Soon, a barrage of cleverly orchestrated comments and replies began to flood the screen.
"This isn't a sudden disintegration, it's clearly sabotage! Someone planted bombs beforehand!"
"Exactly. Even if it was a quality issue, three Boeing 848 airliners wouldn't disintegrate simultaneously. Someone must have tampered with them."
"These three Boeing 848s took off from multiple countries at the same time. Who has the power to do something like this? And why would they go to such lengths? We're talking about thousands of lives!"
Though unspoken, their implication was clear: Longguo had deliberately caused these accidents to prove their industrial software was superior.
True internet trolls weren't just copy-pasters; they were often guided by professional psychologists and sociologists. Under their influence, public opinion rapidly shifted. Not only the current Boeing 848 incident but also the earlier Tralas incident were now blamed on Longguo's deliberate sabotage.
Jing Mingqiu remained unhurried. As the public's emotions reached a fever pitch, he gently patted Cang Yue, who was perched on his shoulder, and turned on his camera to start a livestream.
The moment the livestream began, a bold, enlarged comment immediately appeared on the screen.
"You dare to livestream? Are you planning to apologize and atone with your life?"
This was quickly followed by a synchronized wave of comments.
"A life for a life, a debt for a debt!"
"Longguo must apologize, and Jing Mingqiu, as the mastermind, must pay with his life!"
"Apologize! Apologize! Pay with your life! Pay with your life!"
Facing the surging tide of public opinion, Jing Mingqiu casually picked at his ear, feigning indifference.
"Tsk tsk, reason doesn't come from loudness. Do you really think shouting louder makes you right?"
"To verify whether Longguo's industrial software predictions are accurate, it's simple. Pick up your March phones, turn on your Mona televisions, drive your Beetle cars, and follow my instructions. Test them yourself."
"Even with my capabilities, I could at most tamper with a few experimental products. I can't possibly plant bombs in industrial products used in over two hundred countries worldwide."
"If I truly had that kind of power, I wouldn't need to bother. Your lives would already be in my hands."
His words, though blunt, held undeniable logic. Hearing this, many people suddenly had an epiphany.
That's right! While they couldn't get their hands on the Tralas electric cars or the Boeing 848 airliners, they had plenty of household appliances and daily necessities.
To test the truth of Jing Mingqiu's claims, people everywhere spontaneously grabbed the industrial products Jing Mingqiu had mentioned in previous livestreams and began testing them according to his instructions.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A series of small explosions quickly erupted in every corner of the globe, and the wail of fire trucks echoed through every street.
Soon, a new comment appeared in Jing Mingqiu's livestream.
"It exploded! It really exploded! I followed his instructions. When charging my March phone, I repeatedly unplugged and plugged it back in. After more than twenty cycles, the phone actually exploded!"
Before the paid commenters could claim he was staged, a second comment followed closely.
"My TV did too! I followed his instructions, set the humidity to thirty-seven point five percent, the room temperature to twenty-two point five degrees, and then plugged in two hair dryers to the power strip, turning them on to full power. The TV immediately started smoking."
Then came the third, the fourth, and so on.
Test results from all over the world instantly flooded the livestream. The paid commenters desperately spammed their comments, but a few hundred people were no match for the vast online populace; they couldn't even create a ripple.
Seeing public opinion spiral out of control and the quality of their products severely questioned, industrial conglomerates from various countries had no choice but to step in, claiming Jing Mingqiu's tests were conducted under extreme conditions with a negligible probability of occurring in real life and should be disregarded.
Jing Mingqiu chuckled at their claims.
"A small probability doesn't mean it won't happen. When these accidents occur, they are often fatal. Think about it: what if a child, bored, unplugs and replugs a phone, and it suddenly explodes?"
"Or what if you're working outside, the temperature and humidity are just right, but the voltage at home is insufficient, and the TV suddenly catches fire? What would the consequences be..."
Jing Mingqiu was not alone. Guided by top psychologists from Longguo, he skillfully fanned the flames of the public's rekindled anger with just a few words, igniting their emotions and driving them directly to the websites of major Western companies.
"Oh, right, one more thing," Jing Mingqiu said, making a gesture as if he had just remembered, after the crowd had vented most of their fury. "Fort Group and other Western industrial companies have repeatedly claimed that our Longguo industrial software is plagiarized and that they are the victims. I'd like to ask: if it's plagiarized, why am I the one who can discover these issues, while you cannot?"
"Does this mean our independently designed Longguo software is superior? Or did you discover problems in your product designs but deliberately concealed them for the sake of profit?"
This question struck at their core. While it seemed they had two choices, in reality, they had none. The Western industrial conglomerates were far from monolithic. Although Jing Mingqiu had tested many products, they were a mere drop in the ocean compared to the vast array of products from Western industries. Those conglomerates whose products were tested knew very well that if they refused to acknowledge the superiority of Longguo's software, they would have no choice but to accept the second option. However, doing so would make them pawns, and their markets would be swallowed by others.
Andrew Fort, the president of Fort Group, locked himself in his office. After contemplating for half an hour, he tore the document claiming Longguo's industrial software was plagiarized and improved from Western designs into shreds. The two software packages differed too much; that argument wouldn't hold water! Especially with Jing Mingqiu's triumphant momentum, they had temporarily lost control of public opinion. To forcefully push that narrative now would be pure self-humiliation.
"Someone," Andrew Fort took a deep breath, "immediately notify reporters from all major television stations. In half an hour, I will hold a press conference at headquarters!"
"Yes, Mr. President!"
Seeing the dejected Andrew Fort, his secretary dared not say more and quickly agreed, pulling out her phone to call the various television stations.
Half an hour later, at the Fort Motors headquarters, Andrew Fort walked onto the stage. Facing the dense array of cameras, he bowed deeply without hesitation.
The crowd watched, utterly stunned.