Insisting that the Emperor was absolutely right and ensuring the supremacy of the Empire — this was the first operating principle of the Public Opinion Risk Control Department. This set of principles had been engraved in the minds of every servant as early as the establishment of the department, and with the continuous development of the Public Opinion Control Department, a series of response systems in the face of unexpected situations had been derived from these principles.
In fact, from the people who spoke at the beginning to the people who threw the stones at the end, they were all servants of the Public Opinion Control Department distributed among the crowd, or as the saying goes, "shills."
What they were doing now was actually the same as what Tiamat had done just now, but when it came to the control of people's hearts, they were even better than the Evil Dragon Mother who had the divine title of conspiracy. Because they were humans, they understood people's hearts better.
When Tiamat's projection appeared in the sky above Galanoud, provoking and mocking both sides at the same time, no matter if it was a normal person or a slightly capable adventurer, no one dared to show up at the first moment. This was the norm — although the Blackwing Empire had many non-believers and shallow believers, the majesty and power of the gods were still deeply rooted in people's hearts, and the deep-rooted reverence and fear buried in the minds of many races could not be erased. If they were asked to line up and face the gods alone, no one would say a word, let alone be disrespectful and disobedient.
But it was important to note that most intelligent creatures, especially humans, would have an extremely strong "follower effect" under certain circumstances, and there was another species that was highly similar to humans in this aspect: sheep.
Under normal circumstances, most sheep were docile and cowardly, and a flock of sheep was a simple and scattered organization. Usually, when they gathered together, they would just wander left and right cluelessly, but when one sheep took the lead, the other sheep would rush forward without hesitation, completely ignoring the possibility of jackals, wolves, or other dangers in front of them.
This analogy was best used to describe the current crowd. After the servants of the Public Opinion Department of the Blackwing Empire who pretended to be civilians came out one after another, the herd effect gradually made the situation develop in an uncontrollable direction.
When the will of the herd descended, people's brains would enter a different mode, and their emotions would involuntarily become agitated. Countless people hid in the boiling crowd and loudly threatened and cursed, disrespecting the Dragon Queen, Tiamat, who they usually worshipped.
The taboo experience brought about by this impulse would feed back more stimulation and satisfaction to the brain, making them even crazier. A frightening fanaticism spread among the crowd.
"Hit it!"
"Airadia does not welcome you. Tiamat, get out of this world!"
"Bite me if you dare!"
The Black Dragon could not help but raise his eyebrows at the violent reaction of the people of Galanoud. This was something that Caesar had not expected. In fact, the reason why they dared to do so was not because of Caesar. Although this fellow was undoubtedly powerful, the high and mighty Emperor Black Dragon was far from ordinary people. They were not Luna, so the safety they could obtain from Caesar was very little.
The people's confidence and sense of security came from the imperial army around them. Because of the military parade, the soldiers of the Blackwing Legion filled every corner of Galanoud's streets and alleys. The fully armed and powerful army gave the people an unparalleled sense of self-confidence. It inevitably made them feel certain that if Tiamat really attacked, the army around them would protect them.
Tiamat had chosen the perfect time to descend. Her goal was simple, and that was to drag Caesar down when his momentum was at its peak.
The dragon queen had succeeded, but she did not leave immediately as she was eager to see Caesar's defeated face. The Blackwing Empire's response was perfect. Not only was her instigation and bewitchment overturned, she had also pushed herself into an extremely awkward position.
The only thing that could save the situation now was blood.
Tiamat was very clear that as long as she casually hanged a person from the noisy crowd, even if it was only one person, it would make these cowardly and incompetent scum realize what they were doing. They would immediately shut their mouths and turn back into cowardly lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
But at the same time, she also knew that the Black Dragon would never allow her to do so.
Caesar Ortoronzo Tangerine. This mutated dragon was not invincible in the prime material plane of Airadia, but he was not far from the strongest. As long as this guy did not go crazy and touch the taboo, there was hardly anything in this world that could kill or destroy him.
Even as the ancestor of all the Pentashade dragons, she could not do much against the mutated Black Dragon.
"Tiamat, it seems that you are enjoying this self-humiliating situation. Are you still not planning to leave?"
Caesar looked up and said. He had not made a move. Strength was not the main factor in this confrontation, but he had still won.
"Damn it."
Tiamat's blue dragon head was vexed, her green dragon head was filled with viciousness, and the rest were filled with anger. She growled and retracted her projection. "One day, you will pay the price … It won't be long."
In the end, she did not fight with Caesar. It was meaningless to fight with just a projection, and it was impossible for the cautious Dragon Queen to descend in person. She could only think of other ways.
Caesar was well aware of this, which was why he had the confidence to confront the Dragon Mother. However, there was one thing that he was wrong about: he believed that the reason why the gods would not personally descend to the Lower Realm was because crossing the Realm Barrier would cause a lot of losses. This was indeed true, but it was too one-sided. As for the real reason why it was difficult for the gods to personally descend to the Prime Material Plane, we can quote the description of a certain mad scholar in Eladia.
"The creatures in Airadia are like in a balloon. Most of them are as weak as ants. Although the gods and abominations are incomparably powerful, they can only stay outside the balloon. The inside and outside of the balloon are separated by an insurmountable boundary wall. If the gods want to exert influence on this world, they will generally choose to use the creatures in the balloon to attack another group of creatures.
Even if they really want to do something, they can't puncture the balloon. They can only pinch it with their hands. The so-called 'divine punishment' and 'projections' that we see are the outlines that they squeeze out with their hands through the balloon. "
"The noble gods will not appear in Eladia, because if they want to descend, not only do they need to spend an endless amount of energy to cross the world barrier, they also need to lower themselves to become a life that this world can understand and bear — what they call ants."
"… Heh heh heh, this means that if you are not afraid of other ants and are strong enough to ignore the threat of those 'silhouettes,' even if you point at their noses and scold them, insult their divine blessings, and destroy their churches, it will be fine."
This was the real reason why Tiamat had never taken the risk to descend in person to kill Caesar, even though she regarded him as a treacherous thorn in her heart and repeatedly failed in her plans. This was because the Black Dragon had basically reached the top level of power that this material world could display. If she really chose to lower herself to descend, under the suppression of the world and the situation where she could not acclimatize, it was very likely that … she would not be able to defeat him.
"Long live the Emperor, long live the Empire!"
"Long live the Northern Empire!"
Seeing Tiamat leave with a strong start but weak finish, a huge burst of cheers broke out in the crowd. Making a god suffer was a major event that had never happened in the third era. Obviously, it had greatly increased the people's self-confidence and sense of belonging.
Caesar also sighed softly. He was not afraid of Tiamat, but if the crisis caused by her provocation was not dealt with properly, it might cause some indelible damage to the Blackwing Empire. Even in such a situation now, the Empire would need some time to digest the negative impact caused by it in the future.
Finally, after many twists and turns, this "wedding of the century" finally ended in a more satisfactory manner, but the far-reaching impact it had on the Empire had just begun, positive and negative …