Watching Pei Guang and Stelle move so skillfully, Herta made a decision in her heart: as long as Pei Guang didn't cause her trouble, she would never mess with him. People like him were too troublesome, with too many tricks up their sleeves. And as Stelle looted equipment, Herta kept a close eye on them, realizing she might need to research how someone could pull non-existent items from another person's body.
But for now, today's Herta just wanted to enjoy the show. Any research could be left for tomorrow's Herta.
While they were setting the pot, adding water, and preparing to slow-cook, the internet was already buzzing with heated discussions.
Angry user: "No way! Fake! She just gave up?"
User who lost everything: "Impossible! Surrender? There's definitely some shady business going on!"
User with a high-interest loan: "Haha! I bet everything against her, and now I'm rolling in it!"
User with a high-interest loan: "Shady business! It's rigged, definitely rigged, Black—"
Sadly, that user's post accusing the game of being rigged didn't get posted. Extreme reactions like this were rare, though.
After all, this was Herta running the show, with the Interastral Peace Corporation as guarantor. People had no choice but to trust it. And even if they didn't, what could they do? The members of the Genius Society weren't ordinary people. Every one of them could cause turmoil across the galaxy, and they were ruthless enough to make sure you didn't see another sunrise if they wanted. Money was meaningless to them; there was no need for them to scam people looking to make a quick buck.
At this moment, countless netizens still hadn't fully processed what had happened. Due to the rules prohibiting participation on borrowed money, many had bet their entire savings. Though they had lost everything in an instant, the lack of debt meant they could still start fresh. Whether this experience served as a lesson for them or not was unclear.
However, there was also a group of people who secretly took out loans, heavily in debt and looking to gamble big. After all, getting a guaranteed high return in a single day was irresistible, wasn't it? Add to that the countless influential figures publicly backing Silver Wolf, and many followed suit, betting everything on her.
The result? Bankrupt, drowning in debt! Across many worlds, people were already gathering on rooftops. As for how many actually jumped? Nobody really cared.
Because gamblers never meet a good end. Even on the internet, despite the fact that many lost or won money, those who were just playing for fun with pocket change were having a great time.
Xianzhou General: "Never expected to fish out such a big catch while slacking off. Interesting, very interesting."
A tavern regular who lost everything: "Waaa, I've lost even my underwear."
Another tavern regular who lost his house: "Damn it! This is too much. Silver Wolf made me lose my house! I'm contributing one credit to her bounty!"
Random user: "I lost my house too?! I'll contribute one credit!"
A user with a funny mask: "You chip in one, I'll chip in one. Let's make Silver Wolf even more valuable and ensure justice is served!"
With someone leading the charge, the internet quickly banded together like a tightly wound rope. For some people, leading trends was a profession. Especially with so many people focused on a single event, it was easy to steer the conversation.
Normally, you wouldn't see a crowdfunded bounty. Bounties were typically issued by the Interastral Peace Corporation, based on the level of destruction caused.
But now, with someone spearheading the movement, and many of the leaders being influential figures, combined with Herta pulling strings behind the scenes, the Interastral Peace Corporation cheerfully opened up a crowdfunding bounty for Silver Wolf.
Unlike the typical life-or-death bounties issued against other Stellaron Hunters, Silver Wolf's bounty had one small change: she had to be captured alive to claim it. A little peace offering from the Corporation to the mob. After all, running a company means you avoid making enemies when you can.
With people taking the lead, everyone who had watched the livestream and participated in the betting pool started contributing to Silver Wolf's bounty.
Tavern regular: "One credit +1~"
A netizen who lost everything: "Take this! It's my last credit. Catch Silver Wolf and make her suffer! Surrender? How dare she?"
Another netizen who made a fortune: "Even though I made a lot of money, I despise Silver Wolf's actions. Here, ten credits for the bounty."
And so, with the help of these expert instigators, Silver Wolf's bounty began to skyrocket.
As her bounty soared across the network, Silver Wolf slowly regained consciousness in Herta's office. As she woke up, she once again experienced that strange clarity of mind, but this time, she felt a profound sense of joy.
"My accounts… you died such tragic deaths… but your sacrifice was worth it. I've gained the only server-wide title, and you'll be remembered in other ways by the masses."
She happily mused to herself, but as she did, she noticed something strange. Her equipment seemed to be gone, and her body was submerged in warm water.
The container was small, just big enough for her head to stick out. The water level reached her chest—there was no risk of drowning at all.
The only uncomfortable thing was that her clothes hadn't been taken off. It would have been much more pleasant if they had been.
She couldn't feel any of her equipment, and even her Aether Editing seemed to be sealed off. She struggled a bit but found that her body was tightly bound, with no way to escape.
"Could it be that I've been captured by a demon?"
At that moment, countless video game scenarios flashed through Silver Wolf's mind. Her Aether Editing ability had been sealed, and she was bound in water. Who else but an evil Demon Lord could have done such a thing?
No way. Silver Wolf had to resist. No matter what, she couldn't let the demon succeed!
Silver Wolf was ready to resist with all her might, like a soldier defending their homeland, determined to fight to the bitter end.
But how exactly would she fight? A brilliant idea sparked in her mind. She took a deep breath and submerged herself entirely in the water.
She held her breath underwater, thinking that by hiding in the water, she could avoid the evil Demon Lord's wrath. Meanwhile, her mind flashed through a series of R18-rated scenes, and she swore that if something like that really happened, she'd bite it down hard! Even if she died, she'd make sure to take a piece of flesh with her.
Wait—why was she thinking about dying?!
Silver Wolf paused, realizing something. Pei Guang had already said he would spare her, so why was she putting on this drama?
No, no! Kafka had warned her not to act like a chūnibyō when she was alone, especially since Stelle had already been influenced by her. It had taken a lot of effort to make her forget her past memories, and it wouldn't be good if those resurfaced. So, Silver Wolf quickly popped her head back out of the water.
At that moment, Pei Guang, Stelle, and March 7th all noticed she was awake and turned to look.
Stelle: "Oh, you're awake?"
Silver Wolf: "What happened?"
March 7th: "Do you not remember what you just did?"
Silver Wolf responded righteously: "I simply surrendered, that's all. You won! You should be happy."
Pei Guang: "Yeah, I'm thrilled that we won, but I'm upset that I didn't get the mission rewards. Hey, dear Silver Wolf~ let me ask you a question: when you're about to complete an event and claim your rewards, and then the developer suddenly cancels the event and withholds the rewards, what would you do?"
Silver Wolf didn't even hesitate: "I'd sacrifice that developer to the heavens and leak their entire browser history!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized the issue. She quickly turned her eyes: "How about you leak my browser history instead?"
Pei Guang: "Nah, that's too much trouble. I'll go with something simpler."
Silver Wolf swallowed nervously: "Simpler? What do you mean?"
Pei Guang: "I'll stew you."
Silver Wolf: "!!!"