Online Fermentation

It wasn't until after midnight that various messages began to emerge on Myanmar's social media platforms.

Moreover, discussions about this topic have emerged not only on social media in Myanmar, but also on international English-language social media and domestic Chinese-language social media, and have been very heated.

In today's society, such public and widespread "mysterious events" are rare.

Earlier tonight, large-scale riots broke out in Montamira, a tourist city in eastern Myanmar, with many shops being vandalized and many tourists being attacked and robbed.

Moreover, under the guidance of certain individuals, it was primarily targeted at Chinese people.

However, the focus of online discussions is not on the riot itself, but rather on the "strange phenomena" that occurred in various areas of Montamira during the riot.

Numerous residents and tourists in Montamira claim to have witnessed an enormous monster with many arms and many eyes on its head.

However, different people have different descriptions of that monster.

Some say the monster is seven or eight meters tall, some say it's at least ten meters tall, or even close to twenty meters, while others say it's less than fifty meters tall and that it drinks urine upside down!

Descriptions of the monster's appearance varied. Some said they saw a layer of black mist swirling around it, obscuring the details and making it look like tree bark. Others said it was made of stone, while still others claimed it was clearly metal, with a metallic sheen. Still others said the monster's body was covered in fleshy growths and was even oozing black sap.

But one thing remains the same—it has many arms and many eyes, or to be precise, eight arms and eight eyes.

Moreover, just seeing that monster instilled a profound and soul-stirring fear in everyone.

However, most of the eyewitnesses did not consider this monster, which had given everyone a terrifying shock, to be an "evil" being.

Its appearance not only directly stopped all the violence and saved many people, but also made many people feel like their souls had been "sauna-washed" after calming down. Many questions that had been troubling and confusing them for a long time suddenly became clear.

Therefore, many people even believe that this enormous Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster may be some kind of awakened deity who sensed the sins of humanity and thus descended to cleanse the sins and dispel the darkness with fear.

However, most of these comments came from people who had personally experienced the event and witnessed the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster" illusion. But these people were few in number, and at that time most people were still in shock or did not have internet access or the habit of posting on social media. So, online public opinion was quickly swayed in other directions by the majority of people.

First, some people questioned why no one filmed this enormous monster appearing in the city. Even if no one took pictures, shouldn't there be nearby surveillance footage?

Those who witnessed the incident said that initially everyone was shocked by the appearance of the monster, and their entire being was overwhelmed by fear. No one had time to react or dared to take a picture.

However, when they realized they needed to take a picture, they found that both their phones and cameras were malfunctioning.

They are also hoping that clear surveillance footage of the area involved in the incident will be released.

However, a Chinese shop owner in Myanmar posted a video on Weibo confirming that all of their shop's surveillance cameras were malfunctioning when the incident occurred and did not record the incident. The same was true for shops around him.

When the monster appeared, it seemed to carry a strong interfering magnetic field, causing all electronic devices to temporarily malfunction, and even various lights to go out or flicker.

But Montamira is a very large city, and at that time, a photographer was using time-lapse photography on a high floor of a hotel to capture the changing cityscape at night.

His camera lens was pointed directly at the incident area, and the straight-line distance was far enough that the equipment was not affected, so he recorded what happened in that area during that time.

Although it's far away, if the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster is really as huge as the eyewitnesses described, it will definitely be captured on camera.

The problem is that there is no "giant monster" in the footage taken by the photographer.

So when the photographer posted the footage he took, along with the time it was taken, on social media to "debunk" the claims of those who witnessed the monster, public opinion immediately shifted towards the view that the person who posted it was either seeking attention or hallucinating.

However, those who experienced it firsthand and shared their experiences online readily admitted it was a hallucination. Many of them stated that they quickly realized it was a hallucination after the monster disappeared, because many of the environmental changes created when the monster appeared, such as the footprints in the middle of the road, were restored after it disappeared.

Whether it was a hallucination or not, it didn't affect the feelings of those who experienced it firsthand; they were still filled with shock and awe towards the monster.

However, it had a significant impact on most netizens, leading them to make other speculations.

The voices of those who experienced it firsthand were quickly drowned out, and online discussions began to unfold in different directions, driven by netizens from various fields.

On English-language social media, many people believe this was a "psychic interference weapon" used by the Myanmar government to suppress the riots, capable of causing everyone to become mentally unstable and hallucinate. The evidence they cite is that electronic devices throughout the area were affected, which they consider "ironclad proof."

Many people have even found various seemingly "genuine" declassified official documents, claiming that certain technologies leaked from former Soviet laboratories and were bought by the Myanmar government for further research. Others have said that the US has related laboratories in Montamira, and that the technology may be American.

On Myanmar's local social media platforms, most people are unaware of the long-distance video previously released by the photographer, or if they have seen it, they feel it proves nothing. They still believe that the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant is a manifestation of the true god protecting Montamira, but various religious sects are taking credit, claiming it was their own gods who intervened.

On Chinese social media platforms, the scope of discussion is even broader.

On Zhihu's trending list alone, seven out of the top twenty questions are related to this topic, covering multiple fields. There are also three related trending topics on Weibo. Even Bilibili and Douyu have content creators who are traveling in Montamira and, after connecting to the internet, are live-streaming from their hotels to "report" on the local situation.

Some psychological analysts believe that during riots, certain extreme conditions can cause an individual's emotions to affect others through their senses, creating a collective hallucination. They have begun to search for past cases and analyze the experiences described by those involved on internal and external websites to verify this theory.

There are Cthulhu fantasy enthusiasts who have begun to explore the commonalities between the Cthulhu Mythos and certain unknowns in reality. Is it possible that similar unknown life forms truly exist, only they exist in a higher dimension, or a parallel universe? It's just that at a certain moment, its projection appeared in our world, in Montamira, and was thus seen by certain people.

Those who have seen it may find it easier to see creatures from another world, and more likely to hear or see certain things in the future.

Some conspiracy theorists believe this is a smokescreen released by the Myanmar government through online trolls to mitigate the negative impact of the Montamira riots and create a new tourist hotspot, attracting tourists interested in mystery to "explore" Montamira.

However, after some Chinese people who personally experienced the event in Montamira and saw the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster" posted their descriptions online, this claim immediately vanished and fell apart.

After seeing the news about Montamira online, Xia Libing, who was sitting in front of the computer, naturally understood what Xiang Kun meant by "big commotion" and immediately judged which of the news reports were true and which were false.

She knew that the illusion of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster" was created by Xiang Kun —this ability was first successfully tested in an abandoned factory in Citong City, under her "witness"

She even knew that this ability was derived and expanded from the abilities Xiang Kun developed based on "Little Apple" and "Gold Glitter".

She just hadn't expected that Xiang Kun would exert such a wide-ranging and large-scale emotional projection influence.

However, considering the news about the Montamira riots, she could guess why Xiang Kun decided to do this.

Based on her previous analysis of Xiang Kun's various online statements in his early years, the items in his home, his early writings, and his early deeds, it is clear that although Xiang Kun always said that he was a selfish person and a person who hated trouble, he actually had a strong sense of national and familial responsibility.

Since the riots in Montamira were primarily targeting the Chinese community, it was predictable that he would choose to intervene, given his ability to protect himself and influence the situation.

Choosing to use the emotional projection of an "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving" to influence others is also in line with his personality.

Judging from the accounts of online witnesses, the illusions have been gone for a long time now, so Xiang Kun should have already left Montamira and is on his way back.

So Xia Libing sent Xiang Kun a blank WeChat. She knew that Xiang Kun received it, he would understand what she meant by asking and would definitely reply.

But Xiang Kun did not reply until 3 a. m.

This struck Xia Libing as odd; perhaps Xiang Kun was still carrying out other actions, such as investigating the culprits and behind-the-scenes reasons for the riots targeting Chinese people.

Either his phone malfunctioned and couldn't receive messages—based on eyewitness accounts, electronic devices were affected when the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster appeared, only recovering after the illusion disappeared—it's entirely possible that his phone, if constantly carried with him, would have been subjected to even stronger influence and broken down.

If his phone breaks and he can't be contacted, will he assume she's already back in Chongyun Village preparing rabbit meat when he returns to the border city in China tomorrow, and then buy a plane ticket directly to Jianzhou?

This worry only flashed through her mind for a moment before Xia Libing dismissed it immediately. She glanced at the notebook Black Circle Graffiti and doodles on her lap, then at the wooden box of chopsticks and a few Coin on the table, knowing that Xiang Kun would never have misunderstood her location.

Ye Zijun was staying at a hotel in Montamira, was also browsing various domestic online platforms, looking at related news, and didn't sleep all night, or rather, couldn't sleep at all.

Last night, the young Myanmar man dropped her and her parents off at the hotel and then left without her even having a chance to ask for his name or contact information.

After being examined and bandaged by a doctor she and her parents found at the hotel, it was determined that there was nothing wrong; it was just some superficial injury that would heal with rest, and she didn't need to go to the hospital again. It was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

The hotel had good security, and soon a large number of heavily armed police and soldiers took to the streets, so the riot did not last long.

Of course, in Ye Zijun's opinion, what brought the riots to a swift halt was the giant walking through the city.

Or should I say... a giant illusion?

Because the riots were deliberately instigated by certain individuals, they initially targeted Chinese-owned shops and Chinese tourists.

Ye Zijun then saw many radical and angry comments on domestic social media platforms, which directly negated everyone in Myanmar. So she posted on Zhihu, from the perspective of a firsthand witness, how she and her parents were "rescued" by Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant "passed by" when they were attacked by five thugs, and how they were later rescued by a tall Myanmar boy when they were harassed by two more thugs and escorted to a hotel.

Because she had enjoyed writing since middle school and had a good writing style, and because this experience was so impactful, memorable, and emotionally draining, her lengthy answer was very compelling. Coupled with her firsthand experience, it quickly garnered a lot of approval and thanks, propelling her answer into the top three.

In her account, the five thugs who initially attacked her family were insane, cruel, and left her in despair.

The Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant that suddenly appeared was enormous, mysterious, and terrifying. After it appeared, the five thugs seemed to be greatly Mental Intimidation, much more so than she and her parents.

In her view, although the giant had in fact "saved" them, subjectively, or for them, for the rioters, or for all living beings on the ground, it did not care; it was merely "passing by."

Later, when she met the Myanmar boy who saved her family of three, she felt warmth and kindness. She believed that with such people around, both Myanmar and Montamira were still places of hope.

To be honest, the style of this answer is very different from what she wrote before; she seems to have let go of her inhibitions.

Moreover, she has already made up her mind that after returning to China this time, she will resign and start doing the work she wants to do.

In the past, she always followed the rules and was very cautious, always acting prudently and thinking things through carefully. But after this experience, she suddenly had an epiphany and realized that life is inherently unpredictable, and she couldn't plan or control everything.

She didn't shrink away because of the sudden riots and dangers, the brush with death, or the horrors and mysteries she witnessed. She suddenly realized that what she was truly afraid of and terrified of was the passage of time, the extinguishing of her passion for life, and the regret of saying "I could have..." when she was old.

The next morning, just as Ye Zijun was feeling sleepy and wanted to rest, she suddenly received a call from the front desk saying that the police were looking for her.

She wasn't surprised. After returning to the hotel yesterday, she called the police using the hotel's phone, but unsurprisingly, she couldn't get through. She guessed that too many people were calling the police, and the line was always busy.

So she assumed that it was someone from the hotel who called the police for her later, and that the police finally had some manpower available to investigate today.

But when she went down to the lobby and met the police, she communicated with them through the hotel's translator and discovered that they had come to see her because of the local teenager who had rescued her and her parents on the street the day before and escorted them to the hotel.

This morning, many people went to the police station to turn themselves in. One of them even implicated his accomplices who went to smash the pharmacy last night, including the young man Mao Qiang. As a result, the police came to his door and took him away.

Mao Qiang explained to the police that he did not participate in smashing the pharmacy, but instead escorted three Chinese tourists back to their hotel. The police then sent someone to verify this.

After seeing the photos on the other person's phone, Ye Zijun immediately confirmed the boy's statement. Moreover, the hotel staff could also help verify that he was indeed the one who brought Ye Zijun and her family of three there last night.

Ye Zijun knew why the other party had sent someone to verify this case, so she showed the police her answer from China and briefly explained the content about Mao Qiang in her answer.

Although the person couldn't read Chinese characters, they could understand the number of likes and comments on the answer and could tell how popular it was. So they asked Ye Zijun to help fill out a few forms, saying that if the Mao Qiang, he could be released immediately and might even receive a reward.

Ye Zijun took the opportunity to chat with the local police officer through the translator for a while. Although the specific casualty figures in the city could not be revealed to her yet, she was told that so far, they had not found any tourists who had died in last night's riots.

In his words, he was quite glad that the illusion of the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant had appeared last night. He even expressed envy towards Ye Zijun had seen and experienced the giant's illusion firsthand, and asked her about her impressions at the time.

Not only the police officers, but also the hotel translators expressed curiosity and envy during their conversations, as if not seeing the giant was a great regret.

By noon the following day, the online discussion surrounding the Montamira incident had reached its peak.

in the country, most people who see this news just watch the spectacle with amusement.

But a small group of people, who were not in Montamira and did not experience last night's events firsthand, had a completely different and overwhelming feeling when they saw these news reports.

For example, Chu Xiuwen, who was having lunch with Zicheng and Chu Xiaoting at the "Youlong Restaurant", didn't take it seriously at first when he heard the two young people talking about the "Montamira Cthulhu incident" circulating online. However, when he heard the description of "eight arms, eight eyes, and a giant as big as a mountain", he was stunned as if he had been electrocuted.