https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-947-The-Shocking-Press-Conference-on-Skrull/12827302/
Chapter 946: The Outbreak of Public Opinion on Skru
Chapter 946: The Outbreak of Public Opinion on Skru
Manina and Kusman were caught off guard by the sudden surge of public opinion.
Manina had originally intended to use this incident as bait to see if he could catch any traitors secretly working with the Blue Star invaders. However, the Blue Star invaders hadn't even arrived yet (Skru would detect significant spatial fluctuations when they teleported over), so how had the news already spread so widely?
Who had betrayed them and leaked this information?
"Skyblue, where did the leak originate?" In the royal study, Manina asked the AI Skyblue with a serious expression.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I'm not entirely sure," Skyblue replied with a voice that conveyed deep frustration. "Hundreds of thousands of IP addresses posted this information simultaneously, and these IP addresses are scattered all over the world. We can't pinpoint the source, but we can infer that the enemy was well-prepared for this!"
"Prepared, you say?" Manina nodded thoughtfully. "The only organization capable of such a sophisticated public opinion attack would be the Anti-Union. Skyblue, investigate whether these accounts have any connections to the Anti-Union."
"Understood!" Skyblue responded quickly.
Skyblue's information processing capabilities were incredibly swift. Within two seconds of his response, all the relevant data had been analyzed.
After verifying the truth, Skyblue replied with a serious tone, "Your Majesty, based on the analysis of the information, I can confirm that these accounts are indeed connected to the Anti-Union! At least 30% of the accounts have previously participated in various activities organized by the Anti-Union. It seems that the Anti-Union is the mastermind behind this public opinion campaign."
"Of course, it's them," Manina's lips curved into a slight smile. His suspicions were confirmed.
But now a new problem arose—which traitor had leaked this information to the Anti-Union?
"There were six 7th-stage and twelve 6th-stage powerhouses who escaped from the Kilimanjaro Spring," Manina muttered to himself. "Could one of them have leaked the information? What audacity!"
Manina instructed, "Skyblue, thoroughly investigate the high-stage powerhouses who escaped from the Kilimanjaro Spring. Don't let anyone slip through the cracks!"
"Understood... but..." Skyblue's tone shifted to one of difficulty. "I might not be able to do that."
"What's the problem?"
"Your Majesty, these 18 high-stage powerhouses are all members of the Runkte Alliance. I don't have the necessary clearance to conduct a deep investigation."
"You're right. They're all Runkteans, which makes this issue more complicated." Manina frowned.
...
Just then, Skyblue interrupted again, "Your Majesty, Runkte Councilor Kusman is requesting a video call to discuss the current public opinion issue. Shall I connect the call?"
"Kusman... alright, connect it."
"Very well, Your Majesty."
As soon as he finished speaking, a virtual video window appeared in front of Manina.
On the other side of the window, Kusman sat stiffly, and his expression clearly showed his poor mood.
"Respected Emperor Manina," Kusman, with important matters at hand, skipped formalities and went straight to the point.
"The public opinion on the internet is completely out of control. My subordinates are doing their best to delete posts, ban users, and reduce the heat of this event. However, this incident has already become a hot topic, and there are too many people discussing it. The public opinion is beyond our control. What do you suggest we do?"
"Hmm..." Manina thought for a moment and sighed. "I don't have a good solution either.
"Publicly addressing the issue won't work. If we announce that this is a rumor, the people will demand that Germentek and Fagu personally clarify the matter.
"Since addressing it publicly won't work, we have two options left—either ignore it completely and let it cool down on its own, or come clean to the public and admit our mistakes. Neither option is ideal."
"You're right," Kusman nodded. "No matter which path we choose, we'll be at a disadvantage. The Anti-Union won't let us off the hook and will use this to dominate public opinion. Those people, led by Cindy Doppler, are truly despicable!"
Kusman detested the Anti-Union. They had been dragging the entire planet down.
However, they lacked the power to completely eliminate the Anti-Union.
After all, Cindy Doppler was the legitimate councilor of the Beck nation, and Makaton III was the legitimate heir to their kingdom.
With only two months left before the major battle, it wasn't practical to launch a military campaign against these two nations. Economic sanctions would take too long to have an effect.
As for sending assassins... Makaton III was a 7th-stage powerhouse, and Cindy Doppler had 7th-stage protection. Assassinating them would be nearly impossible.
So even though they despised the situation, the United Government was completely powerless against them.
But then, Manina suddenly said mysteriously, "Kusman, perhaps we have a third path we can take. If we follow this path, we might be able to turn the tide and turn defeat into victory!"
"Really, a third path? What is it?" Kusman's eyes lit up.
"No, I can't tell you about it just yet."
"Huh? You can't even tell me?"
"Trust me, you'll know by this time tomorrow. Today, we need to suppress the heat of the incident. We need to delete posts, ban comments, and do everything we can to control the narrative. When the other thing happens tomorrow, it will be our moment to turn the tide!"
"Alright, I'll wait and see," Kusman said, albeit reluctantly.
...
The incident continued to escalate on the internet of Skrull. The situation grew more and more intense, with the controversy spreading across the globe.
At first, major media outlets reported the explosive news without hesitation. No media could resist such a massive "traffic bonanza."
Thus, within a short day, almost every Skrull who regularly browsed the internet knew about the deaths of two Seventh-Rank powerhouses.
However, after Manina and Kusman's conversation, the situation took a significant turn.
The United Government officially remained silent, pretending as if nothing had happened.
But behind the scenes, the two men used all the resources at their disposal to comprehensively censor related topics online.
News articles from major media were deleted, trending topics were removed, and all information related to the keywords was blocked. For example, searching for "Fagu" would only yield a blank page.
All related news and information vanished completely.
Even Cindy Doppeler's article criticizing the United Government was forcibly deleted.
This was the first time the United Government had censored Cindy Doppeler's statements.
The large-scale deletion and banning of comments quickly enraged the netizens.
People were discussing the matter enthusiastically, and suddenly, their comments and news articles disappeared, and many were even banned from their accounts!
What are you doing, United Government? Why not come out and clarify instead of playing dirty?
What made it even more unacceptable for the netizens was the deletion of Cindy Doppeler's battle report.
The United Government provided no explanation for deleting the article and even went so far as to ban Cindy Doppeler's account!
The account of the Speaker of the third-ranked nation in the world was banned without any reason. Where was the "freedom of speech" the United Government always boasted about?
For a moment, the entire online world was in an uproar.
Everyone was determined not to let this slide and demanded an explanation from the United Government!
Thus, the netizens spontaneously spread the news about the Kilimanjaro Spring on various platforms.
To avoid censorship and account bans, the netizens came up with many homophonic terms. For example, "Fagu" was called "Da Gu" (a type of mushroom plant on Skrull), and "Kilimanjaro" was called "Xingeta Na" (a famous Leek Bug brand).
The netizens continued to use their ingenuity to fight against the United Government.
Due to the United Government's questionable actions, the Anti-Union Organization's influence also grew significantly.
Many people no longer supported the United Government and decided to join the resistance.
...
The struggle continued for an entire day and night.
The next afternoon, when the official public opinion survey results were released, Cindy Doppeler was delighted to find that the number of people supporting the Anti-Union Organization had skyrocketed several times over!
Before, the Skrulls generally looked down on the Blue Star inhabitants and were willing to support the United Government's annexation of Blue Star. Thus, the number of people supporting the Anti-Union Organization was only around 12%.
But that morning, the Beck Government conducted another public opinion survey. According to the survey, this time, the percentage of people supporting the Anti-Union Organization and demanding that the United Government cancel the war was as high as 78%!
The number was 6.5 times the original!
Of course, 78% was a peak figure.
The fear of the deaths of two Seventh-Rank powerhouses, combined with the United Government's censorship and lack of explanation, had created this extremely exaggerated number.
Over time, this number would likely decline.
But it was still a terrifying figure, symbolizing a significant victory for the Anti-Union Organization!
At 3 PM, Cindy Doppeler initiated a video call with Emperor Hongwu.
As allies, they had communicated many times, sharing a lot of intelligence.
Now, they were going to discuss the current public opinion offensive.
Cindy Doppler laughed during the video call, "Emperor Makaton, according to the latest public opinion, at least 66% of the people have shifted their support to our Anti-Union Organization, demanding that the United Government end the war. Our propaganda campaign has been a huge success!"
"Indeed, we've won this battle!" Emperor Hongwu smiled, "Although our social media accounts were suspended, the more the United Government tries to silence us, the more unpopular they become. And they can't explain the deaths of the two Seventh-Rank powerhouses. I'm eager to see what Manina will do this time!"
"I doubt he has any other options," Cindy Doppler interjected with a laugh. "Under such immense public pressure, the only way out would be to come forward and apologize, revealing the deaths of the two Seventh-Rank powerhouses. Of course, he could continue the censorship, but that would only backfire!"
"Exactly..."
Emperor Hongwu was about to add something when he suddenly heard a notification from AI Da Ming: "Your Majesty, the ban on your social media account has been lifted."
At the same time, Cindy Doppler received a similar notification.
Both of them were puzzled.
What's going on?
Why did the United Government suddenly lift the ban on their accounts?
Could it be that the United Government is preparing to apologize?
Cindy Doppler and Emperor Hongwu opened their social media platforms and logged into their recently unfrozen accounts. They didn't need to search for what had happened; a quick look at the "999+" private messages immediately cleared up the confusion.
It turned out that Manina was holding a press conference, scheduled to start in just ten minutes.
"Haha, they must be desperate!" Cindy Doppler laughed loudly, "This press conference is definitely an apology. I'm sure of it!"
Emperor Hongwu nodded, "That makes sense. The United Government lifting our bans must mean they are preparing to apologize. There's no point in keeping us censored if they're going to come clean."
"Emperor Makaton, should we watch this apology together?"
"There are only ten minutes left, so let's watch it together. I'll have AI pull up the live feed..."
...
The news about Emperor Manina holding a press conference was announced on the United Government's official website, complete with a link to the live stream.
The press conference would be broadcast globally.
This news was immediately picked up and shared by major media outlets, with headlines in bold and red, prominently displayed.
The residents of Skrul Planet also speculated that Manina was going to make a public apology. They flocked to the live stream, eager to see how the usually proud and arrogant emperor would apologize.
For a moment, the live stream was almost overwhelmed by the influx of viewers.
Millions of users flooded the live stream, nearly causing the signal to crash.
...
But once they entered the live stream, the smiles quickly faded from their faces.
Especially for Cindy Doppler and Emperor Hongwu, their smiles froze completely.
The press conference hadn't started yet, but the live stream was already showing the scene from the conference hall.
At the center of the stage stood a person, with others arranged in a semicircle around them.
This person was not Emperor Manina. More accurately, this person wasn't even a Skrul, but a noble, blue-skinned Saint-Silver!
She was a Saint-Silver female.
Wearing a thin, silver-white armor, her appearance was similar to that of a human female from Earth, except for her blue skin. Her feet were hooves, similar to a goat's, and she had a tail as thick as a baby's arm.
While the residents of Skrul Planet knew what Saint-Silvers looked like, this was the first time anyone had seen one in person!
The Saint-Silver female yawned, looking drowsy.
But the moment everyone saw her, they were stunned! They hadn't expected to see a Saint-Silver at Manina's press conference!
Could it be that Manina wasn't going to apologize? Was the press conference not about the deaths of the two Seventh-Rank powerhouses, but about this Saint-Silver?
Not only were the viewers in the live stream shocked, but Cindy Doppler and Emperor Hongwu were also completely taken aback.
This was entirely different from what they had imagined!
They thought Manina was holding the press conference to formally apologize for the deaths of the two Seventh-Rank powerhouses.
But instead, a Saint-Silver female had become the focus of the conference.
Who was this Saint-Silver female?
(End of Chapter)
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