Chapter 690: Chapter 690: President Carter

It was an extremely tempting offer.

Because of that, Ivy’s smile became even gentler and more sincere on the surface.

However, inwardly, her thoughts remained perfectly calm.

Meanwhile, Silas quietly entered the room from the side.

The moment he saw Carter smiling hypocritically while offering benefits and promises, ridicule immediately surfaced inside his heart.

’These old fogies truly haven’t changed at all,’ he thought coldly.

Silas knew very well what kind of person Carter actually was.

Although the man presented himself publicly as a wise and caring leader, in reality, he was nothing more than a greedy parasite who specialized in squeezing every ounce of value from others.

After exchanging several more polite words and painting a beautiful picture of future harmony and restored civilization, Carter finally revealed his true intentions.

Looking directly at Ivy, he calmly said, "I am planning to acquire the land surrounding your base and establish a large military zone here."

The room instantly grew quieter.

Carter continued speaking smoothly as if he were discussing something entirely reasonable.

"In exchange, I only request one thing. Whatever technology you are using to maintain this base... lend it to us. With that technology, we can protect the military zone and restore order far more efficiently."

His eyes gleamed faintly as he spoke.

"Once enough citizens are rescued and society stabilizes again, humanity will finally be able to return to normal."

The moment he finished speaking, several officials behind him nodded approvingly as though the proposal was perfectly fair.

However, the expressions on Ivy’s side became noticeably colder.

Especially Silas.

A mocking smirk slowly appeared on his face as he looked directly at Carter.

"You know," Silas said lazily, "when you first came here talking about titles, rewards, and national recognition, I actually thought you had become a little smarter."

He let out a soft chuckle filled with ridicule.

"But now it just looks like you’ve become even more foolish."

At those words, the atmosphere instantly stiffened.

However, Carter remained surprisingly calm.

Instead of reacting emotionally, he simply glanced toward Ivy.

Before arriving, he had already conducted investigations and confirmed that Ivy was the true owner of the base. More importantly, he desperately wanted the technology she possessed.

A base capable of surviving the apocalypse, resisting natural disasters, and producing antidotes was simply too valuable.

If the government obtained that technology, then their country would instantly become one of the strongest remaining powers in the world.

They could monopolize resources, pressure neighboring regions, and even force other surviving factions into submission.

The greed in Carter’s heart quietly expanded the more he thought about it.

Meanwhile, Ivy listened silently before finally speaking in a calm voice.

"I’m not interested in lending my technology."

The moment those words fell, the atmosphere turned ice-cold.

One of Carter’s assistants, Lina, immediately frowned deeply.

Her expression darkened as she stared at Ivy in disbelief.

"You should feel honored that the government is even extending its hand toward you," Lina said coldly. "If we truly wanted to, we could simply take everything by force."

Although Carter himself remained silent with an amiable smile on his face, the threat behind her words was obvious to everyone present.

A dangerous silence filled the room.

However, before Ivy could respond, a low chuckle suddenly echoed from the side.

Dante leaned back casually while looking toward the government officials with open amusement.

"If I didn’t know any better," he said slowly, "I would’ve thought the people begging for help was us."

Several officials’ faces instantly darkened.

Unlike his father, who often restrained himself politically, Silas possessed absolutely no patience for hypocrisy.

He smiled mockingly before continuing, "If all of you truly believe your so-called government support is so valuable, then why don’t you take that support and leave this place?"

The moment those words were spoken, Lina’s expression changed completely.

Even Carter’s calm smile stiffened slightly. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

However, Silas was far from finished.

"I honestly don’t care about politics," he said coldly. "But there is one thing I absolutely won’t tolerate."

His gaze sharpened dangerously.

"My wife being taken advantage of."

The pressure in the room instantly intensified.

"She is kindly distributing antidotes to save people," Silas continued, "while all of you are sitting here thinking about monopolizing something that exclusively belongs to her."

A dangerous smile appeared on his face. "Truly shameless."

Then he turned toward the security personnel standing nearby.

"If these people still don’t understand how negotiations work," Silas said calmly, "then throw them out."

The moment those words fell, the arrogance on Lina and Carter’s faces finally disappeared completely.

At that moment, Carter and Lina finally realized something they had desperately tried to ignore from the very beginning.

In this apocalypse, they were no longer the untouchable rulers they once believed themselves to be.

Right now, standing inside Ivy’s territory, they were nothing more than people who needed help.

The realization caused both of them to fall silent.

Meanwhile, Silas merely chuckled softly as if he found the entire situation amusing.

Without even bothering to acknowledge Carter or Lina any further, he casually turned toward Ivy instead.

His posture remained relaxed, but the sharpness in his eyes made it clear he was completely in control of the conversation now.

"We can simply contact other countries directly," Silas said calmly. "It’s not like we’re incapable of communicating with the outside world."

The instant those words were spoken, Carter’s eyes flashed violently.

He immediately looked toward Silas in disbelief.

"You can communicate with other countries?" Carter asked sharply.

Silas only responded with a faint smile.

However, the expressions of Carter and Lina had already changed completely.

The reason they had acted so arrogantly earlier was because they firmly believed Ivy had no other choice.

In their minds, she would eventually be forced to cooperate with the government.

After all, no individual could possibly handle worldwide antidiote distribution alone, nor could she independently negotiate technology rights during an apocalypse.

But if Ivy truly possessed communication channels with other nations... then the entire situation would completely change.

A cold chill quietly spread up Carter’s spine.