In a mysterious, spacious room, there was a screen—and in front of the screen, a hand. Ding. A pale, delicate finger casually tapped, turning it on, and endless streams of information began to pour out. These messages were accessible to the general public.
[Hello viewers, welcome to Phoenix TV’s Vision Channel. The aftermath of the Shanghai Massacre continues to escalate. According to a survey by the Academy of Social Sciences, people across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are experiencing varying degrees of panic and anxiety. The main worries center around public safety and daily life security in emergencies. A government spokesperson stated that every effort will be made to maintain stability in people’s lives. Now, let’s go live to the scene…]
[Special Feature: Deep Dive into the Shanghai Massacre. According to follow-up statistics, the direct economic loss from the Shanghai Massacre exceeds ten trillion yuan. In a globalized economy, this disaster has dealt a heavy blow to the world, sparking an economic crisis and industrial recession everywhere. The collapse of upstream supply chains has led to mass bankruptcies and unemployment. Experts urge all efforts to prevent secondary disasters and safeguard social stability…]
[Disaster’s Mark: The Shanghai Massacre claimed tens of millions of lives. Today, let’s focus on the other ten million survivors. All survivors have been evacuated from Shanghai, and governments everywhere are working to coordinate and resettle the displaced. Not only are basic supplies guaranteed, but psychological counseling is also underway. However, survivors face severe mental health issues—anxiety, isolation, and phobias are common. Experts say these are classic trauma symptoms and are working hard to help—there’s hope for recovery…]
[Post-Disaster Reconstruction: The People’s Liberation Army conducted a thorough sweep of Shanghai’s disaster zones. After ruling out all possible dangers, functional repairs were made throughout the city. As of press time, the Shanghai stock market has reopened, and internet servers are back online. With the nation’s blessings and witness, the Shanghai Composite Index returned to the spotlight, Dian Niang is back online, and here are scenes of emotional investors and readers…]
[Safety Education Channel: Starting November 1, 2014, CCTV launched Channel 13, named the Safety Education Channel. The channel will teach the public safety and defense tips—how to protect yourself, stay safe, and respond properly during emergencies. Since its launch, ratings have hit record highs, averaging over 26.7%, nearly rivaling the Spring Festival Gala…]
After quietly watching all this, the owner of the hand seemed to have seen enough. The finger tapped a few more times, and another flood of information surged in. This time, though, the public wouldn’t know about it.
[Shanghai Massacre survivors’ suicides are frequent and hard to contain…]
[What is the real truth? Why do survivors of the Shanghai Massacre collectively remain tight-lipped about what happened? What kind of terror struck Shanghai and left indelible scars on ten million souls? Is this silence a government cover-up or a spontaneous act by the people? We will dig deep to uncover the facts…]
[Empty city, ghost town! The once-glorious Magic City has become a hundred-mile haunted zone, its prosperity wiped out overnight…]
[Theft and robbery are rampant in the Shanghai disaster zone—gangs of thieves sneak into the city at night, pulling off organized crimes. Nanjing Road and other bustling shopping districts are the hardest hit. Gold shops, jewelry stores, and Apple outlets have been cleaned out. Rival gangs clash violently, and even the People’s Liberation Army, tasked with keeping order, has faced bloody conflict. So far, three soldiers dead, fifteen wounded—here’s footage our reporter risked their life to capture…]
[The Military Political Department has issued a shoot-to-kill order—over 240 bandits have been taken down…]
[Faiths like Buddhism and Christianity are launching massive preaching campaigns. Restless citizens are turning to religion for comfort, and talk of Judgment Day is all the rage…]
[International and border tensions are rising. Extremist groups are increasingly active, and analysts warn of possible large-scale terrorist attacks…]
[All sorts of strange people and events are popping up everywhere—locals swear they’re seeing ‘superheroes’…]
"Ah..." With a yawn, the finger tapped a couple more times and switched channels again. This time, not only was it invisible to the general public—even most of the ‘not-so-general’ folks couldn’t see it. Unless you had special powers or crazy-high status, you’d get nothing but a 404-not-found screen.
And on this interface, the info was even wilder—practically gushing out, but most of it boiled down to two main things. First up: the keyword—Black Death Emperor.
[The Black Death Emperor has traveled east from Shanghai, now reaching a small Pacific island.]
[Countries are scrambling to send massive armies to surround the island, but so far, no one’s fired a shot. Tensions are sky-high between the navies and air forces—one spark and it could blow. No further escalation yet, but the situation is far from clear.]
[After all those keyboard warriors, someone’s finally stepping up! One of the top eight on the Heavenly Ranking—the ‘God’—plans to challenge the Black Death Emperor. So far, ‘God’ has a stellar record. Can he sneak past all those armies and pull off a win in enemy territory? And what do the other top eight think—will they try to take on the Black Death Emperor too?]
[Global Observation Agency updates the Heavenly Ranking: ‘God’ still holds a top-eight spot, Black Death Emperor remains number one. No one can shake Black Death Emperor’s position…]
Ding ding! The finger switched one last time—the screen flickered from forum posts to a video. In a sleek, high-end conference room, about thirty people sat, all backbone members of the Eternal Night Holdings Group (Hong Kong Division). Up on the podium, a flash of light—bam!—and a chubby guy in a sharp suit strutted on stage looking all business.
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It’s Bobby Brooks.
"Check, check!" Bobby cleared his throat, tapped the mic, and scanned the room. With a look of supreme confidence, he began: "You’re all backbone elites of Eternal Night Holdings Group, masters at riding the waves of the mortal world. But today, we’re not facing the world we knew. We’re up against a crisis unseen in five thousand years, a challenge the likes of which the world has never witnessed—and it’s also a once-in-a-lifetime chance for true elites to rise to the top."
"You all know a rigid, ossified system is a suffocating one. In such a system, new forces get crushed and challenged, while the old guard sits pretty and holds all the cards."
"Since World War II—and even since the Age of Exploration—the pecking order among countries and organizations has been set in stone. Oligarchs run the world, and all the high-tech industries are monopolized by a handful of nations and tycoons. New forces trying to rise get hammered endlessly; the economic and social structures have long been frozen solid."
"But now, things have changed!"
"The Shanghai Massacre—or to be precise, the existence of the Black Death Emperor—signals the end of oligarch economics. From now on, the most valuable thing in the world isn’t gold, oil, or diamonds. The most valuable thing—" Bobby slapped the podium, raised a finger, and declared, "is the Chosen One."
"Chosen Ones have power. Power brings safety, power brings profit, power brings every kind of wealth you could want."
"But at the same time, power brings crisis—and conflict. Everything has two sides; it’s all about how we handle it. And just having power alone is a waste—it won’t maximize your gains. Think about it: even if a solo Chosen One could take on a hundred, they’d only hit early urban novel levels. But now, Chosen Ones aren’t unique. With all the checks and balances, most of them don’t even reach urban novel standards."
"But two heads are better than one! Once these powers work together and coordinate, the effect is explosive—exponential!"
"So our strategic goal is to harness this power, amplify it, and reach the very top!"
"But, folks, how do we harness this power? Force everyone to submit—try to ‘recruit’ them? Nope, we’re not the government, we don’t have that kind of muscle, and honestly, it’s not the best way. Force brings fierce resistance. Chosen Ones aren’t sheep for the slaughter, and we can’t just play big boss or exploiters."
"In the future, anyone who tries to slap a dog collar on a Chosen One will get what’s coming to them."
"So our best approach is mutual consent—a win-win, built around a tiered membership system, forming a tiered alliance. This alliance is our next big move, our main mission, and our secret weapon for conquering the future."
"Folks, take a look—this is our future!" Bobby spread his arms, looking like he was about to sing ‘Hallelujah,’ practically glowing. On the big screen behind him, a brand-new logo popped up. Bobby, bursting with passion, shouted, "SkyEase!"
Thud. The pale hand casually tossed the little screen aside. The camera zoomed out—a sleepy figure lay sprawled on a luxury bed, rubbing their eyes and muttering, "Seriously… why’s this the first thing I see when I wake up?"
Not far from the bed, Jonathan Black raised a glass of red wine from a sofa, saluting with a look that mixed elegance, satisfaction, and just a dash of ‘look what I did!’ "Of course, it’s so my queen can see the bright future first thing in the morning."
"Bright future?" The figure picked up the screen again. Bobby and the thirty-plus backbone members were going wild onscreen—hooting, cheering, clapping like they’d just popped something. On closer look, there were a few familiar faces in the crowd.
"We came up with tons of ad pitches—let’s try them out one by one." The video blared with the song ‘I’ve Got a Little Pony I Never Ride,’ as Bobby performed a horse dance on stage, shouting first, "SkyEase is here!" Then he turned sideways, pointed his right hand at the camera: "Buy a villa, buy a luxury car, settle your family, buy passports from every country—come to SkyEase!"
He spun around, tossed his head, fake wig flying, and switched fingers: "Find secret techniques, find manuals, find teammates, find dungeons—come to SkyEase!"
"SkyEase 5G—G for great deals, G for value, G for fairness, G for care, G knows your needs. What are you waiting for? Pick up the phone and dial 888-8888888, and great deals will show up at your door!"
"Still looking for nukes on Taobao? Ha! That’s old news!" Bobby pointed at the camera, raised an eyebrow, flashed a star at his teeth, and struck a pitchman pose: "Come to SkyEase—just GO~~~!"
Instantly, the figure’s jaw dropped. Sleep vanished, and she froze like a statue, then jabbed a finger at the screen, half-crazy: "What the heck is this?!"