The Interstellar Queen of Scavengers

Chapter 496: Chapter 496: Incitement...

The red-haired man’s question undoubtedly doused the fiery passion of the audience with a chill.

Indeed.

Isn’t this just a companion stone?

With the development of Alliance technology to this day, why are Companion Stones worthless? Because for most ores, their companion stones are composed of the same elements as ordinary rocks: silicon dioxide and calcium carbonate. Moreover, their material is very fragile, easily broken, easily bent... In short, they are useless with a myriad of flaws. Even with today’s scientific advancements in the Alliance, no use has been invented for them. They are even despised when used as foundation fillers...

Many spectators, holding great expectations, had come running here, somewhat incredulous, stretching their necks to meticulously inspect the display case.

The result—

Correct!

This pink stone is indeed a Companion Stone.

In an instant, the faces of many spectators bore marvelous expressions.

The red-haired man looked at the audience’s reaction, pleased with himself, and then said, ”I won’t even mention whether this Soul Device you’re selling has been authenticated by an authoritative body, I just have one question—Is there really any Master out there who can turn such garbage, a Companion Stone, into a Soul Device?”

This question undoubtedly landed another heavy punch in the spectators’ hearts!

Indeed.

Whether naturally occurring Soul Devices or artificially created ones, apart from requiring extremely demanding Array Diagrams, both natural and artificial, they also need exceedingly precious materials!

To date, no natural Soul Device has ever been formed on an ordinary material.

And—

Almost all Soul Artifact makers who produce Soul Devices use precious Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

...

So, this Qingyou Shop picked up a worthless companion stone commonly found everywhere and claimed it to be a Soul Device, isn’t that deception?

Many in the audience now inevitably started to have doubts...

At this moment, the red-haired man blinked almost imperceptibly, and immediately someone in the crowd began to question, ”Taking some broken rocks to sell, haven’t seen money before?”

”This kind of trash stone, even if given to me for free, I wouldn’t take it. It’s not about not having seen money, it’s about being crazed by greed, isn’t it?”

”Is this a joke? I hurried over here to buy a Soul Device, and you show me this farce?”

”Give us an explanation!”

”We need an explanation!”

...

Initially, it started with one person, then two, three, four... Gradually, even those who were indecisive, confused, and weak-willed began to join in the questioning.

The red-haired man shouted loudly, ”Everyone, listen to me! Let’s complain about this unscrupulous seller right now! If enough people complain, the Star Network system will immediately initiate a review mechanism, and once the evidence is conclusive, this scammer will definitely get their license revoked, their shop blocked, and be expelled from the Star Network.”

Wow~

This is going a bit too far.

However—

If it really is a scammer, this kind of punishment is exactly what they deserve.

For a moment, many people were unsure whether to report it right away or not.

The first few who spoke up immediately said, ”I’m going to report now. In the face of scammers, I’d rather wrongly kill a thousand than let one go!”

Someone echoed, ”Right! Exactly! Only by making it everyone’s responsibility can we help build a harmonious, fair, transparent, and trustworthy business environment in society!”

”Ah! If that’s the case, I’ll also go report.”

”Let’s go...”

”Let’s go! Let’s file a group complaint! The review mechanism of Star Network is very fair, as long as the shop hasn’t done anything illegal, they definitely won’t be falsely accused. So, everyone don’t feel burdened in your hearts.”

”Indeed. Then—I’ll also file a complaint.”

In just a few minutes from when the red-haired man voiced his doubts, to when more than half of the audience decided to report the Qingyou Shop for selling fake goods, the situation had spiraled completely out of control.

Cheng Yu’s face darkened, although he tried to speak out, he was immediately drowned out by the roaring crowd.

At this moment—

Almost no one was calm enough to seriously listen to what Cheng Yu was saying.

In the crowd.

Ji You’s face turned very dark, as if ink could drip from her countenance.

Someone was stirring trouble.

Definitely someone deliberately causing trouble!

Who could it be?

Qingyou’s identity was confidential, except for the Star Network system, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to know her real identity. Although the shop had sold soul devices twice and caused quite a stir, they were sold cheaply, and since the last time, Ji You hadn’t updated the inventory for a long time. The shelves were often empty, not even a service robot was present, and customers like Sheng Qingyan would just rush in to secure a spot on the floor and chat with each other.

Is that also stepping on someone’s cake?

But—

That’s not right.

Soul devices are scarce on the market, and demand is high; many mature soul artifact maker shops are not short of popularity or customers...

For instance, Master Kong Zhe’s high disciple Lin Feng, since Lin Feng could independently create soul devices, he also opened his own exclusive Star Network shop, which was very popular every day. Besides selling soul devices, the shop also sold other stuff like medicinal herbs and food ingredients... all these precious items.

In the vast Star Sea, the Qingyou Shop was too small to stir up any major waves. Ji You was completely puzzled, who had she offended?

Seeing the situation progressing toward severity, Ji You quickly asked Shen Changqing and others beside her, ”What impact will a large number of complaints have on the seller?”

Yue Qiyuan replied with a steady gaze, ”It will be temporarily shut down.”

Ji You: ”Huh?”

It’s that serious?

Shen Changqing added, ”Before the official results are out, the shop will be temporarily closed for a while. If the seller hasn’t faked anything and has not violated any laws, the Star Network system will automatically reopen the shop.”

Yue Qiyuan, frowning, continued, ”Normally, the verification takes at least 3 days, and if there are unexpected issues, the process might need up to 15 working days.”

Ji You: ”...”

Sheng Qingyan had no mood to chat idly with a few of Ji You’s people. He was so anxious he was pacing around, stomping his feet hard: ”Impossible! The master cannot have faked it! Absolutely impossible!”

In his agitation, even his ’oh’ was thrown away.

However—

No matter how Sheng Qingyan explained, no one listened to him.

At the scene, many die-hard fans of Qingyou Shop also came out, trying to defend the innocence of Qingyou Shop and stop the situation from getting out of control, yet—

Stirred up by the instigators and further egged on by the audience wielding their sense of justice, the crowd was extremely agitated, unable to hear other rational voices.

In no time, the situation worsened further.

Cheng Yu had been live streaming for so long and had seen all kinds of storms, malicious slander from peers, false accusations... he had experienced them, but that was his own affair, so resolving them was relatively easy.

Just thinking that this involved the master’s reputation and his image in the master’s heart, he grew more and more anxious, the more anxious he got, the more panicked—

Suddenly—