Why is his holy light red?

After leaving the warden's office, Mercury returned to his cell and went straight to Black Egg.

How many followers does our account have right now?

Black Egg immediately connected to the network using the terminal and looked at the data, saying, "The one with the most followers already has 150,000. But judging from the comments, these people are probably all attracted by Flora's singing."

"Okay." Mercury stared at the screen. "Use this account. Now, send me a new video. Add a camera and a phone icon anywhere in the frame."

Black Egg stopped typing on the virtual keyboard and looked up in confusion: "Boss, why add a camera?"

"Just use the default emoji from your input method. Don't worry about the content, just send it out immediately, and make sure to include a camera and your phone."

Although Black Egg was confused, he acted swiftly. He quickly used the previous template to piece together a conspiracy theory about collusion between the Federation and capitalists, then, as required, pasted two conspicuous icons in the corner of the screen and clicked publish.

As soon as the video was uploaded, the comments section started scrolling. As always, nobody cared what the video was about; the comments were all about arguing about which popular singer's voice the background music sounded like.

Mercury completely ignored the constantly fluctuating data and irrelevant messages, simply standing still, staring intently at the private message bar.

Time ticked by, and all the video's metrics kept increasing, but what he was waiting for never appeared.

"Boss, what are you waiting for?" Black Egg couldn't help but ask from the side. "You're about to go to court."

"Wait for a phone call."

"But..." Black Egg glanced at the time, "The court hearing is in an hour and a half, and the journey will take another hour."

According to normal procedure, Mercury should now change into clean clothes and tidy himself up so that he can appear as a normal person in front of the jury and judge, instead of wasting time in his cell.

As time continued to pass, Mercury's jaw tightened slightly, and his breathing became heavier.

Just as the countdown reached the last ten minutes, a soft "ding" sounded, and a new message finally popped up on the screen of the black egg projection.

The other person's profile picture is the default camera icon for an input method.

Mercury opened the chat window and found the text to be extremely aggressive: "I told you not to take the bus, just go home, but you wouldn't listen. Now that something's happened, you want to come to me. Why should I help you?"

Upon seeing these words, Mercury's tense shoulders finally relaxed, and he replied with a smug smile: "If you don't help me, I might spend the rest of my life in jail, and then I'll never be able to pay back the money I owe you."

The cursor on the screen blinked once, and the other end replied almost instantly: "I must have been the serpent tempting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in my past life, that's why God cursed me to know you in this one. You stinking piece of shit, you dead virgin, if you don't listen to me this time, I won't care whether you live or die."

Mercury knew that the other party's attitude meant agreement, so he quickly typed in response: "I originally had a very capable lawyer, but we were set up. I wouldn't want to bother you unless absolutely necessary. Everyone knows you, the camera expert, have incredible connections; only you can save me now."

Two seconds later, a new message popped up: [Don't worry about your lawyer; he's more capable than you think. Otherwise, how do you think he achieved his perfect winning streak? Your real trouble isn't with your lawyer. If you want to get out of this situation perfectly, carry that background music with you. Remember, in a crucial moment, this thing can turn the tide.]

The moment the message was sent, the other party's account turned completely gray, and when they tried to send another message, they found that the account had been deleted.

Mercury stared at the exit screen. This shut-in probably had a dedicated online army factory at home, with countless accounts and bots, using one and then discarding it.

Even more amazingly, no matter how Mercury changed the numbers, this person could always pinpoint his location accurately.

The instructions given by the "camera" are always so vague and cryptic, and never explained. But every time, what he says is correct.

The problem now is that he can't bring Flora herself to court. As a defendant in a serious crime, he must undergo a thorough body search before appearing in court, and it's impossible for him to bring any electronic playback devices.

How can we bring Flora's "singing" over there?

Mercury frowned, his mind racing.

Before he could come up with a solution, heavy boots echoed from the end of the corridor outside the cell. Two prison guards responsible for escorting him stopped outside the iron bars.

"It's time." The prison guard knocked on the iron door expressionlessly. "Come with us!"

Mercury slowly stood up, trying to buy himself a few seconds to gather his thoughts. When he glanced at the screen out of the corner of his eye, he paused, then suddenly turned to look at Black Egg on the upper bunk.

"Send a new video," Mercury said rapidly. "Record Flora's singing in its entirety, in the clearest possible version!"

With that, Mercury stretched out his hands, allowing the prison guards to handcuff him, and was led away from the cell amidst the crisp sound of the metal buckles.

……

The car that escorted Mercury was the same one, but the arrogant and domineering Morgan correctional officer was nowhere to be seen.

Mercury leaned back in his riot chair and casually asked, "Was he silenced?"

The entire vehicle of armed prison guards simultaneously shifted their gaze, staring at the bulletproof windows or the tips of their own leather boots, and no one responded.

Mercury just found it funny.

The one-hour journey was uneventful. The car smoothly entered the underground passage of the Arujah District Court. According to federal judicial procedures, district courts have jurisdiction over criminal cases, and appeals to the Supreme Court are only possible if the verdict is unsatisfactory.

Before the trial, Mercury had time to chat with his lawyer for a few minutes.

In the brightly lit waiting room, Mercury saw John again.

He still had impeccable blond hair and a sharp suit, showing no sign of panic at all about accepting the challenge hastily.

Mercury cut to the chase: "John, with the trial date moved up so much, are you still confident?"

"Don't worry," John said calmly, his tone steady. "My 100% win rate will never be broken here."

Mercury said worriedly, "But you've only had a few days. Isn't that enough time to investigate and gather evidence?"

"I told you, don't worry," John reassured him. "I have plenty of time."

Mercury felt he had discovered the key point and quickly asked, "I don't think I've ever asked you what your superpower is. Is it related to time?"

John gave a highly professional smile: "Answering this question will incur an additional fee."

"Tch, never mind." Mercury was penniless now, but remembering the security camera warning, he asked John, "Do you have your phone?"

John gave Mercury a wary look: "Don't make random calls. No matter what kind of gangsters you try to get to back you up, it will only lower my chances of winning."

"I'm not making a phone call. I want you to use your phone to go online and search for the latest videos of an account..." Mercury recited the account name "Evil Little Sheep".

Mercury really wanted to complain that Black Egg had absolutely no talent for naming things; names like Red Dwarf Star and Evil Little Sheep had no aesthetic appeal whatsoever.

Now that the account is famous, Mercury can't even change his name.

When John heard the name, he was suddenly jolted as if electrocuted, jumping up and nearly knocking over his paper cup of coffee.

"Is 'Evil Little Sheep' your account?!"

The lawyer, who always maintained a composed demeanor, couldn't help but twitch his cheek muscles a few times, as if he had swallowed a live fly. His voice was filled with despair, "That angelic voice in the video, it was sung by you, a man?! God, are you punishing me?"

Mercury looked at him speechlessly: "You're still a fan of this account?"

John covered his face with his hands and said sadly, "It was before. It's not anymore."

Mercury wanted to give him a good whack, but quickly said, "Wake up! I didn't sing the song, I just know the lead singer... No, that's not the point. The point is, the audio of this song is crucial. It can help us turn the tide in court later."

John lowered his hand, resuming his aloof legal elite demeanor, and said nonchalantly, "Reversal my ass. I've already made it very clear, I'm guaranteed to win this case."

Despite John's overconfidence radiating throughout the district court, Mercury unconditionally believed the conclusions drawn by the "camera."

Flora's singing is definitely useful.

However, the song does not possess any supernatural power to hypnotize or control the mind, and it is impossible to directly brainwash the twelve jurors and turn them all into his brainless fans. So what is the purpose of this background music?

Mercury's gaze fell on the texture of the tabletop, his mind racing.

"John," he suddenly looked up, staring intently at the top lawyer, "if it's really as you say, that you're guaranteed to win this case under normal circumstances, then tell me, under what extreme circumstances would you lose?"

Caught off guard, John blurted out, "Unless the entire jury is under mind control."

These words struck Mercury like lightning, instantly cleaving through the fog.

"Bang!"

Mercury slammed his hand on the metal table, the handcuff chains clanging loudly.

"That's it, that's it." Mercury suddenly realized.

Flora's singing voice itself cannot turn others into supporters; its true function is to help those who are mentally controlled regain their clear-headed rationality, just as Mercury used Flora's singing voice to cleanse the mental pollution of "egocentrism".