The 101 Scams
In this world, holographic screens have replaced the heavy solid screens of the past. The terminal device on everyone's wrist, like a bracelet, is the personal computer that people carry with them everywhere they go.
Whether you're in the mountains, on the prairie or on a hot sandy beach, as long as your terminal's energy bar isn't depleted, you can receive all public information.
In the dimly lit basement, a family of three was hiding from the rioters' looting. The terminal in the father's hand projected a holographic screen into the air, on which the Left Bank News Channel had just resumed broadcasting.
Machine guns' tongues of fire formed a continuous line, twisting in the wind and rain. The ferocious rioters were torn apart like rag dolls, their entrails and corpses covering the ground.
Calm snipers hide in the crowd, on small buildings. Every time they pull the trigger, they send a ruthless villain to hell.
In the charging army, there were countless melee warriors. These bare-handed or axe-wielding heroes charged into the mob like gods, and after a flash of white light, blood splattered everywhere. Among them, one guy with an iron-gray face was particularly eye-catching, sometimes even the camera couldn't keep up with his speed.
A dark shadow flashed by, followed immediately by dozens of heads falling to the ground.
I don't know how it happened, but the TV station didn't even do any mosaic processing, and extremely bloody scenes were directly presented to hundreds of millions of viewers, accompanied by the host's crazy off-screen commentary.
"Do you see? Does everyone see? This is the fate of the rioters, their heads chopped off, their entrails dug out, their blood gathered into a filthy pool. This is retribution, this is retribution..."
"The people of Paradise Star on the Left Bank, everyone must wake up and see the fate of these evil-doers. Hell is their ultimate destination in life. They lost their lives for a moment's greed, abandoning their loved ones to suffer helplessly... all because of the greed and malice in their hearts..."
"Wake up, those who are infatuated and ignorant, wake up! Don't wait until the emperor's troops arrive at your doorstep before you realize your regret, it will be too late, completely too late..."
The host, Jin Pai, never thought that he would gain fame and fortune from this unexpected hosting gig. His hosting style created a new trend, known as the "roaring style". From then on, at least in the military channels of the empire, whenever they broadcasted news from the front lines, the hosts would use this roaring style.
In the basement, the child hid between his parents, too scared to look at the bloody scene. His mother covered his eyes with her hand and whispered softly, "It will be over soon, everything will pass, don't worry, school will start soon, and the bad guys on the street will disappear soon..."
At this moment, the child saw a fluttering military flag from between his mother's fingers. On it was a horse head held high, and below the flag stood a man wearing a lieutenant colonel's uniform. His sharp eyes and robust physique, combined with the magnificent and resplendent uniform, dominated the entire scene.
"Mom, what is this? Who is this person?" Just as the child was asking questions, the screen suddenly changed and a large military authorization letter appeared in front of all the audience. Immediately afterwards, a steady voice entered thousands of households.
"Citizens of the Left Bank Paradise Star, I am a special commissioner of the Imperial Department, the commander-in-chief for suppressing the rebellion, and the highest military leader on the Left Bank Paradise Star. Hereby, with the power vested in me by the Emperor and the Imperial Department, I make the following declaration..."
"Firstly, I declare that the Left Bank Paradise Star has officially entered martial law. All management levels of military schools must arrive at the Left Bank Building within 12 hours to undergo reorganization..."
"Secondly, all the marching soldiers in Heishan Port and other cities must immediately return to their barracks. If they still linger in the city six hours later, they will be prosecuted for hiding rebellious crimes..."
"Thirdly, the city of Hei-Shui-Gang and other cities will immediately come under martial law. Within the next 24 hours, no one is allowed to go out on the streets. Those who disobey this order will be considered rioters and will be suppressed..."
"Fourth, the garrison immediately restored order on Hot Sand Beach to welcome the landing of 200,000 troops urgently dispatched by the Empire..."
One by one, the orders came out of Wu Chang's mouth, his cold expression matching the scenes of suppressing rebellion rolling on the screen, making Wu Chang's image take root in the hearts of the people.
This speech facing the whole planet has been brewing for a long time, with half truth and half lies. The truth is of course his identity as a special envoy, while there are too many lies.
Not only was his lieutenant colonel identity fake, but he also exaggerated the strength of the Black Horse Camp, turning a team of over 1,000 people into 60,000. There's no need to worry about the civilians not believing it, on one hand because the whole city is in chaos and nobody can investigate clearly, and on the other hand because he now has a large number of experienced directors, producers, and computer special effects experts. These people are modifying some video footage, it's simply a piece of cake for them, they're the ancestors of faking things.
From surveillance footage and camera shots, people cut out countless scenes, then edited them together with timely footage sent back by frontline reporters. Even some screenshots from film and television works were used to piece together a shocking video.
In the painting, a sea of soldiers as far as the eye can see, led by the Black Cavalry Flag, are rushing wildly through the streets like a tidal wave, crushing any rioters who dare to resist into powder.
In the army, there are not only various firearms, but even powerful war armor has appeared. These martial arts masters can kill enemy groups like a tiger pouncing on a flock of sheep, and in front of them, no enemy can stand at all.
The scene shifted, and on the outskirts of Heishan Port, hundreds of armored vehicles were advancing. These steel monsters floating more than a meter above the ground had already torn off the gun covers, and their muzzles were aimed at the place with the most intense smoke.
Wu Chang is a bold man, who dares to quell the rebellion in a city of 30 million people with just 1,000 men. For such a person, as long as he can succeed, boasting is simply without any mental burden. Now he is lying to the whole population and even fabricating an imperial relief army of 200,000.
On the holographic screen, as many as 10 troop ships are traveling through space. In the lens, countless soldiers are ready to go, and on their shoulders, they are wearing armbands of elite troops drawn from various military regions of the Empire.
The Left Bank News Channel now has all its resources available for use by only one person, these carefully disguised images have actually deceived countless ordinary people, those who took to the streets trying to take advantage of the situation, many of them were frightened and retreated back to their homes, no longer daring to come out and make a profit from the national disaster.
As for those who are obstinately ignorant, the soldiers of the Black Horse Camp will take care of them. The black horse soldiers who have been winning battle after battle have already reached a very subtle state of mind, in which they don't even know what defeat is. No matter how many enemies stand in front of them, they will charge forward bravely.
The rioters on the streets gradually couldn't hold on, on the one hand, the rioters who dispersed from the Left Bank Building kept exaggerating the combat effectiveness of Hei Ma Camp, and now they have a tendency to mythologize Hei Ma Camp. On the other hand, it was also the continuous propaganda in the media that made them sober up a lot.
The situation has finally taken a turn for the better.
Temporary deception can deceive the common people and the big-headed soldiers, but it cannot deceive the real high-level officials, especially those high-ranking officials. At this time, Ye Wenshuai was already furious, he couldn't help but laugh at the young man on the screen who was swearing solemnly and speaking loudly without shame, and he was so angry that he couldn't speak for half a day.
"What the...?! What is this?! A chaotic mess where all sorts of monsters and demons appear, where did this swindler come from, and how did he manage to deceive his way onto TV?! And what's with this 'Imperial Lieutenant Colonel' and 'Special Envoy' nonsense?! Doesn't he think that if the military department really sent a special envoy, they wouldn't notify me?!" Just as Ye Wenshuai was furious, a civil official suddenly rushed in.
"General... I've checked it out, that... that appointment letter is actually real, the military department really appointed someone named Wu Chang as a commissioner..."
"One word shocked the dreamer, Ye Wenshuai immediately smelled the conspiracy. 'Immediately contact San Haixing, find my iron buddy, find my childhood friend, find my father and uncle, immediately investigate the origin of this person called Wu Chang... Also, immediately verify the authenticity of the 200,000 relief troops..."
As the secretary and clerk started to get busy, Ye Wenshuai supported his scorching head with his hand and said in a low voice, "Damn it, today is really damn it..."
The frowning face of Ye Wenshuai formed a sharp contrast with the smiling face of Ye Feiwu. When this prince saw the news, he burst out laughing at once.
"He's got talent, real talent. This kid is definitely going to be a big shot someday. It's been years since we've seen such a huge scammer, and he actually thinks he can swindle an entire planet! With this kind of genius, if given the chance, he could really soar to great heights..."
"Haha, another 200,000 reinforcements? You're really killing me! The 100,000 troops behind the Double Moon, were secretly squeezed out from the front line by the Grand Princess. Three Sea Stars is now like an empty shell, yet they can still dispatch 200,000 elite troops? Haha, even if it's just a security team, I doubt they could send that many..."
"Haha, there's actually an armored unit? And armored infantry too? Do you think this is the front line or something? You think we're at war with the Hunters?"
The king laughed for a whole minute, then his emotions returned to calm. He picked up the beautiful wine in front of him and muttered to himself: "Damn it, what's funny isn't this unpredictability, but us instead. The plan seems simple, but it's actually one ring after another, every step is very important, including bragging, which also has a lot of prior work to lay the groundwork. Grandma's, why don't I have such a good brain?"
"Mr. Ya, as a leader, I wonder if you can see through the unpredictable plan?"
At this time, in the southern foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in the midst of a humid and sultry tropical rainforest, within a large patch of white clouds, Mr. Ya's spy aircraft, the Honeybee, was hiding in plain sight.
Every piece of news on the screen he didn't miss, plus Mr. Ya's free intelligence network, he can truly restore the unpredictable plan, and gradually he went from being puzzled at first to being inexplicably impressed in the end. Now he is no longer just impressed, but has been deeply surrounded by fear.
"What kind of person is this unpredictable guy? Why can he grasp people's hearts so precisely? Who is his master? Could it be that legendary Dragon Slaying Technique, the divine art guarded by the Noble Alliance?"
"No wonder the Second Princess values him so much, no wonder the Eldest Princess is desperate to win him over. Could it be that this young man is someone from the Noble Alliance?"
Mr. Ya didn't dare to think about it anymore, a kind of inexplicable fear surrounded him, the harmless and unpredictable person on Snow Boat suddenly became ferocious in his heart.
At this time, he suddenly shouted "Let everyone in the army move, don't hesitate, can't wait any longer. Immediately let the soldiers enter the city, don't believe in unpredictable rumors, he is deceiving people... deceiving people..."
