Chapter 408: The Devil
"Fifty times... did he trade with a devil for such power?"
"Or perhaps, he is merely the projection of some devil?"
Through various intelligence channels, the American side learned that after Bai Mo and the Disciple of the Crimson World "perished together," both vanished into an unknown space.
When he reappeared, he suddenly possessed world-destroying power and committed all sorts of unimaginable acts, which inevitably led them to the absurd conjectures mentioned above.
Such as selling one's soul to a devil, or being a devil's projection on earth... Given that the Land of White was already demonized, these claims found considerable traction across all social strata.
The various deeds committed by the Disciple of the Crimson World bore striking resemblance to the devils in Western mythology who toy with human hearts and incite chaos. Naturally, devils would be associated with hell.
Thus, the space where the two ultimately vanished together was believed to be true hell, and the Crimson World Disturbance from over a year ago was, in essence, a battle between two devils.
Following this line of reasoning, both the immense power Bai Mo suddenly acquired and the nation he established—a realm that distorted human nature—received a "logical" explanation.
Not only that, but after thoroughly demonizing the enemy before them, the widespread public unrest caused by the Land of White's new policies was, to a certain extent, reined in.
"How can the Huaxia Federation, which claims to be a developing country, achieve such a feat, when we, as developed nations with far higher per capita incomes, still have impoverished people everywhere who can't afford medical treatment!"
Such a question made it difficult for officials from various countries, who stood on platforms advocating for "threat theories," to step down.
Because in the Land of White, all of them would be subject to forced equalization. Therefore, no matter how strong public opinion might be, they could never openly support a system that clearly demanded their own sacrifice for the common good.
And so, to quell public anger, the "truth" that ultimately appeared in the media became a fantastical tale about a devil.
Polished by numerous top-tier writers, the story of Bai Mo as a devil, jeopardizing human freedom, became vividly lifelike. Simultaneously, the narrative asserted a key point:
Generous welfare benefits were all potential means for the devil to lure souls into depravity!
A lie told a hundred times becomes the truth. In the year since the Land of White was established, foreign televisions, radios, the internet... every source of information dissemination was exploited, bombarding the public with high-frequency information in various ways, ceaselessly indoctrinating them with the "correct" story.
Then, leveraging the inherent blind obedience of fanatical followers, everyone with even a shred of fame in the arts, literature, film, and television industries participated in this grand brainwashing.
Opinion leaders, musical talents, and film and television stars, without exception, conveyed the necessary information to their fans, sparing no effort to garner public support.
The reason for all this was simple: in this modern society with its exceptionally developed entertainment industry, even a tiny bit of fame would clearly earn them money exceeding the stipulated property confiscation threshold.
Cutting off someone's path to wealth is like murdering their parents; it was precisely this point that pitted the Land of White against all of them.
Any voice that diverged from the main narrative or supported the other side would be vociferously denounced by countless big shots, then charged with three major crimes: contempt for human rights, violation of the principles of freedom, and being an accomplice to the devil, relentlessly pursued by fanatical fans like mad dogs.
Of course, after the 250th case of sudden death due to cardiac arrest, no one, no matter where on Earth, dared to make personal attacks on Bai Mo by name.
Instead, a series of more obscure new terms emerged, such as "that person," "dictatorial devil," and "human rights shredder," to avoid network-enabled retribution.
Bai Mo warned everyone with blood: people must take responsibility for what they say.
Unlike the tumultuous situation abroad, the residents of the Land of White were enjoying a rare tranquility, or perhaps, a rigid quiet.
With the system's oversight extended to every individual, most criminal activities had vanished from society, leaving only incidents not entirely subject to subjective control, such as cars suddenly losing control and injuring pedestrians, or objects accidentally falling from high places and hurting people.
In a sense, the pervasive surveillance had restored society to a state of excellent public order, where doors could be left unlocked at night.
However, everything behind it was not so beautiful; the complete lack of privacy was a very significant problem.
Although many had adapted over the past year, becoming able to temporarily forget the system's presence in their private lives, it would still take an exceedingly long time for modern people, with their strong sense of privacy, to truly treat the system as completely ignorable air.
Compared to humans, it was the mutated animals, who had received a "special pardon," that were better able to adapt to the changes of the new era.
They had almost no concept of "privacy," and naturally, they didn't find the system's ubiquitous surveillance uncomfortable.
It was clearly unrealistic to expect a dog to understand why it would feel uncomfortable being watched while performing personal functions, even if that dog already possessed the intelligence to use a cell phone.
"A world with a constant temperature of twenty-five degrees Celsius is simply amazing!" A year later, Lin Yuedong, feeling utterly transformed, stretched happily after finishing his coding.
From the intensity of the sunlight to the distribution of clouds, the entire weather system of the Land of White was controlled by the System; there was no longer any need for weather forecasts, as all weather was artificially created.
Bai Mo's power seemed to grow without end. A year ago, he could only control the temperature of urban areas, keeping them at a constant level.
By today, a year later, his will could already reach every corner of the Land of White, and controlling the local weather was merely a microcosm of his abilities.
"It's our turn for rain tomorrow," Chocolate said, perched on Lin Yuedong's shoulder. "Since it's not raining today, don't just squat at home like a useless otaku. Go for a walk in the suburbs. You won't find a girlfriend by just staying indoors, meow."
"No way! The suburbs don't have the system's constant temperature, it must be scorching hot out there right now!" Lin Yuedong, who had increasingly become a tech otaku preferring quiet to activity, decisively rejected Chocolate's suggestion.
"I'm going to be a great programmer! What's a mere girlfriend? If I don't have one, I'll just create one myself!" With that, he turned his gaze to the little orange cat on his shoulder.
Having lacked family warmth since childhood, Lin Yuedong, who regarded Chocolate as family, harbored unique feelings for the cat.
"I treat you like my apprentice, yet you still want to get on top of me..."
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