The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician-Chapter 527 - 281 Magic: Everywhere
For two days, nothing happened.
Everything was so calm, as if the Seges Group incident had nothing to do with Wolf and Jiang Shu after they left the Thirteenth District.
Jiang Shu and Wolf’s lives seemed to have returned to the past, without any particular incidents occurring.
Except...
Wolf discovered that he could no longer contact Police Chief Tang Hexun.
And when he asked Charles, the Police Chief of the Seventh District Police Station, he didn’t get any answer; Tang Hexun seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.
This situation was rare. With Tang Hexun controlling an entire district’s police station, it was impossible for him to fall victim to a calculated attack. There was only one other possibility.
This was an internal settlement and trial within the Social Sequence.
No one could help Tang Hexun. Wolf and Jiang Shu could only passively wait for a result, wait for a police report that was bound to be equivocal, whether the result was good or bad.
"Already over ten million views," Jiang Shu said, sitting beside Wolf in the backstage of the television studio, looking at the data on his wristwatch. "If there are no surprises, the outcome for Old Tang will come out soon. They need to use this opportunity to quickly deal with the aftermath of the incident."
"Mm, who knows what will happen to Old Tang," sighed Wolf, without saying much else.
Tang Hexun wouldn’t be in any life-threatening danger; that much was certain. But he always had a bad feeling.
Settlements and trials were essentially conflicts between factions within the Social Sequence, and Tang Hexun didn’t align closely with any faction. Like a very small portion of the Social Sequence’s upper echelons, he stood at an absolute middle ground.
At the time, the only reason he became the Police Chief of the Thirteenth District was that no faction wanted to clean up the district’s mess, leaving this arduous task to the practical Tang Hexun.
For this reason, when faced with such an event, not many stood behind Tang Hexun to speak for him.
"The tide of public opinion is already turning against Seges Group. The popularity of the video with the incriminating evidence is sufficient. Next, I’ll start shaping Tang Hexun’s image to sway public opinion in his favor," Jiang Shu continued, explaining that the two days of waiting had brewed the Seges Group incident to a certain peak, and now it was time to move on to the next step.
Wolf stared at him for a while and then suddenly laughed. "It feels like you’re really good at this sort of thing, and... using public opinion to intervene in the internal judicial process of the Social Sequence, is that really okay?" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
"Of course it’s not good," Jiang Shu shook his head. However, he shrugged and continued, "But compared to capital manipulating justice, it’s still somewhat better for public opinion to interfere with the judicial process."
He paused for a moment, then laughed ironically and added: "In a sense, this public opinion could also be considered the voice of the people, couldn’t it?"
Wolf didn’t respond. He always felt uncomfortable with such methods, but when he thought that it was all for Old Tang, he forcibly suppressed that discomfort.
People always have some double standards. Those truly obsessed with justice will be abandoned by the entire society.
"It’s almost time for me to go on stage," Jiang Shu said, checking the time and speaking to Wolf.
Tonight, Jiang Shu’s show "Magic Up Close" would begin its first episode’s recording. At Jiang Shu’s fervent request, the entire show was switched to a live broadcast, and he had many of his own ideas about interactivity.
Wolf came to watch the show in person since he had nothing to do these past two days.
As a friend of the host, he also received VIP treatment, going directly backstage and chatting with Jiang Shu until now.
"See you later," Wolf nodded. He decided to stay backstage to watch the show.
Tonight Liu Tingruo also came, but unlike Wolf, she wanted to sit in the audience, close to the stage, to watch Jiang Shu, rather than backstage looking at a cold screen, which wouldn’t be any different from watching the show at home.
So, she also went through the basic pre-entry procedures along with the other audience members under the direction of the TV station.
Like going through a security check for prohibited items, turning off the recording function on their wristwatches, and so forth.
Besides Liu Tingruo and Wolf, the other idlers, everyone who accompanied Jiang Shu had their work to do.
Like Su Xiaoou, who would soon go on stage to perform her first magic act during Jiang Shu’s show.
Like Lu Yi of Thirteen, whom Jiang Shu had brought back from the Fifth District. He hadn’t stayed with Jiang Shu but was arranged to live in a separate apartment, living a leisurely daily life.
But now, as a photographer, he needed to demonstrate his worth.
The studio was pitch black, everyone waiting for that moment.
Finally, the lights on the stage lit up again, and Lonely City’s first magic variety show "Magic Up Close" officially began.
The black curtain pulled apart, revealing a simple and elegant white backdrop, and as the curtain opened, images appeared on the backdrop—the live broadcast of "Magic Up Close."
At the center of the stage was a long table with about three spots, and sitting at the center of the long table, was tonight’s protagonist—the Magician Jiang Shu.
