Chapter 35

The entire post had the OP crying about his misfortune. He revealed a lot of information in the post, such as his mother being the second wife, while his half-brother's mother was the first wife, and his half-brother had been at odds with him since childhood.

And after framing him, his half-brother resigned, but his brainchild was henceforth labeled with his half-brother's name, never to be retrieved.

Although he had censored details, the First Research Institute only had so many researchers. There was a pair of half-brothers, and the older half-brother had resigned a few months ago. Following the clues, people quickly identified the OP and the malicious half-brother in the post.

They were the two sons of Marshal Ruan Ming's first wife and current wife — Ruan Xi and Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang had a low-key personality, and he felt that his previous work didn't require him to build himself into an internet celebrity. Therefore, most ordinary netizens had never heard of Ruan Tang.

But Ruan Xi was different. As a Fortune Plunderer, he needed a great amount of prestige and admiration from others to maintain his halo. Therefore, from very early on, he began posting about his life and work on various social media sites, leveraging his status as Marshal Ruan Ming's son, a researcher at the First Research Institute, and an aristocratic Omega to craft a highly recognizable Omega image.

He attracted countless fans who admired his lifestyle and adored him.

His fans even respectfully called him 'Dr. Ruan', making him a social media influencer with considerable fame.

After it was exposed that the OP might be their revered Dr. Ruan, a crowd of his fans instantly exploded.

People kept flooding Ruan Xi's Star Blog to ask and express concern: 'Dr. Ruan, is it true? Did you post that thread? Not only did your half-brother steal your research results, but he also framed you for seducing his husband?'

'Holy shit! Someone dares to bully our Dr. Ruan when he's so pure and peaceful...'

'I thought the First Research Institute was a sacred place for researchers, but I didn't expect this kind of thing to happen? Times sure have changed, and people have become corrupt.'

'Dr. Ruan, did someone really steal your achievements? That's so dark; your brother is nothing but a cancer in the industry.'

'Is this for real, Dr. Ruan? Did something like this actually happen?'

'I thought the First Research Institute was the most pure place, but they even allow using power to suppress others like this.'

'Disgusting! Is this a collapse of morality or a corruption of human nature... I found out that Researcher Ruan's older brother Ruan Tang resigned from the First Research Institute three months ago, and his husband is the famous mad duke Auston, notorious in the Imperial Star. Even after resigning, he still steals others' research results and puts his own name on them, and then when he's not satisfied, he makes his husband retaliate against the victim. Ugh!'

'This Ruan Tang is indeed a bird of the same feather as his husband, equally malicious.'

'...'

Although many were indignant, there were still some rational people who took a wait-and-see attitude: 'Everyone, calm down first. This matter hasn't been confirmed yet. Maybe the OP made it all up; it might not even be about Dr. Ruan Xi and his brother. Don't rush to curse; let's get the facts straight first.'

'+1. Ruan Tang already resigned, why would he still steal research results?'

'Right, we shouldn't comment on things we don't know about...'

But all of this changed after internet celebrity Ruan Xi posted a Star Blog post.

And the reason was simple: Ruan Xi posted a photo containing a design draft of his Crocodile Tooth Sword Cannon along with sketches of related parameter data, and a notebook photo regarding the new C902 Mech project, with the confidential parts censored, accompanied by the text: 'You can never imagine that sometimes the ones who hurt you the most are your closest family.'

It seemed like he said nothing, just a post about his mood, but combined with the various rumors and his pictures... it seemed to confirm everything...

This was a trap Ruan Xi had long set for Ruan Tang, and it was currently the fastest way he could think of to ruin Ruan Tang's reputation, plunder fortune from him, and repair his own halo.

Originally he planned to use this trap to strike a fatal blow to Ruan Tang later, but now he couldn't wait any longer.

In this interstellar era, what people valued most was the protection of intellectual property and various patents, and what they could not tolerate most was plagiarism and theft of research results.

Because as social class divisions became more pronounced, relying on knowledge and ability to help oneself cross class boundaries had become the only way out for the common people.

If research achievements and intellectual property could also be stolen, how would they see any hope or possibility for their own future?

Everyone across the entire interstellar realm detested and paid close attention to matters like plagiarism and theft of research results.

And once such a matter was confirmed, in order to ensure the operation of the system and the authority of imperial law, anyone who had done so would be nailed to the pillar of shame, never to set foot in that industry again for life. Even if you were an aristocrat with high status and power, you would not be spared...

As soon as this matter came out, everyone, whether they knew Ruan Xi or not, pushed it to the top of Star Blog's trending list.

People quickly dug up from the First Research Institute's public information website that although Ruan Tang had resigned, the two major projects — the 'Crocodile Tooth Sword Cannon' and the 'C902 Mech Improvement Plan' — both had Ruan Tang's name signed under them, declaring that the research plans and experimental achievements of these two new weapons were credited to Ruan Tang.

And as Ruan Xi submitted his design drafts with clear drafting dates to the Intellectual Property Arbitration Tribunal, requesting that the tribunal arbitrate the research results of these two items.

The incident was pushed to a peak, instantly causing an uproar.

Many indignant passersby immediately started trending hashtags like #SupportDrRuanXiRights #RelativesCannotStealResearch #FirstResearchInstituteJusticeForDrRuanXi and other related topics.

And many insiders claiming to be Ruan Xi's friends began to leak various stories online, such as Ruan Tang and Ruan Xi never getting along since childhood, Ruan Tang liking to rely on being born of the first wife to curse Ruan Xi, slandering Ruan Xi's mother as a mistress and bullying Ruan Xi, frequently causing trouble at the institute and targeting Ruan Xi time and again... a series of old clichés that Ruan Xi's protectors had worn out.

And regarding the research results, he had the impression that before Ruan Tang resigned, he had already quarreled with Ruan Xi over these two results. At the time, Ruan Tang was so righteous that no one could tell who had stolen whose achievements; they only knew that Ruan Xi backed down in the end. Back then, they thought it was just a misunderstanding between them, a coincidental similarity in ideas.

Now it seemed that Ruan Tang had taken advantage of family ties to pressure his family, causing Ruan Xi to back down.

Meanwhile, Ruan Xi also had people subtly whitewash the incident where he tried to seduce Auston at the banquet but failed and was slapped instead. In order to salvage their reputation, the Shen Family and Ruan Ming had already jointly pressured to have the video from that day destroyed. Apart from those present that day, no one knew what the truth was; all they heard were rumors spreading from word of mouth.

Ruan Xi was confident that he could clean up his image, but because Auston was too crazy, he didn't dare to offend him by using this matter to make a fuss.

Therefore, he did not mention a word on his Star Blog, but he hired countless bots to pretend to be friends claiming they had witnessed the event that day, describing how Ruan Tang and his husband, the infamous Duke Auston of the Imperial Star, bullied the pitiful and helpless Ruan Xi.

As soon as a real insider came forward, saying that Ruan Xi had indeed seduced Auston that day and reaped what he sowed, someone would step in to whitewash, retorting that the other party was a bot slandering Ruan Xi.

With all kinds of mixed information, Ruan Xi's fans and indignant passersby were in an uproar, launching a frenzied attack on Ruan Tang online.

'Oh my god, so malicious! How could Dr. Ruan Xi have such a brother? This is terrifying; how could such a vicious person exist in the world?'

'Dr. Ruan Xi is really too miserable!'

'This Ruan Tang is so malicious, he pushed Dr. to a corner and still wants to destroy his reputation. Dr. is so pure and peaceful; how could he bear to do it? He must be jealous, right?'

'Dr. Ruan Xi seducing that Ruan Tang's husband, that ugly crippled duke who only dares to go out with a mask? I almost laughed. Dr. Ruan Xi has good background, good looks, and talent; how could he possibly fancy an ugly crippled madman? As for that Ruan Tang, he really goes all out—with such a good background himself, he still marries someone like that to climb up, which shows his own qualities are nothing compared to Dr. Ruan Xi...'

'Same brothers, yet such a difference—is it because they have different mothers? I heard Ruan Tang's mother is just a commoner, while Dr. Ruan Xi's mother is an aristocratic lady. Sure enough, they're not the same, tsk tsk...'

'That Ruan Tang must be really ugly, right? Otherwise, why would he be interested in a freak? These two freaks are truly a match made in heaven; just don't let them out to harm others!'

Because it involved intellectual property and aristocrats abusing their power, the matter blew up, almost crashing Star Blog.

Everyone was clamoring for Ruan Tang to respond to the matter.

The tide of abuse and support for Ruan Xi grew wave after wave.

Ruan Tang looked at the full-screen bombardment against him and couldn't help but admire Ruan Xi's brilliant tactics.

The dispute over research results between him and Ruan Xi happened half a year ago. At that time, Ruan Xi and Ruan Tang were in the same group, both participating in the improvement of the newest Crocodile Tooth Sword Cannon and the design improvement of the C902 Mech.

The concepts, proposals, and refinements for the Crocodile Tooth Sword Cannon and C902 Mech were all first made by Ruan Tang, but before submitting the drawings, Ruan Tang accidentally lost them.

On the day the drawings were submitted, Ruan Tang was surprised to find that his redrawn draft was almost identical to Ruan Xi's, such that anyone could tell that one had referenced the other.

Moreover, Ruan Xi's draft was dated two days earlier than his later one, though Ruan Tang had reported his earlier loss of the drawings.

Therefore, Wen Run and the institute's higher-ups couldn't easily determine who plagiarized whom. At the time, some advised Ruan Tang to back down, but Ruan Tang had a clear conscience and naturally fought for his own brainchild, refusing to yield.

The two sides were deadlocked, but it was Ruan Xi who backed down first.

However, even though Ruan Xi backed down, Ruan Xi was well-liked at the institute. Everyone liked him and believed that Ruan Tang had bullied him. Ruan Tang's work at the institute was also full of obstacles, with people often pointing fingers at him, believing he had stolen Ruan Xi's research results and pushed him to this point.

Although Ruan Tang had a clear conscience, he didn't feel comfortable in that environment. At the same time, Ruan Ming was pressuring him into marriage, so after finishing the tasks he was responsible for, Ruan Tang unhesitatingly chose to resign.

Ruan Tang had thought that Ruan Xi's backing down at the time was because he was guilty, but he didn't expect Ruan Xi was waiting for him here. Indeed, a well-laid plan.

However, now he was no longer afraid of him, nor would he back down again.

Ruan Tang didn't even have the desire to complain about this to anyone. He directly made a call: 'Hello, is this Lawyer Zhang? Hello, this is Ruan Tang... I have a matter here. I want to sue Ruan Xi and some people for defamation and rumors, damaging my husband's and my reputation.'

'What's the situation on your end?'

'...'

After discussing in detail with the lawyer, Ruan Tang then made another call to Duchess Elena: 'Hello, is this Duchess Elena? This is Ruan Tang. The surveillance video of Ruan Xi and Duke Auston at your residence last time, do you still have it saved? I need to obtain it now...'

'...No, I don't have it. I deleted it. Wasn't this matter already handled back then? Why do you still need that thing now?' Duchess Elena's voice was very reluctant. Under pressure from Ruan Ming and the Shen Family, she actually did not want to hand over that video to Ruan Tang.

Hearing her voice, Ruan Tang felt she might not have deleted it, so he immediately said: 'Really? Can't you think of a way to find it? It's the Duke who wants it.'

'...Well, I'll look in the recycle bin again, ask someone to recover the data. Maybe it's still there, but I can't guarantee it.' Duchess Elena was even more troubled, weighing the pressure from both sides, and ultimately felt that Auston was someone not to offend, more terrifying.

Ruan Tang knew he could likely get the video smoothly, so he quickly said: 'Good, then I'll trouble you. I'll be waiting for good news. Just send the video to my personal terminal when the time comes.'

This time, he would never give Ruan Xi the chance to trample on him and throw dirty water on him...

'He who stirs trouble is cheap.' Since Ruan Xi wouldn't let him go, then he couldn't be blamed for not being polite.

After handling this series of matters, Ruan Tang finally logged into his personal Star Blog space, which had only a few posts in total, and without attaching any pictures, directly posted a Star Blog entry: 'The innocent are self-evident. Regarding all the slander and defamation against me and my husband today, I will resort to legal measures to resolve them.'

This was to tell Ruan Xi, and also to tell everyone.

Ruan Tang was not an internet celebrity, nor had he ever marketed himself, so his popularity was far less than Ruan Xi's. After he posted on Star Blog, there was little response.

A few who saw it were die-hard fans of Ruan Xi who closely followed him, and they directly attacked him: 'Heh, the innocent are self-evident? What are you innocent of? How dare someone like you say that!'

'Dr. Ruan Xi has already applied for arbitration. The design sketch's timestamp is clear. If you're unconvinced, bring out your evidence too...'

'Plagiarism is plagiarism. Dog who stole others' research results, get lost!'

'...'

Ruan Tang didn't care about these vicious and extreme words; he only wanted to use legal weapons to defend himself.

Just then, Ruan Tang's former employer, the First Research Institute, suddenly issued an official statement.

The content of the statement was concise and powerful, directly declaring that Researcher Ruan Tang had never engaged in stealing others' research results during his time at the institute. After unanimous assessment by the institute's higher-ups, it confirmed that the research results of the Crocodile Tooth Sword Cannon and C902 Mech were all the personal brainchildren of Researcher Ruan Tang. Although Researcher Ruan Tang had resigned, the institute respected intellectual property protection and felt that at this moment it must speak out to uphold Researcher Ruan Tang's and the institute's personal reputation.

And the information that Researcher Ruan Xi posted online, claiming that Researcher Ruan Tang's research results were stolen from him, was assessed as false by the institute's higher-ups; it was a rumor. After the Intellectual Property Arbitration Tribunal's arbitration, the institute would decide on the accountability and punishment for Researcher Ruan Xi's baseless rumor-mongering conduct.

The First Research Institute resolutely upholds the intellectual property rights of every researcher, and requests that the public not spread rumors or follow the tide to help spread falsehoods.

The announcement was also stamped with the seals of the First Research Institute's director and Chief Wen Run.

The moment Ruan Tang saw the statement, he was stunned. When he left the First Research Institute, it was quite unpleasant. He never expected that the First Research Institute would issue a statement on his behalf at this time, targeting Ruan Xi.

Especially since it bore the seal of Wen Run, one of Ruan Xi's protectors.

But Ruan Tang was not the only one dumbfounded. Ruan Xi was completely undone. He directly called Wen Run, anxiously: 'Wen Run, what is the meaning of the First Research Institute's statement? Don't you believe me? How could you stamp such a seal? Did Auston force you, right?'

'Did you also yield to that Bluebeard's power?' He felt he had maintained good relations at the First Research Institute and with Wen Run.

Therefore, when he did this, he never imagined that the First Research Institute and Wen Run would hold him back at this time, stepping forward to support Ruan Tang.

Ruan Xi thought that with his relationship with Wen Run, unless Auston forced him, Wen Run would never do such a thing...

'Shouldn't you know very well what's going on, Researcher Ruan?' Wen Run felt extremely disgusted upon hearing that voice, and asked coldly in return.

In his previous life, he was blinded by his own stubbornness and never paid attention to the truth of the dispute between Ruan Tang and Ruan Xi. Misled by Ruan Xi, he believed that Ruan Tang had indeed stolen and plagiarized his designs.

Until he accidentally uncovered Ruan Tang's lost drawings at the institute. The First Research Institute's drawings were specially made; for military secrets, before the finished weapon was out, they could not be taken out of the institute — once taken out, an alarm would sound, and they had clear records of the drawing completion time that could not be falsified.

Only then did he realize that he and everyone else had misunderstood Ruan Tang.

But everything was already too late...

Recalling the scene from the previous life where Ruan Tang was slandered by Ruan Xi, his reputation ruined, notorious, and reviled by everyone, Wen Run felt deep regret and heartache.

Given a second chance, he would never give Ruan Xi another opportunity to hurt Ruan Tang...

Therefore, the first thing he did upon returning was to find these drawings and spend several nights repairing the surveillance data that had been mysteriously damaged at the time of Ruan Tang's drawings disappearance.

The surveillance told him that the person who stole Ruan Tang's drawings and hid them in that place was none other than Ruan Xi.

Wen Run had just obtained all the evidence and hadn't yet had time to make it public, but he didn't expect Ruan Xi to repeat his old tricks so quickly in this life, even much earlier than in the previous life.

Wen Run immediately took this evidence to the director and many of the institute's higher-ups, having been running around until now.

In this life, he would definitely return this justice to Ruan Tang...

Hearing this, Ruan Xi's heart immediately panicked, feeling that something had gone wrong. His face turned pale, and he asked in shock: '...What, what do you mean?'

'What do I mean? Don't you know?' Wen Run said coldly, word by word: 'Don't you know who the real plagiarist is between you and Ruan Tang, who is truly the villain filing the first complaint?'

Ruan Xi didn't know where things went wrong, and even his voice trembled: 'Wen Run—'

'This time, I will make everyone see clearly who is the despicable plagiarist, who should be nailed to the pillar of shame and spurned. Enjoy it, Ruan Xi.' Wen Run completely ignored Ruan Xi's struggle. He could not forgive Ruan Xi, just as he could not forgive himself.

With those words, he no longer gave Ruan Xi a chance to beg, directly hung up the call, and added Ruan Xi to the blacklist...

After the First Research Institute's statement was released, many of those who had been passionately cursing Ruan Tang as a plagiarist calmed down and adopted a wait-and-see attitude towards the incident.

Although there were a lot of rumors online, the First Research Institute still had a certain credibility in people's minds...

Seeing the First Research Institute so assertively concluding that Ruan Tang had not stolen Ruan Xi's research results, and instead that Ruan Xi was spreading rumors, they were no longer certain.

Even though some online trolls still shouted: 'Duchess Auston covers the sky with one hand, using power to oppress people, even a place like the First Research Institute has yielded.'

But the momentum of cursing Ruan Tang had significantly diminished. Everyone was clamoring for the First Research Institute to provide clear evidence and quickly conduct an intellectual property protection arbitration.