He held the heavy beer keg, frozen in place, his face pale as he watched Serie approach step by step.
His knuckles, gripping the rim of the keg, were white and trembling from the effort.
"Give them their money back." Serie tilted her head. Although she didn't know these so-called "support group" members at all, since they were her fans, no one could scam them!
At least, no one but her!
"Okay... okay..." Jackal's Adam's apple bobbed, and he forced out a smile uglier than a cry, his hands trembling as he started pulling out bills one by one, returning them to the customers who were still in shock.
Every bill he pulled out made the muscles in his face twitch, and his heart felt like it was being cut by a blunt knife.
Serie no longer looked at him.
She agilely flipped and leaped onto the stage.
Standing firm, she looked down from above at the vast expanse of purplish-blue "waves" below the stage.
Being the focus of so many eyes, a slightly dizzying sense of control surged into her heart for the first time.
She bent down, picked up the microphone from the floor, dusted it off, and brought it to her lips.
"Uh... kids..." As the words left her mouth, Serie herself paused, then turned her head and spat into the air. "Bah!"
How did she blurt that out so naturally?
Turning back, she cleared her throat, her voice carrying through the microphone across the entire venue, with an undeniable realness:
"Ahem! Let's start over. I'm Neon Shadow, and I'm still breathing, not dead! All that nonsense those two beasts were howling just now..." She paused, a cold arc gracing her lips, "...was all bullshit."
As soon as her words fell, the entire venue erupted in cheers, the sound waves shaking Serie so much she almost lost her footing.
However, instead of feeling scared or stage fright, Serie's heart pounded faster and faster in her chest.
This feeling... it was so wonderful!
Hundreds of eyes, burning with pure, fervent fanaticism and adoration!
The waves of cheers crashing against her felt like countless warm hands lifting her up.
A strange tingling sensation shot up her spine, and her lips almost uncontrollably wanted to curve upwards.
So this is what it feels like to be wildly adored by so many people?
A bit noisy... but... it actually doesn't seem bad?
No wonder so many people want to be celebrities and internet personalities; this feeling is indeed satisfying enough.
She took a deep breath, suppressing the slight excitement that made her cheeks warm.
Now was not the time to enjoy herself!
She scanned the flushed, excited faces below the stage, bringing the microphone closer again: "Alright, quiet!"
The boiling sound waves miraculously subsided quickly, leaving only heavy breathing and expectant gazes.
"Listen up!" Serie's voice came through the microphone: "Those two scumbags just now, Viper and Jackal! You should all know them; they used to be my companions, so you trusted them, and that's fine, but the situation is different now."
"They were just crying and saying I died to protect them? Ha!"
A cold laugh, full of undisguised sarcasm.
"Bullshit!" She cursed, which only drew more suppressed gasps and clenched fists from the audience. "The truth is—that explosion was designed by them personally! The goal was to blow me to smithereens! And then abscond with all the money!"
"They are not my companions; they are traitors! They are murderers!"
Shock! Absolute shock!
The excited faces instantly froze, replaced by unbelievable pallor and bewilderment.
They looked at the enraged Neon Shadow on stage, then at the ashen-faced Jackal, clutching the money keg, below the stage.
The tears they had shed for them just now turned into the humiliation of being fooled.
"No... that can't be, right? Weren't they friends before?"
"But Neon Shadow... said it herself."
"So we cried at the wrong grave just now? And fed our money to dogs?!"
Whispers spread like a plague, and the shock rapidly fermented and soured.
Serie keenly captured the dangerous shift in emotions below the stage.
She timely added the final fuel, her voice suddenly rising, carrying an inciting power:
"I won't blame you, because ignorance is no sin, but now the murderers are right before your eyes. What will you do?!"
Boom!
This time, what erupted was no longer cheers, but extreme, suppressed rage from being deceived and exploited!
The crowd began to stir, and that purplish-blue "wave"... was about to start devouring people.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"