Chapter 224
Chu Feng teleported with Illya to the Crescent Group’s front entrance.
Zhan Yi saw them and hurried over nervously. “Boss, welcome back.”
Chu Feng gave him a suspicious look. “Did something happen?”
Zhan Yi quickly shook his head. “No, no, nothing happened.”
Illya tilted his head, blinking at him.
Thinking of Illya’s ability, Zhan Yi hesitated, then sighed. “Well… something small happened.”
Just as Chu Feng was about to ask, a commotion came from outside.
“You can’t come in!”
“We’re here to deliver books.”
“Still not allowed in.”
“Then just take the books inside for us.”
“Take them back—we don’t need them.”
Several teenagers started making a scene, tossing books inside with loud thunks.
Chu Feng raised a spatial wall to block the “projectiles.” Hundreds of books hit it and fell to the floor.
“It’s Chu Feng! Run!”
“But I haven’t gotten the goddess’s autograph yet—”
“Forget the autograph! Run before Chu Feng slices you up!”
Chu Feng watched the fleeing kids and asked the security guard, Jin Gang, “Who were those?”
Jin Gang smiled awkwardly. “Seems like students from a nearby middle school… maybe Delice’s fans.”
Chu Feng tilted his head. “Delice’s fans? And what are they doing?”
Jin Gang thought for a moment. “Delivering gifts, I guess.”
Chu Feng frowned. “Why sneak around like thieves just to give gifts? Is this what they call brain-dead fans?” That silly girl Delice really knows how to attract silly fans.
“What are these?” he asked.
Zhan Yi answered quickly, “Superhero comic books?”
Chu Feng looked puzzled, but Zhan Yi relaxed inwardly. At least they’re just regular comics—still a distraction, but healthier than… the other kind.
Chu Feng still didn’t quite get it. “Why would they bring comic books?”
“This…” Zhan Yi hesitated, unsure how to explain.
Illya looked upstairs, blinking in curiosity.
Zhan Yi noticed his gaze toward the upstairs room full of dirty books and quickly looked down.
Following his gaze, Chu Feng thought, That room should be empty… but now it’s packed with… something.
Illya pointed upward. “What’s in there?”
Zhan Yi sighed. “Gifts from a few major corporations and fans.”
Illya could feel a slight fluctuation in his emotions but didn’t understand why. “Gifts?”
“Yeah,” Zhan Yi nodded.
“You seem nervous,” Illya observed.
He gave a dry laugh. “Do I?”
Illya nodded seriously.
Chu Feng narrowed his eyes. It’s not even hot, but he’s sweating. What’s he hiding?
Zhan Yi: Why did it have to be my shift today?
Chu Feng studied him for a moment, then pulled out his phone and checked the news.
After scanning a few trending topics, he more or less figured out what happened.
He glanced at Zhan Yi. “Clean this up. If outsiders come in and see our place full of this stuff, what’ll it look like?”
Zhan Yi nodded rapidly. “Yes, yes, I’ll take care of it!”
Illya glanced at Chu Feng, then pointed at the upstairs lounge. “I’m going up to take a look.”
Chu Feng grabbed Illya’s hand, smiled, and said, “No need to check there. Those companies won’t send anything good anyway. Why don’t you help me take a look at the lab and see what progress they’ve made?”
Illya nodded. “Alright.”
In his heart, Chu Feng rolled his eyes. The last time Illya caught Lan Hu reading a dirty book, he had gone into a rage. If he saw the company’s break room stuffed full of that kind of thing, who knows what his reaction would be.
Zhan Yi watched Illya leave, then hesitantly called out to Chu Feng, “Boss, how should we deal with all these books?”
Chu Feng: “Deal with them? How am I supposed to know how to deal with them? Who even sent them?”
Zhan Yi took out a small list he kept on him.
“The random fans are hard to track, but the big companies that sent them are all listed here.”
Chu Feng glanced at the list and was speechless.
He had been wondering what kind of idiots would send these books, only to find that quite a few of them were people with high status.
And the future of the nation was in the hands of these people? Worrisome… truly worrisome.
“There’s quite a lot of them, huh,” Chu Feng muttered.
Zhan Yi beamed. “That’s because, Boss, you’re so well-liked.”
Chu Feng walked into the room where Delice and the others were.
The moment they saw him, everyone looked tense, like schoolkids who’d been caught doing something wrong and were waiting for a scolding.
“Boss…” Sterling greeted awkwardly.
Chu Feng looked at Sterling and rubbed his temples.
So this was why Sterling had personally gone to “procure supplies”…
“If you’ve already bought your stuff, I’ll send you back,” Chu Feng said.
Sterling looked at him. “Can I take the stuff with me?”
Chu Feng: “…If you want to take it, take it. But don’t let the underage kids in your village see it.”
Sterling nodded rapidly, unable to hide his joy. “Thanks, Boss!”
Chu Feng thought, Thanks my foot.
In his mind, Sterling had always been a fierce, powerful, and somewhat cold half-beast.
But now… this completely shattered that image.
Never judge a book by its cover, Chu Feng sighed inwardly.
Gray rubbed his hands awkwardly. “Brother Feng, where’s my brother?”
Chu Feng exhaled. “I sent him to the lab.”
Gray nodded in relief. “Good, then—”
Chu Feng thought, Is this guy celebrating too early? Even if Illya doesn’t follow the trending searches, he might still hear something. You guys really know how to cause trouble.
He teleported to outside the lab. The researchers inside all looked nervous and guilty when they saw him.
Chu Feng scanned the lab but didn’t see the person he was looking for.
“Have you seen Illya?” he asked.
A professor coughed awkwardly. “Boss Illya just came by… but then he left.”
Chu Feng frowned. “Did something happen?”
The researchers looked at each other, none daring to speak.
Chu Feng pointed at a female assistant. “You. Talk.”
The assistant hesitated, then said carefully, “When Boss Illya came, he overheard something about the dirty books… He’s probably gone to the break room now.”
Chu Feng rolled his eyes. “So you guys were gossiping when he came?”
The researchers all lowered their heads in embarrassment.
They usually didn’t gossip much, but the whole Delice incident had been so hot lately, they’d just casually chatted about it.
Chu Feng thought, Gossip is human nature—even researchers aren’t immune. But letting Illya hear it? That’s where you crossed the line.
“None of you are getting a bonus this month,” he said flatly.
Chu Feng appeared outside the break room and saw Illya standing at the door, a hint of collapse in his eyes.
Turning his head, he noticed several employees in the neighboring studio sneaking glances at Illya, clearly trying to gauge his reaction.
Chu Feng put his hands on his hips. Don’t any of you have actual work to do? Just gossip, gossip, gossip.
“You alright?” he asked, walking up to Illya.
Illya shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“Why not go in?”
Then Chu Feng saw the break room stuffed to the brim with books and realized he’d just asked a stupid question.
The sheer number of books was… absurd.
Illya looked a bit dazed. “Should I not have burned those books at Lan Hu’s place?”
Chu Feng blinked. “Of course not. That guy needed a lesson. But Sterling deliberately came to buy books—”
Illya said, “Sterling is a warrior of our tribe. When I was young, he helped me a lot. Don’t call him an idiot.”
Chu Feng thought, How could there be so many?
Out loud, he said, “You think there wouldn’t be? The internet’s saying this time they’re trying to wipe out the Capital’s entire dirty book market in one sweep.
Sterling sneaking off to buy a few wouldn’t be a big deal, but getting it on the trending searches? That’s going too far!”
With things blown up like this, the Crescent Group’s reputation was about to be destroyed.
Not far away, Chen Feng kept glancing over, her eyes burning with gossip.
“Xiao Ya! The boss is back.”
Riya nodded. “I saw.”
Judging from how the boss had looked earlier, dusty and travel-worn, maybe he’d just come from some remote mountain without internet access and didn’t know what had happened yet.
Chen Feng’s eyes sparkled. “I heard just now, outside the lobby, a bunch of elementary school kids ‘ambushed’ the boss with comic books. He’s dealing with it now.”
“This whole mess was caused by Gray and Delice,” Riya said. “Let them deal with it. It’s time they learned to take responsibility.”
