Chapter 160: Chapter 160: Public Opinion Reverses

Melody Summers, Sophie Thorne, and Officer Tanner spent the entire afternoon at the hospital. By dinnertime, it was time for them to head back to The Metropolis Residences.

Since Brianna White lived alone and Officer Tristan Tanner couldn’t reach her family right away, Sophie Thorne paid out of pocket to hire a hospital caregiver to look after her.

On the way back to The Metropolis Residences, Officer Tristan Tanner was in the driver’s seat while Melody Summers sat in the back. She frowned as she scrolled through the group chat messages. As expected, the chat had completely blown up:

"Slacking Off in 4-1209: I’m so pissed, so damn pissed! These people online, do they even know the whole story? They see someone post a screenshot and run their mouth a bit, and they think they can just start a witch hunt?"

"Fruity Gummy in 3-805: A society that drives a woman to her death over a few rumors... even ancient times weren’t this bad. All I can say is, I wish the apocalypse would hit harder. Suddenly feels like a lot of humans don’t deserve to be alive. I support Terra’s righteous virus scan."

"Lowell On Deadline in 4-1009: ...It’s hard to put into words. I’ve been following this whole thing for the past few days, and I actually fell for his bullshit. I even wrote a whole article to post on my public account to support him. I never would have imagined this was the truth. Good thing I didn’t publish it, or it would’ve become a permanent stain on my online record."

"Coco in 2-1908: I was watching the drama unfold too, but something always felt off, so I didn’t pick a side. No wonder he never dared to reveal a single piece of information about himself or the woman. Turns out he knew his lies would fall apart the second any real info got out, huh?"

"Adventurous Lawson in 7-901: @Stagchaser in 6-801 So this is the son of a bitch, right? I’m so pissed I’m actually laughing. Hey, Mr. Stag-bastard, can you come back to life for a sec? I donated a six-yuan gift to you on your stream. How about you refund me before you die for good?"

"Slacking Off in 4-1209: @Adventurous Lawson Heh, so you were one of the ones who supported him and helped the evildoer?"

"Adventurous Lawson in 7-901: @Slacking Off in 4-1209 Th-that’s not my fault! Shit, he was acting so devoted on his stream, telling everyone not to bother the woman. I really thought he was some kind of perfect, heartbroken nice guy."

"Gone with the Wind in 7-408: Everyone in the complex knows the truth. We should all go online and speak up for the resident of 6-702. She’s always active in the chat and never says a bad word to anyone. You can tell she’s a really good person."

"Slacking Off in 4-1209: I’ve been speaking up for her since this afternoon, but those people are completely irrational. They just started cussing me out instead. Someone even doxxed me and claimed that I’m Ms. 10% herself!"

"Gone with the Wind in 7-408: @Slacking Off in 4-1209 No way, is it really that insane?"

"Slacking Off in 4-1209: That’s not all! They used my account info to track down my old company and started flooding their official account. Sigh, thank god my company went out of business a long time ago, or I would’ve dragged them down with me!"

"Fruity Gummy in 3-805: @Slacking Off in 4-1209 They said the same thing to me. Someone even replied saying they were going to raid our residential complex at night to support that Stagchaser guy. I just told him that tonight, Warren would personally visit his house to thank him—and take his whole family with him."

"Leopard from Felinae in 3-904: Popping in to share some info. You guys might not know this, but this Stagchaser from 6-801 has a warning on his record here in our complex."

"Lowell On Deadline in 4-1009: @Leopard from Felinae in 3-904 Huh? What happened? Tell us more!"

"Leopard from Felinae in 3-904: I heard it from my parents. A few days ago, under the cover of darkness, he groped a girl’s butt at the supply point and then tried to argue that it was an accident. The girl’s parents couldn’t stand for it and told him to apologize, but he got pissed off from the embarrassment and beat up one of the parents."

"Coco in 2-1908: @Leopard from Felinae in 3-904 Now that you mention it, I remember! I was there too. He kept insisting that the surveillance cameras didn’t catch anything, that there was no proof. He was so smug about it. Little did he know, the cameras had just been upgraded, and his sleazy move was caught crystal clear."

"Slacking Off in 4-1209: So he’s a repeat offender. Good riddance, good riddance. The only downside is that he didn’t die sooner. Wasted so many sand vine cakes."

"Bella Grant in 2-1408: I just caught up on the messages, and I’m furious. Trying to sell one fever pill for 150,000? Heh, 150,000 should be enough to buy his whole family’s lives. Is there anyone else in 6-801? Stand up and explain yourselves. What kind of upbringing is this? How do you raise someone to be like that?"

"Slacking Off in 4-1209: I can answer that one. He was the only one on the household registry for 6-801. His body was just sent for cremation. His file can be closed now."

"Coco in 2-1908: Oh, so that’s how it is. That explains a lot."

"Leopard from Felinae in 3-904: More and more neighbors have been jumping from buildings and giving up on life lately. If any of you are feeling unwell, anxious, depressed, or suffering from insomnia, please, please seek help immediately."

"Leopard from Felinae in 3-904: My parents both work at the property management center. They’ve been reading books on mental health every day, just so they can help everyone with their psychological issues. So if you’re facing any mental health problems, please reach out for help in time!"

"..." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

At the same time, Sophie Thorne was also frowning as she finished reading the push notifications from various platforms. Her hands were shaking with anger.

She came from a wealthy family and had been treated with respect and courtesy wherever she went her entire life. She’d never encountered anything like this before. Looking at all the malicious comments online, she found the vile language absolutely disgusting.

Just now, an influencer with over a million followers had even posted an "exposé," claiming he was having dinner with the male protagonist of the "10% Incident" and was preparing to interview him and write an article to speak out on his behalf.

The post called him a crusader for justice and even praised his righteous cause.

Sophie Thorne took a deep breath, suppressing her fury. "I’ll have someone find a way to take down all that false information online. It’s all just slander! If this were before the apocalypse, I’d have my company’s legal department sue every single one of them!"

Officer Tristan Tanner, who was driving, heard this and said, "Don’t worry. I got word back at the hospital. The Emergency Response Office has pretty much finished their investigation. They’ll be issuing a public notice soon."

Melody Summers nodded. Sophie Thorne’s words had given her an idea. After a moment of thought, she also paid to contact several neutral, high-profile influencers on a few major websites. She submitted the full story and the evidence to them, asking for their help in publishing and spreading the information.

Not long after, the police also released an official statement, summarizing the entire incident from beginning to end. It was the final word on the matter.

By the time the three of them returned to The Metropolis Residences, public opinion online had completely flipped.

Many of those who had previously supported Stagchaser had now turned to condemn him.

"I knew it! I said from the start to just wait and see. The whole thing was full of holes. That ’Devoted Bro’ claimed the woman took 150,000 from him, but he couldn’t produce a shred of evidence. It was obviously fishy!"

"Yeah, but if the woman was falsely accused, why didn’t she explain herself? Is she mute or something?"

"The person above me is hilarious. She *did* explain. When you guys first flooded her stream, she even asked if you had the wrong person. The question is, did any of you listen?"

"Sigh. My life story: always passionate, always teary-eyed, always charging into battle for ’love,’ and always forgetting to learn my lesson."

"I hereby declare that my donation to Devoted Bro is now a permanent stain on my online record."

"All I can say is, thank god for this woman. If she had really just killed herself, I would have died of anger on the spot. I’m glad she chose to take the perpetrator with her. Everyone, remember this: it’s better to take them down with you. A one-for-one trade is still ridding the world of a menace. Never, ever let yourself take a total loss!"

"Exactly. I support all righteous revenge kills. Even if you feel like you can’t go on living, you have to take the perpetrator with you!"

"Thank goodness the heavens are just. She lived, the perpetrator died. It’s a happy ending for everyone. I’m cooking up my treasured stash of dried noodles to celebrate today."

"That’s not a good thing to say. We shouldn’t be encouraging this kind of thing. As long as you can survive, you shouldn’t give up on life."

"Yeah, we survived a whole year of extreme heat. What else can’t we get through? This is nothing."

"..."

Although there were still a few people trying to muddle the waters, forcing out a "both sides are bad" comment.

However, they were in the minority and were quickly drowned out by the angry shouts of others.