Chapter 1886: Leaked
"I will need your approval to do it, however," Melly told Ning.
Ning narrowed his eyes. "What exactly are we doing?"
"We leak the recording," Melly said. "We show people that Forgath was a criminal who admitted to multiple counts of attempted murder. We show them that his power made him a threat that couldn’t be contained by normal means. You become the hero who stopped him."
Ning considered it for a moment. "That can work," he said. "But some of it must be cut out."
"What part?" Melly asked.
"The bit about the apocalypse. We can’t have the public in constant worry about their future. Riots would start if they were to find out it was true."
Melly froze for a bit. "What?"
"What?" Ning asked.
"The apocalypse..." she said. "It’s true?"
Ning shrugged. "I’m not entirely sure, but Forgath thought it to be. Besides, is it really important whether or not it’s true? All that really matters is what the regular citizens get out of the recording. And panic cannot be one of the things."
Melly took a long moment to consider it. After going through all the situations in her mind, she nodded. "I can do that." She stood up. "I’m going to start working on this immediately. You will likely have to stay in the cell for a while longer. I’ll try and see if we can get your case expedited. I’m sure a judge will be willing to show you some leniency."
"Thank you."
Melly left, and Ning was escorted back to his cell. With nothing else to do there, Ning got into his bed and closed his eyes before drifting off to sleep.
While he slept peacefully, his actions kept the whole world awake.
Public perception of Ning had deteriorated overnight, with all media doing nothing but talking about him. Especially the ones owned by Forgath did nothing but sow misinformation as they made up the wildest stuff about Ning, all to drag him down.
Some media called him a hero made out of fireworks. He came to the scene with a bright spark, left a resounding bang almost immediately, and could now only disappear forever since he was charged with murder.
Media analysts in the Star Hero agencies were working overtime to mediate this, but nothing they could do was helping in the slightest.
And then, Melly came in, handing over a piece of recording. She had cut it down to a small snippet of the event that transpired tonight, and as she gave them the recording, she only had two words to say to them.
"Leak it."
Public opinion changed overnight.
The recording of about 48 seconds was leaked to the media around 11 pm at night. By 12 pm, it became one of the most viewed pieces of recording of all time. News outlets played it on repeat, dissecting every word. Online forum sites exploded with theories and conspiracies.
Most people sided with him. Forgath’s confession was damning, and the revelation that his power could bypass suppression fields made him a legitimate threat. Ning was being called a hero who had done what the law couldn’t.
It was understandable that a majority of this came from their hate for Forgath too. As a billionaire, he brought himself the ire of many people who struggled every day. So they were already happy to see him die. But to hear about his exploits using his money, they got even more angry.
They could only imagine what the man had done until now using his unsuppressable power.
There were those that still called Ning a murderer, of course. Some argued that killing Forgath was too extreme, that he should have been arrested and tried in court. But they were outnumbered by those who supported Ning’s decision.
The part about the apocalypse had been cut from the recording, just as Ning requested. No one outside of a select few knew what Forgath had said about it.
And they never would.
Blake arrived the next morning. He looked tired but satisfied as he sat down across from Ning in the visitor area.
"I have two pieces of news," Blake said.
"Good or bad?" Ning asked curiously.
"Both good."
Ning couldn’t help but grin. "Go ahead. What’s the news?"
"First, your hero rating shot through the roof. In a single night, you went from a new hero to being in the top 50."
Ning blinked. "Top 50?"
"Top 50," Blake confirmed. "Nothing concrete will be known until the official hero ratings are released in two weeks, but this is already more than enough. Our data model shows that you will reach the top 50, some models even predicting Rank 39. Your actions last night have been the talk of the town everywhere."
Ning raised an eyebrow as he processed the information. He had expected his rating to improve, but not this quickly.
He could only wonder how much more his ratings were going to improve in the next two weeks if he managed to do even more. Although, this wasn’t the real thing yet, so he had to take back his expectations, lest he get disappointed.
"What’s the second piece of news?" he asked. "Has the case moved forward?"
"No judge is awake at this time to approve the case, sadly. But I have no doubt they will expedite it nonetheless," Blake said. "The second news is something I know you’ll be excited for."
Blake reached into his bag and brought out a stack of papers. With a cop watching over, he handed Ning a pen and had him sign it.
Ning read through it and smiled, signing immediately.
Blake took back the papers and nodded. "With this, the transaction is done. You are now the proud owner of a house."
Ning grinned. "That’s fantastic. I won’t have to return to that dastardly hotel room."
Blake couldn’t help but chuckle a little.
"I’ll have things moved to your place today. It shouldn’t take more than an entire day to have everything prepared."
