Rumors Run Wild

"Zhuqing, listen to my excuse—ah, no, listen to my explanation."

"Hmph, go explain yourself to your little princess Ning Rongrong! I'm not as rich as she is, and I certainly don't have two Titled Douluo grandfathers who adore me."

Luo Yihe hurriedly ran in front of Zhu Zhuqing and spread his arms to block her path.

Zhu Zhuqing merely stared at Luo Yihe coldly.

Luo Yihe's mind raced. Before long, he smiled and said, "You misunderstood me, Zhuqing. I went in to save Xiao Chenghe, but when I saw Ning Rongrong all decked out in jewels, I thought I'd take the opportunity to make some money!"

"I did all this for you. When we travel the continent in the future, are we supposed to camp out every day and eat wild soul beasts and weeds? If Xiao Chenghe had to eat wild soul beasts while picking some wild vegetables for himself, I wouldn't feel bad for him even after a year. But you... no... absolutely not!"

As he spoke, Luo Yihe's eyes involuntarily drifted toward a pair of long legs in black stockings that had just passed by, his head turning along with them.

{Ding, negative emotions from Zhu Zhuqing +1188}

{Ding, negative emotions from Xiao Chenghe +100}

Zhu Zhuqing's gaze turned icy, and her high-heeled foot came crashing down on Luo Yihe.

Please provide the Chinese text you would like me to translate. I am ready to process it according to your instructions.

"Ahhh~"

The pain instantly snapped Luo Yihe awake. Clutching his foot, he hopped around on the spot.

His head turned back as well, and his smile looked worse than crying. "Zhuqing, if I said I ran into an acquaintance just now and was confirming their identity, would you believe me?"

Zhu Zhuqing: "Take a guess."

Xiao Chenghe: "Well, I don't!"

"Damn it! Big Bear, that one was for you."

"Holy shit! Did you see Tonight Headlines? Was that really the second prince of the Star Luo Empire?"

"Of course it was. The Star Luo Empire has really made a name for itself this time."

Star Luo Empire Official: "We ask everyone not to believe or spread rumors. This is absolutely someone maliciously slandering the Star Luo Empire. Even an ordinary person from our Star Luo Empire is a warrior full of fighting spirit, let alone a prince raised by the Star Luo imperial family."

"If this were one of the useless nobles from the Heaven Dou Empire, the Star Luo Empire might believe it. After all, the Heaven Dou Empire really is a bit too 'trash.'"

Heaven Dou Empire Official: "Since when did the White Tiger Martial Soul evolve into a little kitten that only knows how to go 'eek, eek'? Your Star Luo Empire truly has no shame. Is it really so hard to admit that he is your own prince? The video showed it crystal clear. His name is Dai Mubai. Just listen to his cries—how much they sound like a tiger's roar."

Comment: "That said, why is a prince of the Star Luo Empire in a small city of the Heaven Dou Empire?"

"Doesn't that just prove that people from the Star Luo Empire live like talking monkeys? Even their own prince didn't want to stay in the Star Luo Empire. Looks like he's joining the Heaven Dou Empire."

"Holy shit! Is that for real? A Star Luo prince joining the Heaven Dou Empire? Does the Star Luo Empire have any shame left?"

"..."

Star Luo Empire, inside the imperial palace—

Crash~

Rumble—

"You wretched bastard! Who the fuck invented this phone? And what the hell does that damned Heaven Dou Empire want? Are they trying to start a war?"

Dai Yao, emperor of the Star Luo Empire, furiously smashed everything in sight within the magnificent palace.

"Shunde!"

"This servant is here!"

"Call Empress Zhu here. Let her take a good look at her son."

"Yes! This servant will go at once."

The Star Luo Emperor's personal eunuch did not dare linger. He respectfully bowed and backed away, never daring to look up at the enraged Star Luo Emperor throughout the entire process.

Elsewhere, Crown Prince Davis laughed heartily in his own palace.

"Hahahaha, my foolish little brother. Just hide in the Heaven Dou Empire for the rest of your life. You... can never come back."

The matter continued to escalate. WeChat Moments and Tonight Headlines were filled with discussions of Dai Mubai's glorious exploits.

In less than a week, Dai Mubai's name had thoroughly spread across the Douluo Continent. His fame had already far surpassed Yu Xiaogang's back in the day.

And it was not just Dai Mubai. Luo Yihe's exaggerated behavior toward Ning Rongrong also gained considerable attention. However, Dai Mubai represented the Star Luo Empire, and the Heaven Dou Empire would not pass up the chance to trample on the Star Luo Empire's dignity.

During this period, the Heaven Dou Empire had been buying massive quantities of phones and giving them away to commoners for free, all so they could bind the phones with their blood, activate them, and join in cyberbullying the Star Luo Empire.

Since Luo Yihe was located in the Heaven Dou Empire, while the people of the Star Luo Empire were still traveling around to purchase large quantities of phones, the Heaven Dou Empire thoroughly overwhelmed them in the early stages and viciously blasted the Star Luo Emperor online. The Star Luo Emperor could do nothing but smash up his own palace in fury.

Those damned Heaven Dou Empire bastards could insult Dai Mubai all they wanted, but they insisted on dragging the entire Star Luo Empire into it. Whenever Star Luo nobles or officials made a post, it was immediately buried beneath countless posts from the Heaven Dou Empire.

As a result, many people who did not know the truth genuinely came to believe that the Star Luo imperial family had some strange fetish. Soul masters and merchants who had originally planned to join the Star Luo Empire began keeping their distance instead.

As the Star Luo Empire's talent pool and revenues began to plummet and merchants left in droves, the Star Luo Emperor finally understood what it meant to say, "A slander takes only a mouth, but clearing it up takes running your legs off."

Thus, the Star Luo Empire also began popularizing phones on a massive scale. Otherwise, once the entire continent was using phones while the Star Luo Empire alone was not, whenever something happened in the future, would they not simply be at the mercy of whatever the Heaven Dou Empire chose to say?

The Star Luo Emperor now hated the person who released the phones to the bone. Of course, if they had been released in the Star Luo Empire, he might not have held such a grudge. He might even have happily invited Luo Yihe to the palace as a guest.

But what angered him most was his own son. Being bullied by an evil soul master, he could only go "eek, eek." If Dai Mubai had put up even a little resistance before being forced to do that sort of thing, the Star Luo Emperor might not have been this furious.

It left him without even the confidence to say a few fair words in defense of his son.

Sigh~ His liver hurt from anger.

Spirit City, Pope's Palace...

The peerlessly elegant Bibi Dong reclined sideways on the papal throne, one hand supporting her head. Her long, slender legs were crossed, and the high heel on her foot swayed back and forth.

If Luo Yihe had been here, she would have hooked him like a fish. Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong—he, Luo Yihe, was just ordinary friends with all of them, okay?

"Your Holiness, this phone is no simple thing. Should we also purchase them in bulk and distribute them to everyone in Spirit Hall? Not only can it instantly transmit information across long distances, it is also an excellent tool for winning the people's hearts. The Star Luo Empire has been bullied so freely by the Heaven Dou Empire lately precisely because it lacks a large number of phones. According to our investigation, in these seven days alone, the Heaven Dou Empire has recruited no fewer than fifty soul masters and over a hundred merchants."

Chrysanthemum Douluo stood below and respectfully reported the recent developments to Bibi Dong.