142: Chapter 142 GM Apologizes? All Authority Surrendered

In the side hall of Holy Light City, Chi Lie was still kneeling outside the palace gates, not daring to look up, as the crimson dragon aura seeped through the door cracks bit by bit.

On the other side, the sound of urgent hoofbeats echoed again on the official road outside the palace.

Zhou Ming had arrived.

This time he was even faster than before, but also more disheveled.

Before he even entered the hall, he came rushing in at a trot, his forehead covered in sweat, followed by dozens of people from the Official Operations Department who entered one after another carrying large chests.

"Bang!"

The first chest hit the ground, its golden light dazzling.

One hundred thousand gold coins.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The subsequent chests also landed one after another. When the lids were opened, they were filled with high-grade fine iron, rare enchanted ores, and high-level materials specifically for events, piling up across half the side hall.

As soon as Zhou Ming steadied himself, he fell to his knees with a "thud," his waist bending until he was almost touching the floor: "Mr. Lin Zhe! Lord Lin Chen! Previously, the GM overstepped their authority to cause trouble due to our official lack of strict oversight! We have come specifically to apologize this time!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the accompanying supervisors from the Operations Department also knelt in unison, not daring to lift their heads.

Lin Zhe sat at the head of the table, his fingertips lightly tapping the surface, his expression indifferent, saying nothing.

Back at Luofeng Village, Lin Chen was sitting on a stone table on a mound, a half-eaten piece of Spirit Honey Cake in his mouth, with a rule light screen projection suspended in front of him. The little fellow swung his legs, looked down at Zhou Ming, and spoke in a childish voice: "Just an apology is useless. Where are the things?"

Zhou Ming shuddered and hurriedly pulled out a new rule contract from his robes, holding it high with both hands.

"We have them! We have them!"

"This is a new contract the officials redrafted overnight!"

His voice trembled, yet he didn't dare be the least bit vague: "From today onwards, all GM appointments and dismissals, all backend operations involving NPC permission adjustments, all event parameter modifications, and rule changes must first be submitted to Lord Lin Chen for review and signature! As long as you do not approve, the officials will never act on their own!"

"Furthermore, if any GM dares to pull little stunts behind your back in the future, the officials are willing to pay ten times the revenue generated by that event or system operation into the Luofeng Public Account as compensation, without any evasion!"

As these words were spoken, several high-level executives from the Operations Department who had followed along lowered their heads, their hearts bleeding.

But no one dared to object.

Last time the backend was locked for three hours, and the entire official operation almost collapsed on the spot.

They were truly terrified.

Lin Chen bit into the Spirit Honey Cake, raised a small paw, and the contract flew directly in front of him.

He looked down and flipped through two pages, his small brow furrowing slightly.

"Still not enough."

Zhou Ming's face turned pale: "Lord Lin Chen, please speak! Tell us how to change it!"

Lin Chen snorted and spoke in a childish voice: "You're only compensating Falling Maple's money, but what about the players?"

"When GMs cause trouble, they don't just screw over my dad and us; they screw over all the players on the server."

"So, add one more clause."

He pointed a small hand, and a pale gold rule thread swished onto the contract, directly adding a new line of terms.

"In the future, if any GM violates the rules and it is verified, it will be announced to the entire server immediately."

"In addition to paying Falling Maple ten times the revenue, the officials must also compensate all players on the server with a 3-day 10% drop rate buff."

"Not a single day less."

The side hall instantly fell silent.

The corners of the mouths of several official high-level executives twitched.

"A 3-day 10% drop rate buff for the whole server?"

"This is no longer an apology; this is a public bloodletting."

Zhou Ming also felt the sting, his eyelids twitching, but he only froze for a moment before nodding fiercely: "Agreed! The officials agree!"

"We'll do exactly as Lord Lin Chen says!"

He really didn't dare to hesitate.

If he hesitated for a second now, it might not just be adding clauses later; the backend might be locked again.

Only then was Lin Chen satisfied. He took a bite, swallowing the last of the Spirit Honey Cake, and said in a childish voice: "Press your blood seal."

Zhou Ming hurriedly bit his fingertip and dripped blood onto the contract.

Hum—

The entire rule contract instantly lit up with a blinding golden light.

Layers of underlying rule patterns spread from the edges of the contract, creeping along the void and drilling directly into the depths of miracle's core system.

[Rule binding successful!]

[New Constraint: Official GM appointments and dismissals must be approved by the Archon of Luofeng Village, Lin Chen]

[New Constraint: NPC permission adjustments and event parameter modifications can only be executed after being signed by Lin Chen]

[New Punishment: GM violations will trigger a server-wide announcement, ten times revenue compensation from the officials, and a 3-day 10% drop rate compensation for all players]

[This rule has been incorporated into the underlying system and cannot be bypassed, deleted, or modified]

The moment the golden light fell, the entire server shook.

A second later, a bright red pinned announcement popped up in front of all players on the server.

[Server-wide Announcement: Following the re-signing of the rule contract between the officials and Luofeng Village, effective today—]

[1: All GM appointments and dismissals, NPC permission adjustments, and event parameter modifications must be reviewed and signed by the Archon of Luofeng Village, Lin Chen]

[2: Without approval, the officials may not privately perform any related backend operations]

[3: If another GM violation occurs, it will trigger a server-wide announcement, and the officials will pay ten times the revenue to the Luofeng Public Account, while also compensating all players on the server with a 3-day 10% drop rate buff]

[This contract has been bound to the underlying rules and is permanently effective!]

Once the announcement came out, the world channel instantly exploded.

"Holy crap?! The officials handed over the GM approval rights?"

"Doesn't this mean handing the backend's throat over to Lord Lin Chen?"

"This feels good! We don't have to worry about GMs taking bribes to open back doors for guilds anymore!"

"Who would dare to secretly change event parameters now? If they dare, it's a server-wide announcement plus a drop rate buff compensation!"

"The officials have truly knelt this time!"

"The Lin family is awesome! Even GMs have to file reports first!"

Countless players clapped and cheered.

Especially those solo players who had previously suffered from GM's hidden tricks or had been disgusted by malicious favoritism towards guilds; they were flooding the screen with messages.

"It should have been like this a long time ago!"

"The officials have finally learned how to behave like humans!"

"From now on, if anyone says miracle isn't run by the Lin family, I'll be the first to disbelieve them!"

In the side hall, hearing the faint cheers from outside, Zhou Ming actually felt a sense of relief.

It hurt.

But at least he kept his life this time.

He quickly lowered his head again: "Mr. Lin Zhe, Lord Lin Chen, from now on, the officials will never cross the line again. All relevant permissions will strictly follow the rules."

Lin Zhe finally looked up and gave him a faint glance: "Just remember that."

With just this one sentence, cold sweat broke out on Zhou Ming's back again.

He nodded repeatedly: "I'll remember! I'll definitely remember!"

Just then, a system notification sound quietly rang in Lin Zhe's mind.

[Ding! Official core permissions further ceded, version approval right progress +10%]

Lin Zhe's fingertips paused slightly, and his eyes deepened.

10%.

This step had completely seized the official backend by the throat.

Zhou Ming didn't dare to stay any longer. After apologizing and signing the contract, he immediately led the group of high-level executives from the Operations Department to slink away.

The side hall became quiet again.

Outside, the world channel was still frantically flooding the screen, celebrating the official's handover of power and the fact that GMs would never dare to mess around again.

Su Ninghua stood by the window, looking at the boiling crowd outside the palace, her voice cold yet carrying a hint of a smile: "Now even the officials have completely bowed their heads."

Lin Zhe didn't respond but simply looked towards the palace gates.

Outside the gates, Chi Lie was still kneeling.

The crimson dragon aura on that urgent dragon letter was surging even more intensely than before.