Since Director Gu had shown up, Palace Attendant Gong, standing at the door, immediately knew that something might have changed.
But as for what kind of change it might be, he wasn’t certain. He knew that Croft’s Crown hadn’t been modified at all and had long been given up on. He also speculated—could Director Gu have activated his own influence and petitioned the Council for a low-difficulty Magic Hero Hall? But did such a thing even exist?
Not dwelling on questions he couldn’t solve, Gong Huanwu, standing at the entrance, looked toward Huan Bao’er.
“Chief Director Huan Bao’er, let’s head over.”
“Wait, there are more people coming.”
“More people?” A puzzled Gong Huanwu glanced down the hallway.
Just as Huan Bao’er finished speaking, Yang Zicang appeared, running in. Jiaoma caught up right behind him, nearly crashing into the young man’s back as he came to an abrupt stop at the doorway.
Gong Huanwu glanced at his wristwatch; it was already 10:13. The original signing time had long passed.
“You two are just showing up now!”
“Ah? I—I was delayed picking someone up,” Yang Zicang explained, slightly flustered.
“Get behind me, now!” Gong Huanwu said in a low voice.
He was about to pull the two of them over when suddenly a hand blocked him. A person he hadn’t seen in a long time gently stopped Gong Huanwu’s extended hand.
“Senior Brother Qing Mu,” Gong Huanwu said, looking at the attendant who was always by Director Gu’s side.
Qing Mu held Director Gu’s personal documents and spoke with a spring-like smile.
“Magistrate Gong, leave the rest of the matters here to me.”
Qing Mu stepped forward, positioning himself before the officer. Seeing this figure assume a welcoming posture, Magistrate Gong instinctively stepped back, yielding his position.
At the door, Qingmu slightly bowed and raised his arm gently toward the outside, saying: “Respected Mr. Nuunsi, please come in.”
“Respected… Mr. Nuunsi?”
Officer Gong looked at the corridor outside the door in surprise.
Gradually, everyone noticed the anomaly here, and then they all saw…
An ordinary-looking boy with a head of yellow curly hair appeared at the door, hesitatingly glanced inside, and then stepped through the door nervously.
Thousands of eyes were fixed on this figure.
Officer Gong was stunned, his mind completely blank as he watched this unfold.
“Who, who is this guy?”
Boppoli was led onto the high platform by the tall and slender Qingmu, and was actually seated at Old Officer Gu’s left hand.
Instantly, the venue was abuzz with chatter.
“Who is that?”
“Don’t know him.”
But among the crowd, Zorro felt like his eyes were betraying him.
Wang Dingshan’s face quickly transformed from surprise into a radiant smile. Upon seeing Yang Zicang and Jiaoma usher in this figure from dreams, he knew instantly—their work on the Demon Spirit Hall must have been a success!
It was simply incredible.
He glanced at the oblivious faces around him, offering a faint smile.
“What’s going on here?” Everyone murmured.
“Are they completely replacing their clients?”
None of them had a clue, especially Croft, whose face was already burning red with confusion.
Another dozen or so people came in through the door with smirks on their faces. When they spotted Manager Gu already seated inside, they immediately straightened up and quietly slipped along the wall into the crowd of thousands in the venue.
“Is that the entire team from the Radiance Division?”
Some suddenly realized.
“Judging by their smirky expressions, they haven’t been up to anything good.”
No one here was a fool; a vague understanding had already formed in their minds. Could it be that Chief Director Huan Bao’er and her team from the Radiance Division were secretly pulling some strings?
At this thought, many grew excited.
They had all heard of Kroft’s despotic tendencies—with That Guy around, it was almost a given that Starlight Illusion couldn’t make an Edge Demon Hall on their own this time. Everyone had already accepted that reality psychologically and even thought it was predestined.
But right now, everyone’s hearts were hanging in suspense!
“Does this mean… we actually built another Edge Demon Hall?”
“That can’t be possible.”
“Then why did Kroft move to the side?”
“Manager Gu is back, and that Mr. Jin must be a major figure sent from the Council himself. An exceptional Edge Demon Hall must be surfacing.”
As more and more voices whispered such theories, even those who had thought it impossible began to waver. After a moment’s thought, they all felt—
Good heavens, it might actually be true! Otherwise, none of today’s events would make any sense.
Below the stage, Radiant Order glanced curiously at Huan Bao’er standing beside her. She could tell that Huan Bao’er’s younger sister felt her gaze but kept her eyes fixed ahead. Her expression seemed emotionless, as if ignoring the look, but her lips were nearly unable to suppress the smirk—it was almost like she had written the word “show-off” right on her face.
Radiant Order faintly smiled.
Behind the sloping observation desk beside the venue, Croft’s mind raced with thoughts.
“Impossible, how could this be… a group with clearly no experience at all, how could they design the 魔英级竞技城 on their very first try…”
Emotions surged within him; in all these years, especially since becoming a grand designer, he had never endured such humiliation!
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.
“Could it be, could it be that they… No!”
……
“Let’s begin.” The Steward Gu said softly.
Qingmu distributed three black-background, gold-lettered documents from his bag, placing one in front of each of the three.
After doing this, Qingmu stepped forward and announced in a clear voice, “Colleagues of Starlight Illusion, the signing ceremony for the magic elite tier competitive city shall now commence…”
“Wait, who are you signing with!”
Croft racked his brains and could only think of one possibility!
That was, when his design draft was sent out, during that brief moment from leaving his hand to being transmitted to the council, the designer’s signature had been altered!
They had stolen the entire design outcome of the Demon King’s Hall, falsified information to make it appear that he had passed the review, but in reality, he had no share in the result!
All eyes in the entire venue instantly turned to the short-statured Croft.
“Mr. Croft, thank you for your guidance over the past few months. Starlight Illusion truly appreciates your contributions,” Manager Gu said. “Please don’t leave after the meeting; join us for tonight’s celebration banquet.”
Croft clenched his fists.
Mr. Kim, seated to Manager Gu’s right, looked at Croft.
“Director Croft, having a senior designer like you at today’s signing ceremony will certainly enhance its professionalism. I’m sure future records will mention your name—you are the finest witness. Please take a seat.”
“Chief Kim!” Croft felt his head buzzing.
What do you mean, ‘my witness’? This was supposed to be a contract with me!
He raised his voice: “May I ask, which Demon’s Glory Arena are you signing for, and who designed it?!”
Manager Gu raised a hand: “Our designer is this gentleman, Mr. Boppoli. He prefers to be called by that name—it’s his Chinese name.”
Everyone turned to look at the boy with curiosity.
“Boppoli? Never heard of him.”
Croft’s mind raced; not among the established designers, nor even among the newcomers, was there anyone with such an appearance and strange name.
“Hello, Mr. Croft,” the boy said, standing up and giving the man a solemn bow.
Croft was startled.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“I am Boppoli, the designer of this Demon’s Glory Arena. It was your notes and theories that helped me grow from a complete novice into someone capable of designing a competitive city recognized by the Assembly.”
“My theories?” Croft thought for a moment. “You’ve read my book? That can’t be—I haven’t even written it yet.”
The crowd burst into laughter. Even Observer Kim cracked a smile.
At that, Croft was even more convinced that this boy before him was a little fraud, trying to piggyback on his reputation.
“I read the notes you presented this time around.”
That’s even more impossible. Croft gave a sarcastic smile.
But in the venue, many people looked at the boy with doubt in their eyes.
Just a little over a month, maybe less than two months ago, some of the people present had been asked to help memorize a few pages of content…
“Wait… does that mean back then…”
Could it be that those of us who thought we were just casually helping out were actually involved in something like this?!
If that was really the case, then the person who designed the Demon Hero Hall had only started learning, planning, and designing a little over a month ago?
They found it absolutely insane, yet entirely possible.
Croft tilted his head to look at the boy:
“Excuse me, what is the Demon Hero Hall you designed? Could I have a look?”
Boboli turned to look at the two people behind the desk.
“Since the Demon Hero Hall has already passed the parliamentary review, it is now under confidentiality. No one is allowed to view it. “
Hmph! Croft fumed inwardly. The other party was probably exploiting this time difference—the year-end was less than five days away, leaving him no time to gather evidence. By the time everything was set in stone, the Demon Hero Hall assessments would already be underway.
“Sorry to interrupt, but since Chief Treasury Observer Kim is present, I’d like to raise an objection.”
“Accepted. Please, go ahead.” Mr. Kim extended his hand, inviting the odd man to state his objection.
“I suspect that this design blueprint was actually created by me.”
The crowd’s gaze snapped back to him in unison.
Boppoli froze.
Cloford confidently stepped down from his seat, walked to the signing desk, and placed his crumpled, hole-ridden contract in front of the observer.
“I can’t see it, but you can, Observer. Please take a look at this contract—it carries the endorsement of their director-general and can prove that this is the product of my effort. Moreover, I’ve been teaching here for several months, and the hard work I’ve put in is evident to everyone.”
“So you’re suggesting that this proves you were also involved in designing Mr. Boppoli’s Magic Hall, correct?”
“No, that’s not the case, Chief Jin.”
Cloford emphasized:
“I’ve never seen this person before; his answers are full of holes! I believe he’s just a patsy they’ve brought in. The designer of this Magic Hall has always been me alone, along with the team I led.”
He turned to face the crowd and declared:
“I took a group of people with zero foundational knowledge and, starting from nothing, designed a Magic Hall that passed the Council’s audit in just over three months of real-world time. That’s something everyone here can attest to.”
He had no doubt that once the Council learned the true situation, they would have a thousand ways to confirm this fact.
As long as this damn schemer didn’t succeed in exploiting the time gap, then that two million—even three to five million—Virtual Zero Sequence credits would still be mine!
And! I’m going to make them pay double as compensation!
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