Chapter 584 - Losing

The other Black Stars followed their captain’s lead and condemned Tian Kong. Their comrades who were injured during the bomb explosion at the mall show and were currently being treated in hospitals felt tremendous hatred and fury against him. Tian Kong instantly became the Black Stars’ number one enemy after what he did. It wasn’t only them. Jin Chonglin’s army of fans also felt the same way.

While these fan clubs were banding together against a common enemy and worrying about their boss and prince, a vile hate campaign was launched that night against Iris Long.

"So many people got hurt during the bomb explosion. This happened because of Iris Long’s fan! It’s Iris Long’s fault! She was utterly irresponsible in performing at such an unsafe public place like the mall! Look at what happened! A crazy, obsessed fan was able to sneak in and bomb everyone! "

"Iris Long doesn’t care about her fans, that’s why a fan like that Tian Kong became an obsessed lunatic! If she didn’t perform at that mall show, there would’ve been no bombing!"

"My sister and her classmates were injured and are in the hospital because they attended the mall show. They weren’t even Iris Long’s fans but Jin Chonglin’s! I’m so angry that my sister and her friends had to suffer because of that Iris Long!"

These vile comments infuriated the Black Stars. Even Jin Chonglin’s army of fans couldn’t tolerate these people’s twisted logic. They all worked together with the Slippers Army as their main attackers to battle against these haters. The Slippers Army waited for KittyBaby to appear, hoping that she would lead them to another victory. However, she didn’t appear.

LittlePhoenix: "Maybe KittyBaby got grounded by her mom and dad again. She must be very naughty or maybe her parents are just too strict. I just returned home from school so I guess I’ll lead you all instead since KittyBaby is not here. How dare these villains say all these evil things about our Boss Iris?! Unforgivable! Comrades, raise your mighty slippers and prepare to attack!!!"

The online battle between the Black Stars in cooperation with some of Jin Chonglin’s army of fans versus the haters blaming Iris Long for the bomb incident raged all night. It was a difficult battle. LittlePhoenix was a good leader but compared to Ketchup’s lightning-quick, precise and vicious trolling methods, she was still lacking. Even the non-troll members of the Black Stars led by CaptainBlackStar unleashed their inner trolls because they felt furious upon reading all the unfair accusations against their Boss Iris.

"Shut up! You’re all despicable for blaming Boss Iris for the bombing incident! I don’t understand how you can think that way!"

"I was on the second floor looking down on Boss Iris’ group while they moved through the crowd at the ground floor. I saw everything that happened! If it wasn’t for Boss Iris throwing the bomb up in the air, many people would’ve died! There might be many injured but there are no deaths!"

"I agree! Iris Long saved the people from becoming minced meat! If she didn’t do what she did, many people would’ve died including her! She saved my fellow Prince Lin Lin’s fans! So shut it!"

The Black Stars and some of Jin Chonglin’s army of fans continued to defend Iris, insisting that she saved everyone. However, the haters just wouldn’t stop in their vile hate campaign against her.

Not everyone present at the mall show were Black Stars or Jin Chonglin’s army of fans. There were regular shoppers and mall employees who got injured during the bomb incident. The haters in the hate campaign claimed that they were family members, friends or acquaintances of those regular people. They might be lying but they might also be telling the truth.

The online battle only intensified as the hours passed by. For the first time ever, the Slippers Army seemed to be...losing?

Feng Wan and her three friends also tried defending Iris using their online usernames MrsLovePhantom and JJNumber1-3Fan. However, they were posh and elegant ladies who disdained such coarse words being fired during the battle. In the end, they regretfully had to withdraw.

Unable to turn the tides, Zhou Mei’er (CaptainBlackStar) and Ming Li (LittlePhoenix) contacted Wu Chen (iEatSlippers) and Hou Liang (MonkeyFace).

"Dammit! I want to join and wave my almighty slippers together with all of you, my dear comrades, but our company’s big boss made Bro and I sign an agreement not to publicly involve ourselves with the Black Stars anymore!" Wu Chen said after he picked up their call.

He and Hou Liang were at Planet Monkey working late. However, they couldn’t concentrate knowing that their Boss Iris was being unfairly blamed for the bomb incident.

"What?!" Zhou Mei’er was dismayed. "Your big boss is so selfish!"

Wu Chen opened his mouth, about to say "Our company’s big boss is Boss Iris!" but Hou Liang gave him a warning look. He shut his mouth and sweated upon realizing that he almost revealed Boss Iris’ identity as the real Owner and President of Planet Monkey.

Iris brought her lawyer, Attorney Hong Shaoqiang, to Planet Monkey a while ago and urged them to sign an agreement preventing them from publicly involving themselves with the Black Stars. It was because many were already aware that Planet Monkey’s CEO Hou Liang and CFO Wu Chen were Black Stars’ MonkeyFace and the notorious iEatSlippers respectively.

"I didn’t want to do this because I don’t really care about what others think but my mentor, financial manager and Attorney Hong here all persuaded me to make you sign this agreement to protect the image of our company," Iris told them back then while sighing deeply.

Wu Chen complained but Hou Liang nodded after a few moments of silence. Hou Liang was the first one to sign the agreement. Seeing his bro’s actions, Wu Chen grudgingly signed as well.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"The agreement only says not to ’publicly’ involve ourselves but it doesn’t say that we can’t do it anonymously," Hou Liang said.

The two men remembered Iris smiling after he said that.

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