"I'm sorry, but in this line of work, I never show my true face," Huo Jiujian apologized first.
"Um...it's nothing."
That's all Li Lechen could say. He's now in a vulnerable position, a far cry from his previous status as a so-called "super-rich player" in the exclusive zone.
"To be honest, I really wanted to investigate your situation, but I couldn't find anything," Huo Jiujian continued. "Are you really from the exclusive zone?"
"Yes," Li Lechen "confessed."
Although I haven't had much contact with this "Master Xishuashua," I know he's involved in intelligence work. This kind of relationship, where one is both an enemy and a friend, can't be fully revealed.
Huo Jiujian didn't believe everything Li Lechen said, but he had to believe some of it.
He himself was a permanent resident of the safe zone, having moved from the quarantine zone to the safe zone and then obtained this permanent residency. Therefore, Huo Jiujian understood the entire system better.
The legend of the exclusive zone has always existed, but this is the first time Huo Jiujian has encountered a streamer who claims to be from the exclusive zone since he was old enough to understand things.
Abundant Class I water, clean air, gentle sunshine, and ubiquitous plants—even in Safe Zone A, the area where permanent residents of the Safe Zone reside, it's impossible to achieve all of these.
It's not that it's impossible, but rather that the degree of monopoly is too high.
So Lin Sen can freely breathe the oxygen produced by plants and eat fresh fruits and vegetables, yet he has to auction off each grape for 100 million; Kang Shuaifu can bathe in Class I water every day, yet he sells it as Class III water at a high price to other nouveau riche after adding impurities; gene companies control the future of all mankind—what kind of race, what kind of personality, what kind of future—it all begins from the selection of genes; intelligence companies are equivalent to the brain of all mankind—what good is a high IQ if they simply erase knowledge points from the knowledge base? How can you learn something that doesn't exist?
In truth, Huo Jiujian couldn't do anything about it; he too came from the gene pool.
And they had no intention of doing anything at all.
That's just how the world is; you'll just have to adapt.
Therefore, Huo Jiujian was solely focused on making money.
In this world, Sunshine Coin is the most important.
"Do you want to know what's wrong with you right now?" Huo Jiujian asked Li Lechen the question he was most concerned about.
Instead of answering directly, Li Lechen asked, "How much can you tell me? How much money do you need?"
“I’ve always believed in getting what you pay for in business. I can give you all the information I know and then charge you the corresponding fee,” Huo Jiujian said. “Three hundred thousand. I’ll tell you why you’re currently banned from sending bullet comments, live streaming, and even shopping.”
The price of 300,000 is still acceptable for Li Lechen, who currently has more than 3 million.
So they agreed.
The next second, Li Lechen received a link to confirm payment.
Click the link, and 300,000 coins will be deposited into Huo Jiujian's account.
"Someone reported that you used polystyrene, which is prohibited by law, as packaging. The Environmental Protection Agency has now launched an investigation into you, so all your privileges have been suspended."
"Who reported me?" Li Lechen asked.
"If you want to know this information, you need to pay extra. One million Sun Coins."
"No, no, no, I don't need to know that right now," Li Lechen quickly denied.
Although he did want to know, the cost-benefit ratio of a million coins to knowing who did this was too low. Besides, what good would it do even if he knew? The result was already done, and there was nothing he could do even to retaliate.
Moreover, Li Lechen also recalled what the "one-time fix" person said during their one-on-one video call: that the mineral water he sold might be targeted because of the bottles he used.
But by then, he had already sold two bottles of mineral water and ten cups of juice in his personal shop.
The juice was also served in plastic cups.
"Would you like to know what the most severe and the least severe punishments you might face are?" Huo Jiujian asked.
Huo Jiujian didn't plan to charge a lot of money for this question, because it was a knowledge point that was already in the intelligent knowledge base. However, since the streamers in this exclusive area hadn't been implanted with intelligent knowledge chips, Huo Jiujian also wanted to take the opportunity to make tens of thousands of yuan.
Unexpectedly, Li Lechen directly refused: "Don't tell me that for now. I want to know how to restore my privileges and how to get the lightest possible punishment."
Li Lechen already knew about the penalties; the most severe would be expulsion from the polluted area, and the lightest would be a fine.
Therefore, the most urgent task is to restore access first, then make money as quickly as possible, and try to settle the matter by paying a fine.
"You have two questions. Should I give you two prices?" Huo Jiujian was not affected by Li Lechen's words at all. Information that should be charged should be charged, especially when dealing with someone who has money and needs.
"Then please give me a price for each one."
"I can act as your guarantor and temporarily restore your privileges, but the application requires 2.5 million Sunshine Coins. As the guarantor, it shouldn't be unreasonable for me to charge you 10 million Sunshine Coins, right?"
Ten million?!
Li Lechen gasped, because he simply didn't have that kind of money!
Huo Jiujian continued, "As for obtaining the lightest punishment, I can only tell you the method. The specific cost will depend on the Environmental Protection Administration's investigation. The method only requires five million coins."
Five million...
Li Lechen couldn't come up with that money either.
A vicious cycle! This is absolutely a vicious cycle!
Unable to stream, so no income. No income, so no money to bribe officials. No money to bribe officials, so access cannot be restored. Unable to restore access, so no streaming, no income...
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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