Simulation Game: Crisis Management

Chapter 568 - 258: Shaping Public Opinion

In an instant, the door lock was completely split by an axe blade.

A large group of thugs in black rushed through the door, wielding various baseball bats and axes; they were the Mountain Dog Gang. Cui Ridou took a few big strides to the front, amusingly wearing a mask, pointing his axe blade at Gu Ji on the sofa.

"Hey! Jin Zhijiu, you bastard! You didn’t understand what I told you this morning, did you? Do you really want to die, not caring about your family?"

Gu Ji said nothing, not even moving a muscle.

Several security personnel from AM Company immediately stepped out to block the thugs, with the tall security chief glaring menacingly at Cui Ridou, pulling a baton from the strap at the waist of his protective suit, "Where do these wild dogs come from?"

"Heh heh heh..."

Upon hearing this, Cui Ridou couldn’t help but lower his head and chuckle twice before suddenly swinging the axe in his hand, "Cut them down!"

"Ah!"

"Damn it!!"

In an instant, a fierce weapon clash erupted between the two sides, scaring doctors and nurses into a panic, screams and noises filling the entire room, with doctors desperately retreating.

"Get to the bedroom!"

Gu Ji loudly reminded everyone, kicking away a thug lunging at him, grabbing an ashtray from the coffee table, and smashing it onto the thug’s head.

"Crash," the glass shattered.

The thug’s eyes rolled back, and he fell to the ground, blood streaming from his forehead.

He effortlessly kicked up the baseball bat from the thug’s hands. Before the next thug could swing his axe down, Gu Ji raised both hands, twisted his waist and body, "Whoosh", like a baseball home run, brutally slammed the bat onto the thug’s nose.

The immense force caused the thug’s nose to collapse instantly, blood spurting out, his appearance grotesque.

The thugs witnessing this scene were dumbfounded on the spot.

Though South Korean prosecutors, like police detectives, require training in combat and firearms, in theory, their skills are not as good as a real detective since prosecutors mainly focus on investigation work.

Yet Gu Ji appeared like a god of slaughter, an unstoppable force in a flock of sheep.

His moves were extremely ruthless, every strike drawing blood.

He even looked more gangster-like than the thugs themselves.

"Damn it! Jin Zhijiu! I’m going to kill you!"

Seeing one subordinate after another being knocked down by Gu Ji, Cui Ridou’s eyes were bloodshot. He kicked the security chief aside, ready to fight Gu Ji to the death with his axe.

"Clang!"

The baton and axe clashed.

A reverberation sounded, leaving a half-finger deep dent on the alloy baseball bat. Cui Ridou’s eyes widened, feeling his entire wrist go numb, almost dropping his axe.

He’d been mixed up in gang operations for many years, even having a few lives on his hands.

Never did he expect to be unable to defeat a mere prosecutor.

"Boss, the police are here!"

At this moment, a lookout thuggishly, ran in from the corridor.

Upon hearing the commotion, Cui Ridou had no heart to continue the fight and hastily retreated, "Jin Zhijiu! You better be ready to collect your family’s bodies! Let’s go!"

Leaving behind harsh words.

The Mountain Dog Gang thugs fought while retreating, quickly escaping into the corridor’s fire escape stairwell.

"Don’t chase them, hurry and send the samples for testing!"

Gu Ji knew that capturing this group of thugs would not only waste time but also yield no valuable clues.

The most important thing now was to swiftly confirm the MERS virus.

"Mr. Jin, impressive skills." The security chief immediately halted, looking back at Gu Ji.

If not for Gu Ji joining the fray, they wouldn’t have easily held back the Mountain Dog Gang, who outnumbered them by nearly double.

Gu Ji coughed twice, waved it off, unwilling to say more.

Though he was already infected by the virus and his body was showing symptoms, he was a national frontline elite special police officer. Handling some local thugs was a piece of cake; if he couldn’t, that would be strange.

"Then we’ll leave first, Mr. Jin, please take care!" The examination doctor from AM Hospital left one final word of advice before hastily taking the group away.

Moments later, detectives from the Central Police Station and tactical police from the security division rushed in.

Seeing the mess of items scattered across the room, several unconscious thugs on the floor, and blood sprayed everywhere, the officers’ eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

In the heart of Seoul, it’s rare to witness such a bloody fight.

A short detective with a middle parting slid his revolver back into his waistband.

"Mr. Jin..."

"Cough cough, the attackers have fled. The mastermind is Cui Ridou from the Mountain Dog Gang." Gu Ji gestured for him not to come closer.

"Cui Ridou from the Mountain Dog Gang? I’ve heard of him; he has a long rap sheet and is connected to two murder cases. Mr. Jin, for your safety, I suggest you leave here immediately!"

The detective with the middle parting seemed to have had plenty of dealings with the Mountain Dog Gang.

Gu Ji nodded.

He had no gun on him now. If he stayed at home, Cui Ridou might come back with a gun at any time.

So, he grabbed a large backpack, stuffed it with purchased drugs, medical protective gear, and food, and then headed to the underground garage, intending to find a hotel.

On the way, his superior Sun Zaisi and his subordinates kept calling to inquire about his situation.

It seemed the police station had already reported the case to the Central District Prosecution.

After all, a prosecutor being attacked by gangsters is a major case.

It seemed Sun Zaisi was also worried about getting implicated, as he explicitly told Gu Ji over the phone not to care about the Shansang Hospital issue anymore, but to focus on investigating the Wushan Research Institute case.

Gu Ji ignored Sun Zaisi’s advice and asked about Jang Siyun’s situation.

The kid had already landed at Busan Airport and was on his way to Jiang Chengxun’s hometown.

As long as his virus test results came out, and with CDC’s Jiang Chengxun and Shansang Hospital’s respiratory department director Han Zaiyuan testifying, once exposed, it would surely cause national outrage, forcing the government to shut down Shansang Hospital and isolate it.

Gu Ji found a five-star hotel in the city center.

After swiping his card and entering, he hung a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door and opened the windows for ventilation to avoid using central air conditioning.

He touched his slightly feverish head, lay on the bed, and waited for news from AM Company.

Feeling a bit chilly, Gu Ji wrapped himself in a blanket, just as Lin Renna called.

"Mr. Jin, have you seen the hot topics online?"

"Not yet, I just encountered a gang attack."

Gu Ji briefly recounted what had happened and then quickly opened the app after hanging up.

The headline read: "Suspected Anthrax Bacteria Invasion in South Korea, South Korean Intelligence Personnel Claims Incident May Be Related to North Korean Experiments!"

The topic was extremely hot, making it into the top five.

Gu Ji read it carefully to understand why Lin Renna specifically called to remind him.

The news exposed internal information from South Korean intelligence agencies—a North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea was found to have anthrax antibodies in his blood, suggesting he was either exposed to anthrax or vaccinated against it before defecting.

Moreover, the recently released "National Security Strategy" by the United States suggested that North Korea was conducting nuclear and biochemical weapons experiments, testing weapon-grade anthrax warheads on its intercontinental missiles.

The article subtly refuted Lin Renna’s exposure of the Shansang Hospital MERS incident.

It twisted the MERS infection into an anthrax infection.

The end of the article included a popular science segment on anthrax bacteria.

Due to historical reasons, "North Korea" is already a highly debated topic in South Korea. Coupled with "Anthrax Virus," it instantly shifted the direction of online public opinion.

Coincidentally, Shansang Hospital released an announcement at this time:

"Anyone experiencing headaches, general weakness, fever, or breathing difficulties should visit Shansang Hospital at any time. The hospital will establish a dedicated channel for such patients."

Now, the netizens who had previously suspected that there were virulent virus patients inside Shansang Hospital changed their tone and started to praise the hospital, even glorifying it as a "hero."

"This move is really damn wicked!"

Gu Ji couldn’t help but curse.

He knew this must be Shansang’s handiwork behind the scenes; seeing that Lin Renna’s news was becoming unstoppable, and considering Gu Ji’s constant efforts to expose MERS patients inside Shansang Hospital, they opted for the tactic of "stealing beams to replace pillars."

They fabricated hot topics by using anthrax bacteria and historical hatred to divert public attention.

On one hand, this suppressed unfavorable discussions about them; on the other hand, it conveniently established a positive image while attracting more people to the hospital by spreading anxiety.

After all, although anthrax is contagious, it is considered a Class B infectious disease.

Unless weapon-grade anthrax was massively dispersed, making inhalation anthrax bacteria pervasive in the air, the probability of human-to-human transmission is very low; it can only be transmitted through close contact with a patient’s ulcerated skin or sputum and feces, posing an infection risk.