Chapter 442: Chapter 442: Short Videos Are Not Official Announcements (Part 1)
The Logistics Department was generous enough to even buy the Otherworldly salt from her to taste.
In this cookhouse in Town No. 2, everyone had a chef’s certificate, and when they tried following a recipe, they would often say "what the hell is this," with recipes getting a "not bad" evaluation being unusually rare.
Looking into the origins of these recipes, they all shared a commonality: they came from granary regions.
Those flat, rain-synchronous granary regions have now all become ideal battlefields.
The process of testing these dishes was all filmed by the program team, and they themselves also became tasters, giving their opinions on the taste.
On the day that the Five Bridges Secret Realm fully closed, people marvelled at the previously obscured river channels being restored, and the official released a short video about the Translation Mushroom on their platforms.
Netizens were instantly drawn in, with huge enthusiasm erupting, sparking a day-long frenzy of debate on the internet about its authenticity.
Late that night, Ye Nai quietly appeared at the designated new Transmission Port location for the Five Bridges Secret Realm in the pitch-black danger zone of Five Bridges City, opening a portal big enough for a heavy truck.
By daylight, the heat around the Translation Mushroom hadn’t dissipated, and news of a new Transmission Port appearing in the dangerous zone of the Five Bridges Secret Realm hit the online trending lists, right below the Translation Mushroom.
At this time, an official live broadcast from Five Bridges City, long-prepared, was simultaneously launched on television and online.
Two program teams were dispatched, one with the host standing outside the Transmission Port in the danger zone, under military lockdown; the other team followed the mayor and the leadership convoy from City Hall to the danger zone.
Those netizens able to access the internet at this time immediately linked yesterday’s Translation Mushroom with today’s Transmission Port, sensing something unusual, causing the number of viewers in the live stream to soar, quickly surpassing six digits.
The city hall convoy arrived outside the Transmission Port, and the officials gradually got out of their vehicles, pulling out their phones in front of the live broadcast cameras, after which they were scanned by soldiers with handheld metal detectors.
When they approached the Transmission Port, none of them had electronic devices on them, and the host, who had been there all along, personally handed the mayor a digital camera mounted on a tripod.
Under the watch of those present and the live audience, they confidently stepped into the Transmission Port.
The camera remained fixed on the portal after they entered, and the host also appeared onscreen talking, to prove that it wasn’t a camera malfunction or a still image.
About five minutes later, the mayor emerged carrying the tripod, accompanied by the leadership team.
The host took the camera, connected it to the large screen on site, and displayed the four or five group photos taken.
The background of the group photos was the iconic buildings of Town No. 2 in the Five Bridges Secret Realm, with several shots taken of the mayor’s party, with someone either speaking or closing their eyes in the earlier ones, reaching perfection only in the last shot.
They unabashedly displayed them all.
The audience laughed heartily, slapping their knees.
Only then did the citizens of Five Bridges realize what the broadcast signified, bubbling with excitement, jumping up and down cheering.
Some were sneaking a peek at the live stream while working, temporarily ignoring any potential reprimand from their superiors, quickly shouting out in excitement before putting their phones away.
Then the whole office burst into cheering.
It was at this moment that the mayor of Five Bridges finally made the formal announcement to the citizens in front of the host’s microphone.
"Dear citizens and esteemed Awakeners, I, as the mayor of Five Bridges City, solemnly announce: the once Otherworldly-controlled entrance to the Secret Realm is now officially closed, and a new Transmission Port under our autonomous control is now fully operational."
"Mayor, why did you not announce this good news when the old Secret Realm entrance closed?"
"Because at that time, we weren’t sure it could indeed be reopened. Out of responsibility to the public, despite our anxiety, we needed to patiently wait for the miracle to occur."
"Mayor, what else do you think this good news might signify?"
"Heh, this naturally implies that Secret Realms across the country can be closed and reopened."
"Mayor, I have one last question. You mentioned the Secret Realm Transmission Port, right? Why is it referred to as a Transmission Port? Is it due to having talent in this aspect?"
"Talent is certainly there, but according to the National Secrets Protection Act and related confidentiality regulations, this person will remain confidential for fifty years, only to be revealed post-declassification. I don’t know who it is; I only know we have this talent."
Letting the Five Bridges City Hall announce this news instead of Daijing was not only because it’s a top-tier city on par with Daijing but also because it was agreed upon during initial negotiations. After all, the Five Bridges Secret Realm had been showing signs of instability, needing timely closure to prevent mass casualties.
Since it was announced that the Five Bridges Secret Realm still exists, it was also an opportune moment for the mayor to mention this talent and publicly declare their anonymity, letting everyone wait fifty years for the name to be revealed.
This limited yet restrained disclosure of information not only conveyed to the public the existence of a crucial figure, satisfying their curiosity about the mysterious forces behind major events, but also demonstrated a degree of transparency in the official information release.
The internet was in a frenzy at this time.
Many Hunters who had moved to other cities were preparing to return to Five Bridges City to continue earning in familiar surroundings.
[Hooray! Long live the Dahua Country!]
[The host is driving me crazy, why didn’t they ask whether the war is going to end?]
[Don’t get your hopes up too high above me, Five Bridges City doesn’t have the authority to announce that.]
[The purpose of this broadcast is to inform the public that the Five Bridges Secret Realm still exists and to introduce that confidential figure.]
[Pretty good, I like this secret figure.]
[Go check, the playback count for the Translation Mushroom is going up again, already over eighty million.]
[Thinking carefully, even though the official news is not out yet, we can assume, is this dreaded battlefield finally going to end?]
[It’s definitely going to end, otherwise why release the Translation Mushroom news? Telling us eating this mushroom allows painless learning of Otherworldly alien languages, doesn’t that imply we get to communicate with Otherworldly people?]
[Who wants to communicate with them? They’ve killed so many Blue Star people over the decades, if I could go to the Otherworld, I’d want to slaughter them all.]
[Guys, really, don’t say that, that confidential person who can reopen the Secret Realm Transmission Port might also be able to open a portal to and from the Otherworld?]
[Definitely, otherwise what’s the point of the Translation Mushroom? These two pieces of news are related.]
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