Chương 13: Chapter 13 The Frenzy of Public Opinion
The head of the Life Foundation's PR department was taking action.
He knew the scandal was irreversible and could only hope to minimize the damage it would cause to the Life Foundation.
However, neither he nor Carlton Drake had anticipated the intensity and speed with which the online community would strike with their keyboards in the virtual world.
In just a few hours, people had banded together to leave messages on the San Francisco City Government's official website.
Even the White House's message board was flooded with thousands of posts about the homeless issue, demanding that the White House investigate the incident thoroughly.
Meanwhile, a crowd of citizens who had long harbored resentment against the Life Foundation and were more than happy to cause trouble for the San Francisco City Government joined forces to put pressure on the local government.
At The Bugle.
Anton sat in his office, staring at the flood of online rumors on his computer screen, his expression peculiar.
Things were getting a bit out of control.
Online public opinion was rapidly snowballing, and stories about the homeless shelter had spread across most websites, as if turning into a ritual of revelry for netizens.
The Life Foundation was the sacrificial offering.
Although The Bugle had the power to stir up this topic, the explosive level of attention was far beyond Anton's expectations.
Anton had a faint suspicion that The Bugle wasn't the only one targeting the Life Foundation.
The Bugle was just the one to flip the table.
Many other hidden players were quietly following, subtly fueling the fire in a tacit alliance with The Bugle to surround the Life Foundation.
In hindsight, it was understandable.
The Life Foundation's rise had been swift, and it held numerous new pharmaceutical patents, making it a target for jealousy and enmity from many in the industry.
Being resentful of others' success was a natural part of life.
Even without personal grudges, there were plenty of people happy to see the Life Foundation's downfall.
The Life Foundation was a big cake.
Its collapse would create an opportunity for many to fight for a slice of it.
And The Bugle, led by Anton, was the one holding the knife to make the first cut.
"So, that's it. I'm just being used as someone's tool."
Anton rubbed his chin, murmuring to himself, "You could already tell from the rocket crash incident how these hidden hands were eyeing the Life Foundation. Otherwise, Carlton Drake wouldn't have been so eager to appear on various talk shows and interviews, trying to stabilize the company's status. This was clearly a warning to those hidden hands..."
"But this time, you're going to be disappointed, Drake!"
He smirked.
Tap-tap-tap!
Betty walked over, her heels clicking, hips swaying, as she approached Anton.
"Today's newspaper sales are three times the average of last month. It looks like a lot of people are waiting for us to continue spilling the dirt due to the influence of online public opinion."
She reported excitedly, "Someone from the Life Foundation just contacted us. They want us to stay silent and preferably clear the Life Foundation's name by distancing it from the homeless shelter. They're willing to pay a hush money fee of one hundred million dollars."
"One hundred million dollars?"
Anton was taken aback, marveling, "Quite a generous offer."
"There's also an additional condition," Betty added. "They want Eddie Brock fired. If we want the one hundred million, we have to fulfill that condition."
"Tell them to go to hell."
Anton didn't hesitate, sneering.
Knowing that the Life Foundation wasn't just up against him
Anton no longer cared much about the Life Foundation's counterattacks.
Now, he was only focused on finding a way to get Eddie out of trouble.
"It's time to fan the flames," Anton said, looking at Betty with a smile. "You know what I mean."
"Of course."
Betty nodded seriously.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Phil received Anton's orders and hired a couple of people to hold banners on the street.
"Dignity is priceless! Boycott the Life Foundation!"
"Shut down the homeless shelter! The homeless are humans, not animals!"
He organized a protest.
Many people started joining in on the streets.
The issue had erupted very recently, but the evidence was overwhelming, leaving the Life Foundation no room to refute.
Coupled with their past repugnant promotional content, many San Francisco citizens felt deceived.
As a result, the protest group quickly grew.
Phil, led the protest directly to the homeless shelter.
The homeless shelter's security guards couldn't stop them.
Although they held batons, they were ultimately no match for the crowd.
The conditions inside the homeless shelter were finally exposed to everyone.
Local San Francisco independent media, vloggers, and others carried cameras, eager to capture what seemed like hidden treasure, each of them visibly excited.
Many more people were filming with their phones.
This surge of new material pushed the homeless shelter right back onto the trending list.
The Life Foundation, with no chance to argue, was now beyond redemption.
Meanwhile, The Bugle released yet another announcement, shaking the nation's media.
The public's attention, which had been on the homeless shelter, shifted entirely to the Life Foundation.
The Bugle revealed that the Life Foundation had coerced homeless individuals into signing unfair "volunteer" agreements they couldn't understand, using illegal and unethical methods to conduct human experiments on them.
Over the years, the Life Foundation's rapid development was attributed to countless human experiments conducted in secret.
In the process, thousands of lives were lost.
The homeless shelter was essentially a "farm" set up by the Life Foundation to stockpile subjects for human experimentation.
This explosive news was like a deep-sea bomb, sparking yet another uproar.
Even though The Bugle offered no concrete evidence, the damning conditions at the homeless shelter, which everyone had seen with their own eyes, almost confirmed the truth of the report.
Journalists interviewed homeless individuals.
They found that many had indeed signed agreements with the Life Foundation and were subsequently taken away.
According to the homeless interview, those who signed agreements never returned after participating in the Life Foundation's experiments.
Staff at the homeless shelter claimed these people had returned to normal life.
But when asked to provide the names and whereabouts of those individuals, the staff refused, citing privacy concerns.
This only further solidified the truth of the allegations.
At this point, The Bugle was celebrated for its stand for justice, gaining nationwide fame.
The Life Foundation, on the other hand, had become the complete failure, a target for countless outraged netizens and media.
Taking advantage of the momentum, Phil organized another protest, leading a crowd of justice-seeking San Francisco citizens to the Life Foundation's research base.
This time, his goal was to rescue Eddie.
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