sugarvalves [1963573] —
Original article
Six factions targeted with Dirty Bombs in six days. TiredSaladlego admits responsibility for six attacks and explains their motives. Further bombs suspected. Likely target list leaked to The Times.
On March the 12th, TiredSaladlego finally made good on her word and began her much anticipated dirty bombing campaign with a strike against PT-Family. A second Dirty Bomb attack would take place several hours later, with four more detonated over the coming days.
TiredSaladlego has accepted responsibility for five of these bombs - her involvement in the sixth is suspected, not yet proven - but as the radioactive dust settles there are still questions to be asked. Why did she target these factions? How did it affect them? Will the victims retaliate? And are there more bombs to come?
Larger Link
Bomb #1
Bomb number one detonated at the headquarters of PT-Family just after 2am TCT on the 12th of March. This bomb took 607,652 of PT's hard-earned chaining respect and injured 413 people in the process. But after speaking to PT's leader Xanty, it appears that the timing of this bomb couldn't have been better if they had arranged it themselves.
"After setting a new 50k chain speed and most respect record during Valentine's, we went on a training break and have been since. The bomb didn't affect any activities that were going on. Apart from losing some passives on the 6th tree, everything is the same." - Xanty, PT-F leader
Xanty believes that PT-Family was targeted because they were the number 1 ranked faction in Torn and TSL wanted to start from the best. PT-F have since slipped to number 3 in the HoF respect rankings, but Xanty says that this drop in status does not warrant any kind of response towards TiredSaladlego, with PT's leader describing revenge as "not worth the time or the effort."
TiredSaladlego would not tell us why PT was targeted specifically, but she did confirm that they were always top of her list.
"I'd been telling their leaders since I got my first DB that I'd be bombing them. I got love for my friends there tho."- TSL
Bomb #2
The second bomb was sent the way of 39th Killers X at noon on the 12th and detonated two hours later injuring 474 people. Olesien's men lost 617,938 respect and suffered the interruption of their organized crimes, but since they were on a training period the bomb's impact was limited.
"People were of course asking "why us", and rumor has it that it was paid for, but overall I don't think people really cared much to be honest, we were on fortitude which saved our asses (following the.. sadly lost.. NS2 vs X war). It's always annoying to lose so much respect, but at the same time, the real impact perk-wise was extremely small." - Olesien - 39thX leader
Olesien thinks that 39th X was targeted purely because TSL threatened to bomb whoever lost the fight between themselves as NS2. In response to the attack, Olesien says they might drop bonus hits on TiredSaladlego in future, but aside from that, they have no plans for vengeance. TSL's real reasons for bombing 39thX are as follows:
"I had a personal feud with Rapid, L4, Otter back since around Insurgency. Chill people, but had to f**k them over." - TSL
Bomb #3
The community had to wait two more days for the third bomb to arrive, with this one being dispatched to the headquarters of Itsi Bitsi Bikini and detonated at 2.01am TCT on the 14th of March. 399 people were injured by this attack, with IBB losing 603,832 respect in the process. Yet again, this bomb appeared to be timed rather poorly if it was intended to disrupt any faction activities, as just like PT, IBB was on a break.
"We are currently on a book break and it did impact some of the members min/maxing books. This was the biggest disappointment for us. We only lost 2 upgrades in branch 6. We have 2% less passive strength. Once you reach a certain amount of respect, it's not as valuable anymore. Diminishing returns. I don't expect us to spend much to get it back. Just business as usual as if it didn't happen." - MightyGoober, IBB Leader
MG isn't sure why IBB was targeted, and suspects they were merely a random pick on the wheel. IBB's leader thinks that the anger of the community towards TSL will lead to repercussions eventually, hence why he doesn't feel compelled to act against her. As of now, IBB has no plans to retaliate against TSL or his former faction.
"TSL is at best a rogue merc. He may have come from PT originally but I don't blame them at all and I know the actions of TSL are only his own." - MG
TiredSaladlego told us that her reasons for bombing IBB were twofold. Firstly, she wanted to make sure that MightyGoober experienced a Dirty Bomb blast for himself, as he was in federal jail the last and only time that IBB has ever been bombed. The second reason TSL wanted to target IBB was to achieve the highest raid respect credit.
I can confirm that since this bomb was detonated during TSL's brief membership of the Octogenarian Trout Cult, the record for the most respect taken during a raid has now been broken. No other attacks were made against IBB by OTC, with the 603,832 respect removed by TiredSaladlego's bomb representing the entirety of the raid.
Bomb #4
The fourth bomb struck Subversive Alliance at 5am TCT on the 15th of March and took 451,180 respect, with 342 people being injured by the blast. These were the lowest figures of TiredSaladlego's entire bombing run, and once more, the nuke appeared to have little effect upon SA bar the respect loss.
"Other than causing a few awkward glances between members after the mass hospital group shower, no. Faction chat has been fun to read and we're continuing with our Burn Sh*t Down arson challenge this week. Chugging alcohol in the hospital under radiation is allowed." - Ashanie, SA leader
SA expected to be targeted after reading TSL's newspaper article, and Ashanie says they prepared accordingly by issuing flyout notices and radiation sickness supplies to their members. TiredSaladlego had granted SA immunity from the first three bombs after a ransom was paid, and when she later joined SA for a few days, Ashanie insisted that one of the ground rules was that TSL could not self bomb - this is probably a good rule for most factions imo.
But eventually, Ashanie and SA's members knew that the lure of Monarch money would eventually prove too tempting for TiredSaladlego to resist.
"The fact that the bomb had been paid for by Monarch and their failure to claim responsibility just displays their hypocrisy for accountability... Monarch paying 30B to Bomb SA, while we're living rent free in their heads? Priceless... We believe the bombs TSL is dropping to have been an orchestrated plan between TSL & others." - Ashanie
Ashanie says that SA has no plans to retaliate against TSL, with the faction's new leadership team planning to move forward at their own pace and eventually regain their lost respect through chaining. TiredSaladlego confirms that he was indeed paid for the bomb against SA, but refused to confirm the identity of the buyer.
"Cuz I got paid. But they lost Krastinov too, which made them fit for a drop as well." - TSL
Bomb #5
At 5pm TCT on the 16th of March, Chain Reaction was hit with a dirty bomb strike that injured 462 people and took 627,278 respect. These were the highest figures out of all five of March's dirty bomb strikes, but TiredSaladlego took to the forums to deny responsibility for this attack, having spent the past few days repeatedly insisting that they would not bomb CR.
So were we dealing with a copycat bomber? If so, they've got TiredSaladlego's modus operandi down to a tee, as yet again, the timing of this bomb was rather convenient for Chain Reaction's members.
"We weren't doing anything.. hell, I was on vacation, lol. And yeah, it really didn't do anything to us except give us something to joke about in faction chat ... kinda bonded us more, if anything. Pretty anti-climatic, honestly." - MeanMike, Chain Reaction leader
I checked the logs at the time and was aware that TSL was behind this bomb, but I was unable to state this publicly. One person who believed her was MeanMike, who had no plans to retaliate against TiredSaladlego when he thought she was telling the truth.
"Naturally, everyone is too afraid to own up to it, we think that part is kinda funny. And tsl hasn't been scared to own any of his drops, we don't think it was him." - Meanmike
Mike says that CR was just glad to get the monkey off their back, with this being the first Dirty Bomb his faction has ever received. He added that the biggest impact on himself personally was the achievement of the Radaway honor bar, which is awarded to players who use Neumune to reduce radiation poisoning. Aside from that, the bomb appeared to have little effect on CR's activities.
"We don't give a s**t... we are more amused that whoever did it is scared shitless we will find out, than we are bummed to be hosped."
TSL later confirmed their involvement in the fifth bomb, so we shall wait and see whether Chain Reaction respond to this news.
Larger Link
Bomb #6
Before TiredSaladlego told the truth about the Chain Reaction bomb, everyone knew she must have one bomb left in her arsenal, as a DB was spotted in TSL's display case shortly after CR was attacked. This means that TSL had six bombs in total, not five as she had previously stated.
Regardless, everyone knew there was another bomb primed and ready to go, and this time it was Monarch HQ who was targeted at 8pm TCT on the 17th of March. 488 citizens were injured by this attack, with Monarch losing 587,015 respect in the process. Prior to this bombing, TSL told The Times that Monarch was on their list due to the chequered history of Nash and Alexstrasza, with TSL mentioning their "glitch monkeying days" as the primary reason for targeting them.
However, with the release of an incriminating screenshot suggesting that TSL was actually paid to bomb Monarch, the question now is who paid for it?
"We did not pay for that, but we'll enjoy the fireworks nonetheless." - Ashanie
Bomb #7?
The large amount of Cesium in TSL's display case suggests that further bombs may be coming in the near future. If this prediction proves to be correct, we can identify who the likely targets are based on TiredSaladlego's previous drops and comments.
TSL is yet to bomb the same faction twice, and they have also remarked that they are only targeting factions within the top 20. Whether or not TSL bombed Chain Reaction or not, I find it unlikely that they would hit them so soon after their last DB, as TiredSaladlego appears to be looking for some form of uniqueness with each attack.
For this reason, I don't think they will attack another faction within the families of those who have already been targeted either. If I'm right, this removes PT-Calculated, PT-Shadowrazers, 39th Street main, Monarch Research, and Catalysis from consideration. Based on these exclusionary criteria, it looks likely that TSL's target will be one of the following factions:
JFK
Bloodbath and Beyond
The Untouchables
The UnLeashed Sykoz
Nuclear Fusion
Desert Eagle
NS2
NS3
Of course, it makes more sense to simply ask TSL who has made their target list, even though they've successfully misdirected both the community and this newspaper in the past. Before TSL attacked Monarch with Bomb #6, they gave me a list of potential targets along with their reasons for considering them. Unless anything has changed in the meantime, I imagine one of these factions will be glowing in the dark before long - with the exception of TUS, who seem to be in there as a joke based on TSL's notes in parentheses.
B3 (Gaining respect too damn fast)
TUS (My friends Joe and King)
Nuclear Fusion ( that dark95 dude almost rekt dealer)
Desert Eagle (what sorta dumbass leadership gets lost 75b despite being warned)
Whoever eats the next bomb, it seems likely that it will have been paid for based on TSL's recent forum response to MeanMike. Mike suggested that most of TSL's bombs had been paid for, and TSL admitted he was mostly right, meaning that at least three of the bombs must have been bought. But TSL's networth is now $10 billion, so if she was paid, it was either a very small amount, or, more likely, the money went elsewhere.
To the bomb's true owners.
A Nuclear Conspiracy?
The one aspect of this story that many are still questioning is how TiredSaladlego managed to acquire six Dirty Bombs at just over 400 days old. TSL's explanation of flipping items then multiplying their profits at the casino doesn't sit well with most people I've spoken to, and I had my doubts from the beginning too. Just take a look at their networth graph.
Larger Link
The Torn authorities have confirmed to me that so far, there is no evidence of illegal activity behind TiredSaladlego's rapid financial gain - but that doesn't mean she's telling the truth. I've heard rumours that a secret cabal of wealthy players are the real organisers of TiredSaladlego's bombing spree and that they are simply using her as a public figurehead to avoid being caught. But to what end?
Until recently, the prevailing theory was that this bombing spree was all part of a Monarch plot since none of the factions who had been hit so far were allied to the butterflies. This theory no longer holds as much water as it did now that Monarch HQ has been bombed, unless you believe that they are capable of nuking their own faction. I guess stranger things have happened.
A more believable theory was put forward by a player called PingyTalk, who has noticed some interesting trends on the item market of late.
"I think a cartel of the richest people in Torn realized they can make a big profit if they simultaneously threaten every high respect faction with DBs- as long as they aren't caught behind it. So, they fed a DB to Salad and had him create the poll and threaten to launch it on Valentines day. They bought up all the Neumune tablets and Hazmats, then waited to resell them." - PingyTalk
PingyTalk went on to suggest that when Torn's factions didn't respond as expected, the cartel told TSL to call off the strike, and they upped the ante by feeding him four more DBs. They then instructed salad to act crazy and drop hints about using it against several different factions, a move which meant every faction had to stock up on Neumunes and Hazmats, no matter the price.
"After the first one hit they had to buy even more seeing as the territory/respect loss was inevitable and only to be mitigated. I don't have a ton of evidence, other than the fact that some people are bulk selling neumune tablets and the hazmat circulation/value looks wonky." - PingyTalk
Pictured: Neumune Tablets three-month price graph.
Is PingyTalk onto something here, or is there a simpler explanation for all of this? I have my doubts that TiredSaladlego has acquired all five (or six) of these bombs using her own money, but nor do I believe that anyone would drop several Dirty Bombs in an attempt to earn big on item market sales.
Roughly 7,000 Neumunes have been used since TSL's bombing campaign began, with their collective value being around $14 billion at the time of writing. If these items were bought up in early February when they were roughly half their current value, you've got yourself a profit of $7 billion in return for an outlay of... s**tloads.
If you put a highly conservative price of $40 billion on the price of one Dirty Bomb, the cost of this entire bombing run comes to more than $200 billion. The only way to make this work financially is to include Hazmats, but even that scenario brings up some preposterous numbers. In the past year, Hazmats were around $8 billion at their cheapest, and are worth $10 billion now, meaning you'd still need to sell close to 100 Hazmats to make enough profit to break even on the DBs.
Of course, additional income could and definitely has been made by selling the dropping rights to these bombs, with TSL known to have commanded offers of up to $30 billion from some factions. If several bomb targets were paid for at that price, and the organisers managed to buy and sell a large quantity of Neumunes and Hazmats at the right time, then I suppose a decent profit could've been earned.
But my god, there are easier ways to make money than this.
History Made
Whether or not money has been made, we do know that history has been with the dropping of these six Dirty Bombs. Having checked both the public and private Dirty Bomb records, I can confirm that this streak of six detonations represents one of the most radioactive periods in Torn City history.
The most nukes dropped in a short period of time happened during 2019's Tornobyl drama, when sixteen Dirty Bombs were let off between the 15th and 23rd of September, including three in one day on the 18th. Another bombing run began on the 2nd of October 2019, when eight were let off over the course of six days.
The record for the most nukes let off by one person in a short space of time was previously held by Mischi3vo, who sent five Dirty Bombs in the direction of JFK, SA, and Xerxes between the 1st and 3rd of November 2012. Mischi3vo's record has been broken now that TiredSaladlego has admitted bombing Chain Reaction on the 16th, but they still have some way to go before they break Mischi3vo's overall bomb drop record of 9, as this player later hit JFK, FTW, and MnC with four more bombs between the 24th and 28th of November 2014.
Will they break that record in the coming weeks? We shall see.
TiredSaladlego has accepted responsibility for five of these bombs - her involvement in the sixth is suspected, not yet proven - but as the radioactive dust settles there are still questions to be asked. Why did she target these factions? How did it affect them? Will the victims retaliate? And are there more bombs to come?
Larger Link
Bomb #1
Bomb number one detonated at the headquarters of PT-Family just after 2am TCT on the 12th of March. This bomb took 607,652 of PT's hard-earned chaining respect and injured 413 people in the process. But after speaking to PT's leader Xanty, it appears that the timing of this bomb couldn't have been better if they had arranged it themselves.
"After setting a new 50k chain speed and most respect record during Valentine's, we went on a training break and have been since. The bomb didn't affect any activities that were going on. Apart from losing some passives on the 6th tree, everything is the same." - Xanty, PT-F leader
Xanty believes that PT-Family was targeted because they were the number 1 ranked faction in Torn and TSL wanted to start from the best. PT-F have since slipped to number 3 in the HoF respect rankings, but Xanty says that this drop in status does not warrant any kind of response towards TiredSaladlego, with PT's leader describing revenge as "not worth the time or the effort."
TiredSaladlego would not tell us why PT was targeted specifically, but she did confirm that they were always top of her list.
"I'd been telling their leaders since I got my first DB that I'd be bombing them. I got love for my friends there tho."- TSL
Bomb #2
The second bomb was sent the way of 39th Killers X at noon on the 12th and detonated two hours later injuring 474 people. Olesien's men lost 617,938 respect and suffered the interruption of their organized crimes, but since they were on a training period the bomb's impact was limited.
"People were of course asking "why us", and rumor has it that it was paid for, but overall I don't think people really cared much to be honest, we were on fortitude which saved our asses (following the.. sadly lost.. NS2 vs X war). It's always annoying to lose so much respect, but at the same time, the real impact perk-wise was extremely small." - Olesien - 39thX leader
Olesien thinks that 39th X was targeted purely because TSL threatened to bomb whoever lost the fight between themselves as NS2. In response to the attack, Olesien says they might drop bonus hits on TiredSaladlego in future, but aside from that, they have no plans for vengeance. TSL's real reasons for bombing 39thX are as follows:
"I had a personal feud with Rapid, L4, Otter back since around Insurgency. Chill people, but had to f**k them over." - TSL
Bomb #3
The community had to wait two more days for the third bomb to arrive, with this one being dispatched to the headquarters of Itsi Bitsi Bikini and detonated at 2.01am TCT on the 14th of March. 399 people were injured by this attack, with IBB losing 603,832 respect in the process. Yet again, this bomb appeared to be timed rather poorly if it was intended to disrupt any faction activities, as just like PT, IBB was on a break.
"We are currently on a book break and it did impact some of the members min/maxing books. This was the biggest disappointment for us. We only lost 2 upgrades in branch 6. We have 2% less passive strength. Once you reach a certain amount of respect, it's not as valuable anymore. Diminishing returns. I don't expect us to spend much to get it back. Just business as usual as if it didn't happen." - MightyGoober, IBB Leader
MG isn't sure why IBB was targeted, and suspects they were merely a random pick on the wheel. IBB's leader thinks that the anger of the community towards TSL will lead to repercussions eventually, hence why he doesn't feel compelled to act against her. As of now, IBB has no plans to retaliate against TSL or his former faction.
"TSL is at best a rogue merc. He may have come from PT originally but I don't blame them at all and I know the actions of TSL are only his own." - MG
TiredSaladlego told us that her reasons for bombing IBB were twofold. Firstly, she wanted to make sure that MightyGoober experienced a Dirty Bomb blast for himself, as he was in federal jail the last and only time that IBB has ever been bombed. The second reason TSL wanted to target IBB was to achieve the highest raid respect credit.
I can confirm that since this bomb was detonated during TSL's brief membership of the Octogenarian Trout Cult, the record for the most respect taken during a raid has now been broken. No other attacks were made against IBB by OTC, with the 603,832 respect removed by TiredSaladlego's bomb representing the entirety of the raid.
Bomb #4
The fourth bomb struck Subversive Alliance at 5am TCT on the 15th of March and took 451,180 respect, with 342 people being injured by the blast. These were the lowest figures of TiredSaladlego's entire bombing run, and once more, the nuke appeared to have little effect upon SA bar the respect loss.
"Other than causing a few awkward glances between members after the mass hospital group shower, no. Faction chat has been fun to read and we're continuing with our Burn Sh*t Down arson challenge this week. Chugging alcohol in the hospital under radiation is allowed." - Ashanie, SA leader
SA expected to be targeted after reading TSL's newspaper article, and Ashanie says they prepared accordingly by issuing flyout notices and radiation sickness supplies to their members. TiredSaladlego had granted SA immunity from the first three bombs after a ransom was paid, and when she later joined SA for a few days, Ashanie insisted that one of the ground rules was that TSL could not self bomb - this is probably a good rule for most factions imo.
But eventually, Ashanie and SA's members knew that the lure of Monarch money would eventually prove too tempting for TiredSaladlego to resist.
"The fact that the bomb had been paid for by Monarch and their failure to claim responsibility just displays their hypocrisy for accountability... Monarch paying 30B to Bomb SA, while we're living rent free in their heads? Priceless... We believe the bombs TSL is dropping to have been an orchestrated plan between TSL & others." - Ashanie
Ashanie says that SA has no plans to retaliate against TSL, with the faction's new leadership team planning to move forward at their own pace and eventually regain their lost respect through chaining. TiredSaladlego confirms that he was indeed paid for the bomb against SA, but refused to confirm the identity of the buyer.
"Cuz I got paid. But they lost Krastinov too, which made them fit for a drop as well." - TSL
Bomb #5
At 5pm TCT on the 16th of March, Chain Reaction was hit with a dirty bomb strike that injured 462 people and took 627,278 respect. These were the highest figures out of all five of March's dirty bomb strikes, but TiredSaladlego took to the forums to deny responsibility for this attack, having spent the past few days repeatedly insisting that they would not bomb CR.
So were we dealing with a copycat bomber? If so, they've got TiredSaladlego's modus operandi down to a tee, as yet again, the timing of this bomb was rather convenient for Chain Reaction's members.
"We weren't doing anything.. hell, I was on vacation, lol. And yeah, it really didn't do anything to us except give us something to joke about in faction chat ... kinda bonded us more, if anything. Pretty anti-climatic, honestly." - MeanMike, Chain Reaction leader
I checked the logs at the time and was aware that TSL was behind this bomb, but I was unable to state this publicly. One person who believed her was MeanMike, who had no plans to retaliate against TiredSaladlego when he thought she was telling the truth.
"Naturally, everyone is too afraid to own up to it, we think that part is kinda funny. And tsl hasn't been scared to own any of his drops, we don't think it was him." - Meanmike
Mike says that CR was just glad to get the monkey off their back, with this being the first Dirty Bomb his faction has ever received. He added that the biggest impact on himself personally was the achievement of the Radaway honor bar, which is awarded to players who use Neumune to reduce radiation poisoning. Aside from that, the bomb appeared to have little effect on CR's activities.
"We don't give a s**t... we are more amused that whoever did it is scared shitless we will find out, than we are bummed to be hosped."
TSL later confirmed their involvement in the fifth bomb, so we shall wait and see whether Chain Reaction respond to this news.
Larger Link
Bomb #6
Before TiredSaladlego told the truth about the Chain Reaction bomb, everyone knew she must have one bomb left in her arsenal, as a DB was spotted in TSL's display case shortly after CR was attacked. This means that TSL had six bombs in total, not five as she had previously stated.
Regardless, everyone knew there was another bomb primed and ready to go, and this time it was Monarch HQ who was targeted at 8pm TCT on the 17th of March. 488 citizens were injured by this attack, with Monarch losing 587,015 respect in the process. Prior to this bombing, TSL told The Times that Monarch was on their list due to the chequered history of Nash and Alexstrasza, with TSL mentioning their "glitch monkeying days" as the primary reason for targeting them.
However, with the release of an incriminating screenshot suggesting that TSL was actually paid to bomb Monarch, the question now is who paid for it?
"We did not pay for that, but we'll enjoy the fireworks nonetheless." - Ashanie
Bomb #7?
The large amount of Cesium in TSL's display case suggests that further bombs may be coming in the near future. If this prediction proves to be correct, we can identify who the likely targets are based on TiredSaladlego's previous drops and comments.
TSL is yet to bomb the same faction twice, and they have also remarked that they are only targeting factions within the top 20. Whether or not TSL bombed Chain Reaction or not, I find it unlikely that they would hit them so soon after their last DB, as TiredSaladlego appears to be looking for some form of uniqueness with each attack.
For this reason, I don't think they will attack another faction within the families of those who have already been targeted either. If I'm right, this removes PT-Calculated, PT-Shadowrazers, 39th Street main, Monarch Research, and Catalysis from consideration. Based on these exclusionary criteria, it looks likely that TSL's target will be one of the following factions:
JFK
Bloodbath and Beyond
The Untouchables
The UnLeashed Sykoz
Nuclear Fusion
Desert Eagle
NS2
NS3
Of course, it makes more sense to simply ask TSL who has made their target list, even though they've successfully misdirected both the community and this newspaper in the past. Before TSL attacked Monarch with Bomb #6, they gave me a list of potential targets along with their reasons for considering them. Unless anything has changed in the meantime, I imagine one of these factions will be glowing in the dark before long - with the exception of TUS, who seem to be in there as a joke based on TSL's notes in parentheses.
B3 (Gaining respect too damn fast)
TUS (My friends Joe and King)
Nuclear Fusion ( that dark95 dude almost rekt dealer)
Desert Eagle (what sorta dumbass leadership gets lost 75b despite being warned)
Whoever eats the next bomb, it seems likely that it will have been paid for based on TSL's recent forum response to MeanMike. Mike suggested that most of TSL's bombs had been paid for, and TSL admitted he was mostly right, meaning that at least three of the bombs must have been bought. But TSL's networth is now $10 billion, so if she was paid, it was either a very small amount, or, more likely, the money went elsewhere.
To the bomb's true owners.
A Nuclear Conspiracy?
The one aspect of this story that many are still questioning is how TiredSaladlego managed to acquire six Dirty Bombs at just over 400 days old. TSL's explanation of flipping items then multiplying their profits at the casino doesn't sit well with most people I've spoken to, and I had my doubts from the beginning too. Just take a look at their networth graph.
Larger Link
The Torn authorities have confirmed to me that so far, there is no evidence of illegal activity behind TiredSaladlego's rapid financial gain - but that doesn't mean she's telling the truth. I've heard rumours that a secret cabal of wealthy players are the real organisers of TiredSaladlego's bombing spree and that they are simply using her as a public figurehead to avoid being caught. But to what end?
Until recently, the prevailing theory was that this bombing spree was all part of a Monarch plot since none of the factions who had been hit so far were allied to the butterflies. This theory no longer holds as much water as it did now that Monarch HQ has been bombed, unless you believe that they are capable of nuking their own faction. I guess stranger things have happened.
A more believable theory was put forward by a player called PingyTalk, who has noticed some interesting trends on the item market of late.
"I think a cartel of the richest people in Torn realized they can make a big profit if they simultaneously threaten every high respect faction with DBs- as long as they aren't caught behind it. So, they fed a DB to Salad and had him create the poll and threaten to launch it on Valentines day. They bought up all the Neumune tablets and Hazmats, then waited to resell them." - PingyTalk
PingyTalk went on to suggest that when Torn's factions didn't respond as expected, the cartel told TSL to call off the strike, and they upped the ante by feeding him four more DBs. They then instructed salad to act crazy and drop hints about using it against several different factions, a move which meant every faction had to stock up on Neumunes and Hazmats, no matter the price.
"After the first one hit they had to buy even more seeing as the territory/respect loss was inevitable and only to be mitigated. I don't have a ton of evidence, other than the fact that some people are bulk selling neumune tablets and the hazmat circulation/value looks wonky." - PingyTalk
Pictured: Neumune Tablets three-month price graph.
Is PingyTalk onto something here, or is there a simpler explanation for all of this? I have my doubts that TiredSaladlego has acquired all five (or six) of these bombs using her own money, but nor do I believe that anyone would drop several Dirty Bombs in an attempt to earn big on item market sales.
Roughly 7,000 Neumunes have been used since TSL's bombing campaign began, with their collective value being around $14 billion at the time of writing. If these items were bought up in early February when they were roughly half their current value, you've got yourself a profit of $7 billion in return for an outlay of... s**tloads.
If you put a highly conservative price of $40 billion on the price of one Dirty Bomb, the cost of this entire bombing run comes to more than $200 billion. The only way to make this work financially is to include Hazmats, but even that scenario brings up some preposterous numbers. In the past year, Hazmats were around $8 billion at their cheapest, and are worth $10 billion now, meaning you'd still need to sell close to 100 Hazmats to make enough profit to break even on the DBs.
Of course, additional income could and definitely has been made by selling the dropping rights to these bombs, with TSL known to have commanded offers of up to $30 billion from some factions. If several bomb targets were paid for at that price, and the organisers managed to buy and sell a large quantity of Neumunes and Hazmats at the right time, then I suppose a decent profit could've been earned.
But my god, there are easier ways to make money than this.
History Made
Whether or not money has been made, we do know that history has been with the dropping of these six Dirty Bombs. Having checked both the public and private Dirty Bomb records, I can confirm that this streak of six detonations represents one of the most radioactive periods in Torn City history.
The most nukes dropped in a short period of time happened during 2019's Tornobyl drama, when sixteen Dirty Bombs were let off between the 15th and 23rd of September, including three in one day on the 18th. Another bombing run began on the 2nd of October 2019, when eight were let off over the course of six days.
The record for the most nukes let off by one person in a short space of time was previously held by Mischi3vo, who sent five Dirty Bombs in the direction of JFK, SA, and Xerxes between the 1st and 3rd of November 2012. Mischi3vo's record has been broken now that TiredSaladlego has admitted bombing Chain Reaction on the 16th, but they still have some way to go before they break Mischi3vo's overall bomb drop record of 9, as this player later hit JFK, FTW, and MnC with four more bombs between the 24th and 28th of November 2014.
Will they break that record in the coming weeks? We shall see.
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