From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

70: Chapter 70 The Eye of the Storm in the CourtroomIn the Third Courtroom of the Nashville Federal Court, the air hung with a taut silence. The public gallery was overflowing into the aisles, the media section’s cameras and microphones were long since in position, and there were twice as many bailiffs as usual, standing at attention within the chamber. This was no ordinary commercial infringement lawsuit; everyone could smell something larger and more dangerous surging beneath the surface.

Alex Su sat at the defendant’s table, his black suit crisp and his white shirt immaculate. Attorney Lawson was reviewing documents one last time beside him, his fingertips tapping unconsciously on the table. At the plaintiff’s table, Attorney Maureen Carter was whispering to her assistant; she wore an iron-gray suit today, looking like a meticulously sculpted statue.

At nine o’clock sharp, the gavel fell.

”The trial will continue,” Judge Davis’s voice echoed through the PA system. ”The plaintiff, Northrop Corporation, accuses the defendant, Alex Su, of misappropriation of trade secrets, commercial defamation, and interference with commercial contracts. The defendant has filed a countersuit, accusing the plaintiff of abuse of legal process. Are both sides ready to continue calling witnesses?”

”Yes, Your Honor,” Attorney Carter stood up. ”The plaintiff requests to call our witness, Mr. Martin Green.”

A murmur rippled through the gallery. Martin Green was led in from the side door by a bailiff and took the stand. He was pale, his eyes darting about, and his voice trembled slightly as he took the oath.

Attorney Carter began her questioning, her tone as gentle as if she were chatting with an old friend. ”Mr. Green, do you know the defendant, Alex Su?”

”I do,” Green said, keeping his head down. ”He was once my student at Nashville Science Magnet High School, and he took my honors chemistry course.”

”During your instruction, did Mr. Su display an ’unusual interest’ in certain specific fields of chemistry or materials science?”

Alex’s Spider-Sense sent a faint prickle—not a warning of danger, but an instinctual reaction that he was ’about to be framed.’ He glanced at Lawyer Lawson calmly, and the lawyer gave a slight nod, signaling he was ready.

”He... was indeed very interested in the performance changes of materials under extreme conditions,” Green said, his voice dropping lower. ”Especially phase transitions and fatigue failure in high-temperature alloys. He stayed after class many times to ask questions beyond the course syllabus and even borrowed some... rather professional journals.”

Attorney Carter wore an ’I knew it’ expression as she turned to the jury. ”Therefore, the defendant is not just an ordinary musician with no knowledge of materials science, but someone with a certain foundation of professional knowledge. This explains why he was able to ’accurately’ fabricate the ’technical details’ regarding the defects of the NT-7 material...”

”Objection!” Lawyer Lawson rose. ”The prosecution is leading the witness to make speculative conclusions. Mr. Green has not confirmed any ’fabrication,’ only stated his observations from teaching.”

”Sustained,” Judge Davis looked at Carter. ”Please stick to the facts with your questions.”

Attorney Carter adjusted her strategy. ”Mr. Green, have you ever mentioned these ’interests’ of Mr. Su to anyone—including Northrop Corporation?”

”I...” Green’s hands gripped the railing of the witness stand, his knuckles turning white. ”I... during my illness last year, Northrop Corporation’s ’Charitable Care Program’ contacted me and provided some medical assistance. In a casual conversation, I may have... mentioned that I once had a student who was obsessed with these things.”

”A casual conversation.” Attorney Carter repeated the word, her tone meaningful. ”Then, have you received any ’financial support’ from Northrop Corporation in exchange for your testimony today?”

The eyes of the entire courtroom focused on Green’s face. Fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, and his lips moved, but no sound came out. This was precisely the trap designed by Northrop—if he denied it, he would be committing perjury; if he admitted it, he would be branded as ’bought,’ but it would also destroy the credibility of Northrop’s own witness.

Several long seconds passed.

Green suddenly raised his head, looked at Alex at the defendant’s table, then turned to the judge. His voice was hoarse but clear. ”Your Honor, I request to amend my testimony.”

Attorney Carter’s expression shifted slightly. ”Witness, you have already been sworn in...”

”Precisely because I was sworn in.” Green interrupted her, taking a deep breath. ”I received money from Northrop Corporation. Four hundred and seven thousand dollars, for my cancer treatment and my daughter’s law school tuition. They promised that as long as I testified in court today according to the script they gave me, my family would receive more. My wife... knows nothing about this.”

The courtroom erupted in an uproar!

Reporters frantically tapped on their keyboards, and an irrepressible murmur broke out in the gallery. The bailiffs had to shout to maintain order.

Attorney Carter froze in place, clearly not having anticipated this reversal. Her team was frantically flipping through documents, trying to find a countermeasure.

Judge Davis struck the gavel hard. ”Order! Mr. Green, do you understand what you are saying? Perjury is a felony.”

”I do,” Green’s voice stabilized, as if a heavy burden had been lifted. ”Last night, Lawyer Lawson found me and showed me the true source of what my wife thought were ’charitable donations.’ I realized that if I lied today, I would not only be betraying the truth, but also betraying my student and betraying the ’pursuit of truth’ that I have taught in science for thirty years. Northrop tried to buy my conscience and my silence with money. But I choose... to tell the truth.”

He turned to Alex, his gaze complex. ”Alex, you did indeed ask many questions beyond the syllabus back then. But I understand now that some people ask questions because they truly want to know the answer. I’m sorry.”

Alex nodded slightly, saying nothing. Sometimes, silence is the best response.

Attorney Carter tried to salvage the situation. ”Your Honor, the witness’s testimony is clearly under the improper influence of the defendant’s counsel...”

”Objection!” Lawyer Lawson stood up immediately. ”The prosecution is alleging misconduct without evidence. The fact is, Mr. Green voluntarily chose to tell the truth, which is exactly what the judicial system encourages.”

Judge Davis pondered for a moment. ”Mr. Green’s testimony has been recorded. The court reminds everyone that the credibility of the witness’s testimony will be evaluated by the jury. Does the plaintiff have other witnesses?”

Attorney Carter was clearly thrown off balance by this blow. After quickly consulting with her assistant, she gritted her teeth and said, ”The plaintiff requests to call our technical expert, Northrop Corporation’s senior engineer, Dr. Brian Miller.”

A man wearing thick glasses, looking like a typical laboratory researcher, took the stand. His testimony was dry and technical, with only one core argument: the image recognition algorithm used in Alex’s AR project had a ’high degree of similarity’ to an undisclosed patented algorithm of Northrop’s, and such similarity ’could not be the result of independent development.’

During the cross-examination, Lawyer Lawson stood up.

”Agent Miller, you said these two sets of algorithms are ’highly similar.’ What is the specific degree of similarity?”

”According to our analysis, the logical similarity of the key function structures is between 65% and 70%.”

”Is it possible that this similarity arose naturally because they were solving the same type of technical problem (such as real-time image recognition)? After all, solutions in mathematics and code logic often converge.”

”The probability is very low.”

”How low? Is there any published paper or industry standard proving that such ’convergence’ cannot happen?”

”...There is no specific data.”

”Then, have you checked the ’earliest verifiable development timestamp’ of this Northrop patented algorithm?”

Agent Miller pushed up his glasses. ”That is internal company confidential information.”

”In other words, you cannot prove that Northrop’s algorithm was developed earlier than Alex Su’s project?”

”...Based on public information, it cannot be proven.”

”One last question, Doctor.” Lawyer Lawson stepped closer. ”Have you, or Northrop Corporation, attempted network penetration of the AR project’s servers after its public test in order to obtain its source code?”

”Objection!” Attorney Carter practically jumped up. ”The question is irrelevant to this case, and it is leading and insulting!”

”Sustained,” Judge Davis said. ”Please ask questions directly relevant to this case, defense attorney.”

Lawyer Lawson stepped back, but his goal had been achieved—he had planted the seeds of doubt in the minds of the jury: who was the real ’thief’?

The trial moved into the afternoon. Both sides engaged in a fierce war of words, trading evidence back and forth. Northrop presented more technical analysis reports and market impact assessments (claiming the AR project caused its stock price to fall and created contractual risks). The Alex side called Professor Linus Kroll to testify remotely—via an encrypted video link, the professor, in a safe house, detailed the issues with the original test data of the NT-7 material from ten years ago, as well as the internal pressure from Northrop’s senior management to tamper with the data. His testimony was calm, professional, and full of detail, corroborating the copy of the yellowed original report, and carried immense weight.

Whenever Professor Linus Kroll mentioned a key time or name, Alex could feel a faint fluctuation in his ”Information Chain Vision” ability, as if those blurry connection lines were trembling slightly, pointing toward deeper, unexplored connections.

He silently noted these sensations.

As time approached four in the afternoon, the atmosphere in the courtroom had reached a fever pitch.

Before her closing statement, Attorney Carter requested a brief recess.

During the recess, Alex walked to the window of the lounge.

The system interface appeared before his eyes:

【Current Popularity: 3,850,000 points】

(The live court proceedings, reported by media and spread through social media clips, brought explosive growth: a single-day increase of 600,000 points, and it is still rising rapidly.)

【Spider-Sense (Intermediate) Evolution Progress: 79%】

【Emotional Resonance Field (Intermediate) Evolution Progress: 57%】

【Note: High-intensity confrontation and emotional shock significantly accelerate ability fusion.】

Attorney Lawson walked in, his expression grave: ”When Carter requested the recess, she received a phone call, and her expression was very ugly. I suspect there are changes on Northrop’s side.”

”What kind of changes?”

”Not sure. But it might be... they intend to play their final card.”

After the court reconvened, Attorney Carter’s expression was indeed colder.

She did not continue the technical debate but instead submitted a new motion to the judge.

”Your Honor, based on the latest information, we request that a portion of this case—regarding the defendant’s alleged ’illegal acquisition and dissemination of sensitive government information’—be transferred to the federal secret court for trial. Because the materials involved may touch upon the scope of ’state secrets’.”

Once these words were spoken, the entire courtroom was shaken once again!

State secrets!

This meant that if the motion passed, the case would move into a completely closed procedure. Alex and his lawyer might not even know which ”secret” they had violated, let alone mount a defense.

This was Northrop’s ultimate weapon—using the grand banner of ”national security” to forcibly end this public confrontation.

Officer Davis read the motion document carefully, her brow furrowed.

Clearly, this motion was well-prepared, accompanied by ”statements of concern” from certain government departments.

Attorney Lawson immediately stood up to object: ”This is an abuse of the ’state secrets’ privilege, intended to cover up a commercial scandal! We demand the disclosure of the specific content of the so-called ’sensitive information’ to evaluate its authenticity and relevance to this case!”

”The relevant information itself is classified and cannot be disclosed.” Attorney Carter did not yield an inch.

The court reached an impasse.

The scales began to tip toward Northrop.

Once the case entered confidential proceedings, all of Alex’s previous public efforts and advantages in public opinion would vanish completely.

Just then, Alex raised his hand.

”Your Honor, we have new evidence that needs to be submitted in court.”

Officer Davis looked up: ”What evidence?”

Alex took out the material from his briefcase that he had sensed from the latest information from the ”Front Row Audience” and which had been urgently verified by Hank’s team—it was not a paper document, but a small silver USB drive.

”This evidence is directly related to the ’state secrets’ the plaintiff is attempting to invoke.”

Alex’s voice was clear and steady, ”It shows that the so-called ’sensitive information’ leak did not originate from us, but from management loopholes within Northrop Corporation, as well as ’improper information sharing’ between them and certain FAA officials. More importantly, some of the documents marked as ’classified’ had their security clearance levels improperly raised, specifically to obstruct the normal trial of this case.”

Attorney Carter said sharply: ”Ridiculous! These are baseless accusations! Your Honor, the defendant is openly challenging...”

”Please allow me to play a summary of one of the audio clips.”

Alex handed the USB drive to the bailiff, ”This will not involve truly core classified content; it will only demonstrate the path of information flow and permission anomalies. If the plaintiff insists these are ’state secrets,’ then please explain why a middle-level project manager at Northrop was able to send this information via private email to specific FAA officials without authorization? Does this in itself constitute a serious violation of confidentiality regulations?”

The USB drive was inserted into the computer.

A processed audio recording of a conversation, which did not involve specific technical details, played through the courtroom speakers, along with a corresponding analysis of email metadata traces.

The voices and paths had been voice-changed and blurred, but the logical chain was terrifyingly clear: someone inside Northrop had bypassed normal channels to provide information that should have been restricted to Deputy Director Robert Chambers of the FAA.

And Chambers had subsequently marked a portion of this information with a higher security classification.

The recording ended, and the courtroom was deathly silent.

Attorney Carter’s expression cracked for the first time.

The assistants behind her exchanged panicked glances.

Alex faced the judge and the jury: ”This is not a case about national security; this is a case about how a corporation abuses power, manipulates systems, and even hijacks the concept of ’national security’ to cover up its product defects and commercial fraud. If the court allows such a motion to pass today, then tomorrow, any enterprise could use ’state secrets’ as a shield to evade inquiries into their misconduct. That would be the true harm to national security and judicial justice.”

His words were powerful and resonant.

Among the jury members, a few nodded slowly.

Officer Davis remained silent for a long time, long enough for the people in the gallery to start shifting uncomfortably.

Finally, she looked up, her gaze sharp as she looked at Attorney Carter: ”The plaintiff’s motion lacks sufficient convincing evidence to show that transferring this case to a secret court is more in line with judicial justice and national interests than clarifying the facts in an open court. The motion... is denied. This case will continue to be tried in public.”

”Your Honor!” Attorney Carter wanted to argue further.

”My decision has been made.” Officer Davis said in an unquestionable tone, ”Does the plaintiff have any other witnesses or evidence? If not, this court will hear the closing statements from both sides.”

Attorney Carter opened her mouth, then finally slumped into her seat. She knew the game was up.

The closing statement phase almost became a formality.

When the gavel finally fell, announcing the end of today’s trial and that the jury would begin deliberations tomorrow, a huge wave of sound erupted from the gallery—there were cheers, exclamations, and the sound of reporters rushing out to file their stories.

Alex stood where he was, not leaving immediately.

He could feel countless gazes focused on him, some filled with cold hatred.

The system notification sound rang out again, clearer than any time before:

【Current Popularity: 4,200,000 points】

(The decisive moment in court, broadcast live and reposted by global media, brought a new round of explosive growth: a total single-day increase of 1.1 million points!)

【Spider-Sense (Intermediate) Evolution Complete!】

【Emotional Resonance Field (Intermediate) Evolution Complete!】

【Unlocked New Features: Spider-Sense (Intermediate)—Warning range extended to 80 meters, can vaguely distinguish threat types (malice/intent to kill/surveillance). Emotional Resonance Field (Intermediate)—Maximum number of affected people increased to 15,000, emotional guidance precision improved, and can produce a faint ’collective emotional anchoring’ effect (strengthening the audience’s memory of specific information for a short time).】

His abilities had evolved!

Although he hadn’t directly exchanged for new abilities, the qualitative change in his existing ones brought a huge boost in strength.

Lawyer Lawson walked over and firmly patted his shoulder, his face showing unconcealable excitement: ”We won, Alex! At least in terms of public opinion and legal procedure, it will be very difficult for Northrop to recover! The jury’s inclination is very obvious!”

Alex nodded, but his gaze turned toward the plaintiff’s table.

Attorney Carter was quickly packing up her documents, not looking at him once, but her back exuded a sense of resolute coldness.

He knew this was far from over.

The victory in court only forced out more of Northrop’s hole cards, also making them more dangerous.

When they cannot defeat you with law and public opinion, darker methods will be put on the agenda.

His phone vibrated, a message from an unknown number:

”Well won. But they won’t admit defeat. Howard has authorized the activation of the ’Circuit Breaker Protocol’—at any cost, terminate the threat. Watch out for all ’accidents.’ The gift is in the parking lot, under your car chassis. This time, it’s a real ’gift.’ —D”

Alex put away his phone and said to Lawyer Lawson: ”You go first; I’ll go out later.”

He needed a little time to receive that ”gift,” and also a little time to think about how to deal with the upcoming, more undisguised storm.

Walking out the back door of the court, the evening sun stretched his shadow long.

Popularity: 4,200,000 points.

Abilities: Dual intermediate evolution.

Enemies: Cornered, preparing for a desperate struggle.

And his journey had only just reached the halfway point.

Ahead lay the long night leading to the threshold of the ten-million extraordinary.

It was also the bloody dawn leading to the first glimmer of divinity.