America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 159, page 158: War Begins!

After handing the video evidence to Eric, lawyer Meserio hurried to the police station.

Eric looked at the staff of Dream Manor behind him with a gloomy gaze; they were all in a state of fear and trepidation.

However, it can't be blamed on them. Faced with dozens of armed police officers, who would dare to resist the public power of the country?

He waved his hand: "You can all go now. Be sure to protect the scene and don't let anyone in, especially Mike's room. Got it?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and returned to their respective posts.

Everyone had left. Eric checked the time; it was almost 11 o'clock.

The night is still long enough.

He dialed Chen Xing's number directly, and the call was answered instantly; he was always keeping an eye on things.

"Chen Xing, I have a few things to arrange for you. Remember them carefully."

"Okay, boss, please go ahead."

"The first thing to do is to pass on my order to immediately mobilize five large-scale outdoor projection trucks, with all equipment, and bring them to the Dreamland Resort in Santa Barbara."

"Boss, what time?"

"Summon the relevant staff immediately, right now. Any questions?"

"no problem."

"The second thing is for you to find out what businesses and companies are around the Santa Barbara Police Department. I need to rent their space."

"The third thing is to contact landmark buildings, such as the Nasdaq screen, Times Square, Sunset Boulevard, Fifth Avenue, and other high-traffic areas, and rent me prime spots. Don't be stingy with money, the more the better."

"The fourth thing is to find a middleman to hire a group of people, the more the better, to assemble at 8 a.m. sharp tomorrow and then surround the Santa Barbara Police Department in batches to protest."

"The last thing is to contact internet providers like Yahoo and Google, and ask them to buy me Google Play space."

"As for why I'm making you do these things, I'll give you a video. You'll understand after you watch it. After watching it, use your initiative to make things bigger, understand?"

"And don't forget the major TV stations. They love chasing hot topics, right? This time, I'll create some juicy gossip for them."

"Got it, boss."

"Okay, let's do it now. It'll be tough."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Xing immediately got out of bed, quickly dressed, and prepared to leave.

He sensed anger in Eric's tone, but had no idea what had happened.

He had been working for Eric for more than half a year, and this was the first time he had ever seen his boss make such a big fuss.

"Son, where are you going so late?"

"I have an urgent matter to attend to at the company. Mom and Dad, you should get some rest."

"Are you still working overtime? Will you ever come back?" Mom asked with some concern.

"I guess he's not coming back. That's it, I'm leaving!"

Back at Dream Farm, Eric made a second call, this time to Fitzheisenberg.

"Boss, this is Fitz."

Eric didn't waste any more words with him: "Come to the Dream Manor in Santa Barbara City right now, I have something for you to do."

Fitzheisenberg was completely baffled. What was going on so late at night?

"Boss, what's up?"

"You know about my relationship with Michael Jackson, right?"

Everyone knows that you two are good friends.

"Yes, Jackson's house has been illegally broken into by the police. I have a video here. Come and take a look, and then we can figure out a way to make sure all Facebook users know about this tomorrow."

Sensing the murderous intent in Eric's words, Fitz dared not delay and hurriedly agreed.

After hanging up the phone, Eric looked up at the sky. It was a cloudy and stuffy day, and he couldn't see any stars.

If he wants to force public authorities to make concessions, the only resource he can currently utilize is public opinion.

Perfect, let's treat this as a rehearsal before the war with Sony Music.

Fitzheisenberg arrived at Neverland Ranch a little after 2 a.m.

They jumped out of the car, told the driver to go rest, and the two found a laptop to watch the videos they had filmed.

Because it was filmed at close range, and Mike used high-end equipment, the video quality is excellent, allowing you to clearly see the appearance of each officer.

"Fitz, Facebook currently only allows text and images, videos are definitely not supported, but I still want to utilize Facebook as an excellent information dissemination platform. Do you have any good ideas?"

Fitz asked what he needed to do before he arrived, so that he could think of a solution on the way.

He was a quick-thinking person, and he already had a plan in mind.

"Boss, as a social media platform, it should not be biased in principle. Once it loses its impartiality, it will inevitably cause some people to become annoyed."

"Fortunately, we are on the side of justice in this matter, which will greatly reduce the number of people who oppose us. However, we still can't be too blatant; we need a fig leaf."

"Fortunately, this is our first software, and there's no precedent for it, so we're still figuring out how to operate it, which is a good excuse."

"My idea is to simply edit this matter briefly, take a few screenshots from the surveillance footage, and send them to all Facebook users."

"But we can't directly voice our support for Jackson. Instead, we need to package it up, such as launching a public opinion poll on whether public power can be abused."

"You could design a few options below. Americans love to vote, and either way, it would at least look much more comfortable."

After Fitz finished speaking, he looked at Eric and asked, "Boss, what do you think of my suggestion?"

Eric couldn't think of a good solution right away, so he simply said, "It's tough on you to come up with a plan in such a short time. Let's do it your way."

"Okay, Facebook's user base now covers almost all colleges and universities in the United States. College students are easy to sway and have a strong sense of justice, so I think the effect will be good."

He then took charge of writing the tweet himself, sentence by sentence.

Eric, watching from the side, noticed that his choice of words was very deliberate; it seemed neutral, but it was actually quite inflammatory and subtly critical.

How to describe it? It's similar to various investigation reports released by the government.

"Fitz, you know about this?" Eric asked, somewhat surprised.

Fitz smiled slightly: "Boss, I've done more than just technical work. I've also done planning and public relations before, but I ultimately chose technical work, so I know a little bit about it."

"What a talent! The 21st century needs talents like you."

"Boss, go take a break. I'll call you when you're done, then you can review it."

Eric nodded, sighing at the feeling of having power in his hands; a single word could get a large number of people to get up in the middle of the night to serve him.

When they rise to prominence in the future, YouTube and Facebook won't be enough; they'll create Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and so on.

Then it would be best to lobby Congress to amend the antitrust law, but of course this is extremely difficult, even more difficult than Disney lobbying Congress to amend the copyright law and extend the copyright of Mickey Mouse.

A slightly lower approach would be to allow the existence of some competitors, but not to allow them to grow too big and strong. The leader must maintain its position, and the mainstream channels of communication must be in its own hands.

By then, let's see who dares to make any trouble. We'll ban your account first, and then launch a cyberbullying campaign.

The other party will feel overwhelmed, surrounded by enemies from all sides, and they will either verbally abuse you to death or cause your social death.

Based on memory, the war of public opinion will only become more important and more effective in the future.

It's a democratic and free country, with freedom of speech, a beacon of democracy.

Eric fell asleep quickly on the sofa. He didn't know how much time had passed when he heard someone calling him. He opened his eyes.

"Boss, I've finished writing the tweet, take a look."

Eric shook his head and checked the time; it was only a little past three in the morning.

He perked up and read the article carefully. After finishing it, he had an even higher opinion of Fitzheisenberg. The subtle satire and criticism were exactly what he wanted.

Thinking about the three people I've hired, the most capable one is undoubtedly Fitz, Robert Miller is also good, but Howard Hughes can only do technical work; with his personality, he can forget about managing the company.

"Well done. Send the push to everyone at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Also, don't forget the final voting results. Keep track of the data. We need to see this through to the end."

Fitz nodded: "I understand what to do. Also, the boss has something else to report to you."

"Regarding that celebrity fan ranking event you arranged, I think now is a good opportunity. This will inevitably make more people sympathize with Jackson."

"At this crucial moment, his number of fans will definitely increase dramatically, and he will absolutely be number one without any problem."

"However, simply ranking them would be a waste of this event. I suggest that the top ten be promoted and their biographies compiled so that more people can learn about them."

This suggestion is obviously aimed at promoting, clarifying, and even mythologizing Michael.

Eric considered for a moment: "The idea is great, but I have a concern. Too much of a good thing can be bad. Will frequent push notifications cause people to become resentful and ultimately backfire?"

Fitz laughed, "At worst, we'll just do it this once. Isn't the understanding of the majority more valuable than the resistance of a few?"

"That makes sense, let's do it that way."

Another half hour later, bright lights appeared outside Dream Manor as five large outdoor projection trucks arrived, accompanied by hundreds of MGM staff.

Logistics supervisor Asherkin, along with several others, quickly approached Eric to report for duty.

"Boss, all the equipment is here. It's the most advanced in the company. Just let me know what you need."

Eric handed him the USB drive and pointed to the inside of the gate of Dream Manor: "Have a car spread out here, and then play the video on the USB drive."

"The other cars"

Eric was about to call Chen Xing to ask about the progress of the matter when the little guy started calling out as soon as he touched the phone.

"Chen Xing, how did things go?"

"Boss, everything else is taken care of. Only landmarks like Times Square and the Nasdaq screen remain. I'll contact them during the day. As long as the money is right, there shouldn't be any problems."

"Well done, keep an eye on things from here on out," Eric praised.

He turned to Asherkin and said, "Take the remaining four cars to the vicinity of the Santa Barbara Police Department. Chen Xing will tell you the location. Don't attract attention for now."

"When it's daytime, I'll try to force the police station to hold a press conference, and then we'll all take action together. I want to see how those guys react then."

Asherkin accepted the order and left. After working for a while longer, the projection van was finally ready.

A huge electronic screen was lifted into the air by several supports, and then the scene changed to a surveillance video showing the police causing extensive damage.

Eric nodded. Very good, this is the effect he wanted.

Several hours passed quickly, and Mike had been detained at the police station for more than twelve hours.

However, with lawyer Meserio by his side, those cops certainly wouldn't dare to do anything reckless.

Generally speaking, a person summoned and detained should be released after a maximum of 24 hours, leaving half a day for their release.

As it approached nine o'clock, the streets became crowded, and the police station began its normal workday.

But the two officers, who were walking and eating donuts, clearly sensed something was wrong. They noticed that the crowd seemed to be intentionally gathering towards the police station.

Influential media outlets such as the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, Fox News, and ABC Online also arrived one after another.

Yesterday afternoon, after Michael was detained, several local tabloids had already blocked the entrance to the police station.

However, these tabloids have too little influence to get the police station to open its doors, so they can only wait and hope to seize the opportunity to interview Michael when he is released.

As Eric made the call, Yahoo News and Google, among other websites, published news in the middle of the night that Neverland Ranch had been raided and Michael had been taken away.

These major newspapers keenly sensed that a big story was about to unfold, and that the child molestation case, which had been dormant for some time, was about to undergo a major change. They drove and flew to Santa Barbara overnight.

Behind the media, more and more people crossed the road and gathered at the police station, some carrying simple signs that read "Oppose discrimination" and "Oppose the abuse of public power for private gain."

The number of people is increasing, and the scale is growing.

One hundred people, two hundred people, three hundred people, gradually increasing to five hundred people, until finally the number of people was so large that it was impossible to count them.

This included not only people hired by Eric, but also many Michael Jordan fans who lived nearby, blocking the open space and streets in front of the police station.

Many people who were strolling around or going to work had to stop and watch the spectacle. It's the same all over the world, and these people joined in as well.

At Dream Ranch, a Black woman named Sitti walked over carrying a plate; she was one of the older residents.

"Mr. Cooper, have something to eat. I see you've been busy all night without rest."

Eric glanced at the other person, then picked up a glass of milk and sipped it casually.

"Oh! Poor Michael, there's always someone trying to harm him, always someone who won't let him go! Mr. Cooper, why hasn't Michael come back yet? Is something wrong with him?"

Eric shook his head slightly: "No, don't worry, Siti."

"Mr. Cooper, will you rescue him?"

Eric gave a soft "hmm," checked the time, took out his phone from his pocket, and sent a pre-edited text message.

Go to war!

(End of this chapter)