Not only did Phil's plan successfully deceive all the audience, but it also deceived the two large consortiums and the other three judges.
To the public, Phil's move was a rich second-generation heir who had no other pursuits in life. He was addicted to being a mentor on a superhero talent show. He was not doing it for fame or profit. What's more, he had done his job very well.
To the other large consortiums and mentors who cooperated with Phil's performance, Phil had spent a lot of money on this variety show just to show off in front of the public. It would not pose any threat to them.
The audience did not know that this show had a script, nor did they know that the sponsor behind this show was Phil himself. Naturally, they could not guess Phil's true motive.
On the other hand, the large consortiums and mentors knew that the show had a script. However, this script did not cause a scandal or bring any negative impact to the show. Instead, it brought a lot of popularity. Thus, they had no motive to leak this matter at the moment. That would be equivalent to splashing dirty water on themselves.
To these people, Phil's performance was like a prodigal who had thrown 200 million US dollars in order to create an image of a "professional in the field of superheroes" in front of the public. However, so what? The fake could not become real.
These people knew very well that Phil's extraordinary performance was based on the script. Thus, they did not think that Phil would really pose a threat to their interests.
Thus, the first phase of Phil's plan was a complete success.
Thus, he lay low and began to patiently wait for the next stage.
Superheroes were a hot topic in Hope City. In this city that was both heaven and hell, there would be murders, robberies, and other violent incidents every day. Every day, there would also be cases of superheroes succeeding or failing to rescue hostages.
However, Phil did not do anything. His Twitter had returned to normal. Every day, he would share photos of private planes, yachts, young models, or him going to some roadside shops to eat and take photos with fans.
However, compared to before, his Twitter had increased a lot more fans. These fans had changed their opinion of him because of the talent show 'Successor' and had become sincere supporters.
Until two months later …
A very bad kidnapping case happened in Hope City. A group of lawless criminals kidnapped the youngest daughter of a wealthy businessman and asked for a huge ransom. The superheroes immediately went to rescue her. However, the hostage was also brutally killed even though they killed some of the criminals and captured most of them alive because of their miscalculation of the enemy's strength.
The daughter of the wealthy merchant was kind and beautiful, and had a very good impression in the eyes of the public.
Someone took a photo of the tragic scene at the crime scene. The little angel was lying in a pool of blood. Her hands and feet were tied, and her mouth was stuffed with a piece of cloth. There were still traces of tears on her face. She died a beautiful death, and it aroused the sympathy of the public.
Thus, the three superheroes who participated in the rescue faced huge pressure from public opinion.
They defended themselves by saying that the criminals did not seem to be here for the ransom and had no intention of releasing the hostages. However, the public did not accept such an act of shifting the blame. Instead, they continued to pressure the Superhero Association to disqualify the three superheroes.
The power of the three superheroes plummeted amidst the public's doubts. The Superhero Association had no choice but to distance themselves from them. They revoked the licenses of two of the superheroes while admitting their mistakes to the public. The other one was saved because of his strong connections. However, he also needed to reflect deeply in front of the public, repent, and volunteer for a long time before he could gradually appease the public's anger.
The criminal who had killed the daughter of the rich businessman had been shot dead on the spot, and the other criminals who had been captured had only committed the crime of kidnapping, not murder. Therefore, under the objection of some members of the jury, they were sentenced to sentences ranging from more than ten years to several decades. Only the leader of the criminals was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The people came to the streets and spontaneously offered flowers to the little angel to express their grief.
At that moment, Phil began to bombard all the interest groups related to this incident on Twitter: The superheroes did not have enough intelligence and ability to deal with this incident; The Superhero Association did not see the inadequacy of the three superheroes and their misuse of manpower; The superheroes did not have a clear estimate of the hidden risks in this city. They were only passively catching criminals, but they had never thought of fundamentally solving the problem of the high crime rate in Hope City …
Phil's speech received enthusiastic support from the people.
After this tragedy, the people's emotions urgently needed an outlet to vent. Someone had to be responsible for this tragedy, and it was obviously not enough for just three superheroes to take the blame.
What's more, people had already accumulated a lot of resentment towards the high crime rate in Hope City. It was very good to add fuel to the fire when Phil stood up.
If the playboy Phil had commented on this incident a few months ago, most people would have thought that he was boasting shamelessly and that it was easy for him to say such things.
However, now, with the hot influence of 'Successor', many people regarded Phil as an industry insider who really understood the chronic illness of the Superhero system.
What Phil said made sense since he was an industry insider who really understood these things.
Thus, the angry public continued to vent their anger on the Superhero Association and the other superheroes. They cursed. Why did the Superhero Association send these three weaklings to rescue the hostages? Why didn't they send stronger superheroes? Why didn't the stronger superheroes take the initiative to carry out the mission?
In fact, the Superhero Association only sent superheroes of the same standard according to the level of crime. They could not possibly send the top superheroes for a random kidnapping or robbery, right?
Everything was done according to the normal rules and procedures. However, the Superhero Association could not say anything. That was because the more they explained, the more it seemed like they were pushing the blame. It further proved their incompetence.
The anger of the people had yet to subside even though the Superhero Association had apologized repeatedly. Many fans expressed on Phil's Weibo that they hoped that Phil could step forward and do something within his capabilities. The situation would definitely not have turned out like this if Phil was in charge of this incident.
On the other hand, Phil responded on Twitter, saying that he had no intention of doing this. His previous tweet was also a true expression of righteous indignation. He emphasized that the Superhero Association was very successful in dealing with "most problems". They might have made a "small but fatal" mistake this time, but they were still trustworthy as long as they could seriously improve their problems.
The fans also expressed their understanding of Phil. After all, he was a billionaire and had his own company to take care of. There was no reason for him to get involved in this mess. However, the fans still hoped that Phil would comment more on superhero-related events in the future.
Phil reluctantly agreed to this request.
Thus, Phil began to comment on superhero-related events on Twitter. He would review the experience of a successful operation in detail and praise the successful superheroes. He would also review the lessons of this failure in detail and attack the failed superheroes or the association itself fiercely if an operation failed.
Of course, these comments were created by his think tank team. Then, he would post them on his Twitter after polishing them.
Such detailed, professional, easy-to-understand, and very down-to-earth comments gave Phil's fans a strong sense of participation. They could see the details of all aspects of these actions from a god's perspective. At the same time, their admiration and trust for Phil deepened.
The superheroes could not do anything about Phil's actions even though they were unhappy.
That was because Phil's comments were very smart.
In most cases, he would work with the officials to beat up those who were down after the mission failed — superheroes who did not have many fans and made obvious mistakes;
In a small number of cases, he would not be stingy with his praises for superheroes who had completed their missions and had more fans. He would win the favor of these superheroes' fans;
In rare cases, Phil would criticize the Superhero Association. However, the Superhero Association was huge. It was impossible for them to really fight with Phil. What's more, it would create popularity for Phil if they really fought.
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