The next day
At the break of dawn
ng ixuan’s fans discovered sothing that nearly drove them mad.
Because soone had shared a screenshot of a ssage from her forr company.
Specifically, it was a post from the official account of "Phantom Dream Girls," the group ng ixuan and Wu Zixuan originally belonged to.
Thank you to every creator who liked the ladies of "Phantom Dream Girls."
She’s working hard on the inside, we’re working hard on the outside.
Let’s all choose "Neighbour’s Child" for her.
Although this statent was released in the na of the "Phantom Dream Girls,"
the group is under Yuehua Company, which effectively ans Yuehua itself intervened.
This enraged every fandom imnsely.
Companies can fight behind the scenes, but stepping in publicly like this is breaking the rules.
This was no longer a "war" between fans.
This show determines which contestants debut based on fan voting.
If the company gets involved, then what’s the point of fans voting?
The company has so much money, they might as well hire people to vote directly.
This violates the rules of the competition.
As expected, once the statent was issued, it was bashed across the entire internet.
Yuehua anticipated the backlash and simply explained that this was the irresponsible act of "Phantom Dream Girls" staff mbers, and the relevant personnel had already been dealt with.
By breaking the rules, Yuehua prompted other companies to drop all pretense.
The boss of Tomato Company, where Fu Xiaoyu and Qiang Yueting are artists, directly dissed Lv Fangxin on their social dia platform, calling her an utter disgrace to idols.
On the surface, the boss seed to be standing up for their own artists, vehently criticizing Lv Fangxin for "being unmotivated and unambitious yet still getting everything."
In truth, it was a veiled jab at Penguin, expressing deep dissatisfaction.
To him, Lv Fangxin was essentially Penguin’s golden child, and Penguin’s show was playing gas with these companies!
If the artists from your companies want to debut, sure, but you’ll have to pay the price.
Villagers like Li Ke who saw this brazen insult towards their precious idol were fuming with rage.
They dredged up all kinds of dirt on the forr and exposed him completely.
Simultaneously, they filed nurous reports against him, and the two sides clashed outright.
The storm surrounding the matter grew more intense by the day.
anwhile, a joint statent appeared separately on the verified accounts of Wu Zixuan and ng ixuan:
First of all, we extend sincere thanks to all the fans who voted tirelessly for the two ladies.
This song’s C-position is crucial for the third performance of both contestants.
After discussions between our two camps, ixuan’s side has decided to give up on "Shiny" voting, and Zixuan’s side will continue supporting "Shiny."
At the sa ti, Zixuan’s camp will assist ixuan’s camp in voting for "Neighbour’s Child."
Both contestants are colleagues and teammates under the sa company.
If our two sides continue competing for the "Shiny" C-position, one of us will inevitably get eliminated.
Moreover, our fans would spend enormous amounts, yielding no real benefits.
Rather than heading towards mutual harm, it’s better to join forces.
Xiao Du felt utterly overwheld after reading these posts.
What kind of gas is Yuehua playing here?!
What were they doing back when the song voting first started?
Besides causing chaos among both sets of fans, this also leads to trendous financial drain.
Xiao Du didn’t believe ng ixuan’s fans would pour in unlimited funds.
Unless they decided to abandon the final performance ranking battle or were convinced ng ixuan would attract a massive influx of fans after the third performance, continually funding her campaign.
Originally, Xiao Du didn’t want to fight fiercely with ng ixuan’s faction, but he now had no choice but to organize the "Ye Fans" for voting again.
ng ixuan’s camp acted as if they were injected with adrenaline, pouring in over 300,000 in just one day.
They even released detailed statistics on their voting efforts.
"Xiao Du, we can’t do it, let’s switch songs. We can’t compete with their combined strength."
"Don’t rush. I don’t believe Wu Zixuan’s camp will really vote for ng ixuan’s side."
Eyes bloodshot, Xiao Du spoke coldly, though he was inwardly tense.
Mu Yunchu handed him a cup of tea, her lovely face full of worry.
"Xiao Du, we have to prepare enough funding. I suspect this voting battle isn’t purely fan-driven."
"I think so too, but if the voting reaches a certain financial threshold and they’re still pressing us, I plan to give up on fighting for this song."
Mu Yunchu froze and frowned.
"Xiao Du, if we don’t secure this C-position, Yezi’s screen ti might be reduced by Penguin. They might also assu we lack purchasing power, which could severely impact Yezi’s chances of forming the group."
"This is all just speculation. Even if it’s accurate, we can’t beco Penguin’s endless funding machine. We simply don’t have the resources."
"...Xiao Du, then what’s our bottom line?"
"120,000 maximum. Beyond that, we won’t vote anymore."
Xiao Du’s tone was resolute, and his hands clutched tightly.
"Now, we need to put pressure on both Penguin and Yuehua."
"Pressure?"
"Yes, I’ve analyzed ng ixuan’s voting data, and there are serious issues."
Xiao Du displayed a chart on his computer as he spoke.
"Take a look. Two hours ago, votes from ng ixuan’s side were over 3,000 per minute. Now, they’re under 200."
Mu Yunchu scrutinized the curve on the voting chart screenshotted from the song voting platform.
"Her camp is using bots to vote."
"Exactly, these votes are either rigged by bots or provided by Penguin. Their goal is to lock us in, extracting not only money but also traffic."
Xiao Du was furious. Ye Fans had been voting nonstop for 24 hours straight since the song voting began, managing only 200 votes per minute.
He didn’t believe ng ixuan’s active fan base could surpass his faction.
For context, even the most active faction, Lv Fangxin’s camp, could only generate around 500 votes per minute.
"Xiao Du, should we post these screenshots and analyses online?"
"Yes, release everything. Make sure all ’Sky Idol’ fans know this show is rigging the results. They claim it’s about fan votes and empowering creators to shape their favorite idols, but it’s all deceit."
Xiao Du was now burning his bridges, knowing financial competition with a company-backed contestant like ng ixuan was futile.
Penguin Headquarters
Wan Kai and Yang Xiaoyue sat with grim expressions.
"I didn’t expect Yuwei’s fans to be this audacious," Yang Xiaoyue broke the oppressive silence first.
"This issue must be handled properly; otherwise, it’ll put us in a highly disadvantageous position."
Wan Kai’s voice was low, brimming with anxiety.
Xiao Du was completely unaware that his efforts had caused harm and fear for Wan Kai.
Xiao Du’s intent was rely to prevent unfair competition.
But his actions had already started threatening Wan Kai’s fundantal interests.
Wan Kai aid to build the show into a brand.
It was supposed to continuously generate idols and stars for the company.
Other senior managent mbers of the parent company had already questioned Wan Kai’s ability to take control of the show’s operations.
"Mr. Wan, a few charts alone won’t prove anything. We can counterattack," Yang Xiaoyue said, worried but confident in her ability to keep control.
Wan Kai didn’t respond, instead falling into deep thought.
At that mont, the secretary knocked and entered the room.
"Mr. Wan, the Digital Departnt just called, saying the platform we use for voting on Sky Idol’s C-position has crashed."
"How did it crash?"
"The Digital Departnt declared it was due to malicious vote manipulation, which caused platform congestion."
Wan Kai was imdiately flustered, and Yang Xiaoyue was taken aback.
"Why didn’t the Digital Departnt submit a report? Why are you relaying it verbally? Where are they?"
"Mr. Wan, it’s already 11:30 PM," the secretary reminded him quickly. His words brought so clarity to Wan Kai’s rage.
Given the late hour, except for those on necessary duty shifts, everyone else had left work. Who would compile a report at this ti?
"Then why didn’t the Digital Departnt manager call directly to report?"
"Mr. Wan, your phone is unreachable."
Wan Kai looked at his phone in confusion, realizing he had accidentally turned on airplane mode.
"Get the team here imdiately to et when they arrive," Wan Kai said, sitting back down.
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