Chapter 684: If We Don’t Fight Back, Someone’s Going to Smash the Hospital!

With the editor-in-chief’s decision and the journalist’s brilliant writing, the latest report on the Royal Maternity Hospital immediately appeared on the front page of the next day’s "Banana Daily."

The headline, in the largest font possible, grabbed everyone’s attention:

"Pregnant Woman in Labor Painfully Begs, Heartless Hospital Remains Indifferent."

Below the headline, instead of diving into the main text, there was a cartoon. In the cartoon, a disheveled pregnant woman was kneeling, clutching her belly in agony, looking on the verge of collapse.

Opposite the woman was a robed spellcaster, with a fat head, big ears, and a protruding chest and belly. His left hand held a money bag high, shaking it, while his right hand made a casting gesture, emitting a glow from his palm towards the money bag.

Above the spellcaster’s head, a speech bubble carried a chilling line:

"No gold coins, no treatment!"

Beneath the cartoon, the main text was even more powerful and expressive. The writer poured all their righteous anger into the words, directed at the Royal Maternity Hospital:

"From childhood to now, in my impression, healers have always been compassionate and kind. They bring the divine power to the world, saving lives, curing diseases, and soothing pain. Whenever we suffer from illness, seeing a healer gives us hope."

"But I could never imagine that such cold-hearted healers exist, who can coldly watch a patient’s suffering without a word! Letting a pregnant woman writhe in pain, kneeling on the ground screaming, and still claiming ’no payment, no pain relief spell’ is simply horrifying!"

"When you studied in the temple, when you learned about the gods’ blessings, do you still remember the oaths you took?"

"Even more shocking is that such a cold-hearted event occurred at the Royal Maternity Hospital. The one crying out in pain, ignored by the hospital, is the wife of a naval officer, whose husband is currently fighting at sea for the Queen!"

"The Queen’s compassion and blessings are being completely devoured by them. Even the family members of the Royal Navy officers, who bleed and sacrifice for the Queen, are not being cared for!"

The usual circulation of "Banana Daily" is about a thousand copies, mainly targeting small workshop owners, small vendors, and small taverns. In short, it caters to readers with some literacy who can understand the newspaper but have little patience for highbrow articles.

However, this time, after the first thousand copies, another thousand quickly followed.

Then, this article was repeatedly reprinted, from serious newspapers like the "Messenger" and "Current Affairs News" to less reputable ones like the "South Sea Daily" and "Spicy Girl," and even to tabloid newspapers specializing in news from the red-light district...

"Well done, Miss Blade." The editor-in-chief appreciatively pushed a money bag forward:

"Our ’Banana Daily’ needs someone like you, with a flexible mind and a sense of justice. From today on, you are promoted to full editor, with a monthly salary of one gold coin, plus bonuses for reporting and editing. Here’s your bonus..."

"Thank you, Editor-in-Chief! In this field, I’m just a newcomer, and there are still many things I need to learn from you!"

The bespectacled woman proudly accepted the money bag, packed her belongings on her desk under her colleagues’ envious gazes. When the door closed, the editor-in-chief touched his pocket with satisfaction, rubbing the hard card inside:

Hmm, it seems that the master is very satisfied with his report...

Right, it looks like the office needs to be relocated! Moving tomorrow!

The "Banana Daily" article and its various reprints quickly made their way to the desks of those with an interest. In the Temple of the Springs, the high priest knocked on the "Current Affairs News" on his desk, frowning slightly:

"What is this situation? — Who did this?"

"We are still investigating, Your Excellency." His student, Level 7 Priest Mullen Dur, stood respectfully opposite the desk and answered:

"These reports... should we suppress them? After all, we also have people studying at the hospital, and if this kind of thinking spreads, people might accuse us of neglecting the dying in the future..."

"Let’s wait and see." The high priest thought of the twenty thousand gold coins, feeling a pang of pain in his heart, and felt even worse when he remembered that the Queen bypassed them to hire a mage for childbirth care. The knocking on the newspaper quickened involuntarily:

"No one has asked for help yet. If we suppress the news directly, what does it mean? Besides, with the Temple of the Springs’ thousand-year prestige, no one dares to block the temple’s door and curse us for being cold-blooded without treatment!"

Priest Dur quietly retreated. Other forces, such as the Temple of the God of War and some great nobles, mostly adopted a wait-and-see strategy. Only Baroness Viteg rushed to the hospital with a stack of newspapers.

"Someone is attacking me again..."

Garrett Nordmark touched the report on the paper, lost in thought. The baroness anxiously exclaimed:

"And you’re still in a daze!"

"It’s fine, it’s fine." Garrett smiled to reassure her. In his view, this kind of attack was nothing significant:

At least the woman gave birth safely without jumping off the hospital building due to excessive pain;

At least no one captured the most shocking scenes and published them all over newspapers and the internet;

At least no one carried a corpse, drew circles, or burned paper money, occupying your hospital’s emergency room;

At least no higher authorities harshly held you accountable, even if it wasn’t your fault, forcing you to pay millions and revoking two doctors’ licenses...

It was just a few reports in some newspapers, much less severe than in his previous life. Such a level of attack left him with enough room to think:

How to fight back?

How to clear his name?

Even, how to uncover the mastermind and counterattack beautifully?

"Why are you smiling, speak up!" The baroness was about to slam the table. If it weren’t for the fact that the other party was a spellcaster and she couldn’t beat him, she would have smashed the newspaper on his head:

"I got the news that these days, people at the military club are slamming tables and cursing you every day! If you don’t come up with a solution, they might come to smash your hospital!"

Garrett was finally surprised. However, what he said nearly made the baroness faint with anger:

"What? The military can cause trouble too? — Doesn’t the military need orders to leave camp, move, and carry out missions?"

The Queen’s army, with such poor discipline?

"… What about when they are on leave?"

"Not under military orders, smashing the hospital, means I can retaliate without limit?"

"…"

"Just kidding. Don’t worry, I’ve already started preparing, waiting for an opportunity to make a big move and fight back beautifully!"