Chapter 461 The Collapse of Eternal Life Palace

To be precise, it’s better to say that the Eternal Life Palace has had the misfortune of facing this debacle at this particular moment.

With the expedition going on, the atmosphere in the real world is already fraught with anxiety. Major powers have no intention of involving ordinary people in this matter, so the internal news about the expedition hasn’t leaked out, aside from some traitors. And who knows if those traitors are even real? There are even claims online about someone who says they’re Ling Mo’s illegitimate brother, providing “accurate” information that the expedition represents the third world war in human history, larger in scale than the previous two, and that the start of the expedition might even signify the end of the world.

The sense of oppression has gradually spread in this context. The expedition can be regarded as an epic event concerning all humanity—nobody can remain uninvolved. But understanding that one’s fate may be tied to this so-called expedition, yet being unable to secure even a shred of concrete information, who can accept that?

But who would listen to protests from those power alliances? Even in peacetime, the so-called protests hardly have any effect, let alone now when everything has changed. People are aware of this, which is why no one has attempted to protest so far. But that doesn’t mean they don’t harbor suppressed anger and confusion that needs an outlet.

Unfortunately, the Eternal Life Palace has become the unfortunate outlet for this frustration.

Eden’s attempt to surrender to demons for some so-called evolutionary path is nonsense to ordinary people. The sentiment can be summed up in a phrase: “Who are you to represent all humanity?” Moreover, even if humanity were to evolve together, it certainly wouldn’t be led by the mediocre cult of Eden. Thus, the overwhelming majority recognizes Eden as a cult, and the residents of Linjiang City, who previously experienced the near-destruction by the demon invasion, wouldn’t even think twice about tearing Eden apart in anger.

Sadly, by the time this news broke, Eden was mostly wiped out, and the remaining remnants had been taken over by the Ability Bureau for a final cleaning operation. The ordinary public didn’t even get a chance to throw a few stones or spit at Eden. No hope for venting anger there, but there’s still the Eternal Life Palace, which collaborated with Eden!

Although the collaboration wasn’t to betray humanity, and not everyone in the Eternal Life Palace was in the know, the ordinary public doesn’t care about that. Their thinking is quite simple: Eden wanted to betray humanity, and since the Eternal Life Palace cooperated with Eden, it means they also want to betray humanity. After all, they used to be one of the prominent powers, yet they ended up traitors among humans—simply disgraceful.

Naturally, the Eternal Life Palace instantly fell from grace and became a rat in the street, with all online assessments turning unanimously hostile. Once proud members of the Eternal Life Palace online found themselves the targets of online assaults, and a frenzy rose up online with everyone accusing each other of being traitors—essentially a nationwide witch hunt against those involved with Eden and the Eternal Life Palace, though primarily focusing on the latter. Almost everyone associated with the Eternal Life Palace was branded a traitor to humanity, regardless of their innocence, leading to numerous bloody incidents in just one day.

When emotions, suppressed to the extreme, erupted, this kind of scene is what would occur. The social order, already precarious under the Cataclysm, seemed to completely collapse at that moment.

It also resulted in a sudden increase in tasks for the Ability Bureau and Police Station.

However, this riot wasn’t entirely detrimental; inadvertently, it greatly enhanced the fighting spirit of the populace. Ordinary people felt they contributed to the grand operation against Eden and the Eternal Life Palace, equating it to aiding the expedition, gaining a sense of participation in this epic endeavor instead of just being sidelined, waiting for news, naturally fostering more confidence in the expedition.

Another factor was the news released by the Fat Guy—Eden was still fumbling around trying to collaborate with demons, even at a lower stance asking for help, naively hoping demons could guide humanity’s evolution. But Eden’s ridiculous actions had made no progress. Meanwhile, the Chicks had already captured numerous powerful demons, even managing to control them to obediently follow orders, not only placing themselves above demons but even becoming their masters.

A comparison speaks for itself.

Moreover, the Chicks’ actions proved several important things—like demons can negotiate with humans, and aside from their appearances, some demons are nearly indistinguishable from humans, also that demons can follow human commands, all of which increased public confidence in the expedition’s success. After all, if a single Chick can control such powerful demons, then it sure seems unlikely there’d be major issues with all the first-tier powers mobilizing, right?

Thus, what was meant to demonstrate the necessity of taking down the Eternal Life Palace began to incite fanaticism among the general public towards the Chicks and even the Eagles Alliance—indeed, their popularity surged past all other first-tier powers.

In light of this overwhelming public support, the Chicks smoothly took the place of the Eternal Life Palace and officially claimed the throne of first-tier powers.

Of course, those powers that hadn’t participated in the crackdown were not happy with the outcome. Whether it was how the Eternal Life Palace was dealt with without consulting them or how the unremarkable Chicks were suddenly on equal footing with them, it left them feeling excluded from the core circle, especially in the context of the opposing power alliances—it was incredibly annoying.

But annoyance aside, would they dare speak up? The Chicks had won public favor, and daring to question them now would be opposing the entire populace. Even the strongest individual powers wouldn’t be foolish enough to do that.

So, in the end, those who could have spoken for the Eternal Life Palace chose to remain silent, and the Eternal Life Palace was completely relegated to the annals of history. With everyone turning against them in a public backlash, former members of the Eternal Life Palace nearly all opted for new paths, with many joining the Chicks—since the Chicks represented the highest cheers, their choices were seen as a means to redeem themselves, at least slightly improving their reputations.

Moreover, the resources of the Eternal Life Palace became unclaimed spoils for other powers to divide, with the Chicks claiming the lion’s share—thanks to the Fat Guy acting quickly.

In summary, under the shroud of this incident, the Chicks truly emerged as the complete victors.

   

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