Chapter 182: Counterattack

The infamously ’ugly’ Jiang Qiuqiu had opened a holographic room and was chatting with Wanxing and Meimei.

The Academic God was currently a junior in university and would become a senior by the end of the year. As was customary for the School of Economics and Management, she was already eligible to look for an internship.

When Meimei learned of this, she quickly signed Wanxing to Jiang Qiuqiu’s operations team.

Now, with her outstanding operational skills, a sharp eye for talent, and the keen insight befitting an Academic God, she had gradually become an indispensable member of Jiang Qiuqiu’s operations team.

The three of them were gathered together. Meeting for the first time, Wanxing was stunned when she saw Jiang Qiuqiu.

Jiang Qiuqiu’s lips curled into a smile as she raised her hand. "Xiao Wan, good afternoon."

"...Hello, Qiuqiu."

"What’s the matter? Still haven’t snapped out of it?"

"I didn’t expect Qiuqiu to be this beautiful," Wanxing said honestly.

This made the other two laugh.

"I didn’t expect it either. You have such a pleasant voice, Xiao Wan. And you’re very pretty, too. You’re completely changing my idea of what an Academic God is like."

"I wouldn’t really call myself an Academic God," Wanxing said humbly. "My grades are just a little better than most."

"...Don’t be like that," Meimei interjected. "If someone in the top 1% says their grades are just ’a little better,’ then how are the rest of us supposed to live?"

"Okay, okay. We’re here today to discuss that water army. We can talk about everything else later. Let’s get down to business."

This was the first time Jiang Qiuqiu’s livestream had faced a water army attack on such a massive scale. And even though this wave of trolls had, paradoxically, gained her a lot of new followers, they still needed to figure out who was behind it.

"I’ve made a note of all the IDs that left negative comments. I borrowed some equipment and software from a classmate in the Star Network Communications department to track them."

In an age where terminals and networks were so incredibly advanced, it was almost impossible to hide information completely.

Especially when dealing with someone as meticulous as Wanxing.

"This batch of IDs seems to be dedicated accounts for a water army. They’ve been used in campaigns against many people."

She pulled up a document, listing out, one by one, every person they had targeted.

Finding the source of the trolls seemed like looking for a needle in a haystack, but in reality—

"This water army is quite large. Sister Mingmei, you’ve mentioned their market rates before... A small-time streamer couldn’t possibly afford an army this size."

Therefore, by focusing on the more famous streamers in their category, or those with significant backing, they could start to uncover some leads.

"Generally speaking, a person wouldn’t choose to work with an agency that has run a smear campaign against them before."

"Exactly. Combining your analysis, Qiuqiu, with the data from Sister Mingmei, I’ve narrowed the suspects down to these four."

The avatars of several prominent streamers from the Federation’s Food category were projected into the air.

Meimei placed an X over the head of one of the women. "It’s probably not her. I know her, and she’s stingy beyond your wildest imagination... There’s no way she would spend so much money on a smear campaign."

That left only three people.

Jiang Qiuqiu’s gaze swept over the three names: Wang Henli, Chen Jiuwan, and Langlibaitiao.

"Xiao Wan, let me see that streamer file again."

"Okay, sending it to you now."

After carefully reviewing the data for more than ten minutes, Jiang Qiuqiu placed an X over the heads of Chen Jiuwan and Langlibaitiao.

She eliminated two people at once, leaving only Wang Henli.

Meimei shot her a quizzical look, and Jiang Qiuqiu explained, "In this file, there are records of campaigns with sequences and strategies very similar to ours. This agency has used the same method to take down several other streamers."

"The data shows that this streamer, Wang Henli, is from the Federation’s Northern Division Food category. And it just so happens, the other streamers who were taken down are from there too."