Chapter 182 Virus Spreads in Cebu Province
Two soldiers walked forward and grabbed the old senator, while the other soldiers prevented the security personnel of the palace from interfering.
"Manuel Chavez! You will pay for this!" The old senator screamed as he glared at the acting president. He tried to break free from the two soldiers, but he couldn't even budge their arms.
"Release me you fools!" The old senator spat out in rage. He had never experienced this kind of treatment before.
Some officials who were friends with the old senator wanted to intervene, but the armed soldiers brought by the commanding general intimidated them,
Peace returned after the old senator was taken out of the conference hall. However, the high officials were now fearful of the acting president. They never thought that the good-tempered senator back then actually had a domineering side on him.
The meeting resumed and no one opposed the acting president's suggestions anymore. The construction of the shelter and the relocation of the citizens were approved.
After the meeting concluded, Manuel Chavez refused the interview from the media and headed straight to his office. He also asked Lieutenant General Rivera and Khalon to follow him.
"Thank you for your help right there, General Rivera." Manuel Chavez forced out a weak smile. Although the shelter project was already approved, he knew that he would soon face a backlash because of his actions. However, he was already determined to take this route.
Lieutenant General Rivera shook his head. "There is no need to thank me, Mr. President. I'm only doing my job."
Manuel Chavez let out a heavy sigh. "I just hope that I'm doing the right thing. The old senator was strongly opposed to the plan because one of the buildings that would be destroyed to complete this project was the property of his family. I believe that old man would soon make some countermeasures." He could already imagine the tough battle ahead of him.
Hearing this, Khalon suddenly said. "That won't be possible. My subordinates will take care of his family." His voice was incredibly cold.
The acting president and even Lieutenant General Rivera were both taken aback by his words. "What do you mean by that, Sir Khalon?" Manuel Chavez asked with a frown. He was worried that Khalon would do something that was against the law.
Khalon stared straight at him and replied in a calm voice. "The boss commanded me to temporarily detain him and his family to prevent them from doing anything foolish. You should only focus on building the shelter. We will take care of the rest."
"You're not going to kill them, right?" Manuel Chavez asked with a serious look. It was against his conscience to kill someone so he wanted to make sure that Khalon wouldn't do anything to them.
Khalon grinned as he muttered. "That depends on how they behave."
Manuel Chavez was speechless by his words.?He wanted to say something, but no words came out of his mouth. In the end, he could only shake his head helplessly.
"Mr. President, we don't have to be lenient at a time like this. If we let that old senator roam freely, he would eventually impede the development of the shelter. Even if we have to kill someone, we have to do it to ensure the safety of the civilians!" Lieutenant General Rivera added.
The acting president turned silent by their words. Everything was too heavy for him and he no longer had the mood to chat. "I don't feel well. You two should take your leave. I'll call you if I need anything."
Lieutenant General Rivera nodded his head. "You should rest, Mr. President. We will take our leave now." He stood up and left the office with Khalon.
As soon as they left, Manuel Chavez pondered deeply upon their words.
***
"Our mission here is already done. We should return to Last City." Khalon said after they left the president's office.
Lieutenant General Rivera nodded his head. "Alright."
While they were walking in the hallway, they encountered the president's right-hand man running with an urgent look on his face. From his expression, it seemed like there was bad news.
"Is there something going on?" The commanding general asked with furrowed eyebrows.
Khalon shook his head. "Let's just report it to the boss." He replied.
They soon discovered that there were dozens of media personnel outside the palace. Their cameras flashed the moment they walked out of the palace. Some of the reporters even walked up to them and asked about the situation inside the palace, but Khalon and Lieutenant General Rivera remained silent.
The reporters followed them, but they were stopped by the soldiers and the security personnel of the Malaca?ang Palace.
Soon, they left via helicopter and headed back to Last City. It was already 10 p.m. when they arrived. The two went to Arlan's office and they reported the things that happened in the palace to him.
Arlan rubbed his sleepy eyes as he said. "The acting president did well this time." He then stared at the commanding general and told him. "General, you should send an army to ensure the safety of the acting president. We still need him for our future plans so nothing must happen to him."
"Understood." Lieutenant General Rivera nodded his head. He already accepted the fact that he was now Arlan's subordinate.
"By the way, there is something I need to show you guys." Arlan grabbed a laptop and showed them a video recording.
It was about a zombie attack and from the language of the people on the video, Lieutenant General Rivera realized that this incident happened in their country. "Where did this happen?" He asked while looking at Arlan.
"This happened in Cebu City of the Visayas Region." Arlan replied in a solemn voice.
Maharlika has three major regions, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Luzon was the topmost region and Mindanao was the bottom-most region, while Visayas was in between them.
Arlan continued. "This happened a few hours ago and the situation in Cebu is already dire. At this moment, hundreds of thousands of people are already infected with the virus. By tomorrow, I believe more than half of Cebu Province will be infected with the virus."
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