Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Too Naive!
“It’s trying to be clever with us, engaging in conspiracy.” Shen Hao’s gaze was ice cold, but indeed, he was smiling, “How naive!”
“Indeed naive,” Dong Gong laughed, “There is a saying that goes, in the face of absolute power, all conspiracies and tricks are meaningless. To think they can play with public opinion and conspiracy on our land, they truly underestimate us. Moreover, this situation is actually within our contingency plans. It’s just that we didn’t expect a Blood Demon Mother, especially one that claims to be the Blood Demon Leader, to do such a thing.”
Yes, this Blood Demon had made a fatal mistake. It had overestimated the power of public opinion and underestimated the determination and power of the system! And even more so, it underestimated the versatility and complexity of humanity!
Once the nation’s propaganda machine starts, such level of public opinion manipulation poses little trouble, not to mention that the sentiment generated by the Mother isn’t flawless.
Not to mention, can we just let go of the tragedy of 500,000 compatriots, the blood feud of 500,000 people?
The fear of death is one side of ordinary people, but the courage to fight is also a trait of this nation, this ethnicity!
That’s why Shen Hao has never defined himself as a “nanny” of civilization.
In front of the Trial, death and fear are unavoidable, but he believes that after the initial confusion and panic, the entire civilization will inevitably grow swiftly. The Civilization Trial ultimately needs to be confronted by the whole civilization!
And more importantly, the internet is not a lawless land!
“Since it claims to be the leader of the Eastern Country Blood Demons, regardless of how much truth there is to this title, it must have intelligence on other Blood Demon Matrices,” Shen Hao’s eyes grew brighter, “Since it has already shown such a clumsy hand, don’t tell me we still can’t locate its approximate position!”
“The investigation was initiated the moment the video went live,” Dong Gong immediately said. “It’s clear this Blood Demon Mother has put some thought into this. The video was released simultaneously on different platforms, each originator’s address is different, and they’ve used hacking techniques to cover their tracks. However, those techniques are trivial, and the Analysis Department believes it probably had its offspring carry the video to different cities for release. But no matter if it is online or offline, from the moment the video appeared, it left a trail.”
“How long will it take?” Shen Hao said, “We just need a rough range!”
“We’ve already called in a large number of experts; tracking online presents no difficulty at all. At the same time, we’ve initiated a lot of offline investigations. If all goes well, we could have results by tomorrow morning, at the very least, we’ll be able to find the location of this offspring showcased in the video!”
The internet has evolved to the point where the official cyber capabilities are beyond common people’s imagination; even a top hacker, if one truly resolves to capture them, can be caught.
Not to mention the world’s top technological personnel, but the level of hardware and network permissions alone are far beyond what an individual can match.
Moreover, in this country, online security has long been a priority, and “the internet is not a lawless land” is certainly not an empty phrase!
It can only be said that this move by the Blood Demon Mother was far too naive.
Releasing the video via an offspring is more like burying its head in the sand.
After all, being able to descend also means it can establish a connection to the Spiritual Network; the Matrix must be near this offspring!
Shen Hao was even getting a bit anxious.
It was mainly that term “leader” that the Mother had used which piqued his interest.
If they could follow the trail to other Matrices, they might even have to thank this one for the points it delivered, which would greatly reduce the threat to the common people—a real windfall!
“If you need to use any items from the shop, just let me know,” Shen Hao even threw in a bit of insurance, “There are still some items in the shop that should be useful, such as insect bionic surveillance devices, high-performance chips, People-finding Talismans…”
“Then we’re even more certain!” Dong Gong was not bashful.
He was clearly aware of the significance of this matter. Catching this Mother could potentially save millions of lives and further accelerate the comprehensive victory at home!
It can be said that since the emergence of the video, the whole country has mobilized a tremendous amount of power!
If it had kept a low profile, concealed itself, that would have been one thing, but since it stepped forward, it should be given a lesson, lest it truly believe it was defeated only by Shen Hao.
After hanging up the call, Shen Hao didn’t waste time, as if he hadn’t seen the video, and continued to hunt Blood Demons and their Matrices.
A response? A dialogue?
It’s not impossible, just unnecessary.
However, the internet at this moment was thoroughly buzzing with activity.
Shen Hao didn’t make a sound or respond, but the nation’s reaction was fast. Only about fifteen minutes after the video began spreading, the military was the first to release the latest statement.
It was a video.
In the video were countless warriors stationed in city after city, from well-known metropolises to obscure small towns. Every warrior appearing in front of the camera was fully armed, their expressions grave. As more and more scenes emerged, densely packed together, a single voice filled the screen:
“We are in every city. To harm the people, you must step over our dead bodies first!”
This video sent a profound shock through the populace. Even though most people could see patrolling soldiers in their own cities, it was only at this moment that they realized how, within just a few days, soldiers had spread throughout the country!
And this was just the beginning of the battle of public opinion.
More and more images were disclosed one by one.
There were scenes of fierce battles between soldiers and Blood Demons, salutes to fallen comrades after combat, survivors wailing over the bodies of deceased family members, empty homes once filled with life, and the grey photos and names of the victims…
Nothing made the horrors of war and the changes of this era more tangible than these, stirring after grief was a growing intensity of rage.
Even though many still believed that accepting the terms to reduce their own casualties was the way to go, this viewpoint was no longer overwhelmingly dominant.
Voices against compromise began to increase gradually.
“What credibility do the words of Blood Demons hold? Who can guarantee they will all leave?”
“A war to the bitter end with no room for compromise!”
“They want to flee after being overpowered? It’s not that easy!”
“So many have already died. How can we let these monsters kill tens of thousands of our people and then just swagger off?”
“Our troops are already stationed in every city. 30 million is a ludicrous number!”
“Abandon wishful thinking, cast aside fear. Between humans and these monsters, only one can survive!”