Please don't question multi-week players

Chapter 246. [Journalist] Baili Song
Do you remember when the Cangjiang River was polluted, you forced journalists to collect information about Zuo Siquan's beliefs?

"I answered intuitively."

[I remember... does it have anything to do with that?]

Jiang Jianxin asked in confusion.

This is extremely important.

He said it slowly and deliberately.

A journalist's talent is called "public opinion," a very special talent capable of creating "gods."

[It's important to understand that ordinary people and "gods" are two completely different levels. This talent that connects these two realms, allowing mortals to become gods... she is the first in history to possess this.]

Jiang Jianxin's eyes widened.

Intuition continued:

She can directly collect faith through her abilities; this faith power can nurture her own path to godhood, and can also support others in achieving godhood.

Normal people cannot obtain the power of faith unless they are nurtured by public opinion... It's like opening the gates of heaven, thus beginning their own path to godhood.

Jiang Jianxin said in disbelief:

No wonder he was so reluctant when we tried to have a friendly conversation with the journalist and ask him to give Zuo Siquan the power of faith.

Intuition explains:
[She definitely wouldn't have given it to you without your threat of a fourth cycle—you can see that the journalist wants to become a god.]

Jiang Jianxin didn't speak. She stared intently at the words her intuition had given her for a long time, then suddenly asked:

Why do you always refer to him as "she"?

[Was the gender listed on the journalist forum wrong after all? Is he actually a girl?]

Jiang Jianxin had a vague sixth sense that the journalist seemed like a girl.

However, since she always used anime male avatars and male symbols on her forums and WeChat, she wasn't sure and assumed this person was a boy.

Jiang Jianxin was surprised to find that "Answer Truth" referred to the journalist as "she" after talking so much about that person today, since she hadn't mentioned much about journalists before.

Yes, it's good that you know.

"Intuition tells me."

Jiang Jianxin was puzzled:
Why does she hide her gender, and what exactly is this talent for [public opinion]?

Intuition carefully analyzed the situation and directly gave her all the answers:
Her talent (in manipulating public opinion) lies in gaining faith through deception. When people vilify the truth and believe the 'truth' presented by public opinion, she can gain a large amount of faith.

This ability seems very strong, but it has a drawback: she needs 'startup capital'.

【What's the meaning? 】

Jiang Jianxin didn't understand.

To have the cyberpunk power to distort the truth on the forum, she first needs an account with a million followers and a mob of people willing to blindly defend her.

But when she first awakened, she had nothing.

You probably know how difficult it is to choose a good number.

"Intuition tells me."

Jiang Jianxin nodded. Although she had never used an account, she had seen many posts on social media that used sensational captions to attract attention but didn't get many likes.

To build an account with a million followers and a loyal following of die-hard fans, you need to relentlessly act as an internet clown for at least a year.

So, how did she accumulate "startup capital" in such a short time?

Jiang Jianxin asked.

Yes, that's her smartest trait. The journalist came up with a plan: during the most chaotic early stages of the apocalypse, she created an account and posted educational and survival tutorial videos from various factions.

These things are real, they don't constitute deception in [public opinion], and they can't gather faith for her—but her goal isn't the instructional videos themselves.

Intuition paused for a moment before continuing.

Journalists know that in a society based on natural right, there is absolute equality and no first sex; however, in a society where gender equality is not the case, men are blindly worshipped.

She capitalized on this, changing her gender, using a magnetic male voice for her videos, and meticulously crafting the scripts to cultivate an image of an intelligent, psychic, and benevolent male god.

[When these two societies merge, every ordinary user who clicks into her videos, sees her as a cool, wise, and virtuous male god, and becomes infatuated with her, can be considered by public opinion as having successfully deceived someone.]

[In reality, truly virtuous men, lacking any primary advantage and facing societal biases, often see themselves as the vulnerable ones who need protection, and thus tend to be reserved and weak.]

[The real Guangming doesn't portray the "Guangming God" she plays as calm, reliable, and responsible, so he's not as popular as she is.]

Jiang Jianxin stammered:

I'm not envious at all of her nickname; who would have thought of that angle? She deserves it.

Yes, this incident instilled in the journalists a strong belief in their abilities, propelling them forward to where they are today.

"Intuition tells me."

Jiang Jian thought for a moment, then said:
Her true allegiance is probably not to the light.

The camp of the Light is good at setting up schemes, but the journalist has never set up schemes or engaged in conspiracies. She has been diligently committing fraud, taking journalism and psychology to the extreme.

Yes, she is actually a Chaos Faction Fraudster.

The answer, given by truth, is certain:

[Journalist] Baili Song, the number one fraudster in history, relies on her talent for [public opinion] to distort the truth. So far, she has completed half of the path to godhood she has paved for herself.]

Once two-thirds of it is completed, Baili Song will have completely become a god.

Jiang Jianxin was stunned for a moment:
Why the two-thirds mark?

Because a perfect scam involves two parts: the scam itself and the revelation of the truth.

Intuition explains:
The moment the truth is revealed, millions of people awaken from their deception, and the resulting extreme emotions of awe, worship, and anger will form a massive force of faith—this pure faith, directly directed at her, will make up the remaining one-third, helping her ascend to divinity and become a complete goddess.

Jiang Jianxin blinked.

So that's how it is.

She was thinking that society is truly full of talented people. In the past, there was the "Bright World" scam, and in the future, there are fraudsters who create gods by butchering pigs.

Previously, her impression of con artists was too superficial; she thought they were just using simple tricks—in reality, the methods of top con artists are no less sophisticated than those of strategists of light.

The only difference is that the former specializes in pig butchering scams and honey traps, while the latter is obsessed with traps within traps.

Don't overthink it.

My intuition told me.

The ranks of con artists are extremely polarized; low-level ones become thieves, while high-level ones exploit others. A con artist of Baili Song's caliber is one in a hundred years.

Jiang Jianxin sighed:

[I've learned something new. These three sequences in the Chaos faction are all quite complex... The Fool has idealism, the Conman has pig butchering scams, and the Dreamer has daydreams.]

Compared to this... those two sequences from the War faction really seem like single-celled organisms.

She stopped following her intuition and picked up her phone, opened the chat window of the journalist, and started typing away.

Bro, I planted such a subtle foreshadowing, yet Baozi still managed to guess it.