Uncovering the Truth, Mission Accomplished

Just as the "Approaching Science" TV crew had begun investigating in the direction Yang Lin had anticipated, the executives at Ming Corporation's office building were on the verge of losing their minds.

Ming Tianlai, the executive director, had already smashed three ashtrays.

"Everything was fine before, so why are all these mutated creatures suddenly appearing?" he demanded.

Hearing this, a middle-aged man nearby quietly suggested, "Could it be because of our wastewater discharge into the Yong River? I heard that Japan has already seen many mutated animals."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ming Tianlai smashed the last remaining ashtray on the desk with a loud bang.

"Are you an idiot? Our products are just everyday chemical goods at most. How could these cause animal mutations?"

"We're a chemical company, not a biochemical corporation. You've been watching too many movies!"

"Chairman, I think it might actually be related to us. Didn't you previously instruct us to skip one step of the chemical precipitation treatment? The untreated components all exceeded national regulatory limits..."

Another middle-aged manager stood up in the conference room.

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes turned to Ming Tianlai.

Ming Chemical Company originally had its own clear pollution discharge standards, but Ming Tianlai had eliminated the most crucial treatment step to save on disposal costs.

They were dumping incompletely treated wastewater directly into the Yong River.

As Ming Tianlai had said at the time, it was better to spend a million yuan on bribes than ten million on proper wastewater treatment.

Seeing all eyes on him, Ming Tianlai exploded in rage.

"So you're all blaming me? You weren't complaining when we were making money, you bastards!"

While the people in the conference room were arguing, the "Approaching Science" TV crew on the live broadcast had begun taking water samples.

Using Backwater Bay as the center point, they set up sampling points every 500 meters, collecting a total of 10 samples.

Half an hour later, the analysis results of these 10 samples were presented to everyone.

When people saw the data reports, they were stunned, especially by the water sample from Backwater Bay.

"My God, how is this possible? The water pollution has reached such severe levels."

"This isn't river water - it's industrial waste!"

"All indicators are dozens of times over the limit. How did the water get this bad?"

"Even Sample #10, the farthest point, shows levels more than ten times the limit. This is outrageous!"

"Good grief, this water contains almost every element from the periodic table."

"Drink from the Yong River, be reborn as a Ningnan resident."

"One cup of Yong River water equals half the periodic table."

"With water quality like this, I wouldn't be surprised if it spawned Godzilla, let alone mutated animals."

......

The data before them clearly showed the pollution levels at each sampling point.

The worst readings exceeded national standards by dozens of times, and even the least polluted sample was about ten times over the limit.

Everyone on site - whether from the Fisheries Research Institute, the Ocean University, or the "Approaching Science" crew - was shocked by the data.

Perhaps only Yang Lin wasn't surprised.

The online viewers in the livestream chat exploded with comments.

"As expected, the zoo director saw through everything - the problem was indeed with the water quality."

"The calculating frog has been feeling your belly all along."

"And we used to mock India - this water quality is absolutely insane."

"No wonder fish don't bite here anymore. If any fish survived this, it would be supernatural."

"Forget fish - even the Dragon King would die from this poison."

"Even the River God wouldn't dare fish here."

"Dilute this river water and you could use it as pesticide."

"Turns out my pee in the river was the cleanest thing in there."

"If I took a drink, would I mutate? Maybe grow three heads and six arms?"

"More like one head and two arms - you'd drop dead instantly."

"I doubt drowning would be the cause of death if someone fell in here."

"Wait, isn't the Ningnan water treatment plant sourcing from here? Does that mean I've been drinking this water for over twenty years?"

"Investigate! We must find out which bastard has been poisoning our water!"

.......

As the topic gained traction, almost everyone realized the severity of the issue.

Compared to water pollution, the water monster problem suddenly seemed trivial.

While water monsters could only harm a limited number of people, water pollution could have endless consequences.

The entire Ningnan City could be affected.

Almost immediately, everyone on site started thinking about the pollution source.

But looking around, they couldn't find any discharge outlets.

While people were puzzled, Yang Lin suddenly suggested:

"What if someone installed discharge pipes at the river bottom? That way, it would be harder to detect, and the river pollution wouldn't be immediately obvious."

Hearing Yang Lin's words, the TV crew had a moment of revelation.

"Yang Lin has a point. Such severe water pollution couldn't have happened overnight. Perhaps the problem has existed for a long time, but we just never noticed."

"Indeed, whoever did this is no different from a poisoner."

"Let's get divers down there to check immediately."

The Fisheries Research Institute staff quickly contacted their diving team.

Soon, a fully equipped diver plunged into the river water under everyone's watchful eyes.

In less than five minutes, the diver surfaced.

"Found them! I discovered three huge discharge pipes down there!"

As the diver's voice reached the shore, people felt both elated and furious.

They were relieved to finally discover the cause of the water monster incident but enraged that someone had been so brazenly dumping heavily polluted water into the Yong River.

The anger wasn't limited to those present - Ningnan citizens following the event online were equally furious.

Anyone would be outraged upon learning their tap water contained such high levels of pollutants.

Almost immediately, relevant authorities' phone lines were flooded with calls, and the incident made it onto Focus Interview program that same day.

By early the next morning, Yang Lin saw the news that Ming Chemical Company had been shut down and Ming Tianlai and other executives had been arrested.