You said mechs were going to fight monsters, but instead you're destroying stars with your bare

Chapters 161-162 (Anti-censorship 6.0)

After a brief moment of surprise, the builders' emotions were ignited, and the forum was instantly engulfed by a surging wave of voices.

"I support 'high-efficiency rest and recuperation zones'! We work so hard outside, we need a place to completely recharge when we come back, is that too much to ask?"

"A proposal for 'spiritual care'? Does the wording and logic of this proposal objectify the recipients of care as mere tools? Who proposed it?"

"Upstairs, you're too conservative! Although the proposal has some wording issues, the intention is good—to provide more comprehensive support for the recovery process. What's wrong with that?"

"The key question is, what exactly is the premise of the 'absolutely safe zone'?! This absolutely treats all builders as potential threats!"

"This is a lack of trust in all of us!"

"While we were sweating and bleeding on the front lines, some people were enjoying peace and quiet in the rear, and now they're questioning us?"

The debate erupted fiercely in every corner of the forum.

Supporters and opponents are clearly divided, and the rhetoric between them is escalating rapidly.

What was originally just a discussion about resource allocation and rest methods has now been distorted and amplified by an invisible force, evolving into a sharp confrontation.

"This malice... is spreading."

Li Zhe browsed the chaotic forum with a sharp, icy gaze.

He clearly sensed that a malicious and chaotic meme pollution was silently infiltrating the consciousness of every builder through these hostile remarks, stirring up their most primal suspicions and anger.

[Commander, an exponential spread of anomalous memetic contamination has been detected.]

[Core logical framework: Amplify differences → Create barriers → Solidify hostility → Induce conflict.]

Zero's voice carried an unprecedented solemnity.

The simulation shows that without intervention, online public opinion will spiral out of control within 24 hours, and the probability of a large-scale offline conflict exceeds 85%.

“It’s too late, Zero.” Li Zhe’s gaze drifted to the noisy construction site outside the window.

Amidst that bustling scene, signs of discord were already emerging.

When different groups of mech pilots collaborate, their movements become stiff and their eyes are filled with wariness.

Some collaborations that should have flowed smoothly were repeatedly disrupted by a pervasive distrust between the parties.

The sounds of conflict are spreading from the virtual world of the internet to the real steel jungle.

The shadow of conflict has already fallen.

A storm seems... unavoidable.

……

The conflict erupted more rapidly than Zero had anticipated.

The absurdity of its trigger was beyond everyone's imagination.

It did not originate from an engineering accident or a shortage of resources.

It takes place within the knowledge sanctuary of the entire "Third New Tokyo City" project.

Central Data Archive.

This place stores a vast amount of engineering blueprints and technical data; it is the brain of the project.

Absolute silence is required inside the museum, and visitors must focus on absorbing knowledge.

The pilot of the mecha, codenamed "Rock," sat in a corner of the reading area.

He was studying a crucial report on the load-bearing structures of underground cities with a furrowed brow.

Pan Shi had just been rotated out of the high-intensity hoisting work in Zone A-3.

After sixteen hours of continuous fighting, his mental and physical strength were pushed to the limit.

The stuffy environment in the cockpit, coupled with wearing the protective suit for a long time, caused his skin to become increasingly irritated and uncomfortable, with waves of unbearable itching.

In the quiet archives, this feeling was amplified infinitely.

After enduring for a long time, Pan Shi finally couldn't hold back any longer.

He quickly scanned his surroundings to make sure no one was paying attention.

He quickly reached into the sleeve of his protective suit and scratched it vigorously through the inner lining...

However, he did not notice.

Behind the bookshelf diagonally opposite, a pair of eyes locked onto him like a venomous snake.

That was the driver of the vehicle codenamed "Clear Spring," and she was also an active member of a radical faction on an online forum.

She quietly raised her personal terminal and crouched down to adjust the angle.

The camera focuses on the movement of Pan Shi's hand as he reaches into his sleeve and his tired, dazed face.

The image has been deliberately cropped, making it appear blurry and suspicious...

"What are you doing?!"

A sharp rebuke shattered the tranquility of the archives!

As if discovering a major violation, "Qingquan" suddenly burst out from behind the bookshelf.

Holding the still-recording terminal high, she pointed at the bewildered Pan Shi in an angry voice filled with "righteous indignation," and vehemently accused him:
"You! How dare you conduct unauthorized operations in the strictly prohibited document archive! Top secrets are stored here! Any suspicious behavior is a threat to the project's security! Your actions just now seriously violated security regulations!"

Rock was instantly dumbfounded, completely bewildered by the accusation.

“I…I just had an uncomfortable lining, so I adjusted it…” he tried to explain, his voice hoarse.

"A violation is a violation! The evidence is conclusive!"

Without further ado, "Qingquan" projected the misleading video clip directly onto the central holographic screen.

"Look everyone! What is he doing? He's performing unauthorized operations in the core data area! Are our security procedures just for show? Who will protect our confidential information?"

This maliciously edited video, which implied "illegal operations," was like a boulder thrown into calm water, instantly creating ripples throughout the archives.

"Oh my god... what is he doing?"

"The archive's security regulations are ironclad rules..."

"He usually seems quite composed, how could he..."

The builders present were discussing among themselves, and many looked at the rock with scrutiny and doubt.

Some people subconsciously distanced themselves from him.

"I didn't break any rules! It's just that the lining was rubbing against my skin, so I adjusted it! Underneath the protective suit are just regular work clothes!" Pan Shi said, both anxious and angry, pointing to the cuffs of his protective suit to defend himself.

"Adjustment? It takes that long to stick your hands in there? Who knows what you're really doing!"

"Qingquan" retorted sharply, her voice full of inflammatory rhetoric.

"This is a blatant disregard for safety regulations!"

This farce spiraled out of control after "Qingquan" extracted video clips, added sensational titles, and uploaded them to the internal forum.

Alert! High-risk violations discovered in the archives! Where is the project's core safety? — A worried builder's firsthand account!

This highly provocative post spread throughout the base within minutes.

The radical faction to which "Qingquan" belongs immediately characterized the incident as a "serious provocation against project security" and put up a banner that read "Severely punish violators and defend the core area."

The group surrounded the archives, demanding severe punishment for "Pan Shi".

The other faction, mainly composed of builders who shared similar ideals with the Rock or felt wronged by its treatment, was thoroughly enraged.

"Absurd! Just because of adjusting the lining, he's being labeled a high-risk violator?" "This is clearly a malicious frame-up! A biased angle, taken out of context!"

"We can't let them frame us like this! Today it's him, tomorrow it could be any one of us! We must stand up for him!"

The emotions of both sides, incited by the behind-the-scenes manipulators, burned like dry tinder doused with oil.

That afternoon, at the central plaza of the base.

Two surging streams of people, like opposing tides, were separated by an invisible boundary.

A heated verbal exchange ensued, with both sides pushing and shoving each other.

A heavy sense of hostility filled the air.

Some builders with special abilities have energy surging around them.

Ice crystals and heat waves flickered in the air, and the atmosphere of danger continued to rise.

A large-scale conflict is on the verge of breaking out.

High in the sky, the invisible Li Zhe coldly surveyed the chaos.

Instead of intervening immediately, he gave instructions to Zero:
"Zero, lock onto target 'Qingquan', retrieve all of his files, especially the mecha pilot assessment records and project application intention letters, conduct in-depth cross-verification, and focus on investigating his past behavior patterns."

[Command received]

[Target: 'Qingquan', original name: Yang XX]

[Data retrieval in progress... Deep cross-validation initiated...]

The efficiency of zero is astonishing.

In just over ten seconds, a detailed report appeared in Li Zhe's mind.

[Report: The target individual engaged in systematic cheating and academic misconduct in the mecha pilot qualification examination and the 'Third New Tokyo City' project application.]

[One: Its core project proposal, "A Quantitative Study on the Impact of Extreme Stress Environments on Builders' Behavioral Patterns," contains serious academic fraud. To support its presupposed conclusion that "high-pressure environments significantly induce destructive behavior in builders," the following falsification methods were employed:]

[1. Maliciously altering the core model: The key behavioral prediction model she cited originally used the 'net load' indicator as its core variable, 'environmental stress factor (ΣP)'. In her paper, Yang altered this parameter to represent 'net benefit,' completely overturning the model's logical foundation. Based on this erroneous premise, any conclusions derived from it are invalid.]

[2. Deliberately distorting data correlation: The behavioral observation data she used did not clearly establish a causal relationship between 'destructive behavior' and 'high-pressure work'. She deliberately ignored key confounding factors such as 'past behavioral patterns' and 'individual psychological thresholds', and forcibly interpreted the statistical correlation as a one-way causal chain of 'high-pressure work inevitably leads to destructive behavior'.]

[Conclusion: The core arguments in this letter of intent are entirely supported by malicious falsification and selective omission of data, constituting academic fraud.]

[Second: The mecha pilot's practical assessment data contained 37 abnormal peak values. Simulation analysis revealed that these all corresponded to serious operational errors that should have resulted in assessment failure, suggesting possible manipulation of backend data using privileges or vulnerabilities.]

[Thirdly, their online history shows that on three separate occasions, they used selectively quoted videos or one-sided information to make false accusations against others in public, in order to suppress dissent or gain attention.]

Li Zhe's eyes were completely frozen, filled with murderous intent.

This is far more than just a clash of ideas.

This is a complete academic fraudster, a cheater who exploits system vulnerabilities, and a conspirator who is accustomed to fabricating facts and inciting conflict!
She attempted to use fabricated "science" to label all the builders fighting on the front lines as "potential saboteurs," and then exploit the resulting panic and antagonism to seize the power of discourse and influence!

Such people are more dangerous than the claws of the abyss!
“Zero, visualize the core chain of evidence.” Li Zhe’s voice was cold and hard. “Project it onto the screen in the center of the square. Let everyone see clearly what lies beneath the 'professional' and 'righteous' facade of the instigator of this farce!”

【Command confirmation】

[Hacked into the public address system... Evidence visualization module generating...]

Just as the emotions of both sides in the standoff in the square were on the verge of exploding—

"Om-!"

The giant holographic screen in the center of the square suddenly lit up!
There is no text on the screen, only concise and powerful dynamic charts.

Act One: A red arrow representing "Environmental Pressure (ΣP)" (labeled: should be Net Load) is injected into the block representing "Builders," causing the block to fluctuate violently. Next to it, in Yang Wei's altered model from her paper: a green arrow (labeled: altered to Net Gain) is injected into the block, causing it to fluctuate violently as well, with large, blood-red text below:
[Manipulating core variables and reversing logical cause and effect, all to fabricate a predetermined conclusion?]

Act Two: A dense collection of survey data points emerges.

A thick red line forcibly connects "high-pressure environment" with "destructive behavior".

Meanwhile, dozens of blue lines representing other key factors, such as "individual psychological baseline," "past behavioral history," and "teamwork level," emerged, but were rudely truncated and ignored in the report.

Large characters appear:

[Is selectively ignoring key variables and forcibly constructing a single cause scientifically sound, or is it a carefully designed bias?]

Act Three: The abnormal peak values ​​in Yang Wei's assessment data are compared with simulated images of real operational errors, as well as screenshots of online records of her three previous false accusations.

The proof is like a mountain!

The entire square fell into a deathly silence.

The radical members who were shouting "defend security" just a moment ago suddenly had their anger frozen on their faces, turning into disbelief, shock, and bewilderment.

They stared blankly at the screen, then at "Qingquan," who was pale and almost limp in the crowd. A wave of anger at being fooled and a dizzying sense of faith collapsing washed over them.

This is not a battle of ideas, but a complete shattering of the foundation upon which the argument was built by irrefutable academic evidence!
After a brief silence, those who supported the rock-solid defense erupted in a long-suppressed roar:

"As I knew it! I knew it was a frame-up!"

"Academic fraud! Cheating on exams! And malicious incitement! She's not fit to pilot a mecha at all!"

"Severely punish those who spread rumors! Restore Panshi's innocence! Ensure the project is fair!"

The angry outcry, like a flood bursting its banks, surged towards the isolated and helpless "spring."

"No...no! This is slander! It's fabricated!"

Qingquan's mind went blank, and she screamed instinctively, trying to explain herself.

"This is shameless persecution of us whistleblowers by men! They want me to shut up!"

However, her explanation seemed so weak and powerless at this moment.

Some of the female mecha pilots who had initially supported her now looked at her with disdain and disgust, and silently distanced themselves from her.

A liar like me is not qualified to represent them.

however……

Just when everyone thought this farce would end with "Qingquan" being condemned by everyone...

"Sisters! Don't be fooled!"

A leader of the "Mecha Vanguard Team" suddenly jumped out.

It raised its arms and shouted.

So what if her paper has flaws?

"So what? Can they be the same?!"

"Putting aside the facts, was it wrong for that man to do that in public?"

"They're trying to shift the blame! They're trying to use one person's 'minor transgression' to cover up the 'major evil' of the entire male group!"

These distorted and misleading statements actually garnered a response from some people.

"Yes! We can't just let this go!"

"Punish the pervert!"

Down with those who make false accusations!

"Punish the pervert!"

Two completely opposing slogans once again resounded through the sky.

The revelation of the truth did not quell the conflict.

Instead, it was like pouring a spoonful of cold water into boiling oil, causing the whole scene to explode instantly!
(End of this chapter)