Chapter 452: Chapter 452: Online Fermentation

Only after midnight did Myanmar’s social media platforms start erupting with miscellaneous information.

And not just Myanmar’s social media, but also international English social media and domestic Chinese social media had relevant discussions appearing, and they were very heated.

In today’s society, such public, widespread “mysterious incidents” are very rare.

Earlier this evening, a large-scale riot broke out in Myitkyina, a tourist city in northeastern Myanmar. Many shops were vandalized, and many tourists were attacked and robbed.

And under the guidance of those with ulterior motives, the main targets were the Chinese.

However, the focus of online discussions was not on this riot, but on the “visions” that appeared in various regions of Myitkyina during the riot.

Many residents and tourists in Myitkyina claimed that they saw with their own eyes an extraordinarily gigantic monster with many arms and many eyes on its head.

But different people have different descriptions of that monster.

Some say the monster was seven or eight meters high, while others say it was at least ten meters, even close to twenty meters, yet others insist that if it was less than fifteen meters, they would drink urine standing on their heads!

The descriptions of the monster’s appearance vary as well. Some claim to have seen a layer of black mist around it, making it difficult to see the specifics, like it was tree bark. Others say it was made of stone, while still others insist it was made of metal, you could see the reflection of metal, and yet others claimed that the monster’s body was covered with tumors, even oozing black liquid.

But there was one common point—it had many arms, many eyes, or more precisely, eight arms and eight eyes.

And anyone who saw the monster felt a soul-shaking fear.

However, most eye witnesses to this terrifying monster did not regard it as an “evil” existence.

Because its appearance not only directly stopped all atrocities, saving many people, but it also gave many people a feeling of mental vindication, like they had a “sauna.” Many problems that had been confusing suddenly made sense.

So many people even think that this gigantic eight-armed, eight-eyed monster is likely a reawakened deity, sensing the wickedness of the human world, descending to purge wickedness and banish darkness with fear.

But those who said this were mostly those who witnessed the incident and saw the illusion of the “eight-armed, eight-eyed monster” with their own eyes. But these people were limited in numbers and most people were still in shock or not in a condition to go online, or did not have the habit of posting on social media. The online public opinion was swiftly led in other directions.

Someone first began questioning why no one had taken pictures of such a gigantic monster appearing in the city? Even if no one had taken pictures, there should be nearby surveillance footage, right?

But those who witnessed the incident claimed that everyone was initially shocked by the monster’s appearance, completely consumed by fear, no one was able to react and take pictures, no one dared to take pictures.

But when they did react and wanted to take pictures, they found that both their mobile phones and cameras had malfunctioned.

They were hoping that clear surveillance footage would emerge from the affected area.

But a Chinese shop owner in Myanmar posted a video on Weibo, confirming that all the surveillance inside his shop had malfunctioned during the incident, unable to record any images from that process, and the shops around him had encountered the same situation.

When the monster appeared, it seemed to bring with it a powerful interference field which caused all electronic devices to temporarily malfunction, even causing all kinds of lights to either go out or flicker.

However, Myitkyina is a sizeable city, and there happened to be a photographer who was using time-lapse photography to capture the ever-changing night view of the city from a high floor in a hotel.

His camera lens happened to be facing the incident area, and the distance was far enough that his equipment was not affected, allowing him to capture the events in that area during the incident period.

Even though it was quite a distance away, had the Eight-armed, Eight-eyed monster been as massive as the eyewitnesses described, it would have certainly been captured on film.

The problem was, there was no sign of any “gigantic monster” in the shots taken by the photographer.

So, when the photographer posted his footage and the timestamps on social media intending to “discredit” those who claimed to have seen the monster, public opinion on the internet immediately shifted towards suggesting that the previous posters were either attention-seeking or hallucinating.

Yet, when it came to the claim of hallucination, the eyewitnesses who posted online readily admitted it, with many stating that they quickly realized it was an illusion after the monster had disappeared since many of the environmental changes that occurred when the monster appeared, such as footprints in the road, reverted when it vanished.

Whether it was an illusion or not had no bearing on the perception of the witnesses; they were still filled with awe and reverence for the monster.

But for the majority of netizens, the incident had a significant impact, leading them to other conjectures.

The voices of the witnesses were soon drowned out, and the online discussion began to diverge due to the various perspectives brought by different netizens.

On English social media platforms, many believed that it was a “psychological wave interference weapon” used by the Burmese government to suppress the riots, capable of causing mass hallucinations by inducing mental instability. The strongest evidence was that all electronic devices within the entire area were affected at the time, which was seen as “irrefutable” proof.

Some even dredged up various seemingly “authentic” declassified official documents, suggesting that certain technologies, which originated from former Soviet laboratories, had been bought and continued to be researched by the Burmese government. Some suggested that the Americans had relevant laboratories built in Myitkyina, and that American technology might be involved.

In contrast, on Burmese social media platforms, the majority of the users, unknowing of or unconvinced by the distant footage posted earlier by the photographer, still believed that the Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant was a divine entity protecting Myitkyina. Various factions claimed credit, asserting that the divine intervention was the work of their Gods.

Meanwhile, on Chinese social media platforms, the discussion scope was even broader.

On Zhihu alone, there were seven questions related to the incident among the top twenty hotly debated topics, covering multiple fields. On Weibo, three related topics trended. Even on Bilibili and Douyu, there were content creators who were traveling in Myitkyina that started live-streaming to “report” the local situation after the network was restored.

Psychologists hypothesized that due to achieving certain extreme conditions under the chaotic circumstances, individuals’ emotions might have sensory transmission effects on those around them, resulting in a collective hallucination. This group started looking for previous cases and analyzing descriptions of experiences posted on both domestic and foreign networks for verification.

Those with Cthulhu mythological inclinations began to explore the shared features between the Cthulhu mythos and some unknown factors in reality, wondering if similar mysterious life forms might truly exist in higher dimensions or parallel universes. They speculated that at some moment, its projection appeared in our world, specifically in Myitkyina, and thereby was seen by some people.

Those who saw it might, in the future, find it easier to witness creatures from another world and perceive certain things.

Conspiracy theorists suggested that this might be a smoke screen set up by the Burmese government with the help of online trolls on the international internet, aiming to mitigate the negative impact caused by the riots in Myitkyina and craft a new tourism hotspot. This would attract tourists interested in mysteries to Myitkyina for an “adventure”.

However, once some Chinese people who experienced the incident and saw the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed monster” in Myitkyina began to post about it, this theory instantly evaporated and fell apart.

Upon seeing the news about what happened in Myitkyina on the internet, Xia Libing, who was in front of her computer, naturally understood what Xiang Kun meant by “big disturbance”. She also immediately determined the authenticity of various pieces of information.

She knew that the illusion of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed monster” was created by Xiang Kun — she had witnessed the first successful experiment with this ability in an abandoned factory in Citong City.

She even knew that this ability was Xiang Kun’s developments derived and extended from the abilities of “Xiao Pingguo” and “Jin Shanshan”.

What she did not expect was that Xiang Kun would carry out such widespread and large-scale emotional projection manipulation.

However, combining recent news about the riot in Myitkyina, she could guess why Xiang Kun decided to take action.

Based on her analysis of Xiang Kun’s online comments from his early years, household items, writings from his youth, and his actions, Xiang Kun always claimed to be a selfish and trouble-avoiding person, but in reality, he had a deep sense of duty to his family and country.

Since the riot in Myitkyina was mainly targeting Chinese, it was predictable that he would take action when he was capable of defending himself and influencing the situation.

Choosing to use the emotional projection of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving” to make an impact also fits his character.

According to witnesses’ comments online, the illusion had disappeared for quite a while now, so generally, Xiang Kun should have left Myitkyina and been on his way back.

So, Xia Libing sent Xiang Kun a dazed emoji on WeChat. She knew that if Xiang Kun received it, he would understand what she was implying and definitely reply.

But until three in the morning, Xiang Kun hadn’t replied.

This made Xia Libing suspicious. Either Xiang Kun was still carrying out other actions, such as investigating the instigator behind the riot targeting Chinese, or there were issues with his phone, and he wasn’t receiving messages. According to those witnesses’ descriptions, when the Eight-armed, Eight-eyed monster appeared, electronic devices were affected and only recovered after the illusion disappeared. So, if he always carried his phone with him, the stronger impact could have damaged it, which was also likely.

If his phone was broken and he could not be reached, would he think she had already returned to Chongyun Village to prepare the rabbit tomorrow, and directly buy a plane ticket to Jianzhou?

This concern only flashed in her mind for a moment before Xia Libing dismissed it. She glanced at the notebook covered in black circle graffiti on her lap and at the wooden box for chopsticks and a few coins on the table, She knew Xiang Kun would definitely not mistake her location.

…

In a hotel in Myitkyina, Ye Zijun was also browsing various domestic online platforms, looking at related news, staying awake all night, or rather, unable to sleep.

The young Burmese guy who had brought her and her parents to the hotel last night had said goodbye and left before she even had a chance to ask his name and contact information.

After checking and bandaging by a doctor they found in the hotel, she and her parents were confirmed to have nothing seriously wrong, just some scrapes and bruises that would heal with rest. It wasn’t necessary to go to the hospital anymore, which could be considered fortunate in misfortune.

The hotel’s security was quite good, and soon a large number of armed police took to the streets, so the riot did not last too long.

Of course, in Ye Zijun’s view, what made the riot stop quickly was probably the giant that walked through the city.

Or should she say…a giant illusion?

Because some instigators took advantage of the initial riot, it mainly targeted Chinese shops and tourists.

So, Ye Zijun saw a lot of radical and angry comments on domestic social media platforms, completely denying all the people of Burma. Therefore, she took to Zhihu to share her and her parents’ experience of being attacked by five rioters and how they were “saved” by an “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant” that happened to “pass by”, and later how they were aided by a tall Burmese teenager when they were harassed again by two other rioters, and escorted to the hotel.

As she had always enjoyed writing since middle school and was quite good at it, her lengthy, powerful and influential answer detailing this highly impactful, deeply engraving, and emotionally turbulent experience, coupled with her identity as a witness, quickly gained a large amount of agreement and thankfulness, effectively placing her answer in the top three.

In her account, the five rioters who initially attacked her family were furious, cruel, and drove her to despair.

The sudden appearance of the Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant was massive, mysterious, and terrifying. After it appeared, the five rioters seemed to have been greatly mentally deterred, far more than her and her parents’ reactions.

In her view, although that Giant did, in fact, “rescue” them, subjectively speaking, it didn’t care about them, the mob, or any other being on earth. It was simply just “passing through”.

However, the Burmese teenager who later saved her family of three made her feel warmth and kindness. She believed that as long as people like him exist, both Burma and Myitkyina are still hopeful places.

To be honest, the style of this answer is very different from what she’d written before – she felt a sense of release.

Moreover, she had made up her mind. After returning to China this time, she planned to resign and start doing work she truly enjoyed.

In the past, she was always cautious and careful, always making sound decisions and thinking twice before acting. But after this incident, she suddenly had an “Eureka moment”, realizing that the ups and downs of life are natural. She can’t always plan and control everything.

She didn’t shrink back just because of the sudden riot and danger, from brushing shoulders with death, or from witnessing the terrifying mysteries. She suddenly understood what she was genuinely afraid of and feared: the passing of life’s time, the extinguishing of life’s passion, the regrets of old age saying “I could have…”.

The next morning, just as Ye Zijun, who was somewhat drowsy and wanted to rest, received a call from the front desk saying that the police were looking for her.

She wasn’t surprised. She had called the police from the hotel phone after returning to the hotel yesterday, but she couldn’t get through as expected, probably because of too many people were calling.

She thought the police had finally found time for an investigation, with the hotel staff having called them on her behalf later.

But when she got to the hotel lobby and met the police, she found out through the hotel’s translator that they were looking for her regarding the local teenager who had saved her and her parents on the road and escorted them to the hotel yesterday.

Many people had turned themselves into the police that morning, including one who had snitched on his comrades who had gone to smash the pharmacy last night. Mao Qiang, the young man, was among them and thus the cops had come to pick him up.

Mao Qiang explained to the police that he didn’t participate in smashing the pharmacy but instead escorted three Chinese tourists back to their hotel, so the police sent someone to confirm this.

After looking at the picture on the person’s phone, Ye Zijun immediately confirmed the young man’s statement. Moreover, the hotel staff could also help verify that he indeed brought Ye Zijun and her parents last night.

Ye Zijun knew why they had sent someone especially to check for this case. So, she showed the police the post she had made about Mao Qiang back home and briefly introduced the content approximately related to him.

Although the person couldn’t read Chinese, he could understand the number of likes and comments and see the popularity. Hence, he asked Ye Zijun to help fill in a few forms, indicating that Mao Qiang could be immediately released and might even receive a reward.

Ye Zijun also took the opportunity to chat with the local police through the translator. Although they couldn’t disclose the specific casualty statistics in the city to her at the moment, they told her that so far, they hadn’t found any tourists dead in last night’s riot.

In the conversation, he was quite relieved about the appearance of that Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant illusion last night. He even envied Ye Zijun for having seen and experienced the Giant illusion firsthand and asked her about her impressions at that time.

Not only the police officers, but the hotel’s translator also revealed curiosity and envy during the conversation. It seemed like not being able to see the Giant was a significant regret.

By noon the next day, the response to the incident in Myitkyina had reached its peak on the internet.

In China, most people who saw the related news were just onlookers.

But for a small portion of people who weren’t in Myitkyina and hadn’t experienced the incidents of last night firsthand, reading these news and information gave them a feeling of turmoil.

For instance, Chu Xiuwen, who was having lunch with Zi Cheng and Chu Xiaoting at the “Youlong Restaurant”, initially didn’t take the discussion about the “Myitkyina Cthulhu Incident” that was spreading on the internet seriously. But when he heard the description of “eight arms, eight eyes, a mountain-like Giant”, he was dumbfounded as if struck by lightning.