Chapter 161: Chapter 57: Public Opinion Storm
The next morning at dawn.
The streets of Steel Dome City were full of people looking up at the screens.
They were displaying a scene from the night before on the streets of Steel Dome City.
Xu Mo, wielding a War Saber, stabbing Ming Yu who was inside a car.
And the scene where the military surrounded the Law Enforcement Team.
“Last night, a violent conflict occurred in Steel Dome City where an individual used a knife to commit murder in public. According to investigations, the perpetrator was a student from Noah Academy and was taken away under military protection after the incident.”
“What’s going on?”
The citizens of Steel Dome City were abuzz with discussions.
A student from Noah Academy committing murder in public and the military forces suppressing the Security Bureau from intervening and taking the murderer away?
The news spread rapidly, causing significant waves in Steel Dome City.
As more and more people discussed it, more media followed up with reports.
“Latest news, the victim has been identified as Ming Yu of the Ming Group. Ming Yao, his father and the helmsman of Ming Group, in an interview said that although Ming Yu had been unruly since childhood, he might have done something wrong, but still hopes that the Security Bureau will investigate the matter thoroughly.”
Source: NovelFull.com, updated on 𝗈𝘃𝘨𝗼.co
However, the Security Bureau hadn’t even touched the person; he was taken away by the academy.
Ming Yao appeared particularly old and dispirited during the interview.
Public opinion quickly escalated.
Succeeding were numerous voices of doubt regarding Noah Academy.
“Regardless of what Ming Yu did wrong, committing murder in public is an abhorrent act. Is it that being a student of the Extraordinary Academy grants one privileges?”
“Can the Extraordinary Academy rise above the law?”
“The Extraordinary Academy is supposed to cultivate heroes, not killers. We hope Noah Academy will hand over the murderer for the Security Bureau to judge.”
With the media’s biased guidance, public opinion began to tilt.
The public is easily swayed as they receive somewhat one-sided information.
A single stone stirred up a thousand ripples; many voices in Steel Dome City demanded that Noah Academy turn over the murderer.
At Noah Academy.
The students had also received the news and seen the footage.
Different opinions flew all around.
Besides Xu Mo, the video footage also featured Benjamin, Su Rou, and others.
Some believed that there must have been a reason for the incident; Noah Academy’s students wouldn’t just commit murder in the street without cause.
Others realized, the murderer was indeed the Desert Hunter.
And the victim was Ming Yu.
It was remembered that earlier, the newly transferred Desert Hunter had beaten Ming Yu twice within the academy.
The men had old grievances.
So, was the conflict caused by these old grievances?
As the situation fermented,
this event spread within the academy, sparking a huge debate.
Many different voices emerged within Noah Academy.
Some thought the academy should hand over the murderer to let the Security Bureau investigate.
Others thought the situation might not be so simple and suggested figuring out the cause of the conflict first.
Some respected whatever decisions the academy made, confident that the academy was correct, and if they didn’t hand over the person, there must be a reason.
Within the campus of Noah Academy.
Nearly everyone was talking about this matter.
Li Man and Jiang Tong, of course, got the news and they felt somewhat gleeful.
If they had gone out last night, they feared they might have been involved in the incident too.
But damn, that Desert Hunter was ruthless, having actually killed Ming Yu. If Benjamin hadn’t been there, he likely would have been dead for sure.
However, now that public opinion had escalated, the academy might not be able to protect him.
Chen Qiuxue had also seen Xu Mo and she was somewhat surprised.
Was he really so violent?
Or was there another reason?
Inside the Mechanical Building.
The students of the Mechanical Department stopped training and were instead watching the large screen beside them, which was showing last night’s ‘violent’ incident.
Leng Qiu was also there, watching for a moment before her expression turned cold, and she directly turned off the screen.
She was annoyed by these media outlets, who did nothing productive.
“I knew this Desert Hunter had low standards, and now he has tarnished our academy’s reputation. I think the academy should hand him over,” said a voice at that moment, it was Reynolds.
“You think so?” Leng Qiu looked at him.
“Yes.” Reynolds nodded, “Teacher Leng Qiu, I plan to suggest to the academy that we hand the murderer over to the Security Bureau to protect our academy’s reputation.”
“You’re this free?” Leng Qiu spoke, “Are you very familiar with the Mecha?”
Reynolds was taken aback, saying, “Fairly familiar.”
“Get on the Mecha,” Leng Qiu commanded, “Let me see.”
“Okay, thank you, Teacher Leng Qiu.” Reynolds thought Leng Qiu wanted to give him pointers and happily got onto a nearby Mecha.
Leng Qiu did the same and stepped onto the Mecha.
The surrounding students felt envious as the goddess Leng Qiu was personally giving pointers to Reynolds, truly a privilege for a Mechanical Talent A+ genius.
But they were soon taken aback.
Reynolds was being ground into the ground by Leng Qiu, brutally beaten!!!
When Reynolds stepped out of the Mecha, he started questioning his life choices, asking, “Teacher Leng Qiu, is my Mecha control really that bad?”
Yes!
Leng Qiu answered thus.
Reynolds immediately fell into confusion, forgetting about the matter he was about to report to the academy.
Lin Qingze’s office.
At that moment, there were people everywhere, asking about what had happened last night.
This issue was extremely detrimental to Noah Academy’s reputation and had already impacted the academy’s reputation.
They wanted to understand what had happened.
“Dean Lin, what exactly happened, is that student still at the academy?”
“Dean Lin, the public opinion outside is overwhelmingly against us; people are saying we are using Extraordinary Academy’s authority to shield the criminal.”
“Yes, the murder on the street was caught on camera, and it had a terribly bad impact.”
“Dean Lin, if there are any hidden facts, shouldn’t we disclose them to the public?”
A plethora of voices rose and fell in turn.
Yang Ming was also among the crowd, and he spoke, “Dean Lin, can we hand over that transfer student to the Security Bureau for investigation?”
Lin Qingze frowned, looked up at the crowd blocking the office, and said, “I will handle this matter, everyone go back to your duties.”
“Okay.”
The crowd began to disperse, but they continued to murmur something, discussions abounding.
Even they didn’t know what was happening right now.
Lin Qingze hadn’t expected Ming Group to make the first move; while they were using their power against the Ming Group, the Ming Group retaliated by using the media to attack Noah Academy.
This move was quite ruthless.
As the main character of this event.
At that moment, Xu Mo was in battle.
In the warehouse.
The black Mecha launched a frenzied attack on another Mecha, its War Saber moving faster and its actions more violent.
Stroke after stroke, the assault was fierce.
“Bang…”
A loud noise occurred as Xu Mo’s Mecha was hit by a tremendous force, flung out and crashing to the ground.
Even though he had made considerable progress, he still was no match.
“Your mind is somewhat disturbed.”
The Mecha standing there spoke, and the Elder emerged from within the Mecha.
Xu Mo got up and came out as well.
Indeed, his mind was somewhat disturbed.
“In a duel between masters, you cannot be distracted in the slightest; any small mistake could mean life or death,” the Elder said to Xu Mo, “In battle, you must push all emotions aside, the strong control their emotions, the weak are controlled by them.”
“Understood,” Xu Mo nodded, recognizing that the Elder was advising him.
Indeed, the weak are controlled by their emotions.
“In battle, you can deliver Three Layers of power, but you’re not there yet in Mecha combat, only managing to unleash Two Layers. You need to become one with the Mecha, what you can achieve, the Mecha should also be able to achieve,” the Elder continued.
Xu Mo listened attentively.
“Practice on your own for a while,” the Elder said, then turned and left.
Xu Mo sat down on the ground and practiced the Breathing Technique.
After entering level B of spiritual power, the surrounding Source Power Field grew stronger, and his body absorbed Source Power even faster.
Now, Source Power flowed through his body, coursing through his limbs and body; the abundant energy quickly restored his depleted physical strength, and even between breaths, a roar echoed faintly, like waves.
Xu Mo faintly felt that the level of Source Power in his body had also reached the peak of level C, possibly at a critical point.
Xu Mo, who was cultivating, was awakened by the vibration of the Communicator.
He was already aware of the external affairs and thus had been affected somewhat.
This controversy affected the reputation of the academy; he was somewhat concerned about it.
He knew that the Ming Group had utilized a media campaign.
Taking things out of context, guiding public opinion to attack.
The brunt of the public opinion directly targeted Noah Academy.
“Xu Mo, Sister Xi is no longer in great trouble,” the message was from Ye Qingdie; she was with Lin Xi.
Xu Mo was somewhat relieved; yesterday Lin Xi had been hit, and her injuries were not light.
Thinking it over, Xu Mo sent a message to Su Rou.
Shortly after, Su Rou replied.
“The influence of Ming Group in Steel Dome City’s media isn’t that powerful. There must be other forces behind the Ming Group pushing against Noah Academy, leading the public,” she replied.
Xu Mo was silent for a moment; he was certainly aware of the power of media public opinion.
Many people subconsciously believe that what their eyes see is the truth, but as long as you control the media, you can deceive their eyes.
Even Noah Academy was subjected to a media attack this time.
Behind the Ming Group, was there anyone else?
Thinking this, Xu Mo sent another message.
Su Rou replied, “The academy focuses on educating students and doesn’t have strong influence in the media realm, which might be a disadvantage. However, given Extraordinary Academy’s influence, don’t worry, there won’t be any problems.”
Xu Mo didn’t say anything further.
Elsewhere.
The Elder returned to his room and sat on the sofa to rest.
His Communicator vibrated, and the Elder answered; it was Lin Qingze.
“Old Dean, the media is currently somewhat unfavorable towards our Noah Academy, should we let Xu Mo and others come forward to clarify?” Lin Qingze inquired.
The Elder’s reaction to Lin Qingze’s words was very calm.
This was also why he disliked financial tycoons; they liked to engage in conspiracies, killing people invisibly, this time, through media.
“No rush, find out which media outlets have severe biases, and thoroughly investigate last night’s event to get the evidence,” the Elder said.
“We’re already on it; there’s been some resistance, but it’s not significant, and we’ll soon have the evidence,” Lin Qingze responded, “I’ll have someone watch the media side closely.”
“Hmm,” the Elder nodded, nonchalantly saying, “Let them jump around a bit longer!”
After finishing, the Elder hung up the Communicator, his eyes cold.
Daring to attack Noah Academy now?
He was old, but not yet dead!