Chapter 78: The Media’s Fearless Image in the Face of Power

Chapter Seventy-Eight: [A Media Image Unafraid of Power]

At precisely three o’clock the following afternoon, the Evernight City Reclamation Foundation issued a solemn statement, the contents of which were as follows:

Mr. Xia Zheng graduated from Portland No. 1 High School nine months ago, displaying exceptional aptitude as an Awakened and achieving outstanding results in the Professional Aptitude Examinations. His greatest wish has always been to reclaim Evernight City and save his compatriots languishing in darkness. He is a young man of patriotism, talent, and lofty ambition, who gained the favor of Mr. Shentu Yue, founding this foundation with his financial backing, and has been appointed the honorary vice-chairman.

Recently, Mr. Xia Zheng has suffered baseless accusations from the Hoffman family. Without solid evidence, they threatened him with the Grand Marshal’s Merit Order, slandering him as a murderer—an act that has roused public indignation. The Foundation will spare no effort to restore Mr. Xia Zheng’s reputation and demand compensation of one billion in damages for defamation. All members of the Foundation stand firmly behind Mr. Xia Zheng, supporting his courage to face power unafraid and to accept the challenge of the Grand Marshal’s Merit Order. Though fate may ebb and flow, I shall hold my sword high, and may we all encourage each other in this endeavor!

—Declaration by the Evernight City Reclamation Foundation

The moment this statement was released, it caused a stir throughout the Federation. Many who had previously doubted Xia Zheng suddenly changed their stance and turned to support him. Xia Zheng represented the common people, while the Hoffman family, as nobles, had smeared him; such class dynamics naturally elicited sympathy from the masses, who had long felt the imbalance between commoners and the elite.

Moreover, Xia Zheng’s personal image, his shining academic accolades, and his grand ambition to reclaim Evernight City won him even more support. By evening, according to the latest third-party polling data, over 75% of the Federation’s population supported Xia Zheng. In contrast, the Hoffman family’s support had plummeted from 80% the previous night to just 15%, consisting mainly of their staunch loyalists, with hardly any among the commoners.

The stocks of the Delansol Conglomerate began to tumble, suffering losses exceeding a billion in a single day. The Hoffman family and their stakeholders were left in utter misery.

Delia, a former classmate of Xia Zheng, had been in high spirits since the previous night, finally seeing someone take down the person she could never best. She celebrated with copious drinks, even gathering a group of close friends the next day to criticize Xia Zheng, painting him as the source of all her misfortunes. To her, it was hardly surprising that such a wretch would commit a crime as egregious as murder.

Under the instigation of her wrinkled “husband,” who seemed to have some business ties to the Delansol Conglomerate, Delia also agreed to be interviewed by several media outlets. In these interviews, she depicted Xia Zheng as a brutish, greedy, and lecherous thug, relishing violence—an embarrassment to have ever been his classmate.

This stance alienated her from their circle of classmates. Chen Xiu and several other friends who had always gotten along well with Xia Zheng were shocked by her betrayal and cutting remarks, declaring an end to their friendship with her. Delia, in turn, mocked Chen Xiu and the others.

After enjoying a carefree day, Delia’s mood soured drastically when the Foundation released its statement and the public sentiment swung almost instantly. Xia Zheng was now seen as a righteous figure, unbowed by power. The Foundation further announced that all previous slanderous and false public statements would be pursued through legal channels. Delia’s expression became as if she’d swallowed a fly.

Forced by her husband, she tearfully issued a public apology on the news, but it didn’t spare her from receiving a legal notice. The Foundation demanded twenty million in damages. Her husband pulled numerous strings to reduce the claim to ten million, then vented his anger on Delia, slapping her and tossing her a divorce agreement, demanding she leave without a penny. Delia was left devastated, her circle of close friends abandoning her one by one.

Chen Xiu took the initiative to call Xia Zheng, who reassured him that he was fine and brought up once again the prospect of starting a pharmaceutical company. At present, Xia Zheng’s influence was far too limited; without the backing of the Shentu family or the Foundation, he had virtually no voice—a situation that left him deeply dissatisfied.

Thus, establishing a pharmaceutical company was one avenue, as a vital source of future funding. Xia Zheng also planned to acquire a media company to serve as his own platform. He entrusted all his earnings, aside from his regular salary—some five to six million—to his girlfriend, Nalan Sheng, to manage. Menghu, having debuted as a rising internet celebrity, was too busy to help, so Xia Zheng did not trouble her.

Nalan Sheng gladly accepted, embracing her role as Xia Zheng’s capable partner. She enlisted trustworthy individuals from the Nalan family to assist with the acquisition and management of the new business, and even added her own savings to the pot. Together, their combined wealth approached ten million.

Simultaneously, she began scouting suitable candidates within the Tianren Company, reasoning that recruiting colleagues would foster a stronger sense of belonging. Many employees, due to injuries or age, were no longer able to take on dangerous missions, and with the Tianren Battle Team unable to support so many idle staff, many had been forced to take odd jobs—security, manual labor, food delivery, and so on. Nalan Sheng decided to recruit these people, aiming to build a media group.

The Nalan family did not interfere in Nalan Sheng’s poaching of their own elite talent, tacitly approving her relationship with Xia Zheng. Soon, she identified an acquisition target—a middling news outlet called “Torchfire News,” known only within Portland, available for around one million—a reasonable price.

Thanks to the efforts of Nalan Sheng and her team, the acquisition was finalized at 1.19 million, with her and Xia Zheng as the principal shareholders.

For daily operations, Nalan Sheng planned to hire a professional manager once the company was on track, as she herself needed time for cultivation and self-improvement.

The very first front-page article after the acquisition of Torchfire News was an exclusive interview with Xia Zheng, the figure at the center of recent storms. This marked the first time in days that any media outlet had secured an in-depth interview with him, instantly boosting Torchfire’s popularity beyond Portland and propelling it to national prominence. The company’s valuation soared, and both Xia Zheng and Nalan Sheng were delighted—this investment had truly paid off. Of course, it helped that Xia Zheng himself was the perfect news story, coinciding with the hottest current events.

With Torchfire News amplifying his story, Xia Zheng’s positive image was firmly established. Several outlets even hailed him as the representative of the common people, and he became one of the Federation’s Top Ten News Figures of the Year.

The Hoffman family’s use of the Merit Order to coerce Xia Zheng into a duel had backfired catastrophically—not only did they suffer enormous financial losses, but internal divisions within their family deepened.

Philip was profoundly disappointed by these developments. He had not foreseen his trump card rebounding upon himself, greatly benefiting his opponent instead, filling him with bitter resentment. Now that the Merit Order had been issued and was reclaimed by the military, the Hoffman family no longer had this shield.

Meanwhile, the inaugural Awakened Tournament, which the Professional League had feared might lack publicity or recognition, suddenly skyrocketed in fame thanks to the feud between Xia Zheng and the Hoffmans. The League responded by increasing its investment, determined to make this event a benchmark tournament that would introduce the League and the Awakened to every stratum of the Federation.

Camilla, having masterminded and promoted the tournament, was elected Leader of the League by an overwhelming margin in the latest election, rising from among the twelve stewards for a five-year term. Upon taking office, she announced a comprehensive professional reform of the League, aiming to transform it into the Federation’s largest and most powerful Awakened organization, a true voice for the Awakened, and to attract greater investment.

Additionally, due to the circumstances surrounding the Merit Order, Ryan Hoffman, who had missed the original registration deadline, was granted the tournament’s first special wildcard by the Professional League, earning direct entry into the main draw. Many speculated about which round would see a clash between Ryan and Xia Zheng—at the very least, they would not be in the same group.

Yet, while all this unfolded, Xia Zheng himself was focused solely on his cultivation, training in a level-five chamber custom-built for him by the Foundation.

Before him lay two items: one, a strange alloy box he had acquired from Wadsworth, pyramidal in shape, its contents a mystery; the other, a firearm and powerful bullets taken from Valentine. These bullets, upon striking organic targets, would cause them to swell and explode in an instant.

Xia Zheng put away the pistol and expansion bullets—he would never use them, lest he reveal his own involvement in a violent crime.

He turned his attention to the pyramidal alloy box. It was no larger than a wallet, yet try as he might, he could not find a seam or opening.

“When Wadsworth was killed by the dying blow of the insect beast, this strange box did not melt, so it must be extraordinary. But how does it open?” Xia Zheng had already consulted several skilled locksmiths and craftsmen in secret; all had failed, warning that any attempt to force it would destroy both box and contents. Evidently, the box was specially encrypted.

Now, holding the box, he considered his options. He tossed it into the air and used his psychic power to suspend it, spinning it slowly to look for any clues to its mechanism.

The box was exquisitely crafted, without the slightest gap—a conventional approach was useless. His psychic power, like two invisible hands, turned it over and over, yet he gained no insight.

He had always been reluctant to use brute force, even with psychic means. Given Wadsworth’s status as a B-level Awakened with unusual power, there was a strong possibility the box contained his secrets or techniques—destroying it would be a terrible waste.

“Perhaps I should try opening it with my spiritual sense?” Xia Zheng thought of his unique spiritual sense, far more potent than ordinary psychic power; maybe that would suffice?

He floated the alloy box about twenty meters away, then activated his vertical eye, letting his spiritual sense emerge and hover above his head.

Gradually, he shaped the spiritual sense into an arrow, hesitated briefly, and then let it fly.