HLM – Chapter 168 Opening the Road Again

When Mo Yuning received confirmation from the staff that she was allowed to enter and participate in the live broadcast of the press conference, she could hardly believe it!

Wang Bo had misunderstood one thing—he thought Mo Yuning, like most journalists, was there to cover the story. But that wasn’t the case. She was a television host, not a reporter. If she could enter the venue, that meant she’d secured the rights to broadcast the conference live—an exclusive privilege usually held by New Zealand’s national television station!

Fortunately, in a developed but small country like New Zealand, people didn’t take authority all that seriously. Having one or two extra TV stations broadcasting live wasn’t a big deal.

Mo Yuning knew Wang Bo had helped make this happen. After entering the venue with her cameraman, she gave him a dazzling, radiant smile and mouthed, “Thank you.” Her full, soft red lips made the silent gesture clear.

Wang Bo thought he’d just done a small favor. He shrugged and didn’t give it another thought.

The press conference began. Governor Pick was presiding over it while Wang Bo, behind the scenes, was memorizing data: someone had handed him statistics about the earthquake so he could be prepared when reporters asked about them.

This earthquake had a magnitude of 6.5. The epicenter was four kilometers west of Wanderer Town, with the most destructive impact radiating ten kilometers out. Wanderer Town was the most affected area—98% of its buildings had collapsed, and 3,560 people were affected.

Other places like Oak City and Tahiti Town were also impacted to varying degrees. Even farther regions like Dunedin in the south and Queenstown in the west had felt tremors. Towns like Sunset Town, though also affected, were not mentioned at all—this left Wang Bo feeling very dissatisfied.

The economic damage of the earthquake hadn’t been fully calculated yet, but early estimates pointed to losses in the hundreds of millions of NZD. Most of the damage was concentrated in Wanderer Town, a major Māori community that had been almost completely flattened.

Wang Bo and Zhuang Ding appeared together as a duo for the interview. He had no idea how popular they—or rather, Zhuang Ding—had become.

Because the telecom towers hadn’t suffered much damage, mobile and internet signals in Wanderer Town were still functioning. Photos and short videos of Wang Bo and Zhuang Ding’s relief efforts had gone viral on public platforms like Twitter and Facebook—they were everywhere.

Zhuang Ding sat obediently beside Wang Bo. Originally, he’d wanted to bring along the Commander too, but that would’ve been too strange—it would’ve looked like he was some zookeeper showing off his exotic animals. So for now, he sent Commander over to the shoulder of Juan.

Commander was smart. It understood what was going on and kept grumbling in frustration: “Your mom blew up.” A CCTV-affiliated reporter in New Zealand noticed it. At first, he thought the parrot was just squawking nonsense, but once he heard it clearly, he was dumbfounded.

Before going on stage, someone had told Wang Bo that he didn’t need to stick to official talking points, but he also shouldn’t go too far—focus on being objective and expressing grief.

Given the circumstances, Wang Bo couldn’t say anything too extreme anyway—especially after the grueling rescue operations the day before. He had seen no fewer than ten severely injured victims die right in front of him. During the interview, when he got emotional, his eyes reddened.

This had been the most devastating disaster in the history of Wanderer Town. It was the worst tragedy the Māori had experienced in recent years. It was the most terrifying disaster the South Island had seen in the past two decades. It was also New Zealand’s most sorrowful event of the year.

He ended his speech with: “May the dead rest in peace, and the living carry on.” And with that, his part was done. He didn’t mention Sunset Town. The images of the seriously injured pulled from the rubble and the bloodshed during the rescue operations made everything else feel unimportant.

After the press conference, there wasn’t much left for him to do at the venue. A swarm of reporters surrounded him again for more interviews. But Wang Bo really had nothing more to say, so he pulled Zhuang Ding over as a shield.

Zhuang Ding stood up on its hind legs and wrapped its front paws tightly around Wang Bo’s waist. It wasn’t afraid of people, but those glowing cameras made it uneasy. Wang Bo gently stroked its head to comfort it and signaled that it didn’t need to be afraid.

Zhuang Ding looked nervously at the flashing cameras, then raised its head to look pitifully at Wang Bo. Its dog face seemed to say: “I’m not scared… just a little anxious.”

Later, Mo Yuning came over to find him. Wang Bo thought she wanted another interview. But the beautiful host laughed and said, “My segment is over for today. I came to you because I have good news.”

Wang Bo grinned, “What is it? You’re introducing me to a wife?”

That was the kind of joke he’d usually make with friends, but to his surprise, Mo Yuning took it seriously. Her eyes widened, and she asked, “Oh my god, you don’t have a girlfriend? Seriously?”

Charlie happened to be nearby and chimed in with a sorrowful expression, “Monica, Wang was just joking. He already has someone he likes. It’s me… I, Charlie, don’t have a girlfriend yet…”

But Mo Yuning didn’t show much interest in him. She gave a few polite compliments and then turned back to Wang Bo, saying, “The good news is something else. Didn’t your town suffer damage from the earthquake too? I can prepare a segment to feature it. This is allowed, and we can properly introduce your town.”

Wang Bo was thrilled—this really was good news, even better than being introduced to a girlfriend.

After setting a date with Mo Yuning for the program, Wang Bo took his team and left Wanderer Town to return to Sunset Town.

His own town hadn’t been seriously affected by the quake. The modular houses were built on Land Hearts, and the residential area under construction also had Land Hearts. Plus, the town was far from the epicenter, so things looked pretty good.

The only part affected was the bank under construction—it wasn’t being built on a Land Heart. The newly completed basement had been damaged and would need to be redone. Porter came to inspect the situation in person and happened to run into Wang Bo.

They exchanged greetings. Porter said the earthquake had scared him badly, and he was planning a party to celebrate being alive—he invited Wang Bo to come by when he had time.

Wang Bo had other matters to discuss with Porter. He said, “You see that northern area? I want to build another residential zone there. That means I’ll need a few more roads. Can you build them for me?”

Porter was overjoyed when he heard this. He patted his chest and said, “No problem, Wang! I’ll get you the blueprints this week. Just tell me what you want—I’ll make sure those roads are built fast and up to the highest standard!”

Wang Bo decided once again to go with third-grade roads. The quality from the Pastoral Hermit Company was excellent. The Chinese road they had built didn’t crack during the earthquake, which really surprised him.

Originally, he’d planned to have Porter just build the Chinese-style road and get the more powerful Layton Company—builders of Highway 8—to handle the rest. But now it looked like Porter’s company was solid, so he’d stick with them.

After saying goodbye to Porter, Wang Bo opened the Heart of the Lord system and saw that the spinning wheel was available again. So he gave it a spin.

The pointer spun and stopped—and once again, he drew a Heart of the Territory…