Unexpected Calamity

"Who knows?" The co-working employee moved the mouse, quickly switching between several group chat pages. "Still, I don't think it will happen too fast. At least, not today."

"Tsk, such a wonderful piece of good news, why be so secretive about it? Could it really be like what they said?" The joint venture employee rubbed his teeth, pointing at the group chat channel where messages were still rapidly refreshing. "Saving it to divert attention the next time a crisis hits?"

"How is that even possible?" The co-working employee slowly shook his head. "Right now, the whole world desperately needs some good news! The eight billion humans on Earth desperately need a shot in the arm! This change—" The co-working employee pointed at the spreadsheet posted on the screen. "As soon as it's released, it will instantly become the headline of every single media outlet."

"Actually, it's almost time now too..."

The joint venture employee opened his browser. Under the connivance of their "official companies," headlines like "The Miracle of the Paralyzed Patient" and "The Gospel for Obese Patients" had already occupied a certain share of web traffic and were rapidly climbing.

"Yeah!" the co-working employee said. "Just look at how many people care! Even with unconfirmed news right now, it already has such a high level of public attention and heat. Once the official announcement is made, it will immediately capture the gaze of the entire world!"

"Then why aren't they rushing to release it?" the joint venture employee asked.

"How many days has it been since the celestial phenomenon event?" Pointing at the spreadsheet on the screen, the co-working employee wore a wry smile. "With just this tiny bit of time, such thin data, and such far-fetched logic—do you think it could withstand the scrutiny of eight billion people?"

"You mean the public might suspect it's fabricated?"

"Highly likely!"

"Fair enough. 'Average salary,' 'Never restricting license plates,' 'Gladly welcoming rising oil prices'—it hasn't been that long since those..."

"There are all kinds of birds in a big forest. Just look at Mark Twain; Western countries are even worse."

"Those bastards maliciously consuming the government's credibility!"

"Besides, there's another very important point," the co-working employee continued. "Right now, these pieces of news—well, specifically the subjects currently covered where training effects can be observed..."

At this point, the co-working employee enlarged the spreadsheet. "Look: neurological paralysis, severe myopia, morbid obesity. Notice that these are basically severe cases! Do these severe cases have anything to do with ordinary people? Will everyone wish they could suddenly contract these severe conditions just to share in the benefits? How many people rush to get pregnant just because hearing loss treatment is twenty percent off? Furthermore, even among these groups with severe conditions, the proportion of people who have truly benefited right now is extremely, almost negligibly small. If it's published based on the current content, the utilization value of Wu Qingchen's good news is simply far too low—far, far too low!"

"Hmm, what you're saying makes a lot of sense." The joint venture employee was clearly persuaded, and turning his head, he asked, "In that case? What do you think should be done?"

"How should I know?" The co-working employee rolled his eyes and pointed at the ceiling above his head. "If I knew, I'd be able to move up to a better office."

Just as they were speaking, a simultaneous notification popped up on the internal communication tool displayed on the screens before them.

"Emergency Notice: Adjustment of the Focus Objectives for the Current Stage of Public Opinion Guidance. Content is available via the link."

"It's finally here." "It looks like the committee has finally reached a consensus."

The two of them clicked on the link at the same time.

A long list of titles unfolded, and both men instantly widened their eyes.

"The host city for the 2012 Olympic Games is changed to the Capital, and the date is moved up to May 24, 2012!"

"2012! The Capital! The Olympic Games!"

"A single city hosting two consecutive Olympic Games!"

"Ten days from now, the Olympic Games will open early!"

This...
The 2012 Capital Olympics?

Could the 2008 Olympics have been a hallucination of mine?

No, no, is this really the time to be worrying about the Olympic Games?

"What, what is the meaning of all this?" The joint venture employee rubbed his eyes. "How did it suddenly involve the Olympics?"

"So that's how it is!" The co-working employee slapped his thigh. "I get it now!"

"What is it? What do you understand? Tell me quickly." The joint venture employee swiftly turned his head.

"It makes total sense!" the co-working employee said excitedly. "The Olympics! The highest stage for human athletic competition! The focal point of global attention! An Olympic champion represents the pinnacle of human physical capability! A world record represents the ultimate challenge to the limits of human physical fitness!"

"Oh..." The joint venture employee also gradually revealed a look of sudden realization. "Using the competitive process of these Olympic athletes, under the gaze of global spectators, to jointly witness the covering effect of Wu Qingchen's Middle Earth physical training on the eight billion humans of Earth..."

"Yes! Exactly like that!" The co-working employee nodded repeatedly.

"However—" The joint venture employee glanced at the titles a few more times. "Ten days from now... Ten days, isn't that time frame a bit too rushed?"

"Rushed? No, not rushed at all!" The co-working employee shook his head vigorously. "Ten days from now—that timing is set brilliantly! Look—" Pointing at the spreadsheet enlarged on his screen once more, the co-working employee said, "Ten days is just about enough time for these grassroots spontaneous topics to ferment. Coupled with the guidance from our department and other public opinion departments, it should be enough to make the vast majority of the public aware and begin generating expectations for the cumulative physical training effects triggered by Wu Qingchen. On the other hand—"

The co-working employee raised his head slightly, struggling to organize his words.

"On the other hand, what?" the joint venture employee urged.

"On the other hand, for every ten days that pass here on Earth, one hundred days pass in Middle Earth. One hundred days, plus the previous fifty-odd days, makes five months of training effects—at that percentage, most Earthlings should already be able to vaguely perceive the changes. At that time, having these athletes—representatives who are already extremely close to the limits of human physical capability—prove the guesses and expectations in everyone's minds in one fell swoop!" The co-working employee's voice raised slightly. "When the authorities make the official announcement then, it will be iron-clad evidence! There won't be a single shred of room for doubt left!"

"Yes, exactly like that, it must be like that!" The joint venture employee nodded repeatedly, showing deep agreement.

"There's one final benefit!" Once his train of thought was unlocked, the co-working employee spoke with increasing fluency as he quickly flipped open the Milling Strategy on his desk. "One hundred days from now, Middle Earth will be right at the autumn harvest season, which is also the exact milestone for the success of the Milling Strategy! According to the plan in the proposal, Wu Qingchen will inevitably reach a whole new level in Middle Earth by then! The safety of the eight billion humans on Earth will have several more layers of guarantee! Officially announcing this wonderful news at that time will definitely multiply the confidence of the populace in every nation!"

"Killing multiple birds with one stone!" the joint venture employee chimed in.

"Indeed!" the co-working employee concluded. "Rescheduling the Olympics is truly the ultimate utilization of this change, this piece of great news!"

"That must be it, no doubt about it... But—"

After the excitement subsided, faced with reality, the joint venture employee immediately developed new doubts: "Ten days—will there be enough time? I mean, this is the Olympic Games! Rescheduling it on short notice and changing the location as well—is ten days really enough?"

"Why wouldn't there be enough time?"

"Tickets! Venues! Spectators! Visas! Security..." The joint venture employee rattled off a long string of headache-inducing problems.

"That's too simple; even I can figure it out." The co-working employee began counting on his fingers. "As for visas, if foreigners can't come, they just can't come! As for spectators, the population of the Capital alone can definitely absorb them. As for security, the most heavily guarded place in the world right now is definitely right here. Venues are easy to solve too; we can just use the venues from the previous Olympic Games. Tickets can be printed at any time, and if worse comes to worst, we can ship them over from London. With the whole world working together with one heart, are we afraid we can't host a single Olympic Games properly?"

"Then... what about the spectators who have already booked tickets, itineraries, and hotels over in London..." At this point, the joint venture employee chuckled himself.

The co-working employee smiled and continued, "That is something for the Mayor of London to worry about."

"The Mayor of London must be in a terrible mood right now."

"What mood could he possibly have?" The co-working employee casually shook his head. "Given his rank, he probably found out about this even later than we did..."

Hmm...
Thinking about the priority level of his own department, the joint venture employee felt that was indeed highly likely.

"By the way, what about over here?"

Pointing at the group chat channel on the display screen where messages were still refreshing, the joint venture employee asked, "How do we explain it to them?"

"We can't explain it. After all, these were just our conjectures... Still, it seems there's no need to explain anything anyway. Look—"

At that moment, the co-working employee dragged the link sent by the internal communication message all the way to the bottom. The very last line clearly read: *All departments are requested to appropriately appease the invited commentators on their own and issue the wages and bonuses for the next stage in advance.*

"Tsk, tsk. Getting paid in advance!" The joint venture employee was suddenly moved with emotion. "I always feel like the celestial phenomenon event has brought about a lot of benefits, even without the stacking of Wu Qingchen's Middle Earth training effects."

"Who wouldn't say so?"

The co-working employee deeply agreed.

At this moment, the communicator in front of the two men flashed a green light.

"The order is confirmed." The co-working employee patted his colleague's shoulder. "Alright, send the link out to everyone."

In modern society, especially during extraordinary times, news spreads at an extremely rapid pace.

The speed of feedback was equally swift.

Especially in London:

"London changed to the Capital, July 24 changed to May 24, and the International Olympic Committee renamed to the Z-Country Olympic Committee!"

"The 2012 Olympics can be moved forward, but will the 2016 Olympics even exist?"

"A blatant dark operation!"

"The most humiliating day in world sports history!"

"The British Empire?"

"A disaster out of nowhere!"

The gaze of the entire world rapidly converged on the massive topic of the rescheduled and relocated Olympic Games.

By this time, the invited commentators had successively received their wages and bonuses for the next stage.

At the same time, in another room, another organization, a discussion was underway regarding a different salary issue.

Wu Qingchen's salary.