Chapter 454 - 294: A Pang of Conscience?

Chapter 454: Chapter 294: A Pang of Conscience?

"Who filmed this content! And who the hell uploaded it!"

In the Loman Empire’s military advisory group encampment in Villain, Brigadier General Douglas roared with uncontrollable rage, his fist, adorned with several rings, slamming against the table. THUD! THUD!

Morris knew full well this was one of Douglas’s habits for intimidation—pounding the table to seem imposing. In reality, anyone who knew him understood it was all just an empty bluff.

"To have filmed those scenes, there must be a traitor in our midst! This is treason! Treason!"

Brigadier General Douglas’s neck was stiff, the veins bulging visibly.

"Who is it? Who is maliciously insulting our sacred war to reclaim the land of our destiny! If I find this traitor, I will, I will make him regret the day he was born..."

Douglas pointed his finger and cursed at Morris and his colleagues for a long time.

’To be honest,’ Morris thought, ’I don’t think the video was insulting. You can’t just show something that actually happened and call it an insult.’

’If that’s the logic, then who’s the one who really thinks these actions are too shameful to be seen?’

Brigadier General Douglas continued his tirade. One of his few exceptional talents was his endless supply of insults. ’Maybe this is what it means to be a man of culture.’

It sounded a bit strange, though. It seemed that compared to the exposure of what was happening on the battlefield, the Brigadier General was more concerned about the video of himself.

Below that video, the comments were almost entirely mocking to the extreme—mocking Douglas, of course.

The internet has always had a unique advantage when it comes to mockery.

Douglas quickly became a symbol representing the evil of Villain, even though he was a Loman.

In just a few days, a flood of comedy videos starring Douglas’s image appeared.

There were clips of his speeches edited to make it look like he was insulting himself, auto-tuned versions of him singing strange songs, and—most popular of all—a series of reaction memes using Douglas’s face.

He was probably the first person on Feilin to passively become an internet celebrity.

Even accounts dedicated to parodying him had gained over a hundred thousand followers.

Morris had seen some of them, but not many. As a soldier in the advisory group, he didn’t have unrestricted internet access. He had to apply for permission and could only go online under supervision.

So, he didn’t dare click on any of that content when it was pushed to his homepage.

But even from the small preview windows, he could feel the comedy practically overflowing from them.

’The internet is full of talented people.’

’I wonder if Douglas himself watches the comedy videos about him late at night when no one’s around.’

’Does he get furious while watching, or is he angry but can’t help but laugh because the videos are just too funny?’

’Wow, being amused by a video that’s mocking you... what’s the difference between that and getting turned on watching a cuckold video of your wife?’

"Is it you!"

Just as Morris was imagining all sorts of absurd scenarios involving the Brigadier General, Douglas suddenly leaned in close to his face.

The proximity was a little disgusting.

With a ferocious expression, Douglas asked in a serious tone, "Did you upload it? Just tell me. It’s fine. As long as you confess, you won’t be punished too severely."

"Sir, it was not me," Morris reported.

Morris wasn’t an idiot. Just a moment ago, Douglas was vowing to make the traitor regret being born, and now he was saying the punishment wouldn’t be severe.

’Who was he trying to fool?’

"Are you sure? This is your last chance to confess. You were the first one here to be in charge of filming. You also studied abroad in Twin Tower City, and YouTube came from there, right? If you admit it now, it won’t be considered full-blown treason."

"Sir, I did not upload it," Morris reported, his expression unchanged.

"All of my online activity is logged. You can check the records."

Brigadier General Douglas glanced at a person in the corner of the office. That person nodded, indicating that Morris wasn’t lying.

Besides, all of Morris’s online activity logs and surveillance videos had already been checked several times. There were no irregularities.

It wasn’t just him; the activity logs of everyone who had applied for internet access had been checked, and nothing unusual was found.

Furthermore, according to their investigation, the videos were uploaded from many different locations on the Continent.

The most likely theory at the moment was that the source footage had been stolen and copied.

It was most likely the work of the Augustine City State’s resistance groups, who were in exile and wanted to blow the situation up.

"I know you’re loyal to your country." Douglas’s expression changed to a smile as he patted Morris’s shoulder.

He continued, "But from now on, film less of that kind of content, if you can. Although we are righteous and those are just necessary sacrifices, war can... well, it can make the public uncomfortable. So it’s best not to leave any incriminating evidence."

"Sir..." Morris began to report.

"I know, I know. When you’re filming the heroic combat of the Villain military, it’s unavoidable that you’ll accidentally capture some things nobody wants to see. You can just delete them on the spot, you know? To prevent them from being exploited by people with ulterior motives."

"Yes, Sir."

"We currently believe that people in other regions are overreacting to this war because they don’t understand its inherent righteousness. There are some misunderstandings. Villain is going to form a dedicated public relations team to explain to the masses that they are the righteous ones. You’re quite familiar with the internet, so we might need your cooperation in the future."

To convince others, you must first convince yourself.

In the eyes of the vast majority of Villain’s people, they were indeed the righteous side.

They just wanted to return to the land God had given them, which was perfectly reasonable. On the contrary, it was the Augustine City State that refused their peace terms and insisted on taking extreme measures.