Abyss Solo

How could this have happened...

The protestors directly killed a hereditary Earl?

Before Yang Ming watched the on-site video that Lyu obtained, his head was full of questions.

Of course, he knew that protests would inevitably incorporate elements of violence, and in some areas, thousands had been injured and arrested in severe incidents.

But these conflicts generally occurred between radical elements of the protestors and local security forces.

Those Great Nobles would either dispatch a large number of security personnel to protect their estates or outright have their private guards to intimidate the protestors; even those weaker Great Nobles would choose to hide in secluded residences at the outset of the protests.

Was this hereditary Earl killed by the protestors someone who had fallen from grace and held only an empty title?

The truth was quite the opposite.

Along with the crime video sent to Yang Ming was detailed information about the deceased.

Imperial Hereditary Earl Marlo Quigen owned a not-so-large piece of land. Although the Administrative Star where the land was located was not affluent, it was not poor either, and Quigen's decades of accumulation had brought him considerable wealth.

Like many noble families, Quigen did not like living on his narrow territory.—Cases where someone like Yang Ming is directly granted a whole planet are very rare in today's Empire, mainly because Saka Star was in a state of restoration at that time.

Count Quigen had long resided on Yaha Star, where he had numerous private properties under his name, and his companies spanned media, culture, mineral trade, and other resources.

In simple terms, Quigen himself was a wealthy Great Noble with good popularity and high prestige among the nobility.

The sudden incident with such a person could very likely provoke a backlash from the noble class.

Yang Ming clicked on that video and calmly watched it at an accelerated speed.

At the start of the video, Count Quigen was standing by a floor-to-ceiling window, chatting and laughing with several business partners.

Outside the window was a bustling street scene, with crowds holding signs, souvenirs, and symbols related to the White Ghost, chanting slogans like 'Heroes are Innocent.'

Count Quigen seemed to find the scene amusing and took several photos of the street scene with his internet terminal.

The source of this video was a street surveillance camera, so it couldn't capture the full indoor view.

Then, Count Quigen seemed to suddenly notice something, turned his head to shout twice, and threw the glass in his hand toward a distant corner.

His two friends beside him were bewildered and confused, stepping forward to ask Count Quigen what was wrong.

Count Quigen pushed away the two in front of him like he was fleeing for his life, running frantically toward the back to enter the safety elevator.

More than ten strong and stocky private guards armed with 'restricted-power' laser pistols loyally escorted Count Quigen, but they could only hear the Earl's heavy breathing and constant shouting.

The video picture transitioned to an interior building surveillance view, all seamlessly connected.

Count Quigen rushed out onto the street, seemingly trying to hide among the dense crowd ahead; the guards, complying with the Earl's orders, forcibly parted the crowd, drawing complaints from the surrounding people.

The strangest scene of the entire incident then appeared:

Count Quigen suddenly went weak at the knees and was held by the guards before falling. The Earl then seemed to be infuriated, hurling abuse at the surrounding demonstrators.

"You lowlifes!"

"Don't come any closer!"

"You all should die a horrible death! I am a noble! I am the Earl! Stay away from me!"

The crowd ferociously closed in.

A passionate street brawl broke out

The guards, faced with the overwhelming number of people, couldn't actually open fire even after pulling out their laser pistols.

The chaos lasted less than half a minute, accompanied by a woman's scream, and Count Quigen, after being slapped several times, lay on the ground motionless.

Later, although he was rushed to the hospital, resuscitation was ineffective.

...

"Something's wrong."

Yang Ming pushed up nonexistent glasses.

Lyu's voice came through the concealed earpiece:

"It's not just wrong; there are so many issues that it paradoxically seems convincing."

"Looking at this scenario, it's possible that what Count Quigen drank was tampered with, and his sudden loss of control and extreme panic might result from ingesting some hallucinogenic substance."

Yang Ming analyzed seriously:

"Although I didn't examine every detail in the video, I did notice Quigen and his guards getting beaten together.

"The guards diligently protected Count Quigen, and he only suffered two or three minor hits, which shouldn't have been fatal.

"Too many flaws; this was clearly orchestrated to kill him."

"Yes, boss," Lyu laughed, "I checked the hospital's records, and there's evidence of the diagnosis being altered. The initial diagnosis indicated death by toxins, with rapid brain shrinkage, but the report that reached the local security force had been changed to a neural shock from cranial impact, leading to death due to high neuron necrosis."

"A clumsy murder."

Yang Ming made a judgment.

However, Lyu said, "But boss, the impact of this murder is very bad for the Empire, especially at this critical juncture."

"Do you think the Central Intelligence Agency did it? Or some other force?"

"Uh, I feel... like it's something we did..."

"What the hell?"

"The timing is just perfect, boss," Lyu marveled, "Look, first we used your influence and the inherent arrogance of the Sherman family to stir up a propaganda war and large-scale protests, and then... sparked a panic event, causing a divide between the nobles and the commoners. Isn't this just too opportune and effortless?"

Yang Ming wondered, "You did this?"

"No, boss, I just find it remarkable."

Lyu returned to seriousness in a second:

"What intrigues me more isn't any neurotoxin, but the speed at which this event spread.

"Obviously, someone crafted a highly inciting rumor, saying an Imperial hereditary Earl was beaten to death by an angry mob, sparking fear among the noble class. Then, they spread this rumor at incredible speed, reaching every corner of the Empire's websites and social networks in the shortest time."

"Such efficiency is almost on par with mine."

Yang Ming leaned back slightly: "You mean, it might be Li's doing?"

"It's very possible, boss," Lyu whispered, "Otherwise, there's no explaining why the event spread so astonishingly fast. We haven't mobilized our resources, and there's no movement from the Central Intelligence Agency. If we use the process of elimination, it can only be Li, boss."

Yang Ming frowned, deep in thought.

The door to the room suddenly swung open, and the shielding light screen around Yang Ming dissipated at the same time.

Daphne's face was pale, her breathing heavy, as she looked at Yang Ming with weary eyes, "Something happened again, Hanton."

"What happened?"

"An Earl was beaten to death by protestors!"

Yang Ming nodded calmly.

This woman, her information is really delayed.

...

The vehicle of human society's history sometimes suffers catastrophic consequences from the loosening of a single screw.

Just like in this case of 'Count Quigen's' assassination.

When future generations study the impact of this murder case, they will surely be moved and amazed.

Mere minutes after Count Quigen's death, footage of him being mobbed by protestors on the street was everywhere on the Empire's unified network.

In no time, the noble class was in an uproar.

In many parts of the Emperor Star Circle, exclusive protests by the noble class emerged.

Hundreds of Great Nobles within the Empire immediately mobilized large numbers of private soldiers and demanded local leaders quickly quell the unrest.

Conflicts intensified;

Confrontations escalated.

The initially peaceful protests suddenly took a different turn, with clashes between the security forces and protestors growing more intense.

Online, some pointed out that the real reason for Count Quigen's death was likely unrelated to the mob, and that Count Quigen exhibited many anomalies.

But such arguments were immediately attacked by the nobles.

'This is defending the mob!'

'These commoners are all shielding the commoners, their goal is to overthrow the Empire and establish some so-called democratic regime, taking away everything we have.'

'Unite! Imperial nobles, unite! Our noble status was earned by our ancestors with blood and sweat!'

Such rhetoric soon filled the entire internet.

The Empire's officials hadn't even had a chance to respond, and the fire had already spread beyond control.

Nobles ordered their private soldiers to fire shots in the air to warn the public, used private soldiers as security forces to forcibly disperse protest crowds, and deployed small fleets to release tear gas on protestors...

New casualties had already appeared.

If the earlier propaganda war and subsequent White Ghost and Sherman family disputes were like cooking on a slow fire;

Then the scene now is definitely a raging blaze.

Conflicts grew fiercer and fiercer.

The nobles and commoners quickly began violent confrontations.

The streets of the Empire's bustling cities turned chaotic, with more and more forceful suppressions occurring, and the resistance among the populace growing more fierce.

At this point, the officials managed to rush to the frontline in a somewhat timely manner.

However, they might as well have stayed out of it.

The Empire's officials, namely the Imperial Government Affairs Department and Yaha Star's local security department, released a joint announcement, declaring the intent to apprehend all those involved in the mobbing of Count Quigen, requiring all citizens present on the streets at the time to actively cooperate with the security officers.

The Empire's officials had clearly taken a side, choosing to support the noble class.

Once this news broke, the Empire's online world nearly collapsed.

More and more people flocked to the digital realm.

The original 'Support the Empire's Heroes' rallies also transformed into 'Protect the Brave' protests.

Under the push of some unknown force, the voices from the public became unexpectedly unified - protect the compatriots who assaulted Count Quigen, impose comprehensive oversight on the Empire's nobles.

The nobles, utterly skeptical of the officials' attempts to smooth things over, rapidly began forming alliances to support each other upon clearly perceiving a survival crisis, demanding strict punishment of those 'assassins,' and maintaining the dignity of the Empire's nobles.

With a slap, very quickly, Yang Ming, the absolute protagonist of the past twenty-four hours, was instantly reduced to a side character in the world of public opinion.

The explosive tension between the Empire's internal noble and commoner relations, due to Count Quigen's death, appeared on the brink of going off completely.