unfit for consumption. To everyone in Riveria, it was a huge blow. Prices of all food items began to rise, especially fresh vegetables and fruits. Their prices were comparable to meat. Even a single raw egg was 5 dollars, and boiled eggs for breakfast cost 7 dollars each. After hearing about it, Stephen tried to control the price, but it would cost money. Several cities in Riveria had been ruined under his management. He did not have any money left. He would not have needed to outsource infrastructure projects to other companies and corporates if he had mon
The Guardian's Return Chapter 869
The two walked over to Stephen and glanced at him. His limbs were intact, and he was unharmed. Rachel looked at him with disdain. “You’re a man. Why are you suddenly crying?”George was dissatisfied too. “How embarrassing. You don’t have any dignity.”Stephen heard it all. He did not want to cry either, but he could not hold it in. The moment the fridge door would not close, he thought of everything he experienced in the past six months and broke down instantly. Although the Quinns always taught him how to act as a young master, they never told him that he was also just an ordinary man. “What a disgrace.” Rachel turned around and went up the stairs. George could not be bothered either and returned to his room. A few minutes later, Stephen calmed down. He wiped his tears, adjusted his mindset, stood up from the ground, and ordered takeout from his phone. He thought he could finally eat something, but half an hour later, the delivery guy called him, asking him to get the fo
The Guardian's Return Chapter 868
Stephen felt as if the sky had collapsed when he heard this. He still held onto a sliver of hope the previous day, thinking that since he was found by the roadside, Ethan must have at least brought him down the mountain. However, the truth was that the South Regent had carried him down. If not for the South Regent, Ethan would not spare him a glance even if he knelt to his death!The South Regent looked at the table beside him. “Your table is too clean. There’s no fruit basket or flowers. Did you really have no visitors the whole of yesterday?”Stephen did not speak. He knew the South Regent was mocking him, but he was unable to retort. He had been an absolute failure over the past six months and had nothing to boast of. In fact, Stephen was starting to think he somehow deserved it. “Tsk tsk,” the South Regent looked at Stephen and said, “You’re a completely different person compared to when you just got here.”When Stephen first arrived in Riveria, he was full of himself, a
