Chapter 75: Must Have Travelled Thousands of Miles Just to Save MeTranslator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A secret room, somewhere in the Sky Gardens.
Hai Lan was interrogating everyone one by one and Instructor Xu was first. After the pair spoke for a while, Instructor Xu bid his goodbyes and left, his destination unknown.
The second person to enter was Fatso Liu. He showed no sign of fear as he entered and immediately took a seat on the sofa, even before anyone could even say anything.
Of course n.o.body minded, since this wasn’t a trial or anything.
Hai Lan spoke first, “Chairman Liu s.h.i.+liang, were you acquainted with the Flame Dragon that appeared in the realm of the demon?”
Fatso Liu answered with a question of his own, “What is a realm of the demon? Was it the place we were in just now?”
“That’s right. Did you know that Flame Dragon?”
Fatso Liu scratched his head in thought. He was immersed in them for a while before he clapped his hands together suddenly. His expression was serious as he spoke, “I do actually, it must’ve been the great hero that’s very famous in Qi City now. He has the celestial ability to shape-s.h.i.+ft into a Flame Dragon, and he’s always been a chivalrous character, always protecting the citizens of Qi City.
“As the Chairman of Qi City’s Chamber of Commerce, I’ve always been a good Samaritan that valued being kind and helpful above all else, everyone in Qi City knows! He must’ve felt that I was in danger and immediately traversed thousands of miles to save me. I will return his generosity by mobilizing all the personnel of the Chamber of Commerce to raise funds into building a giant golden statue of the great hero!”
Hearing this made Hai Lan roll her eyes, ‘Why would he journey thousands of miles to save you? Even collecting your corpse has a higher possibility.’
She leaned back against her chair and waved lightly, “All right, we all know of your character, Chairman Liu. This matter happened too suddenly, we have a responsibility to compensate you. But as you can see, the entire situation now is terribly dangerous. Even the places we have under us aren’t completely safe so I highly suggest you think in the long run after you return.”
Fatso Liu nodded his head and thought to himself, ‘What nonsense, I know just how dangerous the entire situation is; I was on the brink of death. Why do you think we keep trying to get closer to that hero? Don’t even start on being dragged into things because of our relation t him; we weren’t related to him at all before and we still got dragged into this mess. If we were, we can at least ask for his help.’
Fatso Liu was then escorted out of the interrogation room. At this moment, someone spoke into Hai Lan’s earpiece.
“What he said was basically true. But what he said about Vigilante A coming to save him wasn’t real, he was just being over-confident.”
‘No sh*t, of course I know he was speaking nonsense,’ thought Hai Lan before ordering for someone to bring the next person in.
The next to enter was President Zhao, who had brushed past Fatso Liu, leaving as he entered. The pair weren’t able to speak but Fatso Liu gave him a rea.s.suring nod, providing President Zhao with some peace of mind.
Hai Lan spoke first, “President Zhao Xiangwen, were you acquainted with the Flame Dragon that appeared in the realm of the demon?”
President Zhao’s face was calm as he answered, “Of course I do. It was definitely the great hero of Qi City, Vigilante A.”
Hai Lan perked up in interest and immediately sat up straight. It was obvious President Zhao knew more that Fatso Liu.
Hai Lan then asked, “How are you so sure?”
“I’ve seen him a few times. The restaurant he frequents, Fang’s Delicious Restaurant, is one of Xingsheng Group’s most valued customers in Qi City. Most of the high-quality ingredients we produce are bought by them. My family and I often visit the restaurant as well, so we’ve met a few times in person.
“The fact that he can change into a Flame Dragon isn’t known by most of Qi City’s citizens. But people like me have our ways of getting information on him; it’s an era of information, so getting data on a great hero like him isn’t hard at all. I’ve spent two million getting relevant information on him from an organization called the Hummingbird Society. I’ve mentioned it to some people a few times.”
Hai Lan nodded her head; he was probably telling the truth. She then asked, “Then do you know why he suddenly appeared in the realm of the demon to save you all?”
President Zhao was much more decisive than Fatso Liu; once he heard the question, he answered immediately, his expression of utmost seriousness, “Why are you even asking that? It’s definitely because of the charitable acts Zhao Xiangwen and I have done for Qi City. He’s a chivalrous person, and I’ve also met him a few times, so we’re acquaintances. He has an extensive network, so he must’ve felt that I was in danger and traveled far to save me.
“Besides, I frequently order my subordinates to provide offers on the ingredients we supply to the restaurant, so the restaurant has given him offers on my behalf too. Although it’s never been expressed outright on the offers we’ve given him, but I’m sure the great hero himself knows. He’s provided Qi City with so much safety, this is but a way to repay him for what he’s done. It’s barely enough, if I were being honest.”
Hai Lan rolled her eyes again, ‘This is about the same as what that fatso from just now said. It’s no wonder you both are such close friends, this act of claiming credit for yourself is something you both did in exactly the same way. I think I know just how you both managed to ama.s.s such a fortune; with how you both forcefully expand your connections, it would be weird if you both didn’t ama.s.s a fortune.’
“Then are you preparing to return his generosity by raising funds into building a giant golden statue of the great hero?” asked Hai Lan simply.
President Zhao’s face was one of surprise. He immediately nodded his head, “How smart of you. It’s no wonder you’re working in an organization like the Truth Department. However, I’ll still have to consult with the great hero on this matter. If he agrees, I’ll pay for everything out of my own pocket.”
“Oh, you bring more to the table than that fatso just now.”
Hearing this, President Zhao immediately knew what Fatso Liu had said. He laughed, “Haha, Chairman Liu s.h.i.+liang has always been a frugal person, so you can’t blame him too much.”
“Hmm, thank you for your trouble. I hope you rest well, and we will provide everyone with a proper explanation on this soon.”
The third person to enter was the mechanical puppet stand-in for Fang Ning. After entering, he didn’t sit down immediately and instead stood awaiting his orders.
“Take a sit, President Fang.”
After Hai Lan’s invite, only did “Fang Ning” sit on the couch.
“You don’t have to be nervous; we’ll just be asking some simple questions.”
“Please go on, I’ll tell you all I know.”
Hai Lan thought to herself, ‘His shut-in personality is showing. He can’t compare to the previous two, who were experienced players of their field. They knew from the get-go that this whole thing was in their favor, so they had spoken with self-confidence.’
Hai Lan asked, “Were you acquainted with the Flame Dragon that appeared in the realm of the demon?”
“Fang Ning” scrunched his eyebrows in thought for a moment before he answered uncertainly, “Could it be Qi City’s Vigilante A?”
Instead of answering, Hai Lan fired another question, “How did you come to that conclusion?”
“Oh, Uncle Zhao had mentioned it in pa.s.sing once when we were chatting. He said that not only was the great hero very well-connected, he could shape-s.h.i.+ft into a Flame Dragon. He had specifically told me to welcome him properly the next time he visited my restaurant. It didn’t matter if he had a tab too, since President Zhao could pay. Of course I would never let President Zhao do that, and that Vigilante A has never given my small business any trouble either.”
Hai Lan silently scorned at Fang Ning, ‘All you businessmen are the same, rotten to the core. Even a shut-in like you is slowly starting to become as sly as a fox.’
‘You earn millions a month and yet you call your business small. My pay is 30, 40 thousand a month; if it weren’t for the allowance I get for working under the Truth Department that allowed me to splurge on food and clothes, I would’ve destroyed my reputation as the Miss of the Hai family.’
She would of course never say anything like that. How these people ran their legitimate businesses had nothing to do with her. It was honestly a pity that her superpower was a first-line type and not a logistics type, or she would be rolling in riches right now.
Hai Lan then asked, “Oh, then you know why he suddenly appeared in the realm of the demon?”
Hai Lan thought, ‘Don’t you dare say it was to save you!’
“Fang Ning” scratched the side of his head before sheepishly saying, “It must be because that hero is addicted to my cooking. I’ve never seen him visit another restaurant. I believe that it was because he didn’t want to lose his favorite chef. That great hero is very well-connected, so he must’ve felt that I was in great danger and thus traveled a great distance to save me.”
Hai Lan could not help but vomit a mouthful of blood, ‘You three really did come from the same place. Not only do you three know each other, you all have such high confidence in yourselves too.’
She impatiently continued asking, “Then are you preparing to return his generosity by raising funds into building a giant golden statue of the great hero?”
“Fang Ning” was briefly stunned after hearing this. His response was different from the other two, “I never thought about that at all. I’m quite lazy, so I originally just wanted to give him discounts on all his future meals at my restaurant. Now that you’ve mentioned it, I fear I’ll have to go through some troublesome matters. I don’t mind the money, but the fact that I might have to attend some ceremonies gives me a headache.”
Hai Lan was surprised but immediately understood. This True Dragon must have quite the appet.i.te, so this “small business” of his wouldn’t dare to simply give the hero free food. This Fang Ning really was just as how his records said; he really did detest having to attend social affairs.
“Alright, we’ll provide you with a proper explanation on this matter soon. I hope you rest well.”
Just before “Fang Ning” left the room, his name was called once again.
“By the way, since you said your cooking was good enough to compel that great hero to save you, I was wondering if I could temporarily hire you as a chef for a day. I wanted to organize a dinner tomorrow to calm everyone’s nerves. Of course I’ll pay you according to the rates that Qi City offers.”
“Fang Ning” immediately nodded his head, “Since you’ve put it that way, I can’t possibly say no, what with being a businessman myself.”
Hai Lan thought, ‘I really do want to see just how good your culinary skills are for myself. Is it really as good as they say? Not only can it achieve the effect of the Morality Shelter, even the True Dragon would travel thousands of miles to save it?’
It was true, she didn’t believe what Old Man Zhao and Fatso Liu said at all, but “Fang Ning” was recorded as a plain and simple man, so his words would definitely hold more credibility.
Besides, n.o.body knew what the True Dragon really liked. One thing was for sure, it had no need for the material things of the modern world like towers, buildings, beauties, mansions, sports cars and valuable horses. High-end clothing was out of the topic entirely. All that’s left of the human world was food.
Even the reason why the True Dragon valued money was obvious too. Since it needed to eat a lot of food, the lack of money wouldn’t help in any way. A single meal could cost it millions, which meant it was living the ultimate life of luxury.
It was no wonder it had agreed to Zijiang’s price of fifty million for one favor. From the looks of things, a lot of creatures that descended into this world need to solve the problem of food sources first and foremost. Thankfully, this True Dragon had the same palate as humans, which meant food wouldn’t be a problem for it.
Maybe this was the true reason why it always stood on the humans’ side? It seemed that a lot of incredible matters had stemmed from an inconspicuous reason.
As Hai Lan prepared to call the next person in for questions, she knew that it wasn’t necessary anymore. The remaining people weren’t relevant to the case at hand, it was just a necessary protocol she had to do.