Chapter Thirty-Nine: I Heard Someone Plans to Sue Me?

After some thought, Luo Chen decided to temporarily set aside the distractions in his mind; things like building a website could wait until later. He would consider it again when the right person came along.

It had been nearly a week since his last video was released. Requests for updates were appearing frequently in the barrage chat group—it seemed time to start thinking about the next video's content. If he wanted to consolidate his popularity, a series would be best. Luo Chen could think of plenty of suitable works, but choosing the right one was the problem.

He rubbed his forehead. Perhaps he was the only one troubled by having too many outstanding works to choose from.

As he was thinking, the two-and-a-half-minute video in front of him was coming to an end. After glancing at the barrage comments, Luo Chen was about to close the video when an unexpected comment caught his eye:

“Latest news: Scumbag Yuan Ning is planning to sue the King of Filth!”

Sue him?

Luo Chen froze in surprise. Yuan Ning was planning to sue him? That couldn't be; Luo Chen was sure he hadn’t done anything recently to provoke Professor Yuan Ning. If Yuan Ning had intended to sue, he would have done so long ago.

After that comment, the viewers watching the video flooded the chat:

“Is that for real? Why would Yuan Ning sue my little angel out of the blue?”

“If he was going to do it, he’d have done it already.”

“I heard he’s really shaken up. Did you guys watch today's 'Truth' program? Yuan Ning was practically about to lose it.”

“Haha… Now I have to go watch it.”

...

The “Truth” program.

Luo Chen recalled that it was a well-known TV show in Huaguo, but it didn’t seem to have anything to do with him. Even if Yuan Ning had been upset elsewhere, it shouldn’t be Luo Chen’s problem.

He exited the Stardust platform and searched for the information online. Soon, he found the episode that aired today. After watching the half-hour show, Luo Chen realized it did, in fact, involve him.

Previously, he had indeed asked his fan, Li Hua, to spread evidence of Yuan Ning’s various misdeeds online. He hadn’t expected it to be so effective—but perhaps that was because Yuan Ning was already far from clean, so the rumors only spread wider and unearthed even more of his scandals.

But now, if Yuan Ning proceeded with the lawsuit, Luo Chen didn’t see what he could do. The moment litigation commenced, the Stardust platform would likely be forced to reveal his identity. Then he’d have to go to court and, if he lost, pay damages.

Would it really be that bad? Losing money would be the least of his worries; if his identity as the King of Filth was exposed, that would be truly disastrous. Luo Chen glanced at the comments under the “Truth” episode and felt it was best to keep his identity hidden for now.

“What? Yuan Ning is really going through with the lawsuit? Doesn’t that mean we’ll get to see the real person soon?”

“Exactly! We should all wait outside the courthouse and worship the King of Filth!”

“I bet fifty cents the King of Filth is just a big, scruffy guy.”

“Get out of here—maybe it’s a girl!”

“Filth fans here! To the courthouse gates!”

“Gate one.”

“Gate two.”

“Gate three.”

“Gate 10086.”

...

If Luo Chen really were exposed, his reputation in real life would be ruined. He needed to find an opportunity to shed this nickname. The thought alone brought tears to his eyes. At this point, he didn’t even dare meet his fans—who else was in a situation like his?

Beep beep beep...

Just then, his personal page began flashing with new messages from the Stardust platform.

Luo Chen frowned. He didn’t recall adding anyone else, and these weren’t fan messages. Could it be an admin?

Come to think of it, Stardust had already messaged him several times over the past few days, inviting him to sign a contract. Luo Chen hadn’t decided how to respond. If he became an official host on Stardust, he wouldn’t be able to publish his videos elsewhere—a deal-breaker for someone considering building his own site. So he had simply kept them waiting.

As for unsigned hosts, Stardust took a full half of their rewards and donations, which had cost Luo Chen a considerable sum recently. Still, without Stardust’s massive traffic, he wouldn’t have gained so many fans so quickly. The commission was inevitable.

But he couldn’t just ignore messages forever. Luo Chen opened the blinking notification, only to find it wasn’t from the admin as he’d assumed. The sender was Autumn Waters Cold.

Since he’d thanked Autumn Waters Cold last time, they’d added each other as friends. Luo Chen was still grateful for being warned about Yuan Ning’s impending backlash—it had been spot-on, as Yuan Ning made his move the very next day. Luo Chen still wondered how Autumn Waters Cold got that information.

Autumn Waters Cold: I have evidence of Yuan Ning accepting bribes. Do you want it?

Seeing the message, Luo Chen paused, then frowned and replied:

Innocent Little Angel: Yes! But how did you get it? Wouldn’t it be better to give it to the “Truth” program or the police?

If Autumn Waters Cold hadn’t had a good reputation on Stardust, Luo Chen might have suspected this was a setup to blackmail him.

Autumn Waters Cold: This evidence isn’t as useful as you think… How about meeting in person? There are some things I need to tell you.

Meet in person?

Luo Chen hesitated, but agreed. With Yuan Ning’s lawsuit looming, he was out of options. After all, he had indeed smeared Yuan Ning without consent and had done substantial damage to his reputation—there was little hope of winning in court.

Innocent Little Angel: All right, but sooner is better.

Autumn Waters Cold: One hour from now, let’s meet at the restaurant.

After agreeing on the time and place, Luo Chen could only hope there really was evidence—otherwise, he was in serious trouble.

He shut down his computer, quietly opened the door, and slipped out, careful not to disturb Luo Tianyi in her room.

Luo Chen didn’t quite know why he was hiding things from his sister, but judging by his practiced stealth, this was far from the first time. It seemed to be a habit embedded in this body. Since his subconscious felt it best not to let Luo Tianyi know, he avoided her as much as possible.

Thank you to Luo Shen Tianyi 666 for the generous reward of 1,500 Starting Point coins—flowers for you! Thanks also to Taiyin Tian for 300 coins, and to Guardian of Your Smile and Our Holy Father for 100 coins each. The book group number is 334875929—join us! The name says it all. Finally, the author is experiencing a power outage and poor phone signal, so unless the power comes back, there will only be one update today.