Chapter 263
Taking advantage of the crowd, someone shouted, “Did you make up the legend of Crystal Lake?”
“Did you really take away their village and leave them homeless?”
“Aren’t you the Grand Marshal’s mentee? Aren’t you aware of those who shed blood and sweat for Riveria?”
Stephen felt his face burning with shame.
Each question was like a sword piercing his heart, or a slap across his face.
He could not bear to look at anyone. He could only hurry back to the office with George, seeking refuge.
Stephen sat restlessly, taking out his phone to browse the web. Online, he saw that Celestial City’s affairs were already trending.
Shocking: Village chief who has shed blood and tears for Celestial City, whose wife and children all sacrificed themselves, is driven to suicide by Stephen Quinn!]
[Breaking News! The legend of Crystal Lake is fake!]
[Riveria’s biggest scam: The Crystal Lake legend!]
Clicking on these posts, he could see many on–site videos of villagers kneeling and revealing the truth to everyone.
Stephen broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly contacted the platforms hosting the content, asking them to delete the videos.
Alas, the news had already spread. People were already dissatisfied with the high prices and terrible taste at that risotto restaurant.
As soon as they saw the news, many rushed to question them.
“Is the Crystal Lake legend true or false?”
“Your restaurant hasn’t even been around for 20 years, has it?”
“You’re using a lie to cheat us out of our money, aren’t you?”
The restaurant owner trembled in fear.
Many tourists took to the streets to ask locals if they had heard of the Crystal Lake legend. Even reporters got involved.
Unfortunately, many people said they had never heard of it.
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Chapter 263
“We know about Azure Cloud Mountain but not Crystal Lake.”
“This is the first time we’ve heard this story.”
“Crystal Lake is just an ordinary lake.”
As the interview videos were published, people realized they had all been deceived! There was no legend around Crystal Lake. The story of the priest and snake demon had been made up recently!
Many people who had visited Celestial City for tourism were furious when they learned they had been tricked.
“We spent thousands of dollars just to receive a blessing for lifelong love, and now you’re telling me the story was made up?”
“The entrance fee of 100 dollars per person was bad enough, but the variety in the food court was expensive and terrible. Now even the story is made up? Do you take us for fools?”
“Don’t go to Celestial City for tourism anymore. Crystal Lake isn’t romantic. It’s full of deception. The food court is a rip–off too with awful, overpriced food!”
Many couples who had already booked flights, planning to seek a blessing at Crystal Lake, canceled their reservations after seeing these messages.
The Crystal Lake scam was exposed all over the internet. Who would dare to go there now? Not only were visitors scammed, but they were even treated like fools!
Stephen and George saw the news online and felt overwhelmed. It had all been exposed so suddenly! They thought they could keep this charade up indefinitely.
The film production company came to inquire, “There are rumors online that the Crystal Lake story was recently made up. Is this true or false?”
Stephen wanted to keep lying, but now that both villagers and city residents had revealed the truth, he could only nod.
“Yes, it was all fake.”
The film company was furious. They had almost finished the script and cast the actors, and were ready to start shooting.
To think it had all turned out to be fake!
“You’ll have to pay us a penalty fee for breach of contract.”
Afterward, the film company also clarified online that the Crystal Lake story was indeed recently fabricated.
George and Stephen’s scam was completely exposed!
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Chapter 263
The risotto restaurant’s intangible cultural heritage status was revoked.
Moreover, due to numerous customer complaints, food safety inspectors came knocking on their door, and the final results showed that the food indeed failed to meet safety standards!
This news exploded online once again.
