Chapter 522: The Shift In Public Opinion

People didn't like to be told that they were fooled. But even more than that, they didn't like to be treated like fools.

So, when the social media giants blatantly deleted every single media piece about Enigma, the backlash was unprecedented.

There was an outcry from the public that was fundamentally different from any normal protests.

If left unchecked, it'd have caused a massive upheaval economically and would've affected the harmony.

Thankfully, as someone with a lot of experience in seeing the best and worst of humanity, Sovereign Albert made the right call.

In a few minutes, the posts were restored and an apology letter was published by the leaders of the platforms—along with the federation's official letter hanging them for their 'anti-people' move.

The rage that was beginning to build up melted away and after gloating at the 'karma' hitting back at the leaders, the public was engaged back in Enigma's discussion.

John browsed through all the proofs and sniffed back his tears.

"I'm sorry, Enigma."

Not just him, but as hours went by, most of the people that previously believed in Enigma, but were enraged after her identity was exposed expressed their regret publicly.

But the general populace was mostly ignorant of Enigma's deeds. They were curious at the intense outrage. However, having learned that it was about Enigma, they were baffled.

'Why are they apologizing to the leader of a terrorist organization? Do we have these many terrorists? No...'

Growing unrest began in the majority.

Since Sovereign Julius used his clout to designate Shadow Guardians as a terror organization and for most of the part, assigned them as part of Shadow Order, most of the people lived under the wrong assumptions.

"Even if I get fined, jailed, I'll expose the truth." John gritted his teeth and opened a locked file in his comm.

With a click, it showed the dozens of files he collected over the past year.

"I hope truth can finally see the light of the day." Closing his eyes, he posted the files.

#Truth

It was like a small flap of a butterfly over a vast ocean. Seemingly insignificant and inconsequential.

John believed so, yet he risked his career by posting the truth on an open social media platform.

Whoosh!

But John forgot. He was living in a deeply interconnected world—a gigantic web where a slight change at one point would ripple across the entire web—and that ripple had already begun.

Contrary to their previous policies, the social media platforms didn't delete any files related to proving that Shadow Guardians weren't Shadow Order.

"...I feel ashamed." Sovereign Albert shook his head as he looked at the floating holograms in front of him.

They showed the massacre of the Shadow Guardians. Men, Women, Children, and Elderly—not a single soul was spared.

In the center of such brutality stood a handsome man. His eyes glowed in satisfaction as he breathed in the destruction he ordered.

And the same man just started a video call with him.

"Sovereign Albert, why did you order them about Shadow Guardians?" Julius gritted his teeth and questioned in a chilling tone.

"Julius," Sovereign Albert squinted his eyes at humanity's hope. "You said the guardians had aliens like Enigma and that they're a threat. But Enigma herself isn't a threat. Nor are the guardians."

Uttering those words, his eyes fluctuated lightly, but his face remained expressionless. His tone, however, lowered as if he was having a lump in his throat.

"It is a sin. We did it without foreknowledge. But...for the innocent lives taken, they should at least get justice. You can be mad at me all you want, but this is one thing I won't back off from." Albert leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"..." Julius stared at him in silence, but in the end, he sighed.

With a snap, the holograms went off.

Even though Julius was mad, he wasn't too mad.

Shadow Guardians were surely being whitewashed. But the timing was also important.

They were only proven innocent after they were all dead!

'Good riddance.' He thought.

As he expected, the public discourse on Enigma underwent a massive shift.

Once the terror tag was removed from the guardians and the threat tag was shaken off Enigma's identity, people's perception was now completely opposite.

The majority now joined the Enigma supporters and soon, #RIP started to trend.

Then came the most dreaded thing for any political shift.

"Why did you fool us the whole time?"'

It was hard to answer, so, the Xanders simply didn't. Instead, they focused on damage control and pushed a narrative that some of the Shadow Guardians had links with Shadow Order.

But the ones who believed that propaganda was a drop in the ocean.

John looked at the viewers of his post.

100 million.

"Haa!" He sucked in a breath of cold air, but warmth filled his heart.

"I did it! I showed the truth!" He smiled like an idiot but soon broke into a crying fit.

Because somewhere along the lines of reading the comments, someone asked him "Why did you hide the truth for so long?"

"...Because I'm a coward. I can't speak the truth for fear that my life will be snatched from me. That's why I remained silent when Shadow Guardians risked their lives for ours again and again and again." John wiped the tears as he typed in the reply.

With a sniff, he continued. "But when I was ready to risk my life, their lives no longer exist."

It was quite an irony, but a much bigger tragedy.

"I'm a coward...I'm a coward..." He smashed his comm as he kept posting RIPs to the massacre pictures of the Shadow Guardians.

Suddenly, a comment was highlighted on his original post.

It was just two lines, but both the line and the sender filled John with a sense of energy he never had.

The reply was:

{You were a coward, not anymore. The moment you decided to risk your everything and show the truth, you are a hero.}

— Dreamer

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A/N: There was a real life emergency. So, the release time was messed up. :(