Chapter 170: The Golden Grand Patron

At 23:58, the tense atmosphere grew even more intense.

Everyone who still had remaining monthly votes cast them at this exact moment.

The number of monthly votes that surged in the last few minutes almost rivaled the total votes accumulated over the previous three days on average.

*Jade Dynasty*: 224,513 votes.
*Heavenly Divine Weapon*: 223,900 votes.

A mere difference of 600 votes.

The ammunition was completely spent, and everyone stared with bated breath, quietly awaiting the final outcome.

Let there be no more unexpected twists!

Yet reality often defies human wishes!

Just past 23:59, the monthly rankings shifted!

Almost in an instant, *Heavenly Divine Weapon* surged to the very top of the monthly vote chart.

Simultaneously, the data, which had been dormant for a while, sprang back to life.

+100
+200
......

The vote count for *Heavenly Divine Weapon* continued to climb steadily.

Within seconds, it had pulled ahead of *Jade Dynasty* by nearly 2,000 votes.

As expected, they had held back a trump card!

It's over!

A chorus of wails echoed through the *Jade Dynasty* reader chat group, where everyone felt powerless despite their best intentions.

They could only watch as the "villains" trampled upon their dignity, climbing step by step all the way to the peak.

"Everyone go wash up and sleep! Author-dada, you don't need to send red envelopes anymore! We were all just joking around!"

"Exactly! We lost this round, but we'll get our payback next time!"

"A bunch of top-tier authors teaming up to bully a newcomer—damn it, I just can't stomach this, I'm too angry to sleep!"

The outcome seemed already sealed, and members of the group flooded the chat with comforting words for Su Chen.

Seeing that everyone was in low spirits, Su Chen took out his phone, tapped on the red envelope feature, entered the amount, added a message—*Please get some rest early, everyone!*—and hit send!

Another massive red envelope worth 10,000 yuan, this time split into 50 portions.

"Oh crap, Author, you really just drop cash like that after we told you not to! Everyone's working hard!"

"You... whatever, I won't say more. From now on, whenever you write a book, I will definitely support you!"

"......"

At exactly 0:00, the data update was finalized.

Everyone had passively accepted the reality. Although Su Chen's red envelopes had briefly livened up the atmosphere, a palpable sense of dejection still lingered among the members.

Victory and defeat are common occurrences in military affairs, but who truly wants to lose?

Just as everyone was preparing to close the chat box and log off, an audio message abruptly popped up in the group.

"Ahhh! Holy crap! We overtook them! We overtook them!"

It was only a two-second voice note. When some members tapped to play it, they simply shook their heads.

Another one has gone crazy!

However, realization dawned on them almost immediately. Someone eagerly opened the book's detail page to check, only to see the ranking clearly displayed on the screen:

Number One on the Monthly Vote Chart!

*Jade Dynasty*: 237,845 votes!
*Heavenly Divine Weapon*: 233,566 votes!

In an instant, the chat group completely erupted.

"What's going on? How did we overtake them? Can someone tell me what just happened?!"

"Which big shot stepped in? Come out and accept my worship!"

"Holy shit! A Gold Guild! A Gold Guild, and two of them in a row!"

Hearing this, everyone hurriedly opened the fan contribution leaderboard, where a Gold Guild icon proudly sat at the very top of the Hundred Guilds list.

Susu Cute: 21 million points.

This meant that the mystery user had just bestowed the equivalent of two Gold Guild sponsorships in one go.

Each Gold Guild could be exchanged for 6,666 monthly votes, and those two Gold Guilds had instantly injected 13,332 votes into *Jade Dynasty*, allowing it to stage a miraculous comeback at the very last second!

Checking the fan badges in the group, Susu Cute’s silver badge had already transformed into a glowing gold badge.

"An absolute titan! Sounds like a filthy rich sugar mommy! @Susu Cute, are you seeing anyone? I'm still single!"

"Get in line, you upstarts, go take a look at yourselves in the mirror first. @Susu Cute, do you think I'll do?"

"......"

Susu Cute soon appeared in the group chat, though her words still carried lingering suspense regarding the intense vote battle moments before.

"That was so close! I almost didn't make it in time!"

Seeing the playful jests directed at her, she wasn't upset at all and smoothly retorted,

"You guys won't do, bring the author out!"

Su Chen hadn't anticipated such a dramatic reversal either; he never expected someone to guard the fortress at the last minute and secure the top spot for him.

By any measure of reason or etiquette, he owed her a sincere expression of gratitude.

So upon seeing Susu Cute's summons, before any of the other male fans could tag him, he was the first to reply in the group.

"@Susu Cute Oh? Whose fairy tale book was left open, letting the princess escape?"

"Many thanks to the Princess for her generous reward! Long live the Princess!"

As soon as these words dropped, a chorus of gagging sounds flooded the chat.

"Damn Author, you truly have no bottom line!"

"Utterly shameless! What you just said is so cringe-worthy my toes are curling! Though... what he said is kind of true, Princess, how did you escape? @Susu Cute"

"Hey, you upstairs, shut your trap already!"

"......"

Seeing Su Chen's reply, Susu Cute sent a blushing, giggling emoji.

"So, how do you plan to thank me? Surely you're not just going to talk the talk?"

Su Chen froze upon seeing the message. With a remark like that, it was clear the group was going to roast him for a while.

Sure enough, malicious ideas began to fly almost immediately.

"How about making the damn author dance for you? He promised big red envelopes and a dance if we hit the top spot!"

"Right, right! The red envelopes are out, but the dance still has to happen!"

Wait a minute! Wasn't the agreement supposed to be that Wanqiu would dance?

Knowing that any protests would be futile at this point, Su Chen could only reply with a helpless sigh.

"Can we pick something else?"

Susu Cute sent a pensive emoji, followed by a message in the group.

"Hmm... well, you know how to sing, right?"

"Why don't you sing a song for me? Or showcase some other talent!"

Uh... Su Chen hadn't expected her to make such a request, but that was easy!

"Singing is my absolute specialty! I choose singing! What song would the Princess like to hear?"

"*Time Bus*."

"That song is a bit old; I don't listen to older songs very often, so..."

"Then how about *Smile Equation*?"

"I've been quite busy lately and haven't had the chance to listen to these new songs..."

"Surely you know how to sing *Calorie*, right?"

"Uh......"

Su Chen didn't know a single song from this world. Faced with Susu Cute's successive song choices, his awkwardness reached an all-time high.

After tossing out several song titles in a row, Susu Cute left a trailing string of ellipses in sheer speechlessness.

"......"

"Hahaha, Author, you're going to kill me with laughter! You don't even know a single song, yet you dared call yourself a singer before?"

Noticing a group member bringing up past events, Su Chen argued his case with a shred of righteous dignity.

"I said I was a public figure, I never claimed to be a singer!"

"Fine, fine! A public figure, and yet you don't even know a single song?"

Seeing the chat getting increasingly rowdy, Susu Cute tactfully intervened.

"Well then, I want to hear *Prose Poem Written by Father*, surely you know that one?"

Su Chen’s eyes lit up. He should have just said that earlier!

"That's my absolute specialty!"

"Oh please, he's bragging again!"

"......"