Chapter 146
“Forget about that, I don’t need any reward–all I want is for you to get Aubree kicked out of the League of Legends.”
Carmen’s smirk deepened with malicious glee.
“Let’s see how you wriggle out of this one, Aubree,” she wondered. “With both Bree Technology and God’s Fury embroiled in scandals at the same time, even with all your so-called superhuman abilities, Aubree, there’s no way you can handle this mess, is there?”
After securing the recording, Carmen immediately reached out to a gaming gossip account notorious for digging up dirt and roasting League of Legends tournaments and players.
“I will have him drop the recording. Even if it turns out to be fake, people will still eat it up. After all, this gossip account is notorious for posting half-truths and outright fabrications,” Carmen thought.
That night, Aubree’s phone was blowing up with calls.
First, the club’s agent called. “Miss Miller, have you heard that recording yet?”
“What recording? The Odionlandian listening practice?” Aubree wondered. She glanced blankly at the Odionlandian listening practice still playing in her hand, her thoughts wandering aimlessly.
Aubree blinked. “What?”
“Oh, Miss Miller. You’re really living under a rock. You have no idea what’s going on. I just sent you a link on Twitter. Check it out.” The agent quipped and hung up abruptly.
She hadn’t even had a chance to open the video when Vincent called again.
“Miss Miller,” he reported, “just as you predicted, there’s a surge of news and reports online–parents are publicly accusing Playry Live streamers of encouraging underage spending, and claiming the platform is turning a blind eye.”
Aubree began instructing Vincent, “Just follow the…”
Before Aubree could finish speaking, Alvin’s frantic call abruptly cut in.
Aubree couldn’t help but roll her eyes. ‘Seriously? How many things do these people have to report, one after another!’ she thought.
Aubree hung up on everyone and started a conference call. “Whight,” she said curtly, “now tell me what’s going on–one at a time.”
On the video call, the group exchanged hesitant glances before the club agent took the lead. “Miss Miller, have you checked that tweet I sent you?”
“On it. Next,” said Aubree.
Vincent paused for a moment, then said defiantly, “Our tech team traced those online smear posts back to the Wilson Group. So if we’re going up against them, should we reach out to the Turner Group?”
They had a solid contingency plan in place to handle this, but the Wilson Group wielded immense power. They were still worried things could spiral out of control in the end.
“That’s easy. The Turner Group is…”
Alvin gave a wry look. “What I was going to say is pretty much the same. Uncle Bowen asked me to tell you: go all out, if anything happens, he’s got your back.”
Aubree ordered, “Alright, I’ve read the tweets. For Apex Squad, first issue an official statement on Twitter clarifying that all the online rumors are just that…”
“We’ll discuss other matters when I come to the club tomorrow. Tell the players to focus on their training, we’ll handle everything else.”
“Vincent,” Aubree instructed, “have all departments proceed as planned. We’ll adjust if needed.”
Aubree ended the conference call.
Aubree had long prepared for the underage spending allegations against Bree Technology; resolving it would be easy. The real threat was the Wilson Group’s potential to fabricate a counterattack out of thin air, a match-fixing scandal. At least the online backlash hadn’t completely turned against them yet.
The top priority right now was to quickly resolve the Apex Squad matter.
Many were also questioning how God’s Fury could convince a powerhouse like Apex Squad to throw the match.
Aubree thought, “The longer this drags on, the worse it gets for us. It’ll damage the players’ morale and throw off their game.”
The recording circulating online was fake. Aubree distinctly remembered there were surveillance cameras in the hallway where she’d spoken with Emery that day.
Aubree immediately contacted the League official.
“Miss Miller, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but you’ll have to wait. There are procedures to follow. I’ll need to go through proper channels to request that surveillance footage,” the person in charge said.
After that phone call, Aubree was fuming. "Application, my ass. They’re clearly on the take or something, just passing the buck and giving me the runaround," she wondered.
Aubree never saw this coming.
As night fell, Bree Technology and God’s Fury issued their denial statements almost simultaneously.
God’s Fury couldn’t produce any concrete evidence in their official statement; they flatly denied any wrongdoing, pledged to conduct an internal investigation, and said they would report the matter to the authorities.
Bree Technology, on the other hand, was far more direct–they immediately unveiled a list of all the streamers they had caught luring minors into spending, every single one of whom has now been banned.
Additionally, Bree Technology would launch a dedicated refund channel for underage spending. All accounts with unauthorized purchases made by minors could apply for a refund by submitting the required documentation.
Additionally, Playzy would introduce an underage protection system. All new accounts will require age verification, and accounts registered to users under 18 would have their payment features disabled.
These measures were instantly met with widespread praise.
They had covered all bases–from immediate compensation to comprehensive future protections.
[Playzy’s speed is insane!]
[Playzy’s acting way too fast–it almost makes you wonder if they staged the whole thing themselves.]
[Oh, the perpetually victimized minors.]
[The number of streamers Playry banned is nothing compared to all the so-called innocent victims crying online. Clearly, someone’s just jealous and trying to shame them.]
While some lauded Playry’s actions, others naturally saw this incident as revealing a genuine underlying problem.
[If something like this has happened, there’s no smoke without fire. Even with all these measures in place, they can’t fully prevent it.]
[This platform was made for nothing but harm. My son is hooked on watching these live streams every day; if he fails to get into that University, who is going to take responsibility!]
[Honestly, even as an adult, I’m hooked on watching live streams on Plazy–imagine how much harder it is for minors with even less self-control. I say just shut the whole platform down.]
[There’s no way Playzy would shut down over something this minor–unless a major scandal breaks out.]
Ronald had expected to see Aubree get torn apart by the public, but instead, Playry ended up getting some unexpected positive publicity out of the whole thing.
That night in his study, Ronald was so enraged by the news that he grabbed a cup and smashed it to the floor. “Damn Aubree. No wonder she was so fearless–she must have been prepared for this all along.”
“But then again,” Ronald sneered, his gaze lingering on a particular comment. “Still too young to understand why the old fox is always the slyest.”
Ronald’s voice was cold and calculating, “Hey, is that guy we talked about last time on board now? Okay. Then we’re ready to move.”
Bree Technology swiftly resolved the matter, bringing it to a quiet conclusion without much fanfare.
However, the club’s attempt to bribe Apex Squad into acting as stooges was still getting nowhere.
Aubree spent the next day trying to get the officials to cooperate, but they kept stonewalling and refused to let them access the surveillance footage.
Even by the time she left school for the club meeting that afternoon, there was still no word from the officials.
In the esports club’s conference room, nearly all the management staff had gathered. To avoid disrupting the players’ matches, Aubree had deliberately excluded Alvin and Matilda from attending the meeting.
“This is getting tricky,” Aubree said. “The officials must’ve been paid off–they keep giving us the runaround and just won’t let us check the surveillance footage.”
“Even if this blows up, it’s still just between Apex Squad and God’s Fury; the League officials won’t get dragged into it.”
Agent Declan Whitaker’s frown deepened. “Our statement hasn’t had much effect. With the tournament in full swing, not only are our fans demanding answers, but casual viewers are jumping on the bandwagon, and influencer accounts are fueling the fire.”
“In the past few days, even the top-tier League of Legends streamers on Playry have been dragged into this mess.”
Aubree sighed, “I know, but it’ll take ages to get the audio recording authenticated. Besides, even if they can verify it, this timeframe alone could cripple us.”
After all, the conversation between her and Emery on that recording was undeniably…