Chapter 279: Chapter Fifty-Four: Reactions from All Sides

Originally, seeing the public opinion extremely unfavorable to the high-ranking rulers, some mid and small-sized nobles were secretly delighted.

But before rejoicing for too long, they suddenly realized that the flames seemed to have spread to themselves. They hurriedly tried to remedy the situation, attempting to flip the direction of the rumors back again.

Unfortunately, their actions lacked the professionalism of Anvis.

Anvis not only arranged for players to spread various rumors but also dispatched a large number of Low Rank Professionals, pretending to be the first and second type of people–those who sensed there was someone else behind the scenes.

They began to stand on the intellectual high ground, looking down on those who still firmly believed the Olivendi Family was behind the schemes.

After being questioned and despised multiple times, many of the third type of people began to doubt themselves, wondering if they had indeed made a mistake.

However, although these responses from the mid and small-sized nobles were ineffective, the Door of Pupils quickly caught on.

They sent their subordinates, pretending to be rational, neutral, objective Professionals passing by, to start questioning whether the first and second types of people had been brainwashed by the rulers.

Or perhaps they had simply taken the Olivendi Family’s bounty to whitewash their actions.

Unjustly labeled as ‘brainwashed’, the first and second types of people did not show weakness either, likewise accusing the other side of having accepted benefits from the hidden manipulators, only emerging to throw dirt on the rulers.

In the process, many truly neutral Professionals who were accidentally involved were indiscriminately attacked, suddenly turning from bystanders to haters, joining one side of the camp.

Among them, some hot-tempered ones even resorted to physical violence when arguments failed, trying to force a unified opinion by knocking some sense into their opponents.

During this, players were having a great time.

An ultra-large-scale player event involving tens of thousands of players across the entire Karlars Province occurred for the first time since the game’s launch.

After realizing the disparity between the backing of the two sides and the task rewards, the vast majority of players switched sides to the Secret Ceremony Society, beginning to collectively attack the forces from the Door of Pupils.

Especially the player guilds such as Light and Shadow, Dust Star, and Dragon City were most active. Under the orderly organization of their higher-ups, many players’ Contribution Values broke two thousand.

As a reward, Anvis presented several guild chairmen with identity plaques of high-ranking members of the Secret Ceremony Society and simultaneously unlocked more High Rank shop item exchange privileges.

With the continuous efforts from all sides, half a month quickly passed by.

Due to the excessive rumors, all kinds of voices in Karlars Province became jumbled up, confusing the public who were unsure of whom to believe.

Similarly, people from all sides could only stare helplessly at the current situation.

The circumstances had spiraled out of control, and any new rumors would only be overwhelmed by more shocking and attention-grabbing rumors.

Meanwhile, seeing the special chaotic state of public opinion in Karlars Province, the other Three Great Duke Families, although a bit puzzled, did not prevent them from imitating the same.

They too found the widespread rumors annoying, but felt it was not wise to use force on too many citizens, so they could only send the City Guard Army to arrest some of the main figures spreading the rumors.

But using such methods to silence the public naturally couldn’t contain them, rather it was more likely to confirm conspiracy theories.

And using magic to widely erase people’s memories could easily lead to various side effects and considering the long-term, it was not worth it. It was better not to pay it any mind, letting the public gradually forget on their own.

For past rumors, that’s how they dealt with them, and the results were generally satisfactory.

After all, the public’s memory is short; as long as no follow-up events occur, the impact of these rumors will soon disappear like any other trivial matter.

The impact of these rumors was much greater than before, but they still did not take it to heart, simply treating it as ordinary gossip.

However, now that there are better ways to handle it, there is naturally no need to let it continue unchecked.

In this chaotic situation, the “Eyes Within The Door” plan to use monster attacks to ignite the resentment of the low-rank professionals and direct their anger towards the Empire’s Four Great Families was completely thwarted.

………

Yiter Kingdom Federation, within Loran Kingdom territory.

Deep underground within a nameless rock mountain, an ancient and dilapidated Obsidian palace structure is embedded. It seems to have been buried underground by some intense geological movement in the distant past.

At the moment, in the main hall engraved with strange murals, the projections of numerous people in black robes gathered, but no one took the initiative to speak, and the scene was deadly silent.

A moment later, the third person on the right, also known as the Codename Abyss, cautiously started speaking.

“The operation did not go smoothly; the Empire’s defense was strengthened. The Shadowless Secret Meeting and other organizations’ multiple attacks were detected in advance by the Empire’s upper echelons.

“Only succeeded three times in total, with two in Frey Province and one in Paravani Province.”

Abyss’s words seemed to break the ice, and the fourth person on the right, who had an androgynous voice, also spoke.

“My side’s operation was somewhat successful, having arranged for some controlled middle and small-sized nobles to attack the students of various Professional Colleges, blaming the incidents on their families.”

“However, the Empire has now initiated a strict search; some of my hidden agents have been exposed, and the rest have been shifted to a hidden state, not good to move rashly…”

“I encountered some problems on my side…”

Then, one by one, the robed figures began to report their operation results. Some were successful, others were not.

Listening to their reports, the Leader’s projection slowly tapped on the table surface, his pitch-black face showing no discernible emotion.

After a moment, when everyone who had executed tasks had reported, Grey Mist on the left slowly spoke, summarizing the overall results of the operations.

“Overall, Zero’s plan had the widest impact, but it still did not achieve the expected results. The number of people believed to be connected with the upper echelons of the Empire in the attacks only reached about one quarter of the expected.”

“The lower echelons of the Empire are indeed chaotic, but this turmoil had little impact on the upper levels of the Empire, still falling short of expectations.”

After his summary, the hall once again fell into brief silence.

The Leader’s tapping fingers paused on the table, but he did not immediately express any opinion; instead, he turned to the always silent chief seat to the right.

“Star, report on the search for the insider.”

“Yes, Leader. There’s one person, who can now be completely confirmed.”

Star nodded slightly, then suddenly made a startling statement.

“Moreover, he is sitting among us right now!”

This statement caused an explosive effect, everyone was shocked, suddenly looking around cautiously as if the insider was beside them.

However, most suspicious glances were directed at Zero, as he was the most mysterious one here.