People in America: My Uncle Don Quixote

Chapter 569 Conflicting Opinions, Public Opinion Explosion! (2-in-1, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

The president looked at the phone that the defense minister handed him with curiosity.

Although he had watched it more than once from the surveillance camera's perspective, the soldier's first-person view was incredibly immersive, making his palms sweat.

The first video was shot from the perspective of a frigate. The footage was very shaky, and the person filming was obviously running while filming. The violent shaking caused the camera to show the dark sea, the blinding searchlights, and the panicked comrades in the frame at different times.

The searchlight beam swept across the aircraft carrier, and a young man in pajamas stood next to the island superstructure, grabbed its base, and forcefully ripped hundreds of tons of steel off the deck.

"My God!" came the desperate cry and rapid breathing of the person filming the video. "That's...that's Levi!"

The photographer screamed, accompanied by violent shaking of the screen and the screaming sound of steel twisting, the shaky image showing Li Wei's face!

Any man in America who follows the sports, technology, or entertainment industries has heard of his name to some extent.

The president watched the video and, to be honest, he wasn't at all surprised that none of the soldiers picked up a gun after seeing Levi.

If you saw this scene with your own eyes, probably no one would be able to stand still.

He watched several of the most popular videos on Twitter and TikTok. Some were filmed from the lifeboats of the USS Roosevelt, while others were captured by tourists in Las Vegas. Two red lights swept down from the night sky above Nellis Air Force Base, followed by shouts of "Big Crab!" and huge plumes of smoke and flames erupted from inside the base.

There were just too many videos. Half of the people couldn't believe their eyes, while the others wondered if it was a teaser for some new movie.

Some people say it's AI.

"Was it made by AI? AI can make videos now."

"Stop kidding, it'll be at least 20 years before AI can produce videos of this caliber. Look at how it's currently making Will Smith eat noodles—what do you think it looks like?"

"Has Levi taken on 'Hancock 2'? Is the movie getting a reboot?"

This wave of enthusiasm has even swept across accounts related to Li Wei, with new comments appearing on posts on the official websites of LW Group and Giants.

Even the first round of lighting and shadow analysis, special effects analysis, and reaction videos have been released.

After a round of collective evaluation by experts, video bloggers, and Li Wei's ardent fans, these videos were determined to be computer-generated special effects.

The comments below were all unanimously, "Of course not, he can't possibly be Superman, can he?"

Even so, the number of these videos identified as marketing videos is far too large. There are at least hundreds of such videos across the entire internet, taken from different angles and in different clips, leading many people to question the amount of work involved.

The keywords "Levy," "aircraft carrier," and "New York shutdown" once again topped the trending searches, with video views across the internet surging by millions per minute.

As the light from the phone screen flickered across the president's face, the chief of staff, observing the deep lines on his face and his increasingly clouded eyes, cautiously asked, "Mr. President, should we ask the major platforms to cooperate and somewhat control the amount of attention this is generating?"

"Control?" The president handed the phone back to the Secretary of Defense and shook his head. "It's out of control."

"Can you silence thousands of soldiers who witnessed it firsthand?" he said. "Even if Twitter listens to us, what about TikTok? What about the other media outlets?"

After a few seconds of silence in the helicopter, the president's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Wait a minute," he said, "if you can't hide it, why bother hiding it at all?"

The chief of staff was taken aback.

"Guide public opinion," the president said, punching his palm, his politician's instincts returning. "Suggest that Levi has a very good relationship with the White House, congratulate his film and him personally in an official capacity, and give him an award to acknowledge his contributions to America."

"A super soldier program?" the Secretary of Defense chimed in. "We can imply that this is a secret Pentagon study that's been going on for decades, and the whole world will think we have a god in our hands. That way, we can gain as much benefit as possible before they figure out the truth..."

A god existing in the real world is living in America and casually destroyed two aircraft carriers, causing hundreds of billions of dollars in losses to the United States.

But if this god is "created in America," then that's a completely different story.

The president nodded, about to agree, when he suddenly remembered Levi's expression in the study and his views on the IRS, and a chill ran down his spine.

He's got his eye on the IRS building because of his tax bills, and if he finds out the White House is trying to ride his coattails...

"Never mind," he sighed again, "I don't remember anything."

"But Mr. President," the Defense Minister still seemed a little unwilling.

"And when he found out," the president said quietly, "I said, 'It was your idea?'"

The defense minister immediately shut up.

"In that case, let's not respond," the chief of staff thought for a moment, "Let's give it the cold shoulder. The White House will neither deny nor admit it, and won't say a word. Let him speak for himself."

By this time, the helicopter had completely flown away from Long Island, and Levi's manor was no longer visible.

The president immediately relaxed.

The long hours of work and the extreme emotional ups and downs had taken their toll on his aging body.

"Would you like to rest for a bit?" the chief of staff said. "The accompanying doctor is waiting for you at the airport." "No need," the president waved his hand. "Once I'm on Air Force One, I need to make a few phone calls first."

Compared to the uninformed public and bystanders online, there are a dozen or so people who need to know what happened tonight. Some of them are heads of large conglomerates, and some are patriarchs of blue-blooded noble families. They too must face changes or even a purge.

Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on the president's lips.

He was overjoyed to see this major reshuffle, especially with Mellon by his side.

Inside the restaurant at Levi's Estate, Long Island.

Li Wei ultimately couldn't resist Anya's kindness and ate a mouthful of the soup Anya made without batting an eye.

Surprisingly, Anya's soup actually tasted much better than the last time.

Looking at the expression on Li Wei's face, Anya said smugly, "Do you think I didn't know my cooking was terrible last time? This time I specially learned from Katya for a long time."

"Miss Anya is indeed very hardworking," said Katya, the butler. "I can attest to that."

Sitting next to Anya, Kim Hae-eun was scrolling through her phone with her head down, and the expression on her face was becoming more and more interesting.

After replying to a message, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Boss," she looked up at Li Wei and said with a smile, "LW's marketing department keeps pressuring me, asking if I secretly hired a marketing company, and they're making a fuss about it."

"How did you say it again?" Li Wei asked curiously.

"The internet is absolutely in an uproar," Kim Ha-eun shook her head, "but the vast majority still don't believe that this was done by you, boss, and think it's just a new marketing campaign."

Her expression became quite interesting, as if she was barely suppressing a laugh. She held her phone up to Li Wei, showing him her chat history: "Several Hollywood production companies have messaged me, asking which special effects company did our marketing video, how much they quoted, and if I could help them make connections?"

Li Wei shrugged: "Let them guess. Let them think whatever they want."

"So we'll just let it cool off?" Kim Ha-eun asked, "until you announce it on January 7th?"

After thinking for a moment, Li Wei stroked his chin and said, "Should we issue a live stream announcement and release the live stream on January 7th?"

Kim Ha-eun thought for a moment and nodded: "That's true. Didn't you say that all live streams can be accessed now? Then let's issue an announcement."

After saying that, she sent a voice message to her assistant and continued to look for video angles to admire Li Wei's heroic figure. Occasionally, she would argue with Li Wei's fans online, saying that she would bet a hundred million US dollars that the video was real.

However, because the alternate account she used for surfing was a no-name account, she would be ridiculed every time she posted this message. But Kim Ha-eun was not annoyed; instead, she enjoyed it and frantically commented in the comment section.

Unlike the diverse opinions circulating online, some people have collectively fallen silent.

Unlike the videos circulating online that are difficult to verify, what they obtained were battle reports from inside the Pentagon, phone calls from the White House office, surveillance footage from Ravenyan and Nellis Air Force Base, and first-hand information passed on to them by senior officials in the Pentagon and the White House, which was then analyzed and processed by their most loyal retainers.

In the Mellon Foundation Chairman's office in New York, the microphones on the two landlines remained off, but Elizabeth's cell phone suddenly rang.

Elizabeth instinctively picked it up and saw the caller ID: Ronan Mellon.

Elizabeth hesitated for a moment, then thought for a second before finally answering the phone: "This is Elizabeth Mellon."

"Liz," the voice on the other end of the phone was old and slow, but Elizabeth detected a hint of unease in it, something she had never heard before, "I saw the video online."

"What video?" Elizabeth asked.

"They called me from Washington too," Ronan said, not answering her question, but continuing on his own. "It's hard to believe, but I'm not like those idiots like Rockefeller and DuPont; I believe what I see."

Elizabeth remained silent and offered no comment.

"I went fishing with him once, I met him once," Ronan said. "At that time, I had a vague feeling that this young man was not simple, but I didn't expect..."

He clicked his tongue and fell silent.

After a few seconds, he slowly continued, "Melron wants to work with him; he's willing to discuss anything he wants."

"If he wants to sit in the White House—though I know he wasn't born here and isn't 35 yet, it doesn't matter. The Constitution is written by people and can be changed," Ronan said. "If you want the position of head of the Mellon family, I can step down anytime."

Elizabeth laughed: "The presidency may not be what he truly wants."

"So what does he want?" Ronan asked. "Money, an antique collection, or a family that will completely submit to him?"

"He wants absolute freedom, Count Ronan," Elizabeth said.

Ronan paused for a moment, then said, "That's true... he should indeed think that way."

"He will get what he wants, without needing anyone," Elizabeth said. "What he can't have, no one in this world can give him. Goodnight, Uncle."

As she spoke, she actually hung up on Ronan first.

After hanging up the phone, Elizabeth belatedly realized that she had actually hung up on Ronan Mellon himself.

Even the president himself didn't dare hang up on Ronan!

She stared blankly at a mural on the wall, in which Alexander Mellon was smiling proudly, gazing into the distance as if looking back at her.

Elizabeth paused, and her somewhat uneasy mood gradually began to improve.

"Off work!" She slammed her laptop shut. "Nobody's stopping me from going home today!"

Not far away, in John Mara's study, in order to maintain his "seriously ill" persona, he couldn't openly eat steak or smoke cigars at home, otherwise his children would nag him if they found out. So he could only secretly light one at night.

Otherwise, he would have already gone to sleep by this time.

However, it was precisely because he was using his phone out of boredom while smoking a cigar that he witnessed the entire development of this round of "marketing" events surrounding Levi's.

But he knew better than anyone how incredible Li Wei was; he had even cured his own cancer.

But when he saw the video, he was still shocked by what it contained.

In the video, Levi lifted the island superstructure, which weighed several hundred tons, leaving the Maraman completely dumbfounded. He didn't realize what was happening until his cigar burned his fingers.

He hurriedly and with a touch of heartache took another cigar, cut off the head with a cigar cutter, lit it, and took a deep breath.

He suddenly remembered that when he was in the VIP box, the Hawks, Las Vegas, and the league all hoped that Levi would lose a game.

Looking back now, he can't help but laugh. A bunch of clowns who had no idea who they were up against.

Thinking this, John Mara seemed to have completely forgotten that he didn't know Levi's true identity at the time.

"God," John Mara exhaled a long puff of smoke, feeling incredibly refreshed, "thank you for letting me sign Levi. It's the best decision I've ever made in my life."

Almost simultaneously, in Moscow.

Before dawn, Sergei was awakened by his first secretary, Anton.

"A call from the Kremlin," Anton said with a strange expression, "They want you to be there within an hour."

"What? One hour?" Sergei mumbled, still dazed. "Does Vladimir want me to fly there?"