Chapter 735: Chapter 735: Twenty-Four Hours
The elder in the wheelchair had made it crystal clear: Han Fei was a key witness in the capture of Butterfly and must not et any accidents, at least not until Butterfly was captured.
“No matter how significant the flaws in ‘Perfect Life,’ they are the concern of those two companies. We can cooperate with them in the investigation, but if they dare to bypass us and do sothing outside the law, they should not bla us for being unkind.”
A police officer in a white shirt summarized everyone’s opinions, and eventually, there was a consensus—before capturing Butterfly, they must protect Han Fei.
“So how shall we deal with the people from Eternal Life Pharmaceutical?” A young policeman standing at the corner asked, as everyone’s gaze then returned to Han Fei. The elderly man asked that question for the third ti from his wheelchair.
“Han Fei, last night in the depths of the hallway, was that person wearing a mask you?”
“I’ve seen the video too, and frankly, I don’t understand why everyone associates with that person?” Han Fei helplessly defended, his master-level acting making each of his expressions seem incredibly natural, his statents even utterly convincing to himself.
“There is a force online deliberately directing suspicion towards you. In just twelve hours, it’s gone viral, and you’ve beco the public enemy. To say there isn’t soone behind this, I wouldn’t believe it,” the middle-aged police officer wearing a white shirt reasoned, “Think about it, who have you offended before?”
“My previous film company’s boss, and so deranged killers.”
“So?”
“Besides Butterfly, those psychopathic killers have mostly been brought to justice,” Han Fei spoke the truth.
“It seems this must be a plot orchestrated by Butterfly against you,” the elder leaned back in his wheelchair: “finding soone who matches your build to sabotage the ‘Perfect Life’ ga, then stabbing you in the back to put all the bla on you, turning you into the enemy of two major tech giants and millions of gars. Once you lose the protection of public opinion, they would shatter your morale step by step, utterly destroying your life from the inside out. Yes, this is indeed Butterfly’s modus operandi. He never gets his hands dirty when killing; often, he forces his victims to commit suicide.”
Li Xue’s teacher, who had been Butterfly’s adversary for half a lifeti, understood him very well.
“To foil Butterfly’s plan, we must first clear Han Fei of suspicion; we can create an alibi for him.” The middle-aged officer glanced at Han Fei, “Before that masked man appears again, we will monitor you 24 hours a day to ensure you have no communication with the outside world.”
Hearing the middle-aged officer’s suggestion, Han Fei was sowhat troubled; he did not imdiately agree.
“This is the simplest thod. If you find it inconvenient, we could also try other thods.” The elder did not coerce Han Fei; his sowhat weathered eyes stared at Han Fei, feeling as though he had seen through many things but had left them unsaid.
“What if the man in the mask never shows up again?”
“Putting your life in the public eye is to temporarily quell public anger and prove your innocence simultaneously. However, we would not place our hopes on the adversary. While you attract public attention, we would take advantage of the ti to investigate and exposed all those who are hiding behind the curtain, severing each one!”
“Alright, I agree.” Han Fei helplessly consented, actually, this was precisely the plan he had prepared for himself. Bai Xian played Han Fei in charge of the Deep World, Huang Ying rallied the gars in charge of the Shallow World, and Han Fei stayed in reality to clear his na. The three of them worked together, each playing their part.
As soon as Han Fei had agreed, rapid footsteps sounded from the corridor outside, and not long after, the door was knocked open, causing the two middle-aged police officers sitting by the conference table to frown.
“Representatives from Eternal Life Pharmaceutical and Deep Space Technology have arrived; they wish to et Han Fei.”
“How did they know we had brought the person out?”
“Not sure.”
“We have confird the solution; by calling them over, we can also shut them up and have them assist us in investigating Butterfly,” the old man said to the people beside him. He didn’t leave the room, but asked Li Xue and the person accompanying Han Fei to go ahead.
Walking down the corridor, Han Fei was led by the police to the largest eting room outside, where the representatives of the two technology giants had already arrived, all seven of them.
Six of them were in suits, clearly the elites of large companies, but what caught Han Fei’s attention the most was a young man standing in the middle, who bore a slight resemblance to Fu Tian.
Logically, with “Perfect Life” having launched not long ago and such a serious incident occurring, they would have sent an experienced and prudent person to handle it, yet the two technology companies had entrusted this crucial matter to a young man.
When Han Fei entered the eting room, that young man’s gaze also centered on him. He resembled Fu Tian sowhat but lacked Fu Tian’s kindness and generosity. His gaze was sharp, making people uncomfortable; he looked like an eagle soaring in the sky, overlooking everything, ready to hunt at any mont.
The police and the representative from Eternal Life Pharmaceutical began to communicate. The young man was sitting opposite Han Fei, delegating minor affairs to his subordinates. It seed he had co mainly to observe Han Fei.
The police had already reached a consensus internally, believing Han Fei was wronged. Of course, the representatives of the two major technology companies would not easily let go of Han Fei and demanded a thorough investigation into everything related to him.
But the point of contention lay here: Han Fei had assisted the police in cracking several major cases, many of which were too broad and not convenient to disclose publicly.
Furthermore, Butterfly had not yet been captured, so rashly letting outsiders know the police’s deploynt would be detrintal to the subsequent arrests.
Of course, the most critical point was that the police had no obligation to cooperate with the two technology giants. They had the right to doubt but could not overstep.
The representative from Eternal Life Pharmaceutical was also well aware of this; after a long discussion, they decided to follow the police’s suggestion and disclose Han Fei’s life to the entire network, until the masked man reappeared in the corridor.
Han Fei was not soone easy to bully; he firmly maintained that he had been frad. Now Eternal Life Pharmaceutical and Deep Space Technology were bullying by power, but once the truth ca out, he would definitely use legal asures to protect his rights.
The representatives of the two technology giants did not take Han Fei’s words to heart, casually promising to provide him with so compensation, whereas that young man appeared thoughtful, continuously recording sothing on his phone.
After the previous chairman of Eternal Life Pharmaceutical passed away, several different voices erged within the company; Fu Tian’s children and once most trusted subordinates had disagreents, and this huge multinational company was actually not as healthy and robust as it appeared on the surface.
They were already divided on the matter of Han Fei.
So people intended to turn the situation to their advantage by hiring Han Fei as an exclusive spokesperson, falsely claiming that the accident was due to a new map upgrade, and then offering substantial compensation to those players who were killed, in order to placate the public.
If this were just a simple ga, then such a move would indeed be acceptable.
But a select few within Eternal Life Pharmaceutical were well aware that the matter was not so simple, they knew it could not be glossed over, that the real culprit had to be caught, and then the passage permanently sealed.
Eventually, the latter voices overpowered the forr, yet this also planted hidden dangers within the company.
“The ti is now eleven in the morning. At one in the afternoon, we will make this news public.” The police had determined the timing, and it was not until then that Han Fei realized he had spent two days and nights in the ga, with the shrine inheritance task from Fu Sheng taking longer than any previous task, no wonder the nutrition fluid in the ga box had been exhausted.
“Since you have decided on the ti, let us arrange the location and equipnt,” said a young man, preempting the police, “On the square of Deep Space Technology in Smart New City, we have a city-sized screen we built for the ga’s promotion. Let Han Fei live there before the masked man appears again. We will provide him with the best food and services, and pay him daily for lost work. As for security, you needn’t worry, under the public’s watchful eyes, it’s unlikely anyone would dare to harm him.”
The representatives from the two tech giants seed agreeable, which caught Han Fei’s attention; he always felt as if they had an ulterior motive.
“I don’t trust them, I need the police with ,” Han Fei stood from his seat and stated bluntly.
“The police will of course be with you, they are here to ensure your safety,” said the young man from Eternal Life Pharmaceutical. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he didn’t seem the least bit nervous, apparently certain the police would not refuse.
About a few minutes later, the leading officer received a call, informing them they could accommodate the reasonable demands of the tech giants.
“Let’s go.”
Both sides were highly efficient, the police and the representatives from the two tech giants set off for Smart New City together, arriving at the city-sized screen at eleven forty, and by fifty past, they had brought Han Fei and two officers into the building beneath the screen.
The building was not large; previously serving as a showcase for virtual ga characters, it had been remodeled into a livable space.
Rooms for the two officers were on either side of Han Fei’s, his own room monitored by countless caras. Apart from the bathroom, he had no privacy whatsoever.
“You are an actor, living under the spotlight is your profession,” the young man personally escorted Han Fei from the car, closely observing him as if trying to ascertain sothing, “Change clothes first. Aside from not being able to log into ‘Perfect Life,’ there are no restrictions in your room. You can do whatever you want.”
“Every move is being watched by everyone, what can I do?” Han Fei gave a cold smile, opened the door, and walked in.
“I hope you get used to life here soon. You’ll probably be spending a long ti here,” the young man turned and left, locking the door behind him and handing the key to the police.
“A long ti, huh?” Han Fei showed no reaction, his pupils quivering slightly as he surveyed his surroundings.
The interior of this room was set up exactly like the ho of Fu Sheng in Happiness Residential Community!
“This was originally a virtual character display hall; they’ve temporarily transford it into a living area… They are indeed testing ; the higher-ups at Eternal Life Pharmaceutical have already gathered so clues,” Han Fei maintained a calm exterior, just as he had when first entering the room, his master-level acting made everything flow naturally.
Despite his calm appearance, Han Fei’s brain was racing; Eternal Life Pharmaceutical and Deep Space Technology had agreed to publicize Han Fei’s daily life, ostensibly supporting the police proposal, but actually, they still sought to make Han Fei slip up through their own thods.
The room was filled with caras; any subtle reaction from Han Fei was recorded and would be repeatedly analyzed by professionals, putting him in a dangerous situation.
At twelve noon, the Xinhu police and the two tech companies announced that, in order to prove his innocence, Han Fei was willing to publicize his daily life.
A rumor repeated a hundred tis becos fact, though many netizens had already identified that person as Han Fei, they didn’t expect Han Fei to be so bold as to choose 24-hour live-streaming for self-vindication.
Voices in support of Han Fei began to rise online; a master-level horror film actor who was always busy performing acts of courage, when would he have the ti to study and beco a top-level hacker capable of sabotaging super-servers?
Many sensible people had taken the incident as a joke, but nobody expected it to escalate further, eventually putting Han Fei under fire and even prompting so to demand compensation for their deleted ga characters.
Other voices from the outside world fell on deaf ears for Han Fei, as he began living life at his own pace.
The room he was in was filled with “traps” and “hints,” including many elents recognizable only by those aware of the Black Box and Deep World.
At one in the afternoon, all caras were turned on, and Han Fei’s day began to be displayed comprehensively without any blind spots.
Slumped on a sofa, Han Fei stared blankly at the cara for a while, eventually preparing to perform the first task he had decided upon entering the room—by then, on the city-sized screen and nurous live-stream platforms, countless people were closely watching this “beast-faced devil,” “Evil Spirit King,” and “history’s most egregious cheater.”
Opening the bedroom door, Han Fei pulled a blanket from the closet and then lay down on the bed to sleep.
“Is it possible that he actually fell asleep?”
“It turns out brilliant people like us also enjoy afternoon naps.”
“I’m streaming at the highest definition, and this is what you show ?”
Millions of netizens watched as Han Fei napped, indeed very tired, he slept until it was dark.
While he slept, ‘Perfect Life’ underwent new developnts, with tens of thousands of players converging on the Paradise Maze, and Level top-ranked Huang Ying made his first public appearance.
A storm was brewing, and the coming night was destined to be unforgettable for all players.
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