“Director-General, what mission is so urgent?”
Forming a special task force is a mission type only initiated for top-secret matters.
A girl with delicate features, looking like the obedient girl next door, timidly stood up and asked: “If all of us are participating in this mission, do we need to leave the company?”
Huan Bao’er glanced at her, then inserted the “Group Leader Credential” in her hand into a device.
Instantly, a mental power field curtain descended truly into the hall.
[Jiaoma joins the Illusion Fang Special Operations Team.]
[Yang Zicang joins the Illusion Fang Special Operations Team.]
“Huh?” More than a dozen people froze for a moment. “Yang Zicang? Isn’t that the ultimate workhorse? What does this mission have to do with the Demon Hero Palace?”
Zorro’s hands clenched nervously.
The crowd buzzed with discussion; they had all learned of the failure to renovate the Crown of Green Lotus. Another director was already negotiating the purchase contract for the Demon Hero Palace with Director Croft, who hailed from above the Fate Track.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar name echoed in the minds of the dozen or so people.
[Boppoli joins the Illusion Fang Special Operations Team.]
“And who’s that?” someone behind a workstation asked.
“He’s our Demon Hero Palace designer!”
“Designer? What does that mean?”
“The mission really is related to the Demon English Hall? I heard our own Demon English Hall is already gone…”
“Aren’t the designers Croft and Yuwen Haowen?… Wait, ‘the Third Dark Hand’ refers to—!”
The people who had caught on were utterly shocked.
“Ah! No way? Could it be that a third designer overseeing the Demon English Hall still exists!”
“That’s right!”
The office erupted into an uproar.
Incredibly, beyond Croft and Yuwen Haowen, there was a third person engaged in the design and construction of the Demon Spirit Hall—no wonder it was called the Third Dark Hand!
“Our Starlight Illusion still has someone crafting a third Demon Spirit Hall!”
The crowd was both awestruck and excited. When had Executive Director Huan Bao’er secretly laid down such a contingency move?
This was the Demon Spirit Hall!
Starlight Illusion was simultaneously conducting the design of three Demon Spirit Halls, both overtly and covertly, all at once!
“Silence!”
Huan Bao’er’s clear voice rang through their ears, but the crowd felt their hearts surging like tidal waves; they simply couldn’t calm down.
This was an unexpected revelation.
“Then… does Lady Radiant Order know about this action team?”
Huan Bao’er said solemnly, “She has no idea, and none of you can leak it.”
“Oh my, even Sister Yao doesn’t know. So this is Sister Huan’s hidden ace up her sleeve. Is it reliable?”
Huan Bao’er glared at the girl, who chuckled and turned her head away.
“Hmph, don’t try to beat around the bush with me to fish for information.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she swept her gaze across the people in the room and said with authority:
“All of you, behave yourselves. Before this Demonlord Hall receives approval, Croft must not get wind of any information. Otherwise, it will be who knows how many years before our Starlight Illusion can obtain long-term qualifications for designing Demonlord Halls. Remember: secrecy, secrecy, and secrecy above all! Don’t try any tricks with me now, or I’ll skin him alive.”
“Yes!” The crowd acknowledged the gravity of the situation.
“But I feel that at this point, Croft has no way to deal with us anymore.”
“Don’t be careless.”
One person said, “At least I can’t think of any means by which Croft, even if he discovered that our third Demonlord Hall is in the design and construction phase, could sabotage it. This has absolutely nothing to do with him.”
The crowd frowned in contemplation, some nodding in agreement while others remained hesitant.
Time and again, their efforts had been shattered by Croft’s seemingly innocuous actions.
However, the third designer had never shown themselves from beginning to end, with no one knowing who they were—so naturally, Croft couldn’t pull any tricks against that individual either, which was why they could persist until now.
“Anyway, just hearing that we still have a production team preparing a Demonlord Hall is incredibly uplifting. I thought that old man would definitely win.”
“Right!” The demure, pretty girl jumped up, “I always knew our dear Huanhuan big sister was unstoppable!”
The group rolled up their sleeves, ready for action.
Zorro’s heart trembled violently. Over the past month, he had barely asked Yang Zicang anything. And now, such a unique Radiant Hall had actually appeared before his eyes!
This was simply unbelievable!
The man wearing the blindfold couldn’t help but stand up: “Chief Executive, may I ask, what are we supposed to do? Stabilize the scene?”
“That’s right, I can work twenty-five hours a day, not slower than Yang Zicang!” one person said loudly.
“I can too.”
The woman on the corridor crossed her arms, scanning the increasingly excited crowd in front of the vintage workstations.
“Where would you all need to stabilize the scene? The three have already taken care of everything. All you need to do, in this final stretch of time, is to go full speed ahead and add various bonus incentives designed to boost ordinary people’s fighting spirit!”
“Huh?”
……
“Heh heh, heheheh~”
Croft sat in his chair in a great mood.
At the other end of the table against the wall, the Radiant Order wore a cold expression.
“Didn’t we agree to only take three layers of the Virtual Zero Sequence? What’s the meaning of this wording you have here?”
She tossed the draft contract onto the table. On her jade-carved face, the dark, ink-black pupils radiated a chill like frost.
On the paper, the words “` Demonic Elite Level Arena: Thorn Soul Hall Design> Purchase Application Agreement and Supplementary Terms`” were glaringly conspicuous.
“I only said I would take three layers of Virtual Zero Sequence, but our Construction Department sent me out here—they still need to make some money, you know? You must understand that every second of my time is extremely valuable. Wasting much longer than originally scheduled here in your place is something that needs to be compensated, isn’t it?”
“Is the wastage really our fault?”
Croft seemed to hear the world’s most ridiculous joke:
“Isn’t it?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t possibly sign this contract of yours.”
“Your people have no experience whatsoever. I’ve already waived my teaching fee—at least this construction and design fee must be paid.”
Radiant Order threw another contract over.
It was the contract drafted by the Mirage Company based on their previous agreement.
Without a glance at the papers, Croft turned away, tapping his fingers heavily twice on the desk:
“You should know that the guests of the ‘Old Dimension Society’ can’t wait for me to sell them the design blueprints. The prices they offer aren’t as petty as you penny-pinching ones outside this trajectory.”
“No matter how much Virtual Zero Sequence, it’s just Virtual Zero Sequence.”
“Ha, haha, Hahahaha. What a joke. Anyway, forget that other thirty percent, but add at least another twenty percent—there’s only seven days left, so you’d better discuss it quickly. Secretary Xiyu is waiting for me to come back for a drink. I don’t have time to keep wasting it at your place.”
“I cannot agree to this interim take-it-or-leave-it contract!”
“Hmph, then just wait for the Fate Track to drop a Demon-level Arena City, turning this entire city cluster into a living hell.”
Croft jumped off the chair in a single motion, gave a dismissive snort, waved his hand, and strode toward the door with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Director Croft! Come back!”
A voice came from outside the door: “I advise you to send me the signed contract as soon as possible.”
The voice grew fainter; he was swiftly turning the corner in the hallway.
The Radiant Order tightened its grip on the document, its chest heaving violently as a silver ring flickered. But after a moment’s thought, it ultimately refrained from linking with anyone.
She knew this news would only make Huan Bao’er’s emotions explode all over again.
“What do we do…?”
Her misty brows, as fair as fog, knitted together over her beautiful eyes.
“If we contact the steward with such an outcome, how disappointed would they be…?”
In the end, she bit her silvery teeth and muttered, “Forget it, this lesson has to be learned. I’ll just be the scapegoat alone.”
……
Dozens of people bustled through room after room—identical in appearance on the outside, yet entirely different in layout within.
Inside the room, stacked around the flickering black cube, were baskets of Ability Spheres and weapons.
To avoid disturbing Director Dwight Croft, the Time-sequence Expansion state had already ended, and now every second was precious.
Everyone worked overtime, and by now, even Huan Bao’er had rolled up her sleeves and joined in.
Her strength was formidable; she alone could match several people. But she also knew she lacked experience. Therefore, even as the Director-General, she acted just like the most ordinary employee—doing whatever Boboli, Yang Zicang, and Jiaoma told her to do.
As for experienced team members like Zorro, they were entrusted with significant responsibilities.
Various additional content that appeared at Croft’s side was nearly copied outright here, only with changes in appearance and shape. After all, since the Demon Hall of Heroes hasn’t been revealed to the public yet, as Huan Bao’er says, whoever shows theirs first gets to claim it.
“Nice work, I can’t believe you made this lottery system so exquisite.”
An employee with a simple, honest face came over to look at the roulette wheel in front of Zorro and said.
“Hah, just making this one killed a lot of my brain cells.”
Zorro looked at him, grinning:
“Since you’re here anyway, why don’t you take out something that’s neither appetizing nor worth discarding for you!”
“Hey, I knew you’d be stretching out your hand like a leech. ”
The man groped in his pocket for a long time, fumbled and pulled out, finally producing a small bouncing toy.
Zorro took it, and a rapid whispered thought echoed in his mind.
[I acquired【Bounce-Bounce Egg】]
Sensing its effect: once per day, when the Flower Sequence is pressed, there’s a chance to either shrink or grow taller within the next few hours. However, the effect deactivates itself after a day, and cannot be undone manually.
“……”
Zorro’s lips twitched. “Alright, I figured it would be something I can’t bear to throw away, yet it’s useless to keep.”
“Enough with the chit-chat. It still comes in handy at critical moments—for example, when you’re stuck in a short tunnel and need a quick escape.”
“Then you’d better pray that the lottery makes you shorter, not taller.”
Zorro quickly input the mental wave information of the Bouncy Bounce Egg into the prize pool. Instantly, a field-like energy frame enclosed the prize—this was a capability granted by a few Magic Council tagging tools provided by the Holy Ring Council. These energy fields acted like labels; once applied and approved by the council, they were anchored by the competition city, officially marking the item as a prize.
Yang Zicang suddenly appeared beside him. “I’ve finished setting up my treasure chests too.”
“So fast!” The two looked at him in surprise.
Yang Zicang pursed his lips. In the distance, Huan Bao’er waved her hand, and a batch of treasure chests appeared in all shapes and sizes.
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