Amalia had asked a few questions to the plump vendor and quickly realized that she wouldn't get any useful information from this person because he didn't seem to speak a word of truth.
She then went to inquire with the old vendor. The old vendor wasn't entirely dishonest, but he was not easy to fool either. As for the thin vendor, he was a master of deceit, capable of turning any situation to his advantage, even making the dead appear alive.
All three of them were quite puzzled. They couldn't figure out why this young lady was asking so many questions. Not one of them suspected that Amalia might be here to compete with them in business.
Amalia didn't return empty-handed, though. She left after her inquiries. She was just here to gather information today, and she hadn't decided whether she would start her Artifact repair business here.
...
"Big Sister, we have a big problem," Amalia received a call from Carlos while she was on her way home. As soon as she answered, Carlos's voice came through with urgency.
There were passengers on the bus glancing at her.
Amalia moved to a quieter spot. "What's the big problem?"
"Hector is targeting you again."
"It'ss not the first time," Amalia remembered that many buyers no longer trusted Hector's words, so he shouldn't be causing much trouble.
"No, this time he's very confident because your Artificer shop has been temporarily suspended on the Red Espiritual Net. You need to find out what's happening. Your shop was fine, and suddenly it's suspended. There must be a misunderstanding!" Carlos was even more agitated than Amalia.
Amalia logged into the Red Espiritual Net, but she couldn't access the backend of her shop. Instead, a notification from the Red Espiritual Net appeared, stating that a user had complained about her shop engaging in fraudulent activities. While the matter was under investigation, her shop and its 12 million money had been temporarily frozen.
Amalia contacted Red Espiritual Net staff to inquire about the situation.
"Is the one who complained about me Peerless_CucumberX?" Amalia asked.
Carlos and Samuel couldn't have lodged a complaint against her. If they wanted to do something, they wouldn't have waited until now. Only Peerless_CucumberX could be behind this.
"Yes, it's Peerless_CucumberX. He complained that the Artifact he purchased from you were defective and that they didn't match the descriptions on your online store, accusing you of selling counterfeit goods," the staff member replied.
"Does he have any evidence?" Amalia asked.
"Yes, he submitted evidence along with his complaint."
"Can I see the evidence he submitted?"
"Yes, you can." The staff member disappeared for a moment, then returned and forwarded the evidence provided by Peerless_CucumberX to Amalia.
Upon a single glance, Amalia could tell that the Artifact presented as evidence were not the ones she had sent to Peerless_CucumberX. Needless to say, the rest of the evidence were also false, and all clearly fabricated. "These are not the Artifact I crafted," she stated firmly.
The staff member seemed surprised and inhaled sharply, "Did you crafted it all by yourself?"
It seemed that he had heard about the previous incident, which had sparked discussions within the Red Espiritual Net. While they didn't belived Amalia's do fraud, they couldn't be certain if that the Artifact were her creations or not.
"Of course," Amalia affirmed.
The staff member couldn't believe his luck. He had encountered a genuine, highly talented wild Artificer, and this person was still quite young. Thinking about the information Amalia had submitted, this individual's potential seemed limitless.
A living genius Artificer! The staff member realized that this was a fantastic opportunity. His asked Amalia to hold on for a moment and rushed to find his supervisor.
"So, you're telling me that we have a genius Artificer on our website, and all the Artifact in her shop are self-crafted, even though the ranks may not be high, the quality of each tool is exceptional. Now, this genius Artificer is being targeted by someone with malicious intent, who's switching out Artifact and falsely accusing them?" The supervisor found the situation extraordinary.
While Earth had its fair share of Artificers, genuine geniuses were rare. Most had decent talent, but some did well, while others struggled. In the Red Espiritual Net, a place with a mix of all kinds of individuals, true geniuses were even scarcer, with perhaps one appearing every few centuries.
A genuine genius Artificer usually had powerful factions or families vying for their talent as soon as they emerged. The idea of them selling Artifact on the Red Espiritual Net was unheard of. A wild, untamed genius Artificer was a one-in-a-billion occurrence.
"Who is this person accusing them?" the supervisor inquired.
"The accuser is a user named Peerless_CucumberX," the staff member replied, checking Peerless_CucumberX' profile. "This individual frequently engages in reselling activities on our website offline, and there have been occasional user complaints. However, due to their isolated incidents, we never took significant action."
The supervisor, being a seasoned leader, quickly detected the unusual aspect of this situation. "This person is likely just a pawn, a small player who can't come up with 12 million silver on their own. There must be someone else behind the scenes, manipulating them into doing this."
"Do they know that Ashe is an Artificer?" Amalia asked.
"Probably not. Most likely, they are targeting the supply line of Artifact behind her," the supervisor replied confidently, wearing a knowing smile.
The staff member chuckled, "So, they've inadvertently bitten off more than they can chew by antagonizing a genius Artificer. They won't have an easy time in the future."
"Alright, you should go and reply to Ashe. We can't afford to offend this person, and we need to show goodwill. However, since this incident has garnered the attention of the entire Red Espiritual Net community, we need to provide an explanation to the public. Ask her if she can provide strong evidence to prove Peerless_CucumberX' false accusations. If not, publicly crafting Artifact would be the best way to clear her name, although she might not be willing to do so," the supervisor advised.
Asking kind reader for Power Stone, Comment, and Review!(○゚ε゚○)
"Why wouldn't he? Crafting Artifact publicly could help boost her reputation," the staff member inquired, perplexed.
"If she truly wanted to build her reputation, she wouldn't have started anonymously selling Artifact on the Red Espiritual Net. Now, go quickly; I'll be monitoring this situation closely," the supervisor instructed.
"Yes, I'll go right away."
Returning to his post, the staff member messaged Amalia, "Miss, may I ask how you knew that the Artifact he submitted were not crafted by you?"
"I mark each Artifact I craft with a symbol," Amalia explained. In her previous life, she had learned from a similar experience and had formed a habit of marking her crafted Artifact with a symbol as a form of identification. The images of the Artifact submitted by Peerless_CucumberX clearly lacked this mark.
The staff member went through the Artifact Amalia had previously uploaded and found that each one indeed bore the same hidden mark. To the untrained eye, it might go unnoticed, but it was there. However, this evidence alone might not be sufficient, so the staff member requested that Amalia take pictures of the Artifact she had previously sold, serving as additional proof.
Obtaining the images wasn't difficult. Amalia went to Carlos, who readily took the pictures for her. To ensure persuasiveness, he even included himself in some of the images.
Amalia applied a mosaic to his face.
Samuel's situation was similar. He wasn't aware of the issue until Carlos approached him. He retrieved the three Artifact he had purchased and found the same mark on all of them. If not for this incident, he might not have noticed for a long time.
After cross-referencing these images with the previous ones, the Red Espiritual Net staff was satisfied that Amalia hadn't engaged in any fraudulent activities. Her pricing was also reasonable. They promptly unfroze her account, and the money was transferred directly to her.
"Miss, Peerless_CucumberX is a small-time scalper. He doesn't have the means to do this on his own. Our supervisor believes that someone is likely manipulating him from behind the scenes," the staff member informed Amalia as per their supervisor's instructions.
"Please convey my thanks to your supervisor," Amalia replied.
The staff member beamed and said, "Of course, I will."
...
In Yannis's villa,
"Young Master Yannis, the job is done. You can absolutely relax now. Ashe's No. 1 Artificer shop is finished. The backend is frozen, and there's a global announcement. It won't be long before her shop closed permanently," Francisco assured, and immediately seeking recognition along with Luka.
"Yes, yes, and we've also spread the word through Hector about our enmity with Ashe. He'll certainly go all out to publicize it. By now, the entire Red Espiritual Net should be aware," Luka added, eager to please.
"Oh, are you sure she won't have a chance to turn things around?" Yannis's expression remained aloof and indifferent, mixed with a tinge of disdain.
Francisco nodded vigorously. "In this situation, what chance does she have to turn things around? Even if she can produce evidence, we can always claim that she tampered with genuine Artifact."
"Getting two intermediate level Artifact for free while making sure she's left penniless is a high-yield plan," Luka remarked.
"I'm not interested in high-yield. I want that supply line she has in her hands!" Yannis gazed coldly at them.
The two of them felt a sudden tension in the air and quickly put on their best smiles. "Young Master Yannis, rest assured, our first step is to destroy her shop. She's just a second-rate dealer, unable to come up with 12 million. When she feeling quite anxious, she'll definitely reach out to us voluntarily, and then we can demand a face-to-face meet up. By then She won't escape, for sure."
"Exactly, once we know who she is, she won't be able to run. Big Apple City is Young Master Yannis's territory, and finding someone here is a piece of cake," Luka chimed in, oozing flattery.
"Good. If this goes through, there will be rewards for you both," Yannis finally revealed a smile.
The two of them released their pent-up tension, exchanged triumphant glances, and couldn't contain their excitement. They were about to rise to new heights.
Suddenly, Francisco's communicator rang.
Francisco, upon seeing the name on the communicator, was briefly taken aback. He quickly bowed and said, "I apologize, Young Master Yannis, I need to take this call."
Yannis nonchalantly acknowledged with a hum.
"Samuel, is there something you need from me?" Francisco stepped outside the villa.
"You've been missing in action lately, nowhere to be seen," Samuel's face appeared on the screen.
"Nothing much. Do you have any business with me?" Francisco inquired.
Samuel's expression darkened. "Is the Ashe's incident your doing?"
Francisco was bewildered, not understanding why his friend was asking, and even wondering if Samuel had somehow found out. "What Ashe's incident? I don't even know who Ashe is," he denied flatly. Initially, he hadn't contacted Samuel because he didn't want to let him in on it.
"I remember you had dealings with Peerless_CucumberX. Funny enough, shortly after you told me those things, Peerless_CucumberX approached Ashe. Given his abilities, where did he get the money to buy two intermediate level Artifact?" Samuel pressed.
Francisco's smile faded by half, and irritation flickered in his eyes. "Just because of that, you suspect it's my doing? We've been good friends for many years, and you're suspecting me for the sake of a stranger?"
Samuel knew he wouldn't admit it without evidence. He took a deep breath. "You don't have to pretend anymore. If I didn't have evidence, I wouldn't be confronting you. I asked Uncle Frank, and a few days ago, you suddenly asked him for a large sum of money. It happened to be 12 million. Are you still going to deny it?"
Francisco stared at him for a while, then suddenly laughed. "Well, even if I admit it, so what? Do you expect me to apologize to Ashe? Samuel, you can't be that naive, can you?"
Asking kind reader for Power Stone, Comment, and Review!(○゚ε゚○)
Você também pode gostar
Comentário de parágrafo
O comentário de parágrafo agora está disponível na Web! Passe o mouse sobre qualquer parágrafo e clique no ícone para adicionar seu comentário.
Além disso, você sempre pode desativá-lo/ativá-lo em Configurações.
Entendi