24: Chapter 24 Public Opinion is Like a Fire

The live broadcast signal from the United States press briefing room spread simultaneously to every corner of this planet with a screen at that very moment.

The sparks jumped from one time zone to another, like an unstoppable wildfire.

On the Twitter trending list, the #Guga Planet tag surged to number one globally seven minutes after the press conference ended. #Chen Mu ranked second. #Maya Rodriguez ranked third.

The name of an NYPD female officer was listed in the top three global hot searches alongside "Alien Ambassador" and "Human Destiny."

Someone clipped the segment from the recorded video of the press conference where Chen Mu answered Maya's question.

The view count for that video on TikTok exceeded 50 million in the first hour.

The comment section was flooded simultaneously by different dialects, spellings, and emojis of the same language.

"He said if it weren't for that female officer, he might not be standing here. I think the outcome after that, for Earth, would have been terrible. Tears!"

"Maya Rodriguez. A police officer who bought a ten-dollar KFC meal for an alien ambassador. She saved all of humanity. Not with a gun, but with a burger."

"From today on, my hero is not any superhero. It is a female police officer named Maya Rodriguez."

"Can someone tell her, tell her that the whole world is thanking her."

"Ten dollars. One burger. That is the distance between human civilization and destruction."

KFC: "We never imagined that a ten-dollar meal could save the world. Officer Maya, if you see this tweet, all our KFC products will be free for you forever."

So we lost to KFC. Lost to a chance to save the world.

Neither of you saved it; it was Maya who saved it.

Exclusive: "A colleague of Officer Maya Rodriguez accepted an interview. 'She has always been that kind of person. The kind who stops to buy canned food when seeing a stray cat. We are not surprised at all that the alien chose her.'"

"Protecting civilization starts with respecting every individual. We noticed Ambassador Chen Mu's statement at the press conference. Officer Maya Rodriguez's actions are the simplest and most moving embodiment of human civilization's values."

Nobel Foundation: We have noted the global public outcry for Officer Maya Rodriguez to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

According to the Nobel Foundation statutes, the nomination process is confidential, and we will not comment on the nomination status of any specific individual. However, we can confirm that any qualified nominator can submit their choice.

Translation: Someone is already nominating her.

If she doesn't win, then the Nobel Peace Prize has no meaning.

——————

On the second underground floor of the White House, in a special safe house without windows.

There was only a sofa, two chairs, a water dispenser, and a telephone hanging on the wall.

Maya sat on the sofa, watching the Twitter notification bar on her phone like a poked hornet's nest. Every second, new @s, new direct messages, and new comments poured in, and she was grinning from ear to ear.

Thompson, sitting opposite her, kept his hands flat on his thighs, his fingers curled as if pressing against a holster that no longer existed.

Maya turned her phone screen to face Thompson. On the screen, the number of followers on her Twitter account was jumping up at a rate visible to the naked eye. From a few hundred this morning, it had turned into hundreds of thousands at this moment, and it was still jumping.

Maya sighed with emotion: "I really didn't expect my burger to have such great power."

Thompson looked down at the number, his mouth twitching as he smiled bitterly: "This is what you deserve, Maya. But I'm in trouble; I pointed a gun at the Alien Ambassador's head before."

"I'm afraid after getting out, I'm going to be unemployed. If things go wrong, the public might tear me apart alive."

Maya turned off her phone screen: "That won't happen, Thompson. Look at the press conference, didn't Chen Mu not mention this?"

Thompson sneered: "Maya, it's not like you don't know the nature of these journalists. They will find out sooner or later and use it to attack me fiercely to get traffic."

Thompson clenched his fists: "I'm done for. Waiting for me is an Internal Affairs hearing, suspension, and then termination. The house will be repossessed by the bank, Jenny will leave with the kids, divorce papers, alimony, and then like Chen Mu before."

"Becoming a homeless person on the streets of New York."

The safe house was quiet for a long time. Maya stood up, walked to the water dispenser, poured him a glass of water, and comforted him: "Hey! Thompson, we are partners, aren't we?"

"Don't worry, I will testify for you in the Internal Affairs investigation, at least to keep your job first."

Thompson picked up the water: "Perhaps. I hope things won't develop the way I think."

Meanwhile, discussions online about this press conference were intensifying.

"Welcome to Earth, Mr. Ambassador! President Trump's friends are our friends!"

"So the alien really opened a Twitter account. I've lived for thirty-seven years and have seen countless outrageous things. This one ranks first."

"Mr. Chen Mu, I have three children. They asked me if aliens eat people. I don't know how to answer. Can you tell me?"

Ambassador of Guga Planet: "No, we do not eat life forms with high intelligence!"

"I have worked in the diplomatic system for thirty years, and I have seen countless press conferences, but none like today."

"When he answered the Russian reporter, he said 'will not slaughter civilians who do not resist.' He used 'will not slaughter,' not 'will not attack.' He was very clear about what he was saying; every word was precise."

"Earth is about to be liberated, that sentence in Times Square. Do you remember? That was not a threat. It was a preview. Now he has come personally."

"I think what the Ambassador means by liberation is that being ruled by them, Guga Planet, is liberation for us in itself."

"Elon Musk hasn't posted a single tweet yet; he must know something. He must be waiting for something."

Did you notice he said "This body was originally named Jack Chen, and it had lost vital signs for some time." He didn't say "I killed him," nor did he say "I didn't kill him." He just said "He died." This phrasing is too strange.

"We found it. Jack Chen, twenty-six years old, born in Flushing, Queens. His father owned a Chinese restaurant, died of alcoholism after it went bankrupt. His mother's whereabouts are unknown. Started working at eighteen..."

"The last time he was captured by public records was three months ago at a shelter registration. Then there was nothing, until Chen Mu walked into Times Square."

"He was not a 'container' chosen by the alien. He was picked up by the alien after being killed by this society."

"When Jack Chen died, there was no news, no Twitter trending topics, no presidential speech. He was just a homeless man. After he died, his body was occupied by an alien, and then the whole world started listening to him."

"We found the old site of Jack Chen's father's Chinese restaurant. It's a bubble tea shop now. The clerk said they didn't know it used to be a Chinese restaurant."

"The old owner of the laundry next door still remembers. 'Old Chen, the General Tso's Chicken he made was delicious. After he left, this street didn't have that taste anymore.'"

"General Tso's Chicken, a forgotten Chinese restaurant owner. A son who died under a bridge. An alien ambassador who occupied that body. This is Earth, this is us."

"He said: 'I am Chen Mu.' Not Jack Chen. It is Chen Mu."

"He kept 'Chen.' That is the last trace of this container in this world. He gave himself a Chinese name. He doesn't know why he chose it that way. We don't know either. But we all saw it."

"He is not playing an alien. He is becoming a human. Starting from a name."

"He said 'I don't care about titles.' But he gave himself a name. A person who doesn't care about titles wouldn't give themselves a name. He cares. He has always cared."

"Brothers, I decoded it. Chen Mu = Silent Shepherd. Jack Chen freezing to death in the river = Baptism. This is not an alien; this is the Antichrist."

"Aliens get out of Earth!!!"