Little Sprout uploaded the ad copy to the preview page, and simultaneously adjusted the homepage content to complement it.

Generally speaking, executing a campaign is far more complicated than one might imagine.

It requires countless revisions, endless tweaks and tests, until the final launch. This particular task was not simple; if handed to the technical staff, even without negotiation, it would have taken at least five or six days. But Little Sprout, that heaven-defying divine tool, handled it in a flash. It was intimately familiar with Ziye, possessed a decent aesthetic sense of its own, and understood Ziye’s preferences, making the work effortless.

Once finished, Ziye tested everything through once more with Little Sprout, smoothing out a few details that weren't soft enough. The homepage, promotional page, pre-sale page, and backend... everything was finalized, and a day had already slipped by.

Done. Ziye considered asking Blackbeard for a review, but couldn't be bothered to walk to his room, and with eyes constantly watching from outside, she steeled herself and directly hacked into his Chrono-Screen.

Blackbeard was mid-conversation with a logistics company about robot distribution when the screen abruptly changed. A skull appeared, its bones a pale, ashen white, its empty eye sockets weeping twin streams of blood, nearly giving him a heart attack.

Immediately after, text flashed across the screen: "Are you free now?"

Blackbeard trembled, glancing left toward the window and right toward the balcony, confirming no one was monitoring. He weakly whispered, "Sir, what are you planning?"

The screen remained silent for a long moment. "Hello, I am Ziye."

Holy crap!

In an instant, Blackbeard had the urge to smash the Chrono-Screen.

He had been so scared he nearly wet himself!

That little brat!!

He put on a stern face. "What is it?"

A few words appeared on the screen: "I want you to see the results of the website design."

After typing, the skull split open from both sides like a curtain, revealing the homepage of the Sprout Group website. Each page was displayed before him, followed by a demonstration of the backend operations.

Blackbeard watched, then nodded. "Not bad. Efficient. No—super efficient!"

The curtain closed, and the skull returned to the screen. Text appeared: "Thank you."

The next second, the screen returned to normal.

Blackbeard was so angry he wanted to storm over and kick her door in.

Such a good child, yet she’s learning bad habits!

In the Presidential Suite, Ziye stretched languidly. The website was complete; now she could happily move on to her revenge plans.

The current problem was how to best retaliate against Rainer.

Ziye wasn't overly vengeful; she usually dealt with slights immediately. Except for Fiia's incident.

But Rainer's transgression, a full week old, still hadn't been settled.

Ziye was rubbing her hands together, preparing to embark on some serious "work," when her Comm-Link buzzed. Blackbeard was shouting through the channel: "Ziye, did you manage to hurt the enemy a thousand while hurting yourself eight hundred? Did you hit up 'The Digging'?"

Ziye froze. The news? What happened?

She turned to the news interface on the Chrono-Screen. She had closed the news window while testing the website effects, but hearing about a new development, she didn't hesitate, directly activating the hotel-provided display.

Flipping through a few channels, she finally landed on The Digging.

The Digging wasn't exactly a mainstream news commentary channel; most stories featured there devolved into melodrama, becoming fodder for public gossip. Ziye watched the live footage of the moment the Fiia transport ship was hijacked. She felt a spike of annoyance. Even if there was a news drought, was it necessary to dredge up this old affair?

She wished everyone would forget about the transport ship incident quickly, or the Wolf's Den would have endless trouble brewing later.

Ziye messaged Blackbeard: "No, how could I do such a—" Before she could finish, she gasped in shock!

The moment Red Hair abandoned the escort ship and boarded the Fiia transport, magnified thirty times, became terrifyingly clear: she was piloting a Queen-class mech!!

The creator of this footage was technically brilliant; if Ziye hadn't seen the original recording, she would have believed it was real. Ziye had seen at the Unification Headquarters that Red Hair wasn't using a Queen-class mech, but a common model picked off the market. Someone as shrewd as Red Hair would never make such a foolish and... stupid mistake.

It was clearly a frame-up!

Ziye instantly broke out in a cold sweat, staggering where she stood.

The opponent was ruthless!

The Digging circled the mech with a large red ring, its narrator dripping with sarcasm and schadenfreude: "Sister Dig is compelled to say, bad deeds always come with retribution. To this fellow who hijacked a transport ship: you dare fly your product out for a joyride before it’s even officially released? Aren't you afraid Secretary Bai will come looking for trouble?"

"Speaking of the Interstellar Federation, it's utterly hilarious. Hijacking someone's transport ship in a mech, then in a panic to avoid trouble, rushing to pin the blame on the Sprout Group and sell off the rights. Their press conference hasn't even started, and now you’re having internal conflict, trying to take your property back? What is this charade?"

"There's always entertainment, but today is especially rich. Today, Sister Dig will dig into the inside story of this mess. Commercial break now, stay tuned for more excitement, don't go anywhere!"

Ziye’s emotions swung violently from drenched in sweat to horror, and then to delighted laughter, as if she had cycled through all the feelings in the world, yet it all transpired in the space of three short paragraphs.

Putting aside the emotional upheaval, Ziye had to admit: that exposé was a brilliant piece of dirty work.

Everyone knew the transport ship was hijacked, but only the parties involved knew the specifics of how. The news had only given a brief report initially; these details were never revealed. Now, with The Digging uncovering them, it looked undeniably real. If The Digging had smeared the Sprout Group this time, the Group would have suffered a severe blow, even if they managed to withstand the attack. That was why Ziye had been so terrified.

However, the situation had dramatically exceeded her expectations: The Digging was attacking the Interstellar Federation! And it had even listed the Sprout Group as a victim. Even Tang Wen, who had been falsely accused, was vindicated, because The Digging claimed the copyright was sold by the Interstellar Federation to the Sprout Group, not that the Sprout Group had developed the tech themselves!

The Interstellar Federation had tried to pocket a peach but ended up losing the fruit.

In short, this was an absolutely spectacular farce!!

No wonder Blackbeard thought she was behind it.

"I didn't do this," Ziye shook her head. "I don't know who did."

Blackbeard replied, "Red Hair also said it wasn't her."

Ziye paused for a moment. Since it wasn't someone on her side, there were likely only two factions who could pull this off:

One, Fiia, who knew the whole story. They wanted to win over Tang Wen to their side and thus helped clear his name. Furthermore, bringing up the transport ship again signaled Fiia’s deep hatred for the Interstellar Federation, because the Federation had stolen their most valuable medicine! But would Fiia dare to speak openly about such terrifying pharmaceuticals?

Two, the Unification Headquarters, who held the recording. The Headquarters would never speak kindly of the Sprout Group. The only reason Stath might do this was to protect Tang Wen. But could the Headquarters even intervene in this matter? The most Stath could possibly do was copy the recording for Tang Wen.

Meaning, Tang Wen did it?

After the commercial break, Sister Dig returned to the screen, displaying the detailed content and documents, accompanied by commentary dripping with mockery, slicing the Interstellar Federation to shreds.

What made Ziye want to laugh was that they even showed the copyright transfer agreement where the Interstellar Federation ceded the Queen-class mech to the Sprout Group. The seal, signatures, and time stamps—everything looked authentic. Crucially, the signature date was the day after the transport ship hijacking, giving the impression that the Interstellar Federation was desperately scrambling to find a scapegoat.

The Interstellar Federation was trapped like a mute eating a bitter melon—they had suffering but couldn't articulate it. Previously, they had confidently claimed the Sprout Group had stolen their property. Now that others confirmed it was their property and that they had misused it, it was too late for them to backtrack and claim it wasn't theirs.

Ziye finally couldn't help but laugh. The person who signed the copyright was her, not Blackbeard or Big Head.

She was now virtually certain: Tang Wen had done this. Fiia couldn't possibly have obtained her personal signature. The only person who could have was Stath, from the robot order contract she signed at the Unification Headquarters—that was her only time there.

For the first time, she thought, Teacher is amazing!

Should she thank her teacher?

Ziye paced twice in the Presidential Suite, feeling an urge to pull back the heavy blackout curtains and gaze out at space—her mood was fantastic! But to avoid being monitored, she suppressed the impulse.

Just then, Little Sprout zoomed over with a whoosh: "Little fool Ziye, Sugar Crunch is poking you on the forum."

Ziye turned back in surprise. "Sugar Crunch?"

The Mobile Forum was merely a place for casual pastime. Since the trouble started, Ziye hadn't even had time to respond to concerned messages from friends and family, let alone visit the forums.

Little Sprout shook the tiny sprout on its head, leisurely saying, "Yup. Last time you asked him to keep an eye on the forum, he said he'd tell you the moment he logged on. He's online now, and he poked you."

Ziye, in an uncharacteristically good mood, asked, "What did he say?"

Little Sprout imitated his elderly voice, reading word for word: "I will appear at the door of your hotel room in five minutes."

(⊙o⊙) Huh?

Ziye’s eyes nearly shot out like bullets. Sugar Crunch was coming to her hotel room door? Did Sugar Crunch know her, and intimately at that? Who was he?

Ziye looked blankly at Little Sprout. Little Sprout flew over and bumped gently against her head. "Little fool, don't tell me you can't guess!"

Ziye had guessed, but she simply couldn't accept it. Although she knew Sugar Crunch used a disguised voice, she habitually viewed him as an elder. How could he possibly be that scoundrel Tang Wen?

Regardless, she would know soon enough.

With only four minutes left until his arrival, Ziye hastily ran to change clothes. Having not left her room for days, she had been living in loungewear, her face unwashed and her hair uncombed—basically a total mess. Whether he was Tang Wen or not, she needed to maintain basic decorum.

As she hurried to freshen up, she instructed Butler W to clean the room.

After tidying up, only a minute remained. Ziye sat on the sofa. Before she could take a sip of water, an email arrived.

She thought it was Tang Wen and quickly opened it.

To her disappointment, it wasn't Tang Wen; it was Gemini.

-RS