Locke: I rely on intelligence to dominate the world and ensure the survival of my nation.

"Is the headline aggressive enough?"

"Lin Chen monopolizes hidden resources, ordinary players have no way to survive," "The official chief consultant is actually a resource parasite," "China's national fate is in danger: a celebration for the few, a graveyard for the many"—Young Master Zhao, do you think this is strong enough?

Zhao Tianyu turned off the call and opened social media.

refresh.

The first trending topic is about Lin Chen.

#Lin Chen monopolizes resources#

#KickedOutOfTheManagementBureau#

#No way out for ordinary players#

Three topics simultaneously topped the trending search list.

Zhao Tianyu leaned back in his chair, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"Lin Chen, don't you like trending on social media?"

"Let's see how you handle this trending topic."

The public outcry came faster than anyone expected.

Within three hours, the official account of the Locke National Transportation Administration received more than 100,000 private messages and mentions, all demanding that the administration kick Lin Chen out of the administration, disclose all resource allocation mechanisms, and stop "collusion between the administration and individuals".

A large number of ordinary players gathered in the starting plaza, holding homemade signs and chanting slogans. Although no violence occurred, the atmosphere was already very tense.

"We demand fairness!"

"Oppose resource monopolies!"

"Lin Chen, get out of the Administration Bureau!"

One person, in a media interview, broke down in tears before the camera: "We fight monsters like crazy every day, and we can't even find a regular Gulu Ball. Lin Chen? He can find hidden caves and get rare skill stones so easily. This is unfair!"

Some people tried to speak up for Lin Chen, but they were quickly drowned out by the overwhelming public opinion. Any rational analysis was labeled as "paid trolls" or "Lin Chen's lackeys."

Public opinion has completely spiraled out of control.

Administration building, Director's office.

Zhang Guodong put down his phone and rubbed his temples. His desk was piled high with printed public opinion reports, each page marked with a glaring red warning sign.

"Director Zhang, if we don't step in to clarify, the situation will get out of control." The secretary stood beside him, her voice anxious. "Major media outlets are all reporting on this, and international opinion is starting to pay attention. If players from other countries see this infighting within China..."

Zhang Guodong raised his hand and interrupted him.

"Have you contacted Lin Chen yet?"

"I got in touch. He said—"

The secretary hesitated for a moment.

"What did he say?"

He said there was no need for him to come forward and clarify, as he already had a solution in place.

Zhang Guodong tapped his fingers twice on the table.

Did he say what the plan was?

"no."

The office was silent for a few seconds.

Zhang Guodong stood up and walked to the window. Outside, the sky over Beijing was hazy and gray, like a rag that could never be washed clean.

"Then let's wait."

"Director Zhang, but—"

I said, then let's wait.

The secretary opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing, turned around and left the office.

Zhang Guodong stood by the window with his hands behind his back.

He hadn't known Lin Chen for long, but he knew that this person never did anything without being sure of success.

Since he said he has a plan, then he must have one.

He just needs to wait.

Genos is deep in the ocean, hidden deep within caves.

Lin Chen sat by the pool, and the system interface in front of him was constantly updating with news about the media storm.

Li Kai's live stream recording has been viewed more than 20 million times.

Zhao Tianyu's press releases covered 80% of all media platforms across the internet.

Three trending topics firmly occupied the top spot, and the comment section was completely overrun.

Wang Hao squatted down beside him, his face ashen: "Brother Chen, these people are shameless! They were the ones who blocked the public entrances and monopolized the marine resources first, and now they're turning around and accusing you of monopolizing them?"

Su Muxue didn't speak, but the knuckles of her fingers holding the Water Spirit Gulu Ball had turned white.

Lin Chen closed the system interface and looked up.

"They want to force me to reveal my intelligence sources under public pressure." His voice was calm, as if he were talking about something unrelated to himself. "Once I reveal them, they can follow the trail to find the system's secrets."

"What if you don't make it public?" Wang Hao asked.

"Not disclosing it is a sign of a guilty conscience. A guilty conscience only confirms the charge of colluding with the authorities."

Wang Hao's mind went blank: "What should we do? Making it public isn't an option, and keeping it private isn't an option either?"

Lin Chen stood up and dusted himself off.

He opened the system interface; his intelligence points balance was still 0. There were still a few hours until the daily reset, but some things could be done without intelligence points.

"Mu Xue, what's Shui Ling's level now?"

Level 38.

"That's enough." Lin Chen turned to look at the dark waters deep within the pool. "Wang Hao, how's the Magic Cat's hypnotic powder training going?"

"Shoot wherever you point."

"it is good."

Lin Chen placed his hand on the pet badge at his waist, his gaze passing over the pool and looking into the deeper parts of the sea.

"Let them make a scene."

"Let's do something that will prevent them from causing any more trouble."

Wang Hao and Su Muxue exchanged a glance and stood up at the same time.

The three shadows stretched long and faint in the blue light of the pool, like three swords about to be drawn.

Deep within the pool, something opened its eyes in the darkness.

……

The announcement of Lin Chen's debut was personally released by Zhang Guodong.

The official account of the Locke National Transportation Administration posted a pinned message with only one line: "Lin Chen will be live streaming across the entire internet tonight at 8 PM. Don't miss it."

Within ten minutes of the message being sent out, it was forwarded over a million times.

Some people are waiting to see the joke, some are waiting to find fault with it, and some are waiting to start a fight.

Many people simply wanted to see what this young man, who had been thrust into the spotlight, would say.

It was exactly 8 p.m.

Lin Chen sat on a stone platform in the hidden cave in the deep sea of ​​Genos, with a pool of water glowing with blue light behind him. He wasn't wearing makeup, hadn't used any lighting, and hadn't even changed his clothes; he was still wearing the same black windbreaker with half of the cuffs soaked by seawater.

The live stream has started.

The number of online users skyrocketed.

One million. Five million. Ten million. Twenty million.

The peak number of concurrent online users exceeded 50 million.

This was the largest live broadcast since the Locke Kingdom's fate was tied to the event. Fifty million people stared at the screen, watching a twenty-three-year-old young man sit by a deep blue pool, his expression as calm as still water.

The barrage of comments was overwhelming, but Lin Chen didn't read them.

"I won't explain the rumors," Lin Chen said, his voice low but each word clear. "I'll only do one thing—share."

He opened the system interface and projected the map onto the live stream screen.

"First, the Plata Grasslands is a safe leveling spot."

On the map, a coordinate was marked. Lin Chen zoomed in and marked the entrance location, monster types, spawn frequency, and countermeasures in detail.

"This leveling spot is surrounded by natural rock walls, and the entrance is extremely narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time. The monsters inside are between level twelve and fifteen and will not attack players unless provoked. Fire-type pets have an attribute advantage here, while grass-type pets are recommended to enter in a team."

The comments section started to change.

"Holy crap, I've passed by this place before, and I couldn't find the entrance at all!"

"It won't attack unprovoked? Really? I'll try it tomorrow."

"These coordinates are real. I saw them from afar before, but I didn't dare to go in."

Lin Chen continued speaking without pausing.

"Secondly, the coordinates of the hidden treasure chest in the pet park."

Another coordinate has been marked.

"An abandoned well, behind the stone slab at the bottom. The treasure chest contains 200 Rock Dollars, three ordinary Gulu Balls, and five basic HP potions. Trigger condition: You need to climb down the groove in the well wall. It is recommended to do this in a team, as it is somewhat risky to do it alone."

Fifty million people were watching online, but the live stream suddenly went silent for a few seconds.

Everyone is memorizing coordinates.

"Thirdly, basic pet catching techniques."

Lin Chen took an ordinary Gulu ball from his waist and held it in front of the camera.

"Many people think that catching a pet is just about bringing it down to low health and then throwing it. That's not right. Different pets have different capture windows—Fire-type pets have the highest capture success rate during the recovery period after using a move, Grass-type pets are easiest to catch during the charging phase after using Sleep Powder, and Water-type pets need to be brought into a 'retreat' state first."

He paused.

"These data points were obtained through trial and error. Now, I'm sharing them with everyone for free."

The live chat exploded.

"I wasted over a dozen Gulu Balls before! Turns out you're supposed to throw them during the instability phase!"

"Wow, this guy's awesome! That's a real master!"

"Who said Lin Chen monopolized resources? Come out and take your punishment!"

Lin Chen didn't give the comments section time to process what was happening. He stood up, jumped off the stone platform, and walked to the edge of the pool.

"The fourth one is the hidden entrance to the deep sea in Genos."