Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 632 - 502: Far from Over

Since Bida Freight encountered various attacks, in less than twelve hours, the loss of transport ships exceeded thirty.

There are also six transport ships missing, with uncertain outcomes.

In addition, hidden dangers were found on more than twenty starships, which are actually various sabotage devices.

This greatly shocked Bida Freight, and the headquarters directly ordered the suspension of more than half of its freight operations.

Those that were not suspended each had their own reasons, such as orders from the Imperial government, military, and major influential parties.

Since it was a targeted attack, these orders were unlikely to have issues, otherwise, the offenders would be provoking more than just Bida.

In fact, the starships that encountered incidents had obvious characteristics—the recipients were not heavily affected.

For example, a cargo fleet attacked by Star Thieves also served a considerable power, but their payment method was cash on delivery.

Problems during transportation were unrelated to the recipient.

The supplier's power wasn't very great, but they didn't mind—insurance isn't paid for nothing.

However, some starships transported goods closely related to significant powers, and the recipients were exceptionally concerned.

Transport starships with such suspicions were unaffected!

This suggests that the attacking force also didn't want to provoke without reason.

Therefore, Bida believes that these related orders can certainly proceed without risk.

What if they're wrong? If they guessed wrong, Bida's people would surely laugh themselves silly.

The remaining freight business was decisively halted by Bida, beginning comprehensive checks for hidden dangers and investigating the causes of the incidents.

Their explanation to customers was that transport starships were undergoing spot inspections.

Bida's suspension affected the entire Hope Star Realm, from Star One to Star No. 4, without discrimination.

The news spread quickly, and complaints soared from all sides—those affected far exceeded just Star No. 4.

Some individuals went directly to Bida to complain, saying the excuse of spot inspections for starships was incredibly weak.

However, Star No. 4 showed no unusual movements. Hoyel was still giving Bida a hard time, but there was no worry about them turning the tables.

"—It's only right for me to ask you to rectify things if you yourself feel insecure and need to conduct inspections?"

Nevertheless, Bida's spot inspections could evade temporarily, but not forever, and the higher-ups were always committed to finding adversaries.

Qu Jianlei noted the suspension of half their operations with some admiration: "How much money must they be losing a day? Truly willing to endure."

Even the governments of the four planets were feeling some discomfort.

Bida's reduction was too significant, severely affecting the previously established distribution framework.

Many ordinary citizens were unaware of the issues with freight transport, but could personally feel the changes.

Some goods became prohibitively expensive, while their own products remained unsold.

The head of the Star of Hope even summoned Bida's boss for questioning: "How long do you intend for these inspections to last?"

Bida's boss stated that they couldn't currently determine the duration but promised to complete the inspections swiftly to ensure material supply.

The head didn't call him in just for idle chat and straightforwardly declared, "I'm giving you three days!

If, by then, you can't ensure material supply, we'll consider bringing in one or two energetic transport companies."

Regardless of the star realm, the number of freight companies within the region wouldn't be many, usually operating under an entry system.

There isn't just interest transfer at stake, but crucially, when competition increases, the market can become chaotic and disorderly.

Therefore, the head's current stance might serve as a warning, but it might also indicate new interests have approached.

Technically, he was merely a planet leader, prestigious but not unapproachable for Bida.

However, the Planet Governor of the Central Star was far from comparable to ordinary governors, wielding unparalleled influence!

"Three days... This is truly terrible news."

Upon learning of this news, even the toughest Bida members couldn't hold their stance.

No matter how well the company had developed, attracting the Empire's transport behemoth would mean never feasting so greedily again.

Either being acquired and merged, or having to settle for less and opt for differentiated competition.

Differentiated competition might sound good, but in reality, it means being unable to partake in large stages, relegated to niche fields.

Feeling the crisis, Bida immediately decided to release goodwill as much as possible.

Which meant settling some past grudges to see if they could alleviate some hatred.

Xiang Xue was one such case—during the rampant attacks, she hadn't been released because hopes remained.

The second-in-command was always inclined to release her because... capturing her was utterly meaningless.

However, this encountered some resistance below, with some believing Xiang Xue might still offer rewards.

Anyway, the second-in-command, being aloof, wouldn't concern himself with such trifles, so releasing Xiang Xue was temporarily shelved.

Only after a day, under pressure from the authorities, did Bida finally release her.

Xiang Xue didn't know she was just one of numerous gestures of "goodwill."

Upon waking, she found the door of the small room confining her barely ajar, and stepping forward, she pushed it open effortlessly.

A note was pasted outside the room door, with a line of words on it, "There is a Fire Bomb inside, leave quickly."

Is this really freedom? She could hardly believe it.

It wasn't that the situation changed too suddenly, but from the time she was captured to being released, she had no idea what had happened.

In any case, the experience after being captured wasn't a pleasant memory.

The captors didn't do anything too extreme to her, but punches and kicks were inevitable, forcing her to speak about her and Panda's situation.

Xiang Xue did not mention her father; despite being a significant force, archaeology enthusiasts also had many enemies.

Strictly speaking, even Zi Jiu Immortal's great-great-grandmother Jia Shuqing was an opponent of the Earth Scholar.

So, she strictly followed her resume to introduce herself.

As for Panda, she only explained what everyone knew and resolutely refused to divulge those secrets.

For this, she suffered a lot, barely able to sleep, being forced by the captors to confess.

Moreover, the kidnappers also robbed her of her belongings, jewelry was nothing, even her Storage Talisman was taken.

Her watch was naturally not spared, and they also managed to extract her account password, transferring all the money away.

There wasn't much money in the account, just tens of thousands; she didn't really care about this amount.

But the fact was too humiliating, she couldn't bear it in her heart, and had already decided that once she escaped, she must take revenge.

In addition, after being captured, the captors, worried that she would escape, only provided half a tube of Nutrient Injection each day, although water was freely available.

Yet for Xiang Xue, when had she ever suffered like this?

She was in the basement of a building, and upon asking around after getting out, she found out this town was over 500 kilometers away from Fengrao.

The town's security wasn't great, and her Cultivation Level was also restricted, seeing the shady thugs around made her feel quite uneasy. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

At least there was some relief, the torment from the kidnappers for her left her disheveled, without her usual charm.

Xiang Xue went to a shop, borrowing the shop owner's watch to make a call, promising the owner a reward.

Upon hearing she was a teacher supporting education from another planet and was kidnapped, the shop owner treated her quite well and offered to let her wait in the shop.

Two hours later, Qu Jianlei drove over, accompanied by Zi Jiu Immortal and the injured Aunt Liu.

After meeting up, the four of them rented a room in the only hotel in town.

Once Xiang Xue freshened up and had something to eat, they went to the room where she had been held.

Unfortunately, not only did the kidnappers withdraw very cleanly, but they also cleaned up so thoroughly that they left no trace behind.

Then, the four went to the City Guard's station to request viewing the surveillance footage.

However, the City Guard in small places weren't much better than those thugs.

Knowing they were outsiders, the one responsible for reception had a poor attitude, even flirtatious.

Aunt Liu was so angry she wanted to make a move, but Qu Jianlei stopped her, directly showing his credentials, instantly changing the attitude of the other party.

It's said everyone yearns for power, a small credential can easily reduce many troubles.

However, it's very unfortunate that the place where Xiang Xue was held only had one surveillance camera, and it had long been damaged.

Aunt Liu still wanted to inquire from the locals, but Xiang Xue stated that since they already knew the mastermind, there was no need to pursue the details.

Then the four returned to the Engineering College, Xiang Xue went back to rest, Cheng Qingshan and others heard the news and came to visit.

After all the events, Xiang Xue expressed to Qu Jianlei and the others: She must have her revenge.

She had suffered too much torment these days, and what was annoying was that when she was let go, none of the belongings were returned.

To say nothing else, just for that Storage Talisman, she was definitely at odds with them.

Aunt Liu originally wanted to say that Xiang Xue's father had already taken action, gathering many people and initiating revenge against Bida.

Even with the insurance company shouldering the loss, Bida had suffered considerably up to now.

At least far more than thirty or fifty Storage Talismans.

But seeing Xiang Xue's angry face, she found herself at a loss for words.

Qu Jianlei had even less reason to dissuade her, as Xiang Xue suffered because of him, was she wrong to seek revenge?

He could only comfort her with, "You should rest well first, tomorrow we can plan carefully."

That night, Xiang Xue learned the rough course of events from Aunt Liu.

She wasn't too concerned about being implicated in it all.

"I don't care how your organization sees this, to me, this matter is absolutely not over, you can't be injured in vain either."

Aunt Liu straightforwardly expressed, "I support you, Panda should also help you."

"You should focus on healing first," although Xiang Xue had a bit of a spoiled temperament, she knew how to care for others too.

The next day when she met Qu Jianlei, she immediately said, "Take me to see Aaron's family first?"

No need to say more; this ordeal's most direct cause was Aaron and Magillen's families being taken away.

As for whether the archaeology enthusiasts struck first, that wasn't within her realm of concern.

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