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墨書 Inktalez
Thirty minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and soon the new meeting began, followed by the voting.
The voting was conducted through personal terminals in front of each person. Although the votes were anonymous, the terminal codes were announced to ensure fairness. The terminal codes were randomly assigned, so they did not hinder anonymity.
Before long, the results began to be announced:
In the National Leaders Group, there were a total of 6 members, with 19 in favor, 5 against, and no abstentions.
In the Regional Leaders Group, there were 71 members, with 48 in favor, 16 against, and 7 abstentions.
Upon seeing this, Chen Rui quickly calculated in his mind. The approval rate for the first group reached 7, accounting for 24.11% of the total. The second group had an approval rate of 67, making up 22.3% of the total.
Just these two groups already achieved a 46% approval rate. In the Trial Group, as long as one person agreed, the proposal would pass, and how could there possibly be only one vote in favor?
In the Trial Leaders Group, there were 915 members, with 41 in favor, 67 against, and 8 abstentions.
Next, instead of immediately announcing the results, they began to disclose which terminal codes had cast votes for which proposals to demonstrate transparency.
During this lengthy announcement phase, no one spoke. In truth, there was no need for any deception; no one would resort to fraud because even someone like Chen Rui would crumble under real interests.
After the results were announced, the Leaders Group proceeded to hold another meeting focused on selecting the announcement date and launch time for the plan.
This was beyond Chen Rui's influence. After stepping out, he suddenly felt a sense of relief. Leaning against the railing of the observation deck and gazing at the endless ocean, he suddenly had an urge to reflect on life.
"Don't waste time here! Let's take a break today and seize the chance to return home tomorrow!" Zhang Jun approached from behind with a teasing reprimand. "You dare to oppose me? You've gone too far!"
"Zhang! Is this my fault? You didn't even inform me; I didn't have a draft prepared..." Chen Rui complained before realizing something. "Wait a minute! What do you mean 'take a break today'? What time is it now? It's already past noon! Is this what you call a break?"
"Hey! When did I ever take a break? Why don't you just quit? No one here is keeping an eye on you. Wait, if you quit, you wouldn't be able to come here now," Zhang Jun said with a smile. "I don't know why you ended up being the representative; it seems like it was a last-minute arrangement from above. You can't blame me for that."
Chen Rui didn't want to waste time chatting with Zhang Jun. Instead of heading to the helicopter, he ran toward the elevator, asking as he went, "What time are we heading back tonight?"
"As long as we arrive at the airport by 7 AM tomorrow, it's fine. The same place we arrived at before," Zhang Jun replied, shaking his head as he walked toward the helipad. "These young people today... although I guess he isn't that young anymore."
The foundation of the Giant Tower was situated on the Cook Islands, covering the entire island. Three massive support pillars spread out in a large character shape, with the north and south pillars anchored on the beach across a gap, while the eastern pillar was also set on the Cook Islands, giving the main structure a square appearance.
In addition to a row of helipads on each floor, the tower was equipped with four large high-speed elevators, each capable of accommodating nearly a hundred people.
After reaching the ground level, Chen Rui realized that due to maritime restrictions, he couldn't access the southern shore just a stone's throw away—well, it was just a stone's throw on the map; Chen Rui could only see the other side.
Returning to the upper levels, Chen Rui found that Zhang Jun and his group were still waiting there, which made him quite irritated. "Did you know we weren't allowed to go down?"
"Yeah."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"You didn't ask."
Chen Rui nearly choked on his frustration.
In the end, they boarded the helicopter.
The helicopter took them to Cassidy Airport, where everyone immediately went their separate ways. Zhang Jun couldn't help but smile as he entered the VIP lounge with Xiang Xiao.
Chen Rui wanted to go to the beach and was about to ask a local where the best sea views were when he realized a serious problem: he had no money!
Searching through his pockets, Chen Rui realized he didn't have a single Visa or Mastercard, not even a UnionPay card. He usually didn't carry a wallet or cards on him.
With a helpless smile, Chen Rui pulled out two red bills and asked the local driver, "Can this be used?" To his surprise, the driver nodded, "Yeah."
Chen Rui happily got into the car and handed the money over. "Beah! Best!" The driver made a 'K' gesture with his hand.
Chen Rui felt delighted because even with his broken English, he could communicate effectively. He was also amazed at how widely accepted Renminbi had become; even a resident of a tropical island nation could recognize it.
The car had barely moved a few meters when someone flagged them down. Chen Rui looked out to see a somewhat unfamiliar pretty face pressed against the window.
Kaitina saw someone inside the car and initially intended to negotiate, but upon recognizing Chen Rui, she simply opened the door and hopped in without any hesitation.
"Is she your girlfriend? She's really pretty; you're lucky!" the driver chuckled. His local accent was quite thick, but Chen Rui understood him well enough.
"No, we're just friends; we just met," Chen Rui explained, turning to Kaitina with a sigh. "Sister, do we know each other well enough for you to just jump in? Aren't you afraid I might run off with you?"
"I know my brother isn't that bad; besides, he doesn't have the ability to do that."
Chen Rui chose not to argue. "I'm going to the beach; where are you headed? You just got in."
"Perfect timing! I'm going to the beach too." Kaitina leaned forward and quickly said something that Chen Rui couldn't catch, only hearing the driver respond, "That's where we're going."
Kaitina sat back and smiled at Chen Rui. "I didn't realize you had such good taste; you know to go to the best beach?"
"I just asked the driver where the best beach is. Honestly, this country is surrounded by beaches; how would I know which one is the best on my first visit?" Chen Rui explained.
Before long, they arrived at their destination. The so-called best beach wasn't as glamorous as Chen Rui had imagined; what lay before him was a stretch of ordinary sand and water.
The beach was simple, with fine sand mixed with stones and shells washed ashore by the waves. In the shallow water, aquatic life thrived, giving the place a rustic charm.
"This is the last undeveloped area in this country. In a week at the fastest, or half a month at the slowest, this scenery will be gone," Kaitina said as she sat by the roadside, seemingly enjoying the sea breeze.
Chen Rui walked toward the beach. Though it was modest, the water was crystal clear, unlike those long-established beaches back home. The waves brought not only stones and shells but occasionally a shrimp or two.
Indeed, while the scenery wasn't breathtaking, it felt very natural and close to humanity, evoking a sense of tranquility that made one relax unconsciously.
However, because of this very quality, development was inevitable. Nature alone could not provide the best experience; thus, development was necessary.
"Just being able to see this makes me feel satisfied," Chen Rui turned to face Kaitina with a smile.
"That's not like you. You weren't this way during the meeting just now," Kaitina said as she walked over to him.
"Sometimes I really wonder if we are sacrificing more in this plan than we are gaining," Kaitina stood beside Chen Rui, gazing at the sea. "Just in this trial phase alone, we've already violated four laws that I know of. I can't imagine how many more transgressions have occurred in the previous stages."
Chen Rui defended himself, "These are things we can't touch."
"You really are different from just now. With your earlier attitude, you should despise this kind of thing."
"Yes, I do despise it, but I understand what it means to be pragmatic. Life can't always go as one wishes. Moreover, our ultimate goal in doing these things is still for the people."
"But there are still secrets that cannot be revealed, aren't there?"
Chen Rui sighed helplessly. "You remind me of a friend of mine, a girl from my team. Are all you girls so sentimental?"
Kaitina chose not to engage with that topic. "If there were a way to halt the entire plan without causing significant losses or chaos, would you be willing?"
"How is that possible? At this point, the entire world has invested countless resources, both financial and human, into this plan. Even if you manage to halt it, I still don't believe we can recover the investment amount. Besides," Chen Rui stared at Kaitina, "there must be some benefits to this plan, right? That's precisely why we need to see it through and execute it perfectly. I believe that's the only way to avoid losses."
"Our perspectives differ, but yours does have merit."
"Let's not talk about that anymore. It's rare to have a place where we can let go of our burdens and relax. Why bring work into it?" Chen Rui leaned back on the beach, stretching lazily. "Let's enjoy ourselves. Aren't you about to leave soon? Shouldn't you savor this last moment? You all are leaving too, right?"
Kaitina shook her head and sat down by the shoreline, where the waves occasionally lapped at her toes.
On the road, the taxi remained parked; this area wasn't open yet, so there weren't taxis everywhere. Kaitina had paid for the car for the entire afternoon, and naturally, the driver was too lazy to drive around.
In the back seat of the car, another passenger appeared, a tall figure tightly wrapped in a suit.
"Great Xia expects me to wear all this? Are they out of their minds?" The passenger cursed as he handed a One Hundred Dollar Bill to the driver. "Could you please turn up the air conditioning?"
"Huh?"
The passenger quickly remembered he wasn't in his home country and switched to English. The driver lazily cranked up the air conditioning to maximum.
"Tropical weather really isn't for me," the passenger grumbled while checking his phone. Suddenly, his phone rang, and he quickly answered it. On the other end came a voice shouting, "Zhang Jun, where have you run off to?"
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