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"It’s really... a major incident..."

Many miners and mechanical engineers outside Digital City tuned into the live broadcast. The large-scale military coup came quite unexpectedly, yet strangely, there was no attempt to hide it from the outside.

Every area seemed to be under strict lockdown, but ordinary people were still allowed to take photos and share freely on the internet.

They even accepted interviews from the public, and many independent media outlets were covering the event.

This allowed the vast numbers of people who were temporarily unable to return to Digital City to get the scoop as it happened.

"Didn’t I say the Federation was rotten to the core? You wouldn’t believe it, talking about how grassroots heroes like Xuu Min can rise and all that. Now, do you see? In front of those second generations, Xuu Min is nothing but a fart!"

"Isn’t that the truth? Seeing those rising stars one after another, I always thought I wasn’t talented or hardworking enough. Now, what’s the point of having talent? It’s just being a slightly higher-class wage slave, huh..."

"Such an unsightly mess, but good riddance, good riddance to them! It’s about time!"

"Look, look, Xuu Min has appeared, oh and Gong Mingrui, my God, he hasn’t shown up in a long time, he’s also involved in this..."

"Of course, he was once our grassroots star, my idol back in the day... I always thought he had fallen."

Everyone immediately focused, turning their attention to the two famous public figures, because they saw a swarm of independent media rushing to interview them.

"Mr. Xuu Min, may we ask you some questions now?"

"Hmm..." Xuu Min’s demeanor was still amiable. Despite the sensational actions he had taken, his attitude at this moment wasn’t much different from his usual approachable style.

"I have a moment, what would you like to ask?"

"Does this qualify as a military coup?"

A girl holding a microphone asked bluntly and sharply.

"By nature, it is..." Xuu Min didn’t make any attempt to conceal it.

"The Central Federation just fought a victorious and glorious war, becoming the true number one Federation, then opened the newest Virtual World, claiming it would allow everyone to enter an advanced Virtual Realm.

When the Central Federation is thriving, why would you instigate a civil war at this time? "

With this question, many realized where the questioner’s loyalties lay. But it was hardly surprising; in such chaotic circumstances, could someone who managed to get to the very front for an interview really be just an ordinary member of the independent media?

"Exactly because this is a once-in-a-million-years opportunity for the Central Federation, we must resolve some cancerous issues before it!

" Xuu Min declared firmly, "If things stayed the same as before, with the great families monopolizing all resources, there would be no change whatsoever for any of us in the Central Federation. "

"You must have seen the latest footage, how unfairly the soldiers born to us commoners were treated in the latest world, right? Although the lord of power in that world, Chen Qing, allocated birthrights based on individual strength, these scions of great families didn’t hesitate to coerce commoners into giving up their spots, and the tool they used to threaten them was the disintegration program in our bodies! "

As he spoke, Xuu Min tore open his military uniform to reveal a special marking on his chest and shoulder: "This mark is unfamiliar to many common people, but for many of my comrades, it’s an inescapable nightmare.

Those of us who get a chance to enter the Virtual World are all installed with such a program.

The moment those above us perceive us as a threat, they can use this program to disintegrate our data, which is the complete destruction of our digital lives! "

"Mr. Xuu Min, are you distorting the function of the disintegration program?

" the reporter who had asked the previous question quickly interrupted Xuu Min, "The purpose of this program is national security, to prevent overly powerful digital lives from destroying Digital City. It’s a safety mechanism that was announced by the authorities quite a while ago, isn’t it?

Everyone entering the Virtual World is installed with this program, without exception, even the former Speaker. "

"Not at all..." Xuu Min said with a cold smile, "I can assure you, all the marks on the scions are fake!"

"Do you have evidence?"

"Just flip through the destruction records, and you’ll see that over nearly a thousand years, there have been more than 18,400 instances of the destruction program being executed, but not a single one involved a scion of the great houses.

Isn’t this the best evidence? Could it really be that over so many years, for such a long time, only the non-noble descendants posed a threat to the higher data life forms?

Are all noble descendants law-abiding? Looking at a thousand years of records, do you yourself believe that this data is reliable? "

"This only proves that having better education from an early age leads to a lower crime rate." The female reporter forcefully said, "This does not count as evidence."

This statement immediately provoked a barrage of criticism online.

"Who is this woman? Representing the media here with such a skewed perspective?"

"Nonsense, she’s obviously a government stooge."

"Heh, Xuu Min is certainly patient to bother arguing with her. If it were up to me, I’d have slapped her by now. How can someone so stubborn and irrational even be called a journalist?"

"Exactly, a thousand years without a single threat from a noble descendant to the higher data life forms, but always from us commoners. What, their noble offspring have superior education and will never pose a criminal threat, while us commoners are inherently thieves?"

For a time, not only outside Digital City but also many within it started denouncing the female reporter.

The cacophony of denunciations was so overwhelming that the female reporter felt she was drowning in them, and she began to fear what might happen if she stepped outside—would she be trampled by the crowd?

Suddenly, she felt that the money wasn’t worth it, considering the current situation—even if she indeed got torn apart by the angry mob, it was unlikely that anyone would be held accountable afterward.

"Your statements will be judged fairly by the public, please do not monopolize the podium. Step aside and give others the chance to speak," someone said.

The female reporter wanted to persist, but, intimidated by the rising tide of emotion, she reluctantly left the interview spot. Immediately, several other journalists stepped up.

"Mr. Xuu Min, is the goal of this coup to completely eradicate these malignant noble families?" a journalist excitedly asked. The question brightened the eyes of many soldiers—this was the outcome they desired, a fresh start with the complete overthrow of the nobility!

But Xuu Min shook his head. Although he, too, wanted to do just that, reason told him it wasn’t possible.

The Central Federation had never undergone a change of dynasty in a million years; the influence of the entrenched families was too deep-rooted and substantial to be easily uprooted.

Despite their appearance of marshaling the support of the majority of soldiers and city armed forces, they were well aware that if they were to completely eradicate the noble houses, it would be an entirely different matter.

If those fringe family members who had been watching from the shadows were pushed into a corner, coupled with the inherent military might of the noble houses, victory was uncertain. Having more people on their side didn’t necessarily mean they had the advantage.

Most importantly, the onset of such a civil war would lead to a severe internal drain on resources, which wasn’t what he wanted to see at all.

The Central Federation was at a rare historical junction, a great opportunity that only came once in a million years—an opportunity not just for humanity but for all of digital life to experience a cross-era evolutionary leap in history.

During such a time, he couldn’t afford the luxury of infighting, allowing the Western Federation to take advantage.

If that happened, Xuu Min would truly become a historic criminal.

What he sought now was to make the Central Federation fairer; his aim was nothing but damn fairness!

"We demand that the Federation cancel the disintegration program openly and fairly for everyone in the new world to ensure that people of the Central Federation can perform at their maximum in the new world.

We hope every individual receives fair treatment, not that the positions of true talents are taken by those with privileges and unqualified people. "

"The new world is extremely dangerous, a thousandfold, even ten thousand times more dangerous than any virtual world we know now!"

And precisely because of this, we need more people like Zhang Zhengyuan. Under the system of the disintegration program, a second Zhang Zhengyuan will never emerge. This is our sole appeal. What we strive for is simple—just a fair chance at competition!!"