143: Chapter 143 Exploiting the Prince's Popularity? Account Banned Immediately

Once the announcement reserved for the imperial heir was posted, the hype became impossible to suppress.

The Holy Light City Square was packed with people from dawn till dusk.

A crowd of players held up their terminals to take photos. Golden light characters reading "Congratulations in advance to the future Crown Prince" hung in the sky, and fireworks exploded round after round. Even newbie players from the outer city were rushing toward the main city.

With such high popularity, all sorts of charlatans naturally emerged.

On the east side of the square, a dozen or so temporary stalls had appeared at some point.

Strings of glittering golden wooden plaques hung on the stalls, alongside rows of neatly folded gray-white cloth robes. Large signs were erected next to them.

"Exclusive Amulets of the Future Crown Prince!"

"The same cloth robes worn by the Great Boss Lin Zhe!"

"Officially authorized! Wearing them grants an extra luck buff and increases drop rates in dungeons!"

Several players dressed in decent merchant robes stood before the stalls, shouting louder than anyone else.

"Come look, come look! Limited quantities!"

"Future Crown Prince warm-up commemorative models! If you don't buy today, the price goes up tomorrow!"

"The amulets are bound to your luck! Once equipped, it's easier to get Blue-tier equipment from mobs!"

"This cloth robe is the same style as Boss Lin Zhe's. Wearing it gives you prestige wherever you go!"

The square was already full of players drawn in by the hype.

Hearing "Crown Prince Exclusive," "Lin Zhe's Style," and "Luck Buff," many newbies' eyes lit up.

"Is it for real? Can it really add a buff?"

"Of course it's real!" A stall owner patted his chest with a look of absolute certainty. "Haven't you seen how high the hype for the prince is lately? This is merchandise leaked through internal channels, carrying the luck of the Imperial Family! Many veteran players have already bought them!"

"Then how much is it?"

"The amulets are 800 credits each, the cloth robes are 1,200. A set is only 1,800!"

"Huh? That expensive?"

"Expensive?" Another stall owner immediately curled his lip. "This is the future Crown Prince's exclusive commemorative model! In a few days, when the hype gets even higher, you won't even be able to buy it for 3,000!"

A group of inexperienced newbies were truly intimidated by the bluster.

Some gritted their teeth and transferred the money on the spot.

Others saw people buying and followed suit.

Even more exaggeratedly, a student player who had only entered the main city a few days ago, fearing he'd miss out on the so-called "internal models," directly bought the three-piece set of amulet, cloth robe, and badge in one go. It added up to over 3,000 credits; his hands were shaking after the transfer.

As a result, once the items were in hand, forget the luck buff—they didn't even have the most basic system certification.

It was just a piece of junk wood and a common white-tier vanity item.

A few newbies didn't believe it and immediately ran to the wilderness to grind mobs. After grinding for half the day, the drop rate didn't increase at all, and they were mocked by others for ages.

"Brother, where'd you buy that crappy plaque?"

"Over at the square... didn't they say it has a buff?"

"Buff my ass! That's a street-stall fake. Someone on the world channel was already saying it looked suspicious!"

The newbies were stunned on the spot.

Especially that student player who had spent over 3,000 credits; his face turned pale. He stood there for a long time without moving, his eyes turning red.

"I... I put all my living expenses into this..."

Some were shaking with rage, while others immediately turned back to find the stall owners.

However, by the time they ran back to the square, those stalls were already starting to pack up, their mouths still busy scamming the next person.

"Sold out, sold out! Last few pieces!"

Those scammed newbies completely blew up.

"Report them!"

"Go to the Falling Maple complaint channel!"

"These bastards are using the names of Great Boss Lin Zhe and the future Crown Prince to scam money. They must be tired of living!"

In less than ten minutes, dozens of complaints flooded directly into Luofeng Village's pinned channel.

On the earthen slope, Lin Chen was holding some Spirit Honey Cake while reading the server-wide messages.

*Ding ding ding—*

The red light of the complaints flashed frantically.

Lin Chen's little brow furrowed as he clicked on the first one.

It was full of screenshots.

Fake amulets.

Fake cloth robes.

Transfer records.

The scammers had been talking a big game in the chat, saying things like "Equipping it automatically adds luck," "Internal Lin family merchandise," and "Buying it makes you half an insider."

Behind the top complaint was a sentence written with a trembling hand.

"Lord Archon, I was scammed out of 3,200 credits. That was the living expenses I saved up over two months..."

Lin Chen's face went cold instantly.

"Using my father's hype to scam people again."

Beside him, Lin Yueyao held her scepter, her little face also puffing up. "Bad."

"Yes, bad."

Lin Chen raised his small hand, and pale golden threads of rules instantly spread out.

In less than a minute.

The player accounts, transaction records, real-world identities, receiving accounts, and shipping addresses of all the involved stalls were stripped clean by him.

Twelve accounts in total.

Behind them was a gang of illegal merchants who specialized in leeching off trending topics to scam people.

They weren't just selling fake merchandise; they were also using the name of "internal authorization" to fleece newbies at high prices. In just half a day, they had already scammed over 200,000 credits.

After Lin Chen finished reading, he spoke directly: "Ban them."

*Vroom—*

The next second, a server-wide announcement exploded.

[Server-wide Announcement: Upon investigation, twelve illegal merchants maliciously faked 'Future Crown Prince Exclusive Merchandise' and 'Lin Zhe's Style Merchandise,' fabricated luck buff effects, and defrauded players of real-world property. The evidence is conclusive!]

[The penalties are as follows:]

[1: The twelve accounts involved are permanently banned from all server permissions, transaction permissions, event permissions, and teleportation permissions!]

[2: All illegal gains are frozen and will be returned in full to all victimized players via the original route!]

[3: The real-world identity information of the involved personnel is simultaneously transferred to the Social Credit System and recorded as bad credit and fraud!]

[4: The fraud is confirmed and publicized server-wide. Anyone else who dares to sell fakes under the Lin family name will be treated with the same penalty!]

[The final right of interpretation for this penalty belongs to Lin Chen, Archon of Luofeng Village!]

Just as the announcement ended.

Those twelve scammers were collecting money at the other end of the square. Before the smiles could fade from their faces, red lights exploded over their heads simultaneously.

"What's going on?!"

"Why did my account turn gray?!"

"Fuck! I can't open the transaction panel!"

"Teleportation is locked too?!"

Before they could even react, the players around the square had all seen the announcement.

The next second, the entire square erupted into chaos.

"It's them!"

"Damn it! Grab them!"

"You dare scam newbies? And you dare leech off Boss Lin Zhe and the future prince's hype?"

A crowd of players surrounded them on the spot.

The scammers tried to run, but their permissions were all grayed out. They couldn't even use a Town Portal Scroll. They had only squeezed out two steps before being blocked in place.

Someone kicked over a stall.

Someone smashed all the fake amulets.

The scammed newbies also rushed up, their eyes red with anger.

"Give me back my money!"

Almost simultaneously, the system mailboxes of all victimized players lit up.

[Illegal gains have been recovered.]

[The real-world funds you were scammed out of have been returned in full.]

The student player who had been scammed out of 3,200 stared at the prompt. First he was stunned, then his hands began to shake.

"It... it's back..."

"It's really all back!"

A group of victims nearby also exploded with excitement.

"My 800 is back too!"

"My 1,200 has arrived in full!"

“Lord Lin Chen is awesome!”

The world channel was instantly flooded.

"Good ban!"

"How long has it been? Everything was found out in less than a minute?"

"Even the real-world credit was synchronized? Satisfying!"

"They deserved it! Scamming newbies is the most disgusting!"

"If anyone dares to sell fake prince merchandise again, I'll be the first to report them!"

While the scammers were being shut down here, the official response on the other side was also incredibly fast.

Zhou Ming rushed into the backend with the operations team almost the moment he saw the announcement.

"Put up the authentic versions immediately!"

"Imperial Heir Commemorative Amulets, Lin Zhe's Style Cloth Robes, and Commemorative Badges—all through official certification channels!"

"Keep the prices down! Don't let those scammers find another loophole!"

"And—all proceeds are to be transferred to the Luofeng Public Account to be used for player benefits!"

In less than half an hour, the official store went live.

A row of large characters hung at the very top of the page.

[Officially Certified Authentic Merchandise. Private Sale of Fakes is Strictly Prohibited]

[All proceeds will be used for server-wide player benefit distribution]

As soon as the news came out, players instantly flooded in.

"Buy the authentic ones!"

"I'd rather spend a bit more to support the official side than give scammers blood money!"

"At least this cloth robe has certification; it can even be kept as a souvenir!"

"It doesn't matter if the amulet doesn't have a buff, as long as it's authentic!"

In less than half an hour.

The Imperial Heir Commemorative Amulets were sold out.

The Lin Zhe Style Cloth Robes were sold out.

The Commemorative Badges were sold out.

The backend inventory was completely cleared.

Zhou Ming stared at the sales figures in the backend, completely overjoyed.

"Sold out!"

"They're all sold out!"

And the world channel was even more lively.

"I snagged an authentic cloth robe!"

"I didn't get the amulet. Damn, I was one step too late!"

"The official side is finally acting like humans this time!"

"All proceeds go into the Luofeng Public Account, which means it eventually goes back to the players. Nice!"

In the side hall, Lin Zhe looked at the new transaction feedback, his expression remaining calm.

In his mind, the system prompts sounded.

[Ding! Fraudulent activities have been cleared. Player trust has increased!]

[Ding! Server-wide transaction order stability has increased!]

[Ding! The host's control over server-wide market circulation has been further enhanced!]

Su Ninghua stood to the side, looking at the still-bustling square outside, and spoke faintly: "After this wave, I'm afraid no one will dare to use the Lin family name for shady business anymore."

Lin Zhe lightly tapped the tabletop.

"If they dare, they'll be banned."

Outside, the sky was gradually darkening. The world channel was still being flooded with news of authentic merchandise and refund arrivals.

And at the palace gate, the dragon qi on the Dragon Letter in Chi Lie's hand surged even more urgently.

It was as if it would be impossible to suppress if he waited any longer.