Mage Veigar

Chapter 725 Rumors
Rumors stop with the wise.

But true wise men are definitely a minority in this world.

So by analogy, how many wise men are there in the city of war?

Although there is no specific figure, it is believed that it will not exceed 0.01% of the total population, and may even be lower.

"Your Majesty, I think I know what to do."

Coverdale said excitedly: "I will let the intelligence organization spread rumors that the Imperial Army's promises were false, so as to guide the public opinion of the entire War City. But will this really work? Will the civilians really support us again?"

"It seems that you still don't understand what to do."

Vega said with a look of regret: "It is certainly possible to succeed just by spreading rumors, but the success rate is actually less than 40%, because rumors have no factual basis after all. Moreover, most civilians are still living in the beautiful dream that the Empire will fulfill its promises. You and I alone cannot wake up those who are pretending to sleep."

That's right.

Such a thing as human nature.

Once they believe in something, even if you put the truth and hard evidence in front of them, they will not choose to believe it. In his previous life, Vega had read too much news about certain organizations, some brainwashed people, and their ideas were so deeply rooted that they didn't recognize their relatives.

In other words.

Even if the rebels spread rumors... no, even if the rebel intelligence department told the truth and listed a lot of evidence, there would be civilians who would unilaterally believe that this was a means for the rebels to deceive them, and then quite wisely influence others.

So as Vega said.

If you just spread rumors, the success rate is less than half. In addition, the rebels have no evidence, while the Empire can provide a lot of evidence at any time to secretly guide the public, so the success rate will be even lower.

"Your Majesty, please enlighten me."

After listening to Vega's series of analyses, Coverdale realized that it was not so easy to play with people's hearts. It was not that he could change the civilians' ideas and thoughts and support them again by just making up rumors.

"As I said before."

Vega continued to analyze to Coverdale: "When a person is convinced of a certain idea, even if you put the truth in front of them, they will not be able to change their minds. This situation may be beneficial to the Imperial Army, but if they turn around and begin to believe in us, does it mean that even if the Imperial Army presents irrefutable evidence in front of them, they will still think that this is the Imperial Army's trick?"

"The answer is undoubtedly yes."

Vega said bluntly: "So what we have to do is to thoroughly brainwash the civilians. As for how to brainwash them, it is really simple - playing hard to get!"

"Playing hard to get...?"

Coverdale still had confusion in his eyes.

But this is no longer important, because Vega saw that Coverdale really didn't know how to operate specifically. In order to be foolproof, he personally gave Coverdale a series of orders and asked him to execute them directly.

First the first command.

Through Coverdale, Vega ordered the intelligence organization to cooperate with the city defense forces to close the city gates and conduct a comprehensive investigation of the Imperial Army organizations in the city. They would eliminate all those that could be eliminated, and for those that could not be eliminated, they would close the city in the short term to prevent the outflow of intelligence.

This temporarily blinded the Empire's eyes in the City of War.

Under this premise.

In the next few days, a rumor gradually spread in the city of war.

The imperial government had no intention of fulfilling its promise. Not only did the surrendered soldiers and civilians not receive war subsidies, they were not even pardoned. Instead, they were directly demoted to third-class citizens, even worse than slaves.

"Fake! This must be a tactic of the rebels!"

The organizer of the demonstration said angrily: "The rebels are doomed to fail. Their leaders are too greedy for power to surrender. Now they are spreading rumors that the Empire will not fulfill its promise. It is obvious that they want to drag us down and make us become victims of their struggle for power."

"Yes, that must be the case." "It is impossible for the Empire to deceive us."

"The later you surrender, the later you will enjoy the war subsidy from the empire."

“We don’t want to be traitors.”

"..."

The civilians were filled with righteous indignation. Everything was just as Vega had said. The spread of rumors could not wake up those who were pretending to be asleep. The civilians unilaterally believed that the Empire could not deceive them.

But this is only the first step.

After confirming that the rumors could not influence civilians, a series of evidences of the Imperial Army's failure to keep its promises were thrown out the next day.

There are not only witnesses, but also various physical evidence.

In order to make a lie become true, evidence is essential. Rumors can only be effective if combined with evidence. Even if the evidence was forged by Vega, at this time, no one would go to the Empire's territory to verify it, right?

Even if we go to verify it, by the time we find out the truth, I'm afraid the war will be over.

This combination of spreading rumors and providing irrefutable evidence finally began to have some effect. It was no longer like the rumors a few days ago, which no one was willing to believe. As a result, the number of protesters gradually dwindled due to this combination of rumors.

But that's not enough.

Some people who have a deep-rooted belief that "the Empire would never deceive us" simply ignore the evidence. They choose to turn a blind eye to the evidence, continue to do as they please, and continue to influence others who already believe in the rebels.

"This is all a conspiracy of the rebels!"

"That evidence is totally forged!"

"If you don't stand up and resist, you will all be traitors in the end."

"That's right. It will be too late to surrender once the Empire takes over the War City."

"..."

These crazy people glared with bloodshot eyes as they marched, intimidating the civilians on both sides of the road who were watching the excitement or had begun to believe in the rebels. The civilians on both sides of the road seemed to be wavering again, not knowing who to believe.

The turning point came on the fifth day.

At dawn, a piece of news shocked the entire city of war.

The rebels officially announced that in accordance with public opinion, they would formally surrender to the Imperial Army in seven days.

This explosive news stunned the people and soldiers of the entire city. Those stubborn elements who chose not to believe the rumors or the evidence began to spread the news of the rebels' surrender as if they had won a battle, and publicized it as a great victory after their unremitting efforts.

The depressing atmosphere in the entire city finally collapsed on this day.

Even the soldiers began to pack their bags, preparing to formally surrender to the imperial army in seven days, and then receive pardons from the empire and war subsidies from the empire, so that they could live an ordinary and comfortable life again.

But what they don't know is.

Vega's plan of playing hard to get to guide public opinion is finally coming to an end.

just now.

Just the last step.

(End of this chapter)