As a mage, I just want to pursue the truth

Chapter 168 Afterwards (5000 words -in-)

The Nobel Prize ceremony begins at 4 p.m. in Stockholm, which is 11 p.m. Yenching time.

Merlin began to show up at about 4:45.

It only lasted ten minutes, and in just those ten minutes, the number of people watching the live broadcast on YouTube quickly soared from less than 5 to 200 million.

You know, it's true that the Nobel Prize is very famous, but most people don't pay special attention to it.

Therefore, the popularity of the annual live broadcast is not even as good as that of some small and medium-sized anchors.

“We tried everything we could to stop the live broadcast of the Nobel Prize ceremony.

And I don’t know when it started, the five-minute delay time we set disappeared, and now it is a simultaneous live broadcast.

Now more and more people are pouring into the live broadcast room. The actual number of people has reached more than one million and is still showing explosive growth.

magic, Merlin, Nobel Prize, and Amazing are rapidly rising on the Twitter charts. If we don’t impose any restrictions, the number of people watching the live broadcast may exceed five million!”

"Oh shit! The only way to prevent external IP addresses from accessing is to restrict IP address access."

"Sorry, we have tried this method and it doesn't work. Even if we enable traffic access restrictions on the server side and restrict access from all other IP addresses, it still cannot prevent people outside from seeing the live broadcast."

"Oh, shit. Sorry, not Merlin, but this mission. We can't even control the subdomains of our own domain?
Well, I guess not."

The two fell into silence for fifteen seconds:

"I just received an order from above to shut down YouTube's server and shut down the damn live broadcast room at the source."

The Nobel Prize ceremony was also broadcast simultaneously on major platforms such as FB, Twitch, and Netflix.

Yes, FB also has a live broadcast function.

If these platforms are included, the number of people watching the live broadcast in real time has exceeded 10 million.

The Internet giants that used to be so powerful are now helpless against such a small IP address.

Shutting down the servers still won’t stop users from watching the live broadcast.

However, the only obstacle for the global spectators is that they cannot log in to the main YouTube site and then access the live broadcast room of the Nobel Prize ceremony through the search function.

Fortunately, you can access the live broadcast room and watch it through the website link shared by others.

Shutting down servers cannot prevent the explosive growth in viewership, it just makes the curve less abrupt.

Not only America, but also the Europa League and Neon are frantically contacting the audience in the concert hall through various channels, hoping to get them to find the cameras and turn them off.

After finally turning it off, I found that I had changed to a clearer source, and the effect was better. I could even see the expressions of the winners in the front row on the stage.

On a certain Chinese website platform, a small up-host who had previously focused on the knowledge field but was not very popular wanted to take the opportunity to live broadcast the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm to take advantage of the popularity of the Nobel Prize.

I just didn't expect that there would be so few viewers. There were no Chinese or Chinese American winners, so people weren't very interested.

The viewing popularity is only over a thousand. In foreign countries, it is the number of viewers, and only the live broadcast platform in China is the viewing popularity.

He thought he wouldn't be able to get any popularity, but the popularity he got was far beyond his imagination, with the number of viewers exceeding 100 million.

The popularity gained even made the little up-loader feel scared.

The backend of a certain website asked him to shut it down, but he found that he couldn't. It was obvious that the certain website couldn't do what all the Internet companies in the entire Blue Planet couldn't do.

The barrage in China is obviously much richer than that in foreign countries. The barrage on various foreign platforms almost only has one line:
"Ohhhhhhhhhh"

China's barrage is much richer:
“Is the uploader broadcasting a movie? What’s the name of the movie? It looks quite interesting, but the formula is a bit old-fashioned.”

"This scene is well arranged, and the expressions of the actors in the back are really on point."

"This is real. The internet is going crazy. All platforms are broadcasting it live."

The viewers who originally flocked in thought it was a joke, and the title didn’t match the playback screen. For some reason, the popularity suddenly soared and it was pushed to the front page.

Later, as more and more people pointed out that this was the real Nobel Prize ceremony, and that it was being broadcast live simultaneously on platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, and FB, the style of the scene changed again.

"My mother asked me why I was kneeling to watch the live broadcast"

"Fuck"

“Come and See God”

"Magic actually exists, but why didn't I receive an acceptance letter? I'm actually a Muggle!"

"Where is the Chinese School of Magic? Even if you can just be a dormitory manager for me, that's fine!"

"These past few years have really opened my eyes. Things that I never dared to imagine before have happened one after another. Today, a magician even appeared. If someone comes out and tells me that cultivating immortals in China is real in a few days, I will believe it."

"Are Chinese magicians Taoist priests?"

When Zheng Li gently swung the wooden stick in his hand and a group of men in black were swept to the ground by the void, the barrage of comments became even more crazy.

The new playback source shooting effect is too realistic, and has more texture than the latest Hollywood blockbusters.

"So handsome!"

"Is this the romance of a wizard?"

"No one can stop me from learning magic"

"I'm in London and I've already rolled out of bed and am ready to go to Platform 9 3/4!"

Those who reacted slowly were still scrolling through the comments, while those who reacted quickly were already trying to save the video, fearing that this precious moment would be lost.

Outside the concert hall, the Stockholm crowd gathered, wanting to crowd in to see this never-before-seen live magic show.

Judging from the live broadcast, Merlin did not show any hostility or aggression towards humans.

Officials from America and the Europa League all wanted to rush in, but they were unable to break through the invisible barrier.

"Isn't this a classic scene from an American TV series? It's blocked by an invisible wall."

"Stop talking nonsense and shoot!"

The man fired at the concert hall in front of him, but the bullet was blocked and fell to the ground.

"I still have a question, why aren't the crows in the sky blocked? Or is it that the transparent wall constructed by Merlin has a certain height?"

"What you said makes sense. Let's ask the Stockholm fire department to borrow a ladder truck right away!"

When Zheng Li left, the ladder truck they went to borrow had not arrived yet.

Seeing that more and more people gathered here, the guards were almost unable to maintain order.

The people broke through the fence set up by the guards and rushed to the transparent wall.

People outside the concert hall used this transparent wall to shoot videos and share them on social media and with friends.

Reporters from all over Europe are gathering here.

Finally, the spell that Zheng Li cast in front of everyone, which looked like a patronus spell, brought the whole scene to a climax.

On Twitter, terms such as "Harry Potter", "Expecto Patronum" and "Patronus Charm" quickly climbed the trending search list.

"This is even cooler than the Patronus Charm I imagined!"

"So the Patronus Charm can summon many Patronuses, not just one? Is it that the wizards Rowling had seen before writing the book were limited in strength, or is Merlin too strong?"

“I strongly suggest that Warner Bros. quickly shoot the second version of Harry Potter and invite Merlin to be the technical director or even the chief director!
It would be best to send all the actors to Merlina for special training, but if there is such an opportunity I would still like to learn it myself."

Under Rowling's latest tweet, the replies that previously attacked her for making remarks that were not approved by the outside world were pushed down by the new influx of users.

All of them were asking if she really knew a magician, or if she was the Squib mentioned in the book.

Because he has no ability to cast spells, he can only come to the secular world and become a novelist.

After Zheng Lijie stepped down from the trusteeship, the transparent barrier maintained by magic disappeared, and the people outside who were leaning on the transparent barrier fell to the ground one after another.

The crows circling above the Stockholm Concert Hall began to fly away.

This scene was captured by a photography enthusiast. The photo, named "Merlin's Departure", won the 2024 Pulinzer Prize, and the original film was sold at a high price of 1200 million euros.

Its NFTs were sold for two million euros, directly achieving more than a small goal.

When Zheng Li disappeared, the impact on the entire Blue Star began to ferment rapidly, causing an uproar.

One minute after the white man fell to the ground, the men in black rushed up and took him away.

"Sorry, something unexpected happened today. The award ceremony needs to be postponed. Please leave in an orderly manner under the guidance of security personnel." Carl XVI Gustaf was still able to maintain his apparent calm.

Before he finished speaking, reporters and people outside rushed in.

"Mr. Murakami, we have a lot of questions for you. Could you please answer them?" Haruki Murakami has been a runner-up for the Nobel Prize in Literature for many years and has been nominated for seven consecutive years but has never won the prize.

The changes in the past two years finally gave him inspiration to write a novel with literary quality sufficient to be recognized by the Nobel Prize judges. Murakami Haruki won this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.

This is what happened at the awards ceremony.

Haruki Murakami looked at the reporters surrounding him. He knew that he would not be able to leave the venue if he did not accept the interview: "Okay, everyone please take turns. It's very noisy here now. If you ask at the same time, I may not be able to hear clearly, which will affect our efficiency."

Everyone's first target was the white man whose body Zheng Li borrowed, but he was immediately taken away by a group of fully armed men in black.

Among the remaining famous figures, almost everyone is surrounded by "reporters".

Some are journalists, some are bloggers with a certain number of fans, and some are just trying to take advantage of the situation to increase their followers.

As we all know, this is the hottest topic in the world in recent times, and everyone's attention is focused on it.

In this era where traffic can be monetized, when opportunities arise, there are many people who are keen to seize them.

"Sir, I want to ask you, what do you think about what happened today?"

"I was terrified at first, it happened so suddenly, it was something I had never seen before in my life.

But later I felt it was meaningful and fortunate to be able to witness the magic happen on the spot. "

"Sir, what do you think of magic?"

“I think it’s a good thing. From now on, fantasy literature can be classified as reality.

Of course this is just a joke.

The emergence of magic can provide us with more things to think about and give us a new understanding of the scope of human capabilities.

Maybe each of us has the ability to become a magician, but we just haven’t found a way to tap into this ability.”

"Sir, what do you think of Merlin?"

"From today's contact, he is a capable and restrained person."

"Then do you think the punishments he used were reasonable?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know the whole story yet, so I can't answer you for now."

"Sir, after Merlin cast the last spell, and the white crow passed through your body, did you feel any discomfort?"

"It's like a person who starts work at nine in the morning and gets off work at nine in the evening, a total of twelve hours of busy time, the work is endless and there is no time to rest even if you want to be lazy, and after finishing work, you are still sinking into the world of fatigue and unable to break free.

Merlin's magic injected a feeling of lightness into every capillary in the body. The heavier the part of the body, the more obvious the feeling was. The heaviness that felt like it was filled with lead was swept away.

If it weren't for Merlin's magic, I wouldn't have realized how exhausted my body was."

The American reporters present wanted the celebrities present to express their condemnation of Merlin.

But no one is stupid enough to jump out and condemn the other party right after Merlin leaves.

What if Merlin’s ability is the same as Voldemort’s, and Merlin can sense when people say bad things about him, and he ends up like Mirren?
The celebrities present either maintained a neutral attitude and dealt with the matter perfunctorily, or directly became Merlin's supporters.

"name?"

"William, William Gibson."

"Profession?"

"********"

"May I ask when did you become Merlin and where did you get your magic from?"

"I'm sorry, I've said this many times, including all the times you've checked me out, that I'm not Merlin.

I didn’t know what happened at the time, I lost control of my body, and when I woke up I was in the hospital with tubes all over my body.”

William felt very sad. This was the fourth interrogation he had undergone.

The interrogator had shown him his first performance at the Nobel Prize ceremony.

It was the first time he saw how cool he was, even cooler than the protagonist in a fantasy movie. He originally thought Bill was the protagonist, but he didn't expect that he was the protagonist.

And he is the protagonist who appears in front of everyone on the Blue Star.

Twelve hours have passed, and now it is conservatively estimated that at least three billion people on the entire blue planet recognize his face.

magic.com has become the most visited domain name in recent times.

The encrypted information of the American side released by Zheng Li not only caused great trouble to the American side, but also angered people in other countries.

If he doesn't have to undergo interrogation, William thinks it would be a good feeling and he can watch the video over and over again to reminisce the experience.

After all, it was him in the video, even though he was not the one operating it.

It's just like some people like to watch face-swapping videos.

It is enough to have such a highlight in a lifetime, and then it will be easy to make a lot of money by becoming an internet celebrity.

William knew that as long as he could get out alive, the Hollywood moguls would wave their money frantically to sign contracts with him.

Even though he had no previous acting experience.

"Okay, you still claim that you are not Merlin. Do you know Merlin? Did you actively cooperate with the other party in this operation?"

“No, I don’t know Merlin, or rather, I know of his existence and some of his basic information, but I have never communicated with him through any channel.

He was using my body without my knowledge, and Merlin did not ask for my consent."

"Then think carefully about the people you have met during this period and list them all."

"I want to ask when can I go out?"

"If you cooperate fully, you'll be out soon."

That night, William died in bed.

"Sure enough, all the signs are showing that his body is close to failure. It's not easy for us to keep him going for so long."

"Why doesn't he feel anything? It seems to me that he doesn't realize that his body can't hold on any longer."

"I don't know. It should be the manipulation of Merlin's body that played a role. Magic is an area we don't understand at all.

We have to wait until a detailed autopsy is done to see if there are any new discoveries.

According to the current test report, William's body was found to contain the same protein as yours."

"Okay, I need you to make a judgment. Will there be any impact if the autopsy is performed twelve hours later, or will it affect the results if the equipment is not sophisticated enough?

If we can’t delay, we need to cooperate with the European side.”

The American side originally wanted to bring William back to America as soon as possible.

The possibility that William is Merlin himself is very small, but at least this is the first body that Merlin parasitized on Blue Star, and the research significance is huge.

America doesn't want to share it with the Europa League.

However, considering the timeliness of the research, they chose to conduct an inspection in Stockholm first.

The research reports and specific samples obtained will be shared with the Europa League.

There is much more that can be studied on the corpse now, and it would be best if the Europa League could not be involved.

William is an American, and the Americans wanted to take him back, but the Europeans did not dare to stop them openly.

"I don't know. There are really too many unknown variables. Maybe we can get more information by dissecting it here. If we dissect it when we return or on the plane, we will miss a lot of information.

Witten, we shouldn't listen to those politicians, it would be best to conduct joint research with the Europa Union.

If we miss a discovery, we don’t know when the next opportunity will come.”

Witten was the highest-ranking person on the American side in Stockholm. He did not participate in the plan to force Merlin to show up. On the contrary, he voted against it during the internal discussion.

As a mathematician and physicist, at times like this, Witten needed to listen to the opinions of the experts present.

Therefore, Witten was not affected, he was just restrained for a short while at the scene.

After thinking for a moment, Witten said: "Contact the Europa Union and prepare to organize a joint dissection experiment!"

He planned to act first and report later.

I have been out these past two weekends, and this kind of deduction has to take into account scale and rationality, so it is very brain-intensive to write. Please forgive me, it is not my intention to update slowly!

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(End of this chapter)