Chapter 30: A Livestream Encounter with Cody, Abducted to North Boro

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: A Livestream Encounter with Cody, Abducted to North Boro

After securing a Quadra Kill, Rian Sinclair swiftly ended the opponents’ miserable lives. The game was over in just ten minutes.

The enemy Flare had been utterly dominated, ending with a dismal 0-10-0 record. Rian gave him a free ’like’ followed by a complimentary report, successfully deducting his reputation points. That match was definitely enough to cure his internet addiction.

Rian exited the game, reflecting on her micro-mechanics. It felt different from the last time she played Alice. She rapidly reviewed her control over the in-game timing in her head. She didn’t even need to consciously memorize anything; the spawn times for the jungle camps, the main boss, and the minion waves were practically engraved in her mind.

Truth be told, it was an absolute carry!

She started a few more consecutive matches using Luna, and every single one was a complete stomp.

Seeing that there was still some time before class ended, Rian decided to browse Sharkstream to see if there were any highly attractive men. After all, her current funds felt a bit insufficient no matter how she looked at it.

The very first recommended video on Sharkstream featured a man in sheer clothing, with the backlighting perfectly outlining his alluring figure. Rian’s finger paused slightly. As the man in the video swayed and danced to the rhythm of the background music, she silently double-tapped the screen, then casually began searching through the livestreams.

She wondered what was up with Sharkstream—why did it push such provocative men the moment she logged in?

The first livestream she clicked into featured a male streamer with a red ribbon tied over his eyes and a rather husky, sensual voice. His clothes hung loosely on his frame as his fingertips traced a path from his face, down his neck, and to his chest. Rian watched for a moment, but when she didn’t hear an announcement from the System, she swiped away. While he was certainly enticing, she preferred spending money on high-scoring individuals to earn her cashback.

After swiping past a few more, she finally heard the System’s voice again.

"DING! High-quality handsome male detected. Beauty score evaluated at 93. Eligible for tenfold cashback on expenditure!"

Rian shifted her gaze back to her phone, looking at the man—or rather, the boy—on the screen. She pursed her lips in silence, wondering if the System was absolutely sure that this grimy-looking boy was a high-quality handsome male. She wasn’t trying to doubt the System, but the person on her screen had a face covered in dirt and was wearing tattered clothes. She truly had no idea how the System had arrived at its evaluation.

"Host, I am a professional when it comes to identifying high-quality handsome males. Although this child is filthy, he is undoubtedly a high-scoring individual in terms of looks."

Rian didn’t press the issue. It was normal not to believe the System at first glance; compared to her previous targets, she honestly couldn’t see a single attractive feature on him.

After watching the livestream chat for a while and checking the streamer’s profile, Rian couldn’t help but grow suspicious. Was this a genuine request for netizens to donate to people in impoverished mountainous regions, or was it a scam to siphon money? When people asked for the location, commenters pointed out that the named place didn’t even exist. And when asked how to donate, the streamer simply provided a personal payment QR code? What kind of shady operation was this?

"System, what is going on with this boy?" Rian asked. "If this is a scam, I’m going to pass."

She had plenty of money, and highly attractive people were hard to find, but if he was scamming people, she would immediately abandon the target and report the channel.

"Rest assured, Host. The evaluation for a high-quality handsome male guarantees that the target is not engaging in illegal activities of his own volition. He was sold to North Boro and is being forced to scam people. Furthermore, his vocal cords have been permanently damaged by poison. He is only doing this because someone off-camera is threatening him with weapons; it is not his true intention."

Rian was taken aback. Sold to North Boro. Poisoned mute. He looked no older than fifteen or sixteen, yet he was enduring such inhumane torture.

At the thought of North Boro, the disgust in her eyes deepened. North Boro was a place infamous for its fraud syndicates and organ harvesting operations. Anyone who ended up there rarely made it back alive.

Rian sighed. She was powerless to do anything about it right now, but sooner or later, she was going to completely eradicate North Boro and restore peace to Veridia. For now, the only thing she could do was try her best to protect the child in front of her. With that in mind, she began sending out a frenzy of virtual gifts.

On the other side of the screen, Cody’s dull eyes widened in shock. The man monitoring him from the side immediately stood up, scribbled something on a piece of paper, and shoved it toward the boy. Seeing the words on the paper, Cody froze, reluctant to take it. In response, the man grabbed a club and viciously struck him on the leg.

Cody furrowed his brow, enduring the sharp pain in his leg as he stiffly held the paper up to the camera.

"Thank you for the gifts, Miss. I thank you on behalf of all the children like me. I can send you a detailed breakdown of how your donations will be used later. If you are worried, you can also come visit in person. The main reason is that these children really want to thank you for your kindness."

Rian frowned at the livestream, not even paying attention to the one hundred million she had just received in cashback. She hadn’t missed the fleeting hesitation in Cody’s eyes, nor the way his body had stiffened, his brows furrowing and his lips pressing tight.

She thought for a moment before typing out a comment.

"Take your time using the money. I just feel a connection with you, kid. I hope you can keep the livestream on frequently so we can chat," she wrote. "I’ve made too much money, and a master told me I need to do some good deeds and spread my wealth around."

She said this primarily to ensure Cody would survive. After all, she had just sent a massive amount in gifts. If the syndicate decided to replace him with one of their own people to reel her in, what would happen to Cody?

Looking at the message in the chat, a trace of joy flashed through Cody’s eyes, but it faded just as quickly. He had been trafficked to this hellhole; was it even possible to hope that someone would save him?

"Okay, Miss. I will stay on the livestream from now on. You are truly a great philanthropist. I want to thank you on behalf of all the children in the village!"

Rian read the words on the paper, left a quick farewell, and exited the livestream. She had secured Cody’s safety for now, but as for all the other trafficking victims, she was currently powerless to help them.

The moment she left the app, she used her phone to report the incident to the authorities. She arranged to visit the Argent Police Department after class and hung up. Tossing her phone aside, Rian felt a surge of irritation.

Countless Veridians were trafficked to North Boro every year, lured in by the irresistible temptation of high wages. But those who went never met a good end. They would confiscate your passport, ID, and phone, making it impossible to return to Veridia. Then came the brainwashing. Those who disobeyed were beaten. Those who obeyed were forced to scam others. The men who lost their usefulness had their organs harvested and sold. The women were treated as breeding machines, and once they could no longer bear children, their organs were harvested too.

Rian massaged her temples. Eradicating the fraud syndicates in North Boro was no easy feat. Her current wealth wasn’t nearly enough to hire mercenaries to take on an entire region. She had to take it one step at a time. Toppling such a massive criminal enterprise wasn’t something she could accomplish overnight; she would need weapons, manpower, and substantial financial backing.

Rian pondered this for a long time, only snapping out of her daze when the classroom began to stir. From the commotion, it seemed class was about to end.

As soon as the dismissal bell rang, she walked out of the classroom and headed toward the parking lot. Her silver-gray Ferrari LaFerrari was parked ostentatiously in the lot, drawing the attention of a small group of students who were filming it from a distance with their phones.

Rian pulled her mask higher up her nose, wove through the crowd, and quickly got in the car. With a roar of the engine, she drove away.