Within 10 minutes of the video being released, the federal state media controlled by Shindai began to refute the claim: the video was a forgery by a technical expert, entirely the result of AI face swapping, and the person in the video was not the president; the celebrities in the video were also fake.
Online trolls started flooding the comments section of official media posts with messages like, "I knew their expressions looked a bit stiff, turns out it was AI face-swapping!"
"The people who spread rumors are despicable!"
In this era of the underworld, there is no longer any right or wrong on the internet; it all comes down to who is more shameless, and whoever does so gains control of the narrative.
If you tell a lie enough, it starts to become the truth.
There are three main social media platforms on the federal network: Link App, Nebula App, and 1357 App.
Behind the link is Shindai Holdings.
Nebula is backed by the Li family's holding company.
1357 is backed by the Chen family's holding company.
Qingchen chose to post the video in the Nebula to avoid having his account banned, and even had the home advantage to ban some paid troll accounts, although it would take some time to identify the accounts.
When online trolls started appearing, public opinion on the internet began to shift, with many people forwarding the clarification statements and then condemning those who made the statement videos.
The demonstrators also stopped, one by one halting outside the political center of the northern city, unsure whether to continue their protests against Kamishiro and Kashima.
But an unexpected turn of events occurred: the president's social media account suddenly commented under the statement refuting the rumors: "Please don't lose your conscience for money, and don't let the tragedy of the times become your tragedy."
The public was stunned. The president was now using an account to fight back? The video was fake; had the account been hacked?
Before anyone could react, the politicians and celebrities began to fight back using their social media accounts.
After the president finished speaking, it was the turn of the most powerful rappers. They all recorded diss videos, using single rhymes, double rhymes, and so on, completely tearing apart Kamishiro and Kashima.
Qing Chen paced back and forth in the garrison barracks, while the president and celebrities each sat on a small military stool, engrossed in their phones.
They were like a group of elementary school students, very well-behaved.
Unlike the online marketing companies of Shindai and Kashima, Qingchen's online marketing company may not have many people, but they are all top-tier influencers.
Qing Chen said, "It doesn't matter if they distort the truth. What's important is that you have special identities. You should use your celebrity status to let more people know what happened here. Don't be so high and mighty, or you'll get nothing."
At this point, a celebrity raised his hand and said, "I've posted ten times, and the number of views has reached 10 million."
"Qingye," Qingchen said with a smile, "give our big star a small bread roll and a bottle of mineral water."
The president also raised his hand: "I posted two posts, but they got 200 million views, over 400,000 likes, and over 400,000 shares!"
When such data appears on a single social media platform, it has essentially reached a level that is widely known.
Qing Chen said with a smile, "Qing Ye, pour our president a cappuccino and light him a cigar!"
The guitarist of a famous band asked, "After completing the mission, can I take drugs?"
“No,” Qingchen shook his head: “This is a bottom line for me, but I can help you detoxify.”
The celebrity immediately became furious: "Didn't you say you could exchange anything? If you don't give me the medicine, I won't post it."
Qingye laughed and said, "Slap yourself."
A soldier standing next to a celebrity slapped him across the face, and the rapper, who had already suffered a great loss, immediately gloated.
Qing Chen continued with a smile, "Come on, let's start a new round of action. Qing Ye, distribute the photos of the refugees to everyone. Each person should choose one to share. Right now, we're playing the empathy card; we must arouse the compassion of the federal citizens. Also, remember to state that City 10 does not accept donations. Don't let some hypocritical charities profit from this."
At this point, online opinion once again turned one-sided. No matter how hard the online marketing companies of Kamishiro and Kashima tried, they couldn't compete with the social media accounts of the president, dozens of members of parliament and politicians, and more than a hundred celebrities.
Their navy may number in the tens of thousands, but the problem is that Qingchen's navy, though smaller in number, is composed entirely of elite troops.
Moreover, the Li family was on Qingchen's side, and a large number of online troll accounts began to be identified and banned one by one.
The owners of those online marketing companies silently watched the posts and photos published by celebrities on their phones.
To be honest, the online marketing company on the other side probably never imagined that one day, a competitor would be able to use such a powerful online marketing team...
The perpetrators of the disaster probably never imagined that the consequences of not killing all the politicians in City 10 immediately would be so severe.
By 1 a.m., all the dignitaries and celebrities had completed their tasks and returned to their dormitories, where 16 people shared a room, and were fast asleep.
Only a few people, including Song Niaoniao, slept in officers' single rooms. These people were so cooperative that Qing Chen felt a little embarrassed to keep them locked up...
Before returning to her dormitory, Song Niaoniao looked at Qingchen with sparkling eyes: "Do you want me to stay and stay up all night? A lot of online trolls only go out at night, and there are more of them than you think. If I stay, I can continue to make my voice heard."
Qing Chen shook his head: "No need, the next battle won't be online."
After 1 a.m., Kamishiro and Kashima began to prohibit IP addresses controlled by them from logging into other social media platforms in six cities.
In other words, the citizens there can no longer access the "Nebula" controlled by Lee Holdings.
In the war of public opinion, everyone has started to resort to any means necessary.
Seeing that the president had backed down, the online troll companies of Kamishiro and Kashima immediately began to mobilize a large number of online trolls to carry out a new wave of online rumors.
This time, the online marketing company came prepared. Those unscrupulous online merchants who profit from human suffering received huge sums of money from companies like Shindai and Kashima, and decided to launch a full-scale online propaganda war to completely distort the truth.
These people managed to push all the trending topics about the president down in just half an hour!
At that moment, Nan Gengchen sent Qingchen hundreds of addresses in one go: "Brother Chen, these are all addresses of online trolls... 80% of them were found with the help of the matrix, they are quite capable."
“Received,” Qingchen replied.
Ever since Li Shentan appeared, she has been like a little princess who has been confined to her home, unable to appear in public again. Fortunately, time-traveling hacker groups such as Nan Gengchen and Matrix have finally grown up.
Qing Chen sent these hundreds of addresses to Luo Wanya all at once: "Physically ban their accounts."
The next moment, the parents' associations in the lower three districts of various cities sprang into action, going door-to-door according to the addresses.
Who are the people who run online trolls? They're the poor people in the lower-class areas who want to earn some extra money, of course. They make 50 cents a post, and everyone's having a blast.
Xiaoqi, carrying a baseball bat, headed towards District 9 of City 22. He made a few hand gestures, and his family members rushed into several buildings in a flurry.
At this very moment, several middle-aged people are sitting in the house, frantically posting and bumping posts.
The door was kicked open with a bang, and Xiao Qi, carrying an iron rod, looked at all the online trolls in the room with a half-smile: "Come on, let me see what you're posting?"
The online trolls were shocked. There was even an offline ambush component?! They'd never encountered anything like this before!
The online trolls panicked: "Community Federation? What are you doing? We're just posting online. The Federation has freedom of speech. You should abide by the law!"
Xiao Qi sneered, "I think we've been too lenient with you, making you forget who we are. In the Lower Three Districts, we are the law!"
Since online account banning is not an option, let's resort to physical account banning.
Parent-teacher associations are now present in 25 cities across the federal government, and almost all of these cities will have their lower three districts integrated.
While this force is not yet able to compete with the Federation Army Group, using it to attack the navy would be like using a cannon to kill a mosquito—a waste of its potential.
Just 30 minutes later, the owners of the online troll companies were shocked to discover that 90% of their once-proud online army had gone offline and lost contact...
One second they were posting, "Song Niaoniao has so much dirt on her, can you really believe what she says?" and the next second, they were gone!
The owners of the online marketing companies were dumbfounded; it was the first time they had ever seen anyone play this game with them.
Thirty minutes later, the owner of one of the online marketing companies also disappeared.
Moreover, some of the previously disappeared online trolls, after learning of the parents' association's stance, actually turned around and helped attack Kamishiro and Kashima for free.
It's not that they're bursting with a sense of justice—after all, what kind of sense of justice can online trolls have? It's just that those people are genuinely enjoying the convenience that parent-teacher conferences bring to everyone.
There's no sense of justice to speak of; everyone is simply grateful for what the parents' association has done for the lower three districts of various cities.
Therefore, a sense of disconnect suddenly appeared on the "Link" platform of Shindai Holdings.
Some accounts were posting just a second ago, "Councilor Song Min lied to the public when he was campaigning for votes before. Don't believe him. Anyone who does is a dog."
The very next second, the account started posting, "Sorry, I misunderstood Representative Song Min. I choose to believe him! Woof woof woof!"
After these accounts appeared, not only were the general public confused, but even the administrators of the link were bewildered. Should they ban these accounts or not? Whose side are they on?
The war of public opinion has been won.
People in more than twenty cities across the federal government began taking to the streets to cheer for City 10.
In City 20, people even toppled the statue of the first head of the Kamishō family and graffitied insults on the memorial square.
Soon, Jindai began deploying soldiers to suppress the protesters, and tear gas made the entire city seem like it was engulfed in smoke.
Kamishiro and Kashima became enraged and began to use force to suppress the rebellion.
However, this time, public opinion surged like a tidal wave, and the workers responsible for transporting supplies and building forward bases went on strike, paralyzing even the city's rail transit.
The fleet that was originally going to continue south to Kamishiro, Kashima, and the west coast was dragged to its feet, giving the Kei and Lee clans a chance to recuperate and adjust their strategies.
...
...
Amidst the online uproar, Qingchen sat on a rooftop pondering: "How can we get City 10 running? What can become the pillar industry here, allowing Bai Zhou and the Parents' Association to truly establish themselves here?"
The army needs to be supported, and the people need to eat, drink, and relieve themselves. In three months, Qingchen will have to support everything on his own.
He suddenly realized that the old man on Ginkgo Mountain had dumped everything on him and agreed to give him three months as a buffer, actually hoping that he would learn how to govern a city in those three months.
Only after he understands how to govern a city can he go on to learn how to govern a country.
Qingchen has had several teachers in his life.
Li Shutong taught him how to cultivate himself.
Li Xiurui taught him his original intention.
His shadow helped him win people's hearts.
Now, the old man on Ginkgo Mountain seems to be teaching him how to 'herd' the people.
But Qingchen didn't really want to learn this. Just like what he said to his master, Li Shutong, if a knight is trapped in a city, then he is no longer a knight.
If he had spent his entire life on politics, he might have become a second Li Xiurui, and then, in his old age, he would sit on a cliff overlooking the rising sun, filled with regret.
The lessons that Grandpa Li taught him during the last part of his life conflict with what the old man on Ginkgo Mountain wanted to teach him.
Qingchen sighed.
Let's wait until at least the six million people in city number 10 can have food before we talk about it.
Qing Chen thought for a moment and then sent a message to Nan Gengchen: "Any money-making projects coming up lately?"
Nan Gengchen became interested: "Brother Chen, are all those presidents and celebrities on the internet with you lately? You could have them film blessing videos for everyone like that African guy. That stuff is pretty lucrative. You could also send them out to host weddings; they could make hundreds of thousands per event."
Qing Chen: "???"
He immediately blacklisted Nan Gengchen, planning to unblock him after a while.