I Have Infinite Skill Points-Chapter 603: Video Stripping

"BANG! BANG! BANG!" Forceful knocking echoed. Jiang Xinyu went to open the door to find Yulia standing on the threshold.

Yulia hurried into the room. "Have you seen the video?"

"Just saw it now!" Wang Lan said, his expression stern. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Despicable... They just used such vile methods to kill the Archbishop of Light, and now they’re using the same tactics to frame the Archbishop of Justice. It’s utterly shameless. Do they really think they can get away with the same methods twice?"

"Surely God’s Country won’t be fooled by the same trick this time, right? Have you investigated the source of the video?"

"We have. The video originated from a foreign organization. The International Security Council mobilized immediately, but they came up empty; the perpetrators had already escaped."

"This video is a forgery, right?" asked Jiang Xinyu.

"It’s definitely a forgery, but very skillfully done. We haven’t found any trace of tampering yet."

"BEEP BEEP BEEP—" Wang Lan’s phone suddenly rang. It was an internal group message from the International Security Council. He checked his phone and immediately received dozens of video files.

Wang Lan opened the files. They were analytical videos posted by pixel-processing experts from around the world, but the results made his brows furrow.

"We’ve used the most sophisticated analysis software, analyzing pixel overlap and light overlap, and there are no traces of Photoshopping in this video. Is this footage real?"

"Any cutting, copying, and pasting would cause data interruption at the seams. If you magnify it enough, you’d see a clear blur line. But we’ve magnified it up to fifty times, without a single trace of a seam at the edges. My God, this video is actually real."

"To think that a candidate for Pope of God’s Country, the Archbishop of Justice who champions righteousness, is actually a Demon..."

These were the top experts in the field, and their analyses unanimously determined the video to be real, without any trace of Photoshopping. This was unexpected for Wang Lan and infuriating for Yulia.

"These people could all be spies of the Hell Monarch! We need to arrest and investigate them," Yulia immediately suggested in the group chat.

"Agent Yulia, while I understand your feelings, we verified these videos as soon as we got them. We confirmed they’re not the Hell Monarch’s minions. Unfortunately, our internal experts also analyzed the video immediately and confirmed it to be real," Major General Dyson’s message popped up in the group. Yulia’s face instantly paled.

"This is impossible... How could it be real..."

"Our internal analysis indicates this video cannot possibly be real. It’s clearly the same method used to frame the Archbishop of Light. The Archbishop of Light was also killed using his genuine diary..." The group chat erupted into a heated discussion.

Soon after, another video file popped up.

The video showed the Archbishop of Justice holding a press conference.

"My dear citizens of God’s Country, I am the Archbishop of Justice, and I am also the protagonist of the video that has suddenly caused such an uproar today. I swear on my faith that this video is fake. I cannot possibly be a blood-sucking Demon. This is a despicable frame-up by a Demon of Hell.

"However, to avoid suspicion and to cooperate with the Papacy’s investigation, I hereby announce my temporary resignation from the office of Archbishop of Justice. My successor will take over. I am confident that the Papacy will uncover the truth and vindicate me, and I hope you will also believe in me..."

The Archbishop of Justice’s role was to lead the judiciary of God’s Country—in other words, equivalent to being the Minister of Public Security. Not resigning would mean investigating himself, so stepping down to avoid a conflict of interest was logical.

This time, the citizens of God’s Country indeed did not believe the video to be true. The Archbishop of Light’s death was still fresh in their minds; how could they fall for the same trick again?

"This time, the Hell Monarch isn’t relying on manipulating opinion within God’s Country, but rather global public opinion," Wang Lan said suddenly after a long period of contemplation, looking up.

"Global public opinion? Can global public opinion really pressure the Archbishop of Justice to death?" Yulia scoffed dismissively.

"The Hell Monarch’s goal isn’t to kill the Archbishop of Justice at all. His aim is to... isolate God’s Country."

The video wasn’t just spreading in God’s Country, but across the entire world. And it was spreading faster internationally than within God’s Country. Clearly, the Hell Monarch’s intention was to create worldwide outrage.

The Hell Monarch knew God’s Country wouldn’t be fooled this time, but the rest of the world might be. If God’s Country were to stand by the Archbishop of Justice, the rest of the world would turn against them. And if God’s Country encountered trouble, no nation would come to their aid, at least not openly...

Wang Lan’s eyes glittered sharply. Suddenly, he uttered two cold words: "Coup d’état!"

"Coup d’état?" Yulia struggled to follow Wang Lan’s leap in logic.

"Yes, a coup. We had already speculated that a high-ranking official in God’s Country must be a spy for the Hell Monarch. When God’s Country loses the support of the world’s people, if such an official seizes that moment to stage a coup, believers worldwide would see him as someone rectifying chaos—the very embodiment of righteousness."

"I see. First, they make the Papacy an object of widespread indignation, then a ’radiant figure’ takes over the current Papal hierarchy. Is this what your Jade Country calls ’grafting one twig onto another’?"

"That’s likely the case."

"The video must be fake. How could so many experts fail to detect it? Are these experts fakes themselves?" Xu Xiangwen complained.

"Let’s handle it ourselves," Wang Lan said, instructing Xiao Ai to take action. Having evolved on its own over the years, even Wang Lan was unsure of the true extent of Xiao Ai’s abilities.

But even with high intelligence, intelligence is software, and software depends on hardware. With hardware of the same level, Xiao Ai is invincible. However, if faced with hardware two or three levels superior, even Xiao Ai would be powerless.

However, Wang Lan believed that hardware two or three levels ahead of Xiao Ai shouldn’t exist, unless it was something on the level of photonic or quantum computers.

"Video decomposition complete..." Xiao Ai’s voice announced after a patient half-hour wait. Soon, the video was split into three parts. The first showed a baby. However, the person holding it and the surroundings were completely black. The image resembled a scene from a horror movie, with the baby appearing to float in mid-air.

The second was a video of the Archbishop of Justice dining and drinking red wine. It featured only him and a dining table laden with dishes; the rest of the background was completely black.

"This video is a composite of three separate recordings, and the person who created it is highly skilled," Wang Lan said.

"That’s great! I’ll report this to the Papacy immediately and have them announce it to the world."

"It’s useless," Wang Lan said, stopping Yulia.

"Why?"

"Look at these three videos. We know these are the separated original video components. But to the outside world, it might look like we deliberately split the main video into three. Separation and deliberate splitting appear identical on the surface. We know these components were separated, but no one else does."

"Can’t someone else do it?"

"They can’t even determine that the video is a composite. How could they possibly manage to separate it?"

"What do we do next? Just let the situation escalate?" Yulia was getting anxious too. The reputation of God’s Country was at stake, and more importantly, the Papal succession was about to begin.

"Now, of course, we need to find the mastermind behind the video," Wang Lan said with a smile as he looked at the three videos.

"Do you already have a lead? Then don’t keep us in suspense," Yulia asked anxiously.

"To create a composite video, you need raw footage. Thanks to Xiao Ai’s decomposition, we can confirm that this isn’t a case of face-swapping onto the Archbishop of Justice."

"Huh... What do you mean?" Yulia looked puzzled, while Jiang Xinyu, after a moment of thought, showed a sudden flash of understanding.

Wang Lan shook his head inwardly. He glanced at Xie Sisi’s and Yulia’s chests. Perhaps there was some truth to that old saying after all.

"Face swaps are easy to detect through analysis because micro-expressions are incredibly difficult to edit. However, using the Archbishop of Justice’s actual person as material has left the biggest flaw," Jiang Xinyu stated calmly.

"That’s right. This is footage from the Archbishop of Justice’s daily life. From the dining table, we can confirm this was filmed within his divine domain."

"I got it!" Yulia finally caught on. "A pinhole camera in the Archbishop of Justice’s divine domain must have captured him dining! We can investigate from that angle."

The group of five left the hotel and headed towards the Archbishop of Justice’s divine domain. By now, its exterior was already surrounded by citizens of God’s Country, holding signs with slogans like, "We believe in you."

The entire divine domain was tightly cordoned off by Holy Knights.

Led by Yulia, Wang Lan was able to enter the divine domain. In God’s Country, the residences of high-ranking clergy were called ’divine domains,’ signifying ’God’s domain’ or ’the realm of a god.’ Initially a term of respect for the clergy, it gradually evolved into a formal designation.

The Archbishop of Justice’s villa boasted a huge garden. He was currently sitting on the third-floor balcony, gazing at the distant scenery. The sky was so blue, the clouds so white.

The Archbishop of Justice held a cup of black tea, his gaze profound...

"’Your Eminence,’ a silver-haired, impeccably dressed butler approached the Archbishop of Justice and said softly, ’Miss Yulia has arrived with people from the International Security Council.’"

"Very well." The Archbishop of Justice stood up and walked into the living room. "Mr. Wang Lan, we meet again."

"Archbishop, have you been well?"

"I am well. I trust the Papacy will clear my name. They used the same tricks to kill Aio, and now they target me. They are insulting our intelligence."

"We’ve already investigated. The video is a composite. However, a camera must have been installed in your divine domain. It recorded footage of your daily life, which was then used as material to create this malicious video."

Saying this, Wang Lan took out his laptop and had Xiao Ai connect to the home network to search. After a few minutes, Xiao Ai displayed a prompt: no camera surveillance devices were found.

This result left Wang Lan slightly stunned.

"Mr. Wang Lan, may I see this video?" the Archbishop of Justice asked.

Wang Lan played the video, which showed the Archbishop of Justice dining. After watching for a moment, the Archbishop’s expression changed drastically. He whirled around furiously and grabbed his butler by the throat.

"Your Eminence..."

"The camera angle in the video... it’s exactly where you always stand! Was this your doing?" the Archbishop of Justice growled, then struck the butler across the forehead with his palm.