Volume 1: Raging Waves City Chapter 194: Psychological Warfare
At the Rio Consulate, the Central City Public Security Bureau and the Imperial Secret Agents worked together to prepare a rescue plan. When daybreak came, the crisis that Viscount Iscolan had anticipated arrived.
In the previous attacks launched by Luke against the new nobles, the newspapers played a great role in guiding public opinion. This time, the new nobles followed suit and released the news to the newspapers first.
The attack on the Rio Consulate was blamed on the city's security department. It was the new director of the Central City Public Security Bureau, Nishizawa, who placed his cronies in the center and excluded dissidents, which led to serious omissions in the public security forces in the central city.
Then, with Caesar as the breakthrough point, the article focused its firepower on "human flesh" Caesar's resume in the Xita District, saying that his qualifications and abilities were completely unqualified for the position of Director of the Central District Public Security Bureau. The fact that he was able to occupy such an important position was entirely due to someone in the parliament abusing his power...
As various rumors spread, Caesar, who had not slept all night and had been on the front line, was extremely distressed. He came to the temporary command post, but did not see Viscount Iscolan, so he asked Luke who was guarding there, "Inspector, where is Senator Iscolan?"
Luke was drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. He asked Caesar to sit down first, then said, "Chairman Grover, call Isklan to ask about the situation here. You don't look very well. Do you want to take a rest? This incident cannot be resolved in one or two days."
Caesar believed that he had been devoted to his duties since he took office, often working until late at night, and never delayed his work even when he was seriously injured. He knew that his qualifications were not enough to be qualified for such an important position, so he put in twice the energy to get recognition.
What was in today's newspaper dealt him a heavy blow.
"Chief Inspector, the attack on the Rio Consulate was my fault. I went to attend the cocktail party hosted by Mrs. Michelle last night and neglected to arrange the patrol team for the evening. I...I want to resign to Viscount Iscolan. Perhaps the West Tower District is suitable for me."
Luke knew very well the impact of this kind of public opinion violence when it was directed against individuals.
He put down the newspaper and said to Caesar, "Do you think that the editorials published by all the major newspapers today are really targeting you? Don't take yourself so seriously and put yourself in the right place.
Your resignation due to the pressure is exactly what our opponents want to see. It means that you admit your incompetence. They will then attack Mrs. Michel, Viscount Iscolan, and then me...
Mrs. Michelle put you in this position with the approval of all of us. This position is very important and will be the center of our competition with our opponents in the future. You need to have a very strong ability to withstand pressure. If you doubt yourself just because of a few pieces of nonsense in the newspapers, it will be a great disappointment to our expectations of you. "
"Chief Inspector, I understand what you are saying, but I feel too tired... I am afraid of doing something wrong every day."
"Xize, you are afraid of doing something wrong because you are an upright person. This is one of the reasons why we chose you. Another reason... is because of Miss Qingkong..."
Hearing Qingkong, Caesar instantly perked up: "I knew I could become the chief of the Central City Police Department because of Miss Qingkong's recommendation, even though Miss Qingkong has never acknowledged it."
"Then do your best in this position and don't let Miss Qingkong down."
Sure enough, instead of talking to Caesar about the truth, it would be better to bring out Qingkong directly. Although Luke was unwilling to do so, in order to stabilize Caesar and prevent him from doing anything stupid, he had no choice but to use Qingkong.
Encouraged by this, Caesar was full of energy and strength. "Please rest assured, Chief Inspector. For Miss Qingkong, nothing can defeat me."
"Very energetic. Go out and do your work. Don't read the newspaper. Our confrontation with our opponents these days is mainly focused on the newspaper. Reading too much will cause high blood pressure."
Caesar strode out of the command post, and Luke continued to read the newspaper.
The new nobles had a strong learning ability and were able to find their weak points with one strike. If Caesar couldn't handle the pressure, his side would become very passive.
Caesar is now stable, but he cannot allow the new nobles to manipulate public opinion.
After a while, Viscount Isklan arrived. He looked unhappy, and it seemed that he had heard a lot of unpleasant words from Speaker Grover.
"The ambassador of the Rio Republic will arrive in Raging Waves City from the Empire tomorrow morning. Speaker Grover requires us to resolve the attack on the consulate before the ambassador arrives. Otherwise... we will bear all the diplomatic consequences."
When Luke heard that Ambassador Leo was coming to Raging Waves City, he said to Iscolan, "Which one do you think is more serious, the death of a consul or the death of an ambassador?"
Viscount Iscolan realized the seriousness of the matter: "Chief Inspector, you mean... the Lookout will assassinate Ambassador Rio."
Luke was thinking about Pan's plan. Whether or not he expected Ambassador Leo to come to Raging Tide City, he would definitely take action after knowing the news.
"Immediately take your men to intercept Ambassador Leo's airship. If you can do it secretly, you should be able to impersonate Ambassador Leo and set a trap for the lookout. As long as Ambassador Leo knows that we rescued him, no matter how bad the situation here is, it will be within our tolerance limit."
Viscount Iscolan knew how important it was to save Ambassador Leo, and he had to go there in person: "Yes, I will go back now to summon the Thorns and make sure to get this done."
Time is urgent, and it is not an easy task to intercept an airship from the air midway .
Viscount Iscolan went out immediately.
Luke contacted Congressman Ibrahim and said he would hold a press conference with the newspaper, where he would give a detailed account of the progress of the attack on the Rio Consulate.
The time is set at 3pm.
The sheriff and the imperial agents continued to tightly surround the entire foggy area, not allowing anyone to approach. All parties in the city wanted to know what happened inside the Rio Consulate, but they could not get any accurate information.
We can only wait for the newspaper press conference that Chief Detective Meteorite will hold.
The wait was long for everyone, including the new nobles, who also did not know what happened in the Rio Consulate. Luke's information concealment tactics were very successful, and the new nobles did not dare to take any radical actions without knowing the specific situation.
Until three o'clock in the afternoon, all parties were waiting quietly.
When the time came, Luke appeared on the steps in front of the City Hall. The Imperial spies had already sealed off the place and set up the sound equipment. Newspaper reporters gathered at the bottom of the steps, and people from all walks of life who wanted to get information stood around.
Luke carefully scanned the people in the audience, judging their respective identities and the forces they represented.
He believed that Pan's people must be among them.
This newspaper press conference was also held for Pan.
Luke stood in front of the microphone, and Shelley stood behind him with her hand on the gun handle, looking at the people around vigilantly.
"Ladies and gentlemen. I am the Chief Inspector of the newly established Fury City Secret Intelligence Bureau of the Imperial Secret Intelligence Bureau... Meteorite, the attack on the Consulate of the Republic of Rio in Fury City will be handled by the Fury City Secret Intelligence Bureau.
In order to dispel unnecessary tension, I will inform the public of the details of the attack.
I have met the attackers and negotiated with them several times.
The other party claimed to be the lookout of the Rio Kingdom, and the attack on the Rio Republic consulate was a war to overthrow the current Rio regime. After my negotiation, the kidnappers promised not to escalate the incident as much as possible, so please don't panic, but don't approach the blockade area.
At present, the kidnapped people are all safe. I have met them and Consul Rio, and have obtained the authorization from the Consul..."
Luke took out the seal of the consulate and showed it to prove the credibility of his words.
A reporter from a newspaper asked, "Inspector General, when are you going to rescue the people trapped in the Rio Consulate? If the situation cannot be resolved in time, or if the Rio Consul dies, it will cause a diplomatic crisis between the Empire and the Rio Republic."
Luke replied: "Rescuing the hostages by force is not our first choice. We will try our best to resolve this incident through negotiation to minimize casualties. Moreover, our negotiations have yielded results. The kidnappers have released eight hostages..."
An imperial spy came up with eight people, and Luke introduced their names and their work in the Rio Consulate.
Everyone was very excited to see someone being successfully rescued. Although there were only eight people, this was a good start, proving that Chief Detective Meteorite's approach was effective.
A newspaper reporter asked: "Mr. Chief Inspector, when will the other hostages be rescued?"
Luke asked the spies to take the eight people away.
"According to my contact with the kidnappers, they are a group of poor people who have been deceived. Someone made them believe that the Kingdom of Rio could be revived, and then sent them to Fury City to die. As long as the relationship between the Empire and the Republic of Rio does not deteriorate due to this incident, then the attack they organized is meaningless.
I believe that if they can recognize the reality and the deception of the Lord's messengers on them, they will lay down their arms and surrender.
This is the best result.
Of course, we also have a plan to rescue the hostages by force, which will be implemented only after negotiations fail."
Luke's crisis public relations, while engaging in a public opinion confrontation with the new noble forces, also revealed to Pan that "the lookout in the Rio Consulate may surrender."
The release of eight hostages might not shake Pan's confidence in this group of assassins, but at night... Luke announced that after another negotiation by him, the kidnappers in the Leo consulate released ten people.
Chief Inspector Meteoric rescued 18 people in one day through negotiation, and tomorrow's newspapers will definitely report it. According to this trend, it seems that the kidnappers will definitely surrender.
Pan Chushi was still very confident in this group of death warriors, but when he saw that they released people twice in a row, he couldn't help but begin to doubt the loyalty of his subordinates.
If they do surrender...
The so-called holy war for the restoration of the Kingdom of Rio would become an international joke.
This situation must never be allowed to happen!
What exactly does the lookout in Rio’s consulate want to do?
The lookouts guarding the Rio Consulate were also very puzzled. After the Chief Inspector of Meteorite left, they were ready to fight the Sheriff of Raging Waves and the Imperial Agents who rushed in.
We must kill the enemies to our death to announce to the world the start of the holy war for national restoration.
After three days of fighting, there must be a river of blood here.
But after waiting for a whole day, there was no movement outside. The sheriff and the imperial agents surrounded the foggy area tightly, but they only stayed outside the fog and did not step into it.
The lookouts in the fog did not dare to rush out.
They were completely enclosed in this not-so-large area, with no news from the outside world coming in and no information being sent out.
After another night of waiting, there was still no attack as expected. However, the lookouts did not dare to slack off. This might be the fatigue tactic of the Chief Detective of Meteorite. The attack would be launched at any time when you relax.
Knowing that this tactic was extremely demoralizing, the watchers still endured the mental and physical exhaustion and stood ready in the fog.
After daybreak, Luke announced once again that after a long conversation with the kidnappers, the kidnappers released fifteen hostages!
Talk all night long. There are things that need to be talked all night long.
The release of fifteen hostages shows that Chief Inspector Meteorite had very fruitful talks with the kidnappers.
Pan was getting a little impatient.
Hostages were released one after another, and more people were released each time. What did those lookouts want to do? What did Meteorite talk to them about?
Pan wanted to know the information inside the Rio Consulate, but the additional sheriffs and imperial spies expanded the blockade area, and his people had no way to get close to the fog. And he couldn't risk his identity being exposed and go in to ask in person.
"Meteorite!" Pan realized how powerful Meteorite was after fighting him. He didn't even know who the mastermind behind the Lookout was, but he was already making wild guesses.
Yin asked with concern at this time: "Pan, you are very confused, and...wasn't that the 'meteor' you just mentioned..."
Pan put down the newspaper in his hand and readjusted his mentality: "I just saw in the newspaper that Inspector Meteorite persuaded the lookout in the Rio Consulate to release fifteen people.
Detective Meteorite always does something unexpected."
Yin smiled and said, "It would be unexpected if Inspector Meteorite didn't do something unexpected. These past two days, the whole city has been talking about the Rio Consulate incident. Everyone believes that Inspector Meteorite can convince the kidnappers to surrender and create a miracle once again."
Yin's confidence in Yunxing made Pan look unhappy. He asked Yin, "Have you gone to see Yunxing these two days?"
"No, the Inspector must be very busy with such a big case, so I'd better not bother him."
"I suggest you go meet Meteorite... The Lookout is from Rio, and we used to be members of Rio's royal family. If Inspector Meteorite wants to convince the Lookout to surrender, perhaps we can help?"
"Is it okay?" Yin acted very happy, but asked worriedly, "We are the Shuojin people, and we have no relationship with the Rio royal family anymore."
"You can give it a try. I hope Inspector Meteorite can solve this problem as soon as possible."
